Laudabiliter - The Bull Laudabiliter

The Bull Laudabiliter

In 1155, Pope Adrian IV issued the papal bull Laudabiliter. The document commissioned the Angevin King Henry II to intervene in Ireland to assist in the reform of the governance of the Irish Church and the Irish system of governance according to the Roman (Latin Rite) ecclesiastical system. This followed the structural reform of the previously quasi independent form of the Church in Ireland as defined shortly before at the Synod of Kells. The bull derives its title from the Latin word laudabiliter (meaning laudably or in a praiseworthy manner), which is the opening word in bull, the usual manner in which bulls are named.

The proximity of Ireland to England as well as the Holy See's ongoing dispute with the Irish Church over Papal Supremacy, provided the impetus of conquest to the Papacy who had suggested the idea of invasion to both William the Conqueror and Henry I. Richard Lingard said that to justify the invasion of a "free and unoffending" people by Henry II, the Papacy "discovered" that the civilization of the people and reform of their clergy were needed and for the benefits of this civilization, and the Irish would cheerfully purchase with the loss of their independence. Furthermore, the Holy See claimed, under the Donation of Constantine, that every Christian island as the property of the Papacy and foresaw that any Papal Bull issued to the English crown authorizing invasion of Ireland would cement the Pope's authority over the British Isles. However, the Papacy realized it could not directly advise King Henry to invade, recognizing that the king would see through the advise an attempt to further expand Papal power. Therefore a few months after his coronation Lingard writes, John of Salisbury, a learned monk, was dispatched by Pope Adrian IV to King Henry II and assure Henry that the Pope's object was to provide instruction to an ignorant people, to remove vice from the Lord's vineyard and to extend the Papacy's power to Ireland merely in the form of the payment of Peter's Pence. The King, according to Lingard, "must have smiled at the hypocrisy of this address" but expressed his satisfaction and agreed to the Pope's request, reminding him to always keep in mind the conditions on which that assent had been granted. However, King Henry who fought against Papal Supremacy throughout his reign, refused to countenance any invasion of Ireland, correctly deducing that any invasion of Ireland made under the pretext of the Bull would lead to a significant curtailment on his power in Ireland and more importantly on England itself.

It was at a royal council at Winchester that Curtis said talk of carrying out this invasion had been had, but that Henry's mother, the Empress Matilda, had protested against it. In Ireland however, nothing seems to have been known of it, and no provision had been made against English aggression. J. Duncan Mackie, in his Pope Adrian IV. The Lothian Essay 1907 gives the date as 29 September 1155 for this meenting for conquering Ireland and giving it to Henry's brother William.

Curiously, despite the weight of historical evidence throughout diplomatic records, court records, and scholarly work, Laurence Ginnell cites the (Roman Catholic) Dr. Malone as evidence pointing the Bull's illegitimacy. Dr. Malone states regarding the Laudabiliter "there does not appear to be in the domain of history a better authenticated fact than the privilege of Adrian IV to Henry II." However, Cardinal Gasquet writes that historians of this time were ignorant of the existence of Laudabiliter. He says that during the residence of the pontifical Court at Avignon two Lives of Pope Adrian IV were written. One was composed in 1331 and the second in 1356. In neither is there any mention of this important act of the Pope, although the authors find a place for many less important documents. However, within the Vatican Secret Archives there exists a large late-16th century picture of the bull being drafted, with a caption mentioning that the grant was made: "..sub annuo censu" – in exchange for an annual tax payment by the English Crown.