Council of Basel

The Council of Basel convened in 1431 as the 17th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church. Its ostensible purpose was to initiate church reform and bring an end to the difficulties with the Hussites, but it originated in a decree of the Council of Constance (1417) that required the calling of councils at regular intervals. Almost from the beginning the council fell into conflict with Pope Eugene IV, who was suspicious of it. When in 1437 he ordered the council transferred to Ferrara (see Council of Ferrara-Florence), some of its members refused to comply.

They declared the pope deposed and, to replace him, elected a layman, Amadeus VII, duke of Savoy; as antipope he took the name Felix V. Thereafter, the prestige of the Basel assembly declined, and it became increasingly involved in the political quarrels of Germany. It expired ingloriously in 1449. Although the council accomplished a partial reconciliation with the Hussites, its efforts at reform were largely ineffective. Moreover, the failure of its challenge to papal authority marked the triumph of the papacy over Conciliarism.

T. Tackett

Bibliography
Barraclough, Geoffrey, The Medieval Papacy (1968); Corbett, James A., The Papacy: A Brief History (1956).