The Reforms of the Council of Constance (1414-1418): 53 (Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 53) - Hardcover

'Diese Edition wird massgeblich bleiben... Das Buch wird kunftig zuverlassige Basis fur jede weitere Bemuhung um die Konstanzer Reformen sein.' Jurgen Miethke, Deutsches Archiv fur Erforschung des Mittelalters, 1994. '...une oeuvre brillante d'excellente valeur.' J. Goni Gaztambide, Revue d'Histoire Ecclesiastique, 1994. 'The book represents a major contribution to the history of conciliarism...[an] excellent book.' William V. Hudon, Church History, 1994. 'The reforms of the Council of Constance have long needed a major reevaluation and this book meets that need...' Thomas E. Morrissey, American Historical Review, 1995. 'This book is a useful supplement to the classic nineteenth- and twentieth-century studies of the Council of Constance...The author's critical edition of the records of the first and second reform comittees...ensures its use by scholars for at least a generation.' Robert J. Bast, Sixteenth Century Journal, 1995. 'This study of the objectives and process of reform at the Council of Constance is an extremely valuable contribution to the history of that assembly... The enduring value of this work lies in the long appendix of documents from which Stump reconstructs the activity of the first and second reform committees at Constance.' C.M.D. Crowder, Journal of Ecclesiastical History '...accomplished, even indispensable, book...' Robert Ombres.

The first comprehensive study of the Constance reforms since 1867, this volume offers new explanations for the frequently alleged failures of the reforms, while arguing that the successes were much greater than historians have generally acknowledged. The author analyses the specific reforms in light of the conflicting interests of reformers; then he probes the conceptual basis of the reforms employing methodology developed by Gerhart Ladner. An appendix offers a new edition of the central source for the deliberations - the records of the Constance reform committee - using three newly identified manuscripts. The Constance reformers gathered a rich harvest of late medieval institutional reform thought and imagery. Under the central motto of "reform in head and members," they put long-standing conciliar theories into practice, forging a pragmatic synthesis of hierarchy and collegiality.