Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges:]

Pragmatica Sanctio studiosis utilissima, cum Concordatis.

      [Lyon: sumptibus honesti viri Antonii Vincentii.] 1538. - 2 vols. in 1, 8vo., ff. clxii [liv], xxi [vii]. Title page in red and black, printed in blackletter throughout. Some browning. Early limp vellum, spine lettered vertically in ink, long sides overlapping, four later ties, front cover and ties sometime dyed yellow, lower pastedown torn. Ink inscription dated 1660 and some later pencil notes to f.f.e.p. The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, made in 1438 by King Charles VII of France, effectively declared administrative independence from Rome for the French Catholic church. It instituted a General Church Council superior to the Pope, to be held every ten years, and blocked papal involvement with the appointment of French prelates, among other reforms. Papal power at the time was weak (cf. the Council of Basel, later Florence), but later popes tried to have the Sanction repealed, and eventually in 1516 the Concordat of Bologna largely superseded it. However, it remained an important text for the developing Gallican Church, and in the centennial year of the original Sanction this edition, incorporating earlier commentary by Cosme Guymier, was printed in Lyon. It is rare in the UK: COPAC locates two copies in Oxford and one in Edinburgh only. Not in Adams. [Attributes: Signed Copy]