But scarcely was Martin securely seated on the pon- tifical throne when the whole face of affairs at Con- stance changed, and it soon became evident that all intentions of reform, for which mainly the council had been called and John XXIII deposed, had been put away from the mind of Martin, JNIild, but sagacious aaid resolute, "seeming to yield everything to the em- peror and council, he conceded nothing." As early as April following his election (Nov. 11, 1417), he dissolved the council, which had struggled through three years and a half for reform, without being any nearer the ac- complishment of their hopes than when they began, and the spirit of advance which had inspired the up- rising of Bohemia and the organization of the Lollards (q. v.) was crushed for a time, to rise only two centu- ries thence in a force that defied all opposition, and re- sulted in a schism nearly destroymg the mother Church. So far from aiding a reform, Martin V's first act vras one of tyranuA'. " The papal chancery had been the object of the longest, loudest, and most just clamor. The day after the election the pope published a brief confirming all the rcgidations established by his predecessors, even by John XXIII. . . . The form was not less dictatorial than the substance of the decree. It was an act of the pope, not of the council. It was an absolute resump- tion of the whole power of reformation, so far at least as the papal court, into his own hands" (IVIilman, Latin Christiunity, vii, 517). The Council of Constance, in- stead of shaking the papal supremacy, had, by the choice of Otto de Colonna, raised it higher than ever before by producing a pope who, as liomanists will have it, " re- covered the waning reverence of Christendom." Martin V was the product of no schism or party, but of the Church universal, and he was justified in seeking such supremacy ; nor do we wonder that, in the last con- sistory of the cardinals at Constance, Martin Y put forth a constitution by which, in direct contradiction to the principles so distinctly laid down at Constance, he di- rected that no one should be allowed to dispute any de- cision of the pope in matters of faith, and to appeal from him to a general council (Neander, v, 127). See Infallibility. From Constance the pope proceeded to Florence, where he was received with the greatest official respect, and where he remained for three years, during which interval all opposition, in the form of anti-poperj', virtually died out. He then proceeded to Eome, where he was also received with demonstrations of great joy, and honored with the title of the Father of his Country. He set himself with great energy to the task of restoring the fallen glory of the Eternal City, and so well did he succeed that he received the addi- tional title of Eo7ii>ilus the Second. By his address and superior sagacity, Martin V succeeded in bringing a pro- tracted quarrel with Alphonso of Aragon to a termina- tion, which at once secured his own ends and pacified a stubborn adversary. At the Council of Constance the next general council Vi'as appointed to meet, five years later, at Pavia. Accortlingly such a council was actu- ally opened there in the year 1423, but, on account of the spread of the pestilence called the Black Death, it was dissolved and transferred to Sienna. But at Sienna also only a few sessions were held ; and, on the pretence that the small number of prelates assembled ditl not author- ize tlic continuance of the council, in conformity with the determination of the Council of Constance, the next meeting was appointed to be held seven vears later, in the year 1431. at Basle (comp. Fisher [G."P.], The Ref- ormation [N. Y. 1873, 8vo], p. 43). See Julian, Cardi- nal. This council was intended to close the difficulty with
the Hussites (q. v.), whose leaders Martin Y had so sum- marily disposed of at Constance (q. v.), and to effect the reunion of the Greek Church. At this important crisis he died, in Rome, of an apopletic fit, in February', 1431. As a man, Martin Y was of that class who form their determinations deliberately and adhere to them steadily, and, if necessary, doggedly. He was possessed of great administrative ability. He has been accused of avarice, though perhaps unjustly. He certainly favored learn- ing, and the palaces of his cardinals were the schools of advancement for the youth of Italy. He has also been charged, and with greater justice, with nepotism, an in- stance of which is the appointment of his nephew at the age of fourteen as archdeacon of Canterbury. The main features of his reign are the pacification of Italy, the restoration of peace between France and England, the rebuilding of Home, and the wars against Bohemia. He was succeeded by pope Eugenius lY. See Bower, Hist. Popes, vii, 200 sq. ; Neander, Ch. Hist, v, 126 sq. ; Milman, Lat. Christianity, vii, 613 sq. ; Muratori, Script. iii, p. ii ; Leo, Gesch. v. Italien, iv, 520 sq. ; TroUope, Hist. Florence, vol. ii (see Index in vol. iv) ; Reichel, Roman See in Aliddle Ages, p. 492 sq. ; Life of Cardinal Julian, p. 18, 57 sq., 96 sq., 103, 126 sq., 243 sq., 338; Gillett, Hubs and Hussites, ii, 335 sq. ; Ffoulkes, iJivisions of Christendom, vol. ii, ch. vi, p. 83, 134 ; Butler (C. M.), Eccles. Hist, ii, 109-113; Waddington, Ch. Hist. p. 105, 110, 137, 142, 196; Jahrb. deutsch. Theol. 1871, iii, 564. (J.D.H.)