Status Updates From The History of the Popes fr...

The Schism is brought to an end by a Pope doing the right thing at personal cost, not by a revolution in the Church's structure and governance; indeed, the Council's goals of putting a Council at the head created yet more confusion and a third bloody pope. On to Book II and Martin V.

The great evil of the Western Schism; probably the reason I'm reading this. What an unfathomable mess. That the Catholic Church survived this is a miracle. Good men and women on both sides.

The Western Schism; heart breaking hardheadedness of Urban. St. Catherine of Siena is one of those saints I need to read somewhat soon.

Very readable. The financial scandals of the time were obviously moral in nature, but also structural, as the court lost its income from Rome itself. The new methods were wildly unpopular and stoked considerable national hatred. A whole host of scribblers began appearing who embody the French Revolution some four hundred years before the fact. The Avignon Papacy has left a scar on our world to this day.

Fascinating book. The corruption and the sanctity, side by side. Interesting focus on the political and economic factors pushing the corruption. Definitely not the standard "all was bad" narrative, even if it was a catastrophe.

Speed reading, but it's literally Volume 1 of 40! Won't finish it any other way. Fortunately, it's quite good so far, focusing on the beginning of the Renaissance and the position of the Church to pagan learning (as in Greeks and Romans). They took the reasonable approach of take the truth you can find, avoid the error.