It had never happened before and has never happened since. On November 11, 1417, a pope was selected largely thanks to the efforts of the English.
That would be notable enough in itself, but it is all the more significant because the pope in question, Martin V, decisively set the papacy on the course which, essentially, it has pursued ever since.
Martin was elected after a 40-year crisis. During the Great Schism in 1378, the same College of Cardinals had elected not one but two popes: Urban VI in Rome and Clement VII in Avignon. After that, Catholic Christendom split on political and diplomatic rather than theological lines. When in 1408 the cardinals tried to heal the split between Rome and Avignon and elect a new pope, all they achieved was to add a third: Alexander V, who was quickly succeeded by John XXIII – now recognised as an antipope.
Into this seemingly intractable imbroglio stepped Sigismund, King of Hungary and successor-designate to the Holy Roman Emperor. He made an agreement with “Pope” John. The king would protect John from his Italian enemies if John called a council to resolve the schism and other issues. And the council was to be held in the city of Constance. For any city, this was the 15th-century equivalent of being awarded the Olympics.
The council, which lasted three-and-a-half years, was not only to reconfigure the Church but was to be an intellectual and cultural forum that fostered the latest ideas from Italy and elsewhere. Some 29 cardinals, 33 archbishops, 150 bishops, 100 abbots, 100 provosts, 300 doctors of theology and canon law and up to 5,000 Religious and 18,000 ecclesiastics attended. In total, an estimated 50,000-100,000 people went to the Council of Constance.
Initially the council comprised four “nations”: Italy, France, Germany (deemed to include Scandinavia, Poland and Hungary) and England. Each delegation established a headquarters in one of the city churches, the English impressing other delegates by their dignified celebration of the Sarum Rite.
On March 2, 1415, Antipope John promised to resign. But he panicked and fled from Constance on March 20 – a reckless decision. Deposed, he was brought back as a prisoner and tried for heresy, simony, schism and immorality. In Gibbon’s unforgettable phrase, the “more scandalous charges were suppressed; the vicar of Christ was accused only of piracy, rape, sodomy, murder and incest”. Found guilty of all charges, he was imprisoned. Subsequently released through the influence of his one-time bankers the Medici and restored to the cardinalate, he died in 1419.
While the council deliberated, Henry V invaded France and in October 1415 defeated the French at Agincourt, which dramatically changed the balance of power in Europe. King Sigismund, seeing the way things were moving, signed the Treaty of Canterbury to ally himself to Henry V. Henry was deeply pious but he was also pragmatic – and by now Constance was the equivalent of a 19th-century Congress or a modern UN summit. To strengthen his diplomatic hand, Henry closely instructed the English representatives at the council.
These representatives argued passionately for the importance of the English Church. They fought off an attempt to merge the English with the Germans to allow space for Spain to become the fourth “nation”.
The future bishop Thomas Polton’s bold assertion of the historic claims and theoretical influence of the English Church was breathtaking.
In asserting the claims of the English Church, the nation’s representatives made much of the pseudo-historical story of a 2nd-century mission sent by Pope Eleutherius to Britain. This story was supported by an inscription in Glastonbury Abbey. The abbot was among the English delegates; within a few years he was carrying out archaeological investigations in Glastonbury at the king’s request, presumably to firm up the claim.
This strong sense of national identity would have enormous consequences: it helped to accelerate the English Reformation, and to provide justification for the British Empire.
The council was divided about priorities. An obvious one was the papacy: with Pope Gregory and “Pope” John having resigned, and support for “Pope” Benedict dwindling, the view of the Italians and French was that the council should now turn to filling the vacancy. The German and English strategy, however, was to pursue a policy of Church reform first.
This produced a new impasse until political and military factors led the English king to decide that there was something even more urgently important to him than Church reform. Henry V wanted a pope who could help legitimise his campaign in Normandy.
This change of policy can be dated to July 18, 1417, when the king mandated his delegates to pursue a unified policy. The change in English policy was effectively announced in the sermon at the funeral of the leader of the English delegation, Bishop Hallum of Salisbury, that September. The preacher, Richard Fleming, stated that the English now wished to proceed to an election. Sigismund was won over and the election began.
The council decided, in view of the exceptional circumstances, to create an enlarged conclave to secure a clear choice. In addition to the 23 cardinals, six additional electors would represent each of the participating nations, thus enabling English and German participation. The successful candidate would need a two-thirds majority of each group. With this agreed, the conclave assembled in a wool warehouse (which still survives) on the lakeside.
Within three days, on November 11, the electors chose Cardinal Oddo Colonna, who had consistently attracted the votes of the six English voters. Despite there being a long history of cardinals from the great Roman patrician Colonna family, Oddo was to be the only one to ascend the papal throne. He chose the name Martin V, in honour of the saint on whose feast he was elected.
Still only a deacon, he was rapidly ordained the following weekend as a priest and as a bishop. One of the co-consecrators was Bishop Richard Clifford of London – an acknowledgement perhaps of the part played by the English in the election. Finally, Martin was crowned as pope on November 21.
One of his first actions was to offer Bishop Beaufort of Winchester a cardinal’s hat. Bishop Beaufort accepted – only to face the wrath of Henry V, who was determined not to have a cardinal living in England as this might threaten his power.
Other English clerics were more fortunate. In recognition of England’s role in his election, Martin gave out several bishoprics and other preferments. Four English churchmen were given jobs as personal attendants to the pope. One, Richard Fleming, returned to England in 1420 as Bishop of Lincoln.
Martin presided over a reunited Church. Also, despite being urged to live elsewhere, in 1420 he returned the papacy to Rome. He established his authority over the Papal States, began the work of restoring Rome and its churches and, most importantly, reasserted papal authority over the whole Church. There was a strong movement for councils to have more authority in the Church: Martin reluctantly allowed the councils of Pavia-Siena in 1423 and Basle in 1431, but by the time he died in 1447 the initiative in ruling the Church was in petrine rather than conciliar hands.
The English, then, had helped to produce Church unity – but also a situation where lay rulers like Sigismund and Henry V could hold a great deal of power. Only when Henry VIII came to the throne did that situation become disastrous.
John Whitehead is a historian based in Oxford. He blogs at onceiwasacleverboy.blogspot.com
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.