the cause they had once championed rather than vote with their enemies.

Sigismund could only rely upon the English and the Germans; and the
question which agitated the council was one of vital importance. Which
was to come first, the election of a new pope or the adoption of a
scheme of ecclesiastical reform? The conservatives contended that the
Church could hardly be said to exist without its head; that no reform
would be valid until the normal constitution of the Church was restored.
On the other hand, it was urged that no reform was possible unless the
supremacy of a general council was fully recognized; that certain
questions could be more easily discussed and settled during a vacancy;
that if the reforms were agreed upon, a new pope could be pledged to
accept them, whereas a pope elected at once could prevent all reform.
Party spirit ran extremely high, and it seemed almost impossible to
effect an agreement. Sigismund was openly denounced as a heretic, while
he in turn threatened to imprison the cardinals for contumacy.

But gradually the balance turned against the reformers. Some of the
leading German bishops were bribed to change their votes. The head of
the English representatives, Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury, died at
the critical moment, and the influence of Henry Beaufort, the future
cardinal, induced the English nation to support an immediate election.
It was agreed that a new pope should be chosen at once, and that the
council should then proceed to the work of reform. But the only
preliminary concession that Sigismund and his party could obtain was the
issue of a decree in October, 1417, that another council should meet
within five years, a second within seven years, and that afterward a
council should be regularly held every ten years.

For the new election it was decided that the twenty-three cardinals
should be joined by thirty delegates of the council, six from each
nation. The conclave met on November 8th, and three days later their
choice fell upon Cardinal Oddo Colonna, who took the name of Martin V.
Even the defeated party could not refrain from sharing in the general
enthusiasm at the restoration of unity after forty years of schism. But
their fears as to the ultimate fate of the cause of reform were fully
justified. Soon after his election Martin declared that it was impious
to appeal to a council against a papal decision. Such a declaration, as
Gerson said, nullified the acts of the coun