CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: B - The Council of Constance (1418) resolved the Western Schism in the Catholic Church, ending a period in which there were two claimants to the papacy. With rival popes in Rome and Avignon, the European heads of state had to choose whether they recognized Pope Clement the VII of the Avignon papacy or Pope Urban VI of the Roman papacy as the true head of the Church. Catholic Christendom was divided. The Council of Constance was convoked in 1414, and after much debate, the Avignon papacy was deemed illegitimate. Throughout the division, the Avignon papacy was known for corruption, and the entire affair weakened the authority of the Catholic Church. It was one of the precursors to the movement for reformation that began in the next century. (Note: The Western Schism is sometimes called the “Great Schism,” which is also applied to the East-West Schism of 1054, when the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches split.)