The history of the Roman Catholic Church during the late medieval period is marked by numerous political and spiritual crises, but few episodes were as destructive to the Church’s credibility and unity as the Avignon Papacy and the subsequent Great Western Schism. These events, unfolding between the early fourteenth and mid-fifteenth centuries, reflected the devastating entanglement of ecclesiastical authority with political ambition. The Avignon Papacy, often referred to by Roman Catholic historians as the “Babylonian Captivity of the Church,” and the Great Western Schism that followed, deeply compromised the papacy’s moral authority, fractured Western Christendom, and revealed the fatal consequences of unbiblical centralization of ecclesiastical power in a human institution rather than in the inspired, inerrant, and all-sufficient Word of God.

The Relocation of the Papacy to Avignon

The Avignon Papacy began in 1309 when Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, moved the papal residence from Rome to Avignon, located in the Kingdom of Sicily but politically and culturally tied to France. This relocation was not a formal abandonment of Rome as the seat of the papacy, but practically, it signaled a shift in the center of ecclesiastical power from Italy to France, where the papacy remained for nearly seventy years.

Clement V’s decision was driven by several practical considerations. Rome had become a place of violent conflict, plagued by factional disputes and corruption, and thus was considered unsafe and unstable. Yet this move, regardless of its initial justification, led to the perception that the papacy had fallen under the influence of the French crown. During the Avignon period (1309–1377), seven successive popes—all of them French—reigned from Avignon. This reality lent credibility to the charge that the papacy had become a political instrument of French national interests, a claim reinforced by the conduct and policies of these pontiffs.

The spiritual ramifications were catastrophic. Just as ancient Israel was taken captive to Babylon as a consequence of her rebellion against Jehovah, many likened this exile of the papacy to a spiritual captivity. Roman Catholic scholars themselves termed it the “Babylonian Captivity” of the Church, referencing both the Old Testament exile and, by analogy, the departure of the papacy from its supposed divinely appointed seat in Rome. However, unlike Israel’s captivity, which was a judgment from Jehovah, this captivity was self-imposed and the fruit of the papacy’s own compromise with worldly powers.

The Avignon popes were notorious for their extravagance, nepotism, and financial corruption. The papal court in Avignon functioned less as a spiritual hub and more as a centralized bureaucracy dedicated to wealth accumulation and political alliances. A papal secretary during this time confessed, “There they talk every day of castles, lands, cities, of all kinds of war weapons, of money; but rarely or never do you hear them speak of purity, alms, justice, faith, or of holy life.” The spiritual degradation of the Curia and the ecclesiastical apparatus surrounding the papacy stands as a solemn warning against the dangers of centralizing power in a fallen institution rather than in Scripture, which is “inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The Return to Rome and the Beginnings of the Schism

Pope Gregory XI, the last of the Avignon popes, returned the papal residence to Rome in 1377 under the pressure of influential figures such as Catherine of Siena. However, his death in 1378 plunged the Church into chaos. A conclave of cardinals—mostly French—elected an Italian, Bartolomeo Prignano, who took the name Urban VI. His election was likely influenced by the Roman populace’s fervent demand for an Italian pope, which some cardinals later claimed rendered the election invalid due to coercion.

Urban VI’s temperament and zeal for reform alienated the cardinals who had elected him. His harsh criticism of clerical corruption and his obstinate manner provoked deep resentment. Within months, a majority of the cardinals withdrew their support, denounced Urban as a usurper, and elected another pope—Robert of Geneva, who took the name Clement VII. He established his court again in Avignon. This marked the beginning of what became known as the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), during which rival popes, each claiming legitimacy, excommunicated one another and divided Christendom.

The Schism and Its Devastating Effects

The schism resulted in a fractured Church. Political alliances dictated allegiance to either Rome or Avignon. France, Spain, Scotland, and southern Italy supported the Avignon papacy, while England, the Holy Roman Empire, and much of northern Europe supported Rome. As one historian noted, “Two Popes, with their completely organized courts, demanded the allegiance of Christendom.” This ecclesiastical duplicity exposed the internal rot of the Roman system, which had long departed from biblical patterns of church governance.

Competing papal claims created moral and theological absurdities. One pope would excommunicate a person, and the other would absolve him. One would condemn a theological position, the other would affirm it. Church discipline became meaningless, and the supposed unity of the Church, which Roman Catholics claimed was guaranteed by papal supremacy, was shattered for all to see. A prominent Catholic lamented, “One Pope excommunicates a man and the other declares him loosed from it… the keys of the Church are debased.”

This turmoil was not simply a matter of institutional failure—it was the fruit of centuries of deviation from the biblical pattern of humble, servant leadership rooted in the local assembly of believers under the authority of Scripture alone. The New Testament nowhere authorizes a centralized ecclesiastical hierarchy. Instead, local congregations were governed by a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5), and Christ alone is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22–23).

Attempts at Resolution and the Council of Constance

Numerous councils were convened in the early fifteenth century to resolve the crisis, but they failed due to the obstinacy and ambition of the rival popes. The most notorious of these failed attempts was the Council of Pisa in 1409, which sought to depose both the Roman and Avignon popes and elect a third. The council elected Alexander V, but neither of the deposed popes recognized the decision, resulting in a threefold schism. Instead of unity, confusion and scandal deepened.

The definitive attempt to resolve the schism occurred at the Council of Constance (1414–1418), convened by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and Pope John XXIII (not to be confused with the twentieth-century pope of the same name). This council was unique in that it established national voting blocs, a move that undercut the political machinations of any one region, especially the French and Italians.

Pope John XXIII, realizing he could not control the proceedings, attempted to flee but was captured and later deposed after being charged with a litany of moral and financial crimes. Gregory XII, the Roman pope, agreed to resign in order to help restore unity. Benedict XIII of Avignon refused and was also declared deposed, though he continued his claims until his death.

Finally, in 1417, the council elected Martin V as the new and sole pope. This event marked the formal end of the schism, though residual claims by Benedict XIII’s successor, Clement VIII, extended the practical effects of the schism until 1429. Nevertheless, the damage was irreversible.

Theological and Ecclesiastical Implications

The Avignon Papacy and the Great Western Schism exposed the deep corruption within the Roman Church and its hierarchy. More importantly, they highlighted the unscriptural nature of the papal system itself. Nowhere in the New Testament is there any indication that the Church was to be governed by a single supreme pontiff. Instead, Jesus Christ is the sole Head of the Church, and His Word is the sufficient and final authority.

The claim of papal infallibility—eventually dogmatized in 1870—was decisively undermined by these events. How can an institution claim divine guidance when it tolerates, promotes, and perpetuates such spiritual chaos, immorality, and confusion for over a century? The scandal of multiple rival popes, all claiming to be Christ’s vicar on earth, laid bare the fundamental flaw in Roman ecclesiology: it had supplanted the authority of Scripture with the authority of men.

This period also set the stage for the later Reformation. Honest men within the Roman Church were appalled. They could see that the Church had become, in the words of one contemporary, “a worldly, devilish, despotic Curia.” Reformers would later use this era to demonstrate the failure of the papacy to be either holy or apostolic. It was a human institution, fallible, corruptible, and dangerously politicized.

Conclusion: A Church Captive to the World

The Avignon Papacy and the Great Western Schism were not mere historical curiosities. They were the inevitable consequence of the Church’s abandonment of the sufficiency of Scripture, the plurality of local leadership, and the priesthood of all believers. When the Church forsakes its biblical foundation, it becomes vulnerable to the corrupting influences of power, money, and politics.

The so-called Babylonian Captivity of the Church was not simply geographical—it was spiritual. The papacy, in striving to dominate the nations, became captive to them. The faithful remnant during these dark centuries clung not to the Roman hierarchy but to the Word of God, awaiting the day when the light of Scripture would once again shine clearly. That day would come with the Reformation, when the principle of Sola Scriptura would challenge the tyranny of Rome and restore the authority of God’s Word in the life of the Church.

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