violated nuns and other virgins, and was guilty of sodomy. It was also charged that he had called the future life in question.
Gradually the opinion gained ground that, in order to bring about the reunion of the church, it was not only necessary to set aside Gregory XII and Benedict, but also to get rid of John, whose signature had convened the council. A tract, written by an Italian and freely circulated in Constance, teemed with charges, making John out a monster. Sigismund could not resist the storm and, to avoid a worse fate, John agreed to resign. The formal announcement of his decision was made on March 2, 1415, the condition being that both his pretended rivals of the Roman and Avignon lines be gotten out of the way. His proposal was made to give peace to the church.[1] During the announcement, John remained in a kneeling posture at the altar, apparently in deep devotion, and Sigismund, overjoyed at the rare spectacle of self-renunciation, removed his crown and bent low, kissing the pope’s feet. Five days later, John confirmed his announcement in a bull which ran: “I, John, Pope XXIII, for the peace of Christendom, profess, pronounce, agree, swear and vow to God and the church and to the sacred council, of my own will and freely to resign for the purpose of giving peace to Christ’s church by the way of my unconditional cession when and provided Peter de Luna, styled Benedict XIII, and Angelo Correr, styled Gregory XII, and their obediences, either in person or by their representatives, renounce the papal office to which they falsely lay claim.”
Twice before in the history of the church had popes abdicated, once at the synod of Sutri, 1046, and again in 1294, when Cœlestin V, the hermit of Murrhone, after a reign of less than six months, laid down his office, giving as the reasons his
- ↑ See Schaff, Church Hist., with the authorities, vol. V, 1: 154. Richental is particularly full in the details of the happenings in Constance at the time of John’s flight.
