THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
try (1890); The Christian's Start (1890); The Christian's Duties (1891) ; The Christian's Responsibilities (1892) ; A 11 the Counsel of God (1893) ; Agonice Christi (1893); Lectures on Ecclesiastical History (1896); History of Norwich Cathedral (1897); and Christian Science contrasted with Christian Faith (1903). Bibliography: B. B. Gould, In Memoriam: The Very Rev. William Lefroy, London, 1909.
LEGATES AND NUNCIOS, PAPAL: Representatives of the pope. These were present at all the ecumenical councils in the East except the fifth (Constantinople, 553), but neither held the actual presidency nor exercised a really decisive influence. What they were able to accomplish de- Early pended upon the position of their prin- Papal Rep- cipal at the moment, and especially his resentatives. relation to the emperor. Besides the pope, they frequently represented Roman synods also, or, in a word, the whole Roman Church. In addition to these delegates for a special purpose, from the pontificate of Leo I. (440—161) until at least the end of the seventh century, the popes, like other patriarchs, had permanent representatives at the imperial court, known as apocrisiarii or responsales (see Apoceisiarius) ; but these were simply intermediaries, and had no jurisdiction in the later sense. The canons of Sardica (343) conceded to the pope a superior jurisdiction, which was fully recognized on the part of the State by the constitution of Valentinian III. (445). On the basis of this, from the end of the fourth century the popes entrusted the exercise of such jurisdiction to individual bishops (e.g., those of Thessalonica and Aries), who were designated as apostolic vicars. In the succeeding centuries other representatives appear for the decision of definite questions, both ecclesiastical and political. These were known as missi or legati apostolical sedis, in a few cases as legati a latere. Their position became more important with the rise of the papal power from Gregory VII. onward. Gregory emphasized this by inserting in the episcopal oath of fealty (where it remains to this day) the clause " I will treat with honor a Roman legate going or coming and assist him in his necessities." Legates were now more frequently employed, sometimes empowered for whole countries, and endowed with great powers, including even that of a concurrent jurisdiction as ordinaries, in the pope's name, with the bishops.
The legatine system was formulated and developed in the decretals, and the different classes are definitely distinguished. (1) The legatus natus was one to whom the legatine authority Develop- came ex officio as the incumbent of a ment and special archiepiscopal see (e.g., Can- Classifica- terbury). His powers were originally tion. those of legates in general, especially that of concurrent jurisdiction with the bishops of all the dioceses in his province; he appears as ordinarius ordinariorum, competent to decide in the first instance cases brought before him by the parties. With the sixteenth century began a gradual disappearance of these powers, which finally left little besides the bare title. The king of Hungary claimed the position of a legatus natus,
and a similar claim on the part of the king of Sicily was the foundation of the so-called monarchia Sicula. (2) The class called legati missi in the decretals were sometimes entitled nuncii apostolici by the writers of the thirteenth century, and more often in the papal briefs of the fourteenth, until the title of nuncio became the regular one. They were sent out on a special mission, exercising an ordinary jurisdiction in the territory affected, and until the sixteenth century concurrently with the bishops. They had the power to decide many but not all reserved cases (see Casus Reservati) without special faculties, and to grant indulgences not extending beyond one year. Red robes, a white horse, and golden spurs were among their insignia. (3) Legates a latere, sent " from the (pope's) side," i.e., cardinals, exercised practically the authority of the pope in person, on the analogy of the senators sent out by the later emperors to represent them. Their ordinary jurisdiction in a province enabled them to suspend the entire authority of a bishop, to absolve from all reserved cases, to confirm the election of archbishops and bishops (even in the case of exempt sees), to take precedence of all bishops and preside at councils, and to use the insignia of a cross carried before them and a canopy over them. They were not, however, permitted to depose bishops, to divide or unite dioceses, or to interfere with elective dignities in cathedral and collegiate churches. Distinguished from these plenipotentiary legates a latere were certain extraordinary ones sent on a special mission, as to convoke a council or deal with a sovereign. Nuncios were occasionally sent out with the powers of legates a latere.
Many complaints were made against the legates, and led to a substantial alteration of the system. Leo X. at the Lateran Council of 1515 ordered the
cardinal-legates to reside in the places
Modern to which they were sent and attend to
Modifica- their duties. The Council of Trent
tions. (session xxiv., chap. 20) liberated the
episcopal jurisdiction from legatine interference, and the Congregation of the Council subsequently, on the basis of this decree, decided numerous cases against legates. The Council, however, allowed them to share with the bishops in investigating the canonical requirements for cathedral dignitaries and still conceded to them an appellate jurisdiction (ib. chap. vii.). The altered conditions after the Reformation led to the establishment of permanent nunciatures. Such had existed at the courts of Vienna and Warsaw from the beginning of the sixteenth century, but here they were political in origin. Others were now established— at Cologne for the Rhine district in 1582, at Lucerne for Protestant Switzerland and southwestern Germany in 1586, and at Brussels for the Netherlands in 1600. Their work was to a large extent the supervision of missionary efforts, though their ordinary faculties permitted them to concur with the episcopal jurisdiction in such parts of their territory as had remained Roman Catholic. In modern times the Roman Catholic Church regards the system of the decretals as still legally in force. Nuncios are now in practise sent much oftener than legates a latere, and there is a consid-