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RELIGIOUS LIFE AND ORGANIZATION 421
one ofthe principal aims ofthe Gregorian reform had been to
assert the free canonical election of a bishop by his chapter as
against the claims of secular rulers, and free election continued
to be the demand of the English bishops in the days of John,
and was supported by Innocent III. For this reason the applica^
tion to bishoprics ofthe centralizing tendencies ofthe thirteenth
century was late in coming,
and was in a sense the result rather
than the cause of papal provision to smaller benefices.
There, the ancient discipline had never changed. All minor
benefices, from the days of the primitive Church, had been
directly controlled by the diocesan, just as appointments in
Rome fell to the pope as bishop of the city. When, therefore,
lay control was being excluded, the bishop took his canonical
place once more. The regime of the proprietary church, how
ever, had shaken the whole fabric of tradition, and from the
middle of the twelfth century onwards the papacy had begun
first to solicit, then to demand, and ultimately to enforce the
bestowal of a certain number of benefices throughout Europe
for its proteges. Whatever the ultimate cause or causes of this
change may have been inevitable or logical development, the
natural tendency of lawyers to extend claims and precedents, or
mere political advantage one of the most common uses to
which this procedure was put was to provide or augment the
income of the officials, high and low, ofthe Curia. Beginning
with comparatively rare requests, the demands of the popes of
the late twelfth century increased in frequency and urgency
till by the middle of the following century the freedom of
bishops in filling their churches and chapters was becoming
notably curtailed. Paradoxically enough, the rights of lay
patrons were consistently respected, though there was some
friction in England between the courts Christian and the royal
courts, both of which claimed the right of decision as to the
fact of lay patronage.
An important canonical step was taken by Clement IV in
1265: while asserting the pope's right over all benefices he
proclaimed his exclusive control over all those vacated by their
holders while in the precincts of the Curia. John XXII