GOLDEN BULL, an edict or imperial constitution made by the Emperor Charles IV., and hence called Caroline, 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 yel-
low and red cords of silk; while on one side the emperor is represented sitting on his throne, and on the other the capitol of Rome. Till the publication of the golden bull, the form and ceremony of the election of an emperor were unsettled, and the number of the electors was not fixed. This solemn edict regulated the functions, rights, privileges, and precedence of the electors. The original, which is in Latin, on vellum, is preserved at Francfort. This ordonnance, containing thirty articles or chapters, was approved of by all the princes of the empire.
SILVER BULLS were not in so frequent use, though instances of them are to be met with.
LEADEN BULLS were sent by the emperors of Constantinople to patriarchs and princes; and they were also used by the grandees of the imperial court, as well as by the kings of France, Sicily, and other countries; 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. According to Polydore Virgil, Pope Stephen III. was the first who used leaden bulls, about the year 772; but instances of them are to be met with as early as the times of Silvester, Leo I., and Gregory the Great. The latter popes, besides 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, and were of two sorts, one red and the other green.