§ 110.16. =The Papal Curia.=--The chief courts of the papal government are spoken of collectively as the curia, their members being taken from the higher clergy. The following are the most important: the _Cancellaria Romana_, to which belonged the administration of affairs pertaining to the pope and the college of cardinals; the _Dataria Romana_, which had to do with matters of grace not kept secret, such as absolutions, dispensations, etc.; while the _Pœnitentiaria Romana_ dealt with matters which were kept secret; the _Camera Romana_, which administered the papal finances; and the _Rota Romana_, which was the supreme court of justice. Important decrees issued by the pope himself with the approval of the cardinals are called _bulls_. They are written on parchment in the Gothic character in Latin, stamped with the great seal of the Roman church, and secured in a metal case. The word bull was originally applied to the case, then to the seal, and at last to the document itself. Less important decrees, for which the advice of the cardinals had not been asked, are called _briefs_. The brief is usually written on parchment, in the ordinary Roman characters, and sealed in red wax with the pope’s private seal, the fisherman’s ring. § 111. THE CLERGY. Provincial synods had now lost almost all their importance, and were rarely held, and then for the most part under the presidency of a papal legate. The cathedral chapters afforded welcome provision for the younger sons of the nobles, who were nothing behind their elder brothers in worldliness of life and conversation. For their own selfish interests they limited the number of members of the chapter, and demanded as a qualification evidence of at least sixteen ancestors. The political significance of the prelates was in France very small, and as champions of the Gallican liberties they were less enthusiastic than the University of Paris and the Parliament. In England they formed an influential order in the State, with carefully defined rights; and in Germany, as princes of the empire, especially the clerical elector princes, their political importance was very great. In Spain, on the other hand, at the end of the 15th century, by the ecclesiastico-political reformation endeavours of Ferdinand “the Catholic” and Isabella (§ 118, 7), the higher clergy were made completely dependent upon the Crown.