338 Constitutional History. [chap.
Restriction
of papal as-
sumptions.
declared Urban VI to be the true pope, in opposition to the
antipope supported by France and Scotland. But such measures
are in fact political rather than legislative, and in their very
nature exceptional. The most prominent place belongs to the
statutes by which the papal usurpations or aggressions were met
under the successors of Henry III, especially the legislation
exemplified in the statutes of provisors and praemunire.
Legislation
on Pro-
visors,
Growth of
opposition t
the system.
Attempted
legislation
of 1307.
Petition of
the parlia-
ment of
Carlisle.
392. The great statute of provisors, passed in 1351, was a
very solemn expression of the national determination not to
give way to the pope’s usurpation of patronage. It was the
result of a series of efforts to throw off the yoke imposed in the
thirteenth century by the successive encroachments on the free
election to bishoprics, the history of which has been already
traced. These efforts had begun under the influence of the
school of Grosseteste, who, however much he may have been
inclined to aid the pope in other ways, was determinedly
opposed to the appointment of foreigners, ignorant of the
English language or non-resident altogether, to the care of
English churches. The papal provisions were not only usurpa-
tions of patronage, and infringements of canonical liberty, but
the occasion of the loss of Christian souls. Yet, in spite of the
dislike with which they were viewed, petition, remonstrance,
and even legislation seemed powerless against them. The clergy
were afraid of the pope, the king found it convenient to use the
power which connivance with the pope gave him in the pro-
motion of his servants ; and, to the baronage and the commons
alike, the withdrawal of money from the realm by the aliens
whom the pope provided was a point of at least as much import-
ance as the spiritual loss of the church. Not to recur to the
constant presentments of gravamina which furnished employ-
ment to the councils and parliaments of the thirteenth century,
it will be enough to point to the legislation attempted in the
parliament of Carlisle in 1307. The petition of the earls,
barons, and commonalty of the land presented to the king in
that parliament, the words of which were afterwards rehearsed
in the statute of provisors, states that the church in this realm
was founded by the king and his ancestors, and by the earls
XIX.]
Restrictive Measures.
339
and barons and their ancestors, that they and their people Parliament
might learn the faith, and provision might be made for prayer,
alms, and hospitality ; the recent action of the pope had tended
to throw the great estates devoted to these purposes into the
hands of aliens. The articles enumerated in the petition touch
several other points of aggression, a claim recently made to the
goods of intestates and to property not distinctly bequeathed by
testators, the attempt to tax the temporalities of the clergy, the
demand of firstfruits and of an increased contribution of Peter’s
pence1. The immediate result of the petition was the publi- Failure of
• P ι∙∙ιι-ιι τι∏η . the attempt
cation of a statute, which had been passed by the lay estates in at Iegisla-
1305, forbidding the religious houses to send money abroad,
a prohibition addressed to William de Testa, the papal agent,
forbidding him to proceed under the instructions committed to
him, a letter of remonstrance to the pope, and orders, which
were afterwards partially suspended, that the sheriffs should
arrest the officers employed as papal collectors. Edward, whose
death was known to be very near, was in no condition to dispute
with the legate, Peter of Spain, and before a concordat could be
arranged he died2. The struggle continued languidly UiiderStateof
Edward Il ; he himself and the representatives of his father’s Edward ιι.
policy were still inclined to resistance ; but the opposition,
headed by the earl of Lancaster, and supported to some extent
by French and clerical influence, avoided offending the pope ;
and, although aggressions were multiplied and preventive
measures and remonstrances were now and then tried3, no
legislation was attempted until Edward III had been for some
years on the throne. In 1343 the king was desired to write to Hemon-
the pope against the promotion of aliens, and to attempt some Edward in.
such legislation as has been contemplated in the parliament of
1 Rot. Parl. ɪ. 219-223; Statutes, ɪ. 150.
2 See above, vol. ii. pp. 162, 163.
3 Letters forbidding the introduction of papal bulls without licence were
issued by Edward II in 1307 ; Foed. ii. 13 : by Edward III in 1327; ib.
p. 726: and in 1376 ; Wilk. Cone. iii. 107. In 1376 William Courtenay,
then bishop of London, published a papal bull against the Florentines, for
which he was brought before both the king and chancellor and forced to
retract the publication, which he did by proxy at S. Paul’s Cross ; Cont
Eulog. iii. 335.
Z 2