III. A. D. 1228. archbishop Matt. Paris, may add, that, considering the age he lived in, he may pass HENRY for a learned and polite author. He divided the Bible into K. of Eng. the distinction of chapters now in use; wrote commentaries upon all the Old Testament; and upon St. Paul's epistles. The death He likewise wrote the history of king Richard I. He died of Stephen, at his manor of Slindon, in Sussex, and was buried at Can- of Canterbury. terbury. In this year occurred the death of Eustachius de Fal- p. 350. conberg, bishop of London. This prelate, before election to the see of London, had been preferred to the posts of justiciary and lord-treasurer. In his time, the pute between the abbey of Westminster and the see London, was settled, and the abbey declared exempt from Eustachius, the jurisdiction of the ordinary. And here, notwith- London. standing the bulls of exemption produced by the prior and convent, they were forced to resign a manor to the see of Wharton de London, to secure their privilege. Antiquitat. his Britan. in Stephan. Pits, de Il dis- lust. Angl. Scriptor. of And of bishop of Episc. Londinens. voided. To proceed: the monks of Canterbury, upon the death of Walter's Stephen, desired the king's leave to proceed to the choice election of an archbishop, and pitched upon Walter de Hemisham. When this monk was presented to the king, he refused to consent to the election. The objections against this Walter were very material. He was a person of little learning and experience in business, and, besides this, he was remarkably blemished in his birth and morals: for his father was executed for felony, and himself is said to have kept a scandalous intercourse with a nun, and to have had children by her; to which we may add, his being elected without the notice and approbation of the bishops of the province. For the suffragans, it seems, continued their claim of an interest in the choice of an archbishop, notwithstanding the late pope's determination against them. Antiquitat. Upon this discouragement, Walter took a journey to Richardo Rome, and moved for his confirmation: but the pope under- Magno. standing the election was contested by the king and the bishops, delayed the matter till both parties were heard. The king and the bishops sent their objections in writing, by the hands of the bishops of Rochester and Chester, and the archdeacon of Bedford. The pope, upon perusing the let- A. d. 1229. ters, postponed the cause till Ash-Wednesday following. And now, the king's ambassadors, finding the pope and P. 345. Id. 356. P. 348. Id. p. 353. RICH- conclave not very conciliating in their humour, were appreARD, hensive the business might miscarry. And, therefore, to Abp. Cant. make their matter sure, they promised their master should grant his holiness a tenth of all the stock and money in England and Ireland, to support him in his war against the emperor. For, by the way, we are to observe, that the pope Gregory IX. had excommunicated the emperor Frederick II. The reason of this censure, as the bull of excommunication sets forth, was the emperor's insincerity and dilatory proMatt. Paris, ceedings with respect to the crusade. The emperor complains of this excommunication in a tragical manner, and Id. p. 351, charges the court of Rome with pride, simony, and usurpation of privilege. After this remonstrance, the emperor went on with his expedition, marches to Palestine, and recovered Jesusalem. Notwithstanding this success, the difference between his imperial majesty and the court of Rome continued, and both sides broke out into open hostilities. Things standing thus, the offer of the English ambassadors was extremely seasonable, and prevailed with the conclave to give satisfaction. The pope, appearing in consistory, declared that Walter, the elect of Canterbury, was a person wholly unqualified for that post; that, being examined by one of his cardinals, he had given very unlearned and unorthodox answers; that he found there was a great deal of weight in the exceptions of the English bishops; that, upon the whole, he must pronounce him unworthy of that station, and, should he deal severely with the case, he should be obliged to say something which would be still more unacceptable. In short, he voided the election, and, for a penalty upon the convent, reserved the next disposal of the arch355. bishoprick to himself. 433. Id. p. The English ambassadors were by no means pleased with this last clause. They were jealous that an archbishop too much in the interest of the court of Rome, would be forced upon them. To prevent a misfortune of this kind, they procured new instructions from the king, to give his holiness a farther assurance of the offer of the tenths; requesting withal, that Richard, chancellor of Lincoln, might be prothe see of moted to the see of Canterbury. The pope having now the Canterbury security of the king's letters, complied with his desire, and by the pope. wrote to the suffragans of Canterbury, to acquaint them Richard preferred to III. what care he had taken to furnish them with a proper me- HENRY tropolitan; and therefore ordered them to receive him with K. of Eng. proportionable submission and respect. To speak clearly, had the court of Rome been disinterested in their recommendation, there were no exceptions as to the man. For this Richard was a very graceful person, and a good speaker; master of almost all sorts of learning, and altogether unblemished in his life. He was consecrated at Canterbury, by Henry, bishop of Rochester, without being furnished with a pall. This solemnity was graced with the king's presence, and a great retinue of the nobility. Id. p. 363. et Antiquit. 361. collected by great ri The pope having gratified the king in an archbishop, Britan. sent one Stephen, his nuncio, into England, to move farther for the grant of the tenths. The king being acquainted with his business, summoned a parliament to Westminster, where, besides the lords spiritual and temporal, those who held of the king in capite, made part of the session. The Paris, p. nuncio read the pope's letters in parliament, and insisted upon a tenth of their moveables to carry on the war against the emperor. The king, being pre-engaged by his promise, was silent upon the demand. The temporal barons gave a positive denial; the bishops desired three or four days to consider the matter. But wanting resolution to stand the The tenths pope's censures, they gave their consent. The nuncio's the pope's business being thus far effected, he produced an authority agents with from the pope to collect the tax. And here he had parti- gour. cular instructions to enquire into the utmost value, and assess the subject accordingly. And in case the collectors met with any opposition, they were to proceed to the censures of excommunication and the interdict. And, because the pope wanted a present supply against the emperor, the prelates were compelled to furnish the money beforehand, with a promise of being reimbursed when the tax was paid in. In short, the rigour was such, that the clergy were forced to pawn and sell the Church plate, and take up money at interest of Italian merchants. And thus the kingdom was miserably exhausted of its treasure: there being none but Ralph, earl of Chester, who had the courage to oppose the encroachment. For, notwithstanding the pope's collectors took their range over England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland: this nobleman opposed their entrance Id. p. 362-3. VOL. II. Hh RICH into his earldom, and so preserved the clergy and laity Abp. Cant. from their exactions. ARD, A synod at ter. Archbishop Richard having settled the affairs of his Westmins- province, convened a synod at Westminster, where, by the constitutions then passed, we may judge of the temper and moderation of that prelate: but notwithstanding the mildness and goodnature of his government, he did not want Id. p. 368. vigour to defend the rights of the Church. There happened a dispute between this archbishop and Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, concerning the castle and town of Tunbridge, and the wardship of the earl of Clare. The archbishop claimed this estate and jurisdiction as parcel of his see: but the earl of Kent being a great court favourite, the cause passed for him: though, by the way, this Hubert de Burgh discouraged a noble undertaking for the king's service, and plainly lost the recovery of Normandy. The death archbishop bury. The archbishop, thinking himself hardly used, went to of Richard, Rome to make his complaint; and being a person of address of Canter- and eloquence, and, as it is probable, making out a fair plea, he prevailed with the conclave to interpose in his behalf. August 6th, He died in his return, at a monastery called St. Jemma A. D. 1231. about three days' journey from Rome. Besides his provin cial constitutions in Linwood, he wrote several tracts; for instance, De Fide et Legibus; De Sacramentis; De Universo Corporali et Spirituali. He sat only two years, and died in 1231. Soon after the death of Richard, the monks of Canterbury chose Ralph Nevil, bishop of Chichester. This prelate was then chancellor of England, and behaved himself in that office with great commendation, being very remarkable for the equity and expedition of his decrees. He was a person of that integrity and fortitude, that neither favour, money, nor greatness, could make any impression upon him. The September monks expecting an admirable governor in a person thus qualified, presented him to the king. His majesty was well pleased with the election, and put him in possession of the manors, and temporalities of the archbishoprick. Upon this, the monks going to Rome to get their election confirmed, desired Ralph to furnish them with money for their journey. The bishop, looking upon such a contribution as a mark of simoniacal ambition, plainly told them, he 25th. III. Bishop Ne 371. Anti would not be at a penny charge upon that occasion. The HENRY monks, believing the refusal to proceed more from honesty K. of Eng. than humour, made a voyage to Rome, and desired the pope to confirm the election. His holiness having received vil's election to the see of a character of Ralph, from Simon Langton, told the Canterbury monks, that their elect was a court divine; a man of little made void, and why. learning, and very warm and hasty in his temper: and, 434. what was still more exceptionable, it was to be feared, that if he was promoted to so great a post, he would make it his business to disengage the kingdom of England from their late homage to the see of Rome, and stop the customary acknowledgment of that crown: and that the king and people of England would readily concur with such a motion. It seems the pope was afraid, this bishop Nevil might be encouraged to such an attempt by the precedent of the late archbishop Langton, who remonstrated against the king's yearly payment of a thousand marks, and entered in writing his protestation against resigning the crown to the pope. Id. p. 370, This character of Nevil lost him his promotion. And the quit.Britan. monks were ordered to proceed to a new election, and choose a person that might prove more serviceable to the court of Rome. About this time, the Italian priests had engrossed a great many benefices in England, and impoverished the kingdom by exporting the treasure: and in these promotions, it seems, they had conducted themselves The Italian with great avarice, and indiscretion; not suffering the clergy misbishops to prefer the natives, till foreigners, and creatures of are roughly the court of Rome, were first served. The nobility and commons resented this usage, and resolved upon a rash expedient. Being formed into a sort of association, they wrote to the respective bishops and chapters, letting them know they would endure the arbitrary oppressions of the Romans no longer, warning them not to encourage their encroachments, or be any ways assisting to them, under the penalty of having their houses burnt, and their farms harassed and destroyed. They likewise wrote to the monks, and others who hired church-farms of the Italian clergy, not to pay them any rent or arrears, under the menaces above-mentioned. These threatening letters were sealed with a new seal, engraved with two swords, with this inscription, ecce Gladii duo hic, and dispersed by gentlemen of the associa manage and treated. |