Christwiki

Clement VII (Avignon)

Pope of the Avignon line, elected in 1378Also: Robert of Geneva

Robert of Geneva, set up as pope in 1378 by the cardinals who had abandoned Urban VI. His line sat at Avignon and was ended by the Council of Constance.

The English chronicler Knighton records under 1378 that some of the cardinals left Urban VI, went to Avignon and raised Robert of Geneva to the papacy under the name Clement, and that a great schism followed, with kings and kingdoms on either side (Knighton, Chronicle vol. 2, p. 129). Catherine of Siena, who held to Urban, called him an antipope (Catherine of Siena, Letters To Three Italian Cardinals).

At the time of the Council of Constance the claimant of this line was Peter de Luna, called Benedict XIII, whom the council deposed in 1417 (Council of Constance, session 12) (Council of Constance, session 37). See the Great Western Schism.

In the timeline

  1. 1378 to 1417, firm date
    The Great Western Schism

    The cardinals who elect Urban VI at Rome in 1378 declare the election forced and set up Clement VII. For nearly forty years two and then three lines of popes divide Latin Christendom, until at Constance two are deposed, one resigns and Martin V is elected.

Primary sources

Chronicle

Henry Knighton · late fourteenth century · Latin

Letters

Catherine of Siena · c. 1376–1378 (the letters cited) · Italian

Decrees of the Council of Constance

The Council of Constance · 1414–1418 · Latin

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