The General Council of Constance was one of two councils held in a 40-year period in the 15th century. One of the most odd elements of the council was that the two Popes who called a General Council in what appeared to be an attempt to rectify who the true Pope was, were both deposed and another chosen. But the confusing thing is there were more than two Popes claiming the position at the time.
John XXIII, Benedict XIII
In order to properly expedite these Popes, a citation had to be sent to Spain to notify Benedict XIII who had been reduced to living in Aragon, Spain in his family’s ancient fortress with only a few followers who were basically his servants. John XXIII was compelled to call a General Council by the Emperor Sigismund when John’s evil life had caused his practical ability to lead and guide the church in the ways of Christ had become quite suspect. He did this even though he did not agree.
The deposition of Benedict XIII was easier and more to the point than John XXIIIrds. He wished to hold onto his power until the bitter end and so he negotiated with the council demanding resignation at a price. He wanted the red hat, control of Italy and Avignon and gold coins totaling 30,000. But when he realized that the General Council would not be bought, he attempted to flee and was caught, arrested, tried and deposed. Records say he was transferred to a German prison.
The Business of the General Council of Constance
Thirty five members of the council were called in to deal specifically with decrees reforming all that was wrong in the Church at the time which took seven months of their time. Much of this reform had to do with papal authority, and the manner in which appointments were made to offices – a recurring theme in many General Councils which just couldn’t seem to get finalized.
An issue of taxation had come up in that priests, bishops and others in the church were taxed on their earnings from charitable giving by the princes and powers at the time. A great amount of time was spent in working with the emperors and the heads of states to completely eradicate this form of taxing the clergy.
Five decrees were originally published by the General Council of Constance, seven more later, the first of these was considered the most important. It addressed the issue of holding regular General Councils frequently – this decree in Latin was called frequens. They called for General Councils to be held every 10 years. In the text of the decree it was stated: “The frequent celebration of General Councils is the best of all methods for tilling the Lord’s field, and for extirpating the weeds and thorns of heresy, schisms and errors . . . “The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325 – 1870 – By Philip Hughes
The second decree provides a formula to prevent future schisms in the church and in the further decrees they set out a formula for the election of the Pope, expanding on the Conclave and they announced the election of the new Pope to replace the two anti-popes, Martin V.
Of the seven remaining decrees, the pope was regulated to the effect that he was never again to be allowed to tithe priests and bishops for the benefit of royal families.
The General Council of Constance remained somewhat ambiguous, but the bishops and prelates were careful to keep quiet – in order to restore peace to a ravaged Church.
The General Council of Vienne, 1311-12 A.D.
The General Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence, 1431-45 A.D.
Sources: The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325 – 1870 – By Philip Hughes, The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-One Church Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II – By Christopher M. Bellito, The Documents of Vatican II – By Walter M. Abbott, S.J. and the Very Reverend Monsignor Joseph Gallagher, A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to the Present – By Bernard Lohse, The Reform of the Liturgy – Annibale Bugnini, www.catholicdigitalstudio.com/councils.htm
