ABSTRACT
The Great Western Schism is the name given to the period of ecclesiastical history from 1378 to 1417—an epoch of nearly forty years—during which there was a serious disagreement in Western Europe about the true headship of the Church. For thirty-two years there were two rival claimants to the Papal throne—one at Rome, the other at Avignon—each one claiming to be the divinely appointed and constitutionally chosen successor of St Peter; each with his own college of cardinals and extensive Papal court; each with loyal supporters among the states and peoples of Europe; each sending his appointees to every vacant office in the Church; each attempting to raise large sums of money from all Christendom to meet his heavy expenses; and each fulminating bulls against the other as usurper and anti-Christ with all the harsh epithets found in the rich ecclesiastical dictionary of that day. Then, to make matters still worse, the Council of Pisa in 1409, with praiseworthy motives but questionable foresight, succeeded in adding a third aspirant to the headship of the Church, so that during the last eight years of the schism, the misunderstanding was further complicated by three claimants to the triple crown.
