ABSTRACT
In recent years there has been a considerable amount of new study of mediaeval political thought, and more particularly of the intellectual basis of the conciliar movement and its connexion with older traditions of canonist teaching. Certainly there were many places in the work where supporters of papal absolutism would find Roselli’s views congenial. There is much of the work which is of little concern to the student of conciliarism. It is clear, however, that Roselli distinguished between upholding the rights of the Papacy as an institution and defending the men who occupied the supreme position in the Church, whose characters he was prepared to criticise. The question of how the council was to be summoned involved considerable discussion, and it was indeed one of the key issues. There is little doubt that in the struggles between Eugenius IV and the Council of Basel papalist doctrine hardened, and that the violent actions of council antagonised much moderate feeling in Christendom.
