«If Pope is a Frenchman, then an Englishman is Christ»: the English context of the struggle for sovereignty with the Avinion Papacy

Tatiana Alekseevna Leonova, PhD in History, assistant professor, Bashkir State Pedagogical University n.a. M. Akmullah (ulitsa Oktyabr’skoy Revolyutsii, 3Ak1, Ufa, the Republic of Bashkortostan, 450000)

leonotan@mail.ru

Leonova T. A. «If Pope is a Frenchman, then an Englishman is Christ»: the English context of the struggle for sovereignty with the Avinion Papacy, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2016, vol. 5, pp. 116–135.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2016-00007

Language: Russian

The article is based on the idea of the Russian medievalist Y. P. Malinin that France since the Philip IV the Fair’s rule was ahead of Western European countries, including England, in the development of political ideas. The French concept of «sovereignty» in the era of the Avignon captivity gave the opportunity for the Crown to monitor the actions of the papal curia. The English monarchy was open to the intervention of their supreme lord. Within England the context of formation of the sovereignty of state power related to the opposition of the clergy having refused to participate in the activities of the Parliament. On the basis of Church and state documents the decision of the English Crown is studied. Entering not into open conflict with the Pope the Crown took the following steps. In the financial sector it limited the size of Pope’s concessions and extortion as well as action of Papal tax collectors. In the law spere the abolition of vassalage to the Holy See and publication and use of a series of statutes «Provisores» and «Praemunire» took place. Within the country the Church fixed legal privileges, maintaining ecclesiastical courts and expanding their competence. Canonical and secular law documents were issued, and laymen had a right to choose between the Church and the Royal courts of England. That was a significant obstacle for formation of the internal sovereignty of the Crown.
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Key words: Avignon captivity, Crown, Pope, sovereignty, statutes, provisions, canon law, the «king’s bench» court

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/leonova-t-a-2016-en/

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