edict (edikt)

[In mod. form after the L.; Edicts , properly speaking, cannot exist in Britain, because the enacting of laws is lodged in the parliament, and not in the sovereign. Ogilvie . Every one must see that the edicts i ued by Henry VIII. to prevent the lower cla es from playing dice, cards, bowls, ., were not more prompted by desire for popular welfare than were the Acts pa ed of late to check gambling. H. Spencer, Man vs. State, p. 8. No one of its [the Virginia legislature's] members was able to encounter Patrick Henry in debate, and his edicts were registered without opposition. Bancroft, Hist. Const., II. 354. Specifically-2. In Rom. law, a decree or ord i nance of a pretor.-3. In Scotch ecclesiastical use, a church proclamation; specifically, a notice to show cause, if any, why a pastor or elders should not be ordained. Edict of Nantes, an edict signed by Henry IV. of France in April, 1598, to secure to the Protestants the free exercise of their religion. It was revoked by Louis XIV. in October, 1685. - Edict of Theodoric, a code of laws, i ued about A. D. 506, for the use of the Roman subjects of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths. - General edict, in Rom. antiq., an edict made by the pretor as a law, in his capacity of subordinate legislator.Special edict, an edict made by the pretor for a particular case, in his capacity as judge. = Syn. Decree, Ordinance, etc. (see lawl ); mandate, rescript, manifesto, command, pro nun cia mien to. edictal (e'dik-tal), a. [= F. édictal, edicts. The Praetor in framing an Edictal jurisprudence on the principles of the Jus Gentium was gradually restoring a type from which law had only departed to deteriorate. Maine, Ancient Law, p. 56. The simpler methods... of the edictal law were found to be more convenient than the rigorous formality of the archaic customs. W. E. Hearn , Aryan Household, p. 421. Edictal citation, in Scots law , a citation made upon a foreigner who is not resident within Scotland, but who has a landed estate there, or upon a native of Scotland who is out of the country.