HI127 The Medieval World
The Medieval Church
THE AVIGNON PAPACY, THE GREAT SCHISM,
AND THE COUNCILS
Powerpoint will be on the website
THE AVIGNON POPES
1305-1314
1316-1334
1334-1342
1342-1352
1352-1362
1362-1370
1370-1378
Clement V (Betrand de Got)
John XXII (Jacques Duèse)
Benedict XII (Jacques Fournier)
Clement VI (Pierre Roger)
Innocent VI (Étienne Aubert)
Urban V (Guillaume de Grimoard)
Gregory XI (Pierre Roger, nephew of Charles VI)
THE PAPACY DURING THE GREAT SCHISM
Reign
1378(?)-1389
Roman
Pisan
Urban VI
1378-1394
1389-1404
Avignon
Clement VII
Boniface IX
Benedict XIII
(deposed 1417)
1394-1423
1404-1406
Innocent VII
1406-1415
Gregory XII
(resigned)
1409-1410
Alexander V
1410-1415
John XXIII
(deposed)
1417-1431
Martin V
CHURCH COUNCILS 1409-1449
Dates
Location(s)
March-June 1409
Pisa
November 1414-April 1418
Constance
April 1423-February 1424
Pavia and Siena
July 1431-April 1449
Basle, Ferrara, and Florence
‘The Avignonese period produced major changes both in
the functioning of the papacy and in the way the rest of
the church perceived it. Never had the papacy done so
much or with such effectiveness. Never had the papacy
possessed a greater income or a greater impact on the
farthest reaches of Christendom. But simultaneous with
this growth in power was a decline in reputation. In the
mid-eleventh century, the papacy had emerged as the
leader of the reform movement in the western church.
For more than two centuries the popes gave direction
and inspiration to zealous reformers and pious believers
... In the fourteenth century, the conviction grew that
the
papacy
itself
needed
reform.’
Joseph H. Lynch, The Medieval Church: A Brief History
(Harlow, 1992), p. 327
‘Enthusiasts for the “conciliar theory” upheld, in
various forms, the principle that councils were the
fundamental source of authority in the Church,
superior to popes, who could err, and that they
should have a permanent place in the life of the
Church.’
Euan Cameron, The European Reformation (Oxford,
1991), p. 49
Petrarch: ‘... unholy Babylon, Hell on earth, a sink
of iniquity, the cess-pool of the world. There is
neither faith, nor charity, nor religion, nor fear of
God, nor shame, nor truth, nor holiness, albeit the
residence within its walls of the supreme pontiff
should have made of it a shrine and the very
stronghold of religion ... Of all the cities I know, its
stench is the worst ... What dishonour to see it
suddenly become the capital of the world when it
should
be
but
the
least
of
all
cities.’
Quoted in G. Mollat, The Popes at Avignon 13051378 (London, 1963), pp. 155-156
Petrarch: ‘Arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls; having a
golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and
the
filth
of
her
fornication.’
Quoted in Mollat, Popes, p. 156
‘In the 204 years from 1100 until 1304, the popes
spent 122 away from Rome and 82 in Rome: that
is, 40 years more away from Rome than in it.’
L. Gayet, Le Grande Schisme d’Occident (Florence,
1889), p. 3.
Palais des Papes
Avignon
Of those members of the papal curia whose
geographical origins can be determined, 1,552
(70%) were French, 521 (23.1%) were Italian, 69
(3.1%) came from the Empire, and 24 (1%) came
from England.
Source: Francis Oakley, The Western Church in the
Later Middle Ages (Ithaca and London, 1979), p. 42
Pope Clement VI