Declaration of the Cardinals against Urban VI
The manifesto in which the cardinals who had elected Urban VI in April 1378 declared the election void because it was made in fear of the Roman crowd. It opened the Great Western Schism.
The cardinals issued the declaration in August 1378, some four months after they had elected Bartholomew, archbishop of Bari, as Urban VI at Rome. It says that armed Romans surrounded and entered the conclave, threatened to kill the electors unless they chose a Roman or an Italian, and so forced an election that was null.
It is the case for one side, written by men who had themselves written to announce Urban’s election and coronation before they turned against him; Catherine of Siena and others answered that they had chosen him freely. The source book prints only the central part of a long text. See the Great Western Schism.
Cited in
- 1378 to 1417, firm date