subversive of law and order in an imperfect world, both in the secular and the ecclesiastical spheres. Yet the principal element of danger in Husitism was the simple fact of its success. So serious was this that when the remarkable attempt was made to heal the wounds of Christendom by means of General Councils, the fathers aimed at dealing with the problem of heresy together with those of the restoration of the unity, which had been broken by the Schism, and the reform of clerical abuses. The Conciliar movement—a serious and important attempt to reform the Church from within—was brought about by the labours of certain moderate reformers, of whom Gerson, Peter D’Ailly and Zabarella are the most notable. Dietrich Niem represents a German influence; but the main source of inspiration was the University of Paris, firmly orthodox and nominalist and immensely influential. In 1394 the University invited its members to send in opinions as to the best means of ending the Schism. Thousands of answers were received; but the most outstanding members of the University were convinced that the summoning of a General Council was the only expedient that gave any hope of success. The ideas of Marsiglio and Ockham—more especially the latter—had borne fruit, and an age in which the idea of representation was ‘in the air’ decided to apply the principle to the Church for the urgent practical purpose of removing a notorious scandal. The _apologia_ for the scheme is to be found in the writings of Gerson and D’Ailly, and of Niem, if Niem is indeed the author of the tractate, ‘De modis uniendi et reformandi Ecclesiam.’[173] The _plenitudo potestatis_ of the Church resided in its whole body, as represented in a General Council.[174] With the assent of such a council, the Church could even dispense with a pope.[175] It was legitimate for the civil authority to summon a General Council. It was easy to cite the practice of Roman Emperors to that effect.[176] Christ, urged representatives of the University of Paris to the French king, had submitted to the authority of His mother and Joseph. Was the Pope greater than Christ that he should not submit to the authority of his mother, the Church?[177] The proposition, so worded, seemed mildly reasonable, certainly most orthodox. In truth it was a democratic innovation of the utmost significance. ‘Pisa,’ wrote Gregorovius, referring to the first of the series of councils which provide the chief interest of the opening years of the fifteenth century, ‘was the first real step towards the deliverance of the world from the papal hierarchy; it was already the Reformation’; while the decree of the second and most important of the councils, that of Constance, in which it declared its superiority to the Pope, has been pronounced to be ‘probably the most revolutionary official document in the history of the world.’[178] When brought up against the glaring abuse of the papal schism it was not only Wycliffe and Hus and their