ABSTRACT

The constitution Cum ex eo of Pope Boniface VIII was promulgated as part of the Liber Sextus on 3 March 1298. Indeed, its promulgation, as Boyle had concluded, was a moment of considerable importance in the history of medieval education. Bishops were now permitted to grant leave for parish clergy to attend a studium generale, for a maximum of seven years, provided that rectors received the sub diaconate within a year of institution, and the diaconate and presbyterate within a year of the termination of the licence. Cum ex eo names church rectors as beneficiaries of the indulgence, but does not mention perpetual vicars. Given the fact that bishops could and did regularly issue licences for study to their clergy, it might be asked why there was need for individuals to petition the papacy in this regard. Supplications for such licences to study all reflected some dispute with the local ordinaries.