Episcopal appointments in England, c. 1214-1344: from episcopal election to papal provison

In 1214, King John issued a charter granting freedom of election to the English Church; henceforth, cathedral chapters were, theoretically, to be allowed to elect their own bishops, with minimal intervention by the crown.

Innocent III confirmed this charter and, in the following year, the right to electoral freedom was restated at the Fourth Lateran Council.

This book considers the theory and practice of free canonical election in its heyday under Henry III and Edward I, and the nature of and reasons for the subsequent transition to papal provision.