How did the church council at Constance,Germany, settle the crisis in 1417?

The Council of Constance, which convened from 1414 to 1418 in Constance, Germany, resolved the crisis known as the Western Schism (or Papal Schism) in several steps:

1. The council asserted its authority over the papacy: It was established that the council had the authority to settle the matters at hand, which was essential as there were multiple claimants to the papacy at the time.

2. Deposition of the rival popes: During the Schism, there were three men claiming to be the rightful pope – Pope Gregory XII in Rome, Antipope John XXIII in Pisa, and Antipope Benedict XIII in Avignon. The Council of Constance managed to depose or accept the resignation of all three. John XXIII was deposed by the council, Gregory XII voluntarily resigned, and Benedict XIII, who refused to resign, was declared a heretic and was consequently deposed.

3. Election of a new pope: After clearing the field of these rival popes, the council moved forward by electing a new pope, Martin V (Cardinal Oddone Colonna), on November 11, 1417, which effectively ended the Schism and restored unity to the Western Church.

4. Elimination of potential future schisms: The council also issued decrees aimed at preventing future schisms, including the frequency of holding councils to ensure continuity and reform within the Church.

Overall, the success of the Council of Constance in solving the crisis lay in its ability to enforce its decisions, which restored one line of papal succession and put an end to the disputes that had divided the church.

Extra: The Western Schism, not to be confused with the Great Schism (the divide between the Western Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches), was a period in the late medieval era where there was confusion and conflict over who was the legitimate pope. This led to multiple individuals claiming the papal throne simultaneously, each with their own followers and territories of influence. The schism began in 1378 and lasted until the Council of Constance resolved it in 1417.

The Council of Constance is one of the significant events in the history of the Catholic Church because it addressed not just the immediate crisis of the schism, but it also tackled broader issues within the Church, such as heresy and the need for ecclesiastical reform. Notably, the council brought an essential concept to the fore, conciliarism, which holds that a general council of the Church has greater authority than the pope and can depose him if necessary. This idea was very controversial and was later rejected by the Church, but it was crucial for resolving the crisis at the time.

Additionally, the Council of Constance dealt with other pressing matters, such as the trial and execution of Jan Hus, a Czech reformer who was accused of heresy due to his calls for Church reform, especially his denunciation of clerical corruption. His execution at the council resulted in the Hussite Wars in Bohemia. The Council's actions played a formative role in the changes that were eventually realized in the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.