The Renaissance

and builders, known as the Mudejars, had
developed an intricate geometrical style,
inspired by the Islamic strictures against
depicting the human form. Skilled Mude-
jars worked in stone, brick, wood, and tile,
and their motifs and designs were later in-
corporated into many public buildings in
Granada and the surrounding region.

SEEALSO: Ferdinand II of Aragon; Isabella
of Castile; Spain

Great Schism ....................................

A divide in the Catholic Church that
brought an institution that dominated me-
dieval Europe to the lowest point of its
reputation, and became a key impetus for
the Protestant Reformation. In 1377, the
papal court, which had resided in the
southern French town of Avignon, was re-
turned to Rome on the orders of Pope
Gregory XI. In the next year, Gregory’s
death was followed by the election of Ur-
ban VI who, much to the chagrin of the
cardinals who had elected him, soon took
steps to reform the corrupt bureaucracy of
the church. A faction of French cardinals
met in the town of Agnani and declared
the election of Urban as null. They elected
Robert of Geneva as Clement VII, a
French-speaking rival pope who returned
to Avignon. Urban’s papal court in Rome
survived, and Christians throughout Eu-
rope found their loyalties demanded by
two separate and hostile factions of Italian
and French prelates. Urban VI was fol-
lowed in Rome by Boniface IX (1389–
1404), Innocent VII (1404–1406), and Gre-
gory XII (1406–1415). Clement was
succeeded in Avignon by Benedict XIII
(1394–1417). To resolve the schism, the
cardinals gathered in the Tuscan city of
Pisa, on the advice of religious scholars
that the pope was subject to the decisions
of a holy council. The Council of Pisa then

elected a third pope, Alexander V, who was

not recognized by either of the popes in

Rome and Avignon. The Holy Roman Em-

peror summoned church officials to the

Council of Constance in 1414. The council

declared the two rival popes deposed and

elected Martin V. This pope managed to

return the Papacy permanently to Rome,

but not before the church suffered a seri-

ous loss in its reputation as the supreme

religious authority, paving the way for the

dissidents and Protestants whose move-

ment would sweep northern Europe in the

sixteenth century.

SEEALSO: Hus, Jan; Luther, Martin; Refor-

mation, Protestant

Greco, El .........................................

(1541–1614)

A painter born as Domenikos Theotoco-

poulos on the island of Crete, and who

made his home and career in Spain (thus

the Spanish nickname El Greco, “the

Greek”). At a young age he painted icons

in the Byzantine style, and much of his

later work reflects this training. He left

Crete for Venice (of which Crete was then

a colony), and after a few years moved to

Rome, where he was influenced by the

works of Titian, with whom he studied, as

well as Tintoretto and Michelangelo

Buonarroti. Some time in the 1570s he

moved to the city of Toledo, Spain, where

he had won a commission to paint an al-

tarpiece for the church of Santo Domingo.

The Assumption of the Virgin, a canvas 4

meters (13 feet) high, formed the central

part of this work. This work gained him

renown throughout Spain, and he was

commissioned to create altarpieces for the

Toledo cathedral and the church of San

Tome. He created sculpture for church al-

tars and painted portraits of nobles and

church officials as well as a famous land-

Great Schism