Council Ofconstance
Council Ofconstance [1]
(Concilium Constantiense), a synod assembled by pope John XXIII, in accordance with the writ of the emperor Sigismund, and which sat from 1414 to 1418. One of its professed objects was to put an end to the schism which had lasted for thirty years, and which was caused by the several claimants of the papacy. At this time, besides John (Balthasar Cossa), two others claimed the title of pope, viz., Pedro of Luna, a native of Catalonia, who styled himself Benedict XIII, and Angelo Corrario, a Venetian, who assumed the name of Gregory XII. Another object of the council was to take cognizance of the so-called heresies of Huss and Wickliffe. The council was convoked to meet at Constance on the festival of All Saints, A.D. 1414, and so great was the influx of persons, that it was reckoned that not less than thirty thousand horses were brought to Constance, which may give some idea of the enormous concourse of people. It is stated that, during the session, the emperor, the pope, twenty princes, one hundred and forty counts, more than twenty cardinals, seven patriarchs, twenty archbishops, ninety-one bishops, six hundred other clerical dignitaries, and about four thousand priests, were present at this celebrated assembly. The pretended heresies of Wickliffe and Huss were here condemned, and the latter, notwithstanding the assurances of safety given him by the emperor, was burnt, July 6, 1415, (See Huss), and his friend and companion, Jerome of Prague, met with the same fate May 30, 1416, (See Jerome).
The three popes were formally deposed, and Martin V was legally chosen to the chair of St. Peter; but, instead of furthering the emperor's wishes for a reformation in the:affairs of the Church, he thwarted his plans, and nothing was done till the Council of Basle (q.v.). At this council the question was very warmly agitated whether the authority of an oecumenical council is greater than that of a pope or not? Gerson proved that in certain cases the Church, or, which is the same thing, an oecumenical council, can assemble without the command or consent of the pope, even supposing him to have been canonically elected, and to live respectably. These peculiar cases he states to be, "1. If the pope, being accused, and brought into a position requiring the opinion of the Church, refuse to convoke a council for the purpose. 2. When important matters concerning the government of the Church are in agitation, requiring to be set at rest by an oecumenical council, which, nevertheless, the pope refuses to convoke." The sources of information as to this council are ample: among them are Van der Hardt, Magnum Oecumenicum Constantiense Concilium (ed. Bohnstedt, Berlin, 1742, 6 vols. fol.); Chastenet, Nouv. Hist. du Concile de Constance (Paris, 1718, 4to); L'Enfant, Hist. du Conc. de Constance (Amst.; 1727, fol.); the same translated (Lond. 1730, 2 vols. 4to). See Landon, Manual of Councils, 160 sq.; Hase, Ch. Hist. 277, 291, 348; Mosheim, Ch. Hist. 2:426 sq.; Wessenberg, Die grossen Kircheznersamml. vol. 2; Wetzer u. Welte, KirchenLex. 2:849; Herzog, Real-Encykl. 3:144.
