Council of Constance

Council of Constance, ecclesiastical council that met in the imperial city of Konstanz from 1414 to 1418. It was convoked by Antipope John XXIII at the request of Sigismund, Holy Roman emperor. The specific purpose of the council was to settle the question of the papal succession, claimed by John and by Pope Gregory XII and Antipope Benedict XIII. It was also intended to end the schism in the Western church, formulate ecclesiastical reforms, and oppose heresies.

The most important results of the council were the decisions that its rulings were binding even on the pope and that regular meetings of such councils must be held. The members of the council regularized the voting procedure for papal elections and chose Ottone Cardinal Colonna, who became Pope Martin V. The selection of the new pope ended the schism between the popes of Rome and Avignon. The council also condemned as heretical the doctrines of the English religious reformer John Wycliffe and those of the Bohemian religious reformers Jan Hus (John Huss) and Jerome of Prague. The two Bohemians were later condemned to death at the stake by the secular authorities.

The Council of Constance has been, and is still, the object of much controversy, especially concerning the supremacy of a general council over the pope. The central issue is the questionable legitimacy of the first part of the council, which dealt with supremacy, because it had been convened by John XXIII, an antipope. The issue is further confused by the enigmatic approval by Martin V of the decisions of the council: the text of his approval contains a clause that seems to rule out the questionable first part of the council.