adislaus died, and
Sigismund determined to conduct the council in the interest
of his imperial dignity and that of the German kingship,
which he also held.

The Council of Constance, like that of Pisa, had two very obvious
questions to consider: (1) The restoration of unity; and (2), if the
reforming party could have its way, the reform of the Church in its head
and members. But circumstances forced the council to consider a third
question, which had never been even touched in the discussions at Pisa.
This was reformation in its widest sense; not merely a constitutional
change in the relations of pope and hierarchy, but a vital change in
dogma and ritual. This question was brought to the front by the
so-called Hussite movement in Bohemia. The fundamental issues involved
were those which have been at the bottom of most subsequent disputes in
the Christian Church.

How far was the Christianity of the day unlike the Christianity to be
found in the record of Christ and his apostles? And the difference, if
any, was it a real and necessary difference consequent on the
development of society, or was it the result of abuses and innovations
introduced by fallible men? The orthodox took their stand upon the unity
and authority of the Church. The Church was the true foundation of
Christ and the inheritor of his spirit. Therefore what the Church
believed and taught, that alone was the true Christian doctrine; and the
forms and ceremonies of the Church were the necessary aids to faith. The
reformers, on the other hand, looked to Scripture for the fundamental
rules of life and conduct. Any deviation from these rules, no matter on
what authority, must be superfluous and might very probably be harmful.

The Council of Constance is one of the most notable assemblies in the
history of the world. In the number and fame of its members, in the
importance of its objects, and, above all, in the dramatic interest of
its records, it has few rivals. It is like the meeting of two worlds,
the old and the new, the mediaeval and the modern. We find there
represented views which have hardly yet been fully accepted, which have
occupied the best minds of succeeding centuries; at the same time, the
council itself and its ceremonial carry us back to the times of the
Roman Empire, when church and state were scarcely yet dual, and when
Christianity was coextensive with one united empire. At Constance all
the ideas, religious and political, of the