The Papal Constitution Execrabilis (1317) and Clerical Justices in the English Royal Courts

Publication Title

The Learned and Lived Law: Essays in Honor of Charles Donahue

Editor

Elizabeth Papp Kamali, Saskia Lettmaier, & Nikitas Hatzimihail

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

A recurrent challenge of pastoral administration in the medieval Latin church was pluralism—simultaneous tenure by a cleric of more than one ecclesiastical benefice involving a cure of souls. To combat pluralism, Pope John XXII issued Execrabilis in 1317, requiring all pluralists to resign all but one benefice with cure of souls gifted by ecclesiastical patrons. Gilbert Rothbury, Hervey de Stanton, and John Bacun were the only three clerical justices in the English royal courts at the time Execrabilis was promulgated, and each was a pluralist. Using bishop’s registers, Chancery documents, and papal records, this essay compiles benefice portfolios for each justice and examines the impact of Execrabilis upon them. This study offers a deeper glimpse into judicial finances, judicial patronage, and the relationships among medieval judges, prelates, and lay leaders in early fourteenth-century England.

Recommended Citation

Ryan Rowberry, The Papal Constitution Execrabilis (1317) and Clerical Justices in the English Royal Courts, in The Learned and Lived Law: Essays in Honor of Charles Donahue 334 (Elizabeth Papp Kamali, Saskia Lettmaier, & Nikitas Hatzimihail, eds., 2024).

DOI

10.1163/9789004710696_015

First Page

334

Last Page

369

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