s a solemn ordinance or decree of the head of a legislature on some matter of importance. The term is of Byzantine origin, and was used early in the French monarchy. Perhaps the most celebrated pragmatic sanction is that of Charles VII., of France in 1438, caused by the schism in the church between the Council of Basle and Pope Eugenius IV. One of the decisions of the king was the supremacy of the general council over the Pope. Twenty-three articles were signed by the king for the regulation of the Gallican Church, constituting the pragmatic sanction of Charles VII. Some twenty years afterwards, Louis XI., anxious to please Pope Pius II., gave up this pragmatic sanction of Charles VII., and it was ignominiously dragged through the streets of Rome. Some years afterwards Louis quarrelled with the Pope, and the pragmatic sanction again became law. The last pragmatic sanction which has attained historical celebrity is that of Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, who, in the year 1722, failing male issue, settled his dominions on his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa, which was confirmed by the diet of the empire, and guaranteed by Great Britain, France, the States-General, and most of the European powers.