Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/394

 378 of the repective kingdoms of Europe took the appointment in ome degree into their own hands; by reerving to themelves the right of confirming thee elections, and of granting invetiture of the temporalties, which now began almot univerally to be annexed to this piritual dignity; without which confirmation and invetiture, the elected bihop could neither be conecrated, nor receive any ecular profits. This right was acknowleged in the emperor Charlemagne, A. D. 773, by pope Hadrian I, and the council of Lateran, and univerally exercied by other chritian princes: but the policy of the court of Rome at the ame time began by degrees to exclude the laity from any hare in thee elections, and to confine them wholly to the clergy, which at length was completely effected; the mere form of election appearing to the people to be a thing of little conequence, while the crown was in poeion of an abolute negative, which was almot equivalent to a direct right of nomination. Hence the right of appointing to bihopricks is aid to have been in the crown of England (as well as other kingdoms in Europe) even in the Saxon times, becaue the rights of confirmation and invetiture were in effect (though not in form) a right of complete donation. But when, by length of time, the cutom of making elections by the clergy only was fully etablihed, the popes began to except to the uual method of granting thee invetitures, which was per annulum et baculum, by the prince's delivering to the prelate a ring, and a patoral taff or croier; pretending, that this was an encroachment on the church's authority, and an attempt by thee ymbols to confer a piritual juridiction: and pope Gregory VII, towards the cloe of the eleventh century, publihed a bulle of excommunication againt all princes who hould dare to confer invetitures, and all prelates who hould venture to receive them. This was a bold tep towards effecting the plan then adopted by the Roman ee, of ren- Rh