probably first
applied to certain decrees of the Byzantine emperors for
regulating their provinces and towns, and later it was given
to imperial decrees in the West. In the present case it is
applied to the limitations set to the power of the pope in
France.

In the Council of Constance, 1414-1418, at which decrees
were passed subordinating the pope as well as the whole
Church to the authority of a general council, Gallican or
French opinion on this subject won its first great victory.
But this triumph introduced into the Western Church an
element of strife which resulted in calamities scarcely less
grave than those of the Great Schism of 1378-1417, during
which different parties adhered to rival popes. From the
Council of Constance may be dated the formal divergence of
the Gallican from the Ultramontane or strictly Roman church
government.

Pope Martin V, who was elected by the Council of Constance
after it had deposed John XXIII, Gregory XII, and Benedict
XIII, is generally considered to have assented to all its
decrees. In 1431, on the death of Martin V, Eugenius IV
succeeded to the papal throne. A council had been convened
at Pavia in 1423. After a few weeks it was transferred to
Siena, and subsequently to Basel. Fearing that it would
follow the policy of Constance, Eugenius (1431) attempted to
dissolve it and to have it reconvened at Bologna under his
own eye. A rupture followed between Pope and council,
resulting in years of confused strife.

In all this confusion our historians, Jervis and Rohrbacher,
distinguish the leading events, the most significant of
which was the issuing of the Pragmatic Sanction by Charles
VII of France. This ordinance is known, from the place of
its promulgation, as the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, and
is sometimes called the "Palladium of France," also the
"Magna Charta of the Gallican Church."

W. HENLEY JERVIS

The position assumed by the Gallican Church at this junction was
peculiar and in some respects questionable. It declared decidedly in
favor of the Council of Basel; many French prelates repaired thither,
and ambassadors were sent by the King, Charles VII, to Pope Eugenius, to
beseech him to support the authority of the synod, and to protest
against its dissolution. The fathers stood firm at their posts,
appealing to the principles solemnly asserted at Constance, that the
pope is bound in certain