Canterbury, Councils of

Canterbury, Councils OF

(Concilium Cantuariense). Of these there were several.

I. Held, about 603, by St. Austin, in order to confirm the foundation of a monastery which he was about to build near Canterbury, to be dedicated to Peter and Paul.

II. Held in 969, by Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, Edgar, the king, being present, who, advocating the celibacy of the secular clergy, spoke with warmth of their negligent and dissolute conduct at that time. At the end of this celebrated speech of king Edgar, a plain hint is given of the violent measures then in contemplation by that monarch and the archbishop. See Wilkins, Concil. i, 246..

III. Held in 991, in which those of the clergy of the cathedral who refused to become monks were turned out, and monks appointed in their places, to whom also great privileges and possessions were granted. See Spelman, Con. Anl.

IV. Held Nov. 1, 1439, by Henry Chichely, archbishop of Canterbury. A constitution was made for augmenting vicarages. It declares that there were in the province of Canterbury many vicarages belonging to rich churches, too poor to afford a livelihood to their vicars, who were unable to afford the necessary expense of prosecuting a suit before the ordinary for the augmentation of their portion. It then orders that proceedings in such cases shall therefore be summary, and conducted in a plain manner, and that ordinaries shall admit such vicars to prosecute such causes " in fomrma pauperunm," and shall take care to assign them such portions as shall be suitable to the revenues of their several churches. See Johnson, Eccl. Canons, A.D. 1439; Labbe, Concil. xiii, 1282; Wilkins, Concil. iii, 535.

V. Held in 1554, by cardinal Pole, in which, for the sake of peace, the alienation of Church property, made in the preceding reigns, was. sanctioned. See Wilkins, Coneil. iii, 101.