The Origin of Weird: The Anti Pope Schism

Power doesn’t just shape history—it picks the chair. We dive into the Western Schism, when Europe faced not one but multiple popes, and legitimacy became a battlefield of theology, politics, and personality. From Rome to Avignon to a seaside fortress in Spain, this is the story of how faith and ambition tangled for decades, and how a divided church fought its way back to one voice.

We start with why rival popes appeared at all: the papacy sitting atop medieval geopolitics, the Avignon move that made French influence unavoidable, and the chaotic return to Rome that led to Urban VI and a swift backlash. When cardinals fled and elected Clement VII in Avignon, kings chose sides. England backed Rome, France rallied Avignon, and ordinary believers were left to wonder whose seal carried the weight of heaven.

At the heart of it all stands Pedro de Luna, Benedict XIII: brilliant canon lawyer, austere reformer, and a man whose conviction hardened into immovable certainty. Besieged in Avignon, he slipped through a secret passage and reemerged defiant. Reformers tried to fix the split at Pisa and only made it worse, creating a third papal line. The Council of Constance finally threaded the needle—deposing one claimant, accepting another’s resignation, and electing Martin V to reunite Christendom—while Benedict held fast in Peñíscola, issuing bulls to a shrinking court and believing to the end that he alone kept the lawful line.

What emerges is a vivid portrait of legitimacy: how it is claimed, tested, and rebuilt. We unpack the Avignon Papacy, Urban VI’s missteps, European alliances, Pisa’s miscalculation, and Constance’s careful choreography. Along the way, we explore how law, conscience, and raw power jostled for the soul of the church—and why unity returned only when authority aligned with process and consent. If you enjoy history that reads like a political thriller—sieges, escapes, rival courts—this one delivers.

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Benedict (XIII) – Antipope, Avignon Papacy, Papal Schism

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benedict-XIII-antipope

Western Schism

https://www.britannica.com/event/Western-Schism

Pedro de Luna – Catholic Encyclopedia

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09431c.htm

Avignon and the Papacy: From Papal Palace to Papal Crisis by Yves Renouard

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40482060

Antipope Benedict XIII, A Stubborn Old Man

https://www.catholic365.com/article/35024/antipope-benedict-xiii-a-stubborn-old-man.html

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