Council of Ferrara/Florence
Council of Ferrara/Florence
This council of bishops, scholars, monks, and church officials began in Basel, Switzerland, and moved to Ferrara, Italy, in 1438, and in the next year to Florence. The council sought to deal with a growing movement of protest and heresy against the corruption of the church. It also had to contend with the papal administration, which resisted its pronouncements and decrees. In the end Pope Eugene IV was forced to recognize the authority of the council, which limited many of the pope's privileges and even set down rules guiding papal elections. In 1439, the council deposed Eugene IV from his throne and elected an “antipope,” Felix V, leading to a schism in the church that lasted for ten years. The many bitter controversies over doctrine and the struggle for power between the pope and the councils provided further impetus for the Reformation movement, which would gain strength in the early sixteenth century.