Conciliarism and Heresy in Fifteenth-Century England: Collective Authority in the Age of the General Councils

236 Pages·2017·12.391 MB·English

by  Alexander Russell

CONCILIARISM AND HERESY IN
FIFTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND
The general councils of the fifteenth century constituted a remarkable
political experiment, which used collective decision-making to tackle
important problems facing the Church. Such problems had hitherto
received rigid top-down management from Rome. However, at Con-
stance and Basle they were debated by delegates of different ranks from
across Europe and resolved through majority voting.Fusing the history
of political thought with the study of institutional practices,this innova-
tive study relates the procedural innovations of the general councils and
theiranti-hereticalactivitiestowidertrendsincorporatepolitics,intellec-
tualcultureandpastoralreform.AlexanderRussellarguesthattheaccep-
tance of collective decision-making at the councils was predicated upon
theprevalenceofgroupparticipationanddeliberationinsmall-scalecor-
porateculture.ConciliarismandHeresyinFifteenth-CenturyEnglandoffersa
fundamentalreassessmentofEngland’srelationshipwiththegeneralcoun-
cils,revealing how political thought,heresy,and collective politics were
connected.
alexander russell gained his doctorate from the University of
Oxfordin2011.In2012–13hewasaMellonFellowatthePontificalInsti-
tuteofMediaevalStudiesinTorontoandhehassubsequentlybeenaLev-
erhulmeEarly Career Fellowinthe Centrefor the Study of the Renais-
sanceattheUniversityofWarwick.
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought
Fourth Series
GeneralEditor:
rosamond mckitterick
EmeritusProfessorofMedievalHistory,UniversityofCambridge,andFellowofSidneySussexCollege
AdvisoryEditors:
christine carpenter
EmeritusProfessorofMedievalEnglishHistory,UniversityofCambridge
magnus ryan
UniversityLecturerinHistory,UniversityofCambridge,andFellowofPeterhouse
TheseriesCambridgeStudiesinMedievalLifeandThoughtwasinauguratedbyG.G.
Coultonin1921;ProfessorRosamondMcKittericknowactsasGeneralEditor
oftheFourthSeries,withProfessorChristineCarpenterandDrMagnusRyan
as Advisory Editors.The series brings together outstanding work by medieval
scholarsoverawiderangeofhumanendeavourextendingfrompoliticalecon-
omytothehistoryofideas.
Thisisbook105intheseries,andafulllistoftitlesintheseriescanbefoundat:
www.cambridge.org/medievallifeandthought
CONCILIARISM AND HERESY
IN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY
ENGLAND
Collective Authority in the Age of the General Councils
ALEXANDER RUSSELL
UniversityofWarwick
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements page vi
List of Abbreviations viii
introduction 1
1. diplomacy and reform at the general
councils 10
2. the councils and lay religion 56
3. decision-making at the councils and the
world of collective politics 85
4. conciliarism and heresy in england 116
5. representation and interpretative authority 148
conclusion 184
Bibliography 197
Index 218
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people and institutions have contributed to the development of
thisbook.Itismygreatpleasuretothankthemhere.Thedoctoralthesis
from which the book derives was funded by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council and the Royal Historical Society. I am indebted to
both for their munificence,without which this book would never have
been written.
I thank my supervisors at Oxford,Felicity Heal and Ian Forrest,for
theirfaithinme.Extremelyconscientiousreadersandcritics,bothcaused
me to think harder about my arguments.Their guidance is indissolubly
boundupwithmyownworkonthisbookandIhopethatthefinalresult
pleases them.Kantik Ghosh took me under his wing in the early phases
ofmydoctorateandhasbeenagreatinspiration.AsIdevouredhisbook
ontheWycliffiteheresy,andaswelatertalkedabouttheperiod,Irealised
that the intellectual history of fifteenth-century England was worthy of
further attention.
During my postdoctoral studies, I profited enormously from a year
as a Mellon Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in
Toronto.PIMSprovidedawelcomingandstimulatinginstitutionalhome
and I learned a great deal from its fellows. In particular, I would like
to thank James Carley, James Farge, Ann Hutchison, John Magee and
Martin Pickavé for their encouragement and advice.The PIMS Library
is an exceptional resource for medieval scholarship thanks to the range
of its collections and the helpfulness and knowledge of its staff.It was a
privilege and a great pleasure to be able to make use of it.I would also
liketothankthestaffoftheBodleianLibrary,theBritishLibraryandthe
WarburgInstituteLibrary,inwhichthebulkofthisbookwasresearched
and written.
The book took its final shape within the University of Warwick. I
am grateful to the university and the Leverhulme Trust for making me
an Early Career Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance.
TheLeverhulmeTrusthasbeenunstintinginitssupport,andthestaffat
Warwick,particularly Ingrid De Smet,Beat Kümin,David Lines,Peter
vi
Acknowledgements
Marshall and PennyRoberts,have provided valuable guidance.Iam also
grateful tosuccessiveoffice-mates intheCSR,Eugenio Refini,Stephen
BatesandMátéVince,fortheircompanionship,andtoJayneBrown,the
secretary and mastermind of the Centre,for all her help.
I have incurred a debt of gratitude to the many medievalists I have
come to know in recent years. John Arnold, Mishtooni Bose, David
d’Avray,SerenaFerente,MiriRubin,JohnSabapathyandJohnWattsgen-
erouslygaveuptheirtimetotalktomeaboutmyresearch;JohnArnold
went beyond the call of duty in reading and commenting upon some of
thechapters.IntheUnitedStates,JohnVanEngenwasgraciousenough
to comment on Chapter 2 and to offer his insights on fifteenth-century
religiontoanunknownvisitor.MagnusRyanhaslongbeenasupporter
ofmyworkand,mostrecently,amodelacademicreader,puttinghisunri-
valled knowledge of medieval law and political thought at my disposal.I
have profited from all these scholars’insights,but it goes without saying
that none of them is responsible for the errors in fact and interpretation
tobefoundinthefollowingpages:theyareminealone.LizFriend-Smith
and Rebecca Taylor,my editors at Cambridge,have been a pleasure to
work with.
Tom Marsden and Dianne Mitchell selflessly read the entire book in
draftstage.Ithankthemforhelpingmetoreframemyargumentsandto
express myself more clearly,even when their efforts were greeted with
exasperation.And lastly,I thank my parents,who have supported me in
what,toSouthAfricans,mustseemasupremelyquixoticenterprise.Their
loveandsupport,alongwithDianne’s,hashelpedmealonganoccasion-
ally precarious path.This book is for them.
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
BL The British Library
BRUO Emden,A.B.,A Biographical Register of the University of
Oxford to A.D.1500,3 vols.(Oxford,1957–9)
CUL Cambridge University Library
ODNB The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
PG J.-P.Migne (ed.),Patrologia Graeca,161 vols.(Paris,
1857–66)
PL J.-P.Migne (ed.),Patrologia Latina,222 vols.(Paris,
1844–65)
PROME The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England,ed.C.
Given-Wilson et al.,16 vols.(Woodbridge,2005)
Reg.Bekynton The Register of Thomas Bekynton,Bishop of Bath and
Wells,1443–1465,ed.H.C.Maxwell-Lyte and M.C.B.
Dawes,2 vols.(London,1934)
Reg.Bubwith The Register of Nicholas Bubwith,Bishop of Bath and
Wells,1407–1424,ed.T.S.Holmes,2vols.(London,1914)
Reg.Chichele The Register of Henry Chichele,Archbishop of Canterbury
1414–1443,ed.E.F.Jacob,4 vols.(Oxford,1937–47)
Reg.Lacy The Register of Edmund Lacy,Bishop of Exeter,1420–1455,
ed.G.R.Dunstan,5 vols.(Torquay,1963–1972)
Reg.Langley The Register of Thomas Langley,1406–1437,ed.R.L.
Storey,6 vols.(Durham and London,1949–1970)
Reg.Langton The Register of Thomas Langton,Bishop of Salisbury,
1485–93,ed.D.P.Wright (York,1985)
Reg.Mascall The Register of Robert Mascall,Bishop of Hereford
1404–1416,ed.J.H.Parry (Hereford,1916)
Reg.Repingdon The Register of Bishop Philip Repingdon,1405–1419,ed.
M.Archer,3 vols.(Hereford,1963–1982)
Reg.Spofford Registrum Thome Spofford,Episcopi Herefordensis
1422–1448,ed.A.T.Bannister (London,1919)
Reg.Stafford The Register of John Stafford,Bishop of Bath and Wells,
1425–1443,ed.T.S.Holmes,2 vols.(London,1915–1916)
viii