CHAPTER 5:

SCHISM, REFORM, & RENEWAL
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Babylonian Captivity and Black Plague
Western Schism
Protestant Reformation (Renaissance)
Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, King Henry VIII
Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism
St. Catherine of Sienna, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila
Council of Trent

Babylonian Captivity of the Church
• “Babylonian Captivity”: Avignon Papacy- 1309-1377 (7 popes)
• Philip IV of France arrested Boniface VIII and put in French

Pope, Clement V.
• French controlled the Papacy in Avignon, France
• Papal abuses: extravagance, centralization, taxes & simony

#1: Decline of the Papacy during the
Babylonian Captivity
• The Popes at Avignon lived apart from Rome
• Papal “line” and legitimacy was questioned
• Avignon life was extravagant and corrupt
• Popes abused power and collected unjust taxes
• Pope (and the Church) seen as a political arm of France.

Opponents

Reactions to the “Babylonian Captivity”
• William of Ockham: Called for democratic form of Church

government
• Marsilius of Padua: Said Church held no special power and was subject to the state.

Saints

• St. Bridget of Sweden: Called Pope Gregory XI to return to

Rome.
• St. Catherine of Sienna: Called Pope Gregory XI to return to
Rome and succeeded. Letter writer and Doctor of the Church.
• Pope Gregory XI: Last Avignon Pope. Returned Papacy to

Rome 1377.

Political Events of “Babylonian Captivity”
• Hundred Years War (1337-1453) between England and France
• St. Joan of Arc: heard God calling her to save France. Led

French to victory in Battle of Orleans (1428-1429) against
English. Captured and martyred by English.
• Black Death: the bubonic plague of Europe. Height: 1337-1350 killed ⅓ - ½ of Europe’s population. #2: Western Schism
• Great Western Schism: 1378-1417
• After Gregory XI dies, Italian mob pressures the cardinals to

elect Italian Pope Urban VI.
• Cardinals return to Avignon and elect Pope, Clement VII.
• Both Popes and their successors claim to be the true Pope, splitting the Church (English and Germans side with Rome,
French and Scots side with Avignon).
Led to…
• Conciliarism: idea that a general council of the Church had more authority than the Pope and could depose of the Pope
• Nominalism: philosophy that the faithful - and their bishops in council – have supreme authority in the Church.

Solving the Schism
• Council of Pisa (1409): deposed both Popes and elected a third

Pope, Alexander V.
• Council of Constance (1414-1418):
• Called by King Sigismund and later by Pope Gregory XII of Rome.
• Gregory freely abdicates the Papacy and the council deposes the

two remaining Popes.
• Delegates of 5 nations elect Pope Martin V – ending the Western
Schism.
• Council of Basel: election of anti-Pope Felix V who later resigns.
• Pope Pius II formally condemns conciliarism in 1460

Avignon

Rome

Gregory XI
Urban VI 1

Cardinals elect
2 Clement VII
“Avignon Obedience”
• French
• Scots

Council of Pisa elects
3 Alexander V

Council of Constance
Council of Basel
Elects Felix V

“Roman Obedience”
• English
• Germans

Gregory VII resigns
Elects Martin V
Eugene IV
Pius II

More Heresies
• John Wyclif: Englishman who attacked papal authority, dismissed

validity of the hierarchy, the sacraments, and the priesthood.
Also championed the right to read the Bible in one’s own language. • John Hus: Bohemian follower of Wyclif who denied the authority of the Pope. Stressed authority of the Bible and importance of preaching. Was killed at the
Council
of Constance.

The Renaissance
• Renaissance: the cultural

rebirth of the late Middle Ages.
Stressed the natural and the human, the pleasures of life, glorified the human body, and celebrated education.

Raphael: The School of Athens

• Humanism: cultural and

intellectual movement that emphasized the rediscovery of literature, art, and ancient
Greek and Roman culture.
Michelangelo: The Creation of Adam

Infamy in the Renaissance Church
• Pope Alexander VI