Jura regalia

Last updated

Jura regalia [1] is a medieval legal term that denoted rights that belonged exclusively to the king, either as essential to his sovereignty (jura majora, jura essentialia), such as royal authority, or as accidental (jura minora, jura accidentalia), such as hunting, fishing and mining rights. Many sovereigns in the Middle Ages and in later times claimed the right to seize the revenues of vacant episcopal sees or abbeys as a regalian right. [2] In some countries, especially in France. where it was known as droit de régale (French: [dʁwadəʁeɡal] ), jura regalia came to be applied almost exclusively to that assumed right. A liberty was an area in which the regalian right did not apply.

Contents

Rationale

It is a matter of dispute on what ground the temporal rulers claimed the revenues of vacant dioceses and abbeys. Some hold that it is an inherent right of sovereignty; others state that it is a necessary consequence of the right of investiture; others make it part of the feudal system; still others derive it from the advowson, or right which patrons or protectors had over their benefices. Ultimately, it had its origin in the assumption that bishoprics and imperial abbeys, with all their temporalities and privileges, were royal estates given as fiefs to the bishops or abbots, and subject to the feudal laws of the times. At first the right was exercised only during the actual vacancy of a see or abbey, but it was later extended over the whole year following the death of the bishop or abbot. Often, the temporal rulers also claimed the right to collate all the benefices that became vacant during the vacancy of a diocese, with the exception of those to which the cure of souls was attached.

History

It is difficult to determine when and where the jura regalia was first exercised. In the West Frankish Kingdom, it made its first appearance probably towards the end of the Carolingian dynasty, that is, in the course of the 10th century.

England

In England, the exact practice prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is unclear, but for monasteries, it is likely that the bishop or the prior administered the estate, and that the revenues did not go to the king. Under King William the Conqueror, the record is also unclear, but the absence of monastic complaints suggests that revenues did not go to the royal treasury. [3]

It is first mentioned in connection with King William II of England, who, after the death of Lanfranc in 1089, kept the Diocese of Canterbury vacant for more than three years, during which period the king seized all the archiepiscopal revenues. William II was also known for keeping other bishoprics and abbeys vacant so that his own officials could administer them and keep the income for the king, [4] although recent studies have shown that this was not quite as common as indicated by the complaints of medieval chroniclers. [5] The income from the regalian right was an important, if irregular, source of income for the kings. [6] At least in England under William II, there was a natural tendency to keep the more lucrative offices vacant longer than the poorer offices, thus allowing the royal revenue to be augmented.

Although William's successor, King Henry I, said at the start of his reign that he would abandon the practice of leaving ecclesiastical offices vacant to secure their revenue for himself, events soon required him also to exploit the regalian rights. [7] Henry's most recent biographer, C. Warren Hollister, argued that Henry never intended to renounce the exercise of the regalian right, merely the abuses of it that William II was accused of by the monastic chroniclers. The Pipe roll from 1130 shows a number of vacant benefices whose revenues were going to the royal coffers. [8]

During the reign of Henry II of England (1154–1189), it had become an established practice for the King of England to take possession of the revenues of all vacant dioceses although he generally allowed a division of revenues between the actual monks and the abbatial office and did not administer or touch the monks' income. [3] Revenues from the regalian rights were normally paid into the Exchequer, who would record it on the pipe rolls. [9] That the pope did not recognize the right is manifest from the fact that Pope Alexander III condemned Article 12 of the Council of Clarendon (1164), which provided that the king was to receive, as of seigniorial right (sicut dominicos), all income (omnes reditus et exitus) of a vacant archbishopric, bishopric, abbacy, or priory in his dominion. [10] In 1176, Henry II promised the papal legate never to exercise the right of regalia beyond one year. With the exception of a few short periods, the right continued to be exercised by the English kings until the Protestant Reformation. The British Crown even today exercises it over the temporalities of vacant (Anglican) dioceses.

Germany

In Germany Emperor Henry V (1106–1125), Emperor Conrad III (1138–1152), and Emperor Frederick I (1155–1189) are known as the first to have claimed it. Frederick I exercised it in its utmost rigour and styles it "an ancient right of kings and emperors". [11] King Philip of Germany reluctantly renounced it, together with the jus spolii to Pope Innocent III in 1203. [12] Emperor Otto IV did the same in 1209. [13] Emperor Frederick II renounced it to Innocent III first at Eger, on 12 July 1213 [14] and then in the Privilege of Würzburg, in May 1216, [15] and again to Pope Honorius III, at Hagenau, in September 1219. [16] In 1238, he began to exercise it anew [17] but only during the actual vacancy of dioceses, not for a whole year, as he had done previously. After the death of Frederick II, the claims of the German Emperors to this right gradually ceased. The revenues of vacant dioceses in Prussia went to the succeeding bishop; in Bavaria, to the cathedral church; in Austria, to the "Religionsfond".

Important regalia were the following:

France

In France, the first mention of it is found during the reign of Louis VII, when in 1143, Bernard of Clairvaux complained in a letter to the Bishop of Palestrina that in the Church of Paris, the king had extended the droit de régale over a whole year. [18] Pope Boniface VIII, in his bull Ausculta fili , of 5 December 1301, urged Philip the Fair to renounce it but without avail. In France, the right did not belong exclusively to the king but was exercised also by the Dukes of Normandy, Dukes of Brittany, Dukes of Burgundy, Counts of Champagne and the Counts of Anjou. Entirely exempt from it were the ecclesiastical province of Bordeaux, province of Auch, province of Narbonne, province of Arles, province of Aix, province of Embrun, and province of Vienne.

The Second Council of Lyons (1274) forbade anyone, under pain of excommunication, to extend the jus regaliae over any diocese that was then exempt from it, [19] and in 1499, Louis XII gave strict orders to his officials not to exercise it over exempt dioceses. Towards the end of the 16th century, the restriction of the Council of Lyons began to be disregarded, and on 24 April 1608, the Parliament decided that the king had the droit de régale over all dioceses of France, but Henry IV of France did not carry that parliamentary decision into effect.

On 10 February 1673, Louis XIV issued a declaration extending the droit de régale to all of France. The Parliament was pleased, and most bishops yielded without serious protest, with only Nicolas Pavillon of Alet and François de Caulet, bishop of Pamiers, both of whom were Jansenists/ resisting. They at first sought redress through their metropolitans, but when the latter took the king's side, they appealed in 1677 to Pope Innocent XI. In three successive briefs, Innocent urged the king not to extend the right to dioceses that had previously been exempt. The General Assembly of the French clergy, held at Paris in 1681–1682, sided with the king, and despite the protests of Innocent XI, Alexander VIII, and Innocent XII, the right was maintained until the French Revolution.

Napoleon I attempted to restore it in a decree dated 6 November 1813, but his downfall the following year frustrated his plan. In 1880, the Third Republic again asserted the right and overstepped even the limits of its former application.

See also

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John, King of England</span> King of England from 1199 to 1216

John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor</span> Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 to 1218

Otto IV was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis VII of France</span> King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180

Louis VII, called the Younger or the Young to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubert Walter</span> 12th-century English Chancellor, Justiciar, and Archbishop of Canterbury

Hubert Walter was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter began the keeping of the Charter Roll, a record of all charters issued by the chancery. Walter was not noted for his holiness in life or learning, but historians have judged him one of the most outstanding government ministers in English history.

William de Corbeil or William of Corbeil was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury. Very little is known of William's early life or his family, except that he was born at Corbeil, south-east of Paris, and that he had two brothers. Educated as a theologian, he taught briefly before serving the bishops of Durham and London as a clerk and subsequently becoming an Augustinian canon. William was elected to the See of Canterbury as a compromise candidate in 1123, the first canon to become an English archbishop. He succeeded Ralph d'Escures who had employed him as a chaplain.

Ranulf Flambard was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government official of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard means incendiary or torch-bearer, and may have referred to his personality. He started his career under King William I of England, probably in the compilation of the Domesday Book of 1086, as well as being the keeper of the king's seal. On the death of William I, Ranulf chose to serve the new king of England, William Rufus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Investiture Controversy</span> 11th- to 12th-century dispute between secular rulers and the papacy

The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monasteries and the pope himself. A series of popes in the 11th and 12th centuries undercut the power of the Holy Roman Emperor and other European monarchies, and the controversy led to nearly 50 years of conflict.

Gallicanism is the belief that popular secular authority—often represented by the monarch's or the state's authority—over the Catholic Church is comparable to that of the pope. Gallicanism is a rejection of ultramontanism; it has something in common with Anglicanism, but is nuanced, in that it plays down the authority of the Pope in church without denying that there are some authoritative elements to the office associated with being primus inter pares. Other terms for the same or similar doctrines include Erastianism, Febronianism, and Josephinism.

Sir John Maunsell, Provost of Beverley Minster, was a king's clerk and a judge. He served as chancellor to King Henry III and was England's first secretary of state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter de Coutances</span> 12th century English Justiciar and Archbishop of Rouen

Walter de Coutances was a medieval Anglo-Norman bishop of Lincoln and archbishop of Rouen. He began his royal service in the government of Henry II, serving as a vice-chancellor. He also accumulated a number of ecclesiastical offices, becoming successively canon of Rouen Cathedral, treasurer of Rouen, and archdeacon of Oxford. King Henry sent him on a number of diplomatic missions and finally rewarded him with the bishopric of Lincoln in 1183. He did not remain there long, for he was translated to Rouen in late 1184.

A commendatory abbot is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey in commendam, drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ecclesiastic, however, he may have limited jurisdiction.

Hugh de Puiset was a medieval Bishop of Durham and Chief Justiciar of England under King Richard I. He was the nephew of King Stephen of England and Henry of Blois, who both assisted Hugh's ecclesiastical career. He held the office of treasurer of York for a number of years, which led him into conflict with Henry Murdac, Archbishop of York. In 1153, Hugh was elected bishop of Durham despite the opposition of Murdac.

The Declaration of the Clergy of France was a four-article document of the 1681 assembly of the French clergy. Promulgated in 1682, it codified the principles of Gallicanism into a system for the first time into an official and definitive formula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hervey le Breton</span> 12th-century Bishop of Ely and Bangor

Hervey le Breton was a Breton cleric who became Bishop of Bangor in Wales and later Bishop of Ely in England. Appointed to Bangor by King William II of England, when the Normans were advancing into Wales, Hervey was unable to remain in his diocese when the Welsh began to drive the Normans back from their recent conquests. Hervey's behaviour towards the Welsh seems to have contributed to his expulsion from his see. Although the new king, Henry I wished to translate Hervey to the see of Lisieux in Normandy, it was unsuccessful.

Geoffrey of Vendôme was a French Benedictine monk, writer and cardinal. He was born and died at Angers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel (bishop of Ely)</span> Treasurer of England (c. 1100 – 1169)

Nigel was an Anglo-Norman clergyman and administrator who served as Bishop of Ely from 1133 to 1169. He came from an ecclesiastical family; his uncle Roger of Salisbury was a bishop and government minister for King Henry I, and other relatives also held offices in the English Church and government. Nigel owed his advancement to his uncle, as did Nigel's probable brother Alexander, who like Nigel was advanced to episcopal status. Nigel was educated on the continent before becoming a royal administrator. He served as Treasurer of England under King Henry, before being appointed to the see, or bishopric, of Ely in 1133. His tenure was marked by conflicts with the monks of his cathedral chapter, who believed that Nigel kept income for himself that should properly have gone to them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert de Bethune</span> 12th-century Bishop of Hereford

Robert de Bethune was a medieval bishop of Hereford. From a knightly family, he became a teacher before becoming a canon by 1115. He was elected prior of Llanthony Priory in the middle 1120s, and was named bishop by King Henry I of England in 1130. As bishop, he was often appointed a judge by the papacy, and was known for the care he took of his diocese.

The assembly of the French clergy was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy of the French Catholic Church by the kings of France. Meeting from 1560 to 1789, the Assemblies ensured to the clergy an autonomous financial administration, by which they defended themselves against taxation.

The jus naufragii, sometimes lex naufragii, was a medieval custom which allowed the inhabitants or lord of a territory to seize all that washed ashore from the wreck of a ship along its coast. This applied, originally, to all the cargo of the ship, the wreckage itself, and even any passengers who came ashore, who were thus converted into slaves. This latter custom disappeared before the jus naufragii came to the attention of lawmakers.

Ausculta Fili is a papal bull addressed on 5 December 1301, by Pope Boniface VIII to King Philip IV of France.

References

  1. ↑ also Latin : jus regaliae, jus regale, jus deportus; German : Regalienrecht.
  2. ↑ Coredon Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases p. 236
  3. 1 2 Knowles Monastic Order pp. 612–615
  4. ↑ Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 170
  5. ↑ Mason William II p. 139
  6. ↑ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 175
  7. ↑ Mason William II pp. 71–72
  8. ↑ Hollister Henry I pp. 109–110
  9. ↑ Mortimer Angevin England p. 42
  10. ↑ Mansi, XXI, 1195.
  11. ↑ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet, Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Niederrheins, I, 288.
  12. ↑ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 9.
  13. ↑ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 37.
  14. ↑ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 58, 60.
  15. ↑ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 68.
  16. ↑ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 78.
  17. ↑ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 285.
  18. ↑ ep. 224, Patrologia Latina CLXXXII, 392.
  19. ↑ Mansi, XXIV, 90/

Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Droit de Regale". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.