romise, and that "by
some gentle ways the said exaction might have been redressed and
reformed." The expectation had been disappointed. The pope had not
condescended to reply to the communication which had been made to him,
and the act had in consequence received the royal assent. An alteration
had thus become necessary in the manner of presentation to vacant
bishoprics. The anomalies of the existing practice have been already
described. By the Great Charter the chapters had acquired the right of
free election. A _conge d'elire_ was granted by the king on the
occurrence of a vacancy, with no attempt at a nomination. The chapters
were supposed to make their choice freely, and the name of the
bishop-elect was forwarded to the pope, who returned the Pallium and the
Bulls, receiving the Annates in exchange. The pope's part in the matter
was now terminated. No Annates would be sent any longer to Rome, and no
Bulls would be returned from Rome. The appointments lay between the
chapters and the crown; and it might have seemed, at first sight, as if
it would have been sufficient to omit the reference to the papacy, and
as if the remaining forms might continue as they were. The chapters,
however, had virtually long ceased to elect freely; the crown had
absorbed the entire functions of presentation, sometimes appointing
foreigners,[234] sometimes allowing the great ecclesiastical ministers
to nominate themselves;[235] while the rights of the chapters, though
existing in theory, were not officially recognised either by the pope or
by the crown. The king affected to accept the names of the
prelates-elect, when returned to him from Rome, as nominations by the
pope; and the pope, in communicating with the chapters, presented them
with their bishops as from himself.[236] The papal share in the matter
was a shadow, but it was acknowledged under the forms of courtesy; the
share of the chapters was wholly and absolutely ignored. The crisis of a
revolution was not the moment at which their legal privileges could be
safely restored to them. The problem of re-arrangement was a difficult
one, and it was met in a manner peculiarly English. The practice of
granting the _conge d'elire_ to the chapters on the occurrence of a
vacancy, which had fallen into desuetude, was again adopted, and the
church resumed the forms of liberty: but the licence to elect a bishop
was to be accompanied with the name of the person whom the chapter was
required to ele