This statute, (first passed in 1353) was reenacted in 1393 to check
the power claimed by the Pope in England in cases which interfered
with power claimed by the King, as in appeals made to the Court of
Rome respecting Church matters, over which the King's court had
jurisdiction. The statute received its name from th ewrit served on
the party who had broken the law: "Praemunire facias, A.B."; that is,
"Cause A.B. to be forewarned" that he appear before us to answer the
contempt with which he stands charged. Henry VIII made use of this
statute in order to compel the clergy to accept his supremacy over the
English Church (SS265, 346, 348).