and lavish decor not only for the church for their private offices. With this trend towards materialism came an obsession with the acts performed during Mass rather than what they represented. Soon, everything in the service contained some kind of mystery which was supposedly known only to the priest but not to the common man. With the Mass still being said in Latin, which only the clergy knew, it was no wonder that this sense of mystery completely separated the church from its followers. The priests espoused complicated rituals, but did little teaching and enlightening of the general masses. As if this wasn't bad enough, an amazing event put another spilt between the church and the people of Euope. The Great Schism, as it has been called. The long line of corrupt popes arrived at the election of Bartolomeo Prigano, of which accounts differ widely among those cardinals present at the election. Controversy surrounded this election over whether Prigano had actually been elected pope or had merely been nominated to be the new pope. The cardinals left Rome and declared that the election was void and there currently was no leader of the church. Pope Clement VII- a relative of the French king- was elected by the cardinals, and he declared Prigano the anti-christ. The new pope took up residence in Avignon on the French border, and the corruption of the church grew even worse, becoming the scandal of Europe. It was obvious that the church and its head were being manipulated by the French royalty, and all of Europe knew it. As time went on, popes came and went in both Avignon and Rome, with different parts of Europe claiming loyalties to different popes. Skirmishes broke out constantly. Finally, in 1409, the College of Cardinals met to discuss The Great Schism. Neither pope agreed to attend the meeting, just ashad happened with every other meeting of this kind, and neither side showed any signs of reconciliation. The decision of the cardinals w...
