Classical canon law viewed apostasy as distinct from heresy and schism. One can make a distinction between heresy and schism. This resulted in a schism with the Papacy. The political and theological reasons for the schism are complex. Nestorianism became a distinct sect following the Nestorian Schism, beginning in the 430s. This dispute eventually led to a deep political conflict, known as the "National Schism". Nearly a century later, the university was at the centre of a Protestant schism. The Novgorod Land became one of the Old Believers' strongholds after the Schism. This, in turn, led the way to the resolution of the papal schism. The event laid bare the deepening "National Schism" engulfing Greek society. The Democrats, confronted with an irreparable schism in New York, lost the election. This decree created the Nestorian Schism. Francis tried to steer a middle course in the developing religious schism in France. The final break was the Great Schism of 1054. They predate the medieval identities formed after the Great Schism.