6ERS0N
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6ERS0N
III, 71, 180). Appointed dean of the church of Saint
Donatien at Bruges, Gerson remaineil there four years
(1397-1401). It was at this period that he wrote the
treatise, strongly theological and shImi- in luiie, enti-
tled: "Seiitenlia de niotio se haJKiiili innpiMc .schis-
matis" (Schwab, Johannes Gcrsnn. I'rnlr ,s(ir der
Theologie und Kanzler der Universital I'aris, 97,152).
He had not voted to withdraw obedience from the
Pope of Avignon, for whom, in the beginning, France
had declared herself (1398). He was one of the first to
show that Benedict should be considered neither a
heretic nor a schismatic, and that it was in no wise
proper to introduce, on this plea, an action against
him (0pp. Gersonii, II, ed. 1706, passim). Accord-
ingly, he energetically demanded the restoration of
obedience, that is to say, the cessation of that abnor-
mal state that constituted a schism within a schism,
but this conciliatory attitude, so conformable to his
character, incurred much hatred. On 18 November,
1403, he was made cur6 of Saint-Jean-en-Greve at
Paris, accepting the charge in addition to the office of
chancellor; this favour was granted by Pope Benedict
in recognition of Gerson's fidelity to him during his
four years of enforced sojourn in his fortress at Avig-
non. The chancellor freely and openly rejoiced at
the pontiff's release and the university selected him
to congratulate Benedict at Marseilles. But this
harmony was not to last. The university, again dis-
satisfied with Benedict, wished to renew the with-
drawal of obedience that had so poorly succeeded the
first time. D'Ailly and Gerson tried to oppose the
movement both before and during the Coimcil of
Paris in HOG, and strove to urge upon their colleagues
the necessity of more moderate proceedings. After
long and animated discussions, they partially suc-
ceeded in obtaining that the withdrawal of obedience
adopted by the members of the assembly was brought
within certain limits (cf. L. Salembier, "Le grand
schisme d'Occident", 221).
D'Ailly and Gerson also formed apart of the solemn embassy sent to Benedict in 1407 and tried to prevail upon the pope to resign the papacy by a formal Bull; but the pontiff refused. Thereupon some of the del- egates wished openly to break with him, but here again d'Ailly and Gerson caused more peaceable senti- ments to triumph and laboiued to retard the total rupture (L. Salembier, op. cit., 229). During the following year Gerson attended the Council of Reims and delivered the opening discourse. That same year, because of his efforts at reconciliation, d'Ailly aroused the indignation of the members of the university in- censed against Benedict. The king espoused their quarrel and wished to have the Bishop of Cambrai arrested; at this juncture Clemanges and Gerson, his ever-faithful pupils, wrote him touching letters of condolence [L. Salembier, "Petrus de Alliaco" (1886), 75; Opp. Gersonii, III, 429]. Gerson himself was soon to become acquainted with human vicissitudes and to be persecuted for another reason. On 23 November, 1407, the Duke of Orleans was assassi- nated in one of the streets of Paris by the cowardly hirelings of the Duke of Burgundy. With singular audacity, the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur), assumed the responsibility of the deed, pleaded his own cause before King Charles VI and chose as his defending counsel, Jean Petit (8 March, 1408) who dared openly to profess the immoral theory of tyrannicide. The chancellor deemed it his duty to bring this doctrine before the Bishop of Paris and the professors of theology. The doctors first condemned seven, then nine of Jean Petit's proposi- tions as erroneous and scandalous and these were thrown into the fire. Later, in the Coimcil of Con- stance, Gerson again denounced the articles incrimi- nated (June, 1415), and repeated the denunciation seven times within fifteen days. The Fathers passed sentence on this point (6 July), by condemning tyran-
nicide in a general way without, however, mentioning
the name of the powerful Uuke of Burgundy; this
half-measure satisfied neither Gerson nor the Arma-
gnacs who were at the council. The chancellor ad-
dressed the assemblage in the name of the King of
France, 5 May, 1416, and eloquently protested agamst
the too moderate and indefinite sentence aimed at
John the Fearless (" Opp. Gersonii ", II, 328; V, 353.
355. 362 sq.; Labbe and Mansi, XXVII, 728 sqq..
Schwab, op. cit., 609). Gerson had attended neither
the Council of Pisa (1409), nor the Council of Rome
(1412-13), but he had highly approved of both. His
part in the Council of Constance was, however, an
important one. He arrived at Constance, 21 Febru-
ary, 1415, with a delegation from the University of
Paris. It is not necessary to enter here into the
details of the trial of John Hus (Schwab, op. cit., 540-
009), of the condemnation of the Flagellants ("Opp.
Gersonii ", II, 658, 660), of Gerson's differences with the
English, nor of his doctrinal strife (1418) with Mat-
thew Grabon, that great enemy of new religious orders
(Opp. Gersonii, I, 467). Mention will be made later
of his attitude towards the three popes who then dis-
puted the tiara, and of the theories that he set forth in
the council m order to bring about the suppression of
the schism.
It was above all his struggles against John the Fear- less that brought Gerson into unmerited disgrace. In Paris the Duke of Burgundy had before this provoked a riotous disturbance against him; his house had been plundered and he had only escaped assassination by taking refuge for two months up under the vaulted roofs of Notre-Dame. After the Council of Con- stance, whilst the pope, the emperor, and the fathers were returning with all due pomp to their respective countries (1418), Gerson learned that John the Fear- less had sworn his destruction and that the " nation of Picardy" in the university had demanded that he be disclaimed, recalled, and punished atrociter {" Opp. Ger- sonii", V, 374; Denifle, "Chartul.", etc., IV, 300; Max Lenz, " Revue historique", IX, 470). 'To prevent his persecutor from having an opportunity to destroy him. he left Constance, 15 May, 1418, and with Andr6 and Ciresio, who had acted as his secretaries at the council, he took the road to exile. He retired to the Benedic- tine Abbey of Melk (Molk) in Germany, the abbot of which he had known at Constance. "The Archduke Frederick wished to gain him for the University of Vienna, and Gerson repaired thither but did not re- main. Finally in November, 1419, the chancellor learned of the death of his sworn enemy, John the Fearless, who, by order of the Dauphin, had been slain on the bridge of the town of Montereau. Gerson at once set out for France but did not return to Paris, which was torn by factions and was .still in the hands of the Burgundians. He directed his steps towards Lyons, called thither by his brother who was prior of the Celestines and by the archbishop, Am^d^e de Talaru (Schwab, op. cit., 767 sqq.). Here he spent his last years in exercises of devotion and in perform- ing his priestly functions. He also while at Lyons wrote various works, some of edification, some on mystical or pastoral theology, one especially being his well-known treatise, "De parvulis ad Christum tra- hendis". Combining example with precept, he loved to surround himself with little children in the church of Saint-Paul and delighted to teach them the ele- ments of Christian doctrine. These ten years were the sweetest of his militant life, and the regrets of all good men followed him to the grave. Miracles were attributed to him and at least five martyrologies give him the title of Blessed. Over fifty particular coun- cils and many ecclesiastical writers recommend to pastors "this great, pious and learned doctor, this ardent lover of souls, this incomparable director, this model of ministers of the Gospel ". Statues have been raised to his memory at Paris and Lyons; in tiie
