Chapter VI: Part 6

CURASSOW (_Cracinae_), a group of gallinaceous birds forming one of the subfamilies of _Cracidae_, the species of which are among the largest and most splendid of the game birds of South America, where they may be said to represent the pheasants of the Old World. They are large, heavy birds, many of them rivalling the turkey in size, with short wings, long and broad tail, and strong bill. In common with the family to which they belong, they have the hind toe of the foot placed on a level with the others, thus resembling the pigeons, and unlike the majority of gallinaceous birds. With the exception of a single species found north of Panama, the curassows are confined to the tropical forests of South America, east of the Andes, and not extending south of Paraguay. They live in small flocks, and are arboreal in their habits, only occasionally descending to the ground, while always roosting and building their nests on the branches of trees. Their nests are neat structures, made of slender branches interlaced with stems of grass, and lined internally with leaves. They feed on fruits, seeds and insects. They are often tamed in several parts of South America, but have never been thoroughly domesticated anywhere. Large numbers of these birds were, according to K. J. Temminck, brought to Holland from Dutch Guiana towards the end of the 18th century, and got so completely acclimatized and domesticated as to breed in confinement like ordinary poultry; but the establishments in which these were kept were broken up during the troubles that followed on the French Revolution. Their flesh is said to be exceedingly white and delicate, and this, together with their size and the beauty of their plumage, would make the curassows an important gain to the poultry yards of Europe, if they were not such bad breeders. The subfamily of curassows contains four genera and twelve species, all confined to South America, with the exception of _Crax globicera_--a Central American species, which extends northward into Mexico. This bird is about 3 ft. in length, of a glossy black colour over the whole body, excepting the abdomen and tail coverts, which are white. In common with the other species of this genus its head bears a crest of feathers curled forward at the tips, which can be raised or depressed at will. The female is of a reddish-brown colour, although varying greatly in this respect, and was formerly described as a separate species--the red curassow. In another species, _Crax incommoda_, the greater part of the black plumage is beautifully varied with narrow transverse bars of white. The galeated curassow (_Pauxi galeata_) is peculiar in having a large blue tubercle, hard and stony externally, but cellular within, and resembling a hen's egg in size and shape, situated at the base of the hill. It only appears after the first moulting, and is much larger in the male than in the female.

CURATE (from the Lat. _curare_, to take care of), properly a presbyter who has the cure of souls within a parish. The term is used in this general sense in certain rubrics of the English Book of Common Prayer, in which it is applied equally to rectors and vicars as to perpetual curates. So, on the continent of Europe, it is applied in this sense to parish priests, as the Fr. _cure_, Ital. _curato_, Span. _cura_, &c. In a more limited sense it is applied in the Church of England to the incumbent of a parish who has no endowment of tithes, as distinguished from a perpetual vicar, who has an endowment of small tithes, which are for that reason sometimes styled vicarial tithes. The origin of such unendowed curacies is traceable to the fact that benefices were sometimes granted to religious houses _pleno jure_, and with liberty for them to provide for the cure; and when such appropriations were transferred to lay persons, being unable to serve themselves, the impropriators were required to nominate a clerk in full orders to the ordinary for his licence to serve the cure. Such curates, being not removable at the pleasure of the impropriators, but only on due revocation of the licence of the ordinary, came to be entitled perpetual curates. The term "curate" in the present day is almost exclusively used to signify a clergyman who is assistant to a rector or vicar, by whom he is employed and paid; and a clerk in deacon's orders is competent to be licensed by a bishop to the office of such assistant curate. The consequence of this misuse of the term "curate" was that the title of "perpetual curate" fell into desuetude in the Anglican Church, and an act of parliament (1868) was passed to authorize perpetual curates to style themselves vicars (see VICAR). The term is in use in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland to designate an assistant clergyman, and also to a certain extent in the American Episcopal Church, though "assistant minister" is usually preferred.

CURATOR (Lat. for "one who takes care," _curare_, to take care of), in Roman law the "caretaker" or guardian of a spendthrift (_prodigus_) or of a person of unsound mind (_furiosus_), and, more particularly, one who takes charge of the estate of an _adolescens_, i.e. of a person _sui juris_, above the age of a _pupillus_, fourteen or twelve years, according to sex, and below the full age of twenty-five. Such persons were known as "minors," i.e. _minores viginti quinque annis_. While the tutor, the guardian of the _pupillus_, was said to be appointed for the care of the person, the curator took charge of the property. The term survives in Scots law for the guardian of one in the second stage of minority, i.e. below twenty-one, and above fourteen, if a male, and twelve, if a female. Under the Roman empire the title of curator was given to several officials who were in charge of departments of public administration, such as the _curatores annonae_, of the public supplies of corn and oil, or the _curatores regionum_, who were responsible for order in the fourteen _regiones_ or districts into which the city of Rome was divided, and who protected the citizen from exaction in the collection of taxes; the _curatores aquarum_ had the charge of the aqueducts. Many of these curatorships were instituted by Augustus. In modern usage "curator" is applied chiefly to the keeper of a museum, art collection, public gallery, &c., but in many universities to an official or member of a board having a general control over the university, or with the power of electing to professorships. In the university of Oxford "curators" are nominated to administer certain departments, such as the University Chest.

CURCI, CARLO MARIA (1810-1891), Italian theologian, was born at Naples. He joined the Jesuits in 1826, and for some time was devoted to educational work and the care of the poor and prisoners. He became one of the first editors of the Jesuit organ, the _Civilta Cattolica_; but then came under the influence of Gioberti, Rosmini and other advocates for reform. He wrote a preface to Gioberti's _Primato_ (1843), but dissented from his _Prolegomena_. After the events of 1870, Curci, at Florence, delivered a course on Christian philosophy; and in 1874 began to publish several Scriptural works. In his edition of the New Testament (1879-1880) he makes some severe remarks on the neglect of the study of Scripture amongst the Italian clergy. In the meantime he began to attack the political action of the Vatican, and in his _Il Moderno Dissidio tra la Chiesa e l'Italia_ (1878) he advocated an understanding between the church and state. This was followed by _La Nuova Italia ed i Vecchi Zelanti_ (1881), another attack on the Vatican policy; and by his _Vaticano Regio_ (1883), in which he accuses the Vatican of trafficking in holy things and declares that the taint of worldliness came from the false principles accepted by the Curia. His former work at Naples drew him also in the direction of Christian Socialism. He was condemned at Rome, and in a letter to _The Times_ (10th of September 1884) declares that it was on account of his disobedience to the decrees of the Roman Congregation: "I am a dutiful son of the Church who hesitates to obey an order of his mother because he does not see clear enough the maternal authority in it." He was cast out of the Society of Jesus and suspended, and during this time Cardinal Manning put his purse at Curci's disposal. Finally he accepted the decrees against him and retracted "all that he said contrary to the faith, morals and discipline of the Church." He passed the remainder of his life in retirement at Florence, and, a few months before his death, was readmitted to the Jesuit Society. He died on the 8th of June 1891. (E. Tn.)

CUREL, FRANCOIS, VICOMTE DE (1854- ), French dramatist, was born at Metz on the 10th of June 1854. He was educated at the Ecole Centrale as a civil engineer, the family wealth being derived from smelting works. He began his literary career with two novels, _L'Ete des fruits secs_ (1885) and _Le Sauvetage du grand duc_ (1889). In 1891 three pieces were accepted by the Theatre Libre. The list of his plays includes _L'Envers d'une sainte_ (1892); _Les Fossiles_ (1892), a picture of the prejudices of the provincial nobility; _L'Invitee_ (1893), the story of a mother who returns to her children after twenty years' separation; _L'Amour brode_ (1893), which was withdrawn by the author from the Theatre Francais after the second representation; _La Figurante_ (1896); _Le Repas du lion_ (1898), dealing with the relations between capital and labour; _La Fille sauvage_ (1902), the history of the development of the religious idea; _La Nouvelle Idole_ (1899), dealing with the worship of science; and _Le Coup d'aile_ (1906).

See also _Contemporary Review_ for August 1903.

CURELY, JEAN NICOLAS (1774-1827), French cavalry leader, was the son of a poor peasant of Lorraine. Joining, in 1793, a regiment of hussars, he served with great distinction as private and as _sous-officier_ in the Rhine campaigns from 1794 to 1800. He was, however, still a non-commissioned officer of twelve years' service, when at Afflenz (12th of November 1805) he attacked and defeated, with twenty-five men, a whole regiment of Austrian cavalry. This brilliant feat of arms won him the grade of _sous-lieutenant_, and the reputation of being one of the men of the future. The next two campaigns of the _Grande Armee_ gained him two more promotions, and as a captain of hussars he performed, in the campaign of Wagram, a feat of even greater daring than the affair of Afflenz. Entrusted with despatches for the viceroy of Italy, Curely, with forty troopers, made his way through the Austrian lines, reconnoitred everywhere, even in the very headquarters-camp of the archduke John, and finally accomplished his mission in safety. This exploit, only to be compared to the famous raids of the American Civil War, and almost unparalleled in European war, gained him the grade of _chef d'escadrons_, in which for some years he served in the Peninsular War. Under Gouvion St Cyr he took part in the Russian War of 1812, and in 1813 was promoted colonel. In the campaign of France (1814) Curely, now general of brigade, commanded a brigade of "improvised" cavalry, and succeeded in infusing into this unpromising material some of his own daring spirit. His regiments distinguished themselves in several combats, especially at the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. The Restoration government looked with suspicion on the most dashing cavalry leader of the younger generation, and in 1815 Curely, who during the Hundred Days had rallied to his old leader, was placed on the retired list. Withdrawing to the little estate of Jaulny (near Thiaucourt), which was his sole property, he lived in mournful retirement, which was saddened still further when in 1824 he was suddenly deprived of his rank. This last blow hastened his death. Curely, had he arrived at high command earlier, would have been ranked with Lasalle and Montbrun, but his career, later than theirs in beginning, was ended by the fall of Napoleon. His devoted friend, De Brack, in his celebrated work _Light Cavalry Outposts_, considers Curely incomparable as a leader of light cavalry, and the portrait of Curely to be found in its pages is justly ranked as one of the masterpieces of military literature. The general himself left but a modest manuscript, which was left for a subsequent generation to publish.

See also Thoumas, _Le General Curely: itineraires d'un Cavalier leger,
1793-1815_ (Paris, 1887).

CURES, a Sabine town between the left bank of the Tiber and the Via Salaria, about 26 m. from Rome. According to the legend, it was from Cures that Titus Tatius led to the Quirinal the Sabine settlers, from whom, after their union with the settlers on the Palatine, the whole Roman people took the name Quirites. It was also renowned as the birthplace of Numa, and its importance among the Sabines at an early period is indicated by the fact that its territory is often called simply _ager Sabinus_. At the beginning of the imperial period it is spoken of as an unimportant place, but seems to have risen to greater prosperity in the 2nd century. It appears as the seat of a bishop in the 5th century, but seems to have been destroyed by the Lombards in A.D. 589. The site consists of a hill with two summits, round the base of which runs the Fosso Corese: the western summit was occupied by the necropolis, the eastern by the citadel, and the lower ground between the two by the city itself. A temple, the forum, the baths, &c., were excavated in 1874-1877.

See T. Ashby in _Papers of the British School at Rome_, iii. 34.
(T. As.)

CURETES (Gr. [Greek: Kouretes] and [Greek: Kouretes]). (1) A legendary people mentioned by Homer (_Il._ ix. 529 ff.) as taking part in the quarrel over the Calydonian boar. They were identified in antiquity as either Aetolians or Acarnanians (Strabo 462, 26), and were also represented by a stock in Chalcis in Euboea. (2) In mythology (unconnected with the above), the attendants of Rhea. The story went that they saved the infant Zeus from his father Cronus in Crete by surrounding his cradle and with clashing of sword and shield preventing his cries from being heard, and thus became the body-guard of the god and the first priests of Zeus and Rhea. In historic times the cult of the Curetes was widely known in Greece in connexion with that of Rhea (q.v.). Its ceremonies consisted principally in the performance of the Pyrrhic dance to the accompaniment of hymns and flute music, by the priests, who represented and thus commemorated the original act of the Curetes themselves. The dance was originally distinguished from that of the Corybantes by its comparative moderation, and took on the full character of the latter only after the cult of the Great Mother, Cybele, to which it belonged, spread to Greek soil. The origin of the dance may have lain in the supposed efficacy of noise in averting evil.

The Curetes are represented in art with shield and sword performing the sacred dance about the infant Zeus, sometimes in the presence of a female figure which may be Rhea. Their number in art is usually two or three, but in literature is sometimes as high as ten. Of their names the following have survived: Kures, Kres, Biennos, Eleuther, Itanos, Labrandos, Panamoros, Palaxos; but no complete list of names is possible because of their confusion with the names of the Corybantes and other like deities. Their origin is variously related: they were earth-born, sprung of the rain, sons of Zeus and Hera, sons of Apollo and Danais, sons of Rhea, of the Dactyli, contemporary with the Titans (Diod. Sic. v. 66). Rationalism made them the mortal sons of a mortal Zeus, or originators of the Pyrrhic dance, inventors of weapons, fosterers of agriculture, regulators of social life, &c. A plausible theory is that of Georg Kaibel (_Gottinger Nachrichten_, 1901, pp. 512-514), who sees in them, together with the Corybantes, Cabeiri, Dactyli, Telchines, Titans, &c., only the same beings under different names at different times and in different places. Kaibel holds that they all had a phallic significance, having once been great primitive deities of procreation, and that having fallen to an indistinct, subordinate position in the course of the development and formalization of Greek religion, they survive in historic times only as half divine, half demonic beings, worshipped in connexion with the various forms of the great nature goddess. The resemblances, especially between Rhea and her Curetes and the Great Mother and her Corybantes (q.v.), were so striking that their origins were inextricably confused even in the minds of the ancients: e.g. Demetrius of Scepsis (Strabo 469, 12) derives the Curetes and Rhea from the cult of the Great Mother in Asia, while Virgil (_Aen._ iii. 111) looks upon the latter and the Corybantes as derivations from the former. The worship of both was akin in nature to that of the Dactyli, the Cabeiri, and even of Dionysus, the special visible bond being the orgiastic character of their rites.

Consult Immisch in Roscher's _Lexicon_, s.v. "Kureten." (G. Sn.)

CURETON, WILLIAM (1808-1864), English Orientalist, was born at Westbury, in Shropshire. After being educated at the free grammar school of Newport, and at Christ Church, Oxford, he took orders in 1832, became chaplain of Christ Church, sub-librarian of the Bodleian, and, in 1837, assistant keeper of MSS. in the British Museum. He was afterwards appointed select preacher to the university of Oxford, chaplain in ordinary to the queen, rector of St Margaret's, Westminster, and canon of Westminster. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society and a trustee of the British Museum, and was also honoured by several continental societies. He died on the 17th of June 1864.

Cureton's most remarkable work was the edition with notes and an
English translation of the Epistles of Ignatius to Polycarp, the
Ephesians and the Romans, from a Syriac MS. that had been found in the
monastery of St Mary Deipara, in the desert of Nitria, near Cairo. He
held that the MS. he used gave the truest text, that all other texts
were inaccurate, and that the epistles contained in the MS. were the
only genuine epistles of Ignatius that we possess--a view which
received the support of F. C. Baur, Bunsen, and many others, but which
was opposed by Charles Wordsworth and by several German scholars, and
is now generally abandoned (see IGNATIUS). Cureton supported his view
by his _Vindiciae Ignatianae_ and his _Corpus Ignatianum,--a Complete
Collection of the Ignatian Epistles, genuine, interpolated and
spurious_. He also edited a partial Syriac text of the _Festal Letters
of St Athanasius_, which was translated into English by Henry Burgess
(1854), and published in the _Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic
Church_; _Remains of a very Ancient Recension of the Four Gospels in
Syriac, hitherto unknown in Europe_; _Spicilegium Syriacum, containing
Remains of Bardesan, Meliton, Ambrose, Mara Bar Serapion_; _The third
Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus_, which
was translated by Payne Smith; _Fragments of the Iliad of Homer from a
Syriac Palimpsest_; an Arabic work known as the _Thirty-first Chapter
of the Book entitled The Lamp that guides to Salvation_, written by a
Christian of Tekrit; _The Book of Religious and Philosophical Sects_,
by Muhammed al Sharastani; a _Commentary on the Book of Lamentations_,
by Rabbi Tanchum; and the _Pillar of the Creed of the Sunnites_.
Cureton also published several sermons, among which was one entitled
_The Doctrine of the Trinity not Speculative but Practical_. After his
death Dr W. Wright edited with a preface the _Ancient Syriac Documents
relative to the earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa and
the neighbouring Countries, from the Year of our Lord's Ascension to
the beginning of the Fourth Century; discovered, edited and annotated
by the late W. Cureton_.

CURETUS, a tribe of South American Indians, inhabiting the country between the rivers of Japura and Uaupes, north-western Brazil. They are short but sturdy, wear their hair long, and paint their bodies. Their houses are circular, with walls of thatch and a high conical roof. They are a peaceable people, living in small villages, each of which is governed by a chief.

CURFEW, CURFEU or COUVRE-FEU, a signal, as by tolling a bell, to warn the inhabitants of a town to extinguish their fires or cover them up (hence the name) and retire to rest. This was a common practice throughout Europe during the middle ages, especially in cities taken in war. In the law Latin of those times it was termed _ignitegium_ or _pyritegium_. In medieval Venice it was a regulation from which only the Barbers' Quarter was exempt, doubtless because they were also surgeons and their services might be needed during the night. The curfew originated in the fear of fire when most cities were built of timber. That it was a most useful and practical measure is obvious when it is remembered that the household fire was usually made in a hole in the middle of the floor, under an opening in the roof through which the smoke escaped. The custom is commonly said to have been introduced into England by William the Conqueror, who ordained, under severe penalties, that at the ringing of the curfew-bell at eight o'clock in the evening all lights and fires should be extinguished. But as there is good reason to believe that the curfew-bell was rung each night at Carfax, Oxford (see Peshall, _Hist. of Oxford_), in the reign of Alfred the Great, it would seem that all William did was to enforce more strictly an existing regulation. The absolute prohibition of lights after the ringing of the curfew-bell was abolished by Henry I. in 1100. The practice of tolling a bell at a fixed hour in the evening, still extant in many places, is a survival of the ancient curfew. The common hour was at first seven, and it was gradually advanced to eight, and in some places to nine o'clock. In Scotland ten was not an unusual hour. In early Roman times curfew may possibly have served a political purpose by obliging people to keep within doors, thus preventing treasonable nocturnal assemblies, and generally assisting in the preservation of law and order. The ringing of the "prayer-bell," as it is called, which is still practised in some Protestant countries, originated in that of the curfew-bell. In 1848 the curfew was still rung at Hastings, Sussex, from Michaelmas to Lady-Day, and this was the custom too at Wrexham, N. Wales.

CURIA, in ancient Rome, a section of the Roman people, according to an ancient division traditionally ascribed to Romulus. He is said to have divided the people into three tribes, and to have subdivided each of these into ten _curiae_, each of which contained a number of families (_gentes_). It is more probable that the _curiae_ were not purely artificial creations, but represent natural associations of families, artificially regulated and distributed to serve a political purpose. The local names of _curiae_ which have come down to us suggest a local origin for the groups; but as membership was hereditary, the local tie doubtless grew weak with successive generations. Each _curia_ was organized as a political and religious unit. As a political corporation it had no recognized activities beyond the command of a vote in the _Comitia Curiata_ (see COMITIA), a vote whose nature was determined by a majority in the votes of the individual members (_curiales_). But as a religious unit the _curia_ had more individual activity. There were, it is true, ceremonies (_sacra_) performed by all the _curiae_ to _Juno Curis_ in which each _curia_ offered its part in a collective rite of the whole people; but each _curia_ had also its peculiar _sacra_ and its own special place of worship. The religious affairs of each were conducted by a priest called _curio_ assisted by a _flamen curialis_. The thirty _curiae_ must always have comprised the whole Roman people; for citizenship depended on membership of a _gens_ (_gentilitas_) and every member of a _gens_ was _ipso facto_ attached to a _curia_. They therefore included plebeians as well as patricians (q.v.) from the date at which plebeians were recognized as free members of the body politic. But, just as enjoyment of the full rights of _gentilitas_ was only very gradually granted to plebeians, so it is probable that a plebeian did not, when admitted through a _gens_ into a _curia_, immediately exercise all the rights of a _curialis_. It is unlikely, for instance, that plebeians voted in the Comitia Curiata at the early date implied by the authorities; but it is probable that they acquired the right early in the republican period, and certain that they enjoyed it in Cicero's time. A plebeian was for the first time elected _curio maximus_ in 209 B.C. The _curia_ ceased to have any importance as a political organization some time before the close of the republican period. But its religious importance survived during the principate; for the two festivals of the Fornacalia and the Fordicidia were celebrated by the _Curiales_ (Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 527, iv. 635).

The term _curia_ seems often to have been applied to the common shrine of the _curiales_, and thus to other places of assembly. Hence the ancient senate house at Rome was known as the Curia Hostilia. The _curia_ was also adopted as a state division in a large number of municipal towns; and the term was often applied to the senate in municipal towns (see DECURIO), probably from the name of the old senate house at Rome.

AUTHORITIES.--Mommsen, _Romisches Staatsrecht_, iii. p. 89 ff.
(Leipzig, 1887); _Romische Forschungen_ i. p. 140 ff. (Berlin, 1864,
&c.); Clason, "Die Zusammensetzung der Curien und ihrer Comitien"
(_Kritische Erorterungen_ i., Rostock, 1871); Karlowa, _Romische
Rechtsgeschichte_, i. p. 382 ff. (Leipzig, 1885); E. Hofmann,
_Patricische und plebeische Curien_ (Wien, 1879); for the
_Fornacalia_, &c., Marquardt, _Staatsverwaltung_, iii. p. 197
(Leipzig, 1885); for local names of curiae, Pauly-Wissowa,
_Realencyclopadie_, iv. p. 1822 (new edition, 1893, &c.); O. Gilbert,
_Geschichte und Topographie der Stadt Rom_ (Leipzig, 1883); for
municipal _curiae_, Mommsen, in _Ephemeris epigraphica_, ii. p. 125;
Schmidt, in _Rheinisches Museum_, xlv. (1890) p. 599 ff. On the Roman
comitia in general see also G. W. Botsford, _Roman Assemblies_ (1909).
(A. M. Cl.)

In medieval Latin the word _curia_ was used in the general sense of "court." It was thus used of "the court," meaning the royal household (_aula_); of "courts" in the sense of solemn assemblies of the great nobles summoned by the king (_curiae solennes_, &c.); of courts of law generally, whether developed out of the imperial or royal _curia_ (see CURIA REGIS) or not (e.g. _curia baronis_, Court Baron, _curia christianitatis_, Court Christian). Sometimes _curia_ means jurisdiction, or the territory over which jurisdiction is exercised; whence possibly its use, instead of _cortis_, for an enclosed space, the court-yard of a house, or for the house itself (cf. the English "court," e.g. Hampton Court, and the Ger. _Hof_). The word Curia is now only used of the court of Rome, as a convenient term to express the sum of the organs that make up the papal government (see CURIA ROMANA).

See Du Cange, _Gloss. med. et inf. Lat._ (1883), s.v. "Curia."

CURIA REGIS, or AULA REGIS, a term used in England from the time of the Norman Conquest to about the end of the 13th century to describe a council and a court of justice, the composition and functions of which varied considerably from time to time. Meaning in general the "king's court," it is difficult to define the _curia regis_ with precision, but it is important and interesting because it is the germ from which the higher courts of law, the privy council and the cabinet, have sprung. It was, at first the general council of the king, or the _commune concilium_, i.e. the feudal assembly of the tenants-in-chief; but it assumed a more definite character during the reign of Henry I., when its members, fewer in number, were the officials of the royal household and other friends and attendants of the king. It was thus practically a committee of the larger council, and assisted the king in his judicial work, its authority being as undefined as his own. About the same time the _curia_ undertook financial duties, and in this way was the parent of the court of exchequer (_curia regis ad scaccarium_). The members were called "justices," and in the king's absence the chief justiciar presided over the court. A further step was taken by Henry II. In 1178 he appointed five members of the _curia_ to form a special court of justice, and these justices, unlike the other members of the _curia_, were not to follow the king's court from place to place, but were to remain in one place. Thus the court of king's bench (_curia regis de banco_) was founded, and the foundation of the court of common pleas was provided for in one of the articles of Magna Carta. The court of chancery is also an offshoot of the _curia regis_. About the time of Edward I. the executive and advising duties of the _curia regis_ were discharged by the king's secret council, the later privy council, which is thus connected with the _curia regis_, and from the privy council has sprung the cabinet.

In his work _Tractatus de legibus Angliae_, Ranulf de Glanvill treats
of the procedure of the _curia regis_ as a court of law. See W.
Stubbs, _Constitutional History_, vol. i. (Oxford, 1883); R. Gneist,
_Englische Verfassungsgeschichte_, English translation by P. A.
Ashworth (London, 1891); A. V. Dicey, _The Privy Council_ (London,
1887); and the article PRIVY COUNCIL. (A. W. H.*)

CURIA ROMANA, the name given to the whole body of administrative and judicial institutions, by means of which the pope carries on the general government of the Church; the name is also applied by an extension of meaning to the persons who form part of it, and sometimes to the Holy See itself. Rome is almost the only place where the word _curia_ has preserved its ancient form; elsewhere it has been almost always replaced by the word court (_cour_, _corte_), which is etymologically the same. Even at Rome, however, the expression "papal court" (_corte romana_) has acquired by usage a sense different from that of the word _curia_; as in the case of royal courts it denotes the whole body of dignitaries and officials who surround and attend on the pope; the pope, however, has two establishments: the civil establishment, in which he is surrounded by what is termed his "family" (_familia_); and the religious establishment, the members of which form his "chapel" (_capella_). The word curia is more particularly reserved to the tribunals and departments which actually deal with the general business of the Church.

General remarks.

I. In order to understand the organization of the various constituent parts of the Roman Curia, we must remember that the modern principle of the separation of powers is unknown to the Church; the functions of each department are limited solely by the extent of the powers delegated to it and the nature of the business entrusted to it; but each of them may have a share at the same time in the legislative, judicial and administrative power. Similarly, the necessity for referring matters to the pope in person, for his approval or ratification of the decisions arrived at, varies greatly according to the department and the nature of the business. But on the whole, all sections of the Curia hold their powers direct from the pope, and exercise them in his name. Each of them, then, has supreme authority within its own sphere, while the official responsibility belongs to the pope, just as in all governments it is the government that is responsible for the acts of its departments. Of these official acts, however, it is possible to distinguish two categories: those emanating directly from the heads of departments are generally called Acts of the Holy See (and in this sense the Holy See is equivalent to the Curia); those which emanate direct from the pope are called Pontifical Acts. The latter are actually the Apostolic Letters, i.e. those documents in which the pope speaks in his own name (bulls, briefs, encyclicals, &c.) even when he does not sign them, as we shall see. The Apostolic Letters alone may be _ex cathedra_ documents, and may have the privilege of infallibility, if the matter admit of it. There are also certain differences between the two sorts of documents with regard to their penal consequences. But in all cases the disciplinary authority is evidently the same; we need only note that acts concerning individuals do not claim the force of general law; the legal decisions serve at most to settle matters of jurisprudence, like the judgments of all sovereign courts.

Division.

The constituent parts of the Roman Curia fall essentially into two classes: (1) the tribunals and offices, which for centuries served for the transaction of business and which continue their activity; (2) the permanent commissions of cardinals, known by the name of the Roman Congregations. These, though more recent, have taken precedence of the former, the work of which they have, moreover, greatly relieved; they are indeed composed of the highest dignitaries of the church, the cardinals (q.v.), and are, as it were, subdivisions of the consistory (q.v.), a council in which the whole of the Sacred College takes part.

Roman Congregations.

II. _The Roman Congregations._--The constitution of all of these is the same; a council varying in numbers, the members of which are cardinals, who alone take part in the deliberations. One of the cardinals acts as president, or prefect, as he is called; the congregation is assisted by a secretary and a certain number of inferior officials, for secretarial and office work. They have also consultors, whose duty it is to study the subjects for consideration. Their deliberations are secret and are based on prepared documents bearing on the case, written, or more often printed, which are distributed to all the cardinals about ten days in advance. The deliberations follow a simplified procedure, which is founded more on equity than on the more strictly legal forms, and decisions are given in the shortest possible form, in answer to carefully formulated questions or _dubia_. The cardinal prefect, aided by the secretariate, deals with the ordinary business, only important matters being submitted for the consideration of the general meeting. To have the force of law the acts of the congregations must be signed by the cardinal prefect and secretary, and sealed with his seal. Practically the only exception is in the cases of the Holy Office, and of the Consistorial Congregation of which the pope himself is prefect; the acts of the first are signed by the "notary," and the acts of the second by the assessor.

We may pass over those temporary congregations of cardinals known also as "special," the authority and existence of which extend only to the consideration of one particular question; and also those which had as their object various aspects of the temporal administration of the papal states, which have ceased to exist since 1870. We deal here only with the permanent ecclesiastical congregations, the real machinery of the papal administration. Some of them go quite far back into the 16th century; but it was Sixtus V. who was their great organizer; by his bull _Immensa_ of the 22nd of January 1587, he apportioned all the business of the Church (including that of the papal states) among fifteen Congregations of cardinals, some of which were already in existence, but most of which were established by him; and these commissions, or those of them at least which are concerned with spiritual matters, are still working. A few others have been added by his successors. Pius X., by the constitution _Sapienti Consilio_ of the 29th of June 1908, proceeded to a general reorganization of the Roman Curia: Congregations, tribunals and offices. In this constitution he declared that the competency of these various organs was not always clear, and that their functions were badly arranged; that certain of them had only a small amount of business to deal with, while others were overworked; that strictly judicial affairs, with which the Congregations had not to deal originally, had developed to an excessive extent, while the tribunals, the Rota and the Signatura, had nothing to do. He consequently withdrew all judicial affairs from the Congregations, and handed them over to the two tribunals, now revived, of the Rota and the papal Signatura; all affairs concerning the discipline of the sacraments were entrusted to a new Congregation of that name; the competency of the remaining Congregations was modified, according to the nature of the affairs with which they deal, and certain of them were amalgamated with others; general rules were laid down for the expedition of business and regarding _personnel_; in short, the work of Sixtus V. was repeated and adapted to later conditions. We will now give the nomenclature of the Roman Congregations, as they were until 1908, and mentioning the modifications made by Pius X.

The Holy Office.

(1) The Holy Inquisition, Roman and universal, or Holy Office (_Sacra Congregatio Romanae et universalis Inquisitionis seu Sancti Officii_), the first of the Congregations, hence called the supreme. It is composed of twelve cardinals, assisted by a certain number of officials: the assessor, who practically fulfils the functions of the secretary, the commissary general, some consultors and the qualificators, whose duty it is to determine the degree of theological condemnation deserved by erroneous doctrinal propositions (_haeretica_, _erronea_, _temeraria_, &c.). The presidency is reserved to the pope, and the cardinal of longest standing takes the title of secretary. This Congregation, established in 1542 by Paul III., constitutes the tribunal of the Inquisition (q.v.), of which the origins are much older, since it was instituted in the 13th century against the Albigenses. It deals with all questions of doctrine and with the repression of heresy, together with those crimes which are more or less of the character of heresy. Its procedure is subject to the strictest secrecy. Pius X. attached to it all matters concerning indulgences; on the other hand, he transferred to the Congregation of the Council matters concerning the precepts of the Church such as fasting, abstinence and festivals. The choosing of bishops, which had in recent times been entrusted to the Holy Office, was given to the Consistorial Congregation, and dispensations from religious vows to the Congregation of the Religious Orders. The Holy Office continues, however, to deal with mixed marriages and marriages with infidels.

Consistorial.

(2) The Consistorial Congregation (_Sacra Congregatio Consistorialis_), established by Sixtus V., has as its object the preparation of business to be dealt with and decided in secret consistory (q.v.); notably promotions to cathedral churches and consistorial benefices, the erection of dioceses, &c. To this congregation is also subject the administration of the common property of the college of cardinals. Pius X. restored this Congregation to a position of great importance; in the first place he gave it the effective control of all matters concerning the erection of dioceses and chapters and the appointment of bishops, except in the case of countries subject to the Propaganda, and save that for countries outside Italy it has to act upon information furnished by the papal secretary of state. He further entrusted to this Congregation everything relating to the supervision of bishops and of the condition of the dioceses, and business connected with the seminaries. It has also the duty of deciding disputes as to the competency of the other Congregations. The pope continues to be its prefect, and the cardinal secretary of the Holy Office and the secretary of state are _ex officio_ members of it; the cardinal who occupies the highest rank in it, with the title of secretary, is chosen by the pope; he is assisted by a prelate with the title of assessor, who is _ex officio_ secretary of the Sacred College. The assessor of the Holy Office and the secretary for extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs are _ex officio_ consultors.

(3) The Pontifical Commission for the reunion of the dissident Churches, established by Leo XIII. in 1895 after his constitution _Orientalium_. The pope reserved the presidency for himself; its activity is merely nominal. It was attached by Pius X. to the Congregation of the Propaganda.

The Visitation.

(4) The Congregation of the Apostolic Visitation (_Sacra Congregatio Visitationis apostolicae_). The Visitation is the personal inspection of institutions, churches, religious establishments and their _personnel_, to correct abuses and enforce the observation of rules. Through this Congregation the pope, as bishop of Rome, made the inspection of his diocese; it is for this reason that he was president of this commission, the most important member of which was the cardinal vicar. He takes the place of the pope in the administration of the diocese of Rome; he has his own offices and diocesan assistants as in other bishoprics. The Congregation of the Visitation was suppressed by Pius X. as a separate Congregation, and was reduced to a mere commission which is attached, as before, to the Vicariate.

(5) The Congregation on the discipline of the sacraments (_Sacra Congregatio de Disciplina Sacramentorum_), established by Pius X., thus comes to occupy the third rank. With the reservation of those questions, especially of a dogmatic character, which belong to the Holy Office, and of purely ritual questions, which come under the Congregation of Rites, this Congregation brings under one authority all disciplinary questions concerning the sacraments, which were formerly distributed among several Congregations and offices. It deals with dispensations for marriages, ordinations, &c., concessions with regard to the mass, the communion, &c.

Bishops and Regulars.

(6) The Congregation of the Bishops and Regulars, of which the full official title was, Congregation for the Affairs and Consultations of the Bishops and Regulars (_Sacra Congregatio super negotiis Episcoporum et Regularium_; now _Sacra Congregatio negotiis religiosorum sodalium praeposita_). It is the result of the fusion of two previous commissions; that for the affairs of bishops, established by Gregory XIII., and that for the affairs of the regular clergy, founded by Sixtus V.; the fusion dates from Clement VIII. (1601). This congregation was very much occupied, being empowered to deal with all disciplinary matters concerning both the secular and regular clergy, whether in the form of consultations or of contentious suits; it had further the exclusive right to regulate the discipline of the religious orders and congregations bound by the simple vows, the statutes of which it examined, corrected and approved; finally it judged disputes and controversies between the secular and regular clergy. On the 26th of May 1906, Pius X. incorporated in this Congregation two others having a similar object: that on the discipline of the regular clergy (_Congregatio super Disciplina Regularium_), founded by Innocent XII. in 1695, and that on the condition of the regular clergy (_Congregatio super Statu Regularium_), established by Pius IX. in 1846. In 1908 Pius X. withdrew from this Congregation all disciplinary matters affecting the secular clergy, and limited its competency to matters concerning the religious orders, both as regards their internal affairs and their relations with the bishops.

Council.

(7) The Congregation of the Council (_Sacra Congregatio Cardinalium Concilii Tridentini interpretum_), i.e. a number of cardinals whose duty it is to interpret the disciplinary decrees of the council of Trent, was instituted by Pius IV. in 1563, and reorganized by Sixtus V.; its mission is to promote the observation of these disciplinary decrees, to give authoritative interpretations of them, and to reconcile disputes arising out of them. Pius X. in 1908 entrusted to this Congregation the supervision of the general discipline of the secular clergy and the faithful laity, empowering it to deal with matters concerning the precepts of the Church, festivals, foundations, church property, benefices, provincial councils and episcopal assemblies. Proceedings for annulling marriages, which used to be reserved to it, were transferred to the tribunal of the Rota; reports on the condition of the dioceses were henceforth to be addressed to the Consistorial Congregation, which involved the suppression of the commission which had hitherto dealt with them. The other commission, formerly charged with the revision of the decrees of provincial councils, was merged in the Congregation itself. The Congregation of Immunity (_Sacra Congregatio Jurisdictionis et Immunitatis ecclesiasticae_) was created by Urban VIII. (1626) to watch over the immunities of the clergy in respect of person or property, whether local or general. This, having no longer any object, was also attached to the Congregation of the Council, and is now amalgamated with it.

Propaganda.

(8) The Congregation of the Propaganda (_Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide_) was established by Gregory XV. in 1622, and added to by Urban VIII., who founded the celebrated College of the Propaganda for the education of missionaries, and his polyglot press for printing the liturgical books of the East. It had charge of the administration of the Catholic churches in all non-Catholic countries, for which it discharged the functions of all the Congregations, except in doctrinal and strictly legislative matters. Its sphere was very wide; it administered all non-European countries, except Latin America and the old colonies of the Catholic countries of Europe; in Europe it had also charge of the United Kingdom and the Balkan States. But the constitution "_Sapienti_" of 1908 withdrew from the Propaganda and put under the common law of the Church most of those parts in which the episcopal hierarchy had been re-established, i.e. in Europe, the United Kingdom, Holland and Luxemburg; in America, Canada, Newfoundland and the United States. Further, even for those countries which it continues to administer, the Propaganda has to submit to the various Congregations all questions affecting the Faith, marriage and rites. The missions begin by establishing apostolic prefectures under the charge of priests; the prefecture is later transformed into an apostolic vicariate, having at its head a bishop; finally, the hierarchy, i.e. the diocesan episcopate, is established in the country, with residential sees. Thus the hierarchy was re-established in England in 1850 by Pius IX., in 1878 by Leo XIII. in Scotland, in 1886 in India, in 1891 in Japan. It is also the work of the Propaganda to appoint the bishops for the countries it administers. Under the same cardinal prefect is found that section of the Propaganda which deals with matters concerning oriental rites (_Congregatio specialis pro negotiis ritus Orientalis_), the object of which is indicated by its name. To the former were attached two commissions, one for the approbation of those religious congregations which devote themselves to missions, which is now transferred to the Congregation of the Religious Orders; the other for the examination of the reports sent in by the bishops and vicars apostolic on their dioceses or missions. With the latter is connected the commission for the examination of the liturgical books of the East (_Commissio pro corrigendis libris ecclesiae Orientalis_). Finally, the popes have devoted to the missions the income arising from the Chamber of Spoils (_Camera Spoliorum_), i.e. that portion of the revenue from church property which cannot be bequeathed by the holders of benefices as their own property; this source of income, however, has decreased greatly.

Index.

(9) The Congregation of the Index (_Congregatio indicis librorum prohibitorum_), founded by St Pius V. in 1571 and reorganized by Sixtus V., has as its object the examination and the condemnation or interdiction of bad or dangerous books which are submitted to it, or, since the constitution "_Sapienti_," of those which it thinks fit to examine on its own initiative (see INDEX).

Rites.

(10) The Congregation of Rites (_Congregatio sacrorum Rituum_), founded by Sixtus V., has exclusive charge of the liturgy and liturgical books; it also deals with the proceedings in the beatification and canonization of saints. Of late years there have been added to it a Liturgical Commission, a Historico-liturgical Commission, and a Commission for church song, the functions of which are sufficiently indicated by their names.

Ceremonial.

(11) The Ceremonial Congregation (_Sacra Congregatio caeremonialis_), the prefect of which is the cardinal dean, was instituted by Sixtus V.; its mission is to settle questions of precedence and etiquette, especially at the papal court; it is nowadays but little occupied.

Indulgences.

(12) The Congregation of Indulgences and Relics (_Sacra Congregatio Indulgentiarum et Sacrarum Reliquiarum_), founded in 1669 by Clement IX., devoted itself to eradicating any abuses which might creep into the practice of indulgences and the cult of relics. It had also the duty of considering applications for the concession of indulgences and of interpreting the rules with regard to them. In 1904 Pius X. attached this Congregation to that of Rites, making the _personnel_ of both the same, without suppressing it. In 1908, however, it was suppressed, as stated above, and its functions as to indulgences were transferred to the Holy Office, and those as to relics to the Congregation of Rites.

Fabric of St Peter's.

(13) The Congregation of the Fabric of St Peter's (_Sacra Congregatio reverendae Fabricae S. Petri_) is charged with the upkeep, repairs and temporal administration of the great basilica; in this capacity it controls the famous manufacture of the Vatican mosaics. It also formerly enjoyed certain spiritual powers for the reduction of the obligations imposed by pious legacies and foundations, the objects of which, for want of funds or any other reason, could not be fully carried out, and for the condonation of past omission of such obligations, e.g. of priests to celebrate the foundation masses of their benefices. In 1908 these powers were taken away from it by Pius X., and transferred to the Congregation of the Council, which already exercised some of them.

(14) The Congregation of Loretto (_Congregatio Lauretana_) discharged the same functions for the sanctuary of that name; its temporal administration was latterly very much reduced, and in 1908 it was united by Pius X. with the Congregation of the Council.

Extraordinary affairs.

(15) The Congregation for extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs (_Sacra Congregatio super negotiis ecclesiasticis extraordinariis_), established by Pius VI. at the end of the 18th century to study the difficult questions relative to France, was afterwards definitively continued by Pius VII.; and there has been no lack of fresh extraordinary matters. It also dealt with the administration of the churches of Latin America, not to mention certain European countries, such as Russia, under the same conditions as the Propaganda in countries under missions. Since the constitution _Sapienti_, its competency has been confined to the examination, at the request of the secretary of state, of questions which are submitted to it, and especially those arising from civil laws and concordats.

Studies.

(16) The Congregation of Studies (_Congregatio pro Universitate studii Romani, Congregazione degli Studi_), founded by Sixtus V. to act as a higher council for the Roman university of La Sapienza, had ceased to have any functions when in 1824 it was re-established by Leo XII. to supervise education in Rome and the Papal States; since 1870 it has been exclusively concerned with the Catholic universities, so far as the sacred sciences are concerned. With this should be connected the commission for historical studies, instituted in 1883 by Leo XIII., at the same time as he threw the Vatican archives freely open to scholars.

Tribunals and offices.

III. _The Tribunals and Offices._--Though it has been relieved of the functions allotted to the Congregations of cardinals, the old machinery of the ecclesiastical administration has not been abolished; and the process of centralization which has been accentuated in the course of the last few centuries, together with the facility of communication, ensured for them a fresh activity, new offices having even been added. The chief thing to be observed is that the prelates who were formerly at the head of these departments have almost all been replaced by cardinals. The following is the list of the tribunals and offices, including the changes introduced by the reorganization of the Curia by Pius X. in 1908. The tribunals are three in number: one for the _forum internum_, the Penitentiary; the other two for judicial matters _in foro externo_, the Rota and the papal Signatura.

Penitentiary.

(1) The Penitentiary (_Sacra poenitentiaria Apostolica_) is the tribunal having exclusive jurisdiction in matters of conscience (_in foro interno_), e.g. dispensations from secret impediments and private vows, the absolution of reserved cases. These concessions are applied for anonymously. It also had, previously to the constitution _Sapienti_, a certain jurisdiction _in foro externo_, such as over matrimonial dispensations for poor people. Its concessions are absolutely gratuitous. Since the 12th century, the papal court had already had officials known as penitentiaries (_poenitentiarii_) for matters of conscience; the organization of the Penitentiary, after several modifications, was renewed by Benedict XIV. in 1748. At the head of it is the cardinal grand penitentiary (_major poenitentiarius_), assisted by the _regens_ (It. _regente_) and various other functionaries and officials.

Rota.