Note 260 — Chapter XXIII

More important for France than the arrangements mentioned above was the so-called Concordat, or agreement, between Francis and the pope in regard to the selection of the French prelates. Francis was given the privilege of appointing the archbishops, bishops, and abbots, and in this way it came about that he and his successors had many rich offices to grant to their courtiers and favorites. He agreed in return that the pope should receive a part of the first year's revenue from the more important offices in the Church of France. The pope was, moreover, thereafter to be regarded as superior to a council, a doctrine which had been denied by the French monarchs since the Council of Basel. The arrangements of the Concordat of 1516 were maintained down to the French Revolution.