External cardinal

In the category of the members of the College of Cardinals in the central Middle Ages (11th to 13th century), an external cardinal (as opposed to a "curial cardinal"^[1]) a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church who did not reside in the Roman Curia, because of simultaneously being a bishop of the episcopal see other than suburbicarian, or abbot of an abbey situated outside Rome.^[2] In the wider sense, it may also concern cardinals who were appointed to the external episcopal sees and resigned their memberships in the College of Cardinals with this appointment. As well, it can concern cardinals who were generally curial cardinals, but for some time exercised the posts of administrators or prelates of the external churches.^[3]

Today, the great majority of the cardinals are archbishops of the main metropolitan dioceses of the world and reside in their countries. Apart from the exclusive right of the election of the new pope, their dignity is purely honorific. However, originally the College of Cardinals was simply a college of the clergy of the City of Rome, constituted of the bishops of the seven dioceses (called suburbicarian sees) bordering the diocese of Rome (cardinal-bishops), priests of the parochial churches of Rome (cardinal-priests) and deacons heading the ecclesiastical regions of the city of Rome (cardinal-deacons). Unlike today, the cardinals had real jurisdiction over the dioceses, parochial churches (called tituli) or deaconries to which they were attached.^[4] The phenomenon of the external cardinalate in the late Middle Ages constituted the first exception to the rule, that cardinals – members of the clergy of the diocese of Rome – cannot serve simultaneously in another, external church, which is now common practice.