constitutional thought
The Conciliar movement of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the Roman Catholic Church was an attempt to establish that the final authority in spiritual matters resided in general (or ecumenical) councils rather than the pope. Emerging in response to a particular crisis when the Roman papacy was forced to move to Avignon in 1305 (where it remained until 1377), the movement also gained impetus with the need to reform abuse and reconcile the claims of contending popes. [Source: Encyclopedia of Political Theory; Conciliarism]
medieval political thought
conciliarism
concepts