History › Ancient
Ancient History
A chronology of the church councils, royal statutes and canonical constitutions that shaped the church in the British Isles before the Reformation, from the British bishops at Arles (314) to the eve of the Reformation Parliament (1529). Each entry notes its key takeaways and cites the public-domain text it is drawn from.
This is a first, selective list of the most consequential items. Disputed dates are marked in the date line.
4th century
British bishops at the Council of Arles
Constantine summoned a council of the Western church to Arles to deal with the Donatist schism. Its list of signatories includes bishops from Britain, among them bishops of York and London. It is the earliest firm documentary evidence of an organised church with bishops in Roman Britain.
Church structure and authority
- Shows a British church already organised under diocesan bishops by the early fourth century.
- Places British bishops inside the wider councils of the Western church from the start.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. I: The British signatories at the Council at Arles, A.D. 314
British bishops at the Council of Ariminum
British bishops attended the great Western council that Constantius summoned to Ariminum. Sulpicius Severus records that three of them, too poor to pay their own way, accepted the emperor's allowance. Haddan and Stubbs head the council as having been 'deceived and terrified' into giving up the terms ousia and homoousios. They also print the evidence that by 363 the British churches were counted among those holding the Nicene faith.
Doctrine
- The British church was drawn into the Arian crisis at Ariminum's compromise on the homoousion.
- By 363 it was counted among the churches holding the Nicene faith.
Church structure and authority
- British bishops sat in the general councils of the Western church.
Sources: A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1 (1869), A.D. 359, British bishops at the Council of Ariminum; A.D. 363, British churches adhere to the Nicene faith, p. 9–10
5th century
Germanus and Lupus against the Pelagians
When Pelagianism spread in Britain, a synod of the Gallic bishops sent Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to oppose it. Bede, following Constantius's Life of Germanus, describes a public disputation in which the Pelagian teachers were refuted before a great crowd, followed by a visit to the shrine of St Alban. Germanus returned with Severus about 447 to deal with a revival of the heresy.
Doctrine
- Publicly rejected Pelagian teaching on grace and free will in Britain.
- Tied the British church to the anti-Pelagian teaching of the Western church.
Church structure and authority
- The British church turned to the Gallic episcopate for help in a doctrinal crisis.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book I, chs. 17–21, p. 24–32; A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1 (1869), A.D. 413, 420, 429, Pelagianism in Britain; A.D. 429, Germanus and Lupus at Verulamium; A.D. 447, second visit, p. 15–18
The 'First Synod of St Patrick'
A set of canons headed as a synod of the bishops Patrick, Auxilius and Isserninus, addressed to the clergy. They regulate wandering clergy, the conduct of clerics, monks and virgins, and the use of excommunication. Haddan and Stubbs judge the canons to be undoubtedly Irish but give the heading 'not great' credence. The date is therefore uncertain.
Church structure and authority
- Excommunication used as the sanction of a bishop-led church order.
Discipline and clergy
- No wandering clergy; each reader to know the church in which he sings.
- Clerics to be properly dressed and tonsured 'in the Roman manner', with their wives veiled.
Sources: A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 2.2 (1878), Appendix A, I: Synod of S. Patrick, Auxilius and Isserninus, p. 328 ff.
6th century
Synods of Llanddewi Brefi and of 'Lucus Victoriae'
The Annales Cambriae record a 'Synod of Victory' among the Britons in 569. Later legend joins it to an earlier synod at Llanddewi Brefi under St David. Haddan and Stubbs reject Rhygyfarch's eleventh-century account, which has these synods crush Pelagianism and give St David supremacy, as 'purely fabulous'. They print instead canons preserved in Brittany under the names of these synods, which set penances for sins by clergy and monks.
Church structure and authority
- The later claims of St David's supremacy rest on legend, not on these synods.
Discipline and clergy
- Graded penances for sin, increasing with the offender's order, from deacon to priest to bishop or abbot.
- An early witness to the British penitential tradition.
Sources: A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1 (1869), Before 569, Synod of Llanddewi-Brefi; 569, Synod of Lucus Victoriae, p. 116–118
7th century
Gregory the Great's answers to Augustine (Libellus responsionum)
Gregory replied point by point to questions from Augustine of Canterbury. The replies covered how a bishop should live with his clergy and divide offerings, what to do about the different customs of the Roman and Gallic churches, the degrees of kinship within which marriage was forbidden, and the consecration of bishops. They made the founding practical rulebook of the English church.
Church structure and authority
- Augustine was given no authority over the bishops of Gaul, but authority over all the bishops of Britain.
Worship and practice
- Augustine was to choose whatever pleased God from any church, Roman, Gallic or other, and teach it to the English.
Discipline and clergy
- Rules on the bishop's life with his clergy and the division of offerings.
- Prohibited degrees of marriage set for the new converts.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book I, ch. 27, p. 37–50; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. III: Answers of Gregory the Great to Augustine
Gregory the Great's scheme for the English Church
With the pall, Gregory sent Augustine a plan for two provinces. London was to have a metropolitan with twelve bishops, and York, once converted, was to have a second metropolitan with twelve more. After Augustine's death, seniority of consecration would decide precedence between the two. The southern see in fact stayed at Canterbury, but the two-province design shaped the English church thereafter.
Church structure and authority
- Two metropolitans, each with twelve suffragan bishops.
- The source of the later Canterbury–York relationship and of the primacy disputes.
Relations with Rome
- The pall granted from Rome as the mark of metropolitan authority.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book I, ch. 29, p. 50–52; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. IV: Gregory the Great's scheme of English bishoprics
Gregory's letter to Mellitus on pagan temples
Gregory revised his missionary policy in a letter to Abbot Mellitus. The temples of the idols were not to be destroyed. Instead the idols were to be removed, the temples sprinkled with holy water, and altars and relics set up in them, so that the people would come to worship the true God in familiar places. Former sacrificial festivals were to be turned into Christian feasts.
Worship and practice
- Converted pagan temples into churches rather than destroying them.
- Turned pagan festivals into Christian feasts as a way of gradual conversion.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book I, ch. 30, p. 52–54
Conferences at Augustine's Oak
Augustine met the British bishops and teachers and urged Catholic unity and a shared mission to the English. At a second meeting, attended by seven British bishops and learned men from Bangor, he asked only three things: keep Easter at the proper time, baptise according to the Roman custom, and join in preaching to the English. The Britons refused to accept him as archbishop, and the British and English churches stayed apart for generations.
Church structure and authority
- The British bishops rejected Augustine's metropolitan authority over them.
Worship and practice
- The issues were the date of Easter and the rite of baptism.
Relations with Rome
- Set the Roman mission against the independent customs of the British church.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book II, ch. 2, p. 59 ff.; A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1 (1869), Contents: 602 or 603, Conferences at S. Augustine's Oak
Synod of Whitby
King Oswy of Northumbria heard the case between Bishop Colman, for the Irish (Columban) way of reckoning Easter and the tonsure, and Wilfrid, for the Roman way. Oswy decided for the Roman custom on the ground that the keys had been given to Peter. Colman and those who would not conform withdrew to Iona and Ireland.
Church structure and authority
- Ended the leading role of Iona-trained clergy in Northumbria.
Worship and practice
- Settled the date of Easter in Northumbria on the Roman reckoning.
- Adopted the Roman tonsure over the Irish.
Relations with Rome
- The king rested his decision on the authority of St Peter and the practice of the Roman church.
- Brought the Northumbrian church into line with Canterbury and the continent.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book III, chs. 25–26, p. 146–153
Council of Hertford
The first council of the whole English church, held by Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury on 24 September. The bishops accepted ten chapters from the canons of the early church on Easter, diocesan boundaries, monks, wandering clergy, regular synods and marriage. Bede gives the first indiction, which most read as 673; others argue for 672.
Church structure and authority
- Bishops are not to intrude into one another's dioceses; more bishoprics to be created as the faithful increase.
- A synod to meet regularly, at a place called Clofesho.
- Established Canterbury's practical leadership over all the English bishops.
Worship and practice
- Easter kept on the same Sunday everywhere.
- Lawful marriage only; no divorce except for fornication, and no remarriage.
Discipline and clergy
- Clergy are not to leave their own bishop or wander without letters; monks are not to leave their monasteries without leave.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book IV, ch. 5, p. 171; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. V: Council of Hertford, A.D. 673
Council of Hatfield
Theodore assembled the English bishops to declare their faith during the Monothelete controversy, at Pope Agatho's request. They received the first five general councils and the Lateran synod of 649 under Pope Martin. Their confession includes the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. Bede dates it 680; many modern writers prefer 17 September 679.
Doctrine
- Formally received Nicaea, Constantinople I, Ephesus, Chalcedon and Constantinople II as the faith of the English church.
- Confessed the Holy Spirit proceeding 'from the Father and the Son', an early instance of the Filioque in England.
- Condemned the Monothelete error by receiving the Lateran synod of 649.
Relations with Rome
- Sent a statement of English orthodoxy to Rome ahead of the Sixth General Council.
Sources: Bede (tr. J. A. Giles, rev. L. C. Jane), Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (Everyman) (1910), Book IV, ch. 17, p. 190; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. VI: Council of Hatfield, A.D. 680
The Penitential of Theodore
A systematic collection of Archbishop Theodore's rulings on penance and church order, compiled by a 'disciple of the Northumbrians' from Theodore's answers to questions. Haddan and Stubbs identify it 'with the utmost confidence' as the work known in the early Middle Ages as the Penitential of Theodore. Book I sets penances for sins and Book II covers church order and the sacraments. It became one of the most influential penitentials in the West.
Church structure and authority
- Carried Theodore's discipline into Anglo-Saxon and continental canon law.
Worship and practice
- Rulings on church order, the sacraments, and the clergy's ministry, in Book II.
Discipline and clergy
- Tariffs of penance set for particular sins, under Canterbury's authority.
Sources: A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 3 (1871), Poenitentiale Theodori (Books I–II, with preface), p. 173–204
8th century
Council of Clofesho
The most important of the councils held at Clofesho, called for the reform of abuses under Archbishop Cuthbert. Its canons ordered annual episcopal visitation and set out what priests must teach. They also bound the English church to Roman liturgical use. The text survives only through Spelman's printing, as the manuscript burned in 1731.
Worship and practice
- Priests to teach the Creed and the Lord's Prayer in the people's own tongue.
- Feasts, the martyrology, and the Rogation days to follow the use of the Roman church.
Discipline and clergy
- Bishops to visit their dioceses every year.
- Monasteries and clergy were reformed, with limits on lay control and secular living.
Relations with Rome
- The written copy received from the Roman church made the standard for liturgy.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. VII: The Canons of Cloveshoo, A.D. 747
Legatine synods of 787
Papal legates George and Theophylact held councils in Northumbria and Mercia and reported their decrees to Pope Hadrian I. It was the first papal legation to England since Augustine. The decrees covered the faith of the six councils, the duties of bishops and kings, and tithes. In the same period Lichfield was raised to an archbishopric, an arrangement undone in 803.
Doctrine
- Required the faith of the six general councils and the decrees of the Roman pontiffs to be kept.
Worship and practice
- All to learn the Creed and the Lord's Prayer; tithes to be paid as commanded in Scripture.
Church and state
- Laid down duties for kings and for their lawful election, alongside the duties of bishops.
Relations with Rome
- The first papal legation to England since the Gregorian mission, reporting directly to the pope.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. VIII: Synods held at Chelsea and elsewhere, A.D. 787; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. IX: Abolition of the metropolitan dignity of Lichfield, A.D. 803
9th century
Council of Clofesho: Lichfield's archbishopric ended
A council at Clofesho under Archbishop Ethelheard settled the sixteen-year controversy over the metropolitan dignity of Lichfield, raised under Offa of Mercia. Ethelheard had obtained from Pope Leo III a ruling that the division was unjust. The synod restored to Canterbury all its dioceses, in the dignity set by Gregory's constitution and his successors' privileges.
Church structure and authority
- Restored Canterbury's metropolitan jurisdiction over twelve southern sees.
- Ended the only attempt at a third English province.
Relations with Rome
- Settled by the authority of Pope Leo III, invoking Gregory the Great's original scheme.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. IX: Abolition of the metropolitan dignity of Lichfield, A.D. 803
Council of Chelsea
Archbishop Wulfred held a council of the bishops of the province of Canterbury, with King Cenwulf of Mercia, which issued eleven chapters. They covered the faith and the canons, how churches were to be consecrated, and the election of abbots and abbesses with the bishop's consent. One chapter barred 'Scotti' (Irish clergy) from ministering in English dioceses. Others protected church lands and judgments from alienation.
Doctrine
- Chapter I binds the province to keep the faith and the canons.
Church structure and authority
- Abbots and abbesses to be chosen with the bishop's consent.
- Irish ('Scotti') clergy not admitted to minister in the province.
Worship and practice
- A set rite for the consecration of churches.
Church and state
- Lands dedicated to God to stay with the church, against lay seizure.
Sources: A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 3 (1871), A.D. 816, July 27, Council of the bishops of the province of Canterbury at Celchyth, p. 579 ff.
11th century
Settlement of the primacy dispute
In a hearing between Lanfranc of Canterbury and Thomas of York, Lanfranc argued that the popes had confirmed to Augustine's successors the submission of all the bishops of Britain. Thomas could not prove York's claim to independence. The settlement subordinated York to Canterbury, although the question was reopened many times afterwards.
Church structure and authority
- Established Canterbury's primacy over York and the bishops of Britain.
- Grounded the claim in Gregory the Great's scheme and later papal privileges.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XIII: Settlement of the primacy dispute, A.D. 1072
Council of London under Lanfranc
Lanfranc's council set the order of precedence among bishops and moved several sees from villages to towns. It also legislated against simony, against monks owning property, and against superstitious practices. It is a characteristic Norman reforming council.
Church structure and authority
- Precedence of bishops fixed; sees moved to towns by royal leave.
Discipline and clergy
- Simony condemned; monks to keep their rule and own nothing.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XIV: Canons of the Council of London under Lanfranc, A.D. 1075
12th century
Council of Westminster under Anselm
Anselm's council deprived several abbots for simony and passed a long series of reforming canons. The canons enforced clerical celibacy, forbade sons of priests from inheriting their fathers' churches, and required tithes to be paid only to churches. Gee notes uncertainty about the councils of this year, since Eadmer gives only a summary.
Church structure and authority
- No new chapels without the bishop's consent; monks to receive churches only through the bishop.
Discipline and clergy
- Archdeacons, priests, deacons and canons forbidden to marry; married priests not to celebrate.
- Sons of priests not to succeed to their fathers' churches.
- Simony punished by deprivation.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XIX: Canons of the Council at Westminster, A.D. 1102
Compromise of investitures
After a long dispute between Anselm and Henry I, an assembly in London settled the question of lay investiture. The king gave up investing bishops and abbots with ring and staff. In return, those elected were not to be refused consecration because they had done homage to the king.
Church and state
- Ended lay investiture with ring and staff.
- Allowed royal homage for the temporalities of a see.
Relations with Rome
- Applied the Gregorian reform programme in England on terms the pope accepted.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XX: The Compromise of Investitures, A.D. 1107
Constitutions of Clarendon
Henry II set out in writing what he claimed were the customs of his grandfather's time concerning church and crown. They included royal jurisdiction over clerks accused of crime and limits on appeals to Rome. They also restricted the excommunication of royal tenants and gave the king a role in elections to sees. Becket's resistance to them led to his exile and murder.
Church structure and authority
- Fixed the chain of appeal from archdeacon to bishop to archbishop, with the king as final judge.
Church and state
- Clergy accused of crime to answer in the king's court (the 'criminous clerks' issue).
- Royal control of elections and of vacant sees and their revenues.
Relations with Rome
- No appeals to Rome, and no bishop to leave the realm, without the king's licence.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXIII: The Constitutions of Clarendon
Second Synod of Cashel
After the Irish bishops submitted to Henry II, Henry's clerks met them at Cashel to make statutes for the church. The decrees required baptism in church by priests with triple immersion, tithes on all goods, and lawful canonical marriage. They also ordered that all divine offices be conducted according to the use of the English church. Wilkins prints both Roger of Hoveden's and Giraldus Cambrensis's versions of the decrees.
Worship and practice
- All divine offices in Ireland to follow the observance of the English church.
- Infants to be catechised at the church door and baptised in the font of baptismal churches.
Discipline and clergy
- Tithes on all goods; marriage according to church law.
Church and state
- The Irish bishops recognised Henry II and his heirs as lords of Ireland.
Sources: David Wilkins (ed.), Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae, vol. 1 (Latin) (1737), Concilium Cassiliense, A.D. 1172, p. 472–473
Cum universi: the Scottish Church a 'special daughter' of Rome
Clement III's bull to William the Lion declared that the Scottish Church was the 'special daughter' (filia specialis) of the apostolic see and subject to it 'with no one in between', naming the Scottish sees. Only the pope, or a legate sent from his side, could lay Scotland under interdict or excommunication. This ended York's claim to metropolitan authority over Scotland. Haddan and Stubbs print it from Roger of Hoveden under 1188; it is often dated 1192, when it was reissued.
Church structure and authority
- Independence of the Scottish Church from York and from any English metropolitan.
- Scottish disputes over property not to be heard by judges outside the realm, except on appeal to Rome.
Relations with Rome
- Scotland made immediately subject to the papacy as its 'special daughter'.
- Legates to Scotland only if a Scot or a legate a latere.
Sources: A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (eds.), Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 2.1 (1873), A.D. 1188, March 13, Bull of Clement III to William King of the Scots, p. 273–274
13th century
King John's surrender of the kingdom to the pope
To end the interdict that Innocent III had laid on England in 1208, John resigned England and Ireland to the pope. He received them back as a vassal paying an annual tribute. The act marks the high point of papal overlordship in England.
Church and state
- Became a lasting grievance and was cited in later anti-papal legislation.
Relations with Rome
- England and Ireland held as fiefs of the papacy, with yearly tribute.
- Ended the interdict and accepted Stephen Langton as archbishop.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXV: John's surrender of the kingdom to the pope, A.D. 1213; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXIV: Answer of Innocent III concerning the interdict, A.D. 1208
Magna Carta, clause 1
The first clause of the Great Charter grants that the English church shall be free and have its rights entire and its liberties unimpaired. It confirms free elections, which John had already conceded by charter in 1214. The clause was carried into every later reissue of the Charter.
Church and state
- 'The English church shall be free' (Ecclesia Anglicana libera sit) became a foundational constitutional principle.
- Free canonical election to bishoprics and abbeys confirmed.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXVII: The Church clauses of Magna Carta, A.D. 1215; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXVI: John's ecclesiastical charter, A.D. 1214
Council of Oxford under Stephen Langton
Archbishop Stephen Langton's provincial council put into effect in England the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. Johnson notes that the constitutions are largely transcripts of the Lateran canons with local variations, covering clerical life and dress, benefices and pluralities, and the sacraments. They stand at the head of the provincial constitutions later glossed by Lyndwood.
Doctrine
- Received the reforms of Lateran IV as the law of the province of Canterbury.
Church structure and authority
- Began the series of provincial constitutions that became English canon law.
Discipline and clergy
- Clerical dress, life and conduct regulated after the Lateran pattern.
- Against pluralities and abuses of benefices.
Sources: John Johnson (ed. J. Baron), A Collection of the Laws and Canons of the Church of England, vol. 2 (1851), No. 20: Archbishop Langton's constitutions, made in a provincial synod at Oxford, A.D. 1222
Legatine Council of Otto
Cardinal Otto, papal legate a latere, held a national council in London at Henry III's invitation, against the resentment of Archbishop Edmund and many of the clergy. His constitutions required churches to be dedicated and forbade charging money for the sacraments, whose seven principal kinds they listed. Ordinands were to be examined on the sacraments, and local superstitions were corrected. John of Athon later glossed them alongside Ottobuono's.
Doctrine
- Named the seven principal sacraments: baptism, confirmation, penance, the eucharist, extreme unction, matrimony and orders.
Worship and practice
- Churches to be dedicated within two years of completion.
- Baptism on the eves of Easter and Pentecost defended against superstition.
Relations with Rome
- A papal legate legislating directly for the English church.
Sources: John Johnson (ed. J. Baron), A Collection of the Laws and Canons of the Church of England, vol. 2 (1851), No. 24: Legatine constitutions made in a national synod at London, Otto or Otho the pope's legate presiding, A.D. 1237
Legatine Council of Ottobuono
Cardinal Ottobuono, papal legate, issued a long code of constitutions at a national council at St Paul's, London. It dealt with clerical life, the immunity of churches, the solemnisation of marriage, wills, simony and the alienation of church property. John of Athon glossed it together with Otto's constitutions.
Worship and practice
- Marriage to be solemnised publicly in church.
Discipline and clergy
- Comprehensive rules on clerical life and conduct, and against simony.
Church and state
- Defended church sanctuary and immunity, and the execution of wills.
Relations with Rome
- The most extensive legatine legislation for medieval England.
Sources: John Johnson (ed. J. Baron), A Collection of the Laws and Canons of the Church of England, vol. 2 (1851), No. 27: Legatine constitutions made in a national synod held by Othobon, the pope's legate, in the church of St. Paul, London, A.D. 1268
Statute of Mortmain
Edward I forbade anyone to give, sell or otherwise transfer land to religious bodies without royal licence, on pain of forfeiture. Lands held by the church owed no reliefs or wardships, so the crown and lords lost their feudal dues. It is the first of the statutes restraining church endowment.
Church and state
- Land not to pass into the 'dead hand' of the church without the king's licence.
- Asserted royal control over the growth of church property.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXVIII: The Mortmain Act of 1279 (7 Edward I, stat. 2)
Council of Lambeth under Pecham (Ignorantia sacerdotum)
Archbishop John Peckham's provincial council issued constitutions on the sacraments and the duties of parish priests. They include the programme of teaching known from its opening words as Ignorantia sacerdotum. The constitutions were absorbed into Lyndwood's Provinciale and long remained the working canon law of the province of Canterbury.
Worship and practice
- Set what parish priests must regularly teach their people.
Discipline and clergy
- Strengthened provincial discipline over parish clergy and the ministering of the sacraments.
Sources: John Johnson (ed. J. Baron), A Collection of the Laws and Canons of the Church of England, vol. 2 (1851), No. 29: The constitutions of Friar John Peckham… made in a provincial synod at Lambeth, A.D. 1281
Circumspecte agatis
A royal writ to the king's judges, later treated as a statute, marked out the matters that church courts might hear without royal interference. These included purely spiritual causes, penance for deadly sin, tithes, mortuaries, and defamation. It settled the working boundary between royal and church jurisdiction for centuries.
Church and state
- Recognised a defined sphere of spiritual jurisdiction for church courts.
- Directed royal judges not to intervene in those cases.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXIX: The writ 'Circumspecte agatis,' A.D. 1285
14th century
Statute of Carlisle
Parliament forbade religious houses to send money assessed on them to their superiors abroad. It was a first move against the drain of English revenue to foreign houses and to Rome. Later Provisors statutes recited it as their starting point.
Church and state
- Parliament legislating on church finance in response to petitions.
Relations with Rome
- Restricted the export of English church revenues abroad.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXXIII: The Statute of Carlisle, A.D. 1307
Statutes of Provisors
The Statute of Provisors of 1351 attacked papal 'provisions', by which the pope appointed in advance to English benefices. It upheld the rights of English patrons and electors. The 1390 statute recites and strengthens the 1351 Act, which Gee and Hardy print through that recital.
Church and state
- Defended the rights of the king and English patrons over appointments.
Relations with Rome
- Papal provisions to English benefices declared void.
- Penalties for those who accepted or acted on such provisions.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXXIX: The Second Statute of Provisors, A.D. 1390 (reciting the statute of 1351)
First Statute of Praemunire
Following the Statute of Provisors, this Act made it an offence to take to courts outside the realm, chiefly the papal court, cases that belonged to the king's courts. Offenders who failed to appear could be outlawed and lose their goods. Gee and Hardy describe it as the logical companion to Provisors: Provisors defended patronage, and Praemunire defended jurisdiction.
Church and state
- Created the offence of praemunire, later the main weapon in Henry VIII's attack on the clergy.
Relations with Rome
- Penalised suing in foreign (papal) courts over matters belonging to the king's courts.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXXV: The first Statute of Praemunire, A.D. 1353
Blackfriars Council: Wyclif's propositions condemned
Archbishop Courtenay's council at Blackfriars condemned twenty-four propositions drawn from Wyclif's teaching, ten as heretical and fourteen as erroneous. The heretical ones included the denial of transubstantiation and of Christ's real corporal presence. The erroneous ones included the claim that clergy should hold no temporal possessions. Letters patent against the Lollards followed at Courtenay's request.
Doctrine
- Condemned the teaching that bread and wine remain after consecration, and the denial of Christ's real presence.
- Condemned the claims that a priest in mortal sin cannot validly ordain, consecrate or baptise, and that outward confession is needless.
Discipline and clergy
- Preaching without the authority of the apostolic see or a bishop condemned.
Church and state
- Condemned the claims that temporal lords may take church property and that tithes are mere alms.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXXVII: Wycliffe propositions condemned at London, A.D. 1382, p. 108–110; Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XXXVIII: Letters patent against the Lollards, A.D. 1384
Second (Great) Statute of Praemunire
This Act extended the 1353 statute, as confirmed in 1365. It penalised anyone who procured or brought into England papal bulls, processes or excommunications touching the king's rights or regalities. The penalties were forfeiture, imprisonment and loss of the king's protection.
Church and state
- The crown claimed final jurisdiction over its own realm against papal process.
Relations with Rome
- Barred papal bulls and sentences touching the crown's rights from England.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XL: The Second Statute of Praemunire, A.D. 1393
15th century
De heretico comburendo
The earliest Act of Parliament to suppress Lollardy. Bishops could arrest and try those preaching or teaching heresy without licence. Heretics who refused to abjure, or who relapsed, were to be handed to the secular authorities and burned in a public place.
Doctrine
- Unlicensed preaching and heretical books and teaching outlawed.
Discipline and clergy
- Strengthened episcopal powers of arrest, trial and imprisonment.
Church and state
- The secular power bound to execute church sentences by burning.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XLII: The Act 'De haeretico comburendo,' A.D. 1401 (2 Henry IV, cap. 15)
Arundel's Constitutions
Archbishop Thomas Arundel's constitutions against the Lollards were drawn up in a provincial convocation at Oxford in 1407. They were published in 1409, which explains the range of dates found in the sources. They controlled preaching, the teaching of theology at Oxford, and English Bible translation.
Doctrine
- No one to translate any text of Holy Scripture into English on their own authority, nor read such a book from Wyclif's time onward, until the diocesan bishop or, if need be, a provincial council approves it.
Church structure and authority
- Books and teaching in the universities brought under approval and oversight.
Discipline and clergy
- Preaching restricted to licensed preachers.
Sources: John Johnson (ed. J. Baron), A Collection of the Laws and Canons of the Church of England, vol. 2 (1851), No. 50: The constitutions of Thomas Arundel… against the Lollards, made in a provincial convocation at Oxford (Johnson's heading: A.D. 1408)
Remonstrance against Cardinal Beaufort's legatine powers
The king's council formally objected to Cardinal Henry Beaufort exercising powers as papal legate in England without royal consent. It invoked the custom that no legate should enter the realm unless the king had asked for him. Foxe preserves the text.
Church and state
- Showed the crown policing English bishops who held papal office.
Relations with Rome
- Reasserted that papal legates act in England only with royal consent.
Sources: Henry Gee and William John Hardy (eds.), Documents Illustrative of English Church History (1896), No. XLIV: Remonstrance against the legatine powers of Cardinal Beaufort, A.D. 1428
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