or Great Schism
(13781417) In Roman Catholic history, a period when there were two, and later three, rival popes, each with his own College of Cardinals .
The schism began soon after the papal residence was returned to Rome from Avignon (see Avignon papacy ). Urban VI was elected amid local demands for an Italian pope, but a group of cardinals with French sympathies elected an antipope, Clement VII, who took up residence at Avignon. Cardinals from both sides met at Pisa in 1409 and elected a third pope in an effort to end the schism. The rift was not healed until the Council of Constance vacated all three seats and elected Martin V as pope in 1417.