With the accession of Martin V. unity was at last restored to the Church, and contemporary Christendom gave way to transports of joy. Any secular power—a bitter opponent of the papacy admits—would have succumbed in the schism : but so wonderful was the organization of the spiritual empire, and so indestructible the conception of the papacy itself, that this (the deepest of all cleavages) served only to prove its indivisibility (Gregorovius, Geschichte Roms. vi.). Martin V. appeared to possess every quality which could enable him to represent the universal Church with strength and dignity. In order to maintain his independence, he energetically repudiated all proposals that he should establish his residence in France or Germany, and once more took up his abode in Rome. On Sept. 3o, 1420, he made his entry into the almost completely ruinous town. To repair the ravages of neglect, and, more especially, to restore the decayed churches, Martin at once expended large sums; while, later, he engaged famous artists, like Gentile da Fabriano and Masaccio, and encouraged all forms of art by every means within his power. Numerous humanists were appointed to the chancery, and the Romans were loud in their praise of the papal regime.
Nor was the activity of Martin V. less successful in political than in ecclesiastical reform, which latter included the combating of the Fraticelli, the amendment of the clergy, the encourage ment of piety by the regulation of feast-days, the recommendation of increased devotion to the sacrament of the altar, and the strengthening of the conception of the Church by the great jubilee of 1423. At the same time the crowning reward of his labours was the effacing of the last traces of the schism. He prosecuted successfully the conflict with the adherents of Benedict XIII., who, till the day of his death (May 23, 1423: vide the Chronicle of Martin de Alpartil, edited by Ehrle, 1906) clung to the rem nants of his usurped authority (see BENEDICT XIII.). An attempt on the part of Alphonso V. of Aragon to renew the schism failed; and, in 1429, the Spaniard was compelled to give up his anti-pope, Clement VIII. Martin died on Feb. 20, 1431, and the inscrip tion on his grave—still preserved in the Lateran church—styles him "the felicity of his age" (temporum suorum felicitas).
The migration of Eugenius IV. to Florence was of extreme importance; for this town was the real home of the new art, and the intellectual focus of all the humanistic movements in Italy. At Florence the pope came into closer contact with the humanists, and to this circumstance is due the gradual dominance which they attained in the Roman Curia.
The Italian troubles, which had entailed the exile of Eugenius IV., were still insignificant in comparison with those conjured up by the fanatics of the council in Basel. The decrees enacted by that body made deep inroads on the rights of the Holy See; and the conflict increased in violence. On July 1437, the fathers of Basel summoned Eugenius IV. to appear before their tribunal. The pope retorted on Sept. 18 by transferring the scene of the council to Ferrara—afterwards to Florence. There, in July 1439, the union with the Greeks was effected : but it remained simply a paper agreement. On June 25, 1439, the synod—which had already pronounced sentence of heresy on Eugenius IV., by reason of his obstinate disobedience to the assembly of the Church —formally deposed him ; and, on Nov. 5, a rival pontiff was elected in the person of the ambitious Amadeus of Savoy, who now took the title of Felix V. (See BASEL, COUNCIL OF, and FELIX V.) Thus the assembly of Christendom at Basel had resulted, not in the reformation of the Church, but in a new schism! The crime of this new schism was soon to be expiated by its perpetrators. The disinclination of sovereigns and peoples to a division, of the disastrous consequences of which the West had only lately had plentiful experiences, was so pronounced that the violent proceeding of the Basel fathers alienated from them the sympathies of nearly all who, till then, had leaned to their side. While the prestige of the schismatics waned, Eugenius IV. gained new friends; and on Sept. 28, 1443, his reconciliation with Alphonso of Naples enabled him to return to Rome.
During the chaos of the schism, France and Germany had adopted a semi-schismatic attitude : the former by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (June 7, 1438) ; the latter by a declaration of neutrality in March 1438. The efforts of Aeneas Silvius Pic colomini brought matters into a channel more favourable to the Holy See ; and an understanding with Germany was reached. This consummation was soon followed by the death of Eugenius (Feb. 23, 1447). No apter estimate of his character can be found than the words of Aeneas Silvius himself : "He was a great hearted man; but his chief error was that he was a stranger to moderation, and regulated his actions, not by his ability, but by his wishes." From the charge of nepotism he was entirely exempt ; and, to the present day, the purity of his life has never been impugned even by the voice of faction. He was a father to the poor and sick, in the highest sense of the word; and he left be hind him an enduring monument in his amendment and regenera tion, first of the religious orders, then of the clergy. Again, the patronage which he showed to art and artists was of the greatest importance.