Bible & Christianity › The medieval church › The papacy: the popes and medieval Christendom
Avignon papacy and the Western Schism
popes at Avignon 1309–1377; rival popes 1378–1417· Event· Church, doctrine & the world
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
For nearly 70 years popes lived in Avignon, France; then rival popes, at one point three, claimed the papacy until 1417.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
In 1309 Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, settled at Avignon, in France. Seven popes reigned there, seen as tools of the French king; critics called it the 'Babylonian Captivity'. Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377. After his death the cardinals elected Urban VI, then rejected him and chose a rival who went back to Avignon. Europe took sides. A 1409 council at Pisa added a third pope. The Council of Constance (1414–1418) deposed two, accepted the third's resignation, and elected Martin V in 1417.
Why it matters
Rival popes excommunicating each other badly damaged papal authority and boosted the idea that a church council outranks the pope, setting the stage for later reformers.
Sources and history
Papal records, chronicles, the decrees of Constance and Avignon's surviving Palace of the Popes document it. Today's Catholic Church counts the Roman line as the legitimate popes.
Questions and debates
Whether Urban VI's 1378 election was valid, or forced by a Roman mob as the cardinals later claimed, was never conclusively settled.
Connections (2)
▸Avignon papacy and the Western Schism was ended by the council that condemned Jan HusHistorical record
The connection
To end the Western Schism, King Sigismund (later emperor) pressed for the Council of Constance (1414–1418), which removed the rival popes and elected Martin V. The same council tried Hus for heresy despite his safe-conduct and had him burned in July 1415, showing it could restore orthodoxy as well as unity.
When and where
Constance, on Lake Constance in southern Germany; Hus burned July 6, 1415; Martin V elected November 11, 1417.
Historical evidence
The council's acts, the eyewitness account of Peter of Mladoňovice, and Hus's own letters from prison survive.
Questions and debates
Historians debate whether Sigismund betrayed Hus or was outmaneuvered; a later council decree held that a ruler's safe-conduct could not shield a suspected heretic from church judgment.
▸Avignon papacy and the Western Schism eroded papal prestige before The Protestant ReformationMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Watching rival popes excommunicate each other for 40 years taught Europeans that the papacy could be questioned. Councils claimed authority over popes, rulers gained more control of their national churches, and critics like Wycliffe and Hus found hearers. A century later, Luther faced a papacy with less prestige to spend.
When and where
Europe, 1309–1417 and after; the Council of Constance's decree Haec sancta (1415) claimed councils outrank popes.
How do we know?
This is historians' interpretation: the timeline is clear, but a century separates the two, so the link is indirect.
Questions and debates
Some historians argue the papacy had largely recovered by 1500, and that the Renaissance popes' own conduct mattered more.