photo #8187055

#OnThisDay April 22, 1418: The Council of Constance concludes, officially ending the Great Western Schism, a nearly 40-year crisis during which three rival claimants vied for the papacy. The council deposed or accepted the resignation of all three and elected Martin V, restoring unity to the Western Church—though Martin would later reject the idea that a council could depose a pope. While hailed for resolving the schism, the council is also remembered for its darker legacy: the condemnation and execution of Jan Hus, a Bohemian preacher and early reformer. Because Hus’s teachings were rooted in the work of John Wycliffe, the council also ordered Wycliffe’s long-dead remains exhumed, burned, and scattered in the Swift River.