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ties, calls up for his own judgment and commits to the
Rota; it decides these cases even in the second and
third instance. Moreover, it is the court of appeal for
cases alreadv tried judicially in the episcopal tri-
bunals of first instance. Finally, it decides in the
last instance cases tried by any inferior tribunal of
second or further instance, as the cause has not then
become res judicata. In addition to major cases, epis-
copal decisions which are given without judicial pro-
cedure are excluded from its authority, being under
the jurisdiction of other congregations. The Rota
is composed of the auditors, ranking as prelates, ap-
pointed by the pope; they must be priests who have
obtained a doctorate in theology and canon law.
Wlien they reach the age of seventy their office ceases
ipso facto] but they retain the title of "emeritus
auditor". These form a college of which the oldest
among them is dean. Each auditor chooses an as-
sistant, who must be a doctor of canon law, and whose
selection must be approved by the pope. Other
officers are a promotor of justice, corresponding to
the pubblico ?7nnistcro in modern Italian civil courts,
and, for cases relating to matrimony, religious pro-
fession, and sacred ordination, a defender of the
bond (def elisor tinculi), who may have a substitute.
These officers are appointed by the pope on the rec-
ommendation of the College of Auditors. There are
also notaries (at present three in number) selected
by the College of Auditors after a concursus, to draw
up acts etc. The auditors give their decision either
through three of their number or in plena; but some-
times the pope may in a particular case ordain other-
wise. A case may also be submitted to the Rota not
for a decision but for an opinion. The auditor who
prepares the report is called the ponente or relator.
An appeal may be made from one judicial commission
to another. The contestants may plead personally
or, as more ordinarily happens, may employ a pro-
curator or advocate, whose selection must be con-
firmed. The complaint and the defence must be in
writing or printed, and copies distributed among the
judges, the assistants, the promotor, and others con-
cerned. The written defence may be elucidated orally
in presence of the judges. The auditors decide by a
majority of votes. The .sentence must contain not only
the conclusion arrived at, but the reasons therefor.
History. — The many and various ecclesiastical cases which were referred to the Holy See from every quarter of the Christian world were, till near the end of the twelfth century, discussed and decided by the pope, as a rule, in the Consistory, which from the presence of many bLshops became like a council. From the end of the twelfth century, however, owing to the increasing number of these cases and to the more detailed and complicated procedure, the popes ap- pfjintcd for each case either a cardinal or one of their chaplains, and sometimes a bishop, to arrange for the suit, hear the evidence of the litigants (hence the term awlitor), and then make a report to the pope, who would give his decision personally or in a Con- sistory. Sometimes, too, the auditor was empowered to decide, but his judgment had to be confirmed by the p<jpe. In the latter half of the thirteenth cen- tury we find the auditors as a class distinct from the chaplains, with the title of "Sacri palatii causarum gerierales auditores". This innovation was made b}' Innocent IV, who entrusted to th(!m ca-ses re- lating to benefices (which had increa-scnl owing to the many expectative r(is<;rvations granted by this ]H)\H'.) and other minor oncis, while he employed the cardinals in the other cases. Gra/lually the various cases were almost always entrusted to them for de- cision, subject to the approval of thewjvereign{)ontiff.
The audit^jrs Winsf^quently did not as yet constitute a tribunal with definitive jurisdiction, but only a vaA- lege from which the fxjpc sf;Iected at phiasunr judges for the cases he cho.sc to entrust tu them. Nicholas
III and Martin IV temporarily appointed auditors
general for civil suits in the papal dominions; Nicholas
IV (1288) appointed them permanenth'^ for the vari- ous provinces of the pontifical states. Clement V (1307) instituted an auditor general with two others in the second instance for ecclesiastical beneficiary suits, and in 1309 an auditor general for contentious ecclesiastical cases, the litigant having the choice of going before the pope himself or the auditor general.
Thus arose an autonomous tribunal, but one in con- currence with the pope. From the year 1323 we have the first document of a transaction adjudicated col- legialiter, and in a definitive way by that tribunal; John XXII, by the Bull "Ratio Juris" (1331), laid down certain rules for it ; but its sphere of competency was not marked out, so through all the fourteenth century the causes were referred in a special way to the pope. Sixtus IV fixed the number of auditors at twelve. Other popes, like Martin V ("Romani pon- tificis", 1422; "Statuta et ordinationes", 1414), In- nocent VIII ("Finem litibus", 1487), Pius IV ("In throno justitiaj", 1561), Paul V ("Universi agri", 1611), determined their competency more definitely. Civil appeals in the papal dominions were also en- trusted to the tribunals of the auditors of the sacred palace, probably after the end of the Western Schism; but criminal cases were always excluded. With the institution of the Roman congregations the jurisdic- tion of the Rota in ecclesiastical matters was greatly curtailed, and it became, generally speaking, a civil tribunal, enjoying a world-wide reputation.
Character. — The civil character of the Rota was confirmed by the legislation of Gregory XVI, and mixed suits and purely ecclesiastical suits concerning economical matters, if the subject matter did not amount to over 500 scudi, were assigned to it. Leo XIII entrusted to the auditors part of the process of beatification and canonization, as well as the canon- ical suits of those employed in the Apostolic Palace. Formerly the auditors had many privileges. France, Austria, Spain, Venice, and Milan each had the right of proposing one of their subjects as an auditor. Austria still has the privilege, at present the auditors being two in number. From 1774 there has been a tribunal of the Rota at Madrid, the president of which is the Nuncio. The origin of the name Rota is uncertain and has been a matter of discussion; it oc- curs first in 1336.
Constit. de rom. curiii in Acta A post. Sedis, fasc. I; Lex propria S. Rom. Rotm (Rome, 1909); Decisiones S. Rotce Rom. (published and continued at various dates) ; Bernino, II tribunate delta S. Rota Rom. (Rome, 1717); SagmOller, Die Entwickelung der Rota in Theol. Quartalsch., (1895); Goller, JZur Oesch. der rom. R. in Archiv. f. kath. KirchenrecM (1911), 19; Hillinq, Die romixche Kurie (Paderborn, 190C); Capello, De curia Rom. (Turin, 1911).
U. Beniuni.
Roth, Heinrich, missionary in India and San- skrit scholar, b. of illustrious parentage at Augsburg, 18 December, 1620; d. at Agra, 20 June, 1668. He became a Jesuit in 1639; was assigned to the Ethio- pian mission (Piccolomini, "Instructio pro P. Hen. Roth, Ingolstadio, ad mi.ssionem Acthiopicam pro- fecturo", in Huond(!r, "Deutsche jcsuitenmissionare im 17. und 18. Jahrh.", Freiburg, 1899, 213), and arrived at Goa by the land route, via Ispahan. He laboured first on the Island of Salsette off Goa, where from time to time he acted as Portuguese interpreter. He wtus sent on an embassy to one of the native princes, and finally reached the empire of the Great Mogul, where, as rector of the residence at Agra, lu; was involved in the persecution under Shah Jahiln. Here the; I'rench explorer, Francis Bernier, learned to know and appreciate him as one eminently versed in expert knowledge of the i)hilo.so- phy of religions in India ("Travels in Hindustan", new ed., Calcutta, 1904, p. 109 s(jq.). In 1()62 Roth revisited Europi? by the; land route via Kabul to ob- tain new recruits for the mission, and returned to
