canon law
canon law was the law of the universal church and from the 4th cent. became a complete legal system, taking much inspiration from the civil (Roman) law. All European countries accepted the authority of canon law and the conflict between church and state in many countries, and in England notably between Henry II and Thomas Becket, arose from disputes over the boundaries between canon law and domestic law in such matters as advowsons (the right to present to a clergy living), criminous clerks, or other jurisdictional disputes.
In 1066 William I had established a dual system of secular and ecclesiastical courts. In the latter canon law was administered, and they were acknowledged as having authority in all matters spiritual. The jurisdiction of these courts was wide. They dealt with offences against religion and morals, for which clergy and laity alike could be brought before the court and penance imposed, and with matters relating to marriage, legitimacy, and succession to personal property.
Until the Reformation and the reign of Henry VIII the ultimate authority in matters spiritual lay with the papal curia, to which appeal ultimately lay, though there were many examples of tensions and rivalries between the canon law and the common law courts, e.g. the common law courts would not allow the church courts to deal with questions of title to freehold land, nor to impose fines nor grant damages. The statutes of Praemunire were specifically passed to forbid Englishmen to appeal to Rome in cases which were exclusively the concern of the common law.
After Henry VIII's break with Rome, appeal was no longer allowed to the papal curia and was abolished by statute in 1533. After the Reformation, therefore, the English ecclesiastical courts, although much influenced still by canon law, were no longer applying the canon law of the universal church, and a special English ecclesiastical law developed in the tribunals of the Church of England. This tendency was enhanced by the fact that doctors of civil law were increasingly appointed in place of churchmen as judges in the church courts. Ecclesiastical law became part of and subordinate to the common law, though until the 19th cent. the church courts retained jurisdiction over succession in cases of personal property and over questions of family law.
In 1066 William I had established a dual system of secular and ecclesiastical courts. In the latter canon law was administered, and they were acknowledged as having authority in all matters spiritual. The jurisdiction of these courts was wide. They dealt with offences against religion and morals, for which clergy and laity alike could be brought before the court and penance imposed, and with matters relating to marriage, legitimacy, and succession to personal property.
Until the Reformation and the reign of Henry VIII the ultimate authority in matters spiritual lay with the papal curia, to which appeal ultimately lay, though there were many examples of tensions and rivalries between the canon law and the common law courts, e.g. the common law courts would not allow the church courts to deal with questions of title to freehold land, nor to impose fines nor grant damages. The statutes of Praemunire were specifically passed to forbid Englishmen to appeal to Rome in cases which were exclusively the concern of the common law.
After Henry VIII's break with Rome, appeal was no longer allowed to the papal curia and was abolished by statute in 1533. After the Reformation, therefore, the English ecclesiastical courts, although much influenced still by canon law, were no longer applying the canon law of the universal church, and a special English ecclesiastical law developed in the tribunals of the Church of England. This tendency was enhanced by the fact that doctors of civil law were increasingly appointed in place of churchmen as judges in the church courts. Ecclesiastical law became part of and subordinate to the common law, though until the 19th cent. the church courts retained jurisdiction over succession in cases of personal property and over questions of family law.
Maureen Mulholland
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canon law