The international conference “Solving the Schism: Empire and Papacy in the vortex of change, 1378–1417”, organised by the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the University of Liège and the University of Minho, will take place on 23 and 24 April 2026 at the Academic Conference Centre (Husova 4a, Prague 1).
It is supported by the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Strategy AV21 research programme, “Anatomy of European Society, History, Tradition, Culture, Identity”, the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS, Belgium) and the Associate Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Heritage, Arts, Sustainability and Territory (IN2PAST, Portugal).

This international and interdisciplinary conference will examine the various proposals and initiatives for resolving the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), arguably the most significant spiritual and temporal crisis of the later Middle Ages (c.1300–1500). The proposed solutions included diplomatic negotiations, dynastic alliances, conciliar and reformist ideas, and military operational plans. We shall investigate how these were conceived, justified, expressed, and communicated through the textual, visual, spatial, and sonic media of the time.

Program: