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Dispensations, Privileges, and the Conferment of Graduate Status: With Special Reference to Lambeth Degrees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2015

Noel Cox
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Extract

Since 1533 archbishops of Canterbury have conferred academic degrees by virtue of the power invested in them by the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533-1534, also known as the Peter's Pence Act. Legally these so-called Lambeth degrees, named after the principal residence of the archbishop, survive as an aspect of the medieval papal authority to grant dispensations. This is, in individual cases of hardship, the see of Rome might exercise the jurisdiction vested in him as patriarch of the west—though not necessarily in other patriarchs—to confer upon an appropriate recipient the academic degree which he would have received but for some impediment.

But properly speaking, these degrees were not just an exercise of papal dispensation, they also sometimes had the character of a grant of a privilege. For example, the papacy might confer a degree upon a recipient to enable that person to hold an office that the canon law, or a specific institutional rule, limited to graduates. The power claimed and exercised by the papacy to confer the status of graduate to someone who had not earned it in the traditional way was never limited solely to true dispensations, but always included positive privilege as papal degrees granted for political reasons clearly illustrate.

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Articles
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Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , 2002 , pp. 249 - 274
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Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2002

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References

1. 1.25 Hen. 8, c. 21 (Eng.).

2. In the east, the concept of economy (οικονομια) is generally equated with dispensation, though there are important differences, both in theory and practise. For dispensations generally, see the “Report of a Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury,” Dispensation in Practice and Theory (SPCK 1944)Google Scholar.

3. Such impediments included non-residence, non-fulfilment of a prescribed minimum course of study, or other regulation imposed by the code of canon law, papal documents such as the encyclical Pascendi, or relevant decrees issued by the Holy See.

4. There were eleven in Italy, five in France, two in England, five on the Iberian Peninsula. See Hay, Denys, Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 361 (2d ed., Longman 1989)Google Scholar.

5. Although it was never anything than a medical school, so could not be said to be a universitas litterarum, though its wide standing made it a studia generalia even if only in the field of medicine. A modern university was established at Salerno in 1970.

6. Bologna began as a law school but widened its scope to become a true universitas litterarum, something that Salerno never did. The University of Bologna remains, probably the oldest still extant.

7. There has always been some difficulty in ascertaining a seniority list for the earliest universities. It is impossible to do so with any degree of precision, largely because the first universities- those having their origins in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, were the outcome of spontaneous social developments. As the earliest universities grew out of associations of students, many of them came into existence as result of the migration of students from one centre to another. Thus scholars from Bologna created Padua. Paris, the earliest of the northern type of university, was unusual in that it was created by its masters.

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11. The higher faculties were divinity, law (including canon law), and medicine. Arts (or philosophy) was regarded as a lower faculty as all men had to pass through its doors before they would be permitted to study for a qualification from the higher faculties. At Oxford it was however possible to study civil law after four years without taking the BA.

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17. Canon 817 of the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law (1983) provides that only a university or a faculty established or approved by the Apostolic See may confer academic degrees which have canonical effects in the Church. The Canon Law Society of Great Britain & Ireland, The Code of Canon Law in English Translation 149 (Collins Liturgical Publications 1983)Google Scholar.

18. See id. at 147-149, canons 807-821.

19. The papal universities are canonically erected, and are governed by the Code of Canon Law, papal documents, and decrees issued by the Holy See. Among the most important of these have been the encyclical Pascendi, issued by Pope Pius X 8 Sept. 1907, and the apostolic constitution Deus Scientiarum Dominus, issued by Pope Pius XI 24 May 1931.

20. For the clerical status of medieval university students, see the Very Revd.Hastings, Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages (Powicke, F.M. & Emden, A.B. eds., Clarendon Press 1936)Google Scholar.

21. The MA or BA might be the only qualification ever obtained by most students.

22. At Oxford, bachelors of canon law were styled BCanL, and doctors of canon law DCanL (or doctor of decrees, the decretorum doctor). The bachelors and doctors of civil law, the sole type remaining, were styled BCL and DCL, the former being licencia legendi aliqina cursorie in iure ciuli. At Cambridge, a single degree included both canon law and civil law, as LLB and LLD stand for bachelor and doctor of laws respectively. Civil Law was taught at Oxford at least as early as 1145, when Vacarius was giving lectures. Although teaching was disrupted at the Reformation, the regius professorships of civil law at Oxford and Cambridge, established 1540, ensured that the civil law was not altogether abandoned.

23. The faculty of physic only developed at Oxford as late as c.1450-c.1500.

24. For any aspect of the development of the universities, the starting point must still be the Very Revd Rashdall Hastings, The Universities of Europe, supra n. 20.

25. Cambridge MusB 1500-1501, MusD 1463 (Thomas Saintwix or Saint Just); Oxford BMus 1505, DMus 1515 (Robert Porret or Perrot).

26. Indeed, in its original form the degree was nothing but a warranty of fitness to teach.

27. Corpus Iuris Canonici 1917, canon 1378, outlining the general and special rights and privileges of degrees, specified that, all other aspects being equal, graduates were to be preferred for certain ecclesiastical offices (such as bishop, canon, lector). The actual exclusion of non-graduates from certain offices is found still in the Roman canon law, though the degree of licentiate now suffices for all offices previously requiring a doctoral degree, excepting certain judicial offices. Declaration of the Congregation of Seminaries and Universities 23 May 1948, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 40:260.

28. The requirements of the universities included attendance at a prescribed course of study, for example, encyclical Pascendi, issued by Pope Pius X 8 Sept. 1907 provided that no one could receive the degree of DTh or DCnL without first completing the prescribed course in scholastic philosophy. This encyclical was confirmed 29 Apr. 1927 by the Congregation of Seminaries and Universities. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 19:194. Although an 11 Apr. 1928 ruling of the Congregation of Seminaries and Universities exempted laymen from this requirement, religious were still bound, unless they received a dispensation. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 20:157.

29. The chancellor, and at times the regents, had the power to dispense with certain elements of the constitutions of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. See generally Hackett, supra n. 8.

30. Once the structure of the university was firmly established, the study of Latin grammar (including literature), rhetoric (which also covered law) and logic (or dialectic) took some four to seven years. This led to the BA; The first recorded award of the baccalaureate was at Paris, in 1231; Lockmiller, David, Scholars on Parade 209 (Macmillan 1964)Google Scholar. The awarding of the baccalaureate could be followed by the course of studies known as the quadrivium. This involved the study of arithmetic, geometry (including geography and natural history), music (chiefly that of the Church), and astronomy (to which astrology was often added). This was normally followed by Hebrew, and Greek philosophy and history. After at least three years of study the degree of Master of Arts was awarded. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries less than half of the matriculated students proceeded to the BA, and much less than half of these completed the MA. Specialist qualifications in law and theology required even lengthier periods of attendance.

31. For the papal authority to confer degrees see Canon Law Society, supra n. 17, at 58 & 257, canons 333 § 3 & 1442.

32. Faculty Office records supply no records of pre-Restoration degrees. Rt. Revd. Stubbs, William, Lambeth Degrees 1 Gentleman's Magazine & Historical Rev. 633, 635 (05 1864)Google Scholar.

33. The rule that the archbishop acted only as delegate of the pope applied also for the creation of notaries public (who were however also appointed by the Emperor).

34. The Lambeth degrees were not awarded “in prejudice of the universities.” Blackstone, supra n. 10, at vol. 1, 381.

35. 25 Edw. 3, c. 22 (Eng.).

36. The king lacked the will to enforce the Statute of Provisors more stringently. Davies, C., Statute of Provisors of 1351, 38 History 116, 118–119 (1953)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37. It was also possible to obtain a degree from one of the English universities by incorporation. For example, Frater Steele of Rome, was incorporated at Cambridge in 1492; Frater Raddyng, a doctor of Rome, incorporated Cambridge 1497; Mr. Cabald, “ut admittatur ad eundem gradum in quo stat Romæ” 1501. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 633.

38. Id.

39. For the view that in canon law the dispensing power is the corollary of the legislative. See Canon Law Society, supra n. 17 at 12-13, canons 85-93.

40. The dispensing power of the provincial synods only developed as the synods become more active, in the centuries after the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great.

41. The pope was invested with plenitudo potestatis. The papacy of Urban II (1088-1099) marks the development of the use of dispensations. The majority of canonists conceded that the pope enjoyed a general and superior right over bishops. See Corpus Iuris Canonici 1959, canon 16, causa 25, quaesio 1.

42. Barrell, A.D.M., The Papacy, Scotland and Northern England, 1342-1378 230 (Cambridge U. Press 1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43. Pennington, Kenneth, The Prince and the Law, 1200-1600: Sovereignty and Rights in the Western Legal Tradition 45 (U. Cal. Press 1993)Google Scholar (emphasis added). Canon 81 of the new Codex restricts the right of dispensation to the pope, a logical result ofthe plenitudo potestatis.

44. The papal doctrine of potestas absoluta, as advocated by Hostiensis, was soon adopted by secular monarchs. Oakley, Francis, Jacobean Political Theology: The Absolute and Ordinary Powers of the King, 29 J. of History of Ideas 323 (1968)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45. Supra ius.

46. “Possumus supra ius dispensare,” Pennington, supra n. 43, at 58 (quoting Hostiensis, Lectura Super Decretalibus (1512)).

47. For dispensation as a judicial, quasi-judicial, or executive act see for example the Corpus Juris Canonici 1983, canons 85ff.

48. Pennington, supra n. 43, at 57.

49. Medieval canonists treated privileges and dispensations as further sources of law, alongside customs and decretals. See Le Bras, Gabriel, Lefebvre, Charles & Rambaud, Jacqueline, L'âge classique, 1140-1378: sources et théorie du droit vol. 7, 487–532 (Sirey 1965)Google Scholar.

50. Regulars were bound by a religious rule, as by belonging to a religious order.

51. Chamber, David, Faculty Office Registers, 1534-1549: A Calendar of the First Two Registers of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Faculty Office xiv–xv (Clarendon Press 1966)Google Scholar.

52. Hooper, Wilfrid, The Court of Faculties, 25 English Historical Rev. 670, 671 (1910)Google Scholar.

53. The terms dispensations, faculties, and indults were synonymous, though dispensations were generally reserved for grants by the archbishop of Canterbury in respect of a more important matter. SirCoke, Edward, 4th Institutes of the Laws of England 337 (Garland Publg. 1979)Google Scholar. The degrees awarded by the archbishop of Canterbury come under the general term “faculties.”

54. Chamber, supra n. 51, at xvi.

55. Sexti Decretalium Lib I, De electione et electi potestate, tit vi cap xxxiv.

56. The question of what could be dispensed with, and what was immutable, was the subject of on-going debate.

57. Pennington, supra n. 43, at 196 (quoting Simone da Borsano, Pastoralis); Johannes Teutonicus, Glos. ord. to C. 1 q. 7 d. a. c. 6, v. ut plerisque.

58. In practice it was rarely difficult to show benefit to the Church, as the provision and encouragement of skilled personnel was always one of the main concerns of the Church. Recognition of graduate status benefitted both Church and individual.

59. Brundage, James A., Medieval Canon Law 161 (Longman 1995)Google Scholar; Decretum Gratiani, D 3 c.3.

60. Id.

61. Id. at 160. In the Corpus Iuris Canonici 1917, no cleric might practice medicine or surgery without an apostolic indult; canon 139.2 9 (reviewer's translation).

62. Brundage, supra n. 59 at 160-161.

63. Privileges and indults were both special favours. Some writers hold that the former are positive favours, while indults are negative. Cicognani, Amleto Giovanni, O'Hara, Joseph Michael & Brennan, Francis, Canon Law 477–486 (2d ed., Newman Bookshop 1947)Google Scholar.

64. The pope's powers as a temporal sovereign are recognised in the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law 1983. In practice matters of education are dealt with though the hierarchy of the Church, rather than through that of Vatican City State, the residual part of the Papal States.

65. Canons of certain cathedrals and Westminster Abbey were still required to be degree-holders until recent times. The dean of Westminster Abbey was required to be a doctor or bachelor of divinity as recently as the late twentieth century. W.R. Pullen, ‘The Constitution of the Collegiate Church’ in the Revd. Edward Carpenter; A House of Kings 455 (London Baker 1966)Google Scholar.

66. 20 Sept. 1537, Thomas Tasshe, BCL, dispensation to enjoy the privilege, etc. of a DCL, £4 (FI/Vv, fo. 175v). Chamber, supra n. 51, at 121.

67. Supra n. 35.

68. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 633.

69. The Statute of Appeals 1532 is also called the Ecclesiastical Appeals Act, 24 Hen. 8, c. 12 (Eng.).

70. 25 Hen. 8, c. 19 (Eng.).

71. The Act of Submission of the Clergy 1533-1534, supra n. 70, did however assert the partial continuance of the authority of the canon law.

72. For Thomas Cromwell's appointment as vicegerent see From Edmund Bonner's commission as bishop of London, 1538, reprinted in Elton, Geoffrey, The Tudor Constitution 367–368 (2d ed., Cambridge U. Press 1982)Google Scholar.

72. Act of Supremacy, 1534, 26 Hen. 8, c. 1 (Eng.).

73. Commissioners were established under the Submission of the Clergy Act 1533, supra n. 70. For the history of the Court of Delegates see Blackstone, supra n. 10, vol. 3, at 66; Holdsworth, William, History of English Law vol. 1, 603–605 (7th ed., Goodhart, A.L. & Hanbury, H.G. eds., Methuen and Sweet & Maxwell 1972)Google Scholar; Duncan, G.I.O., The High Court of Delegates (Cambridge U. Press 1971)Google Scholar.

74. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (formally Her Majesty in Council), is the Court of Final Appeal, and replaced the Court of Delegates in 1833. His Majesty's Privy Council Act, 1833, 3 & 4 Will 4, c. 41 (Eng.). By the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, 1876, 39 & 40 Vict., c. 59 (Eng.), all archbishop and bishops were eligible to be members of the Judicial Committee, but they were not ex officio members. Order in Council dated 11 Dec. 1865, Rules for Appeals in Ecclesiastical and Maritime Causes, r. 3. See the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure, 1963, no. 1 (Eng.).

75. The legatine jurisdiction of the archbishop gave him a concurrent jurisdiction with that of all bishops within his province.

76. 25 Hen. 8, c. 21, § 3 (Eng.).

77. Diocesan bishops also retained whatever rights they possessed which then covered such diverse matters as residence, ordination outside the dioceses of birth, fasting, public reading of banns. Id. at § 4. These are but rarely invoked today, if at all.

78. Supra n. 1.

79. Id. at § 3, ¶ 4.

80. Churchill, E.F., Dispensations under the Tudors and Stuarts, 34 English Historical Rev. 409–415 (1919)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

81. The archbishop of Armagh's powers were conferred indirectly. The powers conferred by the Ecclesiastical Licences Act (1533-1534) extended to Ireland. Some time in the course of the sixteenth century a permanent commission granted the jurisdiction to the archbishop of Armagh (as Primate of All Ireland), in virtue of which he took over the jurisdiction exercised by the Court of Faculties. Certainly, he exercised dispensing power by 1690. Hooper, Wilfrid, The Court of Faculties, 25 English Historical Rev. 670, 685 (1910)Google Scholar. The commissary of the Irish Court of Faculties was also judge of the Court of Prerogative, 1827, 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 44 (Eng.), and admitted Irish notaries. In re Champion, 1906 P. 86, 92 (citing O'Brien v. Bennett, Court of Faculties (Ireland) (not reported)). The power of making notarial appointments was abolished by the Irish Church Act, 1869, 32 & 33 Vict., c. 42, § 21 (Eng.), and vested in the Lord Chancellor. The Matrimonial Causes and Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1870, 33 & 34 Vict., c. 110, § 29 (Eng.).

82. The Ecclesiastical Licences Act, 1536, 28 Hen. 8, c. 16 (Eng.).

83. The power to grant dispensations to clerics to hold more than one benefice is now exercised in the Church of England in accordance with the Pluralities Act, 1838, 1 & 2 Vict., c. 106 (Eng.) and the Pastoral Measure. Bishops also received faculties from the pope to appoint notaries, but from the time of John Pecham (1279-1292) onwards it was usual for the archbishop of Canterbury to receive such apostolic faculties.

84. Only five licences to practise medicine were granted in England 1534-1549. See generally Chamber, supra n. 51. Civil registration of medical practitioners began in England with the Physicians and Surgeons Act, 1511-1512, 3 Hen. 8, c. 11 (Eng.). However, the administration of the scheme was entrusted to the bishops, each in his own diocese, advised by four medical men. In the seventeenth century there was considerable confusion between the bishops' licences to practise medicine or surgery and the Lambeth doctorate. Wall, Cecil, The Lambeth Degrees, British Med. J. 854, 855 (1935)Google Scholar.

85. The Lambeth degrees issued 1534 to 1549 numbered only four; 20 Sept. 1537, Thomas Tasshe, BCL, dispensation to enjoy the privilege, etc., of a DCL, £4 (F I/Vv, fo. 175v); 10 June 1538, Roger Colley, master of Grammar, Coventry and Lichfield diocese, dispensation to receive the privileges of his status in a university, £3 (F I/Vv, fo. 202v); 8 Feb. 1539, Ellis Ferrers, BTh, confirmation of faculty conceded by word of mouth of William bishop of Norwich for the above to enjoy the status of DTh, £4 (F I/VV, fo. 255r); 6 Dec. 1544, George Broke, student in Venice, natural son and legitimised son of George Broke, Lord Cobham, dispensation to hold the status and privileges of a BA. ‘Concessa per litteras Rmi. dni. Archiepiscopi,” 5s (F I/A, 92). See generally Chamber, supra n. 51.

86. Supra n. 76.

87. Wall, supra n. 84, at 854.

88. Hooper, Wilfrid, The Court of Faculties, 25 English Historical Rev. 670, 676 (1910)Google Scholar.

89. See e.g. Champion, supra n. 81, at 90.

90. Supra n. 76. Notaries are appointed under the inherent jurisdiction conferred by that Act and the later statutory authority of the Public Notaries Act, 1801, 41 Geo. 3, c. 79 (Eng.), the Public Notaries Act, 1843, 6 & 7 Vict., c. 90 (Eng.), and Courts and Legal Services Act, 1990, c. 41, § 57, ¶ 4 (Eng.).

91. Rt. Revd.Gibson, Edmund, Codex Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani; or, the Statutes, Constitutions, Canons, Rubricks, and Articles of the Church of England Methodically Digested Under Their Proper Heads: With a Commentary, Historical and Juridical. Before It, Is an Introduction Discourse, concerning the Present State of the Power, Discipline and Laws, of the Church of England: and After It, an Appendix of Instruments, Ancient and Modern vol. 1, 105 (J. Basket 1713)Google Scholar.

92. Supra n. 76.

93. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 635.

94. Id.

95. Id.

96. Id.

97. Gibson, Edgar, The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England 768 (8th ed., Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1912)Google Scholar.

98. Id. at 759.

99. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 635. Rt. Revd.Stubbs, William, Lambeth Degrees, 216 Gentleman's Magazine & Historical Rev. 633 (1864)Google Scholar. Adduced in Peploe's case, BM MS Add 6489. Id. See The Dictionary of National Biography vol. 16, 488–489 (Stephen, Leslie & Lee, Sidney eds., Oxford U. Press 1967)Google Scholar.

100. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 635. Adduced in Peploe's case, BM MS Add 6489.

101. Foster, Joseph, 3 Alumni Oxiensis 890 (Kraus Reprint 1968)Google Scholar. Incorporation meant that he was regarded as having the equivalent Cambridge degree.

102. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 632.

103. Foster, Joseph, 1 Alumni Oxiensis 541 (Kraus Reprint 1968)Google Scholar.

104. 1629-1709. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 11, 127-128.

105. Robert Thoroton graduated BA 1642, MA 1646, licence to practise medicine 1646.

106. Robert Thoroton lived 1623-1678. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 19, 793-794.

107. That a benefit to the church was needed for the grant of a degree was a consequence of the nature of the degree as a dispensation; if seen as a privilege there would be no need for such a benefit. Pennington, supra n. 43, at 196 (quoting Simone da Borsano, Pastoralis); Johannes Teutonicus, Glos. ord. to C. 1 q. 7 d. a. c. 6, v. ut plerisque.

108. 1627-1698. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 2, 380.

109. Peter Dent died 1689. Id. at vol. 5, 828. Stubbs, supra n. 32, at 636.

110. Id.

111. 1635-1703. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 9, 1177-1180.

112. 1665-1728. Id. at vol. 21, 894-896.

113. Samuel Peploe would have had to comply with the regulations of the university in order to have obtained a degree from Oxford.

114. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 15, 797-798.

115. Blackstone, supra n. 10, at vol. 1, 381.

116. Dunkin, E.H.W., Index to the Act Books of the Archbishops of Canterbury: 1663-1859 pt. 1, 388 (British Record Socy. 1929)Google Scholar.

117. The advocates were doctors of civil law (Oxford) or laws (Cambridge). Doctors were eligible for admission as advocates of the Court of Arches, whose dean admitted advocates on a rescript of the archbishop of Canterbury, if they had studied the civil and canon laws for five (and latterly three) years. Once admitted, they were qualified to practice in the other ecclesiastical courts and civil law courts, and to be appointed judges therein. Most were members of Doctors' Commons.

Prior to 1535 advocates were required to hold a degree in canon law or canon and civil law. After 1535 the degree awarded was solely in civil law, as canon law was no longer taught in English universities. In 1545 the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act, 37 Hen. 8, c. 17 (Eng.), ended the legal requirement for ecclesiastical judges to possess a degree in canon law, but they were still required to have a doctorate in civil law. In the sixteenth century foreign degrees sufficed for this requirement, though such advocates invariable sought incorporation at Oxford or Cambridge. Squibb, George, Doctors' Commons: A History of the College of Advocates and Doctors of Law 31, 41 (Clarendon Press 1977)Google Scholar.

118. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 9, 203-205.

119. The procedure for appointment of advocates is given in The King v. Archbishop of Canterbury, 8 East 213, 103 Eng. Rep. 323 (K.B. 1807). Whether the dean had any discretion to decline to admit a candidate duly in receipt of an archiepiscopal rescript is however doubtful.

120. Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke lived 1782-1857. Dictionary, supra n. 99, at vol. 4, 419-420.

121. Wall, supra n. 84, at 855.

122. Medical Act, 1969, c. §§ 20 & 23(1), sched. 1 ¶ 13, sched. 2 (Eng.); Medical Act, 1956, 4 & 5 Eliz. 2, c. 76 ¶ 7, sched. 3 (Eng.); Medical Act, 1858, 21 & 22 Vict., c. 90, sched. A ¶ 10; R. v. Baker, etc., (Justices) & Clarke 66 L.T.R. 416 (Q.B. 1891). The privilege of practising was granted by the regius professor of medicine at Oxford and Cambridge to bachelors of the faculty after they had conducted a certain number of cures. This licence was operative in the university towns and presumably throughout England, though not in London, where the chartered College of Physicians claimed an exclusive right to permit practice. Wall, supra n. 84, at 855; College of Physicians Case, 2 Brownl. & Golds. 255, 123 Eng. Rep. 928 (C.P. 1609). Bishops licensed medical practitioners from 1511 till the mid-to-late eighteenth century, under the authority of the Physicians and Surgeons Act, 1511, 3 Hen. 8, c. 11 (Eng.).

123. An example of a Lambeth degree as an honour was the MD conferred on James Rogers, a medical practitioner of Swansea, who was Mayor at the time of the Church Congress. The expense was said to have been about eighty guineas, and was defrayed by public subscription. Wall, supra n. 84, at 855.

124. The graduates of the newer universities were expressly given equal privileges by the Victoria University Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Vict. c. 45, § 1 (Eng.), and similar later legislation.

125. The BD or DD were more usually given as BTh or DTh in the early faculty office registers. Chamber, supra n. 51.

126. Past recipients of the BD have included the Rt. Revd. Richard Chartres, then the archbishop of Canterbury's Domestic Chaplain, and now bishop of London.

127. Recent past recipients have included Sir John Owen, dean of the Arches; and Frank Robson, provincial registrar.

128. Recent recipients have included Bernard Thimont, former Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office; and the Revd. Rennie Simpson, precentor of Westminster Abbey, both non-graduates.

129. Past recipients of the MD have included Dame Cicely Saunders, medical director, St. Christopher's Hospice.

130. Recipients of the MusD have included Lionel Dakers, Director of the Royal School of Church Music; and Allan Wicks, Organist of Canterbury Cathedral.

131. The numbers of Lambeth degrees awarded since 1660 have been relatively small. Cecil Wall enumerated 43 MD to 1858 (after which the Lambeth MD ceased to be entered onto the medical register), from Stubbs' List and other sources. This is an average of less than one every five years, though the frequency varied, and there were as many as four in one year. Wall, supra, n. 84, at 855.

132. 87 Parl. Deb., H.L. (5th ser.) (1933) 838, 839 (per Dr. Cosmo Lang, archbishop of Canterbury).

133. Wall, supra n. 84, at 854, 855. The exact status of the dress is uncertain, and it has been said that this rule only applied to non-graduate recipients, graduates wearing the robes of the appropriate degree of their own university. Franklyn, Charles, Academical Dress from the Middle Ages to the Present Day, including Lambeth Degrees § 13 (Hassocks 1970)Google Scholar. This latter interpretation has much to commend it, bearing in mind the nature of Lambeth degrees.

134. Dr. Carey himself wears the academical dress of his highest earned degree, the University of London PhD, rather than that of any of his several DD honoris causa.

135. Letter to the author from the Rt. Revd. Frank Sargeant, bishop at Lambeth, 8 Dec. 1995.

136. Professor Andrew Sims received an MD in recognition of his services to psychiatry, in particular in promoting the need to evaluate the religious and spiritual experience of patients. Leonard Evetts received a DLitt in recognition of his notable artistic contribution to the Church of England in the Northern Province as a designer of stained and clear glass and for his devoted service to the Newcastle Diocesan Advisory Committee for more than half a century. Robert Boughen was made a DMus in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of church music in Australia as Cathedral organist, teacher, conductor and composer for more than three decades; News Release from the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 12 May 1995.

137. The Rt. Revd. Andrew Graham, bishop of Newcastle, received a DD in recognition of his services to the Church of England as theologian and teacher, and latterly as Chairman of the Doctrine Commission. The Revd. John Newton received a DD in recognition of his contribution to theological and historical scholarship and to the quest for Christian Unity; News Release from the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 12 May 1995.

138. John Brown was made an MA in recognition of his services as Chapter Clerk, legal adviser and valued friend of Guildford Cathedral for more than thirty years. George Lunn was made a MA in recognition of his lifetime's contribution to the work, development and promotion of Christian communications and education throughout the world; News Release from the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 12 May 1995.

139. Commonly, until the early twentieth century, diocesan bishop received doctorates from Oxford or Cambridge upon reaching episcopal dignity, by diploma or honoris causa. Pari. Deb., H.L., supra n. 132, at 840 (per Dr. Cosmo Lang, archbishop of Canterbury).

140. The practice of conferring degrees upon bishops was in furtherance of the very ancient custom that those who attain the status of a bishop should have a suitable degree in divinity. It was also used for those other Church dignitaries who were required, as by cathedral statutes, to hold a degree. Id. at 840-841.

141. Supra n. 76.

142. Only those universities, colleges or other bodies authorised by royal charter or Act of Parliament can confer degrees, which have official recognition. Education Reform Act, 1988, c. 40, § 214(2)(a) & (b) (Eng.). The older universities, the archbishop of Canterbury, the now defunct Council for National Academic Awards, Union Theological College, Royal College of Music, and the Royal College of Art are listed in the Education (Recognised Bodies) (England) Order, S.I. 2000, No. 3327 (Eng.) and earlier regulations. Polytechnics, which have now become universities, and the various degree-awarding colleges are provided for in separate legislation. Any award may by Order in Council be designated a recognised award. Education Reform Act, 1988, c. 40, § 214(2)(c); Education (Recognised Awards) Order, S.I. 1988, No. 2035 (Eng.). These include the Degree of the Utter Bar (Inns of Court), Degree of Barrister-at-Law (Inns of Court of Northern Ireland), and the Degree of Master of Horticulture of the Royal Horticultural Society.

143. Supra n. 142, at § 214(2)(a) & (b).

144. Supra n. 142.

145. Degrees are registered in the Crown Office of the House of Lords.

146. Examinations were conducted regularly for the MA from the 1860s until after the First World War. A limited number of candidates with good theology qualifications, who would otherwise register for the Diploma of Student in Theology, may still register for a Lambeth MA by thesis. The award of the degree is still subject to rigorous scrutiny. Parl. Deb., H.L., supra n. 132, at 838-839.

147. For the mode of exercise of the right to confer Lambeth degrees under Archbishop Lang, see id. at 838-841.

148. Blackstone, supra n. 10, at vol. 1, 381.

149. Parl. Deb., H.L., supra n. 132, at 838.

150. The Faculty Office records give examples of a wide range of dispensations. Examples include: 10 Nov. 1536, Robert Browne, alias Broone, BM, of Oxford, licensed to practise by the university, dispensation to confirm this and permit him to practise anywhere, 40 s, pro sigillo regis (taxed for the Great Seal) 5 s (F I/Vv, fo. 104r); 10 Dec. 1536, Robert Moreton, OCist monk. Dispensation to practise medicine anywhere despite holy orders, £4 (F I/Vv, fo. 107v); 20 July 1537, Joseph Compton, priest, monk of Pershore, Worcester diocese, dispensation to hold a benefice and practise medicine anywhere, if granted his diocesan bishop's consent, £8 (F I/Vv, fo. 145r); 20 Sept. 1538, Joseph Hatfeld, Fellow of College of Bonshommes at Ashridge, Lincoln diocese, dispensation to practise medicine anywhere, £4 (F I/Vv, fo. 226v); 7 June 1547, Robert Porter, of Bedford, Lincoln diocese, dispensation to practise the art of medicine anywhere, 4 s 5 d (F I/A, 266). See generally Chamber, supra n. 51.

151. Only four Lambeth degrees were granted by the Court of Faculties 1534-1549. See generally id.

152. An example of a faculty granted because of a disability was when on 6 Dec. 1544, George Broke, student in Venice, natural son and legitimised son of George Broke, Lord Cobham, received a dispensation to hold the status and privileges of a BA (F I/A, 92). Id. at 248.

153. Although some modern ecclesiastical judges do receive Lambeth doctorates in law, this is no longer required to meet the requirements of the canon (or statute) law. Canon 127 of 1603 required that ecclesiastical judges be learned in the civil and ecclesiastical law, and at least a Master of Arts or Bachelor of Law, but did not require a degree in canon law. Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical 1604: Latin and English (Notes by J.V. Billiard, Faith 1934). The statute 37 Hen. 8, c. 17 has been repealed by SLR (Statute Law Provision) 1863. See Chronological Table of the Statutes 56 (The Stationery Office 2001).

154. The diploma of Student in Theology, established 1905, originally for women, and since 1944 for men also. The archbishop's examination in theology leads to a Lambeth diploma. This may be conducted by thesis for suitably qualified candidates.

155. Parl. Deb., H.L., supra n. 132, at 839 (per Archbishop Lang).

156. Id.

157. Indeed, in the immediate post-Reformation period the Lambeth degrees awarded were all said to be by way of dispensation to enjoy the privilege, etc., of a [DCL]. See generally those listed in Chamber, supra n. 51.

158. The wording used by the Church of England suggests that the Church itself recognises that the nature of the Lambeth degree is rather more of a privilege than a dispensation. See for example the wording of the News Release from the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 12 May 1995.

159. Parl. Deb., H.L., supra n. 132, at 838.

160. The view of Lambeth degrees as not being “in prejudice of the universities” was stated by Sir William Blackstone, supra n. 10, at vol. 1, 381.

161. Those instances where an individual has been awarded a Lambeth degree pursuant to examination are examples of the granting of a privilege, rather than a dispensation, though both aspects may be present.