CLERGY, Assembly of the. - According to canonical provisions, the clergy of each diocese gathers with the bishop at its head in the diocesan synod (v.); bishops gather in provincial, national, general, and ecumenical councils (v. CONCILIO). In the barbarian kingdoms of Spain and Gaul they assembled collegially together with the leading laymen on the occasion of the major decisions of the kingdom. During the feudal period, the clergy constituted one of the three estates into which society was divided, and participated in the meetings held for the benefit of the class or of the entire community of the provincial or national diets.
The assemblies of the clergy in the kingdom of France had a particular character, constituted as they were following the Treaty of Poissy concluded at the assembly of Poissy in 1561. In order to reduce to a more reasonable measure the exactions that the king imposed on the revenues of the clergy, at an assembly of bishops and ecclesiastics of the second order held at Melun in 1579, it was established that meetings of representatives of the clergy itself should be held periodically for this purpose (the period varied at times); two bishops and two lower ecclesiastics elected for each province were to take part in them and decide on the contributions, which were for this reason considered as « dons gratuits ». They also periodically verified the financial accounts. The assemblies of the clergy were convoked by the king, who could also call extraordinary assemblies whenever he deemed it necessary; so that they, which in themselves had a purely financial task, could also be called upon to deal with religious questions. This in fact happened in 1682, when the famous four articles of the « Gallican liberties » were issued by the assembly of the clergy. In this way it was avoided to gather councils, over which the king would have been far less able to assert his sovereign authority. The last assembly of the clergy was held in 1788.
Bibliography
Pio Paschini