Conciliarism and Church Law in the Fifteenth Century

This volume looks at the writings and actions of Franciscus Zabarella (1360-1417), the professor of canon law at the University of Padua (later cardinal), as he sought to find and explicate a viable and legal solution to the crisis of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417). Thomas Morrissey places Zabarella's thought and influence in the context of t

Thomas E. Morrissey is Distinguished Teaching Professor in the History Department at SUNY Fredonia, USA.

Contents: Introduction; Nicholas of Cusa and Zabarella: Cardinal Zabarella and Nicholas of Cusa: from community authority to consent of the community; Ein unruhiges Leben. Franciscus Zabarella an der Universität von Padua (1390-1410): die welt, die Nikolaus von Kues vorfand; Ecce sacerdos magnus: on welcoming a new bishop. Three addresses for bishops of Padua by Franciscus Zabarella; Canonists in crisis ca.1400-1450: Pisa, Constance, Basel. Constance and Conciliarism: The decree 'Haec Sancta' and Cardinal Zabarella. His role in its formulation and interpretation; Emperor-elect Sigismund, Cardinal Zabarella, and the Council of Constance; The call for unity at the Council of Constance: sermons and addresses of Cardinal Zabarella, 1415-1417; Cardinal Franciscus Zabarella (1360-1417) as a canonist and the crisis of his age: schism and the Council of Constance; 'More easily and more securely': legal procedure and due process at the Council of Constance; Natural rights, natural law and the canonist: Franciscus Zabarella, 1360-1417; Radicalism and restraint in a late medieval canonist; Reform at the Council of Constance in the view of a canonist and cardinal, Franciscus Zabarella. Zabarella: Cardinal Zabarella on papal and episcopal authority; Franciscus Zabarella (1360-1417): papacy, community and limitations upon authority; The art of teaching and learning law: a late medieval tract; Padua in crisis and transition around 1400; A sermon for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29 1407: a mixed papalist response. Index.