Which circumstance caused the second Great Schism within the Roman Catholic Church

the election of multiple popes by different factions

The second great schism of the Roman Catholic Church from 1378-1410 saw 2 to 3 claimants to the papacy of the church. It was a political problem not a theological one. The problem occured when a new pope was elected but after a short period of time the cardinals did not like the pope they had voted for. They left Rome and went to Avignon, France where they elected a second pope. One elective body of the church elected 2 different popes. This caused political problems as both France and Italy wanted to control the papacy.