But the next Reformer, Matthew of Janow, carried the movement
further (1381-93). The cause was the famous schism in the Papacy.
For the long period of nearly forty years (1378-1415) the whole
Catholic world was shocked by the scandal of two, and sometimes
three, rival Popes, who spent their time abusing and fighting each
other. As long as this schism lasted it was hard for men to look up
to the Pope as a true spiritual guide. How could men call the Pope
the Head of the Church when no one knew which was the true Pope?
How could men respect the Popes when some of the Popes were men of
bad moral character? Pope Urban VI. was a ferocious brute, who had
five of his enemies secretly murdered; Pope Clement VII., his clever
rival, was a scheming politician; and Pope John XXIII. was a man
whose character will scarcely bear describing in print. Of all the
scandals in the Catholic Church, this disgraceful quarrel between
rival Popes did most to upset the minds of good men and to prepare
the way for the Reformation. It aroused the scorn of John Wycliffe
in England, and of Matthew of Janow in Bohemia. "This schism," he
wrote, "has not arisen because the priests loved Jesus Christ and
His Church, but rather because they loved themselves and the world."

But Matthew went even further than this. As he did not attack any
Catholic dogma--except the worship of pictures and images--it has
been contended by some writers that he was not so very radical in
his views after all; but the whole tone of his writings shows that
he had lost his confidence in the Catholic Church, and desired to
revive the simple Christianity of Christ and the Apostles. "I
consider it essential," he wrote, "to root out all weeds, to restore
the word of God on earth, to bring back the Church of Christ to its
original, healthy, condensed condition, and to keep only such
regulations as date from the time of the Apostles." "All the works