10 - The Avignon Papacy and the Great Western Schism

Summary

This chapter surveys the papacy’s struggles and historiography in the fourteenth and fifteen centuries, which were rich in far reaching events, questioning the “rhetoric” of crisis often attached to the period. Barred from Rome by widespread turmoil in Italy, seven consecutive popes – all of Gallic origin – resided at Avignon between 1309 and 1375. Criticized equally for “abandoning” Rome and for their perceived subservience to the French crown, the popes labored valiantly to end the Hundred Years War (albeit unsuccessfully) and to maintain an effective international ecclesiastical administration. The Schism (1378–1417) arose from the cardinals’ uncanonical attempt to depose the volatile Urban VI (r. 1378–89) and to elect Clement VII (r. 1378–94) in his place; eventually, three lines of popes (Roman, Avignonese, and Pisan) would bring deep divisions to Europe with their competing claims to legitimacy. The crisis only ended with the sui generis Council of Constance (1414–18) and the election of Martin V (r. 1417–31).