This holy Council of Constance . . .declares, first that it is lawfully
assembled in the Holy Spirit, that it constitutes a General Council,
representing the Catholic Church, and that therefore it has its authority immediately
from Christ; and that all men, of every rank and condition, including the Pope himself,
is bound to obey it in matters concerning the faith, the abolition of the
schism, and the reformation of the Church of God in its head and its members. Secondly
it declares that any one, of any rank and condition, who shall contumaciously
refuse to obey the orders, decrees, statues, or instructions, made or to be made
by this holy Council, or by any other lawfully assembled general council . . .
shall, unless he comes to a right frame of mind, be subjected to fitting
penance and punished appropriately: and, if need be, recourse shall be had to
the other sanctions of the law. (Documents of the Christian Church, ed.
Henry Bettenson [2d ed.; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963], 135)
