''Caudry's Case'' (5 Coke 5) was a 16th-century case concerning a Tudor era statute under which the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

was expected to confirm and consecrate without the authority of Rome, as an ancient common law right of the Archbishop, not needing

Papal authority The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

to exercise. An Archbishop or Bishop who refused to confirm and consecrate was guilty of

praemunire In English history, or ( or ) was the assertion or maintenance of papal jurisdiction, or any other foreign jurisdiction or claim of supremacy in England, against the supremacy of the monarch. The 14th-century law prohibiting this was enforced ...

, under the statute. There was an increase in litigation in 16th century England and jurisdictional uncertainty. Courts were operating in an environment of competing jurisdictions. There was jurisdiction shopping among litigants. When the High Commission for Ecclesiastical Causes extended its jurisdiction to become an ecclesiastical appeals court, common law judges ruled in their favour in ''Caudry's Case''. Even so, widespread opposition persisted. This case confirmed the High Commission's legitimacy to act as a court; not only over religious practices but also many aspects of marriages and marriage related offenses of all kinds like adultery and not paying alimony. For Beale and Morice the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and courts were in opposition to the native legal traditions and guarantees of English law under

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

which they said called for outlawing "oaths and subscriptions". The

ecclesiastical court In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...

s were in violation of the Great Charter. These attempts to assert the authority of the Crown as the highest legal authority under Magna Carta were challenged in ''Caudry's Case''. In his report on the case,

Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean eras. Born into a ...

followed Morice. Coke's report was attacked by

Robert Persons Robert Persons (24 June 1546 – 15 April 1610), later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest. He was a major figure in establishing the 16th-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus. Early life Robert Person ...

. According to Christopher Brooks: "In the long run the historical gloss Coke put on ''Caudry's Case'' was as significant as the decision itself." Coke's arguments circulated among the society at court as the idea of the jurisdictional superiority of the common law over the eccleasiastical jurisdiction gained more supporters. As religious tensions escalated after the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

, Jesuit priest

published his response to Coke, attacking the premises of his report of ''Caudry's Case'' and questioning Coke's claim that the Elizabethan Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity had not created or vested new powers but simply relied upon the existing ancient laws of England. Persons strongly criticized the idea of continuity of the common law reaching into the pre-Conquest period as asserted by Coke.{{cite book , last1=Brooks , first1=Christopher W. , title=Law, Politics and Society in Early Modern England , date=2009 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=9780521323918 , location=United Kingdom , page=121

References

Edward Coke cases