Evolution of the Metaphor of Mystical Body of the Church in Religious and Philosophical Discourse of France and England of 14th–15th Centuries

Abstract

The metaphor of the mystical body of the Church historically emphasized the unity of Christians and their loyalty to God. In the late Middle Ages, due to the struggle between secular rulers and popes, this metaphor began to acquire a different meaning: the body of the Church has begun to separate from the figure of the Pope. As a result of the changes within the Catholic Church — the Western Schism of 1378–1415, the growth of lay religious movements — the metaphor of the mystical body became quite a popular argument in the debates over Church issues of 14th and 15th centuries, for instance, among the Conciliarists, who advocated for the convocation of a church council. Jean Gerson referred to the image of the mystical body several times in his sermons and treatises, arguing for the need to heal the “sickness” of the mystical body (the schism) by unifying and convening a council to elect a new pontiff. The metaphor of the body became an argument against the dual leadership of the Church: just as a body cannot have two heads, the coexistence of the Avignon and Roman pontiffs was likewise impossible. At the same time, this image was also utilized by poets, such as Eustache Deschamps in France and John Gower in England. The article demonstrates how the image of the mystical body was co-opted by critics of Church vices and used for polemical purposes, to promote the independence of secular power from church hierarchies, and to argue for the necessity of convening a council of all believers to elect a single pope.