Question II

GRATIAN. But clerics are prohibited by the Council of Tarragona from exacting gifts for patronage furnished, in which it is read to have been established thus, [c. 10]:

We also decree that it is to be observed that no priest or cleric, after the manner of secular judges, dare to accept gifts for patronage furnished, except things offered freely in the church, which may appear to have been received not from favor for a gift but brought by a contribution of devotion. But if he is proved to accept things sought by him, let him know that he is to be degraded according to the statutes of the Fathers, as an exactor of interest or possessor of usury. GRATIAN. But this is to be understood concerning those who, having professed the canonical life, resolved that they would live according to the rule. For it is received by the general custom of the church and approved by usage that clerics, after the manner of advocates, furnish patronage, exact gifts for patronage to be furnished, and receive them for patronage furnished.