In 1409, the first great church council to attempt to put an end to the ongoing Papal Schism was convened at Pisa. The schism had divided Christendom, with rival Popes reigning in Avignon and Rome, each of whom insisted that he was the legitimate head of the Church. The council's aim was to restore unity to the Church by settling the double claim to the papacy. The council, after careful deliberation, took the bold action of deposing the two sitting Popes and electing a new Pope who would be a source of unity.

But the scheme did not go as planned. Both the deposed Popes one in Avignon and one in Rome refused to resign and instead continued to make their claims to the papal throne. The new Pope elected in Pisa also established his own Papal Court, which resulted in the formation of three competing Papal Courts, each led by a different Pope. This situation further deepened the schism and brought about even more confusion and division within the Church.

The failure to mend the schism via the Council of Pisa put into doubt the effectiveness of the conciliar movement, a movement of reform that had tried to make church councils a superior authority over the Pope. Instead of unity, the council inadvertently worsened the crisis, as all three Popes needed loyalty and church incomes from Christendom.

This threefold division weakened the Church's spiritual influence, dissolved public faith, and galvanized calls for more radical reform. The Papal Schism would not be fully healed until the Council of Constance in 1417, but the events of 1409 underlined the challenge the Church faced in balancing power, unity, and reform.