GOLDEN BULL (Lat. bulls aurea, so called from the gold case in which the seal attached to the bull was inclosed). The Imperial edict is sued by the Emperor Charles IV., in 1356, for the purpose of settling the form of the Imperial elec tion and coronation, the persons to whom the right of election belonged, and their duties and privileges. Up to that time some uncertainty had prevailed as to the rights of the electoral body, claims having frequently been made by several members of the lay electoral families, and di visions having repeatedly arisen from this uncer tainty; the effect of such divisions being to throw the decision for the most part into the hands of the Pope. In order to obviate these in conveniences, the Golden Bull defines that one member only of each electoral house shall have a vote—viz, the representative of that house in right of primogeniture, and in case of his being a minor, the eldest of his uncles paternal. The seven electors were declared to be the Arch bishops of Mainz, Troves, and Cologne, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave of Branden burg. The place of election of the Emperor was fixed at Frankfort; the coronation was to take place at Aix-la-Chapelle. On the great question as to the dependence of the Imperial office on the Pope, and as to the right of the Pope to examine and approve the Imperial election, the Golden Bull is silent, although it declares the Emperor com petent to exercise jurisdiction in Germany from the moment of election. It invests the vicariate,
together with the government of the Empire dur ing an interregnum, in the Elector Palatine and the Elector of Saxony; but it is to be noted that this applies only to Germany. Of the vicariate of Italy, which was claimed by the Popes, nothing is said. The Golden Bull also contains some pro visions restraining the so-called faustrecht (lit erally, 'fist law' or right of private redress). It was solemnly enacted in two successive Diets at Nuremberg and Metz, in the year 1356, and origi nal copies of it were furnished to each of the electors and to the city of Frankfort. The electoral constitution, as settled by this bull, save for the number of electors, was main tained almost unaltered till the extinction of the Empire. There is a translation into Eng lish of the Golden Bull in Henderson. Documents of the Middle Ages (London, 1892). In Hungarian history there is a constitutional edict called by the same name. It was issued by Andrew IL, in 1222. It strengthened the mon archy, although limiting its functions. It con tained guarantees of individual liberty, and in sured periodical meetings of the assemblies. It preserved the power of the nobles by preventing further subdivisions of fiefs.