The Public Meeting Theory Of The Late Middle Ages

In the medieval western history, catholic Church had the important position. The history of11th to13th was the floruit of the Christian Church. In this period, the society of Western Europe, dominated by the papacy, was a relative stable Christian Kingdom. In the history of14th to15th, after The Avigion Captivity, the Church suffered the Great Schism, which made the role of catholic Church a disastrous decline in the hearts of the believers, and attacked the absolute authority of the pontiff which never had. In order to deal with the Great Schism and remodel the authority of the western church, in the history of15th three councils held with the guidance of the conciliar theory. Finally, in the council of Constance, the church ended the Schism and united. The conciliar theory had new developments after the Great Schism, which consisted of limiting the power of the pope, the council represented the whole Christian had supreme power in the Church. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the council never will err in the things of faith, but maybe the pope will become the heresy. The supreme pontiff can be deposed by a council for heresy, or for any notorious crime scandalizing the Church. Although the conciliar movement with the aim of establishing constitutional papacy failed, the theory had a great influence on the Reformation in the history of16th, as well as the development of the modern political thought. It was also the crucial theory in the history of the political thought.