1(38 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
Among Uie signs of Martin's interest in religion was his order securing the transfer to Rome of some of the bones of Monica, the mother of Augustine, and his bull canonizing her. On their reception, Martin made a public address in which he said, " Since we possess St. Augustine, what do we care for the shrewdness of Aristotle, the eloquence of Plato, the reputation of Pythagoras ? These men we do not need. Augustine is enough. If we want to know the truth, learning, and religion, where shall we find one more wise, learned, and holy than St. Augustine ? "
A^_forJh^_^:omis£S_flLL£lliin;^^ at .Constaufie,
MartiiLpaid no attentioiLtQ. tliaui, and the explanation made by Pastor, that his time was occupied with the government of Rome and the improvement of the city, is not sufficient to exculpate him. The_old^ abuses in the disposition and
_sale of offices continued. The pope had no intention oi yielding up the monarchical claims of the papal office. Nor did he forget.Jiia_-i:elatiKes. One brother, Giordano, was made duke of Amalfi, and another, Lorenzo, count of Alba. One of his nephews, Prospero, he invested with the purple, 1426. He also secured large tracts of territory for his house. ^
The._coun^iJ, appointed by Marti» at Constance to m^et iiL-Pa^da, convened April, 1423, was sparsely attended, adjourned on account of the plague to Siena, and, Mter.„con.damning the -er^'o^■* o^f Wyclif and Huss» was dissolve^
3Jai'oh 7, 1424» Martin and his successors feared councils, and it was their policy to prevent, if possible, their assembling, by all sorts of excuses and delays. Why should the pope place himself in a position to hear instructions and receive commands? However, Martin could not be altogether deaf to the demands of Christendom, or unmindful of his pledge given at Constance. Placards were posted up in Rome threatening him if he summoned a council. Und^ constraint and not of_f]:fifi_wilU_ b^., appointed the second
1 Pastor, I. 227, Martin's warm admirer, passes lightly over the pope's nepotism with the remark that in this regard he overstepped the line of propriety — er hat das Mass des Erlaubten uherschritten.
§ 17. THE COUNCIL OF BASEL. 1431-1449. 169
jcauucilj^ which was to meet^in seven^j^eai's at Basel, 143^ but h£. died the same year, before the time set for its assembling.
Eiigenius IV., the next occupant of the papal throne, 1431-1447, a Venetian^ had been made bishop of Siena by his maternal uncle, Gregory XII., at the age of twenty-four, and soon afterwards was elevated to the curia. His pontificate was chiefly occupied with the attempt to assert the supremacy of the papacy against the conciliar theoi;y. It also witnessed the most notable effort ever made for the union of the Greeks with the Western Church.
By an agreement signed in the conclave which elevated Eugenius, the cardinals promised that the successful candidate should advance the interests of the impending general council, follow the decrees of the Council of Constance in appointing cardinals, consult the sacred college in matters of papal administration, and introduce Church reforms. Such a compact had been signed by the conclave which elected Innocent VI., 1352, and similar compacts by almost every conclave after Eugenius down to the Reformation, but all with no result, for, as soon as the election was consummated, the pope set the agreement aside and pursued his own course.
On the day set for the opening of the council in Basel, March 7, 1431, only a single prelate was present, the abbot of Vezelay. The formal opening occurred July _^, bu^ Cardinal Cesarini, who had been appointed by Martin a,nd Eugenius to preside, did not appear till Sept. 2- He was detained by his duties as papal legate to settle the Hussite insurrection in Bohemia. Sigismund sent Duke William of Bavaria as protector, and the attendance speedily grew. The number of doctors present was larger in comparison to the number of prelates than at Constance. A member of the council said that out of 500 members he scarcely saw 20 bishops. The rest belonged to the lower orders of the clergy, or were laymen. "Of old, bishops had settled the affairs of the Church, but now the common herd does it."^ The most interesting personage in the convention was --Eneas Sylvius
1 Traversal-!, as quoted by Creighton, I. 128.