an ecclesiastical censure often inflicted by the Church of Rome, and involving the suspension, total or partial, of the ordinances of religion. It might be inflicted on a city or province, or even upon a whole kingdom. Amongst the earliest instances of it are cases which occur in the sixth century. Prætextatus, archbishop of Rouen, had been murdered by Queen Fredegunde, in consequence of which the churches of the city were shut up, and both Dupin and Fleury consider the penalty thus incurred to have been properly an interdict. In 997 this punishment was inflicted by Gregory V, upon the whole of France, on account of the marriage of King Robert with his cousin. A procedure of this kind in those days was no idle parade of words, for we find that Robert himself was excommunicated and abandoned by almost the whole of his own court. In 1147 King Stephen of England was placed under interdict; but more famous is the case of John, who was visited with this ecclesiastical censure in 1208 by Innocent III. The papal legates came before the English king in a very suppliant manner, but the moment the fiery monarch heard of an interdict, he flew into a rage, exclaimed furiously against the pope and his cardinals, threatened to send off all the bishops to Rome, and to pluck out the eyes and cut off the noses of any Romans that he should find in his dominions. Notwithstanding this violence the censure was pronounced, and, in consequence, every religious ordinance ceased except confession, absolution, and baptism. The dead being denied the rites of sepulture, were cast into pits and holes like dogs. On the other hand, King John retaliated by allowing the adherents of the pope to be subjected to outrage both in person and property.

The effect of these interdicts was found to be bad. The suspension of the rite of marriage, for example, necessarily tended to demoralize the people. After the Reformation, political considerations of a more cogent kind, compelled the pope to resort less frequently to these modes of punishment.