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Constance (Konstanz)

[Constaunce]

Freiburg, Germany

Coordinates: 47° 39' 48" N, 9° 10' 31" E

from them, pleading the same temporalties to be mere almose and deuotion of good men, geuen vnto the church. Ex Cochleo.

And thus now did they themselues graunt the thing, which before they did condemne. The more that the popes clergy was pinched, the more grudge & hatred redounded to Iohn Hus, although he was in no cause therof, but onely their owne wicked deseruinges, for the which cause Stephen Paletz, and Andræas de Broda,MarginaliaSteuen Paletz, Andr. Broda, write against Iohn Hus. being the chiefe champions of that faction, though they could not remedy the case, yet to ease theyr mindes, wrote sharpe and cruell letters to Maister Hus. And to helpe the matter forward, the Pope also here must helpe at a pinche, who likewise writeth hys letters to Wenceslaus king of Bohemia, which was brother to Sigismund Emperor, for the suppressing of Iohn Hus & of his doctrine. Which was in the fifth and last yere of his Popedome. an. 1414. The tenour of whose letters to king Wenceslaus in this wise proceedeth.

MarginaliaThe letter of Pope Iohn to K. Wenceslaus.IOhn Bishoppe seruaunt of Gods seruanntes, to his welbeloued sonne in Christ Wenceslaus, King of Romaines and of Boheme, greeting and apostolicall benediction. Among other desires and delightes of our hart: who although vnworthy to represent the roome of Christ here in earth: this doth chiefly redounde to our singular comfort so often as we do heare of the brotherly entreaty of peace and of concord (by which concord kingdoms do encrease, as contrary by discorde they are deminished) which is betweene your honour, and our welbeloued in the Lord Sigismund your brother germane & cosin, for the noble king of the Romans &c. And furthermore it foloweth in these words. And as we haue cause to ioy at the premisses: so likewise agayne the heauy rumors which are here, do trouble and dampe our mindes. For we heare that in diuers places vnder your dominiō, there be certain which do folow and leane to the errors of that archhereticke Wickliffe, whose bookes haue bene long since condemned in the generall Romain councell to bee erroneous, hereticall, and swaruing from the catholicke fayth. And furthermore whiche is worst of all, the sayd persons cleauing to the opinions of the heretickes (least they should be corrected of their superior powers for their exces, to couer theyr naughtines and stubbernesse in despising the commaundements of the Apostolicall seat) do openly teach disobedience and contempt of the keies and ecclesiasticall censure, to the subuersion of the Apostolicall dignity, setting at nought the decrees of the holy fathers & canons. Wherefore we do exhort yourworship for the mercy of our God, as hartely as we may or cā, that it would please you as we desire & hope you will (so effectuously) to shew forth your regall power, both for the glory of God, & defence of the catholicke fayth (which you go about to defend) and for the conseruation of your kingly name, state and honor, for the prosperous safe gouernement of your kingdome and dominions, as it becommeth a catholicke prince, whereby this blot of heresye (which doth so lamentably and miserablye spring and creepe in those partes and doth so infect the mindes of mortall men, to the destruction of their soules, and doth sequester them from the congregation of the pure and catholick fayth and truth) may be rooted out. &c. Geuen at Bononia in the Ides of Iune, in the v. yeare of our popedome. &c.

In this epistle of Pope Iohn aboue prefixed, forsomuch as mention is made of a certaine councell before holden at Rome (which was 4. yeares before) agaynst the articles & books of Iohn Wickliffe: it shall not be impertinēt nor out of purpose to repeat a certayn mery history & worthy other wise to be noted at, written by Nicholas Clemangis of a certayne spirite, which ruled the Popish Councelles, hys worde are these.

MarginaliaThe story of an Owle appearing at the councell of pope Iohn. Ex Nich. Clemangis.The same pope called a Coūcell at Rome about foure yeares before, at the earnest sute of diuers men. And a mas of the holy Ghost being sayd at the entraunce into the sayd Councell (according to the accustomed maner) the Councell being set, and the sayde Iohn sitting highest in a chayre prepared for him for that purpose: Behold a ougly & dread full Owle, or as the common prouerbe is, the euill signe of some mischaunce of death to followe, comming out of the backe halfe of him, flew to and fro, with her euill fauoured voyce, and standing vpon the middle beame of the church, cast her staring eyes vpon the Pope sitting, the whole cōpany began to maruell, to see the night Crowe, whiche is wont to abide no light, how she should in þ^e midday come in the face of such a multitude, & iudged (not without cause) that it was an illfauored token. For beholde sayde they, (whispering one in on others eare) the spirite appereth in the shape of an Owle. And as the stoode beholding one an other, and aduising the pope, scarcely could keep their coūtenaunce from laughter, Iohn himselfe, vppon whom the Owle stedfastly looked, blushing at the matter, beganne to sweate and to fret and fume with himselfe, and not finding by what other meanes he might salue the matter, being so confused dissoluing the Councell, rose vp and departed. After that there followed an other session. In the whiche the Owle again, after the maner aforesayd, although, as I be-

Commentary on the Woodcuts     Close

The Council of Constance, designed to end the papal schism and to repress heresy, condemned Hus and Jerome of Prague, both of whom were burned, and did its best to see Wyclif given the same treatment by ordering that his bones should be exhumed and burned. Foxe, who anticipated his narrative of the council in order to include the subsequent burning of the heresiarch's bones in his life story, naturally found congenial the story narrated by Nicholas of Clamanges of the synod called in Rome in 1412 by the anti-pope John XXIII. According to this tale ('the merry story of an owl'), a dreadful owl (represented in Foxe's illustration as formidable in size) was said to have appeared and disrupted the proceedings by fixing its gaze on the presiding pontiff -- something that was inevitably taken as an evil omen. The summons of the Council of Constance and the deposition of the pope fulfilled this prediction. The illustrator, picturing a scene of utter dismay in which all eyes are fastened on the presiding bird, did his best to portray a building of Roman character. CUL copy: in this copy, as with the image of the Lollards, the faces have been detailed in black ink, to highlight eyebrows, lashes and profiles. Lips are frequently detailed with a rosy red. The cardinals wear orange; the pope's pallium is in orange, his cassock is in yellow with purple shading. The bishops surrounding him wear variously white or shades of purple and there is one monk, dressed in black. The owl has a white chest and face, with the rest of its body and wings in a light brown. Taking into account the average height of those depicted in this image, the owl stands at around 3 feet tall, perched and poised on a beam up above those gathered, making one rather wonder what tactics it is about to use 'to the utter defacing' of those below. The tyrian purple pillars are detailed in white, to indicate the marbling. One straight white line is added centrally to each pillar to indicate a reflection in the glossy exterior of the columns. WREN copy: note that the painting in this copy is more finely executed. See, in particular the marbling effect added to the pillars in the background. There is, however, no gold detail to this picture in the Wren copy.