Council of Constance

==Origin and background==
[[File:Meister der Chronik des Konzils von Konstanz 001.jpg|thumb|left|Emperor Sigismund, his second wife, [[Barbara of Cilli|Barbara of Celje]], and their daughter, [[Elizabeth of Luxembourg]], at the Council of Constance]]
The council's main purpose was to end the Papal schism which had resulted from the confusion following the [[Avignon Papacy]]. [[Pope Gregory XI]]'s return to Rome in 1377, followed by his death (in 1378) and the controversial election of his successor, [[Pope Urban VI]], resulted in the defection of a number of cardinals and the election of a rival pope based at Avignon in 1378. After thirty years of schism, the rival courts convened the [[Council of Pisa]] seeking to resolve the situation by deposing the two claimant popes and electing a new one.{{sfn|Frenken|2014|pp=16-21}} The council claimed that in such a situation, a council of bishops had greater authority than just one bishop, even if he were the bishop of Rome. Though the elected [[Antipope Alexander V]] and his successor, [[Antipope John XXIII]] (not to be confused with the 20th-century [[Pope John XXIII]]), gained widespread support, especially at the cost of the Avignon antipope, the schism remained, now involving not two but three claimants: [[Pope Gregory XII|Gregory XII]] at Rome, [[Antipope Benedict XIII|Benedict XIII]] at Avignon, and John XXIII.

Therefore, many voices, including [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund, King of the Romans and of Hungary]] (and later Holy Roman Emperor), pressed for another council to resolve the issue. That council was called by [[Antipope John XXIII|John XXIII]] and was held from 16 November 1414 to 22 April 1418 in [[Konstanz|Constance]], Germany. The council was attended by roughly 29 [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]]s, 100 "learned doctors of law and divinity", 134 [[abbot]]s, and 183 [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]]s and [[archbishop]]s.<ref>[[Joseph McCabe]]{{full citation needed|date=June 2022}}</ref>