Councils of the Catholic Reformation: Pisa I (1409) to Trent (1545–63) (review)

Nelson H. Minnich is the historians' historian. His studies of the late-medieval and early-modern councils are models of exhaustive research in the sources, careful reporting of his finds, and judicious conclusions. The result has often been the demise of long-held judgments that were considered beyond question. Minnich's first specialty was Lateran V. His numerous articles on the council have notably reshaped our image of it. Instead of a small council of almost exclusively Italian membership, it has emerged as on a par with other councils of the era, incomparably better attended than Trent in its first two periods and truly pan-European in make-up.

This volume, which consists of twelve articles, most of which have been published in the last eight years, ranges widely over the nine councils that can be considered "general" between 1409 and 1563. Those nine include Pavia-Siena (1423–24) and Pisa II (1511–12), which do not appear on the list of councils officially approved and, perhaps for that reason, are less well studied than the others. As Minnich observes, this period witnessed the celebration of more general councils than any similar time span in the history of the Church. The collection opens with a brilliant review of the sources and the scholarship on each of them. This article, first published in 2000, is worth the price of the volume.

Two of the remaining articles deal with the publication of Actaof the councils. The first of these is a general review of the editions of the councils under consideration. The second is a study of the official edition, 1521, of the Actaof Fifth Lateran, in which Minnich shows the editor included or excluded documents to produce an expurgated reading of what went on. Among the materials missing from the edition is the bishops' proposal to establish an episcopal college within the Roman Curia, whose function would be to protect their interests. For two years the bishops pushed for such an institution, but they failed to achieve their goal in the face of Pope Leo X's adamant opposition. I mention this proposal because it so closely resembles the institution that four hundred years later some bishops at Vatican II unsuccessfully proposed to give collegiality a basis in the social reality of the Church.

The three articles dealing with the role of theologians in these councils also have a contemporary relevance. Although theologians' roles differed somewhat from council to council, in general they were much stronger than in either Vatican I or Vatican II. Especially at the beginning of this period theologians cast deliberative votes equal to that of cardinals and bishops in conciliar deputations. Even at Trent, they enjoyed the equivalent of a deliberative vote in the shaping of decrees prior to the formal, final approbation.

An aspect of Trent that aroused a little interest at the time of Vatican II but that has been little studied is the role the Lutherans played when Emperor Charles V was able successfully to pressure some of them into attending the council during its second period. In his article on the subject, Minnich describes the background for the happening, analyzes the conditions the Lutherans insisted upon for their participation, and explains why the venture was unsuccessful. Four articles deal with particular aspects of Lateran V. The last deals with a subject that would have been inconceivable before Minnich's many publications on that council made its importance clear to us—Lateran's influence on the Council of Trent. Councils of the Catholic Reformationis an important volume, made up of studies that will continue to be valuable for many decades to come.