1409

1409 (MCDIX) was a common year of the Julian calendar. In Europe the year is chiefly remembered for developments surrounding the Western Schism, a division within the Catholic Church that had produced rival papal claimants in Rome and Avignon and weakened ecclesiastical authority across Christendom.

The Council of Pisa was convened in Pisa by a faction of cardinals and bishops who sought to end the schism and restore unity. Held from late March to early April 1409, the council declared that the existing popes had failed to fulfill their duties and elected a new pope, Alexander V, in an effort to unite the church. As a result, three concurrent lines of papal claimants coexisted for a time, with supporters divided between Rome, Avignon, and Pisa. The move did not resolve the schism; the rival popes continued to exert influence in their respective regions, and the division persisted for several years.

The Western Schism remained a dominant issue in European politics and church life until it was resolved at the Council of Constance (1414–1418), which ultimately led to the election of Martin V as the sole pope and the restoration of a single line of papal authority. The events of 1409 thus illustrate the period’s complex interplay of ecclesiastical authority, regional power, and reformist pressures that would continue to shape medieval Europe.

Beyond the papal crisis, 1409 saw ongoing political and military activity typical of the late medieval era, though no single event matched Pisa in significance for church history.