In 1239 the English Benedictine monk Matthew Paris of the Abbey of St. Albans applied the term to a council meeting between prelates, earls, and barons, and it was also used in 1245 to refer to the meeting called by Pope Innocent IV in Lyon, France, which resulted in the excommunication and deposition of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II.
Such scandal was caused by the process against an aged and devoted priest that, more than a year later, six days of tough negotiation resulted in the lifting of the excommunication.
Bucer's efforts to reform the church in Wissembourg resulted in his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church, and he was forced to flee to Strasbourg.
But it would be another three years before he fully came out of the closet, a move that was emotionally freeing yet resulted in near total excommunication from members of his former colony.
The book, which included an appendix of Smith's 48 wives (she wrote that there were probably more), resulted in Brodie's excommunication for apostasy by the LDS church after its release.
In recent years, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which does not recognize the authority of the pope, has consecrated a number of bishops over the Vatican's objections, resulting in their excommunication.
Pope Benedict XVI provoked outrage in January when he revoked the excommunication of four bishops in the group, including one who had denied the scope of the Holocaust.
Yes, while in Israel Benedict will have to mend fences after his controversial decision in January to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop.
Four Jehovah's Witnesses who have publicly criticized their church's handling of sexual abuse accusations have been summoned to church hearings that could result in their excommunication.
In 2009, Pope Benedict ignited controversy by lifting the excommunication of the four bishops and even promised the rebel group autonomy from bishops they considered too liberal.
