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The impact of the schism in the papacy was devastating to the faith of the common European. Over the recent centuries the church had made it absolutely clear that papal authority must be both implicitly and explicitly recognized and obeyed if any soul is to be permitted access to heavenly bliss. Now two popes make the same claim, each condemning those poor souls that foolishly follow the other pope into eternal damnation! If the schism could not be resolved quickly, what would happen to those poor souls who join the departed in the meantime? Many still believed in the church implicitly and were docilely willing to trust the clergy to make the right decisions for them. Others were not so content.
If "church authority" cannot be trusted to deliver souls to paradise, what authority can be trusted? This basic question caused sensitive souls to consider several alternative answers already available in the early fourteenth century. We can summarize the responses to the schism in two broad categories. First, there were those that considered the schism a matter of individual human frailty having no effect on the authority of the traditional teachings and practices of Christianity as buttressed by the profound arguments of human reason marshaled by theologians. A second group consisted of those who no longer trusted exclusively in the church, its ceremonies and its clergy but sought certainty about their personal salvation through additional channels. Among these latter were several species. We will meet a John Wyclif who distrusted, even rejected the ongoing traditions of the church in favor of the authority and guidance of the Scriptures.
Wyclif was not the only one paying more attention to the Sacred Writ. It is generally conceded that the Holy Scriptures played a somewhat larger roll in the lives of many Christians in the fifteenth century than it had, say, in the eleventh century when literacy was only for the elite. Another development also contributed to the emphasis on the Scriptures. The Scriptures constituted the revelation which Nominalist Schoolmen, having rejected Natural Theology, now understood as the church's major source of knowledge about God.
Others in this group seeking spiritual security apart from the Church sought to commend themselves to God through various ascetic practices of self-discipline. And still others in this group found affirmation through mysticism.
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Among those who labored in the way of asceticism it would be hard to overlook the flagellatores or flagellarii, the Flagellants. This obscure practice is first reported in the thirteenth century Italy and is usually attributed--as most radical ideas at the time were--to the ferment caused by the visionary teachings of Joachim (died 1202), a Cistercian abbot from Floris in southern Italy. Although the church authorities quickly suppressed the thirteenth century outbreak, Flagellants again appeared in central Europe in the fourteenth century during the ravages of the Black Death. Flagellant marches in Spain, southern France and northern Italy took place over several years during the Papal Schism. Given the common understanding of sacraments, sins and salvation the Flagellant's behavior like all ascetic practices was based on the works/salvation logic. It was based on the premise that sin requires punishment. If the sinner punishes himself or submits to severe public humiliation and punishment he not only does a good work he provides satisfaction to God. Fourteenth century Flagellants spoke of their routine self-punishment as a superior sacrament.
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The inspiration behind the most significant development among the lay orders in the later fourteenth century began with the spiritual pilgrimage of Gerard Groote. Groote was a wealthy Flemish noble with a master's degree in arts from Paris where he also studied law, medicine and theology. He funded much of this by holding a canon's benefice at Utrecht and later at Aachen, albeit he was not ordained. After reading the works of the Flemish mystic, Jannes van Ruysbroeck, and other mystics he abandoned his clerical status and renounced his benefices for a more ascetic life. He was temporarily attached to the Carthusian Order, the most effective monastic order in maintaining its original medieval values. He did not remain a Carthusian but settled at Deventer, in Holland, serving as a deacon. He began to preach the need for true penance to both laymen and clergy, berating the clergy for the practices of simony, concubinage and excessive venality (concern for property). A group of canons and laymen were "converted" to his ascetic understanding of Christianity. These ideas bore fruit later in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life. This very popular expression of Christian piety thrived in northern Germany, northern France and the Netherlands area.
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This new Devotio Moderna, modern devotion, or modern way to live the Christian life and express one's Christianity, denied the essentialness of all "externals." It was the reduction of the Christian life and worship to its minimum essentials. Elaborate rites, prayers, rituals, chants and ostentatious acts of penance done in public were all rejected. All the posturing and honoring of the ecclesiastic hierarchy was also rejected, as was all technical expertise in theology. What was left was a simple life characterized by inward spirituality and quiet everyday behavior characterized by charity. Personal fasting was encouraged, chastity was expected and worldly possessions were given voluntarily to the community. Systematic meditation was recommended. This moderate asceticism was balanced and directed by an emphasis on the Bible as the guide for life. Theologically and morally their views were orthodox, but they were neither monks nor clergy, neither radical mystics nor theologians. The closest parallel would be the original thirteenth century community of Lesser Brothers organized by Francis of Assisi--not the contemporary Franciscans! When Groote died the leadership passed to Florence Radewijn (1350-1400). Radewijn was a canon from Utrecht who was vicar (assistant or replacement for the absent bishop) at Deventer. He seems to have been the organizer who gave form to the Fratres vitae comnunis or the Fratres devoti, Brethren (and Sisters) of the Common Life, or Worshiping Brethren.
While the women's communities were somewhat more like monasteries than the men's, neither engaged in any ministry or preaching. Even though the majority were laymen there were a few clergy among them. They made their living laboring in various lucrative endeavors. Until the printing press cut their market in the late fifteenth century they had a substantial business copying manuscripts. Collectively they engaged in various menial services to their communities. They founded and supported orphanages and boys' schools although they did not themselves often teach. In these schools the curriculum was very ordinary during most of the fifteenth century, but after 1480 when the humanist trained Alexander Hegius became rector of the Brethren School at Deventer the principles of humanist education began to appear in many of their schools.
Certainly the most noteworthy fifteenth century product of the Brethren's School at Deventer was Nicholas Krebs of Kues (Cusa) (1401-1464). After his schooling at Deventer he studied canon law and scholasticism at Heidelberg and Padua, and studied theology at Cologne. He learned to read Greek at the time it was just being introduced. He served for a time as Archdeacon of Liege. In 1433 Nicholas of Cusa (Nicholas Cusanius) published De concordantia Catholica, an historical study of the relations between the Papacy and the Emperor in support of the conciliar movement. He found no historical confirmation for Constantine's "Donation" so he concluded that papal authority derived from the dispersed church across Christendom by means of the Cardinals who represented all Christendom. In 1440 he published his views of philosophy in a book enigmatically titled De docta ignoranti that may be translated either as "On Learned Ignorance" or "On Learned Unknowing". He emphasized the wisdom of recognizing the fallibility of human intelligence to comprehend the totality and infinity of God. He was a strong advocate of Platonic mysticism and rejected many of the Aristotelian innovations in Theology. He also wrote on mathematics, physics and astronomy. It is worth noting that Nicholas was quite ahead of his time. He seems to have suggested that the earth moved in some kind of path like that of the planets, but his writing style was so obtuse that readers were never sure they understood him. He abandoned conciliarism and became a supporter of the papacy. In 1448 he became papal legate to the Byzantines seeking to implement the agreements of 1439. After 1450 he was Cardinal bishop of Brixen (Italy) and Papal legate to Germany. He efforts at reforming the clergy of his own diocese at Brixen necessitated his dependence on a corps of armed retainers for his personal safety. He was imprisoned for a time by the local count that gave support to the recalcitrant churchmen and women. Nicholas was a member of Pope Pius II's 1458 commission to study abuses in the church. His notes on church reform give detailed testimony of the abuses occurring at all levels of church life.
Not all the Brethren movement remained laymen. In 1387 the Windesheim Brotherhood at Zwolle in the Netherlands, turned itself into a community of Augustinian canons regular. Many other communities of Brethren in the German speaking area of the Netherlands followed the Windesheim example. This branch of the movement tended to minister to the lay branch of the movement. By 1500 there were 84 canonries and 13 convents. Among the several canons whose writings supported the Brethren Thomas Haemerken of Kempen (1380-1471), better known as Thomas à Kempis, is most often recognized. He was an Augustinian canon regular who in 1420 wrote the now famous De imitatione Christi, The Imitation of Christ, expressing the simple but compelling ideals of the Brethren. (Continued in Lecture/Essay Eleven)
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The Council of Pisa was held for five months in 1409. There were 24 cardinals, several hundred bishops, over a hundred procuratorial legates sent by bishops who couldn't attend, and over 300 theologians and political ambassadors present. On June 5, having waited since early March for the two popes to show up, they declared both deposed. On June 26 they elected Peter Philargi the Cardinal archbishop of Milan, as Pope Alexander V. They adjourned quickly after passing a resolution that a new council be called in 3 years.
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Pope Alexander V established his offices in Bologna. France, England and the majority of the German princes recognized him. Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon) retained the allegiance of the Spanish kingdoms and Scotland only. Pope Gregory XII (Rome) had the support of only part of Germany and southern Italy. France was totally consumed for the moment in civil strife.
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Alexander V was succeeded by Cardinal Balthazar Cossa as John XXIII whose worldly character and absent enthusiasm for reform cooled his supporters.
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The Church in Bohemia was no different than many other regions. The lower clergy were ill trained, worldly and neglectful of the care of souls, the bishops were mostly foreigners (Germans) who zealously practiced absenteeism and flaunted their scandalous lives before the lay population who studiously ignored the whole sordid mess. There may have been a few surviving pockets of incognito Cathari population. John Hus was not the first churchman to preach reform in the Bohemian church, but he happened to be well-placed in the society and on hand when the time was right.
Completing his master's in the liberal arts at the University in Prague in 1396, John Hus was thrust into prominence by being appointed rector of the University and preacher at the newly constructed Bethlehem Chapel both in Prague in 1402. As a result of the marriage between England's King Richard II and Bohemia's princess Anne (sister of King Wenceslaus) in 1382 channels of communication between the universities at Prague and Oxford had been quite active. Hus had been involved in translating some of Wyclif's theological works into Czech. In 1403 the faculty at Prague condemned forty-five propositions from Wyclif's works, but Hus and others were still impressed by the value of some of Wyclif's arguments, particularly as they supported Czech nationalism. Hus, however, condemned Wyclif's teaching about the Eucharist insisting rather on the substantial presence of Christ's body and blood in the traditional fashion.
Hus and his Czech nationalist followers were excommunicated in 1410 and Archbishop Zbynék of Prague placed Prague under the interdict in 1411, but the nationalist movement was soon in control of the nation. When indulgence salesmen came representing the Pisan Pope John XXIII to raise money for a crusade against King Ladislaus of Naples (see, p. 451) who was defending Pope Gregory XII Hus stirred up a storm of protest. John XXIII then excommunicated Hus and placed an interdict on any place giving him hospitality in 1412. Hus appealed to a general council, and in defense wrote his only important work, De ecclesia, On the Church, in which he argued that when temporal or spiritual rulers reject the "Law of Christ" they put themselves in mortal sin. In that condition they have no authority and their subjects are obliged to disobey them. The Czech nation stood with Hus against the Church. (Continued in Lecture/Essay Seven)
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King Sigismund (1410-1422) of Germany finally persuaded John XXIII to call a council to meet at Constance in 1414. The Council of Constance was one of the largest councils ever. In addition to Pope John XXIII (Pisan line) there were three patriarchs, 29 cardinals, 33 archbishops and over 300 bishops and abbots in attendance. In addition there was a huge crowd of lower clergy and laity including not only princes, kings and ambassadors from many governments but also scholars from many universities. The agenda was a short list of 3 items: ending the schism; the defense of the Catholic faith against heresy (Wyclif and Hus); and, the reform of the Church in head and members. Voting was done by nation rather than by head. There were eventually five nations represented: Italian, French, German, English, and Spanish. Voting in the nations was quite widely defined.
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Meanwhile, John XXIII got cold feet and left the council. Cardinal d'Ailly held the body together and took actions affirming conciliar theory. Their actions asserted that the general council's authority came directly from Christ and everybody, popes included, was obligated to obey its decisions on any matter, but particularly on matters of the schism and the reform of the church. They further declared that the absence of the pope did not hamper or alter the council's legitimacy. Moreover, no one could dissolve them or move them without their approval.
Sacrosancta, the decree of the council issued April, 1415, and quoted here as translated from Hardt, Rerum magni Conc. Const. (1700), iv. 98. Mirbt, No. 392, by Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder. Documents of the Christian Church (Oxford), pp. 149, in part.
The defense of the Catholic faith began with the condemnation of Wyclif's writings in May of 1415. Wyclif was defrocked; his bones were to be exhumed from the Lutterworth cemetery, burnt and scattered on the River Swift. This "sentence" was carried out in 1428. John Hus had come to Constance in November of 1414 with great hopes of being able to persuade the Council of the correctness of his position. He defied the strict prohibition on preaching and did so every day until he was arrested. When he came before the council he refused to retract his teachings, which had in substance already been identified as heresy by the action against Wyclif. When Hus was declared to be a heretic on the morning of July 6, 1415, he was released into the custody of the secular authorities in Constance. They promptly sentenced him to death by burning and executed the sentence before the day was over. Eleven months later Jerome of Prague, an active advocate of Hus's doctrine in his ministry in Hungary and Austria, was found to be a heretic and executed in identical manner.
Pope John XXIII (Pisa) was arrested, tried on charges of simony and scandalous living, and deposed by action of the Council. Pope Gregory XII (Rome) sent his resignation to the Council. Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon) adamantly refused to give in, but his Spanish and Scottish supporters left him and joined the Council in December 1415. The Council tried him in absentia in 1417 and found him guilty of perjury, schism, and heresy and formally deposed him. Benedict, however, was unmoved. He continued to assert that he was the only legitimate Pope until he died seven years later in May 1424. The majority of his loyal cardinals elected Clement VIII, but the minority elected Benedict XIV who died before the year was over; neither of them secured any recognition beyond their immediate contacts. Clement VIII, however, continued to assert his legitimacy until his death in 1429.
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The Council proceeded with the election of a new pope in 1417. Six elected deputies from each of the 5 nations would convene in the election conclave with the 23 cardinals. They were sequestered in a warehouse and came to a unanimous decision in 3 days. On November 21, 1417, Otto Colonna, an Italian of renowned lineage, was crowned pope Martin V. The new pope then presided over the remaining four sessions of the Council.
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The issue of church reform had been delayed until last because of the divergent opinions about how to attack the problems and how far to go. None of the leading churchmen was willing to sacrifice their own perks and privileges to lead the way. Conflicts among the political groups at Constance were intense and often diverted productive discussion into fruitless wrangling. Some were for a quick fix of only the most pressing matters of cutting papal power over the church and reducing taxes. Others argued for a more systematic approach. Twelve decrees were eventually approved in 1417 and 1418.
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