History Focus
September 16

Clement VII was the first antipope of the Western Schism. He was born in 1342. Robert of Geneva (Clement VII) reigned as antipope from September 20, 1378 to his death on September 16, 1394.

An antipope is a false claimant of the Holy See. They reign in opposition to a pontiff canonically elected. At various times in the history of the Church there have been pretenders to the Papal throne.It is generally accepted that there were thirty antipopes. Many times they exercised pontifical functions in defiance of the true pope. The first antipope was Hippolytus, who ruled in the 3rd century. Robert of Geneva was the first antipope to reign during the Western Schism.

Clement VII was born Robert, son of Count Amadeus of Geneva and Marie de Boulogne, in 1342. He was chancellor of Amiens and Bishop of Cambria. He became a cardinal in 1371. He was Pope Gregory XI's legate to the states of northern Italy, and in 1377, he led the troops who massacred 4,000 antipapal rebels at Cesena. The violence of this massacre led Pope Gregory to leave Rome in fear of public reaction.

Robert supported the election of Pope Urban VI in 1378. A few months later, however, he led the French cardinals in their nullification of the election. The conclave at Anagni elected Robert as pope and he took the name of Clement VII. This election was in opposition to the elected Pope Urban VI, so Gregory of Geneva was antipope.

Antipope Clement attempted to take Rome in 1379 with French mercenaries, who had already captured the Castel Sant'Angelo. He failed. Although he received recognition from Queen Joan of Naples, the people favored Urban, and Clement fled to Avignon. He refused to resign and hoped that he would be elected pope of Rome when Urban died in 1389. However, Boniface IX excommunicated him and the cardinals who had elected him. He died in 1394.

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