The Concordat of Vienna was a treaty concluded on 17 February 1448 between the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

Background

In the Princes' Concordat, concluded in January 1447 between

Pope Eugenius IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

and the prince-electors of the

, Eugenius agreed to restore the archbishop-electors of Trier and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, whom he had deposed for supporting the

Council of Basel The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...

and the antipope it elected,

Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was a claimant to the papac ...

. In exchange, the princes recognized Eugenius as the legitimate Pope.

The treaty

The Concordat of Vienna was signed by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and the papal legate Cardinal Juan Carvajal on 17 February 1448.

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...

confirmed the treaty on 19 March. It provided that the initial selection of bishops was to take place without papal interference, but the pope continued to exercise the right to confirm such selections and to replace bishops he deemed unworthy, terms, writes one historian, "manifestly ... in the Pope's favor". Another writes: "It represented the complete victory of the ''curia'' over the reform party ..., more favourable to the Papacy than the similar Concordat of 1418" and "gave the Pope more control over the Church in Germany than in any other country". It governed relations between the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy See until the dissolution of the Empire on 6 August 1806.

References

{{treaty-stub 1440s treaties 1448 in the Holy Roman Empire

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

15th-century Christianity Documents of Pope Nicholas V Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor