Historical Dictionary of Renaissance

SCHISM

Schism: translation

(1378-1417)
Also known as "the Great Schism." Division within the Roman Catholic Church caused by dis-agreement over which of two (and for a time, three) claimants to the position ofpopehad been lawfully elected. It originated in the after-math of the election of PopeUrban VI(1378-1389) as successor to Pope Gregory XI, who the preceding year (1377) had finally suc-ceeded in re-establishingRomeas the seat of the papal administra-tion and had brought the predominantly French college of cardinals back fromAvignonto Rome, thus ending the so-calledBabylonian Captivityof the papacy. The election of Urban VI was tumultuous, with large crowds of Roman citizens gathered outside the electoral conclave, threatening the lives of the cardinals if they did not elect an Italian rather than another French pope. Although all but one of the cardinals acquiesced in the election of Urban (who was an Italian, the former archbishop of Bari), many of them claimed that the fear of mob violence had forced them to make the election and that therefore the whole process was illegal.
When the new pope proved disrespectful of the traditional privi-leges of the cardinals and showed signs of erratic behavior, the French cardinals left Rome, reassembled beyond the pope's reach, formally declared the earlier election invalid, and then elected one of their own group,Clement VII(1378-1394), as pope. Since Pope Ur-ban held firm control of Rome, Clement VII and the majority of the cardinals returned to Avignon. Thus there were two rival claimants, one at Rome and one at Avignon.Since each claimant excommuni-cated his rival and all of his rival's supporters and then filled up his college of cardinals with new appointees, the division was institu-tionalized. When either claimant died, his cardinals elected a succes-sor. Thus the division was not limited to the lifetime of the first two claimants: there were not only two popes but also two colleges of car-dinals and two papal administrative systems. The rival popes sought support of rulers and prelates in all parts of Catholic Europe, so that the various nations divided into pro-Roman and pro-Avignonese groups. Since each side excommunicated the other, half of Europe seemed doomed to eternal damnation for supporting a false pope, and no one was quite sure which half it was.
This spiritual crisis produced many attempts to resolve the schism, either by negotiation between the two rival popes or by mediation of secular rulers, but all efforts based on compromise or mediation proved unsuccessful. Eventually, appealing to the practice of the early church, many university theologians and canon lawyers adopted the theory ofConciliarism, insisting that a church council, not the pope, was the ultimate authority in the church. The first at-tempt to put this theory into practice, made by groups of cardinals from both Rome and Avignon, was theCouncil of Pisathat assem-bled in 1409, declared both claimants deposed in the interests of unity, and then elected a new pope. This action added a third claimant rather than solving the problem.
Eventually, the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund gained the back-ing of most European rulers and summoned a new council, theCoun-cil of Constance, which convened in southern Germany in 1414, dominated by Conciliarist theorists who optimistically hoped that the new council not only would bring an end to the Schism but also would enact far-ranging reform legislation. Meaningful reform proved difficult to enact, but in 1417, after deposing one of the three popes, persuading a second to abdicate, and forcing the third to flee to Castile, the council elected a new pope,Martin V, who was uni-versally recognized. The Schism was at an end. The experience left papal authority weakened and for a generation continued to inspire demands for reform and insistence that the Conciliarist decrees en-acted at Constance,Haec SanctaandFrequens, were a permanent part of the church's laws and required that councils must be sum-moned at frequent intervals.

  1. schism—Schism translation Derived from a Greek word meaning fissureem or rentem and may be defined as a rending of the Body of Christ His Church on earth and making divisions in...American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  2. schism—Schism translation Schism In the language of theology and canon law the rupture of ecclesiastical union and unity dd Catholic Encyclopedia.Kevin Knight Schism Schism ...Catholic encyclopedia
  3. schism—Schism translation A separation an alienation causing divisions among Christians who ought to be united Cor. ....Easton's Bible Dictionary
  4. schism—schism translationSynonyms and related wordsaffiliation alienation apostasy betrayal body bolt branch breach breach of friendship break breakaway chasm church cleavage cl...Moby Thesaurus
  5. schism—[szm]схизма ересь расколсекта...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  6. schism—схизма раскол ересь...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  7. schism—раскол...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  8. schism—раскол...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  9. schism—n ересь раскол секта схизма...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  10. schism—schism [skzm] nu раскол распадение на фракции и т.п.u рел.u схизма раскол ересь...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  11. schism—сущ. церк. схизма ересь раскол to cause create a schism производить раскол секта...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  12. schism—n .strong раскол ересь религиозное учение отклоняющееся от официальной церковной доктрины по вопросам трактовки вероучения и культа .strong секта. strong раскол ересь р...Англо-русский словарь по социологии
  13. schism—n. раскол [рел.] ересь схизма распадение на фракции...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  14. schism—сущ.emstrong раскол ересь религиозное учение отклоняющееся от официальной церковной доктрины по вопросам трактовки вероучения и культа секта....Англо-русский социологический словарь
  15. schism—церк.схизма раскол состав преступления по английскому каноническому уголовному праву...Англо-русский юридический словарь
  16. schism—nсхизма розкол ресь...Англо-украинский словарь
  17. schism—церк. схизма розкол...Англо-украинский юридический словарь
  18. schism—ресь секта розкол...Англо-український словник
  19. schism—n рел. розкол схизма ресь розкольницька секта....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  20. schism—церк. схизма розкол...Англо-український юридичний словник
  21. schism—[skzm] n. раскол рел. ересь схизма. секта...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  22. schism—schism [skzm] ni . раскол рел. iересь схизма . секта...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  23. schism—skzm n . раскол рел. emересь схизма . секта...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна
  24. schism—sjism.strong вражда разрыв...Шведско-русский словарь