Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/395

 Ch. 11. dering the clergy intirely independent of the civil authority: and long and eager were the contets occaioned by this dipute. But at length when the emperor Henry V agreed to remove all upicion of encroachment on the piritual character, by conferring invetitures for the future per ceptrum and not per annulum et baculum; and when the kings of England and France conented alo to alter the form in their kingdoms, and receive only homage from the bihops for their temporalties, intead of inveting them by the ring and croier; the court of Rome found it prudent to upend for a while it's other pretenions.

conceion was obtained from king Henry the firt in England, by means of that obtinate and arrogant prelate, arch-bihop Anelm : but king John (about a century afterwards) in order to obtain the protection of the pope againt his dicontented barons, was prevailed upon to give up by a charter, to all the monateries and cathedrals in the kingdom, the free right of electing their prelates, whether abbots or bihops: reerving only to the crown the cutody of the temporalties during the vacancy; the form of granting a licence to elect, (which is the original of our conge d'elire) on refual whereof the electors might proceed without it; and the right of approbation afterwards, which was not to be denied without a reaonable and lawful caue. This grant was exprely recognized and confirmed in king John's magna carta, and was again etablihed by tatute 25 Edw. III. t. 6. §. 3.

by tatute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 20. the antient right of nomination was, in effect, retored to the crown: it being enacted that, at every future avoidance of a bihoprick, the king may end the dean and chapter his uual licence to proceed to election; which is always to be accompanied with a letter miive from the king, containing the name of the peron whom he would have them elect: and, if the dean and chapter delay their election above Rh