This article argues that despite an official royal ban on discussing solutions to the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) in France from 1381 to approximately 1392, conversation continued, employing new literary and rhetorical forms and new back-channels of communication. Two major discourses are examined: that of Hildegardian prophecy and one that took place amid the monastic reform activity of the French Celestines; the works considered include an anonymous epistola diaboli, excerpts from twelfth-century apocalyptic prophecies, a monastic vita Christi text and an allegorical travel narrative. The conversants identified include Pierre d'Ailly, Simon du Bosc, Pierre Pocquet, Philippe de Mezieres, and Pierre de Luxembourg. The clandestine conversation perpetuated by these well-connected men played a key role in modifying the discourse surrounding the Schism by enhancing its existential and subversive qualities and, once the ban was lifted, became an influential part of public discourse.
∗ The completion of this article would not have been possible without the generous help of Eulàlia Vernet i Pons, who very patiently corrected several of the transcriptions, and Stefano Cingolani, who provided continuous kind support and comments on the documentary avalanche in the Crown Archive. I would like to thank both of them heartily: Moltes gràcies per tot! I am also deeply grateful to Ellen Yutzy Glebe, Kari North, and Eric Böhme for their diligent review of the text. and while recent studies
