Page:English Historical Review Volume 37.djvu/183

 1922 THE GREAT STATUTE OF PRAEMUNIRE 175 statutes of provisors and others who sue in other courts in deroga- tion of the rights of the king. 1 The act, it is clear, applies only to certain kinds of papal documents, and the records of the time show that a wide field of papal activity was unaffected by it. Englishmen continued to appeal to the papal court, to present petitions to the pope, to accept papal graces and to execute papal mandates, evidently without any thought that they were breaking the law. 2 English prelates and magnates still had agents at the curia. 3 There are, moreover, in the Year Books of the next twenty years cases in which judges and counsel not only recognize the authority of certain papal bulls but assume that the pope has a lawful jurisdiction over Englishmen in certain matters and show much scruple in avoiding encroachment on his rights. 4 Nor, to turn to later times, should it be forgotten that Henry VIII, who was not the man to put a narrow interpretation upon statutes of praemunire, was constrained to plead before a papal court and could not have the divorce suit decided within the realm until parliament had passed the act in restraint of appeals. Of what nature, then, were the ' bulls, instruments, and other things ' which came within the meaning of the act ? Only such, at any rate, as were against the king, his crown and regality, or his realm. 5 In wording the description was somewhat unusual, 1 ' Si ascun purchace ou pursue ou face purchacer ou pursuer en la Court de Rome ou aillours ascuns tieux translations, processes, et sentences de escomengementz bulles instrumentz ou autre chose quelconqe, qe touche le Roi notre seignour encountre luy sa corone et regalie ou son Roialme come devant est dit, et ceux qe les porte deinz le Roialme ou les resceive ou face ent notification ou autre execucion quelconqe deinz mesme le Roialme ou dehors, soient ils lour notairs procuratours meintenourt abbettours fautours et conseillours mys hors de la protection notre dit seignour le Roy, et lours terres et tenementz biens et chatieux f orfaitz au Roy notre seignour ; et qils soient attachez par lour corps sils purront estre trovez et amesnez devant le Roy et son Conseil pur y respondre es cases avauntditz, ou qe processe soit fait devere eux par premunire facias en manere come est ordeigne en autres estatutz des provisours et autres qui seuent en autry Courte en derogacion de la regalie notre seignour le Roy ' : Statutes, ii. 85 seq. . 2 The dealings of Englishmen with Rome are abundantly illustrated in the Calendar* of Papal Letters. The passing of the statute of 1393 did not cause any appreciable diminution in the number of entries concerning England in the papal registers. It is true that many of the transactions recorded were contrary to the statutes of pro visors, breaches of which indeed were at times sanctioned by royal licence. But the majority were evidently quite lawful in the eyes of the parties concerned, and must have been carried out without any reference to the temporal authorities in England. 3 Of particular interest in this relation is the letter- book of William Swan, an abbreviator of papal letters at the curia, who was often employed as agent by eminent Englishmen notably Archbishop Kemp in the early years of the reign of Henry VI. The book is preserved in MS. Cott., Cleop. C. iv, fos. 124-229 v. 4 See especially the report of the suit of quare impedit brought by Henry IV against Robert Halluni, bishop of Salisbury, and Henry Chichele, bishop of St. Davids ( Year Book, ed. 1679, 11 Hen. IV, pp. 37, 59, 76), and that of a suit between two priors about an advowson (ibid. 14 Hen. IV, p. 14). 5 From Gal. of Pat. Rolls, 1391-6, p. 635, it appears as if the prior of Kyme got into trouble because he obtained certain bulls ' not knowing that the obtaining