A good example of the dependence of prelacy on jurisdiction is found in those religious orders, such as the Dominicans, where authority is strictly elective and temporary.
Theword "prelacy," meaning no more originally than the office and dignity of a prelate, came to be applied in Presbyterian Scotland and Puritan England - especially during the 17th century - to the episcopal form of church government, being used in a..
The " Solemn League and Covenant," which pledged both countries to the extirpation of prelacy, leaving further decision as to church government to be decided by the " example of the best reformed churches," after undergoing some slight alterations, passed the two Houses of Parliament and the Westminster Assembly, and thus became law for the two kingdoms. By means of it Henderson has had considerable influence on the history of Great Britain.
After some haggling a document called the Solemn League and Covenant was drawn up. This was practically a treaty between England and Scotland for the preservation of the reformed religion in Scotland, the reformation of religion in England and Ireland "according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches," and the extirpation of popery and prelacy.
He early entered the prelacy, became prefect of Spoleto, twice nuncio to France, cardinal (1606), and finally, on the 6th of August 1623, succeeded Gregory XV.