“[T]hose onely are Free-chappels, which are of the King’s Foundation, and by him exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Ordinary; but the King may licence a Subject to found such a Chappel, and by his Charter exempt it from the Ordinaries Visitation also…. [I]t is called free, in respect of its exemption from the Jurisdiction of the Diocesan….” Thomas Blount, Nomo-Lexicon: A Law-Dictionary (1670).
free chapel
free chapel. Hist. Eccles. law. A church founded by the Crown (or by a person under royal grant) and not subject to the bishop’s jurisdiction.
