must be legitimate, therefore a power superior to a legitimate pope had to be found. The only
solution lay in a General Council. The University of Paris, led by Gerson, developed a new theory,
giving powers of initiative to a council. The lay sovereigns, to whom the schism was
inconvenient, lent their support. At last, in 1409, a council was summoned, and met at Pisa. It
failed, however, in a ridiculous manner. It declared both popes deposed for heresy and schism, and
elected a third, who promptly died; but his cardinals elected as his successor an ex-pirate named
Baldassare Cossa, who took the name of John XXIII. Thus the net result was that there were three
popes instead of two, the conciliar pope being a notorious ruffian. At this stage, the situation
seemed more hopeless than ever.
But the supporters of the conciliar movement did not give in. In 1414, a new council was
summoned at Constance, and proceeded to vigorous action. It first decreed that popes cannot
dissolve councils, and must submit to them in certain respects; it also decided that future popes
must summon a General Council every seven years. It deposed John XXIII, and induced the
Roman Pope to resign. The Avignon Pope refused to resign, and after his death the King of
Aragon caused a successor to be elected. But France, at this time at the mercy of England, refused
to recognize him, and his party dwindled into insignificance and finally ceased to exist. Thus at
last there was no opposition to the Pope chosen by the council, who was elected in 1417, and took
the name of Martin V.
These proceedings were creditable, but the treatment of Huss, the Bohemian disciple of Wycliffe,
was not. He was brought to Constance with the promise of a safe conduct, but when he got there
he was condemned and suffered death at the stake. Wycliffe was safely dead, but the council
ordered his bones dug up and burnt. The supporters of the conciliar movement were anxious to
free themselves from all suspicion of unorthodoxy.
The Council of Constance had healed the schism, but it had hoped to do much more, and to
substitute a constitutional monarchy for the papal absolutism. Martin V had made many promises
before his election; some he kept, some he broke. He had assented to the decree that a council
should be summoned every seven years, and to this decree he remained obedient. The Council of
Constance having been dissolved in 1417, a new council, which proved of no importance,