CHAPTER XXXIX

THE TREASURY MUST RESTORE LANDS, GARDENS, AND HOUSES TO THE CHURCHES

“NOR shall the treasury itself, should it claim a right to any of the things we have spoken of, be permitted to maintain that right; but, without venturing as it were to raise its voice against the holy churches, it shall justly relinquish in their favour what it has long unjustly retained. We ordain, therefore, that all things whatsoever which shall appear really to belong to the churches (whether the property consist of houses, or fields and gardens, or whatever the nature of it may be), shall be restored in their full value and integrity, and with undiminished right of possession.