ULTRAMONTANISTS ( from Lat. ultra, beyond montan-us, mountainous, relating to a mountain, from ģions, mountain; so called in allusion to the geographical position of Italy relative to the countries north of the Alps, and hence applied to the Italian party in the Roman Catholic Church). The name applied to those who recognize the Papal claim of supremacy over all national churches and sovereigns. Since 1870 it has been used also as a designation of all who accept the decrees of the Vatican Council, and in a broader sense it has been applied to the most conservative element in the Roman Catholic Church. In a purely political sense it has come to be used to designate the extreme Catholic party in almost every nation of North ern Europe. The Litramontanists as a Church party first appeared in the Papacy of Gregory VII. (q.v.), who advanced the theory that the Pope had the power to depose and absolve tem poral rulers. The enforcement of this theory would have had the effect of entirely superseding the freedom of action of the various churches, and its assertion aroused the opposition of powerful parties in the churches of Germany and France. After the Council of Constance
(1414-18) (q.v.) the struggle between the Ultra montanists and the champions of the liberties of the various churches became the principal point of dispute within the ecclesiastical body. The opposition in the Gallican Church was par ticularly active, and has so continued to the present day. After the reconstruction of Europe, following the Napoleonic wars, the actual in fluence of the Ultramontanists was considerably decreased, although their principles were still tenaciously maintained and reasserted at every opportunity. In 1869-70, in connection with the meeting of the Vatican Council and the discus sion of the doctrine of Papal infallibility, the political aspects of Ultramontanism assumed new importance. In Germany, Austria. and France the Catholic and Belgian parties in Parliament are designated by the name of Ultramontanes.