The Avignon Papacy and Great Schism shook the Catholic Church's power in the Late Middle Ages. Moving the papal court to France and then having multiple popes competing for authority exposed the Church's vulnerability to political manipulation.
These events weakened the Church's unity and sparked calls for reform. The resulting power struggles between popes, monarchs, and reformers set the stage for major religious and political changes in Europe.
The Avignon Papacy
Relocation and Political Influence
The Avignon Papacy (1309–1377), sometimes called the "Babylonian Captivity" of the Church, refers to the nearly seven decades when the papal court sat in Avignon, France, instead of Rome. The move happened because Rome was politically unstable and because French King Philip IV had enormous leverage over Pope Clement V, who owed his election largely to French support.
- Once in Avignon, the papacy grew increasingly dependent on the French monarchy for protection and funding. To many Europeans, the pope looked like a puppet of the French crown.
- This perception of French control undermined the Church's claim to universal spiritual authority. Anti-papal sentiment grew sharply in England, the Holy Roman Empire, and other regions that viewed the papacy as serving French interests rather than Christendom as a whole.
Centralization of Papal Authority and Consequences
- The Avignon popes centralized Church administration and dramatically expanded papal revenue through new taxes, fees, and the sale of indulgences (payments that reduced the punishment for sins). The papal court became one of the wealthiest institutions in Europe.
- Rome itself suffered. Without the papal court, the city lost prestige, and its churches and infrastructure fell into disrepair.
- The Avignon period deepened discontent with Church leadership. Critics argued the papacy cared more about money and politics than spiritual guidance. These complaints laid the groundwork for later reform movements.
- The relocation also revealed how willing European monarchs were to exploit religious divisions for political advantage, a pattern that would repeat during the Great Schism.
The Great Schism
Competing Papal Claimants
The Great Schism (also called the Western Schism, 1378–1417) split the Catholic Church between two, and eventually three, rival popes. It began when cardinals in Rome elected Urban VI in 1378 but quickly regretted the choice because of his erratic and confrontational behavior. A group of cardinals declared his election invalid and chose Clement VII, who set up court back in Avignon.
- Europe's monarchs lined up behind whichever pope served their interests. France backed the Avignon pope, while England and the Holy Roman Empire generally supported the Roman pope. The schism was as much a political crisis as a religious one.
Undermining Church Authority and Unity
- Each rival pope excommunicated the other and all of the other's supporters. For ordinary Christians, this created genuine spiritual anxiety: which pope was legitimate, and were your sacraments even valid?
- Clergy and laypeople across Europe were forced to pick sides, often based on which kingdom they lived in rather than any theological reasoning.
- The prolonged division weakened the Church's ability to confront rising challenges, including the growth of powerful national monarchies and the spread of heretical movements like Lollardy (in England, inspired by John Wycliffe) and Hussitism (in Bohemia, led by Jan Hus).
- With the papacy consumed by its own legitimacy crisis, the Church struggled to provide consistent spiritual leadership or maintain influence over secular rulers.
Resolving the Great Schism
Attempts at Resolution
Ending the schism proved far harder than anyone expected. Church leaders and secular rulers tried negotiations, forced abdications, and church councils before finding a solution.
- Council of Pisa (1409): Cardinals from both camps met and tried to fix the problem by deposing both existing popes and electing a new one, Alexander V. Neither of the sitting popes accepted the decision. The result was three simultaneous popes, making the crisis even worse.
- Council of Constance (1414–1418): This council, backed by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, finally broke the deadlock. It secured the abdication or deposition of all three claimants and elected Pope Martin V in 1417, reunifying the Church under a single pope.
Conciliarism and Its Limitations
- The Council of Constance asserted a bold principle called conciliarism: the idea that a general council of the Church holds authority over the pope. This was meant to prevent future schisms and check papal power.
- In practice, conciliarism didn't last. Later popes, especially after regaining stable authority, pushed back hard against conciliar claims and reasserted papal supremacy. By the mid-1400s, the conciliar movement had largely stalled.
- While the schism itself was resolved, the deeper problems it exposed (corruption, unchecked papal authority, demands for reform) never went away. These unresolved tensions would fuel the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
Impact of the Avignon Papacy and the Great Schism
Political and Religious Consequences
- The crises demonstrated that European monarchs would readily use religious divisions to advance their own power. The Church's claim to stand above politics was permanently damaged.
- National governments seized the opportunity to assert greater control over religious affairs within their borders. In France, this trend became known as Gallicanism (the idea that the French church should operate with some independence from Rome). In England, laws like the Statute of Praemunire restricted papal legal authority, foreshadowing later breaks with Rome.
- The overall effect was a shift in the balance of power: secular rulers gained ground, and the papacy's political leverage shrank.
Intellectual and Religious Ferment
- The schism and the conciliar movement encouraged scholars and reformers to question traditional sources of authority. If the Church itself couldn't agree on who the pope was, it became easier to challenge other long-standing claims.
- The Council of Constance set important precedents about the relationship between collective Church governance and papal authority, debates that echoed through European politics for centuries.
- Criticism of the Church's wealth, corruption, and spiritual failings grew steadily after the schism. These criticisms, combined with Renaissance humanism's emphasis on returning to original sources, created the conditions for the reform movements that would reshape Europe in the 1500s.