Gnade (Freiburg, 1881). Funk in Theolog. Quartalschrift, LXX;
Ramsay in The Expositor. 1896; Egar in American Church
Review. 1878–79: The North American Review, XC, 356; Chase
in Christian Review, XXIII, XXIV.
Joseph McSorley
Basin, Ecclesiastical Use of.—Basins were extensively used in the Jewish Ritual and were in early use in Christian churches for ablutions and to receive lamp-drippings etc. The Missal prescribes its use at the "Lavabo" of the Mass fRit. Cel. vii, 10); the "Cæremoniale Episcoporum " provides a basin for bearing the cruets (Lib. I, xi, 10) and for the preparatory ablutions of bishops (ibid., 12). They are ordinarily of ornamented metal.
Catalani. Cæremonial Episcoporum comment. (Paris, 1860), I, 225-229; Van der Stappen, Sacra Liturgia (Mechlin, 1902), III, 111–112; Walcott, Sacred Archeology (London, 1868), <i2-63; Kennedy in Hast., Diet, of Bible, s. v.
John B. Peterson.
Basle, Augustine Francis. See Mysore, Dio- cese OF.
Basle, Council of, convoked by Pope Martin V in 1431, closed at Lausanne in 1449. The position of the pope as the common Father of the Christian world had been seriously compromised by the transfer of the papal court to Avignon, and by the subsequent identification of the interests of the Church with those of a particular race. Men began to regard the papacy more as a national than a universal institution, and their feeling of religious loyalty was often nearly balanced bj- the promptings of national jealousy. Nor was the papacy likely to be strengthened by the events of the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), when rival claimants were seen contending for the throne of St. Peter and for the allegiance of the Christian nations. Such a spectacle was well calculated to shake men's belief in the monarchical form of government and to drive them to seek elsewhere a remedy for the evils which then afflicted the Church. It was not strange that the advocates of a general council as the final arbitrator, the ultimate court of appeal to which all, even the pope, must yield, should have secured a ready attention. The success of the Council of Constance (1414–18) in securing the withdrawal or deposition of the three rival popes had supplied a strong argument in favour of the conciliar theory. It is clear both from the speeches of some of the Fathers of Constance as well as from its decrees that such a feeling was rapidl.y gaining ground, and that many jieople had come to regard the government of the Church by general councils, convoked at regular intervals, as the one most in harmony with the needs of the time. As a result, in the 39th session iif the Council of Constance (9 October, 1417) we find it decreed: that general councils shoukl be lield frequently; that the next should be convoked within li\'e years; the following seven years later, and after I his, a council should be held ever}' ten years; that I he place of convocation should be determined by the council itself, and could not be changed even by ihe pope unless in case of war or pestilence, and then only with the consent of at least two-thirds of the cardinals. It was in accordance with this decree tliat Martin V convoked the Council of Basle, and it is only by understanding the feeling underlying this decree that we can grasp the significance of the dispute waged between Eugene IV and the council. Which was to govern the Church? Was it to be the pope or the council? That was the issue really at staKe.
Whether Basle is to be regarded as a general council, and if so, in what sense, has been often warmly discussed. The extreme Galileans (e. g. lOdmund Richer, Hist. Concil. Gen., Ill, vii) contend that it should be reckoned as oecumenical from its beginning (1431) till its end in Lausanne (1449); wliile the moderate writers of the Galilean school
(e. g. Nat. Alexander, IX, pp. 43.3-599) admit thai
after the appearance of the Bull of Eugene I\
(18 September, 1437) transferring the council to
Ferrara, the proceedings at Basle can be regarded
only as the work of a schismatical conventicle.
On the other hand, writers like Bellarmine (Dc
Concil., I, vii), Roncaglia, and Holstein absolutely
refuse to number Basle among the general councils
of the Church on account of the small number of
bishops in attendance at the beginning, and the
subsequent rebellious attitude in face of the papal
decrees of dissolution. The true opinion seems to
be that put forward by Hefele (Conciliengesch.,
2d ed., I, 63-99) that the assembly at Basle may
be regarded as oecumenical from the beginning
until the Bull "Doctoris Cientium" (IS September,
1437) transferred its sessions to Ferrara, and that
the decrees passed during that period regarding
the extirpation of heresy, the establishment of
peace among Christian nations, and the reform of
the Church, if they are not prejudicial to the Apos-
tolic See, may be considered as the decrees of a
general council. In accordance with the above-
mentioned decree of Constance, the Cotmcil of
Pavia had been convoked by Martin V (1423), and
on the appearance of the plague in that city its
sessions were transferred to Sienna, ^'e^y little
was done except to determine the place where the
next council should be held. An Italian city was
looked upon with disfavour, as likely to be too
friendly to the papacy; the French bishops and the
Paris LTniversity were anxious that some place in
France should be selected; but finally, owing mainly
to the representations of Emperor Sigismund,
Basle w-as agreed upon by all, and this choice having
been made, the council was dissolved (7 March,
1424). As the time approached for the assembling
of the council Martin V was urged from all sides
to place no obstacle in the way, and though knowing
the tendency at the time, and "fearing that the council
would lead to revolution rather than reform, he
finally gave his consent and appointed Cardinal
Giuliano Cfesarini as president (1 Februarj', 1431).
The principal purpose of the council w'as to be
the reformation of the Church in its "head and
members", the settlement of the Hussite wars, the
establishment of peace among the nations of Europe,
and finally the reunion of the Western and Easterc
Churches. The ilemands of the Roman Curia-
its constant interference in the bestowal of bene-
fices, the right of appeal on all matters to the preju-
dice of the local authorities, the financial burdens
involved in such institutions as annates, expectancies,
and reservations, not to speak of the direct papal
taxation, only too common since the thirteenth
ccntun,'. had given just grounds for complaint to
the clergj^ and secular powers of the different nations.
These papal ta.xes and encroachments on the rights
of the local authorities, both ecclesiastical and civil,
had long been bitterly resented, especially in Eng-
land and Germany, and it was because a remedy
for these abuses was hoped for only from a general
council that people regarded sympathetically the
assembly at Basle, even at times when they did
not agree with its methods. In addition to these,
the question of simony, of concubinage among the
clergj', of reorganization of diocesan and provincial
sjTiods, of the abuse of censures, especially of inter-
dict, called for some reform in the discipline of the
Church. But besides these disciphnarj- matters
the teaching of WycUf and Hus had found sympa-
thetic supporters in England and Bohemia, and
notW'ithstanding the condemnation at Constance
the Hussites were still a powerful party in the
latter country. Though the death of their leader
Ziska (1424) had proved a serious loss, the different
sections still continued the struggle, and Emperor
