FLORENCE
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FLORENCE
preach a crusade against the Hussites. Martin V
died suddenly (20 Feb., 1431), before the Bull of con-
vocation and the legatine faculties reached Cesarini.
However, the new pope, Eugene IV (Gabriele Condol-
mieri), confirnied the acts of his predecessor with the
reservation that further events might cause him to
revoke his decision. He referred probably to the
reunion of the Greek Church with Rome, discussed be-
tween Martin V and the Byzantine emperor (John
Palseologus) , but put off by reason of the pope's death.
Eugene IV laboured most earnestly for reunion, which
he was destined to see accomplished in the Council
of Ferrara-Florence. The Council of Basle had be-
gun in a rather burlesque way. Canon Beaupere of
Besan(^on, who had been sent from Basle to Rome,
gave the pope an unfavourable and exaggerated ac-
count of the temper of the people of Basle and its en-
virons. Eugene IV thereupon dissolved the council
before the close of 1431, and convoked it anew at
Bologna for the summer of 1433, providing at the same
time for the participation of the Greeks. Cesarini,
however, had already opened the council at Basle, and
now insisted vigorously that the aforesaid papal act
should be withdrawn. Yielding to the aggressive
attitude of the Basle assembly, whose members pro-
claimed anew the conciliar theory, Eugene IV gradu-
ally modified iiis attitude towards them, and exhibited
in general, throughout these painful dissensions, a
very conciliatory temper.
Many reform-decrees were promulgated by the council, and, though never executed, contributed towards the final rupture. Ultimately, theunskilful negotiations of the council with the Greeks on the ques- tion of reunion moved Eugene IV to transfer it to Ferrara. The embassy sent from Basle to Constan- tinople (1435), Giovanni di Ragusa, Heinrich Henger, and Simon Freron, insisted obstinately on holding at Basle the council which was to promote the union of the two Churches, but in this matter the Byzantine Emperor refused to give way. With all the Greeks he wished the council to take place in some Italian city near the sea, preferably in Southern Italy. At Basle the majority insisted, despite the Greeks, that the council of reunion should be convoked at Avignon, but a minority siiled with the Greeks and was by them recognized as the true council. Hereupon Eugene IV approved the action of the minority (29 May, 1437) , and for this was summoned to appear before the coun- cil. He replied by dissolving it on IS September. Wearied of the obstinacy of the majority at Basle, Cardinal Cesarini and his adherents then quitted the city and went to Ferrara, whither Eugene IV, as stated above, had transferred the council by decree of 30 December, 1437, or 1 January, 1438.
The Ferrara Council opened on 8 January, 143S, under the presidency of Cardinal Niccolo Albergati, whom the pope had commissioned to represent him until he could ajjpear in person. It had, of course, no other objects than those of Basle, i. e. reunion of the Churches, reforms, and the restoration of peace between Christian peoples. The first session of the council took place 10 January, 1438. It declared the Council of Basle transferred to Ferrara, and annulled in advance any and all future decrees of the Basle assembly. When Eugene IV heard that the Greeks were nearing the coast of Italy, he set off (24 January) for Ferrara and three days later made his solemn entry into the city. The manner of voting was first dis- cussed by the members of the council. Should it be, as at Constance, by nations (nationes), or by commit- tees {commissiones)^ It was finally decided to divide the members into three estates: (1) the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops; (2) the abbots and prel- ates; (3) the doctors and other members. In ortler that the vote of any ('.slate might count, it was resolved that a majority of two-thirds should lie required, and it was hoped that this provision would remove all pos-
sibility of the recurrence of the regrettable dissensions
at Constance. At the second public session (15 Feb-
ruary) these decrees were promulgated, and the pope
excommunicated the members of the Basle assembly,
which still continued to sit. The Greeks soon ap>-
peared at Ferrara, headed by Emperor John Palaeolo-
gus and Joasaph, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and
numbered about seven hundred. The solemn sessions
of the council began on 9 April, 1438, and were held in
the cathedral of Ferrara under the presidency of the
pope. On the Gospel side of the altar rose the (unoc-
cupied) throne of the Western Emperor (Sigismund of
Luxemburg), who had died only a month previously;
on the Epistle side was placed the throne of the Greek
Emperor. Besides the emperor and his brother Deme-
trius, there were present, on the part of the Greeks,
Joasaph, the Patriarch of Constantinople; Antonius,
the Metropolitan of Heraclea; Gregory Hamma, the
Protosyncellus of C'onstantinople (the last two repre-
senting the Patriarch of Alexandria) ; Marcus Eugeni-
cus of Ephesus; Isidore of Kiev (representing the
Patriarch of Antioch) ; Dionysius, Bishop of Sardes
(representing the Patriarch of Jerusalem) ; Bessarion,
Archbishop of Nicsea; Balsamon, the chief chartophy-
lax; Syropulos, the chief ecclesiarch, and the Bishops
of Monembasia, Lacedsemon, and Anchielo. In the
discussions the Latins were represented principally by
Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini and Cardinal Niccolo Al-
bergati; Andrew, Archbishop of Rhodes; the Bishop
of Forli; the Dominican John of Turrecremata; and
Giovanni di Ragusa, provincial of Lombardy.
Preliminary discussions brought out the main points of difference between the Greeks and the Latins, viz. the Procession of the Holy Spirit, the azymes, purga- tory, and the primacy. During these preliminaries the zeal and good intentions of the Greek Emperor were evident. Serious discussion began apropos of the doctrine of purgatory. Cesarini and Turrecre- mata were the chief Latin speakers, the latter in par- ticular engaging in a violent discussion with Marcus Eugenicus. Bessarion, speaking for the Greeks, made clear the divergency of opinion existing among the Greeks themselves on the question of purgatory. This stage of the discussion closed on 17 July, where- upon the council rested for a time, and the Greek Em- peror took advantage of the respite to join eagerly in the pleasures of the chase with the Duke of Ferrara.
When the council met again (8 Oct., 1438), the chief (indeed, thenceforth the only) subject of discus- sion was the Filioque. The Greeks were represented by Bessarion, Marcus Eugenicus, Isidore of Kiev, Gemistus Plethon, Balsamon, and Xantopulos; on the Latin side were Cardinals Cesarini and Niccolo Alber- gati, the Archbishop of Rhodes, the Bishop of Forli, and Giovanni di Ragusa. In this and the following fourteen sessions, the Filioque was the sole subject of discussion. In the fifteenth session it became clear that the Greeks were unwilling to consent to the inser- tion of this expression in the Creed, although it was imperative for the good of the church and as a safe- guard against future heresies. Many Greeks began to despair of realizing the projected union and spoke of returning to Constantinople. To this the emperor would not listen; he stih hoped for a reconciliation, and in the end succeeded in appeasing the heated spirits of his partisans. Eugene IV now announced his intention of transferring the council to Florence, in consequence of pecuniary straits and the outbreak of the pest at Ferrara. Many Latins had already died, and of the Greeks the Metropolitan of Sardis and the entire household of Isidore of Kiev were at- tacked by the disease. The Greeks finally consented to the transfer, and in the sixteenth and last session at Ferrara the papal Bull was read, in both Latin and Greek, by which the council was transferred to Flor- ence (January, 1439).
The seventeenth session of the council (the first
