What were the antipopes of the Catholic Church?

At a basic level, antipopes were caused by political reasons. Secular rulers in Europe, who were often kings and emperors, wanted to have control over the Church so that those in charge would make choices that helped them. 

Because of this, they used their military and political strength to force their chosen candidates into the role of pope.

When this worked, these secular rulers would then use the antipopes as their puppets. 

However, this outside control often led to long-lasting fights and splits within the Church. 

Sometimes, though, challengers to the papal throne were pushed by religious rather than political reasons. 

This often happened because different groups within the Church held opposing ideas on important beliefs and practices. 

Over time, these arguments could grow into full church splits, with each side supporting its own choice for pope. 

In the High Middle Ages, power-hungry clergymen also caused some antipopes to appear.

These men wanted to use the role to gain personal power and increase their own status. 

They were often able to do this with the help of powerful backers. In many cases, these antipopes gathered a strong group of followers, which made it harder to solve the conflict. 

Historians have named more than 30 people as antipopes throughout Church history, though the exact number changes based on which claims are accepted as real. 

The idea that there could be antipopes first appeared during the early years of the Church.

In AD 217, Hippolytus of Rome became one of the earliest to be given this title, by standing against Pope Callixtus I. 

He strongly disagreed with Callixtus on religious matters, especially about how to treat sinners.

Over time, his most loyal followers created a split within the Roman Church that led to several clashes with other groups. 

Eventually, Hippolytus made peace with the Church and stopped his fight, 

Soon after, another antipope named Novatian opposed Pope Cornelius in AD 251 over Cornelius's soft approach to letting Christians return who had given up their faith during times of persecution. 

Because of this, Novatian's followers started a completely separate church that lasted for several centuries.

He chose his own bishops and priests and wrote many texts to explain his views. 

However, it wasn’t until the 11th century that serious political control in papal elections became more common. 

In particular, the investiture controversy between emperors and kings who wanted to control how popes were chosen led to the rise of antipopes like Clement III in 1080. 

Clement III stood against Pope Gregory VII's reforms because the powerful Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV supported him, which lasted until his death in 1100, supported mostly by imperial strength. 

Because of this, the Church had to deal with how to stay free from strong secular rulers. 

In the 14th century, the Western Schism began in 1378 when two rival popes, Urban VI and Clement VII, were chosen by different groups within the Church after the death of Pope Gregory XI. 

The choice of Urban VI as pope was at first accepted, but his rude behaviour soon upset many cardinals. As a result, a group of cardinals said his election was not valid and chose Clement VII as a rival pope. 

He ruled from Avignon in France and gained strong support from the French nobles. But his claim made the divide in the Church worse. 

This split divided Europe, with different countries picking one of the two popes. France and Scotland supported Clement VII, while England and much of Germany supported Urban VI. 

For nearly forty years, the schism caused serious trouble within the Church. Both popes cast each other out, which left believers confused and unsure. 

Many efforts to fix the schism failed over time, which allowed the problem to continue for almost four decades. Then, the Council of Pisa in 1409 tried to end the conflict by choosing a third pope, Alexander V. 

His election was meant to bring the Church together, but instead, it created three papal claimants at the same time. 

The final end to the Western Schism came with the Council of Constance, which began in 1414. By then, unity had become extremely important to the Church, 

In fact, the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund helped bring the council together and get the rival popes to take part. 

When the council met in 1415, it removed or accepted the resignations of the current popes, such as John XXIII, who had taken over from Alexander V. 

Benedict XIII, who had replaced Clement VII as the Avignon pope, refused to quit even after he was removed, and kept claiming he was the real pope until his death in 1423, even though most of his supporters had left him. 

Martin V was chosen as the only pope in 1417 after long talks, and this ended the schism.

This brought back peace and unity to the Church, but the damage had already been done. 

The growing number of people who were competing to become pope caused several long-term problems for the Church.

The presence of rival popes weakened the Church's integrity. 

Over time, believers lost trust in the Church's leadership, which led to doubts about the Church's position in European life. 

Also, because the Church had to maintain two separate papal courts, it cost a lot of money, which quickly drained the Church's funds. 

As both sides searched for help, they often sold indulgences and did other things that hurt the Church's image. 

In time, these methods used to raise money led to louder demands for change. 

In the end, many critics thought the constant fighting showed bigger problems in the Church, such as corruption. 

Because of this, the Council of Constance, which ended the Western Schism, also started wider talks on how to improve the Church. 

The harm left by the long conflict lasted, and it changed how Church leaders dealt with kings and rulers for the next few centuries. 

In particular, the pope's power had been badly damaged, which led to a time when popes had less control over the Church. 

Slowly, this loss of papal power helped create the situation that led to the Protestant Reformation.