2. Legati missi or dati. These are divided into, (1) Delegati, appointed for one specific object. It was al- ready forbidden in the INIiddle Ages to appoint members of the clergy in their, place. (2) Xunrii (ipDStoIifi. \\\\o are empowered to enforce the commands contained in their mandates. In order to effect this object they were given a right of jurisdiction until the IQth centu- ry. To enable them to legislate in reserved cases, they Avere invested with a mandatum spedcde, making the reservations generaliter for them. They could grant indulgences for anj^ period not exceeding a year. All other legates were subject to them except such as had special j>rivileges granted them by the pope. The in- signia of the nuncio comprised a red dress, a white horse, and golden spurs. (3) Legati ah latere. Special delegates who acted as actual representatives of the popes, and who possessed all the highest prerogatives. Their plenarj' power is thus expressed : " Nostra vice, qua3 corrigenda sunt corrigat, qua: statuenda constituat" (Gregor. ATI, Kji. lil >. iv, ep. 26). They exercised ajuris- dictio ordinaria in the provinces, had power to suspend the bishops, and to dispose of all reserved cases. The manifold complaints which arose in the course of time led the popes to alter some points of the system. Leo X, in the Lateran Council of 1515, caused it to be ruled that the cardinal legate should have a settled residence; and the Congrcgatio pro interpretatione Cone. Trid. con- strued the resolutions of the councils so as to make them very favorable to the bishops.
The Reformation gave occasion for the sending of a large number of legates, and also for the nomination of permanent nuncios at Lucerne. 1579; Vienna, 1581 ; Co- logne, 1582; Brussels, 1588 : this, howe^-er, gave rise to fresh disturbances in the Church. The troubles caused by the nuncios were the cause of the adoption of a new article under the gravamina tiationis Germaniccv. In the mean time the French Revolution broke out, dis- turbing all iireconceived plans. After the restoration of order in the hierarchy the system of legations was revived, but with many modifications, altering its ;Mid- dle-Age features. The second article of the French Concordat of 1801 states expressly: '-Aucun individu se disant nonce, legat, vicaire ou commissaire aiiostoliquc, ou se prevalant de toute autre denomination, nc pourra, sans Tautorisation du gouvernement, exerccr sur lo sol Franc^^ais ni ailleurs, aucune fonction relative aux affaires I de I'eglise Gallicane." This clearly removed the original \ foundation of the intercourse formerly existing between i the ])ai)al see and these countries. Moreover, several 1 Roman Catholic governments, such as Austria, France, Spain, etc., reserved to themselves the right to point out the parties who should be accredited to their courts i as nuncios {\s\\:\\xr, ICuropdischesVolkerr. § 186, Anm. ! a.). The formula of the oath of obedience to tlir pope.
LEGEND
327
LEGEND
which, since Gregory VII, is taken by bishops at their ordination, says: " Legatum apostolicffl sedis . . . hono- ritife tractabo et in suis necessitatibus adjuvabo" (c. 4, X. Be jurejurando, ii, 24). This involves the duty of supporting the procurations. But the state is also en- listed on account of its power.
The usual envoys of the pope have now the titles of, 1. Lerjati nati, no longer invested with an inherent right to the management of ecclesiastical affairs. 2. Leguli duti, mksi, which are divided into (1) Lefjati a latere or de latere, who, it is stated, are entitled to be canoni- cally designated as cardinals a latere or legates de la- tere. This is incorrect, for cardinals are now seldom sent on such missions, if ever, but, on the contrary, other members of the clergy, cum jwtestate legati a latere. (2) Nuncii apostolici, bearers of apostolic mandates. ^Vlule the ibrmer are looked upon as ambassadors, it is a nice question whether the latter occupy the second position, that of envoys. They are either ordinary permanent nuncios, as in Germany, or extraordinarj', sent for some special purpose. (3) Internuncii (residentes), considered by some as forming a third class, by others as belonging to the second. At the Congress of Vienna, 1815, it was decided by the first article of the Rhjlement sur le rang entre ks A gens diplomatiques that the first class would be formed oi A7nbat!sudeiirs, Legats ou Nonces; and in article fourth, that no change would be made in regard to papal representatives. See YAixhax^Volkerrecht ; Ileff- tex,Vulkerrecht ; MhuiH', Das Eui-opaiscke Gesamlschqfts- rechf; Schulte, Katliolisch. Kirchenrecht (Giessen, 1856) ; Walter, Kirchenrecht (11th edit. Bonn, 18.54) ; Herzog, Real-Encyklop. viii. 269 sq. ; Wetzer und AVelte, Kirchen- Lexikon, vi, 409 sq.
Legend (Lat. legemla, " things to be read," lessons) was the name given in early times, in the lloman Cath- olic Church, to a book containing the daily lessons which were wont to be read as part of divine service. This name, however, in process of time, was used to designate the lives of saints and martyrs, as well as the collection of such narratives, from the fact that these were read by the monks at matins, and after dinner in the refectories. Among numerous theories as to the origin of the le- gends, the following is the most probable. Before col- leges were established in the monasteries where the schools were held, the professors in rhetoric frequently gave their pupils the life of some saint for a trial of their talent for awplijication. The students, being constant- ly at a loss to furnish out their pages, invented most of these wonderful adventures. Jortin observes that the Cliristians used to collect, out of Ovid, Livy, and other pagan poets and historians, the miracles and portents to be found there, and accommodated them to their own monks and saints. The good fethers of that age, whose simplicity was not inferior to their devotion, were so de- lighted with these tlo-\vers of rhetoric that they were in- duced to make a collection of these miraculous composi- tions, not imagining that at some distant period they would become matters of faith. Yet, when Jacob de Vo- ragine, Peter de Natalibus, and Peter Pdbadeneira wrote the lives of the saints, they sought for their materials in the libraries of the monasteries ; and, awakening from tlie dust these manuscripts of amplification, imagined they made an invaluable present to the world by laying before them these voluminous absiudities. The people received these pious fictions with all imaginable sim- plicity, and, as few were able to read, the books con- taining them were amply illustrated with cuts which rendered the story intelligible.