BULL, among ecclesiastics, a written letter, dispatched, by order of the Pope, from the Roman chancery, and sealed with lead, being written on parchment, by which it is partly distinguished from a brief: see the article BRIEF.—It is a kind of apostolical rescript, or edict; and is chiefly in use in matters of justice or grace. If the former be the intention of the
bull, the lead is hung by a hempen chord; if the latter, by a silken thread. It is this pendent lead, or seal, which is, properly speaking, the bull, and which is impressed on one side with the heads of St Peter and St Paul, and on the other with the name of the Pope and the year of his pontificate. The bull is written in an old, round, Gothic letter, and is divided into five parts, the narrative of the fact, the conception, the clause, the date, and the salutation, in which the Pope styles himself servus servorum, i. e. the servant of servants. These instruments, besides the lead hanging to them, have a cross, with some text of scripture, or religious motto, about it. Bulls are granted for the consecration of bishops, the promotion to benefices, and the celebration of jubilees, &c.
Bull in cena Domini, a particular bull read every year, on the day of the Lord's supper, or Maundy Thursday, in the Pope's presence, containing excommunications and anathemas against heretics, and all who disturb or oppose the jurisdiction of the holy see. After the reading of the bull, the Pope throws a burning torch in the public place, to denote the thunder of this anathema.
Golden Bull, an edict, or imperial constitution, made by the emperor Charles IV. reputed to be the magna charta, or the fundamental law of the German empire.
It is called golden, because it has a golden seal, in the form of a pope's bull, tied with yellow and red cords of silk: upon one side is the emperor represented sitting on his throne, and on the other the capital of Rome. It is also called Caroline, on Charles IV's account. Till the publication of the golden bull, the form and ceremony of the election of an emperor were dubious and undetermined, and the number of the electors not fixed. This solemn edict regulated the functions, rights, privileges, and pre-eminences, of the electors. The original, which is in Latin, on vellum, is preserved at Francfort: this ordonnance, containing 30 articles or chapters, was approved of by all the princes of the empire, and remain still in force.
Silver Bulls were not in so frequent use; tho' we do not want instances of them.
Leaden Bulls were sent by the emperors of Constantinople to despots, patriarchs, and princes; and the like were also used by the grandees of the Imperial court, as well as by the kings of France, Sicily, &c. and by bishops, patriarchs, and popes. It is to be observed, that the leaden bulls of these last had, on one side, the name of the pope or bishop inscribed. Polydore Virgil makes pope Stephen III. the first who used leaden bulls, about the year 772. But others find instances of them as early as Silvester, Leo. I. and Gregory the Great. The latter popes, beside their own names, strike the figures of St Peter and St Paul on their bulls; a practice first introduced by Pope Paschal II. But why, in these bulls, the figure of St Paul is on the right, and that of St Peter on the left side, is a question which has occasioned many conjectures and disputes.
Waxen Bulls are said to have been first brought into England by the Normans. They were in frequent use among the Greek emperors, who thus sealed letters to their wives, mothers, and sons. Of these there were two sorts, one red, and the other green.