The English Church in the Middle AgesHunt, William
History
The English Church in the Middle Ages
Hunt, William
Church history -- Middle Ages, 600-1500; Great Britain -- Church history
These remonstrances had little effect, and at last, in 1351, the statute
of Provisors was enacted, on the petition of the lords temporal and the
commons. By this statute any collation made by the Pope was to escheat to
the Crown, and any person acting in virtue of a reservation or provision
was, after conviction, to be imprisoned until he had paid such fine as the
king might inflict, and had made compensation to the party aggrieved. To
this statute the bishops, who were, of course, hampered by their position
as regards the Pope, did not assent. Its immediate effect was rather to
strengthen the hold of the king upon the Church than to increase its
liberty. Edward connived at its evasion whenever it suited him to do so,
and infringed the rights of patrons by a writ called "Quare impedit,"
while the concurrence of the Popes, who took care to keep on good terms
with the victorious king, enabled him to do much as he liked. The Popes,
moreover, still continued to provide to sees vacant by translation, and
accordingly multiplied translations to the hurt of the Church. It was
found necessary to re-enact the penalties of the statute fourteen years
later, and, as we shall see, fresh efforts were made against the abuse
towards the end of the reign.
[Sidenote: Statute of Praemunire, 1353.]
The system of provisions increased the number of appeals to Rome, and
matters that were determinable at common law were carried to the Pope's
court, much to the inconvenience of the parties concerned, and to the
profit of the papal officers. In 1353 a check was given to the appellate
jurisdiction of the curia by the Statute of Praemunire, which, without
verbal reference to the Pope, made it punishable with imprisonment and
forfeiture to draw one of the king's subjects out of the kingdom to answer
in a foreign court, the offender being compelled to appear by a writ
beginning "Praemunire facias." This statute was re-enacted in 1365, with
distinct mention of the Roman court; the prelates protesting, evidently
for form's sake, that they would assent to nothing that was injurious to
the Church. Although the Pope still granted dispensations from the canon
law, and his jurisdiction might still be invoked in cases for which no
remedy was provided at common law, papal interference in legal matters of
importance now became rare. New statutes of Provisors and Praemunire were
promulgated in the next reign.
[Sidenote: Repudiation of vassalage, 1366.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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