Week 15 · AD 1401–1500
Councils, Print, and Reform
Rival popes, church councils, and the Bible in print
This week
Councils seek unity and reform
- Rival popes divided the Church until 1417
- Constance condemned Hus and Wyclif, and denied the cup to lay people
- Basel fought the pope over authority, and Ferrara-Florence sought union
- Lorenzo Valla exposed a forged papal claim
- Gutenberg’s press printed the Latin Bible about 1455
The Crucifixion and The Last Judgment
Jan van Eyck, about 1436–1438, New York. Two panels: Christ on the cross, and Christ as judge.
Church life
How a divided Church lived and taught
Three popes at once
The Western Schism, 1378–1417
- The Western Schism (1378–1417) left the Church with rival popes
- The Council of Pisa (1409) elected a third pope, Alexander V
- Constance (1414–1418) deposed two popes, and the third resigned
- In 1417 Martin V was elected on 11 November, and the Schism ended
Lorenzo Valla
A forged papal claim
- Valla, an Italian scholar, proved the Donation of Constantine was a forgery
- The document claimed Constantine gave Rome and the western empire to Pope Sylvester
- His treatise weakened one argument for papal rule
Controversy
The cup, and Christ’s presence in the Supper
Christ and the sacraments
The cup for lay people
- Constance, session 13 (15 June 1415), allowed lay people the bread only
- The council said Christ gave the Supper in both bread and wine
- It kept the later custom: the cup went to priests alone
- The whole body and blood of Christ are present under each form
Councils and events
Constance, Basel, and Ferrara-Florence
Councils and events
Constance (1414–1418)
- Rome counts it as the sixteenth ecumenical council
- Haec sancta (session 5, 6 April 1415) claims councils hold authority
- Frequens (session 39, 9 October 1417) says councils must meet often
- Martin V never confirmed Haec sancta
- Lutheran classification: Mixed
Councils and events
Basel and Ferrara-Florence
- Basel (opened 1431) says councils must meet, with the pope taking part
- Rome counts only part of Basel as ecumenical
- Council and pope fought over who held the highest authority
- Lutheran classification: Not classified
- Ferrara-Florence (1438–1445) sought union with Eastern churches
- Rome counts it as the seventeenth ecumenical council
- Laetentur caeli (6 July 1439) dealt with the Spirit, the bread, and the primacy
- Lutheran classification: Mixed
Major people
A Prague preacher and his death at Constance
Major people
Condemned at Constance, burned in 1415
- A Prague preacher who followed Wyclif on church reform
- Constance condemned him in session 15
- He was burned at the stake in Constance on 6 July 1415
- Compare his 26 June 1415 letter with the council’s record
Major people
Three more voices
- Joan of Arc, a French peasant who led troops, burned at Rouen on 30 May 1431
- Thomas à Kempis, traditional author of The Imitation of Christ
- Savonarola, the Florence preacher of repentance
Wider world
Printing, the fall of Constantinople, and new lands
The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci, about 1495–1498, Milan. A mural of the moment Christ says one will betray him.
Wider world
Print, war, and a new world
- 1453: Ottoman (Turkish) forces capture Constantinople
- About 1455: Gutenberg’s Latin Bible appears in print at Mainz
- Mid-1450s: printers reuse metal letters, rearranged for new pages
- 1492: Columbus lands in the Caribbean and meets the Taíno
Lutheran developments
There was no Lutheran church in the 1400s
Christ and the sacraments
Luther’s baptism, 1483
- Luther was born at Eisleben on 10 November 1483, late at night
- He was baptized the next day, the feast of St. Martin
- His parents named him Martin
- Baptism marked his life from its first day
Lutheran developments
Five questions for unit 16
- Christ’s saving work
- Certainty in the sacraments
- Indulgences: the Church’s grants that reduce penalties for sin
- Council authority
- Church reform
Confessional Lutheran connection
What the Confessions teach about Christ and the sacraments
Confessional Lutheran connection
What we confess
- Christ is one person with two natures (Augsburg Confession III)
- Baptism is a gate of new life (Augsburg Confession IX)
- Constance’s cup ban breaks Christ’s command (Augsburg Confession XXII)
- Only Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution have God’s command and promise (Apology XIII)
- The Confessions call Christ the only head of the Church (Smalcald Articles II, IV)
For discussion
How does the Lutheran reading of the Lord’s Supper answer the council’s ban on the cup?