dering the clergy intirely independent of the civil authority: and long and eager were the conteſts occaſioned by this diſpute. But at length when the emperor Henry V agreed to remove all ſuſpicion of encroachment on the ſpiritual character, by conferring inveſtitures for the future per ſceptrum and not per annulum et baculum; and when the kings of England and France conſented alſo to alter the form in their kingdoms, and receive only homage from the biſhops for their temporalties, inſtead of inveſting them by the ring and croſier; the court of Rome found it prudent to ſuſpend for a while it's other pretenſions[1].
This conceſſion was obtained from king Henry the firſt in England, by means of that obſtinate and arrogant prelate, arch-biſhop Anſelm[2]: but king John (about a century afterwards) in order to obtain the protection of the pope againſt his diſcontented barons, was prevailed upon to give up by a charter, to all the monaſteries and cathedrals in the kingdom, the free right of electing their prelates, whether abbots or biſhops: reſerving only to the crown the cuſtody of the temporalties during the vacancy; the form of granting a licence to elect, (which is the original of our conge d'eſlire) on refuſal whereof the electors might proceed without it; and the right of approbation afterwards, which was not to be denied without a reaſonable and lawful cauſe[3]. This grant was expreſſly recognized and confirmed in king John's magna carta[4], and was again eſtabliſhed by ſtatute 25 Edw. III. ſt. 6. §. 3.
But by ſtatute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 20. the antient right of nomination was, in effect, reſtored to the crown: it being enacted that, at every future avoidance of a biſhoprick, the king may ſend the dean and chapter his uſual licence to proceed to election; which is always to be accompanied with a letter miſſive from the king, containing the name of the perſon whom he would have them elect: and, if the dean and chapter delay their election above
