1378–1417 AD
The Western Schism — Two and Three Popes at Once
Historical Overview
For nearly 40 years, rival claimants to the papacy reigned simultaneously in Rome and Avignon. At one point, three men all claimed to be Pope. Resolved at the Council of Constance.
Deep Dive
The Western Schism (also called the Papal Schism) was one of the most destabilizing crises in Church history. It began in 1378 when the cardinals, dissatisfied with the recently elected Pope Urban VI in Rome, declared his election invalid and elected a rival pope, Clement VII, who established his court in Avignon, France. For decades, Western Christendom was divided: nations, dioceses, and religious orders had to choose which pope to obey. France, Scotland, and Spain supported Avignon; England, the Holy Roman Empire, and most of Italy supported Rome.
The crisis deepened catastrophically in 1409 when the Council of Pisa attempted to resolve the schism by deposing both claimants and electing a third — Alexander V. But neither existing pope accepted his deposition, resulting in THREE simultaneous papal claimants.
The schism was finally resolved at the Council of Constance (1414–1418), which deposed or accepted the resignation of all three claimants and elected Pope Martin V in 1417, reuniting the Western Church under a single pope. The entire episode, like the Saeculum Obscurum before it, is seen by Catholics as further proof that Christ's Church cannot be destroyed even by catastrophic human failure.