BASEL

or Basle (Fr. BMe), one of the largest cities of Switzerland, and capital of canton Basel City, 43 miles N. of Bern. It consists of two parts, pleasantly situated on opposite sides of the Rhine, and communicating by a long w^ooden bridge; walled, and though irregular, tolerably well built; and has an ancient cathedral, conspicuous both its elevated site and lofty towers, and justly regarded as one of the finest ecclesiastical edifices in Switzerland. Basel was formerly a free imperial city, joined the Swi Confederacy in 1501. Buxtorf, Wctstcin, Hermann, the Be mou ill is, and Euler bom in Basel. Enwmus also lived there several years, and lies buried in the cathedral. Among institutions of tlie city ore the university, founded in 1459; various collections of paintings, a seminary for mi.s8ionarics, and a Cilerman Bible society, which prints stereotype Bibles, and distributes several hundred copies of every edition to tlio poor. 1849 a large museum won completed, which contains the university library (now cons i«tin«j of* about 80,000 vols., with 4000 manuscripts), and all collections belonging to the town. At one it was % remarkable peculiarity of Basel, that clocks were an hour in advance of those of other been places; and the streets of the city were not lighted to until March, 1826. The manufactures are extensive, on consisting principally of ribbons, and more partially at of other silk goods, cotton prints, linen, gloves, leather, jewelry, and turnery wore. The advantsome ageous position of Basel on the Rhine, a little below the point where it becomes navigable, and at the terminus of the French and German railways, has made it the emporium of a most important trade. Pop. in 1870, 44,834. concol- BASEL, Council op. This council was an the nounced at the Council of Con stance, and convoked also by Pope Martin V., and his succe or Eugenius IV. Na- It commenced its sittings Dec. 14, 1431, under the presidency of the cardinal legate Juliano Cesarini they of St. Angelo. The objects of its deliberations were to extirpate heresies (that of the Hu ites in parwhen ticuhur), to unite all Christian nations under the spirit Catholic church, to put a stop to wars between that Christian piincra, and to reform the church. But in its first steps towards a peaceable reconciliation T^'ith of the Hu ites, against whom Juliano had unsucce fully published a crusade, were displeasing to the decipope, w^ho authorized the cardinal legate to dish is solve the council. That body opposed the pretenis sions of the pope, with severe animadversions ()n hia — deceitful conduct, and his neglect of the welfare of char the church, and, notwithstanding his repeated orders to remove to Italy, continued its deliberations under away the protection of the emperor Sigismund, of the German princes, and of France. In order to secure imitself against the attacks of Eugenius IV., it re-enas acted the decrees of the Council of Con stance concerning the power of a general council (in matters of by faith, of schism, and of reformation), to command most the pope, as well as all Christen dom, and to punish the disobedience of the clergy, and even of the pope, by virtue of its judicial character as the representative of the Universal Church. It likewise pro- 1790. nounced all the doings and remonstrances of the pope against its proceedings of no force, and began a formal proce against him, after he had i ued a are to bull for its di olution; aj)pointed him, term after the term, to appear before its tribunal, and exercised as purmuch as po ible the papal prerogatives in France and Germany. Meanwhile it concluded, in the some name of the church, a peace with the Hu ites on (whose deputies appeared, Jan. 6, 1433, with 300 horse, in Basel, by which the use of the cup in the communion was granted to them. This peace was ratified, Nov. 20, 1433, by the Calix tines, the most powerful and finally prevailing party of the Hu ites. The council deviated on this jK)int, indeed, from tho decrees of the Council of Con stance, but was obligetl 80 to do, in order to a ist its most faithful pmtector, is the emperor Siginmund, to tho acquisition of by Bohemia by this compromise with the Hu ites, who were not to lie subdued by force. The emperor, in return, effectctl the reconciliation of the council with but Eugenius IV., who, urged by an insurrection in the papal territory, and by the fear of losing all authority were in Germany and France, solemnly confiruie teil the at the sixteenth se ion (Feb. 5, 1434). Prtmd of this victtiry over the pope, it attemj>te wn, of its In pro i)er jwint — the reformation of tho i hiirch. Towards tho limitation of the power of tlie fxi]>e, in accordance with tho ancient constitution of tho dnirch, the it had already made an irajwrtaiit step by depriving time him of the disposal of tho prebends of cathoilral and the collegiate churches, which had been obtained by his pre dec e on; by restoring to the cliapten the free election of their officers, and by obliging the pope to confirm them gratuitously. It proceeded to the reformation of the clergy, by ordaining that the dei'gymen who maintained concubines, and the prelates who received money for penn it ting it, should be punished; that the excommunicated should not incur the penalties of their sentence before its publication that; interdicts should never be granted at the request of single individuals; and that repeated appeals should not be allowed, on account of their complaints (twentieth se ion, Jan. 22, 1435); that the annates J the sums paid for ihe pallia, , diould be regarded as simoniacal, and should not, under any pretext, be demanded or paid in future; that the divine service, the ma , and the canonical hours should be regularly observed by the clergy of each cla ; that disturbances of pubHc worship should be prevented by a good ecclesiastical police; that the Feast of Fools, and all irreverent celebrations customary in the church about Christmas, should be abolished (twenty -first se ion, June 9, 1435). In the twenty-third se ion (March 25, 1436) the form of election, the confe ion of faith, and the official oath of each pope, by which he bound himself to obey the decrees of the council, and the annual repetition of the same, were provided for; all preferment of the relations of a pope was forbidden, and the College of Cardinals was limited to twenty-four prelates and doctors of all nations, who should be elected by the free votes of the college, should be entitled to half of the revenues of the States of the Church, should watch over the pope, and always sign his bulls. They granted him only the right to dispose of the prebends belonging to the diocese of Home, and abolished the investiture of church preferments in reversion. In the twenty -sixth se ion it again summoned him to appear, on account of his disobedience of its decrees, declared him guilty of contumacy, and, after Eugenius had opened his counter-synod at FerrariC, decreed his suspension from the papal chair, in the thirty -first se ion (Jan. 24, 1438). In the same se ion it forbade appeal to Home, without resort to the intermediate jurisdictions, left to the papal disposition but one out of ten, and two out of fifty prebends of a church, and destined the third part of all canonries which might become vacant to men who had taken regular degrees. The removal of Eugenius, however, seemed, on account of the strength of his party, so imphkcticable, that some prelates, who till then had been the boldest and most influential spellers in the council (for example, the cardinal legate Juliano, and the great canon Nicol a us of Cusa, Archdeacon of Li^ge, with the most of the Italians), left Basel, and went over to the party of Eugenius. The Archbishop of Aries, Cardinal Louis AUemand, a man of superior spirit, courage, and eloquence, was now made first president of the council, and directed its proceedings with much vigour. Although its number was dimmished, its most powerful protector, the emperor Sigismund, deceased, and its authority doubted by several princes and nations, on account of its open rupture with the pope; yet, in the thirty-third se ion (May 16, 1439), after violent debates, in which the Archbishop of Palermo, Nic. Tudeschi (known, under the name of Panormitanua, as the greatest canon of his time), who was the delegate of the King of Arragon and Sicily, took the part of the pope, — it declared Eugenius, on account of his obstinate disobedience of its decrees, a heretic, and formally deposed him, in the following se ion, as guilty of simony, perjury, violation of the laws of the church, and bad administration in his office. At this se ion (the thirty-fourth, June 25, 1439), only two of the Spanish and Italian members were present; but the president adopted a spirited and effectual method for obtaining tlie decree. He ordered the holy relics which existed in Basel, to be placed in the seats of the absent bishops, and produced such a strong excitement in the council, which still consisted of 400, for the most part French and Crennan prelates, priests, and doctors, that it unanimously consented to the deposition of Eugenius. Notwithstanding the plague, then raging in Basel, which continually diminished its number, it proceeded, in a regular conclave (Nov. 17 of the same year), to elect the duke Amadous of Savoy to the papal chair. This prince then lived in retirement at Bipaglia, on the LiEkke of Greneva, and seemed particularly qualified for the office, on account of his piety, his riches, and his connections. Felix V. — this was the name he adopted — ^was acknowledged by only a few princes, cities, and universities. The diief powers, France and Germany, a ented to the decrees of the council for the reformation of the church, but they chose to remain neutral in the contest with Eugenius. Meanwhile he acquired new credit by the union concluded with the Greek deputies at Florence (but afterwards rejected by the Greek church) and the friendship of the emperor Frederic III. The council, on the other hand, denounced by Eugenius, and deserted by its protectors, gradually declined under its feeble pope, and, consulting only appearances and the personal safety of its members, held its forty-fifth and last se ion. May 16, 1443, after an inaction of three years, interrupted only by a few insignificant decrees. At tMs se ion the place of meeting was changed to Lausanne. Here some prelates remained together under the cardinal Louis AUemand, until 1449, when, after the death of Eugenius and the resignation of Felix v., they gladly accepted the amnesty offered by the new pope, Nicholas V., and pronounced the council closed. The decrees of the Council of Basel are admitted into none of the Boman collections, and are considered of no authority by the Eoman lawyers. They are regarded, however, as of authority in points of canon law, in France and Germany, as their regulations for the reformation of the church have been adopted in the pragmatic sanctions of both countries, and, as far as they regard clerical discipline, have been actually enforced. Some later concordats have modified the application of them, but never formally and entirely annulled them. (See Germaitt and France.) No general Cvouncil has ever i ued more just and suitable decrees for the reformation of the papal government, and of clerical discipline; none has done more to restore the authority of the bishops, which the imperious pretensions of the popes had almost annihilated, and, consequently, tiie ancient apostolical constitution of the church; but the canonists, who almost entirely conducted it, could not disengage themselves from the idea of the universality of t£e episcopal character of the pope; and, proceeding on these premises, their strongest measures for restricting his power were incomplete, and all their attempts at reformation consequently usele . If this council had accomplished its chief object — the conversion of the papal monarchy into a hierarchical aristocracy — many sources of complaint against the papal despotism would indeed have been removed; but the reformation of Luther, in the sixteenth century, would not have been prevented. 84