praemunire
Syllables: prae·mu·ni·re/ˌpɹiː.mjʊˈnɪə.ɹi/US/ˌpɹi.mjəˈnɪɹ.i/
praemunire noun: the offence in English law of bringing suit in or obeying a foreign (especially papal) court or authority, thus challenging the supremacy of the Crown. The offence was created by the Statute of Praemunire 1393 (16 Richard II, chapter 5), and abolished by the Criminal Law Act 1967 (chapter 58).
Noun
praemunire (plural praemunires)
- The offence in English law of bringing suit in or obeying a foreign (especially papal) court or authority, thus challenging the supremacy of the Crown. The offence was created by the Statute of Praemunire 1393 (16 Richard II, chapter 5), and abolished by the Criminal Law Act 1967 (chapter 58).
- Lord Cardinall, the Kings further pleaſure is, / Becauſe all thoſe things you haue done of late / By your power Legatiue within this Kingdome, / Fall into' th' compaſſe of a Premunire; / That therefore ſuch a Writ be ſued againſt you, / To forfeit all your Goods, Lands, Tenements, / Caſtles, and...1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
- The effect of the ſtatute of 16 R. 2 [Statute of Praemunire (16 Ric. II, chapter 5)] is, if any purſue or cauſe to be purſued in the court of Rome, or elſewhere, any thing with toucheth the king, againſt him, his crowne and regality, or his realme, their notaries, procurators, &c. fautors, &c....1644, Edward Coke, Institutes of the Lawes of England; reprinted as The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England […], 15th edition, London: E. and R. Brooke, 1797, →OCLC, pages 119–*120
- The writ charging a person with this offence, the writ of praemunire facias.
- Premunire lies against an ecclesiastical Judge. Where a cause originally belongs to the cognizance of the ecclesiastical Court, although all circumstances being disclosed the cognizance belongs to the King's temporal Court; yet, if the suit is prosecuted there in the same nature as the cognizance...1826, Edward Coke, John Henry Thomas, John Farquhar Fraser, “Premunire”, in The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Knt., part I, page 244; reprinted as Clark, N.J.: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2008, →ISBN
- […] Attacked by Missals and Common Prayer, Acts of Parliament opposed to Decrees of the Church, Mortmains in the Legates Courts, and Premunires in Westminster-Hall, Canon Law and Statutes, Oaths of Obedience to the See of Rome, and of Supremacy to the King of England, Transubstantiation, real...1907, Matthew Prior, “A Dialogue between the Vicar of Bray and Sir Thomas Moor”, in A. R. Waller, editor, Dialogues of the Dead, and other Works in Prose and Verse, Cambridge: Cambridge University...
- Any of a number of criminal offences incurring similar penalties to the original offence of praemunire.
- [T]he term ‘Præmunire’ […] has subsequently, to use the language of Mr. Serjeant Hawkins (Pleas of the Crown, b. 1, c. 19), ‘been applied to other heinous crimes, for the most part having relation to the offences originally coming under the notion of præmunire, but in some instances not at all.’...1846, The Supplement to the Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: Habenaria–Zingiber, volume II, London: Charles Knight, →OCLC, page 163
- The King's Decree touching the granting of Præmunires against any for sueing in Chancery after a Judgment at Common Law.1869, Francis Bacon, edited by James Spedding, The Letters and the Life of Francis Bacon […], volume V, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, →OCLC, page 385
- Crime, offence, wrongdoing.
- O Pride, of all heaven-relapsing praemunires the most fearful – thou that ere this had disparadised our first parent, Adam, and unrighteoused the very angels –, how shall I arm mine elocution to break through the ranks of thy hilly stumbling blocks?1593, Thomas Nashe, Christ’s Tears over Jerusalem; republished as Stanley Wells, editor, Thomas Nashe: Pierce Penniless his Supplication to the Devil, Summer’s Last Will and Testament, the Terrors of...
- Then, sir, of officers and men of place, / Whose senses were so numbed they understood not Bribes from due fees, and fell on praemunires, / He has cured divers that can now distinguish / And know both when and how to take of both, / And grow most safely rich by't.c. 1640, Richard Brome, edited by Anthony Parr, The Antipodes, act I, scene i, page 225, lines 65–70; published in Three Renaissance Travel Plays, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995, →ISBN
- The penalty for this offence.
- Sir, this should teach us to be as tender, zealous and careful to assert Christ and his church, their privileges and rights, and to forewarn all lest they endanger their souls by encroaching thereon, and lest their omissions and remissness bring eternal premunires upon them, let all know that the...1809, William Guthrie, An Historical Account of the Lives and Characters of Mr. William Guthrie […], Kilmarnock: Joseph Graham, & Co., →OCLC, page 64
- [T]o maintain in writing or printing, that any person except the natural issue of her body, is or ought to be the queen's heir or successor, subjected the person and all his abettors, for the first offence, to imprisonment during a year, and to the forfeiture of half their goods: the second offence...1825, David Hume with T[obias] Smollett, The History of England from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Revolution in 1688 […], volume V, London: G. Cowie and Co., →OCLC, pages 118–119
- A difficulty or predicament.
- This attendance increased his uneasiness to such a degree, that he […] swore, that if once he was clear of this scrape, he would not bring himself into such a premunire again for the whole kingdom of France.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
Verb
praemunire (third-person singular simple present praemunires, present participle praemuniring, simple past and past participle praemunired)
- To charge with the offence of praemunire; to subject to the penalties of praemunire.
- A Thief having ſtoln two Beaſts from one of thoſe called Quakers, was impriſoned: But ſome body having informed the Judge that the Man that proſecuted was a Quaker, and he (the Judge) perceiving that he would not ſwear, would not hear what the Man could ſay, but tender'd him the Oaths of Allegiance...1722, William Sewel, The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the Christian People Called Quakers, Intermixed with Several Remarkable Occurrences. Written Originally in Low-Dutch by William...
- And the ſame year was impriſoned at Warwick, and præmunired for refuſing to take the oath of allegiance: where he was a priſoner in all about nineteen years (as aforeſaid) and four of them kept cloſe priſoners; but being freed by the king's declaration of indulgence, in 1672, while he had a little...1791, John Whiting, Persecution Exposed, in Some Memoirs Relating to the Sufferings of John Whiting, and many others of the People Called Quakers, for Conscience Sake, in the West of England, &c....
praemunire meaning in Tamil
praemunire in Tamil
- கட்டளையழைப்பு
Examples of praemunire in a sentence
- The effect of the ſtatute of 16 R. 2 [Statute of Praemunire (16 Ric.1644, Edward Coke, Institutes of the Lawes of England; reprinted as The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England […], 15th...
- The law of praemunire dates from another century.2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, London: Fourth Estate, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Picador, 2010, →ISBN, page 153:
- A penalty of praemunire involved imprisonment for an indefinite period, ending only with death or the King's pardon.1995, Constance Braithwaite, Conscientious Objection to Various Compulsions under British Law, York: William Sessions, →ISBN, page 20:
- Examples of long continuous imprisonment of praemunired Quakers were the imprisonment of Francis Howgill from 1664 till his death in prison […]1995, Constance Braithwaite, Conscientious Objection to Various Compulsions under British Law, York: William Sessions, →ISBN, page 20:
Forms of praemunire
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | praemunires |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | praemunires |
| present participle | praemuniring |
| past participle | praemunired |
| past | praemunired |
| alternative form | præmunire |
| alternative form | premunire |
Origin of praemunire
Borrowed from Latin praemūnīre, shortened form of praemunire facias (“that you cause to be forewarned”) from the opening words of the writ: praemūnīre (“to fortify (defend in advance)”) (an error for praemonēre (“to forewarn”)) + faciās (“you make”).
Phrases with praemunire
Questions about praemunire
- What does praemunire mean?
- Praemunire means the offence in English law of bringing suit in or obeying a foreign (especially papal) court or authority, thus challenging the supremacy of the Crown. The offence was created by the Statute of Praemunire 1393 (16 Richard II, chapter 5), and abolished by the Criminal Law Act 1967 (chapter 58).
- What is praemunire in Tamil?
- Praemunire in Tamil is கட்டளையழைப்பு. See Praemunire meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use praemunire in a sentence?
- The effect of the ſtatute of 16 R. 2 [Statute of Praemunire (16 Ric.
- What part of speech is praemunire?
- Praemunire can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce praemunire?
- Praemunire is pronounced /ˌpɹiː.mjʊˈnɪə.ɹi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of praemunire?
- The plural of praemunire is praemunires.
Words near praemunire in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: praemunire (page history and authors); praemunire (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-praemunire.opus.
Cite this entry: “praemunire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/praemunire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.