During the Angevin period the popes endeavored to introduce the canon
law (a body of ordinances consisting mainly of the decisions of Church
councils and popes) into England, with the view of making it supreme;
but the Parliament of Merton refused to accept it, saying, "We will
not change the laws of England."
The Statute of Mortmain was also passed (SS226, 264) and other
measures (Statutes of Provisors and Statute of Praemunire) (S243),
which forbade the Pope from taking the appointment of bishops and
other ecclesiastics out of the hands of the clergy; and which
prohibited any appeal from the King's Court to the Papal Court.
Furthermore, many hundreds of parishes, formerly filled by foreigners
who could not speak English, were now given to native priests, and the
sending of money out of the country to support foreign ecclesiastics
was in great measure stopped.
During the Crusades two religious military orders had been
established, called the Knights Hospitalers and the Knights Templars.
The object of the former was, originally, to provide entertainment for
pilgrims going to Jerusalem; that of the latter, to protect them.
Both had extensive possessions in England. In 1312 the order of
Templars was broken up on a charge of heresy and evil life, and their
property in England given to the Knights Hospitalers, who were also
called Knights of St. John.