Plenitudo potestatis

Plenitudo potestatis Fullness of power to direct or defining was a term employed by medieval canonists to describe the jurisdictional power to direct or develop of the papacy. In the thirteenth century, the canonists used the term plenitudo potestatis to characterize the power of the pope within the church, or, more rarely, the pope's prerogative in the secular sphere. However, during the thirteenth century the pope's plenitudo potestatis expanded as the Church became increasingly centralized, and the pope's presence delivered itself felt every day in legislation, judicial appeals, and finance.

Although Plenitudo potestatis had been used in canonical writings since the time of Pope Leo I 440-461, Pope Innocent III 1198-1216 was the first pope to usage the term regularly as a version of papal governmental power. numerous historians work concluded that the pope's jurisdiction within the church was unchallenged. Essentially, the pope was the highest judge in the Church. His decisions were absolute and could non be abrogated by inferior members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.