pragmatic sanction

American  

noun

1. any one of various imperial decrees with the effect of fundamental law.

2. (initial capital letters)

   1. any of several imperial or royal decrees limiting the power or privilege of the papacy, as the decree of Charles VII of France in 1438 or that of the Diet of Mainz in 1439.

   2. the imperial decree of Charles VI of Austria in 1713, by which his daughter, Maria Theresa, inherited his dominions.

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pragmatic sanction British  

noun

1. an edict, decree, or ordinance issued with the force of fundamental law by a sovereign

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Example Sentences

The civil state of Italy, after the agitation of a long tempest, was fixed by a pragmatic sanction, which the emperor promulgated at the request of the pope.

From History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 4 by Milman, Henry Hart

Louis IX, by a pragmatic sanction, resists the papal claim to nominate bishops in France.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 06 (From Barbarossa to Dante) by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)

He died in 1740, and within six months, when Frederick II. was on the Prussian throne, Maria Theresa claimed, in virtue of the pragmatic sanction, the lands and hereditary titles of her father Charles VI.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 8 "Germany" to "Gibson, William" by Various

Charles VIII., of France, in a pragmatic sanction issued in 1433, asserted for France, in conformity with the canons of the Council of Basle, independence of Rome in all temporal matters.

From Monks, Popes, and their Political Intrigues by Alberger, John

The question of the vitality of the alliance was settled by my suggesting to the King that the alliance should receive pragmatic sanction, i.e. be ratified by the Parliaments at Vienna, Budapest, and Bucharest.

From In the World War by Czernin von und zu Chudenitz, Ottokar Theobald Otto Maria, Graf