ing, which insured that the church would be under French influence. The cardinals insisted that they had to elect a new pope, Pope Clement VII, because the election of Pope Urban VI was not valid. They were coerced into electing the Roman pope for fear of their lives; a mob of Italians outside of the conclave that elected Pope Urban VI had threatened to massacre the cardinals if a foreigner was chosen as the replacement for Gregory XI. None the less the Papacy was now divide. The saying "United we stand, while divided we fall." is very valid in this instance. The church is having many problems around this time period and many people are converting, or shale we say shifting, to other forms or Christianity. Whereas before these problems occurred the church was the central power in Western Europe and had great influence over the governments in their sphere of power. This event, the schism, caused a split in the Catholic Church and divided countries among the two popes. "Everyone realized that the schism resulting from the counter-election of Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII . . . was a tragedy for the church . . ." England, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary Roman Empire, Bohemia, and Poland supported Pope Urban VI. While Pope Clement VII had gained support from France, Napales, Scotland, Castile, and Aragon. This two-sided papacy and the division among the Church lasted for thirty years. A council finally was called in Pisa in 1409. "They were vain hopes, subsequent events proved. The conclave was a long and stormy one, lasting from June 15 to 26." This council deposed both Pope Urban VI in Rome and Pope Clement VII in Avignon, they then elected a new Pope Alexander V. In theory this should have fixed the schism but neither pope would step down, they both felt that they were legit. This was the most confusing time during the Great Schism for the people, there were three popes and they all claimed proper rig...
