The Great Schism (25)
 The
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Setting: Europe in 1300s:
Emerging towns/cities
Emerging middle class (merchants & craftsmen)
Reducing Power of lords
Increasing power of monarchs
Ending of feudalism - beginning of nations
Papacy (the popes)
 Still:
lots of power
 Lost “spiritual prestige” (street cred)
 Battling
monarchs for power not very “Christian”
 Losing all those crusades doesn’t sound like God’s
got his back
 Pope
Boniface VIII
 Issued
a papal bull (official statement) saying kings
may not tax church property (1296 CE)
 French King, Philip IV, had been taxing the church to
pay for war with England (back to the war, again!)
Philip ignored the papal bull
Unam Sanctum – Popes talkin’
trash
 Boniface
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VIII issued a new bull: Unam Sanctum (1302)
Two powers on earth: temporal (earthly) & spiritual
(heavenly)
Spiritual Power is ALWAYS higher than temporal
The Pope is ALWAYS higher than kings
 Phillip
proved this was not true, by kidnapping the
pope and applying a medieval beat down
 Boniface VIII died less than a year later from the stress
Summary
 How
did King Philip show that “temporal”
kings had more power than “spiritual”
popes?
Do you have: Philip IV, Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctum
& taxing churches in your left-hand column?
Philip further proves his point
 Philip
convinces the Cardinals to choose a
French archbishop (Clement V.) to be the next
pope.
 Clement, claiming Rome was too violent, moved
the Papacy to Avignon, France
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Essentially, the pope is now an agent of the king of
“France”
“Germans,” “Italians,” “Spaniards,” are not happy
 The
Avignon popes lived extravagantly $$$
A Split in the Church
A
later Avignon Pope (Gregory XI) died while
visiting Rome
 Cardinals select a Roman Pope: Urban VI
 He turns out to be a jerk
 A Group of 13 French Cardinals selects a new
Pope: Clement VII
 TWO
POPES
 One
in Rome
 One in Avignon
 Who is the voice of God? Who should Catholics
follow?
 Communities
now often had 2 bishops (one
representing each pope!)
Great Schism (1378 – 1417 CE)
 Each
pope @ ½ power
 Frustrated Catholics come up with new ideas:
 “Christ
was meek, but the pope sits on his throne
and makes lords to kiss his feet” –John Wycliffe
 Christ
is head of the church, not a pope
 Clergy should live as Christ, in poverty
 Bible is final arbiter of how to live as a Christian
 Christianity should be taught in the vernacular
 Council
of Constance (1417 CE):
 Reduces
3 popes down to one (Martin V).
Effects of the Great Schism:
Spiritual
Temporal
 Kings
showed they
had more practical
power
 Catholics grow
frustrated with
unclear message
 New ideas emerge
 Christianity
moving
into the hands of the
Christians
• Popes lose power over
kings: excommunication
not effective
• Popes lose spiritual
authority
• Local clergy left without
authority
• As Lords lost power so
did their loser little
brother, the bishop
Criticism and Confusion over Church power will lead to:
THE REFORMATION
Summary:
 How
did the Great Schism further reduce
the power of the church?
Do you have: Avignon Popes, 2 popes, John
Wycliffe, & Council of Constance in your left-hand
column?