Secular arm, in

ecclesiastical law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

, refers to the legal authority of the civil power, the State, or any

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

authority, invoked by the Church to punish offenders in cases properly belonging to the jurisdiction of the Church. This was considered the remedy in cases where excommunication was deemed insufficient and that sterner measures were required to secure obedience to the law. The secular arm as a means by which lay power intervenes in ecclesiastical cases had two types: sought and unsought by the Church. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

especially in Inquisition trials for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, or grave immorality, ecclesiastical courts delivered convicted clerical and lay offenders over to the secular arm to administer severe capital punishments. The phrase " relaxed to the secular arm" was used by the Spanish Inquisition to describe the handover of the condemned heretic. On the other hand, an individual could seek a civil court to interfere - invoking the secular arm - on account of a miscarriage of justice on the part of church authorities. The medieval Latin phrase 'brachium seculare' was translated first into late Middle English.

Background

Introduced circa 1180–1250 at the time of the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

, the church inquisitors delivered a Cathar heretic, or any heretic, to the secular arm, to be burnt at the stake. Under

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

church tribunals had no jurisdiction to impose penalties involving mutilation or death. The law, however, provided that the judge of a common law court had the right to invoke the secular arm to address the culpability of an individual, who was a subject to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Notably the contrary circumstance of appeal by individuals to the secular authorities to interfere with, or hinder, the process of ecclesiastical jurisdiction was until recently punished in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

.The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)p.532

Sources

Catholic CultureThe Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Religion

References

History of Catholicism in Europe Canon law {{middleages-stub