Avis gives a forceful and convincing demonstration of the relevance of the conciliar tradition for the contemporary church; he raises precisely the issues we need to be discussing concerning authority, reception, and role of the entire community in the decision-making of the church. His ecumenical insights are rooted in a thorough grasp of the historical realities; he presents an eminently readable introduction to a portion of our past we ignore at our loss. This is a book I will return to regularly in the future.

Michael Root

Paul Avis's study is a timely reminder of the importance of the late-medieval conciliar tradition for questions about the reformation and reunification of the Western church. A historian and a practical ecumenist, he shows us the pervasive influence of conciliarist constitutional principles through the intervening centuries, as well as their continuing relevance to our contemporary search for Christian unity. And - of special interest to Anglicans at a difficult juncture - he draws out especially the promise of these principles for the episcopally ordered communions. There is much to be learned here by those who concern themselves with the church in our times and its roots in the past.

Oliver O'Donovan and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan

This timely study of the historical debates between conciliarists and monarchists/papalists throws light on the catholicity of the Church. It shows the continuing relevance of conciliarism and the necessity of an ecumenical balance between the two principles of collegiality and of primacy. It will be an excellent introduction to contemporary dialogues on the structure of the Church.

George H. Tavard

... thoughtful and challenging... a rich texture of scholarship and pithy comments... of major historical and ecumenical importance... a detailed and sensitive study that substantiates common ground and hope for the future.

Prof. Norman Tanner, Gregorian University, Gregorianum 88 (2007)

This book marks a watershed in fifteenth-century conciliar research, its history, principles and lasting influence.

Gerald Christianson, Church History

...Avis presents here a careful, descriptive analysis of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century conciliarism and then proceeds to an examination in the light of the conciliarist legacy of the ecclesiological preoccupations and practices of the churches of the Reformation. The account he gives is solid and informative...

Francis Oakley, The Catholic Historical Review, October 2007