II. this author, I say, who speaks from his knowledge, reports, HENRY that in some parts of the province of Connaught, the natives K. of Eng. were unconverted in his time. But that these Pagans were only in the extreme parts of the island, and not very numerous. This historian blames the Irish bishops for being too negligent and passive in their government; that the barbarity of the Irish customs, and the general misbehaviour, was occasioned by this want of zeal and vigour. That from St. Patrick's time to the descent of the English, there was not one martyr to be found, which was a case rarely to be met with in any Christian country. Giraldus Cambrensis wonders that a nation so savage and unpolished should never fly out into murder, and revenge themselves upon those who declaimed against their vices, and restrained their liberty. The author imputes this to the over-cautiousness of the prelates, who wanted either courage, or conscience, to discharge their duty, and protest against publick disorder. When Cambrensis happened to urge this objection to Mauritius, archbishop of Cashel, that prelate replied, that notwithstanding the Irish were an uncivilized people, and too rough in their temper, yet they had always a great veneration for the clergy. This regard for a holy character, tied up their hands from outrage and cruelty. "But now," says he, "there is a people come among us, (meaning the English,) that has been used to murder without distinction. So that from henceforward, I question not but Ireland will have as many martyrs as other countries." Giraldus berniæ cap. The historian complains that most of the Irish bishops sis Topowere chosen out of monasteries. That the education of the graph. Hicloister frequently disqualified them for the discharge of 27. et deinc. their office. That they wanted conduct and experience for the government of a diocese; and that those who were bred under the monastick discipline, were apt to move too much within themselves, and look no farther than their own behaviour. But after these remarks of disadvantage, he commends the priests and lower clergy for their abstinence, and constant attendance on divine service. kings sub About a fortnight after the king's landing at Waterford, The Irish the king of Cork, the king of Limerick, the king of Ossory, mit to king the king of Meath, and almost all the great men of Ireland, Henry. came in and made their submission. But the king of Con The synod of Cashel, naught, who pretended to the sovereignty of the island, stood off, and made no acknowledgment. As for the rest of the princes, they recognised Henry for their king, did homage, and swore allegiance to him and his heirs. The same submission was made by all the archbishops, bishops, and abbots, in the island, who, beside the solemnities above mentioned, signed themselves his subjects in a charter. At this time, as Hoveden reckons them, there were four archbishops, and nine-and-twenty bishops. Gelasius, then archbishop of Armagh, and primate of all Ireland, had eight suffragans under him; Donatus, archbishop of Cashel, had eleven suffragans; Lawrence, archbishop of Dublin, had five; and Catholicus, archbishop of Tuam, the same number. Affairs being thus settled, the king ordered Nicholas his chaplain, and Ralph, archdeacon of Llandaff, to go to Cashel, and assist at a synod of the Irish prelates convened there. The canons of this council subscribed by the bishops, and confirmed by the king, are as follows: 1st, All the Irish are obliged to disengage from unwarrantable relationships, either in consanguinity or affinity, and marry only within the degrees unprohibited. 2ndly, Their children should be catechized (i. e. their godfathers should be interrogated) at the church door, and baptized in the font at churches which have a right to baptize. 3rdly, That all Christians should pay their tithe of cattle, corn, and other issues and profits, to the parish church where they dwelt. 4thly, That all the lands, and effects belonging to the Church, should be disincumbered from all services and burthens put upon them by the laity; particularly that neither the petty princes, earls, or any great men of Ireland, should insist any longer upon the custom of entertainment, or free quarter, for themselves or their families, upon the estates of the clergy. 5thly, That when any of the laity compounded with their enemies for murder, the clergy, who were their relations, should not be obliged to pay part of the fine. 6thly, That all masters of families, when visited with sickness, should make their will in the presence of their II. confessor, and some of their neighbours: and after a division HENRY of their goods and chattels into three portions, one third K. of Eng. was to be disposed of to the children, another to the wife, and the remainder was to be set aside to defray the funeral expenses. Church 379. 7thly, That those who died confessed, and in the peace The Irish of the Church, should be buried with the accustomed cere- brought to a monies, and have mass said for them. And, in short, the oth that of Irish, for the future, were to conform in all their rituals and England. divine service to the model of the Church of England. with Hoveden, 301, 302. Cambrens, Expugn. c. 18. 34. Gervas. fol. 302. bishop of And thus, as Cambrensis reports, the Church and state of Ireland were very much improved by coming under the English jurisdiction. The king sent a copy of the Irish prelates' charter of Annal. fol. submission to pope Alexander, who confirmed the kingdom Girald. of Ireland to Henry and his heirs, pursuant to the form of Hibern the Irish instrument. From Waterford, the king marched to Dublin, where, Chronic. without the city, he had an osier palace made him, according 1420. to the custom of the country. In this odd structure he Hoveden, entertained the Irish princes, and kept a very splendid Christmas. This year, Henry, bishop of Winchester, departed this The death life. The greatest part of his character has been mentioned of Henry, already in the history of his brother Stephen. Besides the Winchester. advantage of his royal extraction, he was a person of great capacity and considerable learning. Amongst other works His benefactions. of his mentioned by Bale, there is one still remaining, concerning king Arthur's grave, discovered at Glassenbury. Godwin in Episc. This prelate was a great benefactor both to his see and se- Wintoveral other places. For instance, he built Farnham castle, niens. in Surrey. He built and endowed the noble hospital of St. Cross, near Winchester. He likewise made great additions, both in building and estate, to the nunnery at Taunton, founded by Gifford, his predecessor. To give him his due, he was a person of great generosity and munificence, and had a mind answerable to his quality. When king Henry made him a visit in his last sickness, he received him with an air of dissatisfaction, and reprimanded him pretty severely for giving occasion to the death of archbishop Becket. The king, concluding dying people spoke Ibid. Roger, archbishop of York, and Gilbert, bishop of London, selves upon their mind without design, was not at all disconcerted at the reproof. This prelate died on the 6th of August, in the two-and-fortieth year of his consecration. This year, in December following, Roger, archbishop of York, took an oath at Albemarle that he had not received the pope's letters forbidding him to crown the young king, till after that solemnity was over. That he had not engaged purge them- himself to the king Fitz-Empress to submit to the Constitutions oath and are of Clarendon, and that he had not either by word, writing, absolved. or any other act, to his knowledge, occasioned the murder Matt. West. of archbishop Becket. Upon this oath, he was restored Historiar. to his archiepiscopal function. The next year, Gilbert, bishop of London, was absolved thereupon in much the same Flores. ad Ann. 1171. Diceto terms. This year the cathedral of Norwich, with the cloister, was burnt. The acquisitions in Ireland being well secured, the king embarked for England at Easter, where, making a short stay, himself and the king, his son, lately crowned at Winchester, passed over into Normandy, and on the 27th of September the two kings, Rotrod, archbishop of Rouën, and all the bishops and abbots of Normandy, met the two cardinal legates above mentioned at Avranche. And here the king took a solemn oath before the cardinals and the rest of the prelates, &c., that he neither commanded nor desired the death of the archbishop; but because it was self by oath not in his power to seize the malefactors that murdered him, murder of and because he was afraid the uneasiness and passion he archbishop discovered might encourage them to that barbarous assassination, he was willing to give farther satisfaction upon the following articles. He swore, therefore, in the first place, that he would never withdraw himself from the communion of Alexander and his successors, provided he was owned by them as a Catholic prince. A. D. 1172. The king clears him about the Becket. Several cles sworn by him. 2ndly, That he would neither hinder appeals himself, nor other arti- suffer them to be hindered, but that free application might be made to the pope in causes ecclesiastical; but with this limitation, that in case any persons should be suspected, they should give security not to do anything prejudicial to the kingdom during their stay abroad. 3rdly, That from the feast of Christmas next ensuing, he would undertake the crusade for three years, and make a II. campaign at Jerusalem, in person, the next summer, unless HENRY the expedition was postponed at the instance of pope Alex- K. of Eng. ander or his Catholic successors. But if there should be a necessity for him, in the meantime, to march his forces into Spain against the Saracens, the time spent in that service should be allowed, and the Jerusalem expedition might be undertaken so much later. 4thly, He swore likewise, that in the meantime he would furnish the Templars with such a sum of money, as that society should think sufficient to subsist two hundred soldiers for a year, for the defence of the Holy Land. He likewise pardoned all the clergy and laity that had been banished upon account of archbishop Becket, and granted them liberty to return without any molestation or disturbance. 5thly, That if any estates had been taken away from the church of Canterbury, they should be all restored, and that see restored to the same good condition it was in a year before the late archbishop went out of England. 6thly, He swore likewise to renounce and resign all those customs and usages, which had been begun and practised in his time to the prejudice of the Church. 1422. 380. All these articles he swore to keep in their common and obvious construction, without any manner of collusion or Chron. Gerevasion. The young king was likewise sworn to all the vas, col. premises. And to make the record more authentick, and Hoveden, give it the utmost authority, the king and the cardinals put 403. their seals to it. Annal. fol. Leges namque Anglicanas licet videtur ab Thus we see the Constitutions of Clarendon, drawn up to the disadvantage of the clergy, were all repealed. If it is non scriptas leges apobjected they were enacted in parliament, and voided only pellari non by the royal authority, to this it may be answered, such surdum, single authority seems sufficient; for then, as Glanvil reports, who was chief justice in that prince's reign, the king's sit quod pleasure was a law, and the whole legislature lay in the crown. cum hoc ipsum lex principi placet, &c. Glanvil de Legib. &c. The king, after this satisfaction given, had his absolution in prologo. passed in form by the cardinals. The king absolved. The synod The next day after this solemn agreement, the cardinals held a synod at the same place, with the archbishops, bi- of Avranche. shops, and clergy of Normandy. And this duchy being VOL. II. Ꮓ |