In the 23d session (25, March 1436) the form of election, the confession of faith and the offi cial oath of each Pope, by which he bpund him self to obey the decrees of the Council, and the annnal repetition of the same, were provided for; all preferment of the relations of .a Pope was forbidden, and the college of cardinals was limited to 24 prelates and doctors of all na tions, who should be elected by the free votes of the college, should be entitled to half of the revenues of the states of the Church, should watch over the Pope and always sign his bulls. They granted him only the right to dispose of the prebends belonging to the diocese of Rome, and abolished the investiture of Church prefer ments in reversion.
In the 26th session it again summoned him to appear, on account of his disobedience of its decrees, declared him guilty of contumacy, and, after Eugenius had opened. his 'counter-synod at Ferrara, decreed his 'suspension from the papal chair in the 31st session (24 Jan. 1438), In the same session it to. Rome without resort to the intermediate jurisdictions, left to the papal disposition but one out of 10 and two out of 50 prebends of a church, and destined the third part of all canonries -which might become vacant to men who had taken regular degrees. The removal of Eugenius, however, seemed to be so questionable a pro ceeding that some prelates, who till then had.
been the boldest and most influential spealcers in the Council (for example, the cardinal legate Juliano, and the great canon Nicholas of Cusa, archdeacon of Liege, with the most of the Italians), left Basel and went over to the party of Eugenius. The archbishop of Arles, Car dinal Louis Allemand, a man of superior spirit, courage and eloquence, was now made first president of the Council and directed its pro ceedings with much vigor.
Although its number was diminished, its most powerful protector, the Emperor Sigis mund, deceased, and its authority doubted by several princes and nations on account of its open rupture with the Pope, yet, in the 33d session (16 May 1439), after violent debates, in which the archbishop of Palermo, Nic. Tu deschi (known, under the name of Panormita nus, as the greatest canon of his time), who was the delegate of the King of Aragon and Sicily, took the part of the Pope—it declared Eugenius, on account of his obstinate disobe dience of its decrees, a heretic, and formally deposed him, in the following session, as guilty of simony, perjury violation of the laws of the Church and bad administration in his office. In the 34th session, June 1439, the Council pro nounced the deposition of Eugene. At this ses sion there were but two representatives of Spain and Italy, and the total number of prelates, including abbots, was 39.
Notwithstanding the plague, then raging in Basel, which continually diminished its number, it proceeded in a regular conclave (17 November of the same year) to elect the Duke Amadeus of Savoy to the papal chair. This prince then
lived in retirement at Ripaglia, on the Lake of Geneva, and seemed particularly qualified for the office on account of his piety, his riches and his connections. But Felix V — this was the name he adopted— was acknowledged by only a few princes, cities and universities. The chief powers, France and Germany, assented to the decrees of the Council for the reformation of the Church, but they chose to remain neutral in the contest with Eugenius. Meanwhile he acquired new credit by the union concluded with the Greek deputies at Florence (but after ward rejected by the Greelc Church) and the friendship of the Emperor Frederic III. The Council, on the other hand, denounced by Eu genius and deserted by its protectors, gradually declined under its feeble Pope, and, consulting only appearances and the personal safety of its members, held its 45th and last session 16 May 1443, after an inaction of three years inter rupted only by a few insignificant decrees. At this session the place of meeting was changed to Lausanne. Here some of the prelates remained together under the Cardinal Louis Alletnand until 1449, when, after the death of Eugenius and the resignation of Felix V, they gladly ac cepted the amnesty offered by the new Pope, Nicholas V, and pronounced the Council closed. The decrees of the Council of Basel are admit ted into none of the Roman or official collec tions, and by the Roman Church are considered of no authority. They have been regarded, however, as of authonty in points of canon law, in France and Germany, as their regula tions for the reformation of the Church were to some extent adopted in both countries, and, as far as they regard clerical discipline, were actually enforced. Some concordats concluded at subsequent dates have modified the applica tion of them but never formally and entirely annulled them. The Council of Basel was one of the most important in the history of the Church. The spirit of the councils of Pisa (1409) and of Constance (1414-18) was formu lated in the decrees of Basel, and led to a two fold result: on the one hand the many salutary decrees of refortn, on the other the clear ex pression of many dangerous principles in regard to the organization of the Church. Its history has often been misrepresented by historians, some seeing in it only an unhappy tendency from the true centre of unity; others regarding it as a great progressive movement, but for getting that it was simply the growth of an expediency due to exceptional conditions. To know it Impartially it must be studied in the original sources. Consult Hardouin, Labbe and Cossart; Mansi's collection consisting of 31 folios; Alzog, (Church History' ; Parsons, (Studies in Church History' ; Perouse, G., (Documents inedits relatifs au Concile de Bale) (Bulletin Hist. et Philol., year 1905, Nos. 3-4, pp. 364-398, Paris, 1906).