schism

(noun)

A division or a split, usually between groups belonging to a religious denomination.

Related Terms

Examples of schism in the following topics:

  • The Western Schism

    • The Western Schism, or Papal Schism, was a split within the Roman Catholic Church that lasted from 1378 to 1417.
    • Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance (1414–1418).
    • Efforts were made to end the schism through force or diplomacy.
    • The council elected Pope Martin V in 1417, essentially ending the schism.
    • Explain the events that led to the Western Schism, as well as its eventual resolution

  • The Great Schism of 1054

    • The centuries-long gradual religious separation between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires culminated in the institutional separation known as the East-West Schism.
    • The East–West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, which has lasted since the 11th century.
    • This was only the first act in a centuries-long process that eventually became a complete schism.
    • This was known as the East-West Schism.
    • The religious distribution after the East-West Schism between the churches of the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire in 1054 CE.

  • Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church

    • The Protestant Reformation was the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants.
    • The Protestant Reformation, often referred to simply as the Reformation, was a schism from the Roman Catholic Church initiated by Martin Luther and continued by other early Protestant Reformers in Europe in the 16th century.
    • The core motivation behind these changes was theological, though many other factors played a part, including the rise of nationalism, the Western Schism that eroded faith in the Papacy, the perceived corruption of the Roman Curia, the impact of humanism, and the new learning of the Renaissance that questioned much traditional thought.
    • Following the breakdown of monastic institutions and scholasticism in late medieval Europe, accentuated by the Avignon Papacy, the Papal Schism, and the failure of the Conciliar movement, the sixteenth century saw a great cultural debate about religious reforms and later fundamental religious values.

  • The Church During the Italian Renaissance

    • The late Middle Ages was a period of political intrigue surrounding the Papacy, culminating in the Western Schism, in which three men simultaneously claimed to be true Bishop of Rome.
    • While the schism was resolved by the Council of Constance (1414), a resulting reform movement known as Conciliarism sought to limit the power of the pope.

  • The Fourth Crusade

    • The Fourth Crusade is considered to be one of the final acts in the Great Schism between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church, and a key turning point in the decline of the Byzantine Empire and Christianity in the Near East.
    • Andrew II of Hungary waged the Bosnian Crusade against the Bosnian church, which was theologically Catholic but in long-term schism with the Roman Catholic Church.
    • The collapse of the papacy's moral authority and the rise of nationalism rang the death knell for crusading, ultimately leading to the Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism.

  • The Development of Papal Supremacy

    • Decisions made at the Council of Nicea (325) about the divinity of Christ led to a schism; the new religion, Arianism, flourished outside the Roman Empire.
    • This led to further schisms.

  • The Crusades

    • To the east of Europe lay the Byzantine Empire, composed of Christians who had long followed a separate Orthodox rite; the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches had been in schism since 1054.
    • Urban responded favorably, perhaps hoping to heal the Great Schism of forty years earlier, and to reunite the Church under papal primacy by helping the eastern churches in their time of need.

  • The Last Byzantine Dynasty

    • In order to protect his empire from further attacks by Western knights, he attempted to end the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

  • The Romanovs

    • This historic moment created a schism between what are termed Old Believers (those attached to the previous hierarchy and traditions of the Church) and the new Church traditions.

  • Emperor Heracluis

    • His successor Pope John IV (640-42) also rejected the doctrine completely, leading to a major schism between the eastern and western halves of the Chalcedonian Church.