Concordats of Constance

The Concordats of Constance were five agreements concluded between the Catholic Church and the nations of England (including Scotland), France, Germany (including Scandinavia and eastern Europe), Italy, and Spain in 1418. These agreements ended the Western Schism, which had divided the church following the Council of Constance (1414–18). The French and German concordats were signed on 15 April, the Spanish on 13 May, and the English on 12 July; the Italian agreement has since been lost. Delegates from each nation participated as equal members with one vote in the council.

The concordats addressed minor issues but played a significant role in settling outstanding disputes and ending the papal schism, alongside seven reform statutes issued by Pope Martin V. While the English concordat was perpetual, the French and German agreements expired after five years (by 1423), as France and Germany agreed to pay annates (fees for newly appointed clergy) only until the papacy became financially stable.

The English concordat restricted the granting of papal dispensations for holding multiple benefices to nobles or scholars, prohibiting such grants as favors to courtiers. It also revoked permissions allowing clerics to live away from their benefices and banned the appropriation of benefices without a bishop's approval. Meanwhile, the Spanish concordat was discovered in 1867, but its text was not published until 1954. The Italian concordat remains lost. Historians have debated whether the French concordat implicitly applied to Italy and Spain, enhancing France's prestige by managing annates in those regions.