CARDINAL
336
CARDINAL
fell more and more into their hands; they passed to
them exclusively after the Decretal of Alexander III,
"Licet de vitanda", at the Third Lateran Council
(1179). The increasing insignificance of the ' ' region-
ary" and "palatine" clergy, from the middle of the
twelfth century, coupled with the disappearance of
the ]'udices palatini, tended to enlarge the share of
the cardinals in the administration of papal justice
and finances, also of the fiefs of the Holy See and of
the States of the Church. We may add to this that
after the cessation of papal journeys to the different
nations of Christendom and of the Roman synods
under papal presidency, the cardinals remained
almost the only counsellors and legates of the popes.
Henceforth their functions were equivalent to those
of the "permanent synod" and the syncelli at Con-
stantinople (Sagmuller, " Die Tatigkeit und Stellung
der Kardinale bis Papst Bonifaz VIII", Freiburg,
1896, 16 sqq., 208 sqq.; S. Keller, "Die sieben romi-
schen Pfalzrichter im byzantinisehen Zeitalter",
Stuttgart, 1904).
The place and the occasion of this manifold activity of the cardinals was the consistory, i. e. the reunion of the cardinals and the pope. In it were regularly treated questions of faith and important disciplinary matters, e. g. dogmatic decisions, canonizations, approbations of rules of new orders, affairs of the Inquisition and the universities, indulgences for the Universal Church, modifications of the rules for papal elections, the convocation of general councils, also the nomination and mission of Apostolic legates and vicars. Moreover, in the consistory were treated all matters concerning dioceses and bishops, the so- called causa, majores par excellence, among them the creation, transfer, division, reunion, and suppression of dioceses, the nomination and confirmation of bish- ops, also their transfer, resignation, cession, suspen- sion, deposition, and degradation. It was in the con- sistory that were granted to monasteries the numerous privileges by which they were withdrawn from epis- copal, and made subject to papal, jurisdiction; there also took place frequently the confirmation of the abbots and abbesses elected in such exempt monas- teries. Before the consistory, moreover, were treated the important questions that arose concerning the properties of the Roman Church (bona ecclesiw romance), the papal fiefs, the Crusades, and such grave political matters as the settlement of disputed royal elections, the approbation of newly-elected kings, and the deposition of princes. In the meetings of the consistory, which in the Middle Ages were fre- quently held weekly, the cardinals also assisted the pope in the disposition of an overwhelming mass of lawsuits. Finally, the cardinals were put in charge of several of the great offices of the Church: in the Chancery a cardinal-chancellor or rather vice-chan- cellor, in the administration of the papal revenues a cardinal-camerarius, in the conduct of the peniten- tiaria a cardinal-penitentiary. The cardinals were also grand-inquisitors, likewise the "rectors" in the States of the Church. Others were sent abroad as cardinal legates; others again acted as cardinal pro- tectors of nations and religious orders (Sagmuller, Die Tatigkeit und Stellung der Kardinale, 46 sqq.).
Given the position of the pope and his intimate relations both to the individual cardinals and to such a close corporation as the college itself, at papal functions, in papal elections, in synods, in the con- sistory, in the conduct of diplomatic negotiations, it
is easy to understand how all cardinals, including cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons came to out- rank bishops and archbishops, and after the four- teenth century even patriarchs, just as at Constanti- nople the syncelli eventually outranked bishops and archbishops. This pre-eminence, however, was a matter of slow and uneven development. The cardi- nal-bishops were the first to outrank other bishops,
then archbishops, and finally patriarchs. But as the
cardinals formed a college, and the collegiate rights
were equally shared by all, the cardinal-priests and
cardinal-deacons claimed the same rank as the cardi-
nal-bishops, while the latter were quite willing to see
their colleagues placed on their own higher plane. It
was occasionally maintained in the Middle Ages that
the cardinals were no less successors of the Apostles
than the bishops, and that their authority was of
Divine origin. For argument appeal was made to
the seventy elders of Moses and to Deuteronomy,
xvii, 8 sqq., and to other texts. Leo X declared in
the Bull "Supernal" of 5 May, 1514. that the cardinals
in a body should come immediately after the pope
and should precede all others in the church (Bullar.
Rom., V, 604 sqq.). The superior rank of the cardi-
nals was clearly indicated when, after the time of
Alexander III, bishops and even archbishops became
cardinal-priests, and even (though less frequently)
cardinal-deacons (Sagmuller, Die Tatigkeit. und Stel-
lung der Kardinale, 193 sqq.). The cardinals were on
an equality with emperors and kings, whom they ad-
dressed as "brothers", e. g. the cardinal legate
Roland at the Diet of Besancon in 1 157. It was only
natural, therefore, that in the end the name cardinal,
which until late in the Middle Ages was borne by the
principal ecclesiastics of the more important churches,
should be reserved for the Roman cardinals. Pius Y,
it is said, issued a decree to this effect 17 Feb., 1567.
There were never any "cardinals by birth" icardi-
nales nati), i. e., no other office necessarily implied
elevation to the dignity of cardinal.
VI. Relations of the Cardinals to the Pope. — In the Middle Ages the cardinals attempted more than once to secure over the pope the same pre-emi- nence which they had secured in a permanent way over the episcopate, i. e., they sought to change the monarchical form of government into an aristocracy. What tended to bring about this result was the fact that in all important matters the popes were accus- tomed not to act without the counsel or the consent of the cardinals (de fratrum nostrorum consilio, dr jr. n. consensu), or declared that they could not act other- wise. Consequently, the conclusion was often drawn by canonists, or by the enemies of the popes, that they were obliged to govern in this manner. Moreover, this was inferred from the current concert of cor- porations. It was applied to both pope and cardinals as well as to the bishop and his chapter; to the Ec- clesia Romana as well as to any other cathedral church. Hence, during the papal conclaves, which often lasted a long time, the cardinals sought occasionally to bind the new pope by "election -capitulations" (see Capitulations), after the manner of the obliga- tions imposed on new bishops by their chapters: prevented the appointment of new cardinals; allied themselves (at least individually) with the civil power against the pope; maintained that the pope could not abdicate without their consent; or even that they could depose him, at least that they could convoke a council for that purpose, as in fact they did convoke the Council of Pisa in 1409 to put an end to the Western Schism. The Coun- cil of Basle decreed that it was the duty of the cardinals, first individually and then as a college, to reprove any pope forgetful of his duty, or acting in a way that no longer corresponded to his exalted posi- tion (Hardouin, Acta Cone, VIII, 1208). The first "election-capitulations" were drawn up in the con- clave of 1352. and were often repeated, especially dur- ing the Western Schism, when the cardinal electors were wont to bind t he future pope to do all that was possible for the extinction of the schism. Innocent XII finally forbade all such previous agreements by the Constitution "Ecclesise Catholicse" of 22 Sept., 1695. In face of such an attitude on the part of the cardinals, some popes were very cautious and con-
