The Law of Patronage in Czech Dioceses in the High and Late Middle Ages

SUMMARY. The main founder of churches and ecclesiastical institutions in the early Middle Ages was the duke, while from the 12 th century magnates also became involved in founding these institutions. Gifts went to God and the saints. In the early period of founders, the property donated to the Church was treated in the spirit of respecting the rights of the proprietary churches. The law of patronage, which was progressively implemented during the 13 th century and first half of the 14 th century brought change. The most common holders of the right of patronage in the Bohemian Kingdom and the Moravian Margraviate were the king, the margrave, individual noble families, bishops, monasteries, chapters, Royal towns, and occasionally patrician families. A priest who applied for a parish benefice had to submit proof of his ordination and a presentation document from the church patron. Following confirmation from the vicar general, he received a confirmation document showing that he was the authorised holder of the particular parish benefice. Parish benefice confir-mations were recorded in the confirmation books held by the vicars general.


Introduction
One important piece of medieval canon law was the law of patronage (jus patronatus).This governed the relationships between the founder of a benefice and the respective Church institution.In this article we focus our attention on the application of the law of patronage within Czech dioceses during the Middle Ages.Specifically, these are the Diocese of Prague, the Diocese of Olomouc, and in the period from the mid-14 th century to the Hussite Revolution, also the Diocese of Litomyšl.In 1344, the Bishopric of Prague was elevated to an archbishopric, with the Bishopric of Olomouc and the newly established Bishopric of Litomyšl subordinated to it.The aim of the article is to give a basic overview of the penetration, application and development of the law of patronage in medieval Bohemia and Moravia.Documents and official books regarding the law of patronage are presented 1 .
Some important sources in regard to the law of patronage in Bohemia include the Prague Archbishopric´s confirmation books, in which confirmations of benefices were recorded, and erection books, which recorded newly set up benefices.František Antonín Tingl and Josef Emler published confirmation books from 1354-1419 2 , while Kliment Borový and Antonín Podlaha published erection books from 1358-1407 3 .The court books of the Prague Archbishopric's Vicars General, which in the period following 1379 contain many records on disputes over benefices and the right of patronage, was edited by Ferdinand Tadra 4 .The legatine, provincial and diocesan statutes and the synodical protocols promulgated by bishops and archbishops of Prague, which contain provisions on the law of patronage, were edited by Rostislav Zelený, Jaroslav V. Polc, Jaroslav Kadlec and Zdeňka Hledíková 5 , while synodical statutes of the Diocese of Olomouc were edited by Pavel Krafl 6 .The law of patronage required that the original church owner, at that time the church patron, did not appoint the priest for the church, but rather that he merely proposed an appropriate candidate to the bishop (presentation).The bishop would then confirm the proposed person as long as he met all requirements (confirmation).The patron had the right and obligation of supervision over the church's assets 7 .The original ownership right of the church founder became the right of patronage, with the relationship to the original property expressed in the application of founder's rights 8 .
In early times, the relationship between the church's founder and the church was set up along the lines of a system of proprietary churches.Churches that were set up were owned by their founder, i.e. the duke.This arose from the idea that anything that stood on the territory of a landlord was the property of that landlord, including churches and monasteries.A church and its income represented a specific type of asset for the founder, whether sovereign or nobleman, and it was understood to be private property.The landlord actually appointed a priest to the church, and demanded a part of the church's income, including the final estate of the priest.If a church was unoccupied, all its income went to the landlord 9 .
A conflict between Bishop of Prague Andreas (1214-1223) and King Přemysl Ottokar I of Bohemia was of significance for the Church's emancipation and its further development in Bohemia.Andreas's efforts reflected the direct influence of the papal curia and the reform programme of the papacy.Upon his return from the Fourth Council of the Lateran, Andreas attempted to enforce the concept of the Church as an independent body.In so doing, he was also challenging laymen to refrain from appointing priests to churches without the Bishop's agreement.Andreas remained alone in his battle, and it proved impossible to change ingrained customs easily.Instead of the judicial statement the Bishop was expecting, the papal curia allowed the situation to be resolved through political negotiations with the Bohemian King.An agreement came out of Andreas's negotiations with the royal counsel, Master John  de Scacario, in 1221, which acknowledged all spiritual administration of the Church in Bohemia, in particular the installation of priests according to the right of patronage.Pope Honorius III summarised its conclusions in a document, and this was subsequently confirmed by King Přemysl Ottokar I of Bohemia 10 .The privilege for the Prague Bishopric and church, given the omnem libertatem, was restored.After that, the issue of the right of patronage disappeared from the agenda.Provisions regarding the right of patronage do not appear in the King's privilege for the Prague church from 2 July 1221, nor in the Great Privilege for the monasteries in the Diocese of Prague from 10 March 1222.Nevertheless, these privileges did consolidate the ownership rights of ecclesiastical institutions 11 .
The right of patronage was applied across almost the entire thirteenth century, and partially also in the fourteenth century.Many members of the higher nobility became bishops from the end of the thirteenth century; the position of bishops was in this way strengthened.They could better secure the needs of a particular church in its spiritual and temporal stand against secular power (i.e., against the nobility and the sovereign) 12 .
In 1273, the Bishop of Olomouc, Bruno of Schaumburg (1247-1281), noted to Pope Gregory X (1271-1276) that only the Bohemian King respected the law of patronage in Bohemia, and that, considering the established customs there and the number of opponents, the Bishop of Prague could do nothing without the support of the Holy See 13 .Papal legate Giovanni Boccamazza stressed the necessity of preventing parish and chapels from being occupied by unauthorised persons, i.e. contrary to the law of patronage.Amongst extant documents, there is a broad range of presentation and confirmation documents, including real and form-based documents.We have many documents from the period of Bishop of Prague Tobiáš of Benešov 14 .
According to the chronicler František Pražský's interpretation, during the episcopate of Bishop of Prague Jan IV of Dražice (1301-1343), a priest who did not obey his patron was cast out of his church and replaced by a new priest, who would arrive after him during the period from St George's Day until the following St George's Day.The bishop went to the King and the nobility and asked that this approach no longer be taken.According to the chronicler, noblemen responded that it would be better to become pagans than to accept his requests 15 .
The diocesan and provincial statutes give opinions on the unauthorised occupation of benefices.The Prague provincial statutes of 1349 ordained that unauthorised holders were removed from benefices.In the Moravian diocesan statutes from 1318 there was a provision against the unjustified occupation of parish benefices by secular persons.That is, the right to the church was denied to persons who were appointed as parson by secular authorities or who somehow inveigled himself into the position 16 .From 1380, the vicars general of the Prague Archbishopric took over disputes over benefices and the law of patronage from officials, such disputes having become the most common kinds of disputes 17 .
It was the owners of the church who had the law of patronage at this time, i. e. the noble families and perhaps the monarch.Most patrons were recruited from the nobility, and it was generally churches in villages which they owned.With increasing foundations of Church institutions and additional donations to these, possession of the right of patronage over parish churches expanded to monasteries and collegiate chapters.In general, it was churches in villages which Church institutions gained ownership of.Royal towns also became patrons of churches, and this was typical for Prague's towns.On noble estates, the law of patronage was fully respected from the mid-14 th century.In most cases, the bishop or his vicar general obliged the patron and confirmed the presented cleric for the benefice.For towns which had the right of patronage over their parish church, it was the town council which selected the candidate.In Prague's towns including its suburbs, for example, there were more than forty parish churches, and the town was the patron of the majority of these 18 .The appointment of all benefice holders by the bishop allowed for separate Church administration to be applied, with supervision over the diocese's clergy.Jurisdictional authority could be applied at a local level (archdeacons), and this was followed by the development of central ecclesiastical courts 19 .The confirmation of parish priests became an official step of a formal nature in which no real decision was made.The mass nature of the agenda played a role, and the presenting patron played the decisive role 20 .Even so, there were also cases where the vicar general refused to confirm a priest to a church.This occurred, for example, in 1386, when the priest Albert, proposed by Vrbík of Tismice and the joint patrons of the church in Ratenice, was found unsuitable 21 .
Much writing of documents was involved in the appointment of an altar administrator and parish parson.The priest submitted an ordination document (litterae formatae) and a presentation document from the church patron.This naturally included the seal of the patron.It is assumed that it was actually the presented cleric who wrote in it on behalf of the patron.It was only to a limited extent that the patron came in person to the office to present him.The priest went to the office with both these documents, where he received the confirmation document, which authorised the recipient to receive the benefice and its wages.A ceremony was meant to take place in which the new parish parson or altar administrator would be publicly announced at the place where the church was located.This also involved a call that any objections be made there.If there were no objections, the priest was introduced to his office by one of the neighbouring parish priests.If there were objections, then this was generally followed by a dispute.The executors together made a decision, and their acts were also recorded in the confirmation book.A priest who was applying for a benefice did not have to appear in person, but rather could be represented by his procurator.The procurator required written power of attorney 22 .Exceptionally in the presentation of a cleric the legal custom of secular law was also applied, as 19   Johann Schlenz, Das Kirchenpatronat in Böhmen.Beiträge zu seiner Geschichte und Rechtsentwicklung.Quellen und Forschungen aus dem Gebiet der Geschichte 4 (Prag: Verlag der Deutschen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften und Künste für die Tschechoslowakische Republik, 1928), 32-167; Zdeňka Hledíková, "K otázkám vztahu duchovní a světské moci v Čechách ve druhé polovině 14. století" ["On the question of the relationship between religious and secular power in Bohemia in the second half of the 14 th century"], Československý časopis historický 24 (1976), 251., "Arcibiskupství a písemná kultura ve středověku" ["Archbishopric and written culture in the Middle Ages"], in Pražské arcibiskupství 1344-1994.Sborník statí o jeho působení a významu v české zemi, eds.Zdeňka Hledíková and Jaroslav V. Polc (Praha: Zvon, 1994), 75.An extant list from the Prague Chapter Archives which comes from the office of the Prague administrators shows payments for sealing the documents affirming the confirmation of parish priests and provisions on spiritual administration for the period from 8 March 1498 to June 1499.Zdeňka Hledíková, "Registrum perceptorum a sigillo (Z agendy pražských administrátorů na konci 15. století)" ["Registrum perceptorum a sigillo (From the agenda of the Prague administrators at the end of the 15 th century)"], Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Philosophica et historica 5, Z pomocných věd historických 3 (1975), 89-104.
was the case in the passing of the hat to the presented cleric from the secular patron of the church in Žlutice in the Žatec district in 1402 23 .
Records of confirmations made were put in confirmation books (Libri confirmationum).These began to be kept from June 1354 in the Archdiocese of Prague.The records were anonymous in the first four years (specifically until June 1358), and with few exceptions the issuer of the decision is not listed.The initial entry in the second half of the first book implies that during this period, the Archbishop himself undertook confirmations, i. e. Arnošt of Pardubice (1344-1364), and to a lesser extent his vicars general.1358 saw a major change in the keeping of confirmation books.There were no longer separate records for each archdeaconry, and a single chronological list began to be kept.The stylisation of the records also changed, with the issuer of the confirmation document listed, i. e. the specific vicar general, and initially also rarely the archbishop.In addition to the records, there were also occasionally copies of confirmation documents of vicars general 24 .Records of changes in the possession of immovable property and various salaries, as well as changes in who held the right of patronage were found in the judicial books of vicars general 25 .
For illustration, we can give the number of confirmations in the Prague Archdiocese during the first six years that confirmation books were kept, as evidenced in their records.In 1354, a total of seventy-four confirmations were entered in Prague confirmation books from their establishment until the end of that year.In the subsequent year, there were a total of ninety confirmations, and in 1356, a total of ahundredand-three confirmations, while in 1357 the number increased to a hundred-and-fortythree confirmations.1358 saw a hundred-and-ninety, while in 1359 the figure fell to a-hundred-and-twenty-five confirmations 26 .
Only a fraction of Olomouc confirmation books are extant, these covering the years from August 1452 to May 1455.These comprise 12 folios, and they are written on paper.They contain records of a hundred-and-four confirmation documents.However, a number of folios covering records from March 1454 to January 1455 are missing.The documents are written in chronological order and abbreviated, with an average of five documents on one page, most with a contemporary heading 27 .On the basis of the data, i.e., a hundred-and-four documents covering two time periods comprising a total of twenty-three months, we see that, on average, during this period there were up to fifty-four confirmations per year.Each month, one to nine confirmations took place, with five being the most common (in eight months of the total of twenty-two months), alongside just two (in five months of twenty-two) 28 .Doubts as to the complete nature of the records in confirmation books have been expressed for the Prague and Olomouc books 29 .
Only a minority of churches in Bohemia had a bishop's patronage, with the Archbishop of Prague holding thirty-three patronages.A high number of monastery patronages in some of the (micro-)regions often related to the concentration of assets around the monastery.Monasteries and donated villages often also acquired the right of patronage over the local parish church.In the Broumov deanery, for example, the Břevnov monastery had seven patronages and three noblemen.For the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Order, the representative of the order's province decided on the presentation.In the former case, this applied to thirty-one churches, and in the latter, twenty-five churches.In terms of numbers, amongst secular patrons the nobility dominated.Noble patronages were only rarely concentrated in the hands of a single holder.Some of the major holders of patronage included the head of the House of Rožmberk, who had the right of patronage over sixty churches.In the mid-14 th century, the King of Bohemia held just a fraction of the patronage rights over the original total number of churches founded by the monarch.As founder, the monarch had the law of patronage to most collegiate churches.A large section of the monarch's patronages were parish churches in Royal towns and cities, including dowry towns.Exceptionally, patronage was transferred to patrician families, as in the case of some churches in Prague's Old Town.A number of burghers from Žatec, Kadaň, Litoměřice, Plzeň and Kutná Hora also had the right of patronage 30 .
Beginning in the 14 th century, we encounter interventions from the Holy See regarding the occupation of parish benefices.People who received parish benefices 27 Petr Elbel, "Zlomek olomoucké konfirmační knihy z let 1452-1455.Předběžné výsledky rozboru opomíjeného pramene k poznání církevní topografie, diecézní správy a konfesního soužití na Moravě po polovině 15. století" ["A fragment of Olomouc confirmation books from 1452-1455.Interim results of the analysis of an overlooked source in ascertaining Church topography, diocesal administration, and denominational co-existence in Moravia after the mid-15 th century"], in Církevní topografie a farní síť pražské církevní provincie v pozdním středověku, eds.Jan Hrdina and Blanka Zilynská, Colloquia mediaevalia Pragensia, vol.8 (Praha: Filosofia, 2007), 93-94.even though they did not meet canon requirements, such as being of the right age or having been ordained, often asked for a dispensation from the Holy See.They then received a document from the Pope which annulled the offence and called upon him to give up the benefice.It was then regranted to him by apostolic authority.This process was called habilitation, and it is recorded from the time of Clement VI (1342-1352) and Innocent VI (1352-1362).Otherwise, the papal curia was able to confiscate it from a cleric who held a church and parish not in accordance with canon law, and then grant it to somebody else on the basis of provision.The papal curia also secured the occupation of a parish if it had long been vacant on the basis of a decree of the Council of the Lateran of 1179.There are also records of papal confirmation for a parish church from Innocent VI's pontificate 31 .
During George of Poděbrady's reign, only confirmations of the most important persons and confirmations of chapter prebends were recorded in administrators' acts 32 .In the Jagiellonian period, we have documents on confirmations in one administrators' official book.Mixed books contain a list of confirmations for parish priests for the period of 1490-1492 33 .

Conclusion
According to the right of patronage, the founder of a church who was originally its owner became the church's patron.The patron had the right and obligation of supervision over the church's assets, and, in regard to the church's assets, so-called founder's rights were applied.Common patrons of churches were members of the nobility, the sovereign, Church institutions (monasteries, collegiate chapters), the Bishop, royal towns, and, exceptionally, individual burghers from royal towns.In 13 th century Bohemia, evidently only the Bohemian king fully respected the right of patronage, as a report produced for the Pope by Bishop Bruno of Schaumburg (1273) attests to.On noble estates, the right of patronage was fully respected from the mid-14 th century.Enforcement of the right of patronage resulted in the bishop's position being strengthened relative to the parish clergy, as he was better able to exercise his authority over them.This supervision was applied either directly or through archdeacons, who had visitation rights.
While the former owner of the church directly appointed the priest to the church, the patron was equipped only with the right of presentation.The right of presentation meant that the patron proposed a suitable candidate to the bishop.The proposed cleric would be assessed at the bishopric to ensure he met all relevant requirements according to canon law.The priest submitted a document showing that they had been ordained, as well as a presentation document from the church's patron.The bishop, or a person appointed by him, then confirmed the proposed individual (confirmation).Over time, the confirmation of priests turned into an official procedure of a formal nature, during which an actual decision was not made.It was usually the vicar general who executed the bishop's competencies regarding confirmation.Records of confirmations which had taken place were recorded in confirmation books.The priest received a confirmation document which entitled him to receive the benefice.A ceremony was meant to take place during which the priest would be publicly announced as the parish priest at his new parish.Sometimes, clerics who did not meet the requirements of age or ordination applied for dispensation from the Apostolic Penitentiary.There are a large number of extant presentation and confirmation documents, including actual documents and formulary documents, beginning in the period when Tobiáš of Benešov was Bishop of Prague.
Diocesan and provincial statutes contain many provisions regarding the unauthorised occupation of benefices.According to a 1349 codification by Arnošt of Pardubice, in the event of an unauthorised holding of a benefice, the benefice was lost.There were many disputes over benefices and the right of patronage.In the Prague bishopric, disputes regarding benefices and the right of patronage were originally brought before the court of the official, and, from 1380, before the court of the vicar general.Such disagreements represented the most common subjects of dispute proceedings.Beginning in the 14 th century, we come across interventions from the papal see in regard to the occupation of parish benefices.
Pavel KRAFL -Doctor of History, professor of the Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University, Slovakia.Fields of interest -medieval canon law, especially medieval synods in East Central Europe.Address: Hodžova 1, SK-949 74 Nitra, Slovakia.E-mail paotk@proton.me.

22
K otázkám vztahu", 256, 260, 262-264.For an analysis of the structure of the law of patronage for the Plzeň basin region from the borders to the Rakovník and Podbrdy districts, see Zdeňka Hledíková, "Ke studiu a možnostem využití patronátních práv v předhusitských Čechách" ["On the study and possibilities of the use of the law of patronage in pre-Hussite Bohemia"], Folia historicaBohemica 7 (1984), 43-99.THE LAW OF PATRONAGE IN CZECH DIOCESES IN THE HIGH AND LATE MIDDLE AGES