เ

civil authority whose verdicts were subject to no revision. This was the Court of Delegates,' consisting of commissioners to be named by the king. The competence of the upper house of convocation was thus silently abolished.

Since Henry's day the principle has been maintained that in all cases judgment shall belong, in the last resort, to a civil tribunal, superior to all ecclesiastical courts. The precise constitution of that tribunal has, however, undergone many changes in later times.17

§ 24.

2. Restrictions of the papal legates."

During the Anglo-Saxon period legates were on several occasions, though in comparison with later periods seldom, despatched to England, sometimes by the king's desire, sometimes for other causes and without consulting him.'

It is recorded that under William I it was a recognized rule that the pope might only send legates at the sovereign's request.2

17 Cf. on this point § 62.

The passage in the reports of the legates to the pope, 787 (Haddan and Stubbs, Counc. III, 448): ut scitis, a tempore sancti Augustini pontifi cis sacerdos Romanus nullus illuc missus est, nisi nos is not to be taken as meaning that George and Theophylact were the first legates sent to England since Augustine: for only legates of priestly rank are spoken of, and illuc refers probably to Northumbria and not to all England. And yet Augustine himself had not traversed the north.-Compare, for example, the mention of a previous emissary in the report of the council at Rome, 679 (Haddan and Stubbs III, 134): invenerunt virum venerabilem Johannem archicantatorem ecclesiae sancti apostoli Petri, et abbatem monasterii beati Martini, qui a Roma per jussionem Papae Agathonis in Britanniam est directus. Beda, Hist. Eccles. IV, c 18 § 305: Intererat huic synodo (Haethfelth, 680) pariterque catholicae fidei decreta firmabat, vir venerabilis Johannes archicantator.For further cases of the despatch of legates in Anglo-Saxon times see Einhard, Ann., to year 808 (Haddan and Stubbs III, 561): Interea Rex Nordanhumbrorum de Brittania insula, nomine Eardulf, regno et patria pulsus, ad imperatorem dum adhuc Novismagi (Nimwegen) moraretur venit, et patefacto adventus sui negotio, Romam proficiscitur, Romaque rediens per legatos Romani pontificis et domini imperatoris in regnum suum reducitur. Praeerat tunc temporis Ecclesiae Romanae Leo Tertius, cujus legatus ad Brittaniam directus est Aldulfus diaconus de ipsa Brittania, et cum eo ab imperatore missi abbates duo Hrotfridus notarius et Nantharius abbas de Sancto Audemaro. Moreover the signature, not in a prominent place, to the minutes of the council of Clovesho, 824 (Haddan and Stubbs III, 593): Nothhelm praeco a domno Eugenio Papa. William of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontificum (Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 52) 252, year 1062: Consecuti sunt abeuntes (from Rome) Romanorum legati, qui sanctissimum Wistanum per consensum Aldredi Wigornie ordinaverunt episcopum. (Cf. also Florentius Wigorniensis, Chronicon [Monum. Hist. Britann.] I, 610: pro responsis ecclesiasticis ad regem Anglorum missi.)

2 Eadmer, Hist. Nov. (Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 81) p. 258, on the negotiations of Henry I with pope Calixtus II in 1119: Acta igitur sunt multa inter illos, quorum gratia par erat tantas personas convenisse. Inter quae rex a papa impetravit ut omnes consuetudines quas pater suus (ie. William I) in

Stubbs, Const. History III, 306 ff. c 19 § 380.-Friedberg, De finium inter ecclesiam et civitatem regundorum judicio etc. 154 ff.

3a

William II, in the year 1095, made an agreement with the papal envoy that no person should be sent save some one to be designated by the king in each case as it arose. Guido, archbishop of Vienne, who in 1100 came to England with legatine powers, was not acknowledged there. In 1116 Paschal II commissioned Anselm, abbot of St. Saba, to represent him, the intention being that the abbot should take up his abode permanently in England and weaken the power of the archbishop of Canterbury, who until then had been almost independent. But Henry refused the legate admission to the land.* The pope was naturally enraged, but failed to carry his point. After the council of Rheims, at which Calixtus II had sought in another way, namely by raising the position of York, to attain the ends of the papal policy, he abandoned his position in regard to the despatch of legates. At an interview with king Henry (1119) he confirmed him in the possession of the right already, as was averred, enjoyed by William I, that no papal legate could be sent to England save at the king's request. During the next hundred years the legatine

Anglia habuerat et in Normannia sibi concederet, et maxime ut neminem aliquando legati officio in Anglia fungi permitteret, si non ipse, aliqua praecipua querela exigente, et quae ab archiepiscopo Cantuariorum caeterisque episcopis regni terminari non posset, hoc fieri postularet a papa.-After the conquest there had appeared (1070) in England papal legates of whose services William had availed himself in deposing the native bishops. On their departure Lanfranc was authorized by the pope to give final decision in two pending cases. Letter of the pope to William I, 1072, in Wilkins, Concilia I, 326: In causis autem pertractandis et diffiniendis ita sibi (the archbishop) vestrae [in Rymer, Foedera 4th Ed. I, 1 is nostrae] et apostolicae auctoritatis vicem dedimus, ut quicquid determinaverit, quasi in nostra praesentia diffinitum, deinceps firmum et indissolubile teneatur.

conventi

3 Hugo of Flavigny (printed more fully in § 4, note 17): onem fecerat cum eo Albanensis episcopus (cardinal bishop of Albana, legate in England 1095), quem primum illo miserat papa, ne legatus Romanus ad Angliam mitteretur nisi quem rex praeciperet,

3a

Eadmer, Hist. Nov. (Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 81) 126, printed in § 34, note 13. Eadmer, Hist. Nov. (Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 81) 239: Sed rex Henricus antiquis Angliae consuetudinibus praejudicium inferri non sustinens, illum ab ingressu Angliae detinebat, William of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontificum (Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 52) 128: Nam et in principio regni Henrici venerat Angliam ad exercendam legationem Guido Viennensis archiepiscopus, qui postea fuit apostolicus; tunc Anselmus; nec multo post quidam Petrus. Omnesque reversi nullo effectu rei, grandi praeda sui, Petrus maxime, Crebra ergo ad Angliam commeabat legatio Romanorum insidiantium imbecillitati Radulfi, set effugabantur omnes cautela Henrici. Nolebat enim ille in Angliam praeter consuetudinem antiquam recipere legatum nisi Cantuariensem archiepiscopum, illique libenter refringebant impetum, propter violentiam denariorum. Cf. also Florentius Wigorniensis, Chron. (ed. Thorpe) II, 69. 5 Cf. § 31, near note 10.

Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 258, printed above, note 2. Cf. Simeon of Durham, Hist. Regum (Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 75) II, 276, year 1125: Johannes Cremensis accepta ab Apostolico super Britanniam legatione, cum diu in Normannia. retentus esset a rege, tandem permissus in Angliam transvehitur, If a legate was admitted into England, he seems at this earlier time not to have had the right to exercise administrative powers without the consent of the archbishop of Canterbury. Cf. a summons by the archbishop to the bishop of Llandaff for a council at London (Wilkins, Concilia I, 408 and Haddan and Stubbs I, 317): Literis istis tibi notum facere volumus, quod Johannes, ecclesiae

office was mostly, and afterwards until the reformation constantly, combined with the archbishopric of Canterbury. From the middle of the fourteenth century the archbishops of York were also almost always papal legates; indeed they had in several cases before that time held the dignity. Nevertheless, the pope still despatched, as occasion was, special legates and to these the early regulations were applicable. So, for example, when Vivian (1176) had entered the kingdom without royal licence, he was sharply reminded of the necessity of obtaining it. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, in the days of England's deepest abasement, the sending of legates without the royal permission seems to have occurred. But even then the earlier right was not forgotten. Afterwards leave was asked and generally given.10 The old right of the crown was

Romanae presbyter cardinalis atque legatus, ordinatione, nostraque conniventia concilium celebrare disposuit Hugo Cantor (The Historians of the Church of York; Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 71) II, 210: Legatus (John of Crema) tota fere Anglia circuita et perambulata usque prope Scotiam, in Nativitate Beatae Mariae Concilium Londoniae celebravit, quod in tempore regum utriusque Willelmi Romanus legatus nunquam fecerat. The bull of 5th June, 1190 (Rad. de Diceto; Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 68; II, 83) touching the transfer of the legatine office to the bishop of Ely sets forth that this is done juxta desiderium et postulationem Ricardi

regis Anglorum.

For more on the combination of legatine powers with the archbishopric see § 34, near notes 12 ff.

8 Hoveden (Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 51) II, 98; July, 1176: Qui (Vivianus) cum in Angliam veniret, dominus rex Angliae misit ad eum Ricardum Wintoniensem et Gaufridum Eliensem episcopos, et interrogavit eum, cujus auctoritate ausus erat intrare regnum suum sine licentia illius. His igitur interrogationibus praedictus cardinalis plurimum territus, de satisfactione iuravit regi, quod ipse nihil ageret in legatione sua contra voluntatem illius, et sic data est ei licentia transeundi usque in Scotiam. According to Benedict (Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 49) I, 118, Vivian had to swear: quod nihil ageret in legatione sua, quod esset contra ipsum (the king) et regnum suum. King John ordained: ut nullus de regno legatum vel nuntium sedis apostolicae recipere attentaret; but shortly afterwards withdrew the order (letter of Innocent III to John, 20th February, 1202, Letters, Book V, No. 160), in Migne, Patrologiae Cursus, vol. 214, p. 1175.

vamur

gra

"Letter of the temporal magnates of England to Innocent IV at the general council of Lyons, 1245 (Matth. Paris, Chronica Majora; Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 57; IV, 441; printed therefrom by Rymer, Foedera 4th Ed. I, 362; from a document in the Exchequer, with some deviations, in Cole, Documents 351): quod magister Martinus praefatum regnum, sine domini Regis licentia, cum majore potestate quam unquam vidimus habere legatum a domino Rege postulatum, nuper ingressus (licet non utens legationis insigniis, multiplicato tamen legationis officio) novas quotidie proferens potestates inauditas, excedens excessit, privilegio Regis admodum derogando, per quod ei a sede apostolica specialiter indulgetur, ne quis in Anglia legationis fungatur officio, nisi a domino Rege specialiter postulatus [in Cole is added: et ne quis extra regnum trahatur in causam]. Resolution of the English magnates, 1264 (in Marca, De concordia sacerdotii et imperii. Book V c 56 § 13): quod nullum legatum debent admittere, nisi fuerit petitus a Rege et regni communitate.

10 Clement V begs, under date 21st Nov. 1307, a safe conduct, of the accustomed form, for his nuncios (Rymer, Foedera 4th Ed. II, 16). Examples of such safe conducts, for a definite time or subject to revocation, will be found in

maintained by formal protest when bishop Beaufort of Winchester, who had been engaged in the war with the Hussites and whom Martin V in his dispute with Chichele had appointed legate, reentered England without invitation (1428).11 Even queen Mary closed the ports (1557) against Peto who, though unacceptable to her, had been nominated by the pope.12 A natural effect of the reformation was to cause the despatch of legates to be discontinued.13

§ 25.

3. Restriction on the introduction of bulls.

In most continental countries the rule from the end of the thirteenth century grew to be that the validity of measures consequent on papal decrees depended on the approval of such decrees by the civil power (placet).1

With regard to England, it is reported of William I that he brought in the new principle that no one in his realm might receive a letter from the pope before it had been shown to himself." William II claimed that, without his consent, none should receive

runs:

Rymer, l.c. II, 117 (for papal inquisitors of the templars, 13th Oct. 1310), II, 993 (for a nuncio, 28th Aug. 1337), 3rd Ed. vol. IV pt. I p. 114 (for a nuncio, 30th May, 1407), pt. II p. 4 (for an ambassador and his retinue, 25th Jan. 1412: proviso quod quicquam, quod in Regis seu Populi sui praejudicium cedere valeat, non attemptent ), pt. IV p. 194 (for nuncios on their way to Scotland, 29th April, 1433, with a similar reservation). "Cf. Stubbs, Const. Hist. III, 309, note 3 c 19 § 380. The protest of the king's proctor (printed in Foxe, Acts and Monuments Ed. 1843 ff. III, 717, note) dictus christianissimus princeps, dominus meus supremus, suique inclytissimi progenitores dicti regni Angliae reges fuerunt et sunt, tam speciali privilegio, quam consuetudine laudabili legitimeque praescripta, necnon a tempore et per tempus (cujus contrarii memoria hominum non existit) pacifice et inconcusse observata, sufficienter dotati, legitimeque muniti, quod nullus apostolicae sedis legatus venire debeat in regnum suum Angliae, aut alias suas terras et dominia, nisi ad regis Angliae pro tempore existentis vocationem, petitionem, requisitionem, invitationem, seu rogatum, protestor quod non fuit, aut est intentionis praefati principis ac dictorum dominorum meorum de consilio, ingressum hujusmodi dicti reverendissimi patris, ut legati in Angliam, authoritate ratificare, vel approbare, seu ipsum ut legatum sedis apostolicae in Angliam, contra leges, jura, consuetudines, libertates et privilegia praedicta quovismodó admittere seu recognoscere ;

12 Compare § 6, note 51.

13 Cf. also § 34, note 31. Under the Stuarts papal agents were tolerated in England. In July, 1687, James II received a nuncio in solemn audience. 11 & 12 Vict. (1848) c 108 declared that the English government might have diplomatic intercourse with the 'Sovereign of the Roman States,' but that no papal ambassador might be received who was a minister of the Roman church or jesuit or bound by religious or monastic vows. The act was repealed, the Roman States' having ceased to exist, by 38 & 39 Vict. (1875) c 66 Statute Law Revision Act.

1 Cf. Richter, Kirchenrecht § 48, note 9.

Non.

pati

ejus (the pope's) litteras

(printed

Eadmer, Hist. Nov. (Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 81) 9: . volebat quemquam in omni dominatione sua . si primitus sibi ostensae non fuissent ullo pacto suscipere . more fully in § 4, note 12)

communications from Rome, or send them thither, or obey papal decrees. The same right was exercised by Henry I. Probably in this respect, as in many others, the reign of Stephen proved detrimental to the king's prerogative.

During the course of the fierce struggle with the pope under Henry II, ordinances were issued which forbade absolutely the bringing of papal missives into the land. But these ordinances were temporary measures of warfare; and from the mere fact of their issue we may, perhaps, infer that under ordinary circumstances the English king at that time no longer pretended to the right of inspecting or approving all injunctions from Rome. But the kings always persisted in the delivery to themselves of bulls whose matter might be to the prejudice of the law of the land or

sine sua jussione

.

3 Letter of Anselm, 1099-1100: nolebat ut epistolam ei (the pope) mitterem, aut ab eo missam reciperem, vel decretis ejus obedirem. Hugo of Flavigny, year 1096: Quae res in tantum adoleverat, ut nullus esset in Anglia archiepiscopus, episcopus, abbas, nedum monachus aut clericus, qui litteras apostolicas suscipere auderet, nedum obedire, nisi rex iuberet. (Both passages printed more fully in § 4, note 17.)

nostro

Non defuit qui (de)

+ Letter of Paschal II to Henry I (Eadmer, Hist. Nov.; Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 81; 229) Sedis enim apostolicae nuncii vel litterae praeter jussum regiae majestatis nullam in potestate tua susceptionem aut aditum promerentur.— Hugo Cantor (The Historians of the Church of York, Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 71) II, 198, year 1122: Paululum ante Adventum Domini venit quidam de urbe Roma literas domini papae deferens utrique archiepiscopo Angliae; (the archbishop of York) sibi missas tradidit, latore regi diceret archiepiscopum literas domini papae devotione ad Concilium habuisse, quod ex regni consuetudine absque conscientia et licentia regis suscepisse non debuerat; unde rex aliquantum commotus mandavit ei quatinus super hoc rectitudinem facturus in proxima Purificatione Sanctae Mariae ad curiam veniret, et literarum bajulum ad se adduceret archiepiscopus ad regem veniens satis laetabunde susceptus est, nec de satisfactione pro literis acceptis, nec de portitoris earum adductione rex archiepiscopum causatus est

5 Ordinance of Henry II, probably in 1169 (Hoveden [Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 51] I, 231; on various readings of this document and on the date cf. l.c. I, 232, note and Materials for History Becket; Rer. Brit. Scr. No. 67; VII, 147, note, 150, note):

I. Si quis inventus fuerit ferens litteras vel mandatum domini papae vel Cantuariensis archiepiscopi, continens interdictum Christianitatis in Anglia, capiatur, et de eo, sine dilatione fiat justitia sicut de regis traditore et regni.

III. Item interdictum est, ne aliquis ferat mandatum aliquod domini papae, vel Cantuariensis. Et si quis talis inventus fuerit, capiatur et retineatur.

Benedict (Rer. Brit. Ser. No. 49) I, 24: In 1171, the king, fearing an interdict, per commune edictum praecepit justitiis et ballivis suis Normanniae, et nominatim ballivis portuum maris, quod nullo modo permitterent aliquem et nominatim clericum vel peregrinum transfretare in Angliam, nisi prius data securitate quod nullum malum vel damnum regi vel regno Angliae quaereret. Et simili modo sicut in Normannia fecerat, praecepit per commune edictum justitiis et ballivis portuum maris Angliae quod neminem permitterent in Normanniam transfretare, nisi data prius securitate quod malum regi vel regno suo non quaereret. Praecepit etiam quod si quis in Angliam applicuisset portans litteras summi pontificis, vel aliquod gravamen regno, caperetur tanquam publicus hostis.