HANDOUT FOR APRIL 2: LATE MEDIEVAL CRISIS
Chronology:
1292-1294: Deadlock in College of Cardinals leaves papacy vacant.
1294: Benedictine monk elected Pope Celestine V; resigns.
1294-1303: Boniface VIII. Issues bull clericis laicos, which attempts to forbid royal taxation of clergy. Tangles with King Philip IV of France, who has him overthrown.
1307: Philip IV suppresses the Knights Templar.
1305-1314: Clement V, a Frenchman, is pope. Moves his court to Avignon, in southern France.
1307-1376: The papacy remains at Avignon.
1315-1317: Great Famine kills many in Europe.
1318: Pope John XXII condemns Spiritual Franciscans as heretics, for insisting on absolute poverty in the church.
c.1320: Dante writes the Inferno and places many popes therein.
1324: Marsilius of Padua writes Defender of the Peace, arguing for royal and conciliar power rather than papal power.
1347-1349: The Black Death. Bubonic Plague kills 30-40% of Europe’s population.
1376: Pope Gregory XI returns to Rome.
Two’s Company:
1378: Urban VI elected pope in Rome; French cardinals quickly disown him and elect Clement VII in Avignon. Christendom divided between two popes.
Three’s a Crowd:
1409: Council of Pisa deposes both popes and elects a third, but the first two refuse to resign. Now there are three!
1417: Council of Constance finally ends schism. Martin V elected.
1431: Council of Basel.
1439-1442: Council of Florence.
1471-1484: Sixtus IV pope. Begins new St. Peter’s, commissions Sistine Chapel.
1492-1503: Alexander VI Borgia pope. Commissions bullfights and orgies.
1503-1513: Julius II, called "Papa Terrible" and "The Warrior Pope." You get the general idea…