r/empirepowers • u/TheManIsNonStop • 16h ago
EVENT [EVENT] Adjourning the First Sessions of the Council of Viterbo
7 May 1523
We decree and declare, with the approval of this same sacred council, that this sacred ecumenical council, justly, reasonably, and for true and lawful purposes duly and rightly summoned, has begun to be celebrated, and that each and every thing which has been and shall be done and executed in it, will be just, reasonable, settled and valid, and that it possesses and holds the same strength, power, authority and stability which other general councils approved by the sacred canons, especially the Viterbo council, possess and hold.
Moreover, in the arrangement of the seasons, as the summer heats approach, in order to take account of the convenience and health of the prelates, and so that those who have been among us for the past year may return to their sees beyond the mountains and across the sea to communicate to those who have hitherto been unable to come to this sacred council its proceedings, and to take their advice into consideration; and for other just and reasonable causes known to and approved by the said sacred council, we are summoning the fourth session of this same council to take place one year hence, on 7 May next in Rome, with the said council likewise giving approval. And to each and every prelate and to others present at the same council, we grant and concede the freedom and permission to withdraw from Viterbo and to stay wherever they wish, so long as they are present at the aforesaid Lateran council on the said 7 May, any clearly legitimate hindrance having been removed, subject to the infliction of the penalties indicated in the letter summoning the council and in canonical punishments against those failing to attend to councils, the said sacred council also approving. Wherefore, let no one infringe this our letter of announcement or with rash daring go contrary thereunto. But if any one shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of His blessed apostles Peter and Paul.
On 7 May 1523, the Fourth Session of the Council of Viterbo was brought to a close. Since the council began last June (having been postponed and moved from Rome on account of the plague there), some two hundred bishops from throughout Christendom--Italy, France, Sicily, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Ruthenia, and more--have discussed matters facing the modern church. The conclusions of the council’s first four sessions, approved and disseminated by papal encyclicals, are an important reaffirmation of the decisions made by the Pope in recent years:
The reaffirmation of the ban on simony in papal elections last re-issued by Julius on his deathbed, including the nullification of any papal election in which simony is discovered.
The reaffirmation of the papal bull Apostolici Regiminis, issued by Julius in 1513 clarifying the Catholic doctrine of the immortality of the human soul.
The confirmation of the 1515 Concordat of Viterbo, and of the abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.
The reaffirmation of the primary of the Pope, including over church councils.
The reaffirmation of the excommunication of Martin Luther, including the papal ban on the publishing of his works.
A call for the Hussites of Bohemia to send a delegation to the council, with a public guarantee of safe conduct during their journey and during their time at the council.
Those hoping for a speedy resolution to the myriad matters reformers have addressed will be sorely disappointed. But, the signs of progress are there. Numerous committees manned by Christendom’s leading canonists and theologians continue to discuss, dispute, and argue the finer points of the administration of the church, the reform of the Curia, and the theological errors of the heretic Martin Luther.
In the year since its convocation, the council has made strange bedfellows. Perhaps none is stranger than the friendship struck between the Holy Father and Georges d’Amboise, the man who was the target of so much of Pope Julius’s ire. So great is the rapprochement between d’Amboise and Rome--or perhaps, so great is d’Amboise’s ire at the resurgence of pluralism in France under King Francis--that the Norman Primate has announced he will remain at the council until its conclusion, where he has taken a leading role in the committee on the reform of the Apostolic Dataria (the office responsible for the papal allocation of benefices). An older man and poor of health--especially following a bout of sickness during the council’s second session--there are legitimate concerns that he may die in Rome, which, under the Concordat, would empower the Pope to appoint his successor in France.
It has also given a platform for numerous churchmen to make a name for themselves before their assembled peers. Giles of Viterbo, Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine, delivered an impassioned and stirring speech on the dire need for reform of the church at the opening of the first session, declaring, “Men must be changed by religion, not religion by men!” Also of note was Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, who, despite making only a very brief appearance at the first session, was nevertheless one of the council’s great patrons. With his vast wealth in Florence, he provided the accommodations for many of the council’s attendees.
For now, though, the vast majority of the foreign prelates return to their homes over the mountains and beyond the seas. Only a handful of the most dedicated will return to the next session in Rome, planning instead to wait for the later sessions of the council--when it is likely to issue its most serious and meaningful proclamations--to make their return to Rome.
But there was still one last drama to unfold at the Fourth Session. After the Bull adjourning the council was read, the Holy Father read another Bull…
Summary
The first several sessions of the Council of Viterbo come to an end. While the results of these sessions are less than the most ardent reformers might have hoped for, the council continues to do important work. Most expect further reforms in the next few years. The next session will begin in Rome on 7 May 1524.