Help WIth European History Homework?

Question

I need help answering the following question.

How did the Babylonian Captivity weaken the power and the prestige of the church?

Answer 1

The Babylonian Captivity period split the Catholic Church, with two different people claiming to be the rightful Pope at the same time. This obviously weakens the claim of the Pope being the main representative of God on Earth.

The captivity you are referring to, lasted from 1309 to 1378, when the Popes were briefly living in Avignon, France.

When the sitting Pope moved back to Rome in 1378, it created a great schism, as a council of cardinals elected two more successive antipopes in Avignon.

The Italians didn't like it, and placed a different person on the Papal throne in Rome.

This problem lasted until 1417, when a big meeting was held to clarify who was the Pope, although the last Avignon Pope had already been expelled from Avignon in 1403.

Go to your information search window, and type in

"Avignon Papacy"

Choose the wikipedia site, for easier reading.

Good luck with your studies, and have a star!