Because of his exceptional position in medieval society, the death of a pope initiated a series of rites that transcended the scope of ordinary religious customs. During the period of an empty or vacant see (sede vacante), rites were performed simultaneously to emphasize both temporal legislation and sacred liturgy.1 Funerary activities at the papal court blended the sacred and the profane, with the performance of innumerable masses for the repose of the deceased pontiff’s soul and as his ecclesiastical goods were safeguarded from plunder. This chapter will examine whether the specific historical context of the Great Western Schism affected in any way the usual protocol of the sede vacante.