ABSTRACT
When King John, in November 1214, granted cathedral chapters the right to elect their bishops freely according to the general law of the Church, Roman canon law concerning elections had reached an advanced stage of definition; but it had developed and hardened almost entirely within the last half of the twelfth century and during Innocent III’s pontificate. The right of making the election was declared to belong to cathedral clergy, and the part to be played by the prince, and the validity of contrary customs, defined. The texts of the Quinque Compilations and the Decretals were successively glossed; elaborate commentaries were composed; a greater academic exactness in the details of procedure, in the significance of such a term as the major et saniorpars, was arrived at. The Charter of King John of 21 November 12142 corresponded in time to the adequate definition of canonical procedure. The charter admitted the freedom of conventual churches to elect pastors according to canonical procedure.
