Ecclesiastical Law

The law of the church. The existence in England of a separate order of ecclesiastical courts, and a separate system of law by them administered, may be traced back to the time of William the Conqueror, who separated the civil and the ecclesiastical jurisdictions, and forbade tribunals of either class from assuming cognizance of cases pertaining to the other. The elements of the English ecclesiastical law are the canon law, the civil law, the common law of England, and the statutes of the realm. The jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical tribunals extended to matters concerning the order of clergy and their discipline, and also to such affairs of the laity as "concern the health of the soul," and under this latter theory it grasped also cases of marriage and divorce, and testamentary causes. But in more recent times (1830-1858), these latter subjects have been taken from these courts, and they are now substantially confined to administering the judicial authority and discipline incident to a national ecclesiastical establishment. See, also, "Canon Law." ECDICUS (Graeco-Lat.) The attorney, proctor, or advocate of a corporation. Episeoporum ecdici, bishops' proctors; church lawyers.

1 Reeve, Hist. Eng. Law, 65.