The Southern Schism

The Southern Schism, also called the Starry Schism, was a divide in the Faith of the Seven that saw two separate High Septons appointed by the Most Devout, causing a rift to form between the septs of King's Landing and Oldtown. The death of Queen Helaena Targaryen drew royal attention away from the rising feud. Though it lasted for nearly three years, though the separate schools of thought persist across the continent to this day.

Background
The War in the Narrows saw dragonfire and war return to the shores of Westeros, followed thereafter by years of peace and plenty. The payments made to the Crown by Lys brought on a period of wealth that the realm had not known in decades, the excess of which began to seep into the whole of King's Landing, already long seen by many as decadent.

It came to pass that the High Septon died in the year 340, and his successor, a man of the island of Estermont, donned the mantle of the Avatar of the Gods. The new High Septon was known for his charisma and charm, but the loss of sons, nephews, and brothers in the war against Baelon Targaryen had instilled in him a deep hatred of dragons, and a distrust of the Targaryen dynasty.

The Proud Lord Said
This new High Septon -- commonly called “the Proud One” -- became radicalized by the horrors of war, and grew more vocal in his opposition of both it and the Targaryen dynasty. The Targaryens, he declared, were foreign and decadent, as vile and dangerous as the dragons they rode. He began to preach against them and their beasts, calling for uprisings and revolts by “true followers” of the Faith.

Due to his charisma and skill with words and hearts, the Proud One's message began to spread. He is well-liked by the common people of King’s Landing despite his treasonous opinions. But others dwelt in the city as well.

The Proud High Septon was found murdered in the Great Sept, late in the year 342AC. As word spread through the city, riots broke out in every borough, while King's Landing tore itself apart in the mad search for the killer. Fires broke out, and hundreds perished, until at last the goldcloaks move in to quell the chaos with truncheon and fist and booted heel.

The Mummer's Crown
With the riots quelled, the Most Devout convene to name a new High Septon -- this one more amiable and conciliatory, they hope. But the people had not forgotten their previous, kind High Septon, and their wroth made the members of the Devout very afraid. Though King Aenar called for peace and stability, the people wanted a Septon who would be good to them. Thus, in early 342, the Most Devout appoint a man of the Crownlands.

This new High Septon -- called the Mummer, in many maester's tomes -- began as an amiable and personable fellow, but quickly revealed himself to be corrupt and sycophantic. His policies and antics swiftly begin to beggar the Faith, offending the values of many of the Most Devout. He sponsored many artists and musicians, but proved to be a salacious drunk, and prone as well to fits of mercurial anger. Many of those who elected him initially, after several years had passed, began to regret the decision.

Stars and Sinners, Bread and Circuses
Many of the Most Devout move back to the Oldtown, both to escape the excess of the new High Septon and to remove themselves from the mob of pseudo-militants who work on behalf of his right-hand man, a man named Septon Illifer. The septon of the Starry Sept at the time was a famous theologian, and far more penitent and chaste than the High Septon -- he followed many of the teachings of the High Sparrow and his monastic lifestyle, living plainly and simply in the midst of excess. The Most Devout appoint him to their number, and he quickly begins to dominate their meetings, setting out a series of reforms -- including ousting many priests from the Reach who he deemed too worldy or corrupt.

These banished septons fled to King’s Landing and the court of the High Septon, who was nominally head of their Faith. Despite their pleas, the High Septon did not move to end the actions of the Starry Septon, preferring instead to continue his life of luxury and excess. In the end it was Septon Illifer that they turned to, and together they convene to declare the Septon of the Starry Sept excommunicate.

The original members the Most Devout, not involved in this decision, disagree with it entirely. In 346 they instead appoint the Starry Septon as the new High Septon, and declare the previous one stripped of rank and excommunicate. The original High Septon does not acknowledge this, excommunicating all the members of the Most Devout not on his side -- beginning the feud that would cause a rift in the Faith for the next three years.

Avatars, Excommunicate
While the royals had the ability to choose a new High Septon, and thus might have proved the tie-breaking “vote” on who truly stood as Avatar of the Gods, the politics of the situation were far too delicate for King Aenar to willingly tamper with. The High Septon in King’s Landing was well-liked by many of the people, due to his habits of sponsoring artists and musicians and throwing coin to the waiting, eager crowds. The High Septon in Oldtown, however, was a man of great piety and faith, drawing the support of many of the more zealous members of the Faith.

As the Starry Septon’s influence spread through the Reach and up the coast, followers of his brand of worship began to oust those septons who clung more closely to the High Septon in King’s Landing. Lords great and small began to choose sides, and wandering septons called down hellfire and eternal blessings both, depending upon which way the town they arrived in leaned. The situation was untenable, and became the talk of many courts - even the maesters of the Citadel weighing in with opinions of their own.

Peace
After a year, in early months of 347, the High Septon in the Starry Sept died. With his passing the schism seemed to be at a pause. The Most Devout reached out to the High Septon in King’s Landing, and offered to reconcile the schism and heal the land if he would but step down, and allow a proper vote for a new High Septon.

King’s Landing refused, and so the Most Devout in Oldtown elected a new Septon -- the Towering One -- who proved even more fanatical than the last.

A Mob to a King
Immediately the new Septon doubled down upon his predecessor's values, and began to -- while not outright arming new faithfuls -- call for “those who would not be turned by the mercy of the Mother, to be chastised by the fury of the Warrior”. A Hightower by birth, his words carried even more weight than most.

Fighting broke out across the Reach and Westerlands, with isolated pockets operating in the Riverlands, Vale, and Stormlands. In the Crownlands the High Septon of King's Landing reigned all but absolute, tramping through the streets like a king; until Aenar demanded he bring peace to the Faith, and end the schism before it could deepen further.

Bridging the Divide
A meeting was called between the two sides, to be held in the neutral ground of Bitterbridge. Both Septons began to journey towards the designated place, though they traveled slowly so as to not be the first to arrive. Devout followers and curious onlookers flocked to them in great numbers, swelling the parties into the thousands when they at last met at the castle. The Starry Septon managed somehow to be the first to arrive, much to his chagrin, and the High Septon of King's Landing was pleased. It did not last long however, for as the talks stretched into a week, and then into a fortnight, without resolution, both sides grew more and more frustrated.

The Hands of the Father
When it seemed that all would be forced to return home in disappointment, with neither side willing to resign, several men took it upon themselves to act. Calling themselves the Hands of the Father, they attempted to seize the Starry Septon in his bed chambers. According to legend they were struck down by the gods; in truth, they were slain by swords and bolts and arrows; the hedgeknight protectors of the Towering Septon proving too vigilant to ambush.

Immediately blame was laid at the feet of the High Septon of Kings Landing, who attempted to flee the infuriated masses. Pursuit was heavy, as was the Crownlander High Septon -- his prodigious weight proved too much for his horse, which collapsed beneath him during the chase. His followers abandoned him, seeing to his aides and proctors, while the High Septon of King’s Landing was carried off in triumph to serve at the Starry Septon’s behest. He would die in chains, denied all food until he repented and confessed, after being forced to walk from Bitterbridge to Oldtown.

Vengeance is the Lord's
The septons in King's Landing at once appointed Septon Illifer as their new High Septon, charging him to end the divide by any means necessary. Angered by the treatment of his predecessor, the new High Septon of King's Landing began to arm his faithful in truth. Fighting spread across the continent, riots breaking out in Gulltown, Fairmarket, Tumbleton, Lannisport, Ashford, Maidenpool, and elsewhere. This proved too much for even the Targaryens to ignore, and the High Septon of King's Landing was imprisoned on charges of sedition, inciting rebellion, and breaking the king’s peace.

God's Mandate
King Aenar Targaryen moved to end the schism, wedding a Hightower of the starry discipline while promising to have one of her children serve as a Septa. The High Septon of Oldtown was forced to step down, while the High Septon of King’s Landing was exiled to the Night’s Watch. Aenar himself chose the next Septon, favouring for the very first time a man of the North; ending the feuding factions and putting an end to the schism.

Legacy
The Schism split Westeros along lines both political and theological - with the shifting of the Faith's focus from King's Landing to Oldtown, to many it seemed an abandonment of the initial agreements put in place by the Concilliator, as well as a threat to the balance of power by increasing Hightower and Tyrell influence all the further. Because of this, the Baratheons especially took special pains to oust any of the followers of the starry rites, clinging firmly to the old Baelorian obediences.

While the two sides of the argument are not formal divisions, the opposing schools of thought persist to this day. Both are of the Faith, the High Septon appointed by King Aenar Targaryen taking great pains to assure all that both routes would lead one to heaven, but between adherents disagreement can sometimes turn nasty.

There have not been riots due to the schism in decades, though many who follow the starry rites yet wear a seven-pointed star about their necks, as a symbol of their purported piety. Though the star has ever been a symbol of the Faith as a whole, on non-clergy it has become something of a tell.

Baelorian Obedience
Those who cling to the "Baelorian obediences" are those who believe that the original High Septon, commonly called the Mummer, was the one and true Avatar of the Gods whilst he lived, even despite his moral failings. They maintain that wealth and power do not corrupt inherently, but are often instead vehicles for temptation.

The Starry Rites
Main Article: The Seven Tenets of the Starry Faith

The starry rites, also called the southern disciplines, attest that the Most Devout's appointment of a new High Septon renders the previous High Septon false, thus placing much of the power in the Faith within the Most Devout. They maintain that the deaths of the Hands of the Father was a divine act on the part of the Seven, as witnessed by the thousands there that day, as well as naming both of the High Septons in King's Landing as deviants and sinners and apostates. Most who follow this school of thought believe that the Targaryen marriages of brother to sister are an abomination and ultimately sinful. This view is held even by the least pious adherents to the southern school of thought.

More information can be found here.

The Faith as a Whole
Ultimately, except for those extremely zealous and pious cases, worship amoung the Faith has changed little since the exile and resignation of the two offending Septons. The differences are matters of dogma, not doctrine, and largely concerned with wealth and its use; in polite company it is already frowned upon to discuss things like one's coffers. The smallfolk remember the schism more deeply than the nobles, even if only because they were so far removed from its ending - thus there remain zealous pockets on both sides of the issue, who continue to hold strong feelings on the matter.

The Hammer Uprising
Though ultimately a small and failed rebellion, the Hammer Uprising in 388AC resonated with smallfolk across the continent, and resulted in many riots and rebellions. The Septon of the Starry Sept praised Brynden Hammer and his generosity, devotion, and piety, lauding him as an example to be followed.

By tying Brynden Hammer to the southern discipline and the Faith, the Starry Septon managed to grant his teachings a new vehicle into the heart of the smallfolk. While the status quo has returned to normal, and peace generally rules Westeros, the tale of the Hammer and the piety of the Starry Sept are still powerful figures throughout the whole of Westeros.

Dates and Succession
Some Maesters are dispute the beginning date for the schism - though the prevailing practice is to mark its start in 346 AC, when the first Starry Septon is crowned, some believe that doing so fails to encompass the full origins of the divide, and thus date from the Most Devout's abandonment of King's Landing, or even the murder of the High Septon "the Proud". Additionally, because the Most Devout nominated both of the original High Septons, it is as of yet unclear who is the heretic, and who the true heir to the title. Scholars and theologians alike have discussed the issue, though each tend to favour the High Septon of their own discipline.