The church, the councils, and reform: the legacy of the fifteenth century

Introduction

Part Iv}Applications Introduction Thomas m. iZbiCki Conciliar activity did not occur in a vacuum. Local synods met, and cathedral chapters transacted business as corporate bodies. Several kingdoms held assemblies of notables or their representatives. One need only think of the French Estates-General and the English Parliament . The empire was a complex environment, with the election of the emperor, meetings of the imperial diet, and occasional assemblies of princes and electors to discuss such issues as the choice between the Council of Basel and Eugenius IV.In this context,especially the effort of Basel to reclaim local control of ecclesiastical elections, Günter Hägele and Friedrich Pukelsheim examine the systems evolved by Nicholas of Cusa for imperial elections. These elections, like the councils Cusanus discussed, must be understood in the wider context of Christendom, the idea of a Christian society supported by both the lay and clerical authorities . One such electoral system is found in the Catholic Concordance (De concordantia catholica), alongside proposals for church governance and reform.Later,Cusanus proposed systems for the election of church officials,and he anticipated approaches later credited to Jean Charles de Borda and Condorcet. In the same period,conciliar assemblies can be found in the diocese of Florence. This Florentine conciliarism is examined by David S. Peterson , who demonstrates that it shared principles with the republican constitution of the city of Florence. Both clergy and commune sought precedents in authoritative texts, and both sought to limit the powers of any individual. The Florentine clergy went so far as to draft a con227 stitution, because they felt ill protected by the bishop from the pope and the Roman Curia. In this local development, as in the conciliarism of the Council of Constance, the influence of Francis Zabarella, “the Cardinal of Florence,” can be discerned. Larger applications of conciliar principles did not cease with the failure of the Council of Basel. The late Giuseppe Alberigo discusses differing approaches to councils from Constance to Trent.In particular,he shows how Cusanus creatively synthesized conciliar thought and made it more flexible than the dogmatism that came to predominate at Basel.The Basel challenge inspired a papalist revival,best represented by John of Torquemada. This revived papalism, with its certainties, helped blind Rome to the challenges that would confront it in the Reformation. In its turn,this new challenge inspired a response from the Council of Trent,one which,however,did not simply ratify Rome’s most autocratic vision of itself. While Alberigo’s essay shows the recent move away from condemnation of the Council of Trent as a reactionary force, highlighting its occasional resistance to papal policy, Christopher M. Bellitto shows this great council taking creative measures. Bellitto examines the common misconceptions of Trent and the Second Vatican Council that have predominated even into our own time. His essay shows Trent as more innovative—and more turbulent—than once thought and Vatican II as not necessarily in stark opposition to the earlier council. Both were human events, involving churchmen striving to find their way in difficult times. Any future ecumenical council will face similar challenges of reconciling faith and practicality, update and affirmation of principles. It will also incur the danger of strife and division arising from misconceptions and conflicting ideals. 228 ThomasM.Izbicki ...