ud for
settlement in some way; and besides this there were general complaints
as to the need of reform in the Church. The emperor Sigismund urged Pope
John to call a general council for the consideration of these subjects;
and, although John hated the notion of such a meeting, he could not help
consenting. He wished that the council should be held in Italy, as he
might hope to manage it more easily there than in any country north of
the Alps; and he was very angry when Constance, a town on a large lake
in Switzerland, was chosen as the place. It seemed like a token of bad
luck when, as he was passing over a mountain on his way to the council,
his carriage was upset, and he lay for a while in the snow, using bad
words as to his folly in undertaking the journey; and when he came in
sight of Constance at the foot of the hill, he said that it looked like
a trap for foxes. In that trap Pope John was caught.

The other popes, Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII., did not attend,
although both had been invited; but some time after the opening of the
council (which was on the 5th of November, 1414), the emperor Sigismund
arrived. He reached Constance in a boat which had brought him across the
lake very early on Christmas morning, and at the first service of the
festival, which was held before daybreak, he read the Gospel which tells
of the decree of Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. For
it was considered that the emperor was entitled to take this part in the
Christmas service of the Church.

It was proposed that all the three popes should resign, and that a new
pope should be chosen. In answer to this, John said that he was ready to
resign if the others would do the same; but it soon became clear that he
did not mean to keep his promise honestly. He tried by all manner of
tricks to ward off the dangers which surrounded him; and, after he had
more than once tried in vain to get away from Constance, he was able to
escape one day when the members of the council were amusing themselves
at a tournament given by a prince whom John had persuaded to take off
their attention in this way. The council, however, in his absence went
on to examine the charges against him, many of which were so shocking
that they were kept secret, out of regard for his office. John, by
letters and messengers, asked for delay, and did all that he could for
that purpose; but, notwithstanding all his arts, he was sentenced to be
deposed from the pa