166 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
determinata et conchisa et decreta i7i materiis fidei per proesens sacrttm concilinm generate C'onstantiense conciliariter tenere et inviolabiliter observare volebat et nunquam contravenire quoquomodo. Moreover, he announced that he sanctioned and ratified acts made in a " conciliar way and not made otherwise or in any other way," Ipsaque sic conciliariter facta approbat papa et ratificat et non aliter nee alio modo. Funk, Martin V. iind das Konzil zu Konstanz in Abhaudlunjen, I. 489 sqq., Hefele, Concilieuf/esch., I. 52, and Kupper, in Wetzer-Welte, VII. 1004 sqq., restrict tlie application of these words to the Falkenberg incident. Funk, liowever, by a narrow interpretation of the words " in matters of faith,"' excludes the acts of the 4th and 5th sessions from the pope's approval. Dollinger (p. 464), contends that the expression conciliariter, "in a conciliar way," is opposed to nationaliter, " in the nations." The expression is to be taken in its simple meaning, and refers to what was done by the council as a council.
The only other statement made by Martin bearing upon the question occurs in his bull Frequens, of Feb. 22, 1418, in which he recognized the council as (Ecumenical, and declared its decrees binding which pei'tained to faith and the salvation of souls — quod sacrum conrilium Constant., universalem ecclesiam reprcsentans approbavit et approbat in favorem fidei et salutem animarum, quod hoc est ab universis Christi fidelibus approbandnm et tenendum. Hefele and Funk show that this declaration was not meant to exclude matters which were not of faith, for Martin expressly approved other matters, such as those passed upon in the 39th session. There is ho record that Martin at any time said anything to throw light upon his meaning in these two utterances.
In the latter part of the fifteenth century, as Raynaldus, an. 1418, shows, the view came to expression that Martin expressly intended to except the action of the 4th and 5th sessions from his papal approval.
Martin V.'s successor, Eugenius IV., in 144(3, thirty years after the synod, asserted that its decrees were to be accepted so far as they did not prejudice the law, dignity, and pre-eminence of the Apostolic See — absque tamen prcejudicio juris et dignitatis et prceeminentioe Apost. sedis. The papacy had at that time recovered its prestige, and the supreme pontiff felt himself strong enough to openly reassert the superiority of the Apostolic See over oecumenical councils. But before that time, in a bull issued Dec. 13, 1443, he formally accepted the acts of the Council of Basel, the most explicit of which was the reaffirmation of the acts of the Council of Constance in its 4th and 5th sessions.
It occurs to a Protestant that the Council of Constance would hardly have elected Oddo Colonna pope if he had been suspected of being opposed to the council's action concerning its own superiority. The council would have stultified itself in appointing a man to undo what it had solemnly done. And for him to have denied its authority would have been, as DiiUinger says (p. 159), like a son denying his parentage. The emphasis which recent Catholic historians lay upon Gregory's authorization of the synod as giving it for the fir.st time an ajcumenical character is an easy way out of the difficulty, and this view forces the recognition of the Roman line of popes as the legitimate successors of St. Peter during the years of the schism.
§ 17. THE COUNCIL OF BASEL. 1431-1449. 167
§ 17. The Council of Basel. 1431-1449.
Martin V. proved Iiimsali„±a_ba a capalilp. and judicious ruler, with courage enough when the exigency arose. He left Constance May 16, 1418. Sigismund, who took his departure the following week, offered him as his papal residence Basel, Strassburg, or Frankfurt. France pressed the claims of Avignon, but a Colonna could think of no other city than Rome, and proceedin^bj_the^_way of Bern, Geneva, Mantua, and Florence, he entered the Eternal City Sept. 28, 1420.1 The delay was due to the struggle being carried on for its possession by the forces of Joanna of Naples under Sforza, and the bold chieftain Braccio.^ Martin secured the withdrawal of Joanna's claims by recognizing that princess as queen of Naples, and pacified Braccio by investing him with Assisi, Perugia, Jesi, and Todi.
Rome was in a desolate condition when Martin reached it, the prey of robbers, its streets filled with refuse and stagnant water, its bridges decayed, and many of its churches without roofs. Cattle and sheep were herded in the spaces of St. Paul's. Wolves attacked the inhabitants within the walls.^ With JVlai*tin's_ arnval ajnew ^m This
pope rid the city of robbers, so that persons carrying gold might go with safety even beyond the walls. He restored the Lateran, and had it floored with a new pavement. He repaired the porch of St. Peter's, and provided it with a new roof at a cost of 50,000 gold gulden. Revolutions within the city ceased. Martin deserves to be honored as one of Rome's leading benefactors. His pontificate was an era of peace after years of constant strife and bloodshed due to factions within the walls and invaders from without. With him its mediaeval history closes, and an age of restoration and progress begins. The inscription on Martin's tomb in the Lateran, " the Felicity of his Times," — temporum suorum felicitas, — expresses the debt Rome owes to him.
1 Richental, pp. 149 sqq. ^ Infessura, p, 21.
3 Five large wolves were killed in the Vatican gardens, Jan. 23, 1411. Gregorovius, VI. 618.