ΤΟΝ, Abp. Cant. LANG- nobleman, when he found himself at the point of death, sent for some of the English barons, who were left to secure the town, and told them, he was sorry to find them so ignorant of their ill condition: that the ruin of their whole party was determined that Lewis, and sixteen more of the French barons, had sworn that in case he succeeded in the enterprise, and made his way to the throne, he would punish all those Englishmen that served him in the field with perpetual banishment: that he would make them an example for their treason and rebellion against their sovereign king John, and take care the world should be no longer plagued either with themselves or any that belonged to them. And that they might not question the truth of his relation, he told them, upon his salvation, that he was one of the sixteen barons that had taken the oath. And after this discovery, Id. p. 287. he quickly expired. Ibid. The death of king John. Id. 288. The occasion The barons, finding themselves reckoned no better than traitors by the French, and doomed to destruction by the prince they had invited to the crown, began to reflect, and think of returning to their duty. As for Lewis, he would sometimes call them traitors in a passion, which confirmed them in the belief of what the viscount of Melun had discovered. King John having marched through the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, came to Lynn, where he was well received; from hence passing through Marshland towards the north, his carriages were cast away in the river Ouse, or Well-stream: this misfortune happened through the ignorance of the guides, and the tide coming in too fast upon them. And thus the regalia, the king's plate, and all his treasure were lost; himself and his army escaping not without difficulty. This loss weighed heavily upon the king's spirits, and threw him into a fever, of which he died at Newark castle, a few days after. Some little time before he expired, forty of the barons sent him assurances of their submission, but he was in no condition to receive that satisfaction. The province of Normandy was entirely lost in this Normandy prince's reign. It was seized by Philip, king of France (of whom that duchy was held), upon pretence that king John murdered his nephew Arthur. That he was charged with treason, upon this head, and condemned by his peers in the : III. king of France's court. Upon this judgment, the territories HENRY held of the crown of France, were declared forfeited, and K. of Eng. Normandy seized. But here Matthew Paris reports that king John had not justice done him that he was willing to abide his trial, and answer the demands of law that he sent Eustachius, bishop of Ely, and Hubert de Burgh, to acquaint the king of France, that he was ready to appear in his courts of justice, provided he had a safe conduct; and that this security was denied him by king Philip. But notwithstanding his misfortunes in France, his government was very serviceable in Ireland: he made the first division of counties in that kingdom, published the laws of England, and enforced their execution, erected courts of justice, and made the standard of Irish money equal with the English. In short, he formed the government of that country in all points, upon the model of the English constitution. And particularly in the twelfth year of his reign, when he made his second voyage into Ireland, he brought with him several persons learned in the law, and other ministers of the civil list to finish the design, and make the scheme more practicable. Id. p. 283, 284. Davy's Re King John, notwithstanding the disturbances in his reign, ports, Epist. Ded. the disputes between him and the monks and clergy, and the provocations of the interdict, founded the abbey of Beauley, in Hampshire, and the monasteries of Farndon, and Halesowen, in. Shropshire, besides some other benefactions of this kind. He reigned eighteen years and five months. Paris, p. 288. October of king After his death, Peter, bishop of Winchester, Joceline, Stow, bishop of Bath, and Sylvester, bishop of Worcester, with Chron. 1. the earls and barons of the king's party, met at Glocester, and crowned Henry, the king's eldest son, being then scarcely ten years of age. The ecclesiastical part of the A. D. 1216. solemnity was performed by the bishops of Winchester and 28th, the Bath; the next day, the king received the oaths of homage coronation and allegiance from all the bishops, and temporal nobility. Henry III. And now Walo, the legate, obliged the king to do homage to the Church of Rome, and the present pope, for the kingdoms of England and Ireland, and to pay the yearly acknowledgment of a thousand marks. Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, though not mentioned as present, was certainly in the king's interest, and therefore it is said the VOL. II. G g TON, LANG- two bishops of Winchester and Bath performed the cereAbp. Cant. mony by commission from that prelate. Annal. Mo ton, p. 271. The year after the coronation, the king wrote to the pope nast. Bur- to acquaint him, that the regular canons of Carlisle had revolted to the king of Scotland, recognised him for their sovereign, and, at the instigation of that prince, elected an excommunicated clerk for their bishop; and that, in contempt of his holiness's authority, they had celebrated divine service in places which lay under the interdict. To give the king satisfaction, the pope orders his legate, Walo, to remove the canons, annul the election, and furnish the cathedral with a new chapter of approved loyalty. And here the pope intimates, that the archbishops of Dublin and York, the bishops of London, Winchester, Bath, and Worcester, had sent him a complaint against these rebellious canons. 427. Conventiones, Literæ, &c. tom. 1. p. 218, 219. Chronic. tiones, Li teræ, &c. ibid. p. 42. By the way, we are to take notice, that Alexander, king of Scotland, together with the bishops and great men of that kingdom, were all excommunicated, and the country put under an interdict, for assisting Lewis and the English barons against king John and king Henry. During this interdict, which continued about a year, none but the white monks had liberty to officiate: but upon the peace concluded at Northampton, between England and Scotland, the king of Scotland was absolved, and the country released from the interdict. In the beginning of this reign, Fuller, in his Church History, mentions the king's writ to the archbishop of Dublin. The case was this. One Nicholas Field sued for an estate Spotswood, that came to him by descent. The defendant, who was the abbot of St. Thomas, in Dublin, pleaded bastardy against him. The clearing of this point, was, by the king's judges, referred to the court Christian, where the said Nicholas produced sufficient evidence for his being legitimate; but upon the appearing of two minor daughters of the father of the said Nicholas, who moved against the proceeding to judgment, (though, if wronged, they had their remedy by a writ of right,) the archbishop of Dublin gave way to their appeals, and removed the cause to the court of Rome. The king declares himself dissatisfied with this method of process: that it implied a distrust of justice in the king's courts; brought his jurisdiction into question, and would be III. Fuller's a precedent of very ill consequence. He charges him there- HENRY fore, notwithstanding the appeal to the pope, to give judg- K. of Eng. ment for Nicholas, and not transfer the king's prerogative to a foreign authority. This record Fuller assigns to the year 1215, by which it book 3, p. is plain the reign is mistaken: for at this date king John 58. clause 8. was living, neither did his son's government commence till Memb. 24 October, the year after; nor was the archbishop of Dublin lord justice in the reign of this king Henry, till the year 1219. Henry III. in Dorso. Ware de præsul. HiTo proceed; after the defeat of the barons at Lincoln, and bern. after a great part of the reinforcement from France was either sunk or taken at sea, Lewis moved for an accommodation, A. D. 1217. September and desired only to make an honourable retreat into his 11th. own country. The treaty was set on foot at Staines, near the Thames, and concluded upon the following articles. between I. Lewis made oath, that himself, and all the rest of his 4 treaty forces who lay under excommunication, should abide by the king Henry judgment of holy Church, and behave themselves obediently and Lewis. to the pope and Church of Rome. II. That he would immediately withdraw his foreign forces out of England, and never return with any hostile intention. III. That he would use his utmost endeavour to persuade his father Philip to restore to king Henry all his right and jurisdiction upon the continent of France: and that if any part of the king of England's territories were detained by the king his father, he promised to return them at his own accession to the throne. IV. He promised likewise to make immediate restitution of all those castles, and places in England, which had been seized during the present war. King Henry, on his part, swore to grant the English all those rights and liberties which had formerly occasioned a misunderstanding between king John and his barons. That all marks and distinctions of parties should be laid aside, and that no person should suffer or be reproached for having adhered to either side. Paris, p. These were the principal articles. When the treaty was 299. finished, the excommunication was taken off, and Lewis and his adherents absolved in the usual form. But here it TON, the barons benefit of It LANG- must not be forgotten, that those bishops, abbots, priors, Abp. Cant. canons, and clerks, who had been any ways aiding, or abetting of Lewis and the barons, were excluded from absoluThe clergy who abetted tion, and barred the benefit of the articles. Simon Langton, excluded the and Gervase Hobrough, were particularly marked. the articles. seems, they had dipped themselves very deep in the rebellion, and ventured to admit Lewis and the excommunicated barons to divine service; and for this misbehaviour, the legate deprived them of all their preferments. This legate, as Matthew Paris reports, took advantage of the publick disturbances, and sent commissioners into all the counties, to enquire how the clergy had conducted themselves during the late war: and if they were found to have discovered the least signs of inclination to the barons, they were immediately turned out of their benefices. Some of the bishops likewise, and abbots, were forced to fine and compound. And by this artifice, the legate preferred his favourites, and filled his pockets. Ibid. The Dominicans settle 428. This year, the order of the Dominicans or preaching friars in England, settled in England. Their founder was Dominick de Guzman, a Spanish gentleman. This religious, after he had preached a great while against the Albigenses, took up a resolution to establish a new order. To this purpose he attended Fulco, bishop of Toulouse, to the council of Lateran, proposed the project of his order to pope Innocent III., and petitioned for his holiness's confirmation. The pope made some scruple of satisfying his request, because of the proCanon 13. hibition of the Lateran council, which declared against the forming any new order. However, the pope, (if we may believe the historians of that order,) being advertised by a heavenly vision how serviceable the order of St. Dominick would prove to the Church, approved his design. And to prevent clashing with the council, he advised him to take the rule of St. Augustine, and sent him to Toulouse, to acquaint his companions with the scheme. While these things were transacting, pope Innocent died, and Honorius III. approved the order. These Dominicans are called Jacobins, from their settlement in St. James's street in Paris. When St. Dominick lay upon his death-bed in Bononia, he sent for cent. 13. p. twelve of his convent, and, amongst other things, enjoined Chronic. Heming ford, p. 556. Du Pin's New Ec cles. Hist. 157. |
