The Long and Stony Road to Union: The Intellectual Development of the Concept of Via Concilii from the Outbreak of the Great Western Schism to the Councils of Pisa and Constance

This paper will discuss the considerations of theological and canonical scholars from France and Italy during the Great Western Schism to solve the division of the Church using the via concilii. The main focus will be on the accentuation of conciliar thought, depending upon the various times and the places where the via concilii was discussed. While at the beginning of the schism a solution involving the two contenders was in the foreground, its continuation led to a rethinking—a search for a solution which did not require, and was indeed against, the resisting popes. No attempt will be made to discuss in this paper other issues treated by contemporary scholars such as the fundamental relationship between the pope and the council (although this is relevant to the question of the positioning of the council), or the reform.