Council of Basel

The Council of Basel was a council of bishops and other ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church that was held at Basel, Switzerland, away from territories of the Papacy, the Holy Roman Emperor or the kings of Aragon or France, whose influences the council hoped to avoid.

Eugenius IV

:Main article: Pope Eugenius IV.

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Eugenius IV, however much he may have wished to keep on good terms with the fathers of Basel, found himself neither able nor willing to accept or observe all their decrees. The question of the union with the Greek church, especially, gave rise to a misunderstanding between them which soon led to a rupture. The Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaeologus, pressed hard by the Ottoman Turks, showed a keen desire to ally himself with the Catholics; he consented to come with the principal representatives of the Greek church to some place in the west where the union could be concluded in the presence of the pope and of the Latin council. Hence arose a double negotiation between him and Eugenius IV on the one hand and the fathers of Basel on the other. The Council wished to fix the meeting-place at a place remote from the influence of the pope, and they persisted in suggesting Basel or Avignon or Savoy, which neither Eugenius nor the Greeks would on any account accept.

Related Topics:
Byzantine emperor - John VIII Palaeologus - Ottoman Turks - Avignon - Savoy

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:Main article: Council of Ferrara.

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The result was that Palaeologus accepted the offers of the pope, who, by a bull dated 18 September 1437, again pronounced the dissolution of the council of Basel, and summoned the fathers to Ferrara, where on the 8 January 1438 he opened a new synod which he later transferred to Florence. Bishop Luigi Pirano of Forlì (1437) took an active part in the ensuing Council of Ferrara.

Related Topics:
18 September - 1437 - Ferrara - 8 January - 1438 - Florence - Luigi Pirano - Forlì

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Union with the Eastern Orthodox Church

In Ferrara took place the momentary union, more apparent than real, between the Latin and the Greek churches (6 July 1439). The only Eastern bishop to refuse to sign onto the union was Mark of Ephesus, who held that Rome was in both heresy and schism for its acceptance of the Filioque clause in the Nicene Creed and for the papal claims to universal jurisdiction over the Church.

Related Topics:
6 July - 1439 - Mark of Ephesus - Heresy - Schism - Filioque clause - Nicene Creed

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Further attempts at a wider union were made, such as the Bull of Union with the Copts.

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