COUNCIL. 



487 



COUNCIL ; an assembly by way of eminence, an 

 assembly of the church, called also synod. Provin- 

 cial councils were held as early as the second cen- 

 tury, that is, synods consisting of the prelates of a 

 single province. The assembled bishops and elders 

 deliberated on doctrines, rites, and church discipline, 

 and promised to execute the resolutions of the synod 

 in their churches. These assemblies were usually 

 held in the capitals of the provinces (metropolis), the 

 bishops of which, who, in the third century, received 

 the title of metropolitans, usually presided over their 

 deliberations. The councils had no other legislative 

 authority than that which rested on the mutual agree- 

 ment of the members. After Christianity had become 

 the established religion of the Roman empire, in the 

 beginning of the fourth century, the emperor sum- 

 moned councils, which were called (ecumenical, that 

 is, universal councils, because all the bishops of the 

 empire were invited to them. Among these, the 

 most remarkable are, 1. the council of Nice, in 325, 

 by which the dogma respecting the Son of God was 

 settled ; 2. that of Constantinople, 381, by which 

 the doctrine concerning the Holy Ghost was decid- 

 ed ; 3. that of Ephesus, 431 ; and, 4. that of Chal- 

 cedon, 451 ; in which two last, the doctrine of the 

 union of the divine and human nature in Christ was 

 more precisely determined. In the fourth century, 

 the opinion arose, that the councils were under the 

 particular direction of the Holy Ghost; hence the 

 great authority which their resolutions obtained. 

 Like the Roman emperors, the German kings exer- 

 cised, at first, the right of assembling syiiods ; in 

 particular, Charlemagne, during whose reign the 

 clergy of the Prankish empire held a council at 

 Frankfort on the Maine, in 749, which condemned 

 the worship of images introduced among the Greeks. 

 In the middle ages, the popes maintained the right 

 of summoning councils, which, however, cannot be 

 considered as general councils, since the Western 

 church was separated from the Greek. The princi- 

 pal of these Latin Councils are that of Clermont 

 (109(5), in the reign of Urban II., in which the first 

 crusade was resolved upon, and some later ones in 

 which a reunion with the Greeks was attempted. In 

 consequence of the great schism towards the end of 

 the fourteenth century, which gave rise to, at first 

 two, and afterwards three, candidates for the papal 

 throne, the council of Pisa was convened, in 1409, 

 which declared that the popes were subordinate to 

 the general council, and condemned the schismatic 

 candidates. After the dissolution of the council of 

 Pisa, without having terminated the schism, the 

 council of Constance was held in 1414, the most so- 

 lemn and numerous of all the councils, which reviv- 

 ed the principle, that a general council is superior to 

 the pope, adjusted the schism, and pronounced the 

 condemnation of John Huss (1415), and of his friend 

 Jerome of Prague (1416). The council of Bale, 

 in 1431, asserted the same principle, and intend- 

 ed a reformation, if not in the doctrines, yet in 

 the constitution and discipline of the church. 

 At the time of the reformation, the Protestants 

 repeatedly demanded such a council ; even the em- 

 peror, and the states which had remained faithful 

 to the old doctrine, thought it the best means for re- 

 storing peace to the church. But the popes, recol- 

 lecting the decisions at Pisa, Constance, and Bale, so 

 disadvantageous to their authority, constantly endea- 

 voured to evade it. At length the pope could no 

 longer resist the importunities of the emperor and 

 the states. He summoned a council at Trent, which 

 began its session in 1545, and laboured chiefly to 

 confirm the doctrines of the Catholic church against 

 Hie Protestants. Since the council of Trent, there 

 has been no council, in which all the Catholic states 



of the West have been represented ; but there hav 

 been several national councils, particularly in France. 



The Lutherans have never settled their church 

 concerns by councils ; but in the Calvinistic churches, 

 many particular synods have been held, among 

 which, that of Dort (1618), which confirmed the pe- 

 culiar opinions of Calvin on election, in opposition to 

 the Arminians, is distinguished. The Protestant 

 councils could never have the same authority as the 

 Catholic in matters of doctrine, for the Protestants 

 do not consider their clergy as constituting the 

 church: moreover, in the Protestant countries or 

 Europe, each monarch has assumed the station ot 

 head of the church of his country. The chief 

 questions in regard to councils are. 1. What is 

 their authority in matters of doctrine and discipline ? 

 2. What is necessary to give them the character of 

 oecumenical or general councils, and to which of 

 those that have been held should this name be confin- 

 ed? 3. Who has the right to convoke councils, to 

 preside over them, to be a member of them ? 

 4. Whether their decrees are authoritative per se, or 

 whether they require to be confirmed by some other 

 power, as the pope, for instance ? All these points 

 are of vital interest to the Catholic church, and have 

 occasioned violent contests. They involve too many 

 considerations to be treated here, and we must re- 

 fer the reader to Catholic works on this point. 

 Among others, the Dictionnaire tie T/ieologie, par 

 Bergier, extrait de f 'Encyclopedic Methodique, Tou- 

 louse, 1817, contains a full article Concile. 



COUNCIL AULIC. See^ulic Council. 



COUNCIL OF STATE, in modern politics; a 

 term of very vague meaning. In general, it means a 

 council intended to assist the sovereign, and compos- 

 ed of members, whose chief business it is to discuss, 

 advise, legislate, or decide ; it being the duty of the 

 ministers to execute. Buillard's Histoire du Conseil 

 d'Etat (Paris, 1718, 4to), and Guyot's Traite des 

 Droits des Dignites, et Offices du Royaume (Paris, 

 1787), show the indefinite, vacillating and arbitrary 

 character of the powers of the conseil d'etat, in 

 France, before the revolution. It judged cases of 

 maritime prizes, often decided in civil and criminal 

 processes, determined the authority of the papal bulls, 

 &c. The abolition of such a body was an act of wis- 

 dom hi the constituent assembly. It was succeeded 

 by the court of cassation (q. v.), which is not only 

 the court of ultimate appeal, but also defines the jur- 

 isdiction of different tribunals in case of conflict. The 

 constitution of the year III. established a council 

 of state, under the direction of the consuls, pour 

 rediger les projets de loi et de reglentents, et pour re- 

 soudre les difficultes en matierc administrative. These 

 extensive and vague powers of the council contained 

 the seeds of mischief, particularly as that body was 

 under the direction of the consuls In 1802, the 

 counsel d'etat was constituted j'uge des appels comme 

 d'abtts ; and this abuse still continues. The powers 

 of the council were still further enlarged by senatus- 

 consultes, and even by imperial decrees : thus it was 

 empowered to annul the decisions of the cour des 

 comptes, and still retains this dangerous authority. 

 Under the Bourbons, the conseil d'etat has been in- 

 trusted with powers of indefinite extent, and of all 

 kinds, which are by no means vested in the execu- 

 tive, by the charte. Besides this, the members are 

 appointed and removed at the will of the king. 

 This council has, says Cormenin (Questions de Droit 

 Administratif, p. 5), une juridiction tellenutnt eten- 

 due, qu'on ne trouve rien de semblable ni en France 

 dans les temps anterieurs u la revolution, ni dans lea 

 autres pays de r Europe, telle enfin, yuelle se mele d 

 presque tous nos interets, yu'elle affecte presoue toutes 

 nos proprietes , qiCelle touchea presquc toutes nos per* 



