adwowee's right

It was the privilege of Hungarian kings received from the Catholic church, which concerned the filling of prelate offices, the founding of church districts, and the power exercised in different secular issues of the church. The right of adwowees can be traced back to St Stephen's church organising activities. In the 12-14th centuries partly because of the canon elections (the chaplain elects the bishop, the community of monks elects the abbot), and partly the appointments reserved by the Pope, Hungarian kings were limited in exercising their power in appointing prelates. The development of the adwowee's right took place during the reign of Zsigmond and Mátyás Hunyadi. The essence of adwowee's right is that the Hungarian king is entitled to appoint the bishops of the church districts of the country, and the Holy See has the right for confirmation only. The high time of adwowee's right was the 400 years of the reign of Habsburg kings (1527-1918), who exercised this right on each occasion and appointed their bishops, even if the Holy See refused confirmation (especially in the 17th century).

MA