Pisa
City on the Arno in Tuscany. A council called here by the cardinals in 1409 tried to end the Great Western Schism and produced a third line of popes instead.
Pisa lies near the mouth of the Arno in Tuscany. In 1409 the cardinals called a council here, which declared that their united college had the right to summon it and cited both claimants to hear its sentence (Council of Pisa (1409)). Its pope, Alexander V, and his successor John XXIII made a third line beside those of Rome and Avignon (Council of Constance, editor’s introduction); John XXIII appealed to the decrees of Pisa when he summoned the Council of Constance (Council of Constance, session 1). See the Great Western Schism.
What happened here
- 1378 to 1417, firm dateThe 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
Decrees of the Council of Pisa
- Council of Pisa (1409)gutenberg.org
Decrees of the Council of Constance
- Council of Constance, editor’s introductionpapalencyclicals.net
- Council of Constance, session 1papalencyclicals.net