Jurisdictionalism is a political maneuver intended to extend the state's

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

and control over the life and organization of the Church, namely the parallel legal structure consisting of ecclesiastical rights and privileges. Specifically, it can be defined as a current of thought and a political attitude aiming to affirm the authority of the laical jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical one. Fundamental tools of jurisdictionalism (also called ''

regalism Regalism is the idea that the monarch has supremacy over the Church as an institution, often specifically referring to the Spanish monarchy and the Catholic Church in the Spanish Empire. Regalists sought reforms that "were intended to redefine the ...

'') were the ''placet'' and the ''

exequatur An exequatur (Latin, literally "let it execute") is a legal document issued by a sovereign authority that permits the exercise or enforcement of a right within the jurisdiction of the authority. International relations An exequatur is a letters ...

'', by which the State allowed or denied the publishing and implementation of orders from the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

or other national ecclesiastical authorities, and the ''nomina ai benefici'' ("nomination to benefits"), to control the appointment of ecclesiastical charges. Besides these instruments of control, jurisdictionalism also implied the State's direct intervention on ecclesiastical matters such as the age and motives of people wishing to become monks, the usefulness of convents and contemplative religious orders (which were largely abolished), the number of religious festivities, the clergy's privileges and immunities, and the formation of

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

History

This policy, developed around the 18th century, was followed by some of the so-called “enlightened monarchs”, such as Maria Theresa of Habsburg and Joseph II of Habsburg, and others, especially after the events in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

following the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, of which they shared the motives but not the doctrine. In particular, such a policy was aimed at opposing: * the

right of asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...

, namely the acknowledgement of immunity to whoever took refuge in a convent or monastery; * the power of ecclesiastical courts to pass judgement on crimes involving religious people; * the clergy's fiscal privileges Jurisdictionalism, partly predating

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

and partly developing parallelly to it, questioned the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

, the Church's traditional monopoly on education or book censorship, and drastically reduced the importance of

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

– theretofore the universal law of Catholic states – in the context of the State. The State tried to put limits to the so-called ''

mortmain Mortmain () is the perpetual, inalienable ownership of real estate by a corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition. Historically, the land owner usually would be the religious office of a church ...

'', namely the possession of real estate by the Church and religious corporations; some religious orders were either reformed or abolished; attempts were made to reduce churchly interferences in temporal matters; subjects were allowed to appeal to the monarch in case of ecclesiastical sentences and judgements.

References

* Arturo Carlo Jemolo,
GIURISDIZIONALISMO
� in ''Enciclopedia Italiana'', Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1933. (in Italian) * Raffaele Ajello,
GIURISDIZIONALISMO
� in ''Federiciana'', Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2005. (in Italian) Political theories Religious law Canon law history

History

See also

References