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His partisans among the members of the council, however, constantly diminished in number, particularly after a document attributed to an Italian priest had been circulated, which contained a detailed account of all the crimes and sins committed by Baldassare Cossa. The document, probably published for the purpose of intimidating the pope, was promptly suppressed, but many of the unspeakable accusations contained in it were embodied in the act of deposition of John XXIII., which was published on May 25, 1415. A resolution of the council had meanwhile altered the system of voting at its deliberations, and had greatly reduced the power of the minor Italian ecclesiastics, who were Pope John's principal adherents. He therefore determined to yield. At a general meeting of the council held on February 16, in the presence of Sigismund, Cardinal Zabarella read out a statement of John XXIII. He declared that he was prepared of his own accord and for the good of the church to descend from the throne of St. Peter if the two claimants to the papacy, who had been deposed and condemned as heretics by the Council of Pisa, would in a manner and at a time which he would determine in accordance with the members of the council, renounce the titles which they had usurped. This declaration, and another which John afterwards submitted, were considered insufficient, and a document drawn up by members of the council and transmitted to the pope by Sigismund was rejected by him. He declared that the wording of the document presented to him was almost identical with that of the document containing the renunciation of Gregory XII., between whose case and his own there was, Pope John maintained, a very considerable difference. Finally, on March 1, John XXIII. accepted and signed a document 2 which contained a formal renunciation of the papal throne. He declared that of his own free will and for the sake of the peace of the church, he entirely renounced all claims to the papal throne, and that he made no other condition except that Peter of Luna and Angelo Correr, known in their obediences as Benedict XIII. 1 Von der Hardt, Magnum oecumenicum Constantiense Concilium, T. ii. P. viii. p. 233.

2 Printed by Von der Hardt, T. ii. P. iv. p. 45.

and Gregory XII., should do likewise. This renunciation was received with universal rejoicings, and when John XXIII. on the following day solemnly confirmed it by his oath in the cathedral before the members of the council and the emperor, all present burst into tears.

Baldassare Cossa-as he now again became-though "entrapped," as he would have expressed it, and daunted for a moment, was by no means at the end of his resources. It has already been mentioned that Cossa had on his journey to Constance met Duke Frederick of Austria, and that a thorough understanding had sprung up between them. This was of greatest importance to the pope, as the territory of the Habsburg prince extended to the immediate vicinity of Constance. Frederick, who had become a mortal enemy of the house of Luxemburg, was by no means unwilling to frustrate the plans of Sigismund and to render the council abortive. Probably immediately after his renouncement, Cossa determined to leave Constance and to fly to Schafhausen, the nearest city within the territory of Duke Frederick. He was, however, obliged to act with great caution. It was rumoured at Constance that he intended to leave the city, and this rumour was intensified by the fact that he refused to conform to the formalities necessary to render his renunciation absolute, and thus obstructed the proceedings of the council. This caused great indignation among the members of that assembly, and at one of its meetings the Bishop of Salisbury is said to have declared that Cossa deserved to be burnt at the stake. According to Dietrich of Niem, Cossa made another offer of money to Sigismund, and on being questioned by the emperor with regard to his future plans formally protested that he had no intention of leaving Constance before the council was dissolved. The cunning Italian did not think it necessary to add that, according to his belief, his own departure would necessarily entail the dissolution of the council.

On March 20 Baldassare Cossa effected his escape. He had settled in accord with Duke Frederick that a tournament under the auspices of the duke, should on that day be held outside the

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walls of Constance. While all the citizens were watching the proceedings, Cossa made his escape, riding in disguise to Ermattingen, whence a boat that was waiting conveyed him to Schafhausen. Duke Frederick followed him as soon as he was able to leave the place of tournament without attracting attention, and joined him at Schafhausen. Their departure caused a panic at Constance, and it seemed probable for a moment that the council would break up. The papal soldiers who guarded Hus left the city shortly after their master, but Sigismund, as will be mentioned later, did not use this opportunity to set the prisoner free. In consequence of the energy of Sigismund, aided by the influence of John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a rupture was averted, and the council continued its sittings. At the memorable meeting of that assembly on March 30, the superiority of a general council over the pope was proclaimed,1 and it was also declared that all future decrees of Pope John XXIII. should be invalid. Through the influence of Sigismund the council also took proceedings against Duke Frederick of Austria, on whom Sigismund pronounced the imperial ban. He also declared war on him, and proclaimed that all should be free to acquire any portion of Frederick's territory which they might conquer. The Swiss, who had by a recent treaty pledged themselves under oath not to attack Frederick, were informed by the council that, as they had pledged themselves to a heretic, the oath was invalid, and that they were justified in waging war against the Duke of Austria. It is beyond my purpose to enter into details concerning the campaign that followed. Frederick was defeated everywhere, and was obliged to proceed to Constance and there make his humble submission to the emperor. Pope John XXIII. fled from Schafhausen before the surrender of the town to the imperial forces. He first proceeded to Laufenburg, and then to Freiburg in Breisgau, from where he addressed a letter to the council proposing an agreement. The terms he offered were, however, rejected. From Freiburg Cossa

1 This declaration of the Council of Constance was often mentioned when the question of papal infallibility was under discussion.

went to Breisach, and here, in his usual tortuous manner, entered into negotiations with the envoys sent to him by the council. Meanwhile, however, Duke Frederick had submitted to the emperor, and had among other stipulations agreed to give up all support of Baldassare Cossa. The latter returned to Freiburg, and now gave up all attempts of resistance. Accompanied by the representatives of the council, and guarded by 300 Hungarian soldiers sent by Sigismund, he proceeded to Radolfzell, there to await his final sentence. He was here informed of the decree published by the council on May 25, which, after enumerating all his crimes, declared him to be " an abettor of simoniacs, a mirror of infamy, an idolater of the flesh and one whom all who knew him considered a devil incarnate," and proclaimed his deposition from the papal throne.1 Cossa offered no further resistance, and gave up the insignia of papacy without any opposition. From Radolfzell he was conveyed to Gottlieben, a castle about eight miles from Constance, which for some time served also as a prison for Hus. As he was suspected of intriguing with his Italian friends in Constance, Sigismund placed him in the custody of Louis Count Palatine, by whose order he was removed to the castle of Heidelberg. He remained there up to the termination of the Council of Constance. He soon made his peace with the Roman Church, and submitted to Pope Martin V., by whom he was again created a cardinal. He retired to Florence, where he died on December 22, 1418. His tomb in the Battisterio by Michelozzo and Donatello is a noble work of the early Italian renaissance. It is striking to contrast his end with that of Hus. While the diavolo cardinale died surrounded with all honours and was buried in a magnificent tomb that is still admired by all visitors to Florence, Hus died by that hideous and painful death which mediæval Christianity seems to have borrowed from Nero, while his ashes were scattered and thrown into the Rhine.

Before returning to Hus, who remained imprisoned in and near Constance during the momentous events that occurred in that city, it will be necessary to refer to events in Bohemia that had 1 The decree of the council is printed by Von der Hardt.

considerable influence on the fate of Hus. The pious congregation at Bethlehem and the Bohemian patriots and church-reformers generally had been anxious for the safety of Hus from the moment that he had crossed the boundaries of his native land. Many previous treacherous acts of Sigismund, particularly those that were connected with his brother Venceslas, were in the memory of all. In consequence of the intense interest in the fate of Hus that was general among the citizens of Prague, theological reflection and discussion became their constant and all-absorbing occupation. Only a few weeks after the departure of Hus a religious innovation was introduced, which, though only a return to a very ancient tradition, yet greatly irritated the opponents of church-reform. Lawrence of Brezova writes, "In the year of the incarnation 1414, the reverend and noble Magister Jacobellus of Stribro (Mies), bachelor of holy theology, with the support of other priests, began to administer the venerable and divine sacrament of eucharistic communion in the two kinds, that is to say, in the species of bread and of wine, in the famed and magnificent city of Prague." The new custom was first adopted in the churches of St. Adalbertus in the new town and St. Martin-in-the-Wall, St. Michael, and the Bethlehem chapel in the old town. The influence of this step on the fate of Hus, and yet more on the subsequent Hussite movement, was very great. It has long and often been discussed why the question of communion in the two kinds, or utraquism as it soon began to be called, acquired such great importance in Bohemia. The formerly general supposition that the tradition of communion in the two kinds continued from the time when Bohemia and Moravia first received Christianity from the East has, in consequence of the recent works of Bohemian scholars, particularly of Professor Kalousek, become very improbable. It is also certain that Jacobellus--in many respects a pupil of Matthew of Janov— did not derive from Matthew his utraquistic teaching. Matthew 1 Laurentii de Brezova, "Historia Hussitica" (Fontes Rerum Bohemicarum, vol. v. p. 338).

2

Particularly in his O historii Kalicha v dobach predhusitskych (Story of the Chalice in Prehussite Times).

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