Congé d'élire

Congé d'Elire (/ˈkɒndʒiː dɛˈlɪər/; Law French: congé d'eslire, "leave" or "permission to choose") was a license from the Crown in England issued under the great seal to the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of a diocese, authorizing them to elect a bishop or archbishop, as the case may be, upon the vacancy of any episcopal or archi-episcopal see in England.

The necessity of royal confirmation of the election of a bishop in Anglo-Saxon England, with the Crown delivering or withholding his ring and crozier, was previously claimed on the basis of the Croyland Chronicle credited to the abbot Ingulf; this is, however, now known to be a much later forgery.

Disputes arose for the first time between the crown of England and the see of Rome in the reign of William Rufus, the pope claiming to dispose of the English bishoprics. The Constitutions of Clarendon, promulgated by King Henry II of England in 1164, set out procedures to be used for episcopal elections. Ultimately King John, by his charter Ut liberae sunt electiones totius Angliae (1214), granted that the bishops should be elected freely by the deans and chapters of the cathedral churches, provided the royal permission was first asked, and the royal assent was required after the election.

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