Background
The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true Pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the Schism was ended by the Council of Constance, 1414 to 1418. The simultaneous claims to the papal chair of two different men damaged the reputation of the office. The Western Schism is sometimes called the Great Schism.
Origins
The schism in the Roman Catholic Church arose with the return of the Papacy to Rome by Papa Gregorius Undecimus on January 17, 1377, ending the Avignon Papacy.
When Papa Gregorius Undecimus died on 27 March 1378, the Romans rioted to ensure the election of a Roman pope. In 1378 the cardinals elected Pope Urbanus Sextus. Papa Urbanus Sixtus had been a respected administrator in the papal chancery at Avignon, but as Pope he proved suspicious, reformist, and prone to violent outbursts of temper. Many of the cardinals who had elected him soon regretted their decision: the majority removed themselves from Rome to Anagni, where, even though Papa Urban Sextus was still reigning, they elected Robert of Geneva as a rival pope on September 20 of the same year. Robert took the name Papa Clemens Septimus and reestablished a papal court in Avignon.
This second election threw the Church into turmoil. There had been Antipopes before, but most of them had been appointed by various rival factions; in this case, a single group of leaders of the Church had elected both the Pope while members of the same group had elected the Antipope.
Supporters
The conflict quickly escalated from that of a split between Church factions into a diplomatic crisis that divided Europe between the various secular powers. The two Papacies were supported as follows:
Avignon Papacy.
The KIngdom of France, The Kingdoms of Aragon, Castile and León The Kingdom of Cyprus, The Duchy of Burgundy, The County and Duchy of Savoy, The Kingdom of Naples and The Kingdom of Scotland.
Roman Papacy.
The Kingdom of Denmark, The Kingdom of England, The County of Flanders, the Holy Roman Empire, The Kingdom of Hungary, The Kingdom of Norway, The Kingdom of Poland, The Duchy of Lithuania, The Kingdom of Sweden, The Republic of Venice, and other City States of northern Italy.
Resolution
Finally, a council was convened by Papa Ioannes Vicesimus Tertius, in PIsa, in 1414 at Constance to resolve the issue. This was endorsed by Papa Gregorius Duodecimus, in Rome, thus ensuring the legitimacy of any election. The council, advised by the theologian Jean Gerson, secured the resignations of both Papa Ioannes Vicesimus Tertius and Papa Gregorius Duodecimus, who resigned in 1415, and excommunicated Papa Benedictus Tertius Decimus, Avignon, who refused to step down.
The Council then elected Papa Martinus Quintus, essentially ending the schism. Nonetheless, the Kingdom of Aragon did not recognize Papa Martinus Quintus and continued to recognize Papa Benedictus Tertius Decimus. Archbishops loyal to Papa Benedictus Tertius Decimus subsequently elected Antipapa Benedictus Quartus Decimus, while three followers simultaneously elected Antipapa Clemens Octavus. These later elections did little to maintain the Schism which was by then practically over. Papa Clemens Octavus resigned in 1429 while acknowledging Papa Martinus Quintus.
The line of Roman Popes is now accepted as the legitimate line, but confusion on this point continued until the 19th century. Pope Pius Secundus decreed that no appeal could be made from Pope to Council; this left no way to undo a Papal Election by anyone but the elected Pope. No such crisis has arisen since the 15th century, and so there has been no need to revisit this decision.
The alternate Papal claimants have become known in history as Antipopes. Those of Avignon were dismissed by Rome early on, but the Pisan Popes were included in the Annuario Pontificio as popes well into the 20th century. Thus Papa Alexander Sextus, in Rome, took his regnal name in sequence after the Papa Alexander Quintus, in Pisa.
No comments:
Post a Comment