Jedi Schism

The Jedi Schism was an event that split the Jedi Order three months after the start of the Clone Wars. Hundreds of Jedi refused the Jedi High Council's orders for them to follow Palpatine's appointment of them to positions within the Grand Army of the Republic. Their reasons included the belief that it was not a Jedi's position to lead armies, that the Separatist Crisis should be handled through diplomacy and not war, and that they had better things to do.

At first, Jedi Master Sora Bulq was organized as their loose leader, but he was later revealed to be working for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. After that event, many of the Jedi returned to Republic service eventually, but others remained apart, exercising the Right of Denial. The Jedi Council allowed them to remain unmolested as long as they did not serve the CIS or fall to the dark side of the Force, but required many to hand in their lightsabers.

Text and facts from the “Jedi Schism” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.