The Great Schism began as a power struggle between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV of France over taxation of the church. This led to the papacy being moved to Avignon, France, outraging other Christian groups. Eventually, there were two popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon, dividing Western Christianity until the Council of Constance in 1417 ended the Schism by electing Martin V as the sole pope. Key figures like John Wycliffe and Jan Hus challenged the authority and actions of the divided papacy during this time period.

1. Chapter 10: Europe in the Middle
Ages: A.D. 1000-1500
The Great Schism

2. The Great Schism
• As we discussed earlier, a power struggle between Philip IV of France
& Pope Boniface VIII led to the creation of the Estates General
• This disagreement stemmed in part to two official papal orders issued
by Boniface
• Bull of 1296: Stated that the
Church could not be taxed
by the King of France

3. Great Schism..cont
• Unam Sanctam: Declared that
there were two powers on earth,
the temporal (earthly) & the
spiritual (heavenly).
• The spiritual power, according to the pope, was always
supreme over temporal power
• In short, kings must always obey popes
• Philip IV is threatened w/excommunication
• But before he is excommunicated he takes the offensive

4. Great Schism..cont
• Philip sends a small army to Italy with the
goal of kidnapping the pope to bring him
back to France for trial
• French soldiers burst into the pope’s palace
in Anagni, outside of Rome, in Sept 1303
and take him captive
• He escapes thanks to the people of Anagni
• Boniface dies one month later

5. Great Schism..cont
• Two years later, Philip IV persuades the College of
Cardinals to choose a French archbishop as the new pope
• Clement V: : French
archbishop who was elected
pope in 1305
• In 1309, Clement claimed that political violence in Rome
was threatening his life

6. Great Schism..cont
• With the help of Philip IV, Clement V moved his papacy
out of Rome
• Avignon: French city that
Clement V moved the papacy to in
1309
• This outraged the English, German, & Italian Christians
• “Babylonian Captivity”: Used to
describe the Avignon papacy

8. Great Schism..cont
• In 1378, Pope Gregory XI died while visiting Rome, The
College of Cardinals then met in Rome to choose a
successor
• Pope Urban VI: Italian
archbishop of Bari who was
elected pope in 1378
• Urban VI moved the papacy back
to Rome after his election

9. Great Schism..cont
• A little over a year later, 13 French cardinals decided to elect another
pope
• Robert of Geneva: French
cardinal who became Pope
Clement VII & moved the papacy
back to Avignon
• Now there were two popes, each excommunicated the
other

10. Great Schism..cont
• Great Schism: Period in which
the church was divided in
western Europe. Lasted from
1378 to 1417
• The French supported the Avignon papacy
• The English, Germans, & Italians supported the Roman
papacy
• There were church officials appointed by both popes

11. Great Schism..cont
John Wycliffe: English professor who
challenged the actions of the Church
• 1) Jesus true head of Church, not
pope
• 2) Clergy should not own land or
wealth
• 3) Bible final authority for Christian
life

13. Great Schism..cont
• John Huss: Bohemian professor
who challenged the actions of the
Church
• Huss taught that the authority of
the Bible was higher than that of
the pope
• He preached, like Wycliffe, in the local vernacular rather than Latin
• Huss was excommunicated in 1411

14. Great Schism..cont
• In 1414, the newly elected emperor of
Germany, Sisismund, arranged a Church
council to end the Great Schism.
• Huss was urged to attend & was promised
he would be safe from retribution by the
Church
• Instead he was seized & burned at the stake
1415

16. Great Schism..cont
• Council of Constance: Church
meeting that ended the Great Schism
• By the time of the Council of
Constance there were three popes
• Martin V: Chosen pope by the
Council of Constance. His election
ends the Great Schism