THE Great Schism of the West it represents a crisis in the Catholic religion that took place between 1378 and 1417. Also called papal schism or Great Schism, this period was initially marked by the death of Pope Gregory XI in 1378, which resulted in the presence of three papal authorities, ending with the “Council of Constance”, held between 1414 and 1418. They all claimed the legitimacy of power over the Western Christian world.
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Summary
During 1305 and 1376 the seat of the papacy was installed in the city of Avignon, in southern France, that is, it was under French rule, which had been transferred by Clement V. This period, which became known as the “Captivity of Avignon” is marked by the majority of French Popes and Cardinals. There were already divergences between the interests of Pope Boniface VIII, who aspired to a pontifical theocracy, and the King of France Felipe IV, the Beautiful.
However, with the death of Pope Gregory XI in March 1378, who sought to re-establish papal authority by returning to Rome in 1377, the Italians were aiming for the election of an Italian Pope.
In such a way, the Neapolitan Bartolommeo Prignano, Archbishop of Bari, was chosen, who became known as Urbano VI, with acceptance of other European countries such as Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Flanders, Denmark, England, among others.
Urban VI was in the position of Pope from 1378 to 1389, and refused to be installed in Avignon, the which left dissatisfied a large part of the French Catholic population who considered the illegitimate choice. After Urban VI, Popes Boniface IX (1389-1404), Innocent VII (1404-1406) and Gregory XII (1406-1415) were elected in Rome.
Therefore, in an atmosphere of contention, Cardinal Robert of Geneva or Pope Clement VII was elected in Avignon, called Antipope, who remained from 1378 to 1394, being his successor Benedict XIII. The European countries that legitimized the action of the Avignon headquarters, in addition to France, were: Scotland, Cyprus, Burgundy, Savoy and the Spanish kingdoms of Aragon, Castile and León.
Later, in the Italian city of Pisa, another Antipope was chosen at the "Council of Pisa", Alexander V, who stayed only one year, from 1409 to 1410. His successor was the Antipope John XXIII (1410-1417).
What happened was the excommunication of the Popes between them, legitimizing the presence of the three as papal authorities for about 3 decades in Europe, until Gregory XII of Rome and Benedict XIII of Avignon finally decided on the Schism, re-established by the "Ecumenical Council of Constance", which elected Odo Colonna, called Pope Martin V, who brought back the Unity of the Church Catholic.
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