The only time that this has happened...
You're trying to minimize the significance of what the Roman Catholic church has done through history with regards to putting the decrees of men above and in contradiction to the Word of God, but you're not actually denying that they've done it.
So if you're not denying they have done it, and still claim to be able to do it, then what point exactly are you trying to prove?
such pronouncements must have historical precedent and not violate the scriptures
They can claim it doesn't violate the scriptures, but the whole reason the protestant reformation happened is precisely because they were violating the Scriptures and continue to do so.
Simple but profound example: Forbidding priests to marry.
Paul talks of church leaders with the assumption that they will be married:
1 Timothy 3:2
He mentions peter and other church leaders being married, and says it is their right to do so:
1 Corinthians 9:5
He further links those who teach people shoud not get married are linked with lying spirits and the doctrines of demons:
1 Timothy 4:1-3
Furthermore:
How was the Roman Catholic church following both apostalic tradition and Scripture when they sold indulgences for sin, sold tickets out of purgatory, turned people to idol worship of Mary by teaching her to be a sinless co-redeemer with Christ, saw no need to teach the common person what the scripture said, and burned people at the stake for translating the Bible into the common tongue?
The answer: They weren't. So why could they get away with doing such things that flagrantly violate the message and intent of Scripture? Because the people following these leaders didn't know the Scriptures well enough for themselves to challenge them. Church leaders even had questionable They may have never heard them spoken in their own tongue, let alone read them for themselves.
The Bible was not the "authority" in the early church-- the church leaders were. See, what you are doing is putting forth a Protestant position that probably you were brought up in as I was, but it simply isn't historically true, nor true even according to the scriptures themselves.
The Old Testament scriptures absolutely were authoritative in the early church.
The early church can be seen to be operating under the same principle that later protestants did: That God will not tell you to do something today which violates what He has already revealed.
The Bereans were called of a more noble character because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true.
Galatians 1:8
Appeals to the authority of the OT are effusive throughout the NT. From Jesus Himself to Paul, in almost every book except a couple of the smallest ones.
Paul refers to the Scriptures as that which leads to God's wisdom and understanding about Christ. 2 Timothy 3:15-17
Further, we see even in the NT there is already an early recognition of these writings as authoritative, on par with Scripture of the OT:
2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter refers to Paul's writings as Scripture.
1 Timothy 5:18, Paul refers to the Gospel of Luke as Scripture.
The earliest church writers after the NT like Clement, polycarp, and ignatius make frequent reference to both OT Scripture and appeal also to that which is found in the NT today as authoritative.
1 Clement specifically, from late 1st century church history, refers to Paul's writings as Scripture.
What you never see early Church leaders doing: Declaring that their words represent truth, even when it contradicts something which God has already revealed, claiming that people should follow their revelation as more authoritative than what the Bible has already revealed.
People who tried that, like Marcion in the 2nd century, are called out by the Church as heretics for rejecting both the entire OT and most of the NT Scripture.
We see from all 2nd century historical canon lists and archeology that the NT books we have were already recognized as authoritative Scripture by that time. Maricon's rejection of so much Scripture is, itself, also a confirmation of the fact that that large body of work was already commonly accepted and believed by the Church as authoritative Scripture.
Neither history nor the Scripture supports you claim that what the early Christians church put the authority of men above the authority of God's Word.