Definition
A Latin phrase meaning, literally, "to do the regalia." In feudal ecclesiastical law, *regalia facere* describes the act by which a bishop, upon being invested with the regalia — the temporal possessions and rights of his see held of the crown — performed homage or fealty to the sovereign. The ceremony marked the formal acknowledgment of royal authority over those temporal holdings, distinguishing the bishop's civil obligations to the crown from his spiritual office received from the church.
The concept reflects the dual character of a medieval bishop's position: as a spiritual officer consecrated by ecclesiastical authority, and as a temporal lord holding lands and revenues directly from the sovereign. *Regalia facere* was the mechanism by which the latter relationship was formally recognized and sealed.
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Common Confusion
*Regalia facere* should not be confused with *investiture* in the broader sense, nor with the Investiture Controversy itself. Investiture referred to the grant of the regalia (the act of the sovereign conferring temporal rights); *regalia facere* was the bishop's responsive obligation — the performance of homage that followed investiture. The two acts were paired but legally distinct. Researchers working in sources concerning the Investiture Controversy may find the terms used loosely or interchangeably; care is warranted.
The term *regalia* alone carries different freight in Scots law and in general legal usage. See RELATED TERMS.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in historical sources treating medieval English ecclesiastical and feudal law. Researchers are unlikely to encounter it in post-Reformation materials or in American legal sources except as a historical reference. Its practical relevance is confined to:
**English church-state conflict:** The tension over whether kings could require *regalia facere* before, during, or after consecration was at the heart of the Investiture Controversy and subsequent negotiations between the papacy and English crown. Sources from the 12th and 13th centuries — particularly those treating the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164) — engage directly with this question.
**Distinction from spiritual homage:** Medieval canonists drew a sharp line between homage for temporal holdings (within scope of *regalia facere*) and any suggestion of subjection in spiritual matters. Researchers tracing arguments about the limits of royal ecclesiastical authority will encounter this distinction repeatedly.
**Corpus connections:** The term connects to the broader cluster of feudal ecclesiastical terms — *investiture*, *spiritualities*, *temporalities*, *commendation* — and to the Scots law concept of *regality*, which is a distinct though etymologically related idea. These terms should be searched together when mapping the Law Mind corpus on medieval ecclesiastical tenure.
**Trap for historical researchers:** Historical dictionaries treat *regalia facere* as self-explanatory once defined, offering no procedural detail about what the ceremony involved or how its requirements evolved over time. Researchers needing that level of granularity must look outside dictionary sources to ecclesiastical history and chronicles.
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Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries are in complete agreement on the core definition: *regalia facere* means to do homage or fealty to the sovereign upon investiture with the regalia. All three treat it as a fixed, historical term requiring no further subdivision.
Rapalje & Lawrence adds a functionally separate entry for *regality* — the Scots law concept of a territorial jurisdiction conferred by the crown — noting that lands so held were said to be given *in liberam regalitatem*, and the recipients were "lords of regality." This is a distinct legal institution and not a variation of *regalia facere*, but the proximity of the entries in Rapalje & Lawrence makes the connection explicit and signals that researchers should be alert to the divergence between English and Scots usage of the *regalia* root.
None of the source dictionaries address the procedural or constitutional stakes of *regalia facere* within the Investiture Controversy, the timing of homage relative to consecration, or the differences between English and continental practice. These are significant silences for researchers expecting dictionary coverage to scaffold historical analysis.
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Jurisdictional Note
*Regalia facere* is English feudal and ecclesiastical law in origin and has no direct American legal counterpart. In Scots law, the cognate concept of *regality* describes a different institution — a delegated royal jurisdiction over territory — and should be researched separately.
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