Church History

Church life

The Western Schism (1378–1417) left the Church with rival popes. The Council of Pisa (1409) tried to end it. It elected a third pope, Alexander V, and the Church then had three popes at once. P: Constance, introduction V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Constance, the Western Schism V2: Schaff VI, §15, The Council of Pisa.
The Council of Constance (1414–1418) deposed two of the three popes. The third resigned. In 1417 the council elected Martin V (on 11 November), and the Schism ended. The council also tried to settle the Church’s teaching about Christ’s Supper (see Controversy and heresy). P: Council, introduction V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Constance, election of Martin V V2: Schaff VI, §16.
The Council of Basel (opened 1431) quarreled with Pope Eugenius IV. He moved his own council to Ferrara (1438) and then Florence (1439). The two sides fought over who held the highest authority in the Church: a general council or the pope. P: Council decrees, translation and reunion sessions V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Basel V2: Sagovsky, §4.1.
Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican (a friar of the preaching order) who called Florence to repentance in the 1490s. His chief book, The Triumph of the Cross (printed 1497), defends faith in Christ crucified. The pope excommunicated him in 1497, and Florence hanged and burned him in 1498. P: Savonarola, The Triumph of the Cross, translator’s introduction V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Savonarola V2: Britannica 1911, Savonarola. The Triumph of the Cross is the only primary source here. Its introduction does not report the trial, so the 1497 and 1498 facts rest on the two encyclopedias.
Lorenzo Valla, an Italian scholar, proved that the “Donation of Constantine” was a forgery. This document claimed that Emperor Constantine gave Rome and the western empire to Pope Sylvester. Valla wrote his treatise in 1439 or 1440, and sources differ on the year. His work weakened one argument for papal rule. Christ is the only head of the Church (see Confessional Lutheran connection). P: Valla, Treatise on the Donation of Constantine V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Donation of Constantine V2: Britannica 1911, Valla.
Source exercise: Use page images of the Gutenberg Bible. Discuss the move from handwritten to printed Scripture. P: Library of Congress, digitized Bible presentation V1: Gutenberg Museum, Bibles V2: Harry Ransom Center, opening and artifact caption.

Controversy and heresy

Constance, in session 13 (15 June 1415), ruled that lay people receive Communion in the bread only. The council said Christ gave the Supper in both bread and wine, yet it kept the later custom of giving the cup to priests alone. It also said the whole body and blood of Christ are present under each form. P: Session 13 V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Communion Under Both Kinds, §I.1, Constance V2: Schaff VI, §45, thirteenth session’s Communion decision.
Constance condemned the English teacher John Wyclif (died 1384) as a heretic. It listed 45 of his statements. Article 3 denies that Christ is truly present in the Supper. Article 4 says a sinful priest cannot consecrate or baptize. The council ordered his bones dug up. This was done in 1428. P: Constance, sessions 8 and 15 V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Constance, the repression of heresy V2: Schaff VI, §§44 and 45.
Constance also condemned the Bohemian (Czech) preacher Jan Hus in session 15. He was burned at the stake in Constance on 6 July 1415. Read the condemned statements beside his own explanations before you accept the council’s summary of his teaching. P: Session 15, sentence against Hus V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Constance, Hus V2: Christian History Institute, Hus module.

Councils and major events

Constance (1414–1418): Rome counts this as the sixteenth ecumenical council, though Catholic scholars dispute which sessions count. Two decrees claimed that councils hold authority and must meet often: Haec sancta (session 5, 6 April 1415) and Frequens (session 39, 9 October 1417). Pope Martin V never confirmed Haec sancta. Read the words of each decree apart from later judgments about it. P: Sessions 5 and 39 V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Constance V2: Sagovsky, §4.1.
- Lutheran classification: Mixed. The Confessions agree with the council on two Wyclif errors. One denies Christ’s real presence in the Supper. The other says an unworthy minister voids a sacrament. The Confessions reject the ban on the cup in session 13. They say it breaks Christ’s command, and they name Constance. This is the curriculum’s confessional judgment. The Smalcald Articles also cite Constance’s removal of three popes as a precedent. They do not give the council final authority. Augsburg Confession X, Augsburg Confession VIII, Augsburg Confession XXII, Smalcald Articles III, VI, Smalcald Articles II, IV.
Basel (opened 1431): The council reasserted that general councils must meet and that the pope must take part (session 11, 27 April 1433). Rome counts only part of Basel as ecumenical, and the Tanner introduction doubts the first 25 sessions. P: Basel, session 11 V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Basel V2: Britannica 1911, Ferrara-Florence.
- Lutheran classification: Not classified. The Basel decrees that Rome accepts deal with church order. They set how councils and popes share authority. They do not teach about Christ or the sacraments. The Confessions do not make this part of church government a doctrine of the faith (Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope).
Ferrara-Florence (1438–1445): Rome counts this as the seventeenth ecumenical council. The pope opened it at Ferrara in 1438 and moved it to Florence in 1439. Its aim was union with the Greek, Armenian, and other Eastern churches. Explain the fight over authority before you read the teaching agreements. P: Translation decrees and session 6 at Florence V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Basel V2: Catholic Encyclopedia, Florence. The two encyclopedia articles are separate studies, not copies of one text.
- Lutheran classification: Mixed. The Confessions agree that Christ is one person with two natures. Two early errors deny this: Nestorius and Eutyches. The Confessions agree that Baptism is a gate of new life. They reject the claim that the pope is “head of the whole Church.” They also reject the list of seven sacraments. Only Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution have God’s command and promise. This is the curriculum’s confessional judgment. Augsburg Confession III, Augsburg Confession IX, Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, Apology XIII.
Florence, 6 July 1439: The decree of union with the Greeks, Laetentur caeli, dealt with three issues. They were the procession of the Holy Spirit (“and the Son”), leavened or unleavened Eucharistic bread, and the pope’s primacy. The Greeks kept their own bread and creed wording. All the Greek signers except Mark of Ephesus approved. P: Laetentur caeli, session 6 V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Florence V2: Britannica 1911, Ferrara-Florence. The Mark of Ephesus detail comes from the two encyclopedias, not from the decree.
Florence’s decree for the Armenians (Exultate Deo, 22 November 1439) listed seven sacraments. It also repeated the Chalcedon teaching of two natures in Christ’s one person. Do not assume that all Armenians accepted it because their delegates agreed. P: Exultate Deo, session 8 V1: Britannica 1911, Sacrament, sevenfold list V2: Schaff IV, §97, note 506.

Major people

Jan Hus (about 1370–1415) was a Prague preacher who followed Wyclif on church reform. Compare his letter of 26 June 1415 with the record of his condemnation. Ask how he writes about Christ, council authority, and the cup. Treat his charges against opponents as his own charges. P: Letter to Wenceslas of Dubá and Jan of Chlum P: Constance, sessions 13 and 15 V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Constance, Hus and Communion V2: Schaff VI, §§44 and 45. This is a comparison exercise. It does not endorse every claim in the letter.
Joan of Arc was a French peasant girl who led French troops against England. A church court at Rouen tried her in 1431. She was burned at the stake there on 30 May 1431. Study the charges, the questions, and the politics. A guilty verdict is not proof that a charge was true. P: Trial record V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Joan V2: Britannica 1911, Joan.
Comparative exercise: Relate Joan’s trial to the fight between English and French power in the Hundred Years’ War. Read the trial record beside the two histories. P: Trial record V1: Catholic Encyclopedia, Joan V2: Britannica 1911, Joan.
Thomas à Kempis (about 1380–1471) is the traditional author of The Imitation of Christ. The book joins devotion to Christ with prayers before Holy Communion. Scholars debate its authorship. P: Imitation, Book IV, opening and chapters 1 and 2 V1: Columbia Encyclopedia, attribution and four books V2: Schaff VI, §35, contents and authorship note.

Wider world

29 May 1453: Ottoman (Turkish) forces captured Constantinople. P: Nicolo Barbaro, diary, entry for the day of the fall V1: World History Encyclopedia, fall of Constantinople V2: 1911 Britannica, Constantinople: fortifications paragraph.
About 1455: Gutenberg’s Latin Bible appeared in print at Mainz. Sources date it between 1454 and 1456. P: Library of Congress, digitized Bible and edition overview V1: Gutenberg Museum, Gutenberg’s masterpiece V2: Harry Ransom Center, publication and artifact caption.
Mid-1450s: Gutenberg’s workshop printed with a press and separate metal letters. Printers rearranged these reusable letters for new pages. P: Trithemius’s printing testimony, metal-type passage, translated in De Vinne pp. 474 and 475 V1: Harry Ransom Center, opening historical paragraph V2: Royal Danish Library, The movable metal type, V3: Library of Congress, uniform and interchangeable types.
About 1495–1498: Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper on the wall of a monastery dining hall in Milan. It shows Christ and the apostles at the moment he says that one of them will betray him. P: The painting, Wikimedia Commons file page V1: Italian Renaissance Resources, A Closer Look: Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, date, refectory, and the betrayal moment V2: Britannica 1911, Leonardo da Vinci.
1492: Columbus landed in the Caribbean and met the Taíno, the Indigenous people there. P: Columbus’s journal, October 11–12 narrative, preserved through Las Casas V1: Library of Congress, Columbus and the Taíno V2: Smithsonian, Caribbean Indigenous Resistance, opening historical paragraph.

Confessional Lutheran connection

Lutheran teaching prompt, Christology: Test council and papal claims against the confession of the one incarnate Lord. Ask how the Church recognizes faithful teaching without assuming that institutional victory proves it. Ask also why Valla’s exposure of the Donation of Constantine matters. The Confessions call Christ the only head of the Church. P: Augsburg Confession III and VII P: Smalcald Articles II, IV P: Formula of Concord VIII and Rule and Norm, Primary comparison: Constance, Haec sancta.
Lutheran teaching prompt, Baptism: Compare Florence’s account of Baptism with its basis in Christ’s command and promise. P: Florence, decree for the Armenians P: Augsburg Confession IX P: Large Catechism IV.
Lutheran teaching prompt, Lord’s Supper: Compare Constance’s limit on the cup with Augsburg Confession XXII and Smalcald Articles III, VI. Keep the body and blood of the incarnate Christ at the center of the issue. P: Constance, session 13 P: Augsburg Confession X and XXII P: Smalcald Articles III, VI P: Formula of Concord VII and VIII.
Lutheran teaching prompt, Communion and devotion: Compare the Imitation’s Communion prayers with Christ’s promise of his body and blood. Separate our preparation from the sure gift of Christ. P: Imitation, Book IV, chapters 1 and 2, Lutheran norm: Large Catechism V, Lutheran norm: Formula of Concord VII and VIII.

Lutheran developments

There was no Lutheran church in the 1400s. The Reformation began in the next century. This section is a bridge to unit 16. It carries over five questions raised above: Christ’s saving work, certainty in the sacraments, indulgences (the Church’s grants that reduce penalties for sin), council authority, and church reform. P: Augsburg Confession III, IV, IX, X, and XXIV P: Formula of Concord VII and VIII P: Large Catechism IV and V.
Martin Luther was born at Eisleben on 10 November 1483, late at night, and was baptized the next day, the feast of St. Martin. His parents named him Martin. Baptism marked his life from its first day. Melanchthon later reported that Luther’s mother was unsure of the year. P: Melanchthon, Life and Acts of Martin Luther V1: Ligonier, November 10, 1483 V2: Reformation Cities, Eisleben.