nough to complete the
alienation of Sigismund, and after the third day's trial he was the
first to pronounce in favor of condemnation. The last obstacle in the
way of the prosecution was thus removed, and Huss was burned in a meadow
outside the city walls on July 6, 1415.

With the death of Huss ends the first and most eventful period of the
Council of Constance. Within these seven or eight months Sigismund and
the reforming party, thanks to the division of the council into nations,
seemed to have gained a signal success. Sigismund had purchased his
triumph by breaking his pledge to Huss, and for this he was to pay a
heavy penalty in the subsequent disturbances in Bohemia. But for the
moment these were not foreseen, and Sigismund was jubilantly eager to
prosecute his scheme. Warned by the experience of its predecessor at
Pisa, the Council of Constance was careful not to put too much trust in
paper decrees. John XXIII was not only deposed, but a prisoner. Gregory
XII had given a conditional promise of resignation, and had so few
supporters as to be of slight importance. But Benedict XIII was still
strong in the allegiance of the Spanish kingdoms, and unless they could
be detached from his cause there was little prospect of ending the
schism.

This task Sigismund volunteered to undertake, and he also proposed to
avert the impending war between England and France, to reconcile the
Burgundian and Armagnac parties in the latter country, and to negotiate
peace between the King of Poland and the Teutonic Knights. It would,
indeed, be a revival of the imperial idea if its representative could
thus act as a general mediator in European quarrels. The council
welcomed the offer with enthusiasm, and showed their loyalty to
Sigismund by deciding to postpone all important questions till his
return. And this decision was actually adhered to. During the sixteen
months of Sigismund's absence--July 15, 1415, to January 27, 1417--only
two prominent subjects were considered by the council. One was the trial
of Jerome of Prague, which was a mere corollary of that of Huss, and
ended in a similar sentence. The other was the thorny question raised by
the proposed condemnation of the writings of Jean Petit, a Burgundian
partisan who had defended the murder of the Duke of Orleans. The leader
of the attack upon Jean Petit was Gerson, the learned and eloquent
chancellor of the University of Paris. But so completely had the matter
become a party