Constance, Council of

Constance, Council of (1414–18), The Council was convoked by John XXIII at the instigation of the Emp. Sigismund. Its purpose was to end the Great Schism, reform the Church, and combat heresy.

In 1414 there were three Popes: Gregory XII in the line of Urban VI; Benedict XIII, the successor of Clement VII of Avignon; and John XXIII, who was in the line inaugurated at the Council of Pisa. John offered to resign if his rivals would do the same. He then left Constance in disguise on 20 Mar. 1415. The Council then passed the decree ‘Haec Sancta’; this declared that the Council held its power direct from Christ and that everyone, even the Pope, was bound to obey it. John was brought back and deposed on 29 May 1415. Gregory abdicated on 4 July, though only after his representative had reconvoked the Council. After various political manœuvres, on 26 July 1417 Benedict was deposed. By a special procedure, Oddo Colonna was elected Pope on 11 Nov. 1417; he took the name of Martin V.

Reform of the Church presented difficulties, and many of the aspirations of the individual Nations were settled by concordats. In its attempts to combat heresy the Council condemned over 200 propositions of J. Wycliffe; John Huss, who came to Constance under a safe-conduct from the Emperor, was condemned as a heretic and burnt, as was Jerome of Prague.

The Council is usually reckoned as the 16th Oecumenical Council, but opinions differ as to whether its oecumenicity dates from the beginning, from Gregory's reconvocation, or from Martin's election. Its importance lay in its ending of the schism and in its crystallizing and diffusing of ideas about authority in general and especially about authority in the Church.