 The role of national protectorships within the College developed during the fifteenth century , due to developments in the emergence of national monarchies and Renaissance diplomacy . Cardinal protectors of Roman Catholic religious orders date back farther to the thirteenth century . According to King Henry VIII , the cardinal protector " indueth as it were our owne Person , for the defence of Us and our Realme in al matiers [ in the Curia ] ... touching the same " . The cardinal protector represented the monarch in consistory , especially in cases where the right of investiture was divided between the pope and the monarch , and also led the English diplomatic corps in Rome . 
