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| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
(pragmatica sanctio,lex,jussio, alsopragmatica orpragmaticum)
Pragmatic sanction meant in the latter period of the Roman Empire an edict formally issued by the emperor. They were called pragmatic, frompragma, the affair or matter of sanction. In later times the best known are:
Its purpose was to oppose the extension ofpapal power, the demands of tribute made byRome, and the increase ofpapal reservations in regard to the filling of offices. Therights ofprelates, patrons, and the regular collators ofbenefices were protected againstpapal collation ofbenefices. Free elections, promotions, and collations were guaranteed to thecathedrals and other churches. This was directed against thepapal right of reservation and presentation, not against the filling of offices by the king. It was further laid down that all promotions, collations, and bestowals of Church offices must be in accordance with thecommon law, the early councils and the ancient regulations of the Fathers.Simony was forbidden. Papal taxes and imposts were permitted only in case of necessity, and with the permission of the king and the French Church. The liberties and privileges granted to churches,monasteries, andpriests by the kings were guaranteed. The investigations of Thomassy (1844), Gérin (1869), Viollet (1870), and Scheffer-Boichorst (1887), haveproved that it is aforgery which appeared between 1438 and 1452.
The Council of Basle (1431-7) had issued many useful decrees concerning reform, but finally came into conflict withEugenius IV and was suspended by him. Both parties,pope and council, now sought the support of thesecular powers. It was to the interest of these to prevent a newschism and not to permit the complete failure of the reforms of Basle. The position ofFrance in regard to these questions was to be discussed at a national council that King Charles VII commanded to meet atBourges in May, 1438. This council declared itself neutral in the dispute between thepope and the synod, but accepted the greater part of the Basle decrees on reform, modifying some on account of the special conditions inFrance; these changes were made with the expectation that the council would ratify the modifications. On 7 July, 1438, the king issued adecree, the Pragmatic Sanction, in which he accepted the decisions and ordered the observance of them. Essentially it contains the tenets of the supremacy of anecumenical council over thepope, of the regular holding ofgeneral councils, and of the limitation ofpapal reservations and demands of tribute. The suppression of annates by the Council of Basle was added, but with the modification that a fifth of the former tax was conceded to thepapal see.
By this edict the French king issued a law of the secular legislative authority in purelyecclesiastical affairs. The recognition of the authority of the Council of Basle was only formal, for the validity of its decisions inFrance rested solely upon the edict of the king. As thelaw was recorded in the Parliaments these, especially the Parliament ofParis, received the right of interfering in the internal affairs of theChurch. In addition, no attention had been paid to thepope, consequently every effort was made atRome to have thelaw set aside.Pius II (1458-64) declared it an infringement of therights of thepapal see, and called upon theFrenchbishops to aid in its suppression. Charles VII appealed against this to ageneral council. His successor Louis XI promised thepope to repeal the sanction, but the Parliament ofParis and theuniversity resisted, and the king let the matter drop. In 1499 Louis XII by explicit declaration renewed the enforcement of the sanction.Leo X effected its annulment by means of a Concordat made withFrancis I in 1516.
At the Diet ofFrankfort held in March, 1438, the German ruling princes also declared their neutrality in the struggle betweenEugenius IV and the Council of Basle. A new diet was held for further discussion of the matter in March, 1439, atMainz, and this diet also accepted a series of the Basle decrees of reform with modifications in individual cases. The diet reserved to itself theright to make other changes, and at a convenient time the council was to pass decisions on such points. This is the substance of the "Instrumentum acceptationis" of 26 March, 1439. The designation pragmatic sanction is, however, misleading, for it was not confirmed by the emperor.
This edict, issued by the last German male member of the House of Hapsburg regulating the succession to his hereditary lands, was read 19 April, 1713, before theministers and councillors, but was temporarily kept secret. The lawordained that all the Austrian hereditary lands should always remain united, and that on the failure of male descendants they should pass to the daughters that might be born to the emperor; and not until their descendants died out should the right of succession revert to the daughters of his brother, the Emperor Joseph I (1705-11), and to their male andfemale descendants. This pragmatic sanction was accepted by the estates of the Austrian lands in 1720-4; then in the course oftime it was also recognized and guaranteed by the Powers ofEurope, so that after the death of Charles VI his daughterMaria Theresa could succeed.
Charles III was King ofNaples andSicily until he succeeded his brother Ferdinand upon the throne ofSpain in 1759. The pragmatic sanction that he issued 6 Oct., 1759, before he leftNaples, is also an edict of succession. As earlier treaties forbade the union ofSpain andNaples, he transferredNaples andSicily to his third son Ferdinand. Up to Ferdinand's sixteenth yearNaples was to be administered by a regency. The eldest son, Philip, was weak-minded; the second son Charles was to receiveSpain. Charles III also provided that in case Ferdinand's line should become extinct his brothers Philip and Louis were to have the succession. The union ofNaples and the Two Sicilies was expressly forbidden in the edict.
HERGENRÖTHER,Handbuch der allgemeinen Kirchengesch., ed. KIRSCH, II (4th ed., Freiburg, 1904), 600-01, 931; HEFELE,Konziliengeschichte, VII (Freiburg, 1869), 762-70; KOCH,Sanctio pragmatica Germanorum illustrata (Strasburg, 1789);St. Louis and the Pragmatic Sanction inThe Month (London, Oct., 1869), 366.
APA citation.Löffler, K.(1911).Pragmatic Sanction. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12333a.htm
MLA citation.Löffler, Klemens."Pragmatic Sanction."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 12.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1911.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12333a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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