TON, LANG- The king replied, that charter was binding only during his Abp. Cant. father's life, and was not to be construed to the prejudice of his successors. 418. Pandulphus told the king, that he had sworn to maintain the Church in all the privileges acknowledged or granted by his predecessors. After some pause, the king made a proposal to the nuncio, and offered, that on condition Langton would resign his archbishoprick, the pope might dispose of that preferment; and that he would accept of any person of his holiness's nomination. And that possibly after that, he might, at the pope's request, bestow a bishoprick upon Langton. "It is not the custom of holy Church," says Pandulphus, "to degrade an archbishop without sufficient grounds: but when princes prove refractory and disobedient, it is her method to take them lower, and throw them out of their seat." "You threaten high," says the king: "Do you think to get me under your feet, as you have done my nephew Otho, the emperor? For I am informed by him, you have lately chosen a new emperor." "That's true," replies Pandulphus; "our lord the pope makes no difficulty of that matter; neither does he think your crown sits faster than another." King. Have you anything more? Pandulphus. From this day, we excommunicate all those that shall communicate with you. King. Have you anything else? Pandulphus. We absolve all the clergy and laity of your dominions, from their homage and allegiance: and give me leave to acquaint you, that two years since, your earls and barons requested the pope to discharge them from their subjection, and to give them the liberty to make war upon you. "And farther, I must add, his holiness designs shortly to send an army into England to maintain the rights of the Church. Now, upon the arrival of these forces, we command all to repair to the pope's standard, and submit to the orders of his general." The penalty for disobedience runs high, and in general terms. King. Have you anything more to menace? K. of Eng. Pandulphus. Yes; we tell you, in the name of God, that JOHN, from this day forward, neither you, nor any of can wear the crown. your heirs, King. I was informed you were my friends, and that you would be serviceable to me at the court of Rome; but now I find things quite otherwise. But by had you come into my kingdom without being sent for, I should have disposed of you to a post you would not have liked, and made this your last mischief. Pandulphus. We understand the language of your oath, and you might as decently have sworn you would hang us. But we call God to witness, we came into your domi nions upon no other prospect than to suffer martyrdom for the Church; neither do we expect any better usage from you. Upon this, the king ordered the sheriffs and other officers of justice to bring forth their prisoners. Some of these the king ordered to be hanged; some to have their eyes pulled out; and some had their feet and hands chopped off. The king imagined the sight of these executions might strike a terror into Pandulphus, and work him to his purpose. Among the rest of the malefactors there was a clergyman convicted of forgery; this man the king ordered to be hanged. When Pandulphus heard the sentence, he resolved to excommunicate those that should offer to lay hands on him, and went out of the presence to get a candle. The king, perceiving him thus resolute, followed him, put the criminal into the nuncio's hands, and referred him to his justice; and by this means the prisoner was discharged. Annal. I have been the longer upon this conference to show the Monast. spirit and hardiness of the court of Rome; how ruggedly 265. et they saluted princes; how boldly they held up the Hildebrandine doctrine, and to what a flaming excess they carried their encroachments upon the civil power. Burton. p. deinc. ed. Matthew Paris makes the issue of this debate somewhat King John's different, and reports that the king was willing to grant that offer refusthe archbishop and the rest of the prelates and monks that were outlawed, and beyond sea, might return and live undisturbed: but because he refused to make satisfaction for the damage they had received, and to return the effects Matt. Paris which had been seized, the accommodation miscarried, and p. 230. LANG- the pope's agents went back to France without doing any TON, Abp. Cant. thing. Peter, the hermit's prophecy. During the controversy between the king and the court of Rome, there was one Peter, a hermit, who lived in Yorkshire, famous for his prophetick predictions. This man, pretending to supernatural impulses, made it his business to declare publickly that by Ascension day next ensuing there A. D. 1212. would be no king in England. When he was brought into the presence he maintained his prophecy, and desired the king to dispose of him as his highness thought fit in case the event did not answer. The king took him at his word, and ordered him to be kept in safe custody till the time was expired. The credit and confidence of this hermit did the king great disservice; for the prediction was generally as Matt. Paris, much believed as if it had been delivered from the sky. The historian adds, that the king, by debauching the wives and daughters of the great men, by illegal exactions, and other oppressive methods, lost the affections of all the nobility; insomuch that they were glad to hear the pope had discharged them from their allegiance. p. 232. Ibid. Archbishop Rome king. The pope pronounces Things being thus disposed for a defection, Stephen, of Canter archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of London and Ely, complain at took a journey to Rome, to make their complaint against against the the king; they declaimed strongly against the administration, told his holiness that things were brought to the last extremity, and that the Church was ready to expire without speedy assistance. The pope thought it was now high time to exert himself to the utmost, and give the last stroke; and therefore, by the advice of the conclave, he pronounced king John deposed. The difficulty was, to get the sentence executed. He conceived Philip, king of France, most proper He gives his for this purpose. He wrote to him, therefore, to undertake the king of the service; and, to encourage the expedition, he promised him a plenary indulgence and the fee simple of the crown of England for his pains. the king de posed. dominions to France. And to give farther strength to the cause, the pope wrote to most of the nobility and military men of figure in Europe to undertake a crusade to dethrone the king of England, to enlist themselves under the king of France, and endeavour to revenge the quarrel of the universal Church. In this letter he gives them to understand that whosoever shall assist, either in person or fortune, towards the reducing this JOHN, contumacious prince, shall be taken into the protection of K. of Eng. the holy see, and have the same privilege as a pilgrim to Jerusalem. And to pursue the point farther, the pope sent Pandulphus into France to Langton and the other English prelates, to give them the countenance of his character, and see the pope's order put in execution. Pandulphus, before he took leave of his master, asked him privately, whether, in case he found the king of England disposed to make satisfaction, his holiness would give him any commission to treat with him. Upon this the pope delivered Pandulphus a copy of articles, upon the signing of which the difference might be accommodated and the king restored. Id. p. 419. 232 et This year, John Comyn, archbishop of Dublin, departed 233. this life. He was an Englishman, and recommended by king Henry II. to the clergy of Dublin, who chose him for their metropolitan in September, 1181: he was consecrated the March following by Lucius III. Comyn was so far in his holiness's favour as to procure a grant of privileges for his see. This bull, amongst other things, decrees that no archbishop or bishop shall hold any synod, or try any ecclesiastical causes, within the diocese of Dublin, without the archbishop's consent, unless authorized for this purpose by a special commission from the pope or his legate. Comyn was a prelate of learning, elocution, and good morals. To mention something of his benefactions, he built the large church of St. Patrick, and furnished it with thirteen prebends; he enlarged the choir of Christ's Church, and built and endowed the nunnery of Gracedieu in the county of Dublin. The next year, Geoffrey Plantagenet, archbishop of York, departed this life; the history relating to him has tary of the been mentioned already, and therefore I shall only add, that Ireland. this archbishop, having incurred the king's displeasure by A. D. 1213. opposing a tax at the parliament at Winchester, went beyond sea, and after seven years' banishment, as Matthew Paris calls it, died there. He sat almost two-and-twenty years. Sir James Commen Prelates of Id. Stubs. In January, the beginning of this year, Stephen, arch- Eborac. bishop of Canterbury, William, bishop of London, and Eustachius, bishop of Ely, came from Rome into France, ΤΟΝ, LANG- and published the pope's sentence against king John. Abp. Cant. Philip, king of France, was glad of the opportunity, and -prepared to make a descent upon England, commanding all The king of his barons to attend him with their tenants at Rouën, under pares for a the penalty of forfeiting their estates. France pre descent up on England. offers terms to king John. The king of England was not negligent in his defence, but raised the posse of the kingdom, and drew down his troops to the coast towns, where he suspected the French might land. While things were thus drawing towards a decision in the field, two Knights Templars landed at Dover, and acquainted the king that Pandulphus desired to come over, and that he had proposals to make him in order to an accommodation. The king agreed to the motion, and sent Pandulphus an invitation. This nuncio, at his first audience, made a frightPandulpus ful representation of the juncture; he told his highness that the king of France lay at the mouth of the Seine with a formidable fleet and army, that he had an authority from the pope to seize his dominions, and that his holiness had conveyed the sovereignty of the English crown to that prince and his successors. That king Philip had given out, that most of the English nobility had sent him an invitation, and declared themselves his subjects under hand and seal. That, notwithstanding the blackness of the prospect, it was in his highness's power to dispel the cloud, and retrieve his affairs; and that, in case he was willing to make satisfaction for the injuries he had done, and stand to the decision of the Church, his holiness would recover him his crown. Matt. Paris, p. 234. The king complies. Id. p. 235. By this discourse of the nuncio the king perceived himself surprisingly distressed, and that things were brought to the last extremity. The motives which determined him to a compliance were these: first, he considered he had been five years under an excommunication; this thought lay uneasy upon his conscience, and made him think himself unsafe as to the other world. Secondly, the king of France lay ready to invade him with a numerous army; and, in case he came to try his fortune in the field, he was afraid the English would desert; and that, which was thought to affect him more than all the rest, was the nearness of Ascension day, at which term, according to the prophecy of the hermit, he was to lose his kingdom. These reasons made. |