medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
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From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Date: 18 November 2003 14:03:22
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] Henry VIII
>I think the "ancient law" in this case is the Statute of Praemunire
>of 1353---which declared that it is illegal to take abroad cases
>that are cognizable in the king's court.
Hi Phyllis and all,
1353 would be little more than 150 years before Henry which I would say
hardly qualifies as ‘ancient’. Moreover the Statute of Praemunire limits the
power of the pope but I don’t think it goes as far as saying that ‘it is
treason to acknowledge any higher authority than the will of the king’. I
have always thought that this mysterious ancient law dates back to something
like the tenth century when the early kings of England were trying to
establish their authority. At this time it would not of course have been
aimed at the pope but I thought the whole point was that Henry was harking
back to a time when Kings of England were sovereign and not answerable to
popes ie a time before the escalation of papal claims that started with
Gregory VII in the eleventh century. So Henry’s scholars were saying that
any suggestion that the King of England was answerable to the pope was an
innovation, a fiction that started in the eleventh century, and was
therefore invalid. The true, original and ancient state of affairs was that
the King of England is unfettered sovereign. So I thought it was something
like this that Henry's scholars were excited about.
Julien
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