Explain the Problems Involved in Bringing the Great Schism to an End. How Were These Problems Overcome?

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Explain the problems involved in bringing the Great Schism to an end. How were these problems overcome? Beginning in 1378 and lasting until 1414, the Great Schism split the loyalties of the Church and Christendom between a number of Popes. Beginning after the College of Cardinals elected two conflicting Popes (one in Rome and one in Avignon) in 1378; the ending of the Schism proved to be problematic. These problems can be divided into two major components. The first is the internal church politics that the Avignon and Roman sides engaged in against each other. These politics lengthened the duration of the Schism and also reduced the effectiveness of the solutions proposed in ending the Schism. The second is the effect of external politics playing on the internal church politics. The external politics had contributed to the Schism becoming a secular problem and split the loyalties of Europe. To end the Schism, three solutions were proposed. These were via cessionis, via compromissi and the via concilii generalis. The first major problem in ending the Schism was the internal church politics. This can be further broken down into two components. The first problem of church politics was the legitimacy of the Popes. This would lead to the second problem which was the refusal of the Avignon and Roman Popes to compromise with each other as they thought of themselves as being the legitimate Pope. The problem of legitimacy must now be examined. In 1378, the College of Cardinals, under pressure from an unruly Roman mob outside the Conclave elected Urban VI as Pope.1 However, after Urban’s harsh treatment of the Cardinals alienated them, they proceeded to 1 D. Hay, Europe In The Fourteenth And Fifteenth Centuries, London, 1989, p. 301. declare Urban’s election invalid and elect Clement VII as Pope.2 This created a situation without precedent as there was no clear
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