In 1438, the Council of Basel undertook to confer ecclesiastical offices and benefices instead of the pope, whom it had deposed. It therefore became necessary to establish proper procedures, especially for the appointment of bishops. The Council’s Committee of Twelve, of which Enea Silvio Piccolomini was a frequent member, drafted a decree requiring commissioners to hear testimonies about candidates for episcopal office and to report back to the council under oath. As the recommendation met with resistance among the council fathers, Piccolomini undertook to defend the motion in an oration to a General Congregation. He was not successful, and the proposed decree was not passed.