Head #5 - Council of Electors (Rev. 17)

Head #5 on the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit of Revelation 17

Revelation Time Period #5:
1299 AD - 1449 AD

The time during which Head #5 was the dominant ruling power in the realm corresponds to the 5th time period of Revelation, which also corresponds to the 5th Church, the 5th Seal and the 5th Trumpet.

Rise

The eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Franks developed into the Kingdom of the Germans, along with a corresponding shift from Frankish to German dominance in the Roman realm. As feudalism had become more widespread, the local rulers became more powerful. The most powerful became known as princes and they would confirm the succession of kings. This confirmation, which began as a mere formality, developed into a college of electors (first mentioned in the twelfth century) and by around 1273, became a small, yet powerful, political body comprised of seven electors. The Electors (from the 13th to 17th centuries) included:

The Archbishop of Mainz (Ecclesiastic)
The Archbishop of Trier (Ecclesiastic)
The Archbishop of Cologne (Ecclesiastic)
The King of Bohemia
The Count Palatine of the Rhine (Elector Palatine)
The Duke of Saxony (Elector of Saxony)
The Margrave of Brandenburg (Elector of Brandenburg)

As the papal power over secular matters made a sharp decline during the reign of Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) and King Philip and Albert made a treaty against him in 1299, these electors defied the pope and gained authority and independent control over the election of the emperors (see Head #4 for details on the Electors' take-over of the realm). The monarchy became truly elective, with the electoral council exercising the real power over the crown.

When Albert showed himself too eager for power, the electors refused to elect a Habsburg again for over a century. The electors were successful in controlling the crown because they prevented it from being passed along hereditary lines, which prevented the emperors from strengthening their authority beyond their family domains. The electors were strongly opposed to the taxes and forced military service that would inevitably follow an emperor's increased power.

In 1338, The Diet in Frankfort officially decreed that the emperor could be chosen without papal participation. In 1356, The Golden Bull, issued by Charles IV, officially ended papal involvement in the election of a German king, by simply denying Rome's right to approve or reject the electors' choice. The princes who, by the early thirteenth century, had established their claim to the title of Electors of the Empire were confirmed and regulated. The princes became almost sovereign rulers, being counterforces to imperial absolutism, ruling as allies instead of subjects.¹ The Bull made official the princes' dominance over the monarchy.

The influence of the Holy Roman Empire, and thus the Council of Electors, was extensive. At the start of the 14th century, it was comprised of present-day Germany and extended across Prussia, Hungary, Bohemia, Switzerland, parts of Italy and hundreds of smaller principalities.

See a Map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1356.

The Kingdom of Bohemia was especially influential and powerful during this time. Charles IV, the King of Bohemia (and thus able to vote in the Council of Electors), became Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. His reign included the peak of Bohemian political power and land area, controlling many diverse lands.

Many Christians had fled to Bohemia to escape papal persecution in France and Italy. From there, some openly condemned the corruptions in the church, which resulted in papal persecution being directed at Bohemia. The famous Bohemian reformer, Jan Hus, led out in protesting papal errors, and was sentenced to death by the Roman church in 1415. This launched intense rebellions against the Roman church known as the Hussite wars. The Hussites, with much smaller numbers, defeated papal crusaders five consecutive times between 1420 and 1431.

Transition:

The dispute between Philip the Fair and pope Boniface at the end of the 13th century resulted in the Avignon Schism (1309 - 1377). The papacy was moved to France and Philip endeavored to reverse the pope's grand scheme of temporal dominance. During this time, the theological faculty of the University of Paris came to be recognized as an "authentic authority on the meaning of doctrine."² The schoolmen questioned the claims of the popes, and the idea was developed that a pope could indeed be heretical. This necessitated the need for some entity to determine judgment, and that body was a general council.

The significance of a Council of Electors having power over an emperor, was reflected in the church as ecumenical councils tried to gain power over the pope. This movement, called the Conciliar Movement, arose during the fourteenth century. It put forth that supreme authority in the church did not belong to the pope but rather to an ecumenical council. The movement grew rapidly during the Western Schism of 1378 to 1417 when multiple men claimed to be pope simultaneously. This problem was accompanied by corruption and abuses in the church including simony and punishments. "The complaints about these matters had swelled since 1300 into an irrepressible torrent."³ Various Councils tried to reform the church and assert their superiority over the Popes, including the Council of Pisa (1409), the Council of Constance (1414 - 1418), the Council of Siena (1423 - 1424) and the Council of Basel (1431 - 1449).

Conciliarists put forth arguments that councils should give final authority to actions of the church and that the pope and other officials simply implement the conciliar will. They asserted that "the Church must be able to deal with situations in which the papacy is vacant or uncertain or corrupt; otherwise its existence would be more precarious than the existence of a secular body politic, which can replace its head if necessary. The analogy between the Church and a secular body politic ran through much conciliarist thinking."⁴

The success of the Council of Electors' dominance over the crown became wrapped up with the success of the Conciliar Movement. The concept of monarchy and pope came to be seen as closely intertwined and a threat to one equaled a threat to the other. Princes not only stood to benefit from power over royalty, but also from power over church money. Some princes wanted Conciliarism to succeed, not because they cared for church reform, but "it merely served as a cry under cover of which the Electors sought to promote their own power and their own interests."⁵

Popes, on the other hand, "warned secular rulers that conciliarist ideas also threatened the power of kings-they were aware of the analogy between conciliarist views of church government and anti-monarchical views of secular government."⁶ "The fifteenth century was a time when central monarchical power was again on the rise and was suppressing late medieval constitutionalism. Here we can see a striking parallel between ecclesiastical constitutional development and contemporary political developments."⁷

It was during the Council of Basel (1431 - 1449) that Conciliarism reached its apex. The rector of the University of Paris, Gerson, was its leader. At the council's beginning (1431), the German princes, France, and Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund all backed the council with their authority.⁸ It decisively stood up to the pope and set about the business of correcting the problems in church and empire. The pope tried to close the Council, but eventually gave in and sent his plenipotentiaries to sit at the Council in December of 1433.

Yet, the pope continued to try to break up the council, and in January of 1438 was finally able to convene a separate council at Ferrara (later moved to Florence). He declared the Council of Basel dissolved, and later excommunicated all those present at the Council of Basel. In response, the Council of Basel declared the Council of Ferrara illegal and continued its work.

The representatives from Byzantine, hoping for a union of the Eastern and Western churches, having been in negotiations with both Councils, eventually joined the pope in Ferrara. This gave the Council in Ferrara increased credibility and the pope gradually gained more adherents to his cause. After Emperor Sigismund's death in 1437, the imperial court and the Western monarchs appeared more or less neutral in the contest.

In 1438, France declared in favor of the Council of Basel. The German Electors had an official policy of neutrality, which meant they rejected the pope's authority in the matter. Even so, there was growing division between Frederick, King of the Romans, and the Electors. While the Electors hardened in their backing of the Council of Basel, Frederick increasingly became more favorable to the pope and finally declared strongly for the pope in February of 1446.⁹ The pope thus gained a critical ally to counter the conciliar movement.

With many powerful German princes and the king of France still refusing to submit to the pope, it became clear that the emperor and the pope had good reason to work together:

"The anarchical doctrines maintained by the council [of Basel] did not threaten the Church alone. In fact, if twenty or thirty prelates, in opposition to the Holy See, are entitled to set themselves up as the representatives of the Catholic world, and as such to control the Pope, to dictate new laws to him, to suspend or depose him at will; with stronger reason, may twenty or thirty deputies style themselves the States-General, the Parliament or national representation of a whole people, and, as such, control, depose, suspend, banish, or put to death kings and emperors. It is evident, then, that these principles threatened the civil governments as well as the spiritual power."¹⁰

Emperor Frederick, of the House of Habsburg, was successful in introducing divisions among the Electors.¹¹ He worked with the pope to undermine the Council of Basel. Frederick agreed to the Pope's terms, seeing their alliance "as the only means of checking the electoral oligarchy, and preventing their further connexion with France."¹²

Thus, the Conciliar Movement was losing its momentum, and its pending demise threatened the power of the Elector Princes over the monarchy. The princes seemed to lose interest as the bickering went on and on, and they accepted the deals from Rome to get what they wanted.

Pope Eugene IV issued four bulls in 1447 to put an end to the conflict. He died shortly after without seeing the successful end, but his reign is known for "the check it gave to the Conciliar Movement which had reached its climax with regard to theory, determination and action in the Council of Basel."¹³

In 1448, some princes still resolutely resisted, so Frederick intervened, and the Concordat of Vienna was agreed upon by the emperor and the new pope Nicholas V. The agreement's later implementation in Germany, brought about many concessions by territorial princes.

In 1449, the stubborn Council of Basel was in its last moments. The rival pope, Amadeus, appointed by the Council of Basel, abdicated 7 April 1449. Its members voted the dissolution of the Council on 25 April, 1449. After Emperor Frederick forbade the city of Basel to allow the Council within its walls, "the citizens found it necessary at last to yield, and on July 7 five hundred of them honourably escorted the remnants of the Council on their way to Lausanne, wither they transferred themselves under the protection of the French King [Charles VII, who] undertook the task of bringing the schism to an end, and played the same part in ecclesiastical affairs as Sigismund had done in the previous generation."¹⁴

The Council of Florence "counterbalanced and finally outweighed the Council of Basel, and in so doing checked the development of the Conciliar Movement that threatened to change the very constitution of the Church."¹⁵

The success of Emperor Frederick in joining the pope to dissolve the Council of Basel and defeat Conciliarism, was realized in 1449. He outmaneuvered the Council of Electors and can take credit for bringing the conciliarist momentum to an end in Germany. Because of his achievements, his family, the House of Habsburg, was then able to hold the crown for hundreds of years. They used strategic marriages to build up their own family domain, which would eventually cover half of Europe.

In the process of allying with Pope, the Emperor brought about a relationship between throne and altar that would launch a new era of absolute monarchy.

Decline

The political influence exerted by the Council of Electors lost its dominant position and the role of the electors became mostly ceremonial. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy in theory, but the electors went on to basically just formalize the succession of heirs within the Habsburg dynasty. Though the Electors lost control over the seat of power, thus ending the time of Head #5, they still had power and influence in the realm. An example of that influence can be seen during the next century as the elector of Saxony was able to provide protection for the Protestant reformation.

Summary

Head #5 = Council of Electors (1299 to 1449 AD): The Council of Electors was an elite group of princes who elected emperors. When Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) pushed rulers too far, electors Albert and King Philip IV of France made a treaty against him in 1299 AD, which resulted in the Council gaining independent control over elections and exercising the real power over the crown. Religious and political councils became popular during this time period (conciliarism), trumping the monarchial power of popes and kings. This spurred on revolts from papal domination, occurring in Germany (Louis the Bavarian), England (Wycliffe) and Bohemia (Huss). The revolts, internal schisms and Ottoman threats were the primary topics of the ecumenical councils during this time. The Ottomans ("locusts") of the 5th Trumpet were taking over Byzantine lands during this period ("five months" - 150 years), but were holding off taking over the Byzantine capital of Constantinople ("torment" but not kill) and not yet touching western lands / the realm of Rome ("grass"), because of fear of an east-west Christian alliance. The Council of Electors brought the afflictions of the 5th Trumpet upon themselves and the inhabitants of the land as they fought against religious freedom movements and wouldn't agree enough amongst themselves or unite with the Byzantines to launch an effective military effort against the Ottomans. The Council of Basel (1431 - 1449), which attempted to reform the church and solve the crises of the realm, was the last and greatest effort to reunite the western and eastern churches. With its disbanding in 1449, the last hope of an east-west union dissolved, and from the Ottoman perspective, the threat of an east-west union dissolved. They were released from the dreaded possibility that the princes of western Europe would band together to defend Constantinople. They were now unleashed to pursue conquest of the capital of Byzantium ("kill them" - v. 5). When the Council of Basel failed (disbanded in 1449), it brought about the victory for pope/monarchy and the House of Habsburg (Head #6) over counciliarism and the Elector princes (Head #5). At the same time, it ended the time of the Ottomans tormenting the Byzantine Empire. Once again, like all the other Heads and Trumpets, the same event brought an end to both the Head and corresponding Trumpet.

Continue to: Head #6

1. Becker, Carl L., and William L. Langer, Editors. A Survey of European Civilization. Second Edition. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1952. Page 316.
2. David J. Stagaman, Authority in the Church, page 98.
3. Schatz, Klaus. Papal Primacy. Collegeville, Minnesota: TheLiturgical press, 1996. Page 104.
4. Kilcullen, John. "Medieval Political Philosophy." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/medieval-political/. Section 14.
5. Creighton, Mandell. A history of the papacy during the period of the reformation. Volume II. London : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1882. Page 282. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/historyofpapacyd02crei/page/284/mode/2up.
6. "Medieval Political Philosophy." Section 14.
7. Papal Primacy. Page 105.
8. The History of the Council of Florence, Ivan N. Ostroumov, page 20.
9. The Council of Florence, Gill, page 339.
10. Darras, Joseph Epiphane. A General History Of The Catholic Church From The Commencement Of The Christian Era Until The Present Time. Volume 3. New York: P. O'Shea, 1868. Page 588.
11. The Council of Florence, Gill, page 341.
12. A history of the papacy during the period of the reformation. Page 285.
13. The Council of Florence, Joseph Gill, page 343-344.
14. The History of the Papacy During the Period of the Reformation. Page 285.
15. The Council of Florence, Joseph Gill, page 411