''Frequens'' (''Frequent'') is the name for the decree passed at the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance was a 15th-century ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance in present-day Germany. The council ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the res ...

on October 9, 1417; it was supposed to ensure that the Pope convened councils regularly. With this decree, the council participants determined that church meetings should be held "forever". It was stipulated that five years after the Council of Constance another one and the second after seven years would have to take place. From then on, further councils must take place at least every ten years. In fact, the Council of Pavia followed in 1423 and the Council of Basel began in 1431. The Pope should also announce the date for the next meeting at the end of a council. This continuity was also intended to reinforce the "supremacy" of the decisions of the council over the pope called for in the decree '' Haec sancta'' of the Council of Constance, because only regular councils could control the office of the pope. However, only five councils have taken place since the edict was issued.

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* {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065055/http://ahc.usc.urbe.it/lexikon/Hinweise.LexKon.html, date=4 March 2016, title=Konstanz. Allgemeines Konzil. 5.11.1414 - 22.4.1418., in: Walter Brandmüller: ''Lexikon der Konzilien.'' *

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

Paul Halsall: ''Medieval Sourcebook: Council of Constance: Frequens, 1417''
15th-century Christianity 1417 in Europe History of the Catholic Church 1417 works Western Schism

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