Avignon Papacy

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The Avignon Papacy also called The Babylonian captivity of the papacy took placefrom
1309 to 1377. It is the name for the time in the history of Christianity when the pope moved its headquarters form Rome to Avignon in France. Avignon became the residence of the popes in
1309 when Pope Clement V along with the Curia, moved there.
The most important reason for such change was a conflict between the Pope Boniface VIII and a
French king Philip IV.The immediate cause of dispute was due to taxes imposed by King on church property. Filip, entangled in a fight with England, financed the war with the money from the taxes collected from the clergy. Boniface condemned these practices in the Papal
Bull Clericislaicos in 1296, and in response to Philip …show more content…

This date can be considered the beginning of the Great Western Schism.
Clement VII excommunicated Urban VI, but he failed to get the public acceptance or win militarily Rome, despite the support of many European countries and the Roman Curia. In the end he had to settle in Avignon. In such way, the Catholic Church was divided into two parts.
Individual countries declared support in relation to Pope in Rome and they were: England,
Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire,Hungary, Northern Italy and the Teutonic Knights. In favor of Avignon Popes were: Burgundy, Cyprus, France, Castile and León, Navarra, Savoy, and Scotland. Such amove started the time in a history when two popes claimed the office . Such situation caused a decades-dual power.
The situation of support has changed significantly with the rise of the third side of the conflict –
Pisa. In 1408 most of the cardinals that supported the Rome and Avignon commented obedience to its popes (Benedict XIII and Gregory XII) and joined The Council of Pisa in 1409. …show more content…

In 1414 on the Council of Constance which was the Ecumenical Council of the Catholic
Church convened by Pisa an anti-pope John XXIII.Its main aim was to end the Great Western
Schism. The Council suggested that all three popes should abdicate and the cardinals should elect a new one.John XXIII delivered the promise of voluntary renunciation of the throne, which he repeated in an edict published on March 8th. However He escaped from Constance in fear of accusations put forward against him. He was soon captured and imprisoned on May29, 1415 and a council formally deprived him of office.
Roman Pope - Gregory XII refused to recognize the council, which he has not convened, but he chose a compromise solution andat the same time "convened" the council of Constance (which was already taking place) and approved all its decisions..
From that moment on, council decisions are recognized officially by the Catholic Church.
Participants after the confirmation of the document voted in favor of the abdication of Gregory
XII. The Council also considered all the documents issued by Gregory.
Council of Constance declared Avignon anti-pope Benedict XIII as schismatic and excommunicated him, depriving him of the

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