During the late 14th century and the early 15th century there was a great division in the Catholic Church. The Papacy was becoming blurred. The center of the Roman Catholic Church had been moved from Rome to the city of Avignon during the reign of Pope Clement V; and there was now a movement to return the center of power back to Rome. This movement was first truly seen under Pope Gregory XI and his successor Pope Urban VI. Earlier Pope Urban V had moved the center to Rome but it had been proven to be no more than a temporary idea; he had gone back to Avignon to die and there his replacement, Pope Gregory XI was elected . This along with other political problems and circumstances created a split in the loyalty among different cities and countries between the two popes. In 1377 Pope Gregory XI had reestablished the Papacy in Rome which had previously been in Avignon. In the uncertainties of the events that followed the death of Pope Gregory XI, the conclave that was to elect his successor proved to be very much a struggle for control of the papacy between the different groups within the College of Cardinals. A conclave was formed and elected in his place an Italian who took one the name Pope Urban VI. He took over in 1378 and immediately decided to reform the curia. At this time the cardinals, who were mostly French, were not happy with the election of Pope Urban VI. The cardinals then went to the king of France, Charles V, and asked for his support in a movement against this new Pope. The Pope gave approval and supported the schism, which later became known as the "Great Schism".Once the cardinals gained support they quickly moved to elect their own Pope. The French cardinals' goal was to keep the church under French influence, so they obviously wanted to elect a French Pope. The Cardinals formed a conclave and from there elected Pope Clement VII in September of 1378. Pope Clement VII was also the cousin of the French k...
