Zusammenfassung / Summary
What is the relationship to each other of the two central institutions of the Church, the papacy and the councils? In order to answer this question, we do not look at canon law, but at the history of the two institutions. We deal, in a first step, with the (autonomous) development of both institutions, and then, in a second step, with their reciprocal relationship. Here we distinguish between their factual relationship to each other and their relationship as it is explicitly described in different texts. Although we limit our inquiry to the first millennium gets realized in subsequent times.