...for the care of divine services and souls, nevertheless, upon the expiration of the faculties granted by our ordinary authority to those churches or other vacant benefices, the deans themselves shall have no faculty to provide for them without our special license or that of our vicar; otherwise, if it is done otherwise by them, we decree it to be of no force, etc.

Concerning the same.

And since by legitimately prescribed custom we are to succeed in the movable and immovable goods of priests or beneficed clerics of our diocese who suffer from a defect of birth, after their death, we command all deans and chamberlains of our diocese that, as soon as it is known to them or either of them regarding the death of any priest or prebendary cleric suffering from such a defect of birth, they shall place the goods of the same, whatever they may be, whether movable or immovable, under firm arrest by our authority. We inhibit all persons from wasting or alienating the aforementioned goods or converting them to their own uses, under pain of excommunication of late sentence, after a warning of three days, etc. And they shall inform and notify us, or our vicar or seal-bearer, without delay of the death of the aforementioned priests or prebendary clerics and of each of them. Those who act otherwise, we wish to be and remain suspended from their offices automatically, until they have earned the benefit of absolution from you or our vicar in spiritual matters.

Concerning the resignation of benefices

To all ecclesiastical persons holding benefices in our bishopric, we strictly prohibit them from daring to resign or relinquish their benefices otherwise than into our hands, or those of our vicar in spiritual matters, or a superior having power over this, or to leave them otherwise without having obtained permission from us, our vicar, or another superior having the power. If it is done otherwise, no one shall be instituted by us or our vicar into such resigned and relinquished benefices, unless perhaps for a reasonable cause such resignations were approved or ratified by our authority.

Concerning the times of ordinations

A small decorative red flourish or reference mark in the margin.

It often happens that many clerics of our city and diocese, bound by the knot of excommunication, or apostates, or irregular, or illiterate, or otherwise unworthy of receiving holy orders, have themselves promoted in remote parts by foreign bishops, sometimes secretly and sometimes by leaps and occasionally outside the established times and otherwise unduly, against the statutes of the sacred canons. And then, pretending that they have been duly promoted by the Roman Pontiff or otherwise, they presume to minister in holy orders. Wishing therefore to provide for these things according to the execution of common law as far as we can, we decree that no cleric of our city and Diocese of Constance, promoted to holy orders without our license or that of our vicar, shall presume to minister in such orders in our city and diocese, or [be admitted] to the execution of such ordinations.