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A century of suffering:

Plague, war and schism

the road to Avignon

A.  POPE ST. CELESTINE V 1.  Pope  Nicholas  IV  dies  

in  1294,  and  the  Cardinals  cannot  decide  for  2  years  who  should  succeed  him.  

2.  Peter  Murrone  (compromise  candidate),  an  80  year  old  saintly  hermit,  is  begged  to  accept  the  papacy;  he  reluctantly  accepts  taking  the  name,  Celestine  V.  

POPE ST. CELESTINE V 3.  Though  loved  by  the  people,  the  

political  plots  and  weight  of  administration  prove  too  much  and  after  5  months,  he  resigns,  returning  to  his  hermitage.  

4.  Fearing  Celestine  might  be  used  by  groups  to  cause  schism,  the  new  pope,  Boniface  VIII,  puts  Celestine  in  confinement,  where  after  10  months,  dies.

B. BONIFACE VIII 1.  Pope  Boniface  VIII  believed  

the  importance  of  the  work  of  the  Church  meant  kings  and  lords  need  to  bend  to  the  will  of  the  pope.  

2.  Philip  the  Fair  (IV),  king  of  France,  goes  to  war  with  England,  and  in  order  to  fund  the  war,  decides  to  tax  the  clergy  and  confiscate  church  lands.  

BONIFACE VIII 3.  Boniface  VIII  writes  Clericos  Laicos  

to  condemn  Philip,  saying  kings  do  not  have  the  right  to  tax  clergy  without  permission  of  the  pope.  

4.  1301  –  King  Philip  arrests  Boniface  VIII’s  nuncio  “papal  diplomat”  in  France  on  made-­‐up  charges.  

5.  Boniface  responds  with  Unam  Sanctam  ,  declaring  that  in  order  to  save  his  soul,  every  human  being  must  be  subject  to  the  pope.  

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BONIFACE VIII

6.  Philip  calls  together  the  Estates  General  to  condemn  and  depose  the  pope,  charging  him  with  made-­‐up  charges.  

7.  With  this  condemnation,  Philip  marches  with  600  men  to  arrest  Pope  Boniface  VIII.    

8.  Boniface  meets  the  soldiers,  is  captured  and  beaten,  and  dies  soon  after.  

C.  THE AVIGNON PAPACY 1.  Benedict  XI  succeeds  Boniface  

VIII.  King  Philip  wanted  a  condemnation  of  Boniface  VIII’s  edicts;  instead,  Benedict  XI  condemns  the  individuals  who  had  beaten  and  abused  Boniface.  

2.  Within  8  months,  Benedict  XI  is  found  dead,  most  historians  believe  from  poisoning.  

THE AVIGNON PAPACY 3.  After  an  11  month  

conclave,  Clement  V  is  elected,  who  is  a  personal  friend  of  the  king  of  France;  in  order  to  avoid  the  chaos  of  Italy,  Clement  moves  the  papacy  to  the  French  town  of  Avignon,  surrounding  himself  with  French  Cardinals.  

THE AVIGNON PAPACY 4.  This  would  begin  the  

“Babylonian  Captivity”,  where  popes  for  70  years  would  remain  in  Avignon  under  the  control  of  the  French  king.  

5.  Gradually,  the  other  rulers  of  Europe  saw  the  pope  as  a  puppet  of  the  French  king,  thus  justifying  to  themselves  their  own  control  of  the  Church  in  their  domain.  

THE AVIGNON PAPACY 6.  There  would  be  a  move  among  many  

to  justify  the  lay  control  of  the  Church  by  such  individuals  as  Marsiglio  of  Padua  and  William  of  Ockham,  saying  lay  people  were  the  true  authority  in  the  Church  and  secular  leaders  should  have  control  over  the  Church.  

The Black Plague

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A. FAMINE

1.  1315-­‐1317  –  large  scale  famine  strikes  Europe  for  the  first  time  in  200  years;    

2.  Widespread  economic  depression  enters  in,  and  peasants,  in  order  to  find  security,  flock  to  urban  centers    

B.  THE BLACK PLAGUE 1.  Under  these  conditions,  the  “Black  Death”

would  strike  Europe  from  1347-­‐1351,  causing  the  death  of  over  25  million  people.  

2.  The  plague  would  lay  waste  to  the  political,  intellectual,  and  economic  leadership  of  Europe,  with  entire  towns  and  monasteries  being  wiped  out.  

3.  Many  priests,  bishops,  and  members  of  religious  orders  like  St.  Catherine  of  Siena,  who  dedicated  themselves  to  the  care  of  plague  victims  would  perish  in  great  numbers.

The Hundred Year’s War

(1337-1453)

B.  ST. JOAN OF ARC

1.  Joan  of  Arc  was  born  in  1412  in  Domremy,  France;  at  13  years  old  she  claimed  to  have  mystical  experiences  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel,  St.  Margaret,  and  St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  instructing  her  that  she  was  to  be  the  liberator  of  France  and  make  possible  the  coronation  of  Charles  VII.  

ST. JOAN OF ARC

2;  May,  1429-­‐  After  convincing  the  king  of  her  sincerity  (and  sanity),  Joan  leads  an  army  against  the  English  at  the  city  of  Orleans,  captures  the  city  and  it  surroundings.  

3;  Despite  being  wounded,  she  moves  onto  the  city  of  Rheims,  where  she  is  again  victorious,  and  has  Charles  VII  crowned  king.  

4;  A  year  later,  Joan  again  goes  into  battle,  and  is  captured  by  the  English,  put  on  trial  for  heresy  and  witchcraft  by  a  puppet  of  the  English,  Bishop  Pierre  Cauchon  of  Beauvais;  King  Charles  leads  no  intervention  for  her  life.  

ST. JOAN OF ARC

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6.  Though  doctors  and  theologians  found  nothing  heretical  or  sick  in  Joan  or  her  message,  she  was  burned  at  the  stake  for  heresy  on  May  30,  1431;  25  years  later  this  sentence  will  be  lifted  by  the  pope  and  in  1920  she  will  be  canonized,  being  declared  patroness  of  France.  

ST. JOAN OF ARC

Return to Rome and Schism

A.  ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA (1347-1380)

1.  The  youngest  of  25  children,  even  as  a  child  developed  a  deep  relationship  with  God,  having  mystical  experiences  by  the  time  she  was  7  years  old;  she  would  be  the  first  woman  to  have  received  the  stigmata,  or  the  wounds  of  Christ  in  her  body.  

2.  At  sixteen,  she  joined  the  Third  Order  of  Dominicans,  and  dedicating  herself  to  the  poor  and  sick  of  Siena,  especially  those  suffering  from  the  plague.  

ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA 3.  At  one  point  she  believes  

Christ  is  calling  her  to  a  more  public  life,  and  “heal  the  wounds  of  the  Church”  which  was  experiencing  the  Avignon  papacy.  

4.  She  would  start  to  write  letters  and  meet  with  the  pope,  where  finally  she  convinces  Pope  Gregory  XI  to  return  to  Rome.  

5.  St.  Catherine  also  would  act  as  an  ambassador  of  peace  for  the  pope,  helping  to  negotiate  peace  between  warring  groups.  

6.  After  caring  for  numerous  plague  victims  in  her  city  of  Siena,  she  would  eventually  catch  the  plague  herself  and  die  in  1380;  she  is  the  first  female  Doctor  (expert  of  theology)  of  the  Church.  

ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA B.  THE

WESTERN SCHISM

1.  After  the  death  of  Pope  Gregory  XI,  who  had  returned  to  Rome,  the  people  desired  an  Italian;  in  fact,  a  mob  violently  demanded  an  Italian.  

2.  The  cardinals  elect  the  Italian  Urban  VI,  who  became  an  aggressive  reformer,  so  much  so,  that  the  French  cardinals  rethought  their  choice,  and,  returning  to  Avignon,  claiming  they  were  forced  to  vote  for  Urban,  elect  an  anti-­‐pope,  Clement  VII,  beginning  the  Great  Western  Schism,  with  the  Catholic  people  being  unsure  who  is  the  real  pope.    

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THE WESTERN SCHISM 3.  Each nation and ruler

would rally around their own pope; even saints were confused who the real pope was.

4.  Council of Pisa (1409)- Both popes are deposed and a third is elected, the antipope Alexander V; most reject the Council of Pisa’s election, yet now there were three men claiming to be pope.

THE WESTERN SCHISM

5.  The Council of Constance- 2 of the 3 popes abdicate and the third pope loses support; Martin V, a Roman, is elected pope, ending the schism

Decline of Scholastic Philosophy

and Theology and the Rise of Heresy

A. JOHN WYCLIFFE 1.  John  Wycliffe  was  a  

professor  and  priest  at  Oxford  University  who  had  long  been  a  critic  of  the  temporal  practices  and  material  possessions  of  the  Church,  arguing  the  Church  should  give  up  all  political  power  and  practice  strict  poverty;  through  this  he  justified  the  seizure  of  Church  lands  by  the  king.  

JOHN WYCLIFFE 2.  Considered  a  “pre-­‐Protestant”  thinker,  he  

would  eventually  attack  the  authority  of  the  pope,  Scholasticism,  Tradition  as  a  source  of  belief  in  favor  of  Scripture  alone,  as  well  as  the  need  for  the  priesthood  or  the  sacraments.  

JOHN WYCLIFFE 3.  He  will  also  reject  the  idea  

that  the  human  person  has  free  will,  saying  that  man  was  completely  subject  to  the  will  of  God.  

4.  The  Lollards,  those  who  embraced  Wycliffe’s  ideas,  helped  pave  the  way  for  Protestantism  in  England.  

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C. JAN HUS 1.  In  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia  

(the  Czech  Republic),  Wycliffe’s  ideas  enjoyed  great  popularity,  particularly  because  of  the  growth  of  nationalism  there,  and  the  desire  to  break  from  the  control  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  which  was  seen  as  allied  to  the  Roman  Church.  

JAN HUS 2.  Jan  Hus,  rector  of  the  

University  of  Prague,  adopted  many  of  Wycliffe’s  arguments,  in  his  attempt  to  reform  the  Church  in  Bohemia.  

3.  He  at  first  enjoyed  support  from  the  king  and  clergy,  but  as  he  moved  into  heresy,  this  support  dwindled;  he  soon  adopted  many  views  which  would  be  adopted  later  by  Martin  Luther,  including  the  rejection  of  transubstantiation,  and  faith  alone,  apart  from  good  works,  brought  salvation.  

JAN HUS 4.  He  would  

eventually  be  arrested,  brought  to  trial,  and  burned  at  the  stake  for  heresy;  Hus  would  become  a  hero  and  martyr  for  the  nationalist  cause  of  Bohemia