Definitions

Stated as simply as possible, canon law is the law made by the Christian church(es) in order to deal with legal matters within their competence. It must be distinguished from ‘ecclesiastical law', which is a broader concept that includes secular legislation and unwritten laws relating to the church, as well as canon law. At earlier times in our history, there were some matters (e.g. matrimony and the probate of wills) which were regarded as the province of the church and were therefore governed by canon law. On the other hand, there were also a number of ostensibly ecclesiastical issues, like the ownership of church buildings and property, which lay within the competence of the secular courts. A further complication is that many things overlap, such as the regulations governing the appointment of ordained clergy to benefices. The church has always tried to keep control over the qualifications needed for ordination and the terms of service required, especially the vexed questions of residence and pluralism (i.e. holding more than one benefice at a time). But the state has consistently maintained that the advowson, or right of presentation to a living, is a property question and that disputes concerning it should be reserved to the secular courts.’ Finally, there are some matters (such as defamation) where it was long possible for cases to be heard in either the secular or the ecclesiastical courts.

In the history of canon law and of the ecclesiastical courts, there are at least four periods in English legal history which must be distinguished. Until 1072 there was little effective distinction between ecclesiastical and secular law, since most cases were heard in the secular courts, in which bishops and their officials participated and which admitted both canonical and civil precedents. From 1072 in theory, and from the reign of Henry III (1216-72) in practice, there was a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction which was governed by its own canon law more or less along the lines which were common to western Europe as a whole.