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.

Issues of reform

Emboldened by their success, the fathers approached the subject of reform, their principal object being to curtail the power and resources of the papacy. Accordingly we find (besides decisions on the disciplinary measures which regulated the elections, on the celebration of divine service, on the periodical holding of diocesan synods and provincial councils) also decrees aimed at some of the "rights" by which the popes had extended their power and helped out their finances at the expense of the local churches. Thus the Council abolished ànnates, greatly limited the abuse of "reservation" of the patronage of benefices by the pope, and completely abolished the right claimed by the pope of "next presentation" to benefices not yet vacant (known as gratiae expectativae). Other conciliar decrees severely limited the jurisdiction of the court of Rome, and even made rules for the election of popes and the constitution of the Sacred College. The fathers continued to devote themselves to the subjugation of the Hussites; they also intervened, in rivalry with the pope, in the negotiations between France and England which led only to the treaty of Arras, concluded by Charles VII of France with the duke of Burgundy; finally, they investigated and judged numbers of private cases — lawsuits between prelates, members of religious orders and holders of benefices — thus themselves falling into one of the serious abuses for which they had most blamed the court of Rome.

Related Topics:
ànnates - England - Treaty of Arras - Charles VII of France - Burgundy

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