Western Schism

(noun)

A split within the Roman Catholic Church which lasted from 1378 to 1417, when three men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope.

Related Terms

Examples of Western Schism in the following topics:

  • The Western Schism

    • The Western Schism was a prolonged period of crisis in Latin Christendom from 1378 to 1416, when there was conflict concerning the rightful holder of the papacy.
    • The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Roman Catholic Church which lasted from 1378 to 1417.
    • The Schism in the Western Roman Church resulted from the return of the papacy to Rome under Gregory XI on January 17, 1377, ending the Avignon Papacy, which had developed a reputation for corruption that estranged major parts of Western Christendom.
    • This chart depicts the reigns of the three opposing popes during the Western Schism, centered in Avignon, Rome, and Pisa respectively.
    • Explain the events that led to the Western Schism, as well as its eventual resolution

  • Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church

    • The Protestant Reformation was the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants.
    • The Protestant Reformation, often referred to simply as the Reformation, was a schism from the Roman Catholic Church initiated by Martin Luther and continued by other early Protestant Reformers in Europe in the 16th century.
    • The core motivation behind these changes was theological, though many other factors played a part, including the rise of nationalism, the Western Schism that eroded faith in the Papacy, the perceived corruption of the Roman Curia, the impact of humanism, and the new learning of the Renaissance that questioned much traditional thought.
    • Following the breakdown of monastic institutions and scholasticism in late medieval Europe, accentuated by the Avignon Papacy, the Papal Schism, and the failure of the Conciliar movement, the sixteenth century saw a great cultural debate about religious reforms and later fundamental religious values.

  • The Church During the Italian Renaissance

    • The late Middle Ages was a period of political intrigue surrounding the Papacy, culminating in the Western Schism, in which three men simultaneously claimed to be true Bishop of Rome.
    • While the schism was resolved by the Council of Constance (1414), a resulting reform movement known as Conciliarism sought to limit the power of the pope.
    • The 95 Theses led to the Reformation, a break with the Roman Catholic Church that previously claimed hegemony in Western Europe.

  • The Fourth Crusade

    • Urban's wider strategy may have been to unite the Eastern and Western branches of Christendom, which had been divided since their split in 1054, and establish himself as head of the unified Church.
    • Regardless of the motivation, the response to Urban's preaching by people of many different classes across Western Europe established the precedent for later crusades.
    • The Fourth Crusade (1202–04) was a Western European armed expedition originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt.
    • Andrew II of Hungary waged the Bosnian Crusade against the Bosnian church that was theologically Catholic but in long term schism with the Roman Catholic Church.
    • The collapse of the papacy's moral authority and the rise of nationalism rang the death knell for crusading, ultimately leading to the Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism.

  • The Great Schism of 1054

    • The centuries-long gradual religious separation between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires culminated in the institutional separation known as the East-West Schism.
    • The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, which has lasted since the 11th century.
    • The Western church remained firmly in support of the use of religious images.
    • This was only the first act in a centuries-long process that eventually became a complete schism.
    • This was known as the East-West Schism.

  • The Last Byzantine Dynasty

    • In order to protect his empire from further attacks by Western knights, he attempted to end the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
    • A decisive change had taken place: among the citizens of the restored Byzantine Empire, the "Latins" of Western Europe were more hated than even the Muslims.

  • Living in Europe

    • Conflicts between the pope and the Holy Roman Empire continued in Central and Southern Europe that included a schism marked by two popes claiming the title and the first sparks of Protestant Reformation.
    • Western Europe became more isolated, cut off from China and other parts of Eastern Europe and Asia.
    • Romanesque art developed in the period between about 1000 to the rise of Gothic art in the 12th century, in conjunction with the rise of monasticism in Western Europe.

  • The Byzantine Empire

    • After the death of Theodosius I in 395, the Roman Empire was divided into an Eastern half based in Constantinople and a Western half based in Rome.
    • Less than a century later, in 476, the last Western emperor Romulus Augustulus abdicated to a Germanic warlord who placed his own rule under that of the Eastern emperor.
    • This act effectively ended the line of Western emperors and marked the end of the Western Empire.
    • Finally, in 1054, the East-West Schism officially made the Eastern Orthodox Church, centered in Constantinople, its own separate entity from the Roman Catholic Church.
    • Byzantine art was highly prestigious and sought-after in Western Europe, where it maintained a continuous influence on medieval art until near the end of the period.

  • The Development of Papal Supremacy

    • During the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages, the office of Pope not only gained supremacy over the entire Christian Church but also developed political power rivaling the secular rulers of Europe.
    • When Constantine became emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 312, he attributed his victory to the Christian God.
    • Decisions made at the Council of Nicea (325) about the divinity of Christ led to a schism; the new religion, Arianism flourished outside the Roman Empire.
    • This led to further schisms.
    • After the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, the pope served as a source of authority and continuity.

  • The Crusades

    • At the western edge of Europe and of Islamic expansion, the Reconquista (recapture of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims) in the Iberian Peninsula was well underway by the 11th century, reaching its turning point in 1085 when Alfonso VI of León and Castile retook Toledo from Muslim rule.
    • The heart of Western Europe had been stabilized after the Christianization of the Saxon, Viking, and Hungarian peoples by the end of the 10th century.
    • To the east of Europe lay the Byzantine Empire, composed of Christians who had long followed a separate Orthodox rite; the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches had been in schism since 1054.
    • Urban responded favourably, perhaps hoping to heal the Great Schism of forty years earlier, and to reunite the Church under papal primacy by helping the Eastern churches in their time of need.