COMMISSARIAT
16-1
COMMISSIONS
"Memoires" constitute a political history of Europe
from 1464 to 1498 and, according to the preface, are
material intended exclusively for the use of Angelo
Cato, Archbishop of Vienne, who was to write a Latin
history of Louis XL The first part of the work, deal-
ing with the period between 1464 and 1483, was pre-
pared between 1489 and 1491, that containing the ac-
count of the reign of Charles VIII being completed in
1498. Commines is rather analytic than graphic, de-
votes himself more to ascertaining the causes of events
than to describing the events themselves ; his language
seems inferior to his thought and his style is abrupt
and periphrastic. The thought bears the impress of
the realistic politics of the Renaissance, but the man-
ner of expression is still medieval. The work has been
preserved in manuscript and in sixteenth-century edi-
tions, the first edition being that of Galliot du Pre
(Paris, 1524, fol.). A manuscript, written about
1530, and recovered by de Mandrot, is the only one
containing the complete text. The chief editions are
those of Mile Dupont in the publications of the So-
ciety de I'Histoire de France (Paris, 1847, 3 vols.),
Chantelauze (Paris, 1881), and de Mandrot (Paris,
1903, 2 vols.). Commines' tomb, on which is a kneel-
ing figure of him and also one of his wife, Helena de
Chambes, is preserved in the Louvre.
Introduction to the editions of Mlle Dupont and de Ma.ndrot; Kervtn de Lettenhove, Letlres et negotiations de Philippe de Commines (Brussels, 1S74); Fier\tlle, Docujnents inedits svr Philippe de Commines (Paris, ISSl); Chantelauze, Philippe de Comm^ynes in the Correspondant (1880-81); Scoble, tT. in Bohn's Library of French Memoirs (London, 1855), I, II. Commines' tomb is reproduced in Petit de JuLLEvaLLE, Histoire de la littirature franfaise (Paris, 1896), 11,330.
Louis Brehier.
Commissariat of the Holy Land, in the Order of Friars Minor the territory or district assigned to a com- missary, whose duty it is to collect alms for the main- tenance of the Holy Places in Palestine committed to the care of the Friars Minor; also, in a more restricted sense, the convent where the aforesaid commissary resides. The commissary, who is always a member of the order, receives his appointment by letters patent from the minister general, to whom he is bound to transmit every year a detailed account of the alms received. These alms may not, rmder any circum- stances, without express permission of the Holy See, be applied to other purposes, however pious and meri- torious, under grave ecclesiastical penalties. The alms taken up by the bishops at the annual collections for the Holy Land are conveyed to the custos in Jeru- salem through the commissary in whose district the dioceses of the bishops are situated. There are at present forty commissariats throughout the Christian world. The most ancient is that of Naples, founded in 1333, when Robert of .4njou redeemed the Holy Places from the Sultan of Egypt. In English-speak- ing countries there are seven — three in the United States, one in Canada, one in Great Britain, one in Ireland, and one in Australia. The Commissariat of the United States was founded in 1882, and the com- missary resides in the new convent of Moimt St. Sepulchre, Washington, D. C. In 1902, commissariats were erected in California and at St. Louis.
Conspectus Omnium Missionum Ord. FF. Mirwrum exhibitus Capitido Generali Rom(B habita die SO Mail, 190S (Rome, 1903); Regula et Constitutiones Generales Fratr. Minorum (Rome, 1897); several Bulls and Briefs issued at different periods by the Holy See, of which the following are the principal: SixTus
V, Nostri pastoralit (13 Dec, 1589); Paul V. Ccetestis Regis (22 Jan., 1618); Urban VIII, Alias a felicis (18 June, 1634) in Bull. Rom.. XV, 320 sqq.; Benedict XIV. Emanarunt niiprr (20 AuE.. 1743) in Bultar. Benedict.. XIV (Prato, 1845), I, 313; Pius VI, Inter ca:tera (31 July, 1778) in Bull. Rom. Cont. (Turin),
VI, pt. I, 505; Leo XIII, Salvatoris (26 Dec., 1887). See also S. C. a. Offlcii (28 June. 1876); S. C. Prop. Fide (20 Feb., 1891) in Collectanea H. C. Prop., u. 1632, 1638.
Gregory Cleary.
Commissary Apostolic (Lat. Commissarius Apos- Utlicus), one who has received power from a legitimate
superior authority to pass judgment in a certaui cause
or to take informations concerning it. When such a
delegate has been appointed by the pope, he is called
a commissary Apostolic. The custom of appointing
such commissaries by the Holy See is a very ancient
one. A noteworthy instance is the commission issued
to St. Cryil of Alexandria by Pope Celestine I, in the
early part of the fifth century, by which that holy
patriarch was empowered to judge Nestorius in the
pope's name. English history furnishes, among other
instances, that of the commission which constituted
Cardinals Wolsey and Campeggio papal representa-
tives for the judicial hearing of the divorce case of
Henry VIII. Sometimes Apostolic commissions are
constituted permanently by the Holy See. Such are
the various Roman congregations presided over by
the cardinals. The full extent of the authority of
commissaries Apostolic must be learnt from the di-
ploma of their appointment. The usual powers
which they possess, however, are defined in the com-
mon Law of the Church. Commissaries are empow-
ered not only for judicial but also for executive pur-
poses. When a papal commission mentions explicitly
certain persons and certain things as subject to the
authority of a commissarj', and then adds in general
that "other persons and other things" (quidam alii et
res aliir) are also included, it is understood that the
latter phrase refers only to persons and things of equal
or lower importance than those that are expressly
named, and under no circumstances can the commis-
sary's power extend to what is higher or more digni-
fied (Cap. XV, de rescript.). If a bishop be appointed
commissary Apostolic in matters that already belong
to his ordinary jurisdiction, he does not thereby re-
ceive a delegated jurisdiction superadded to that
w'hich he already possessed; such an Apostolic com-
mission is said to excite, not to alter, the prelate's
ordinary jurisdiction.
As a commissary Apostolic is a delegate of the Holy See, an appeal may be made to the pope against his judgments or administrative acts. When several commissaries have been appointed for the same case, they are to act together as one ; but if, owing to death or any other cause, one or other of the commissaries should be hindered from acting, the remaining mem- bers have full power to execute their commission. In case the commissaries be two in number and they dis- agree in the judgment to be given, the matter must be decided by the Holy See. A commissary Apostolic has the power to subdelegate another [person for the cause committed to him, unless it has been expressly stated in his diploma that, owing to the importance of the matter at issue, he is to exercise jurisdiction per- sonally. By the plenitude of his power, the pope can constitute a layman commissary .4postolic for ecclesi- astical affairs, but according to the common law only prelates or clerics of the higher orders should receive such a commission (Lib. Sext., c. II, de rescr., 1, 3). The Council of Trent (Sess. XXV, c. xvi, de Ref.) pre- scribes that each bishop should transmit to the Holy See the names of four persons capable of receiving such delegation for his diocese. It has consequently become customary for the pope to choose commissaries Apostolic from the locality where they arc to investi- gate or pass judgment or execute a mandate.
Humphrey, Urbs et Orbis (London, 1899); .^ndre-W.^gneh Diet, de droit canon. (Paris, 1901), I; Pignatelli, Consult, Canon. (Venice, 1894), IX.
WiLLL«i H. W. Fanning.
Commissions, EccLEtSiASxioAL. bodies of ecclesias- tics juridically established ami to whom are com- mitted certain specified fimctions or charges. Thej are: I. Pontifical; II. Roman Prelatitial; III Diocesan.
I. Pontifical commissions are special committees o: cardinals created by the pope for some particula
