Lawloe — A Charter of Donatus, Prior of Louth. 319 



These considerations point to a date for our Charter little, if at all, later 

 than the year 1197. 



The form of our Charter is, in essentials, identical with that of the 

 instrument issued by Bishop Cristin and Prior Thomas some ten or twelve years 

 previously. The only difference that need be mentioned is the disappearance 

 of the name of the bishop from the first clause. The reason of this omission 

 is obvious. The see of the diocese of Uriel had been transferred from Louth 

 to Clogher ; and the canons of St. Mary's Priory had in consequence ceased 

 to be the chapter of the diocese, and the bishop was no longer their abbot. 

 It is not improbable that the secular chapter of Clogher had already been 

 founded. It was certainly in existence a quarter of a century later, and by 

 that time had a Dean, a Precentor, and a Chancellor. 1 The bishop, accord- 

 ingly, is not the principal member of the body which makes the grant. He 

 acts as a witness, and by so doing, according to a usage of which there are 

 many examples in deeds of this period, signifies his assent to the alienation 

 which was being made by the Priory. 



It must not be assumed, however, that because the canons of Louth had 

 ceased to be the chapter of the diocese, they had renounced all the privileges 

 which were usually regarded as belonging to a cathedral chapter. They 

 almost certainly elected the bishop who transferred the see, and it is at least 

 possible that they claimed the right to elect his successors. On the pro- 

 motion of the Bishop of Clogher to the Primacy in 1227, 2 there was a dispute 

 about the election of his successor. 3 At the Roman curia the charge was 

 brought against Nehemias O'Bragan — the Bishop who eventually got 

 possession of the see — that he had been elected by some married clerks and 

 one regular canon, in contempt of the three dignitaries of Clogher Cathedral. 

 His counter-statement, that he had been elected by the Dean and clergy, 

 involves the admission that he was not the nominee of the majority of the 

 chapter of Clogher ; and the mention by his opponents of the " one regular 

 canon " gives plausibility to the suggestion that the canons of Louth had 

 taken part in or exercised an influence on the election. The significance of 

 the charge against him may even lie in the word " one " : only one canon, and 

 not a majority of the body, had voted for him. It would appear, therefore, 

 that for a considerable time after the removal of the see from Louth, the 

 Augustinians of that place, if they did not elect the bishops, claimed the 

 right to take part in the election with the new chapter. 4 



1 Theiner, Monnmenta, p. 35ff. 2 Cal. of Close Rolls, 1224, p. 201. 3 Theiner, I.e. 



4 Similarly the Augustinian canons of Holy Trinity and the secular canons of 

 St. Patrick's made a joint election of the Archbishops of Dublin. And a similar custom 

 was maintained in the diocese of Bath and Wells 



