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This page is for group 6: Tomysck-Solombrino

Your topic is the Avignon Papacy and the Great Papal Schism

To get started: do a timeline of events, make lists of important personalities, political issues, and causes of conflict. What was the Avignon court like? They commissioned a great deal of art work--find examples. How was this issue resolved? What did it mean for the development of Christianity?

The Avignon Papacy refers to a period in the history of the Roman Catholic Church from 1309 to 1378 when the seat of the Pope was moved from Rome to Avignon. The period has been called the "Babylonian Captivity" (or "Babylonish Captivity") of the Popes (or the Church), particularly by Martin Luther. This nick-name is polemical, in that it refers to the claim by critics that the fabulous prosperity of the church at this time was accompanied by a profound compromise of the Papacy's spiritual integrity, especially in the alleged subordination of the powers of the Church to the ambitions of the Frankish emperor. Coincidentally, the "captivity" of the popes at Avignon lasted around the same duration as the exile of the Jews in Babylon, making the analogy all the more convenient and rhetorically potent.

In 1378 the seat was moved back to Rome by Pope Gregory XI, while a disputing party continued to honor the bishop in Avignon as the head of the church. From 1378 to 1414 was a time of difficulty which Catholic scholars refer to as the "Papal Schism" or, "the great controversy of the antipopes", when parties within the Catholic Church were divided in their allegiances among the various claimants to the office of Pope. The Council of Constance, which convened in 1414, finally resolved the controversy, dismantling the last vestiges of the Avignon Papacy and brought the Great Schism to an end in 1417.



Popes that served during the Avignon Papacy included; Pope Clement V(1305-1314), Pope John XXII(1316-1334), Pope Benedict XII(1134-1342), Pope Clement VI(1345-1352), Pope Innocent VI(1352-1362), Pope Urban V(1362-1370), and Pope Gregory XI(1370-1378).

GREAT PAPAL SCHISM

"'The so-called "Babylonian Captivity" was one of the main factors Which caused the Great Schism. In 1309, Pope Clement V moved the papacy and his residence to Avignon, a city just outside French territory on the Rhone River. This allowed Phillip the Fair, King of France, to exert a great deal of influence over the pope. In 1377, Pope Gregory XI made a significant move and returned the papacy to Rome.

After Pope Gregory XI died, an Italian Pope was elected. However, the French did not like him. Therefore, they elected their own pope who ruled from Avignon where the pope had been during the Avignese Papacy. This was also regarded by many as a location that worked well in centralizing leadership. As a result of this, Western Christendom split, with two popes and two accompanying papal structures.

Now Western Europe was politically divided over which pope to support. Of course France supported the Avignon pope. Along with France were Sicily, Scotland, Castile, Aragon, and Portugal. On the other side, Rome supported the Roman pope, as did Flanders, Poland, Hungary and Germany. Many citizens were confused over this split, but those who were not decided to take advantage of it. The two popes were constant rivals. It was common to hear each calling the other the anti-pope and also trying to get him out of a position of leadership. Their main motive for these actions was to gain allies for themselves. There were very few people who actually took the claims of these so-called spiritual leaders seriously because of the fact that they were competing constantly with one another just like anyone dealing with worldly politics. The effects of this split on the general population can be summarized as follows, "The papal office suffered the most; the pope's authority diminished as pious Christians became bewildered and disgusted."

Following the split, the papal offices began to lose authority. For a time conditions improved, but they did not stay favorable. Finally, the cardinals of both popes decided that an ecumenical council of godly men could collectively possess more divine authority that just one pope. So, in 1409 they asked the church council in Pisa to elect a new pope that could unite the sides. The Pisian council did, but neither pope was willing to give up his power. Thus, three popes were vying for authority over the church.

Finally between 1414 and 1418, the Council of Constance was successful in healing the Schism. The deposition of the Avignon Pope induced the resignation of the Roman Pope. Therefore, the schism was healed and there was room for the election of a single pope, Pope Martin V, who reigned from 1417-1431.'" /\ http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/WestEurope/GreatSchism.html