Convocation,  the  legislative  assembly  of  the  Church,  sat  in
two  divisions,  in  the  provinces  of  Canterbury  and  York.  It
met  on  receiving  a  summons  from  the  crown,  drawn  up  in
ancient  form  (p.  190),  and  its  sittings  were  coincident  with
those  of  Parliament.  In  accordance  with  the  submission  of
the  clergy  (1532)  and  the  Act  of  1534  (25  Hen.  VIII.  19),
revived  by  the  Act  of  Supremacy,  its  canons  were  only
valid  on  receiving  the  royal  assent.  This  right  of  veto  is
distinctly  reserved  in  the  royal  licence  to  meet  and  confer
(p.  417).     Even  the  subjects  of  discussion  were  indicated  by


The  Ecclesiastical  Supremacy.  xxxv

the  crown  (p.  4 1 9).  Many  of  the  canons  passed  by  Convo-
cation in  Elizabeth's  reign  were  honest  attempts  to  remedy
abuses  in  the  Church  :  others  aimed  at  the  maintenance  of
uniformity  among  ministers.  Such  are  the  canons  of  157 1,
1585,  and  1597  (pp.  200,  222,  226),  but  of  these  only  the
last  received  the  full  sanction  of  the  crown.  So  long  as  the
clergy  confined  their  legislation  to  themselves,  Parliament
does  not  appear  to  have  made  any  effort  to  claim  control,  and
such  a  claim  would  probably  have  been  disregarded  in  the
days  of  Elizabeth.  But  when,  in  1604,  Convocation  drew  uj)
a  code  of  ecclesiastical  law  (p.  444)  which  received  the  royal
sanction,  and  which  among  other  sweeping  enactments,
placed  under  the  ban  of  excommunication  all  persons,
whether  lay  or  spiritual,  who  should  question  the  orthodoxy
of  the  Prayer  Book  and  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  it  seemed
high  time  to  interfere.  In  the  session  of  1606  a  bill  was
introduced  to  invalidate  all  canons  affecting  the  life,  liberty,
or  property  of  laymen,  which  had  not  received  the  assent  of
Parliament.  The  bill  was,  however,  lost  in  the  Upper
House,  and  Convocation  remained  legally  subject  to  royal
authority  alone.  The  temporal  judges  have,  nevertheless,
always  refused  to  recognize  canons  affecting  laymen,  unless
they  have  received  parliamentary  sanction.
