Great Schism (catholic church)
From 1305 to 1416, the Catholic Church reached its lowest point in history. Corruption was widespread, the Church's authority was undermined, and its leadership was divided. The Church no longer had a strong foundation, the papacy jumped back and forth from Avignon, France to Rome, depending on the pope. This period became known as the Great Schism. Amazingly, by the end of these troubling times, the Church's reputation was still upheld. However, due to the Great Schism, many changes were made in the Church's structure, which is why this is such an important part of the church's history. The Great Schism didn't occur suddenly, there were many events leading up to the degradation of the Church. Its roots can be traced back to the confrontation of two powerful and determined figures: King Philip IV of France, and Pope Boniface VIII. Philip IV was a greedy leader who showed no respect towards traditions or rights. He was proud and arrogant and believed the king was almighty, not the church. The church owned vast amounts of land in France, but the majority of the taxes from them were going to Rome instead of Philip. Not only that, the Church claimed immunity from royal law for the clergy. Also s
Both men were extremely determined, corrupt, selfish, and notorious for their bad tempers. On the other side of things, there was the urgent question of who was the legitimate Holy Roman Emperor. Due to all these dilemmas, Clemont was not able to travel to Rome that year. Philip even went as far as to accuse Boniface of murder and heresy (http://www. tressed were the obligations of the laymen to follow church law. Urban VI died in 1389; this did not stop the schism like people had hoped. The council acted somewhat as a counterweight to papal authority, distributing the power amongst the papacy. So still the schism persisted, and the belief that it would end by God choosing (waiting for the rival to die) was proven wrong. A new pope was elected immediately after Boniface's death, but died shortly after his appointment by the College of Cardinals. Up until his death in 1422, Benedict held out that he was the one true pope. Alexander's residency lasted only 11 months. Conditions in Italy were just too chaotic and for the pope to move back, safety would have to be assured, and it could not. The runaway cardinals then elected Clement VII as the new pope and they set up their papacy in Avignon. It was a huge deal, and people came from all parts of Europe.
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