Jura regalia

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Jura regalia[1] is a medieval legal term that denoted rights that belonged exclusively to the king, either as essential to his sovereignty (jura majora, jura essentialia), such as royal authority, or as accidental (jura minora, jura accidentalia), such as hunting, fishing and mining rights. Many sovereigns in the Middle Ages and in later times claimed the right to seize the revenues of vacant episcopal sees or abbeys as a regalian right.[2] In some countries, especially in France. where it was known as droit de régale (French: [dʁwa də ʁeɡal]), jura regalia came to be applied almost exclusively to that assumed right. A liberty was an area in which the regalian right did not apply.

Rationale

It is a matter of dispute on what ground the temporal rulers claimed the revenues of vacant dioceses and abbeys. Some hold that it is an inherent right of sovereignty; others state that it is a necessary consequence of the

cure of souls
was attached.

History

It is difficult to determine when and where the jura regalia was first exercised. In the

West Frankish Kingdom, it made its first appearance probably towards the end of the Carolingian dynasty
, that is, in the course of the 10th century.

England

In England, the exact practice prior to the

William the Conqueror, the record is also unclear, but the absence of monastic complaints suggests that revenues did not go to the royal treasury.[3]

It is first mentioned in connection with King William II of England, who, after the death of Lanfranc in 1089, kept the Diocese of Canterbury vacant for more than three years, during which period the king seized all the archiepiscopal revenues. William II was also known for keeping other bishoprics and abbeys vacant so that his own officials could administer them and keep the income for the king,[4] although recent studies have shown that this was not quite as common as indicated by the complaints of medieval chroniclers.[5] The income from the regalian right was an important, if irregular, source of income for the kings.[6] At least in England under William II, there was a natural tendency to keep the more lucrative offices vacant longer than the poorer offices, thus allowing the royal revenue to be augmented.

Although William's successor, King

Pipe roll from 1130 shows a number of vacant benefices whose revenues were going to the royal coffers.[8]

During the reign of

British Crown
even today exercises it over the temporalities of vacant (Anglican) dioceses.

Germany

In Germany

Hagenau, in September 1219.[16] In 1238, he began to exercise it anew[17] but only during the actual vacancy of dioceses, not for a whole year, as he had done previously. After the death of Frederick II, the claims of the German Emperors to this right gradually ceased. The revenues of vacant dioceses in Prussia went to the succeeding bishop; in Bavaria, to the cathedral church; in Austria
, to the "Religionsfond".

Important regalia were the following:

France

In France, the first mention of it is found during the reign of

province of Vienne
.

The

Second Council of Lyons (1274) forbade anyone, under pain of excommunication, to extend the jus regaliae over any diocese that was then exempt from it,[19] and in 1499, Louis XII gave strict orders to his officials not to exercise it over exempt dioceses. Towards the end of the 16th century, the restriction of the Council of Lyons began to be disregarded, and on 24 April 1608, the Parliament decided that the king had the droit de régale over all dioceses of France, but Henry IV of France
did not carry that parliamentary decision into effect.

On 10 February 1673,

Innocent XII, the right was maintained until the French Revolution
.

Napoleon I attempted to restore it in a decree dated 6 November 1813, but his downfall the following year frustrated his plan. In 1880, the Third Republic
again asserted the right and overstepped even the limits of its former application.

See also

Sources

References

  1. Latin: jus regaliae, jus regale, jus deportus; German
    : Regalienrecht.
  2. ^ Coredon Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases p. 236
  3. ^ a b Knowles Monastic Order pp. 612–615
  4. ^ Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 170
  5. ^ Mason William II p. 139
  6. ^ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 175
  7. ^ Mason William II pp. 71–72
  8. ^ Hollister Henry I pp. 109–110
  9. ^ Mortimer Angevin England p. 42
  10. ^ Mansi, XXI, 1195.
  11. ^ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet, Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Niederrheins, I, 288.
  12. ^ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 9.
  13. ^ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 37.
  14. ^ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 58, 60.
  15. ^ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 68.
  16. ^ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 78.
  17. ^ Mon. Germ.: Const. II, 285.
  18. ^ ep. 224, Patrologia Latina CLXXXII, 392.
  19. ^ Mansi, XXIV, 90/

External links

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Droit de Regale". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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