Synod in Rome. April 1412.

The continuation of the Council had been appointed to take place at Pisa within three years ; the unbounded corruption of the Church, whose dogmatic unity was threatened by the heresies of Wycliffe, which were constantly gaining ground, demanded a drastic reform, and this reform could only be accomplished by an Œcumenical Council. During the first year of his pontificate, John XXIII. had occupied himself solely with his secular affairs. True, he had summoned a Council in Rome for April 1412, but this Synod, to his own satisfaction, had been so thinly attended that it could hardly be reckoned an assembly of the Church. Nothing better illustrates the view held by contemporaries of the criminal character of the man than the account of an amusing incident that occurred during this Synod. While John was celebrating vespers in the chapel of the Vatican and the Veni Creator Spiritus was being sung, instead of the Holy Ghost a shaggy screech-owl appeared, that glared at the Pope with fiery eyes. It returned at a second sitting, when the dismayed or amused cardinals killed it with sticks. Several historians have mentioned the incident.

The Concil is announced, March 3, 1413.

John was incessantly urged to summon a Council. Envoys of the University of Paris even came to Rome to use their persuasions. Among the kings who reminded him of his duty none was more zealous than Sigismund, who determined to restore the ties between the empire and Italy which had been interrupted so long.