Chancellor

This article is about the position in government. For other uses, see Chancellor (disambiguation).

Chancellor (Latin: cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the audience. A chancellor's office is called a chancellery or chancery. The word is now used in the titles of many various officers in all kinds of settings (government, education, religion, etc.). Nowadays the term is most often used to describe:

Head of government

The current German Bundeskanzlerin is Angela Merkel from the CDU (Christian Democrats).

The former German Empire, the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany had the equivalent position of Reichskanzler ("Chancellor of the Realm"), as the head of the executive. Between 1871 and 1918 the Chancellor was appointed by the German Emperor. During the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), the Chancellor was chosen by the Reichspräsident and stood under his authority. This continued (formally) during the two first years of the Nazi regime until the death of President Paul von Hindenburg in 1934. Between 1934 and 1945 Adolf Hitler, the dictatorial head of state and government of Nazi Germany was officially called "Führer und Reichskanzler" (literally "Leader and Chancellor of the Realm").

Foreign minister

In South America, the terms Canciller (Spanish) or Chanceler (Portuguese), equivalent to "chancellor", are commonly used informally to refer to the post of foreign minister. Likewise, the ministry of foreign affairs in many South American countries is referred to as the Cancillería or (in Brazil) Chancelaria. However, in Spain the term canciller refers to a civil servant in the Spanish diplomatic service responsible for technical issues relating to foreign affairs. On the contrary, in Mexico it relates solely to the position of head of the ministry of foreign affairs (the formal term being Secretary of Foreign Affairs).

Functions related to justice and the law

Other

Ecclesiastical

The chancellor is the principal record-keeper of a diocese or eparchy, or their equivalent. The chancellor is a notary, so that he may certify official documents, and often has other duties at the discretion of the bishop of the diocese: he may be in charge of some aspect of finances or of managing the personnel connected with diocesan offices, although his delegated authority cannot extend to vicars of the diocesan bishop, such as vicars general, episcopal vicars or judicial vicars. His office is within the "chancery". Vice-chancellors may be appointed to assist the chancellor in busy chanceries. Normally, the chancellor is a priest or deacon, although in some circumstances a layperson may be appointed to the post.[7] In the eparchial curia a chancellor is to be appointed who is to be a presbyter (priest) or deacon and whose principal obligation, unless otherwise established by the particular law, is to see that the acts of the curia are gathered and arranged as well as preserved in the archives of the eparchial curia.[8]

In the United Methodist Church, each Annual Conference has a Conference Chancellor, who is either an active or retired lawyer or judge who serves as the Annual Conference's legal adviser and representative. While the Annual Conference usually hires outside professional counsel in matters that require legal representation, that hiring and representation is done under the supervision, and with the consent, of the Conference Chancellor.[9]

Educational usage

A Chancellor is the leader (either ceremonial or executive) of many public and private universities and related institutions.

The heads of the New York City Department of Education and the District of Columbia Public Schools, who run the municipally-operated public schools in those jurisdictions, carry the title of Chancellor. New York State also has a Chancellor of the University of the State of New York, the body that licenses and regulates all educational and research institutions in the state and many professions (not to be confused with the State University of New York, an actual institution of higher learning).

In a few instances, the term chancellor applies to a student or faculty member in a high school or an institution of higher learning who is either appointed or elected as chancellor to preside on the highest ranking judicial board or tribunal. They handle non-academic matters such as violations of behavior.

In Germany many heads of universities carry the title "Kanzler" (Chancellor). In order to avoid any misunderstanding, the head of the German Federal Government is therefore usually called by his official title Bundeskanzler (Federal Chancellor).

Historical uses

There is the "royal sealer" (xtmtj-bity or xtmw-bity), a title attested since the First Dynasty (about 3000 BC).[10] People holding the post include Imhotep and Hemaka.[11]
The other title translated as chancellor is "Keeper of the Royal Seal" (or overseer of the seal or treasurer—imy-r xtmt[12][13]). Officials holding the post include Bay or Irsu, Khety[14] Meketre,[15] and Nakhti.[16]
The first title (royal sealer) announced a certain rank at the royal court, the second (supervisor of the sealed goods, i.e. treasurer) was responsible for the state's income. This position appears around 2000 BC.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Grundgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
  2. ↑ "Sir Christopher Hatton". Love to Know Classic Encyclopedia (from the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica).
  3. ↑ "Constitutional continuity: Jack Straw speech at the London School of Economics". 3 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ VABARIIGI VALITSUSE SEADUS (Estonian)
  6. ↑ ÕIGUSKANTSLERI SEADUS (Estonian)
  7. ↑ CIC 482; CCEO 252—§1.
  8. ↑
    Canon 482 [...]
    §2. If it seems necessary the chancellor can be given an assistant whose title is vice-chancellor.
    §3. The chancellor as well as the vice-chancellor are by the law itself notaries of the eparchial curia.
    In the 1983 Code of Canon Law for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, the chancellor may be a layperson, and not necessarily a presbyter or deacon. The office of the Chancellor is mandatory in all diocessan (eparchial) curia. The primary function of the Chancellor is to keep the curial records properly. Beal, New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000, p.635.
  9. ↑ As an example, see the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (www.txcumc.org).
  10. ↑ Toby A. H. Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt, Routledge 1999, p.131
  11. ↑ Michael Rice, Who's Who in Ancient Egypt, Routledge 2001, p.63
  12. ↑ pBerlin 10035 in U. Luft, Urkunden zur Chronologie der späten 12. Dynastie, Briefe aus Illahun, Wien 2006, 69 ff.
  13. ↑ pLouvre 3230 B in E. Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt, Atlanta, 1990, 92
  14. ↑ Memoirs, Egypt Exploration Society—1958, p.7
  15. ↑ Serdab of the Chancellor Meketre
  16. ↑ Michael Rice, Who's Who in Ancient Egypt, Routledge 2001
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