Editing Council of Florence (section)

==Issues of reform==
Emboldened by their success, the fathers approached the subject of reform, their principal object being to further curtail the power and resources of the papacy. They took decisions on the disciplinary measures that regulated the [[election]]s, on the celebration of [[divinity|divine]] service and on the periodical holding of diocesan [[synod]]s and provincial councils, which were usual topics in Catholic councils. They also made decrees aimed at some of the assumed rights by which the popes had extended their power and improved their finances at the expense of the local churches. Thus the council abolished [[annate]]s, greatly limited the abuse of "reservation" of the patronage of benefices by the Pope and completely abolished the right claimed by the pope of "next presentation" to benefices not yet vacant (known as ''gratiae expectativae''). Other conciliar decrees severely limited the jurisdiction of the court of Rome and even made rules for the election of popes and the constitution of the Sacred College. The fathers continued to devote themselves to the subjugation of the Hussites, and they also intervened, in rivalry with the pope, in the negotiations between France and [[England]], which led to the [[Treaty of Arras (1435)|treaty of Arras]], concluded by [[Charles VII of France]] with the duke of [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]].{{sfn|Valois|1911|pp=463–464}} Also, [[circumcision]] was deemed to be a mortal sin.<ref name="CoF">{{cite book| last = Eugenius IV| first = Pope| author-link = Pope Eugene IV| editor = Norman P. Tanner| title = Decrees of the ecumenical councils| orig-year = 1442 | series = 2 volumes| year = 1990| publisher = [[Georgetown University Press]]| location = [[Washington, D.C.]]| isbn = 0-87840-490-2| language =  el, la | chapter = Ecumenical Council of Florence (1438–1445): Session 11 – 4 February 1442; Bull of union with the Copts| chapter-url = http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/FLORENCE.HTM#5| quote = [The Holy Roman Church] firmly... asserts that after the promulgation of the gospel they cannot be observed without loss of eternal salvation. Therefore it denounces all who after that time observe circumcision, the [Jewish] sabbath and other legal prescriptions as strangers to the faith of Christ and unable to share in eternal salvation, unless they recoil at some time from these errors. Therefore it strictly orders all who glory in the name of Christian, not to practise circumcision either before or after baptism, since whether or not they place their hope in it, it cannot possibly be observed without loss of eternal salvation.| lccn = 90003209}}</ref> Finally, they investigated and judged numbers of private cases, lawsuits between prelates, members of religious orders and holders of benefices, thus themselves committing one of the serious abuses for which they had criticized the court of Rome.{{sfn|Valois|1911|p=464}}