The metropolitans had peculiars within the dioceses of their comprovincials wherever they had residences or manors, and some whose origin is uncertain, e.g.
It was, for the time, determined that the archbishop might himself, in virtue of his legatine authority, entertain complaints from other dioceses in first instance, but that this legatine jurisdiction was not included in the ordinary jurisdiction of his official principal, even if the archbishop had so willed it in his commission.
In 1831 the pope enacted that in all the dioceses of the then Pontifical States, the court of first instance for the criminal causes of ecclesiastics should consist of the ordinary and four other judges.
The bishops, who were ex officio inquisitors in their own dioceses, had not succeeded in putting a stop to the evils, nor had the friars, by whom they had been practically superseded.
At the head of the Church was a body of ten elders, elected by the synod; this synod consisted of all the ministers, and acted as the supreme legislative authority; and the bishops ruled in their respective dioceses, and had a share in the general oversight.