332               Constitutional History.            [chap.

its liberality with a clerical gift. We have seen how regularly
this function was discharged during the fifteenth century, and
how the clerical grant followed in due proportion the grant
of the laity. But although in nearly every case there is a
session of convocation to match the session of parliament, the
session of convocation cannot be regarded as an adjunct of
parliament. Archbishop Wake, in his great controversy with
Atterbury, showed from an exhaustive enumeration of instances
that, even where the purpose of the two assemblies was the
same, there was no such close dependence of the convocation
upon the parliament as was usual after the changes introduced
by Henry VIII. The king very seldom even suggests the day
for the meeting of convocation ; its sessions and adjournments
take place quite irrespective of those of the parliament; very
rare attempts are made to interfere with its proceedings even
when they are unauthorised by the royal writ of request ; and,
after the accession of the house of Lancaster, they are not inter-
fered with at all. On the side of the papacy interference could
scarcely be looked for. Asa legate could exercise no jurisdic-
tion at all without royal licence, a Iegatine council could not
be held in opposition to the king’s will ; but the days of Iega-
tine councils of the whole national church seemed at all events
to be over ; there is no trace of any important meeting of such
assembly between the days of Arundel and those of Wolsey¹;
although, after the date at which both archbishops acquired the
Iegatine character, both the provincial convocations might be
invidiously represented as Iegatine councils.

389. The history of ecclesiastical legislation, so far as it
enters into our present consideration, comprises three distinct
topics ; the legislation of the clergy for the clergy, of the
clergy for the laity, and of the laity for the clergy ; and, under
each of these, the several attempts at interference with, and
resistance to, such legislation. Under each head moreover we

¹ In 1408 the archbishop of Bourdeaux is said to have held a Iegatine
council at London to discuss the state of the papacy ; Cont. Eulog. iii.
413; but he seems to have merely been the envoy of the cardinals sent
to debate the matter with the English clergy; see Wilkins, Cone. iii.
308, 3n, 312.

χιx∙]

have to distinguish in the case of the clergy between the pope
and the national church, as regards both attempts at legislation
and attempts at restriction ; whilst in the case of the laity we
must not less carefully discriminate between the action of the
crown, of the parliament, and of the common law. An exhaus-
tive discussion of the subject, even thus limited, would be out
of all proportion to the general plan, of this work, even if
controversial points could be treated in it. It is however
necessary to attempt to classify, under some such arrangement,
the particular points of the subject which have an important
bearing on our national history ; and, as most of these have
been noted in their chronological order in our narrative
chapters, the recapitulation need not occupy much space.

The laws made by spiritual authority for the spiritualty, by Laws made
the clergy for the clergy, include, as far as medieval history is 'VLiTautho-
concerned, the body of the Canon Law, published in the Deere- clergy”^t æ
turn of Gratian and its successive supplements, such particular
edicts of the popes as had a general operation, the canons of
general councils, the constitutions of the legates and Iegatine
councils, the constitutions published by the archbishops and the
convocations of their provinces, which in the fifteenth century
were codified by Lyndwood in the Provinciale, and those of
individual bishops made in their diocesan synods. All these Canon Law.
may be included under the general name of Canon Law ; all
were regarded as binding on the faithful within their sphere of
operation, and, except where they came into collision with the
rights of the crown, common law or statute, they were re-
cognised as authoritative in ecclesiastical procedure.

In the general legislation of the church, the English church General
and nation had alike but a small share ; the promulgation of of⁸‰^t'°ⁿ
the successive portions of the Decretals was a papal act, to ^chuιch∙
w^τhich Christendom at large gave a silent acquiescence¹ : the

ɪ See Blackstone, Comm. i. 79, 80 : ‘ All the strength that either the
papal or imperial laws have obtained in this realm or indeed in any other
kingdom in Europe, is only because they have been admitted and received
by immemorial usage and custom in some particular cases and some par-
ticular courts, . . . or else because they are in some other cases introduced
by consent of parliament.’ In the statute de Bigamis ^Statutes, i. 44)

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