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COUNCIL OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 723 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COUNCIL OF  .) From the See also:abdication of See also:Gregory XII. to the See also:election of See also:Martin V., the Apostolic See was vacant; and the See also:council, newly convened and authorized by the legitimate See also:pope vacancy,' before his resignation, conducted the See also:government of the See also:Holy the See also:Church . After the condemnation and burning of see . See also:John See also:Huss (q.v.), the See also:reformation of the Church, both in its See also:head and members, claimed the See also:main See also:attention of the fathers of the council . Among the many difficulties which beset the question, not the least obvious was the length of See also:time during which the Church must remain without a ruler, if—as See also:Sigismund and the See also:German nation demanded—the papal election were deferred till the completion of the See also:internal reforms . The result was decided by the policy of the cardinals, who since May 1417 had openly devoted their whole energies to the See also:acceleration of that election; and See also:union was preserved by means of a See also:compromise arranged by See also:Bishop See also:Henry of See also:Winchester, the See also:uncle of the See also:English See also:king . The terms of the agreement were that a synodal See also:decree should give an See also:absolute assurance that the See also:work of reformation would be taken in See also:hand immediately after the election; reforms, on which all the nations were already See also:united, were to be published before the election; and the mode of the papal election itself was to be determined by deputies . When the last-named See also:condition had been fulfilled on the 28th of See also:October the See also:conclave began, on the 8th of See also:November 1417, in the Kaufhaus of See also:Constance; and, no later than St Martin's See also:day, the See also:cardinal-See also:deacon Oddo See also:Colonna was elected Pope Martin V . With the See also:accession of Martin V. unity was at last restored to the Church, and contemporary Christendom gave Herein v., way to transports of joy . Any See also:secular See also:power—a 1417-1431. See also:bitter opponent of the papacy admits—would have succumbed in the See also:schism: but so wonderful was the organization of the spiritual See also:empire, and so indestructible the conception of the papacy itself, that this (the deepest of all cleavages) served only to prove its indivisibility (See also:Gregorovius, Geschichte Roms vi.) . Martin V. appeared to possess every quality which could enable him to represent the universal Church with strength and dignity . In See also:order to maintain his See also:independence, he energetically repudiated all proposals that he should establish his See also:residence in See also:France or See also:Germany, and once more took up his See also:abode in See also:Rome . On the 3oth of See also:September 1420 he made his entry into the almost completely ruinous See also:town .

To repair the ravages of neglect, and, more especially, to restore the decayed churches, Martin at once expended large sums; while, later, he engaged famous artists, like See also:

Gentile da See also:Fabriano and See also:Masaccio, and encouraged all forms of See also:art by every means within his power . Numerous humanists were appointed to the See also:Chancery, and the See also:Romans were loud in their praise of the papal regime . But he was not content with laying the See also:foundations for the renovation of the Eternal See also:City: he was the architect who rebuilt the papal See also:monarchy, which the schism had reduced to the See also:verge of See also:dissolution . To this difficult problem he brought remarkable skill and aptness, See also:energy and ability . His temporal See also:sovereignty he attempted to strengthen through his See also:family connexions, and magnificent See also:provision in See also:general was made for the members of his See also:house . Nor was the activity of Martin V. less successful in See also:political than in ecclesiastical reform, which latter included the combating of the See also:Fraticelli, the See also:amendment of the See also:clergy, the encouragement of pity by the regulation of feast-days, the recommendation of increased devotion to the See also:sacrament of the See also:altar, and the strengthening of the conception of the Church by the See also:great See also:jubilee of 1423 . At the same time the crowning See also:reward of his labours was the effacing of the last traces of the schism . He prosecuted successfully the conflict with the adherents of See also:Benedict XIII., who, till the day of his See also:death' clung to the remnants of his usurped authority (see BENEDICT XIII.) . An See also:attempt on the See also:part of See also:Alphonso V. of See also:Aragon to renew the schism failed; and, in 1429, the Spaniard was compelled to give up his See also:anti-pope, See also:Clement VIII . See also:Count John of See also:Armagnac, whom Martin had excommunicated as a See also:protector of schismatics, was also driven to make submission . Martin rendered the greatest service by his See also:admission of a whole See also:series of distinguished men into the See also:College of Cardinals; but he was less fortunate in his struggles against Hussitism . His death took See also:place on the loth of See also:February 1431, and the inscription on his See also:grave—still preserved in the Lateran church—styles him " the felicity of his See also:age" (temporum suorum felicity) .

The Colonna pope was followed by the strict, moral and pious See also:

Gabriel Condulmaro, under the See also:title of See also:Eugenius IV . BngeniusIV.His pontificate was not altogether happy . At the very 1431-1447 first, his violent and premature See also:measures against the 'See also:mime Colonna family, which had received such unbounded council of favour from his predecessor, embroiled him in a Beset sanguinary See also:feud . Far worse, however, were the conflicts which Eugenius had to support against the Council of See also:Basel—already dissolved on the 18th of See also:December 1431 . At the beginning, indeed, a reconciliation between the pope and council was effected by Sigismund who, on the 31st of May 1433, was crowned See also:emperor at Rome . But, as See also:early as the 29th of May 1434 a revolution See also:broke out in Rome, which, on the 4th of See also:June, drove the pope in, See also:flight to See also:Florence; where he was obliged to remain, while Giovanni Vitelleschi restored order in the papal See also:state . The See also:migration of Eugenius IV. to Florence was of extreme importance; for this town was the real See also:home of the new art, and the intellectual See also:focus of all the humanistic movements in See also:Italy . At Florence the pope came into closer contact with the humanists, and to this circumstance is due the See also:gradual dominance which they attained in the See also:Roman See also:Curia—a dominance which, both in itself, and even more because of the frankly See also:pagan leanings of many in that party, was See also:bound to awaken serious misgivings . The See also:Italian troubles, which had entailed the See also:exile of Eugenius IV., were still insignificant in comparison with those conjured up by the fanatics of the Council in Basel . The decrees enacted by that See also:body made deep inroads on the rights of the Holy See; and the conflict increased in violence . On the 31st of See also:July 1437 the fathers of Basel summoned Eugenius IV. to appear before their tribunal . The pope retorted on the 18th of September by transferring the See also:scene of the council to See also:Ferrara—afterwards to Florence .

There, in July 1439, the union with the Greeks was effected: but it remained simply a See also:

paper agreement . On the 25th of June 1439 the See also:synod—which had already pronounced See also:sentence of See also:heresy on Eugenius IV., by See also:reason of his obstinate disobedience to the See also:assembly of the Church—formally deposed him; and, on the 5th of November, a See also:rival pontiff was elected in the See also:person of the See also:Felix V. ambitious Amadeus of See also:Savoy, who now took the Antipope. title of Felix V . (See BASEL, COUNCIL OF, and FELIx V.) Thus the assembly of Christendom at Basel had resulted, not in the reformation of the Church, but in a new schism ! •This, in fact, was an inevitable sequel to the attempt to overthrow the monarchical constitution of the Church . The anti-pope----the last in the See also:history of the papacy —made no headway, although the council invested him with the power of levying See also:annates to a greater extent than had ever been claimed by the Roman Curia . The See also:crime of this new schism was soon to be expiated by its perpetrators . The disinclination of sovereigns and peoples to a See also:division, of the disastrous consequences of which the See also:West had only lately had plentiful experiences, was so pronounced that 1 May 23, 1423: vide the See also:Chronicle of Martin de Alpartil, edited by Ehrle (1906 . XX . ?3the violent proceeding of the Basel fathers alienated from them the sympathies of nearly all who, till then, had leaned to their See also:side . While the See also:prestige of the schismatics waned, Eugenius IV, gained new See also:friends; and on the 28th of September 1443 his reconciliation with Alphonso of See also:Naples enabled him to return to Rome . In consequence of the See also:absence of the pope, the Eternal City was once more little better than a ruin; and the work of restoration was immediately begun by Eugenius . During the See also:chaos of the schism, France and Germany had adopted a semi-schismatic attitude: the former by the Pragmatic See also:Sanction of See also:Bourges (June 7, 1438); the latter by a See also:declaration of See also:neutrality in See also:March 1438 .

The efforts of See also:

Aeneas Silvius See also:Piccolomini brought matters into a channel more favourable to the Holy See; and an understanding with Germany was reached . This consummation was soon followed by the death of Eugenius (Feb . 23, 1447) . No apter estimate of his See also:character can be found than the words of Aeneas Silvius himself: "He was a great-hearted See also:man; but his See also:chief See also:error was that he was a stranger to moderation, and regulated his actions, not by his ability, but by his wishes." From the See also:charge of nepotism he was entirely exempt; and, to the See also:present day, the purity of his See also:life has never been impugned even by the See also:voice of See also:faction . He was a See also:father to the poor and sick, in the highest sense of the word; and he See also:left behind him an enduring See also:monument in his amendment and regeneration, first of the religious orders, then of the clergy . Again, the patronage which he showed to art and artists was of the greatest importance . All that could be done in that cause, during this stormy See also:epoch, was done by Eugenius . It was by his See also:commission that Filarete prepared the still-extant bronzework of St See also:Peter's, and the See also:Chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the Vatican was painted by See also:Fiesole., On the, death of Eugenius IV. the situation was menacing enough, but, to the surprise and joy of all, Tomaso Parentucelli, cardinal of See also:Bologna, was elected without disturbance, as Pope See also:Nicholas V . With him the See also:Christian See also:Renaissance Nchoiss V ascended the papal See also:throne . He was the son of a 14474455 . physician from See also:Sarzana, who was not too well endowed with the gifts of See also:fortune; and the boy, with all his talents, could only prosecute his studies at great See also:personal sacrifices . He was possessed of a deep-seated See also:enthusiasm for See also:science and art, of a sincerely pious and idealistic temperament, and of an ardent love for the Church .

After his ordination, his great learning and stainless life led him to See also:

office after office in the Church, each higher and more influential than the last . Not only did he love the studies of the humanist, but he himself was a Christian humanist . Yet among all his far-reaching plans for the encouragement of art and science, Nicholas V. had always the well-being of the Church primarily in view; and the highest See also:goal of his pontificate, which inaugurated the Maecenatian era of the popedom, was to ennoble that Church by the See also:works of See also:intellect and art . It is astonishing to contemplate how much he achieved, during his brief reign, in the cause of the Renaissance in both art and literature . True, his designs were even greater, but his See also:term of government was too See also:short to allow of their actual See also:execution . A simply gigantic See also:plan was See also:drawn out, with the assistance of the celebrated See also:Alberti, for the reconstruction of the Leonine City, the Vatican and St Peter's . The rebuilding of the last-named was rendered advisable by the See also:precarious condition of the structure, but stopped short in the early stages . In the Vatican, however, Fiesole completed the See also:noble frescoes, from the lives of St See also:Stephen and St See also:Lawrence, which are still preserved to us . Nicholas, again, See also:lent the See also:protection and encouragement of his powerful See also:arm to science as well as art, till the papal See also:court became a veritable domain of the See also:Muses . He supported all scientific enterprises with unlimited generosity, and the most famous savants of all countries flocked to Rome . Yet it is surprising—and scarcely excusable—that Nicholas, while selecting the men whom he considered necessary for his See also:literary work, passed over much which ought to have aroused grave suspicion in his mind . Thus the active humanistic life, called into existence by the enthusiasm of the pope, was not without its dark side .

Quite apart from the fact that II Rome became the scene of a chronique scandaleuse among these scholars, there was something unnatural in the predominance of the humanists in the Curia . The fostering care of the science-loving pope extended also to the See also:

field of ecclesiastical literature; and the greatest importance attaches to the energy he See also:developed as a See also:collector of See also:manuscripts and books . His agents travelled as far as See also:Prussia, and even into the See also:East . All this activity served to enrich the Vatican library, the See also:foundation of which is for Nicholas V. an abiding title to fame . In political and ecclesiastical affairs he similarly manifested great vigour; and his extraordinarily pacific disposition did more than anything else towards diminishing the difficulties with which he had to contend on his entry upon office . An agreement was very quickly concluded with King Alphonso of Naples . In the Empire the affairs of the Church were ameliorated—though not so quickly—by the See also:Concordat of See also:Vienna (1448) . The Council of Basel was compelled to dissolve, and the anti-pope Felix V. to abdicate: and, though even after the termination of the synod men like See also:Jacob of Juterbogk (q.v.) were found to See also:champion ecclesiastical parliamentarianism and the more advanced ideas of Basel, they were confronted, on the other hand, by an See also:array of redoubtable controversialists, who entered the lists to defend, both in speech and See also:writing, the privileges of the Apostolic See . Among these, See also:Torquemada, Rodericus Sancius de Arevalo, See also:Capistrano and See also:Piero del See also:Monte were especially active for the restoration of the papacy . Fortunate as Nicholas was in the haute politique of the Church, he was equally so in his efforts to re-establish and maintain See also:peace in Rome and the papal state . In See also:Poland, Bohemia, See also:Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia—even in See also:Cyprus itself —he was zealous for the peace of the Church . The See also:long-hoped cessation of See also:civil See also:war within the Church had now come, and Nicholas considered that the event could Jubilee of not better be celebrated than by the See also:proclamation of 1450. a universal jubilee—an announcement which evoked a thrill of joy in the whole of Christendom .

A See also:

special point of attaction in this jubilee of 1450 was the See also:canonization of Bernardino of See also:Siena; and, in spite of the See also:plague which broke out in Rome, the celebrations ran a brilliant course . It was the wish of the pope that the jubilee should be followed by a revival of religious life in all Christian countries . To put this project into execution, the Church opened her " treasuries of See also:grace," connected with the jubilee See also:dispensation, for the See also:peculiar benefit of those nations that had suffered most from the turmoils of the last few decades, or were prevented from visiting the Eternal City . Nicholas of Cusa was nominated See also:legate for Germany, and began the work of reformation by travelling through every See also:province in Germany dispensing blessings . It was under Nicholas V. that the last imperial See also:coronation was solemnized at Rome . There is a See also:touch of tragedy in the fact that, in the following See also:year, the pope saw his temporal sovereignty—even his life—threatened by a See also:conspiracy hatched among the adherents of the pseudo-See also:humanism . The See also:prime mover in the See also:plot, Stefano Porcaro, was executed . Nicholas had scarcely recovered from the See also:shock, when See also:news came of the See also:capture of See also:Constantinople by the See also:Turks; and his efforts to unite the Christian See also:powers against the Moslem failed . This darkened the evening of his life, and he died in the See also:night of the 24-25th of March 1455 . From the universal standpoint of history the significance of Nicholas's pontificate lies in the fact that he put himself at the head of the See also:artistic and literary Renaissance . By this means he introduced a new epoch in the history of the papacy and of See also:civilization: Rome, the centre of ecclesiastical life, was now to become the centre of literature and art . The short reign of the Spaniard, Alphonso de See also:Borgia, as Pope See also:Calixtus III., is- almost completely filled by his heroic cauxtusltt.,efforts to arm Christendom for the See also:common See also:defence 1455.1458. against See also:Islam .

Unfortunately all the warnings and admonitions of the pope See also:

fell on See also:deaf ears, though he himself parted with his See also:mitre and See also:plate in order to equip a See also:fleet against the Turks: The Mahommedans, indeed, were severely punished at See also:Belgrade (1456), and in the See also:sea- fight of Metelino (1457): but the indolence of the See also:European princes, who failed to push home the victory, rendered the success abortive . Bitterly disillusioned, Calixtus died on the 14th of See also:August 1458 . His memory would be stainless but for the deep See also:shadow See also:cast on it by the See also:advancement which he conferred upon his relatives . When Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini was elected pope as See also:Pius II. the papal throne was ascended by a man whose name was famous as poet, historian, humanist and statesman, p1as 1/ , and whose far-seeing See also:eye and exact knowledge of 1458-1464. affairs seemed peculiarly to See also:fit him for his position . On the other hand, the troubled and not impeccable past of the new pontiff was bound to excite some misgiving; while, 'at the same time, severe bodily suffering had brought old age on a man of but 53 years . In spite of his infirmity and the brief duration of his reign, Pius II. accomplished much for the restoration of the prestige and authority of the Holy See . His indefatigable activity on behalf of Western civilization, now threatened with extinction by the Ottomans, excites admiration and adds an undying lustre to his memory . If we except the Eastern question, Pius II. was principally exercised by the opposition to papal authority which was gaining ground in Germany and France . In the former See also:country the See also:movement was headed by the worldly See also:archbishop-elector Diether of See also:Mainz ;1 in the latter by See also:Louis XI., who played the autocrat in ecclesiastical matters . In full consciousness of his high-priestly dignity he set his See also:face against these and all similar attempts; and his zeal and firmness in defending the authority and rights of the Holy See against the attacks of the conciliar and See also:national parties within the Church deserve See also:double recognition, in view of the eminently difficult circumstances of that See also:period . Nor did he shrink from excursions in the direction of reform, now become an imperative See also:necessity . His attempt to reunite Bohemia with the Church was destined to failure; but the one great aim of the pope during his whole reign was the organization of a gigantic crusade—a project which showed a correct appreciation of the danger with which the Church and the West in general were menaced by the See also:Crescent .

It is profoundly affecting to contemplate this man, a See also:

mere See also:wreck from See also:gout, shrinking from no fatigue, no labour, and no personal sacrifices; disregarding the obstacles and difficulties thrown in his way by cardinals and temporal princes, whose fatal infatuation refused to see the peril which hung above them all; recurring time after time, with all his intellect and energy, to the realization of his See also:scheme; and finally adopting the high-hearted resolve of placing himself at the head of the crusade . Tortured by bodily, and still more by See also:mental suffering, the old pope reached See also:Ancona . There he was struck down by See also:fever; and on the 15th of August 1464 death had released him from all his afflictions—a tragic See also:close which has thrown a See also:halo See also:round his memory . In the See also:sphere of art he left an enduring monument in the Renaissance town of See also:Pienza which he built . The humanist Pius II. was succeeded by a splendour-loving Venetian, Pietro Barbo, the See also:nephew of Eugenius IV., who is known as Pope See also:Paul II . With his accession the situation altered; for he no longer made the See also:Turkish P/464a/1L-/4, 71 . War the centre of his whole activity, as both his immediate predecessors had done . Nevertheless, he was far from indifferent to the See also:Ottoman danger . Paul took energetic measures against the principle of the absolute supremacy of the state as maintained by the Venetians and by Louis XI. of France; while in Bohemia he ordered the deposition of See also:George See also:Podebrad (Dec . 1466) . The widely diffused view that this pope was an enemy of science and culture is unfounded . It may be traced back to Platina, who, resenting his See also:arrest, avenged himself by a See also:biographical See also:caricature .

What the pope actually sought to combat by his dissolution of the Roman See also:

Academy Diether von Isenburg (1412-1463), second son of Count Diether of Isenburg-Budingen; See also:rector of the university of See also:Erfurt, 1434; archbishop of Mainz, 1459 . He led the movement for a reform of the Empire and the opposition to the papal encroachments, sup-porting the theory of church government enunciated at Constance and Basel and condemned in Pius II.'s See also:bull Execrabilis.—IED.] was simply the non-Christian tendency of the Renaissance, See also:standing as it did on a purely pagan basis—" the stench of heathendom," as See also:Dante described it . In other respects Paul II. encouraged men of learning and the art of See also:printing, and built the magnificent See also:palace of See also:San Marco, in which he established a noble collection of artistic treasures . The long pontificate of the Franciscan See also:Francesco della Rovere,. under the title of Pope See also:Sixtus IV., displays striking contrasts of See also:light and shade; and with him, begins x144 84.., 1471-1484. the series of the so-called " political popes." It (4 remains a lamentable fact that Sixtus IV. frequently subordinated the Father of Christendom to the Italian See also: