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 BASLE-LUGANO

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BASLE-LUGANO

re a+ions between Felix V and the council were strained until, at last, in defiance of its wishes, he left Basle and took up his residence at Lausanne (December, 1442). Disappointed in the hope of securing the support of Sforza, Aragon, or Milan, the council held its last session at Basle (16 May. 1443), and decreed that a general council should be held in Lyons after three years; that until the opening of this the Council of Basle should con- tinue its work, and in case the city of Basle should become imsafe that it should be transferred to Lausanne. No decrees of general interest were passed after this session. But it was some time before the princes of Germany could be induced to abandon the attitude of neutrality. At different diets, Nuremberg (1438), Mainz (1441), Frankfort (1442), Nuremberg (1443, 1444), Frankfort (1445), it was proposed that a new general coimcil should be held to settle the disputes between Basle and Eugene IV. X sentence of deposition issued by Eugene IV against the Prince-Electors of Cologne and Trier who favoured Basle roused all the princes of Ger- many against him, and at the Diet of Frankfort (1446) it was resolved to send an embassy to Rome to demand the convocation of a new council, and, in the meantime, the recognition of the reforms effected in Basle; else they would withdraw from their allegiance. The Emperor Frederick III dis- sented from this decision and sent his secretary, jEneas Sylvius, to confer with the pope. At last, after long negotiation in Rome and Frankfort, an agreement was arrived at (February, 1447) known as the Concordat of the Princes. On their side they agreed to abandon the attitude of neutrality, while the pope restored the deposed princes and accepted with modifications certain of the reforms of Basle. In accordance with this agreement the Vienna Concordat was drawn up between the suc- ces.sor of Elugene IV and the Emperor Frederick III. The pope's rights in the appointment to benefices were clearly defined, and the sources of revenue to take the place of the annates, then abolished, were agreed upon. Once this had been concluded, Frederick III forbade the city of Basle to harbour any longer the schismatical assembly, and in June, 1448, they were obliged to retire to Lausanne. Finally, after a few sessions at Lausanne, Felix V resigned and .submitted to the lawful pope, Nicholas V. The members of the assembly also elected Nicholas as pope and then decreed the dissolution of the council (25 April, 1449).

It only remains to deal with the negotiations between the Council of Basle and the Hussites. The latter were invited, as we have seen, at the very beginning of the council, but it was only in the fourth session (20 June, 1432) that the conditions proposed by the Hussites were accepted, and prayers ordered for their return to the Church. About the beginning of January, 1433, nearly three hundred of the Cali.xtine party arrived, and after repeated negotiations in Prague and Basle, the four articles demanded by the Hussites were agreed upon with certain modifications. These were Communion un- der both kinds, though their priests were to teach that Communion under one kind was equally valid; free preaching of the word of God, but subject to ecclesiastical authority; the punishment of mortal sin, but only by a lawful tribunal; the retention of their temporalities by the clerics, who were however, bound to bestow their superfluous wealth according to the canons. These formed the Compact of Prague, agreed upon the 30th of November, 14.33. Many of the more extreme sects, such as the Taborites, re- fused to accept this treaty, but after their defeat (Lippau, 1434) a better feeling set in, and a similar compact was proclaimed at Iglau in July, 1436, and enforced by the Council of Basle (15 January, 1437).

The Council of Basle might ha\e done much to secure reforms, then so badly needed, and to restore confidence in ecclesiastical authority. From all sides it was assured of sympathy and support as the one remedy for the abuses which existed. But under the influence of extreme theories and theorists it allowed itself to be hurried into an inglorious struggle with the pope, and the valuable time and energy which should have been given up to useful legislation were spent in usele.ss discussions. It succeeded in fixing the eyes of the world upon the abuses, but without the pope it had not sufficient authority to carry through the necessary reforms, and as a consequence the secular rulers undertook what the ecclesiastical authority had shamefully failed to set right. It struck a terrible blow at the rights of the Holy See and shook men's faith in the pope's spiritual power at a time when his temporal .sovereignty was in imminent danger. In this way it led directly in France, through the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, to the establishment of Galli- canism as a definite formula, while in Germany, through the long intervals of neutrality, people were prepared for the complete severance from the Holy See which was afterwards effected in the Reformation.

Mansi. ConcU. Coll., XXIX-XXXI; Hardohin, Condi.. VIII, IX: Monumenta Condi. General, SfFC. XV, ed. Acad. Scient. (Vienna. 1857-96). I-III; Deutsche Reichstagmkten VII-XI; Martene and Durand, Veterum script, et mon- ument, collectio, VIII; jEnea.s Sylvius, De rebus Basilece gestis, ed Fe.^, in Pius II Pont. Max. a calumniis vindi- catus (Rome, 1823); Augustinus Patricius, Summa Con- dliorum Basil, et Florcn., ed. Hardodin, Condlia, IX; Haller, Studien und Quellen zur Geschichte des Kondls von Basel (Basle, 1895, 1903), I, IV; Cecconi, Studii storid sul concilia di Firenze (Florence, 1869); Hefele, Condlien- geschichte, VH; Pastor, History of the Popes, tr. Antrobus (London. 1891), I, 280-350; Creighton, A History of the Papacy (London, 1892), II, 92-194.

James MacC.^jffrey.

Basle-Lugano, Diocese of, is the largest Catholic diocese of Switzerland. It is composed of the two Dioceses of Basle and Lugano which are united only by having a bi.shop in common.

I. The Diocese of B.\sle. — This has taken the place of the old Diocese of Augst (Augusta Raura- corum), the origin of which is obscure; a Bishop of Augst was a member of a council held at Cologne in 346. When Augusta Rauracorum sank into decay during the disorders of the migrations the seat of the diocese was transferred to the present Basle (Basilea), founded in 374 by the Emperor Valentinian I. No definite information has been preserved concerning the first bishops. The most important bishop in the early period of the history of the diocese is Hatto, a Benedictine from the monastery of Reichenau, w-ho was a friend of Charlemagne; he was Bishop of Basle from the year 805. He issued a capitulary of great importance for his diocese, resigned his position in 822, and retired to Reichenau where he died in 836. During the episcopate of Adalbert (999-1025) the foundation of the secular jurisdiction of the Bishops of Basle was laid by the grants made by King Ru- dolph III of Burgundy; the king appointed the bishop administrator and protector of several re- ligious foundations, bestowed a number of towns and territories on him, and conferred various rights, such as the right of coinage, hunting-rights, etc. Adalbert rebuilt the cathedral which had been pillaged by the Magyars and consecrated it with much pomp in 1019 in the presence of the Emperor Henry II and his wife. Adalbert's immediate suc- cessors Ulrich II (1025-40) and Dietrich (1041-53) were included among the spiritual princes of the Holy Roman Empire. In the period following Adal- bert's administration the territory of the diocese was greatly increased, especially through gifts made by the Emperors Henry II, Henry III, and Conrad II.

As princes of the empire the Bishops of Basle were