A study of political ideas in the conflict between the Council of Basle (1431 1449) and Pope Eugenius IV (1431 1447). The supporters of conciliar and papal supremacy each developed a remarkable array of political doctrines, which can now be seen as the immediate ancestors of later, more famous theories of 'democracy' and 'monarchy' respectively. Dr Black discusses both the development and the meaning of these doctrines, and their contribution to the notion of constitutional democracy and of monarchical sovereignty respectively. Both doctrines, he suggests, find a place in the modern state. He...