III. desired them to give a favourable consideration to it. Ut HENRY huic petitioni meæ favorem præbeant benignum, was the K. of Eng. form then in use, as appears by the Records published by Prinne, and shews plainly where the right of election lay. Inscription To return: this bishop had the character of a good go- in the parvernor. He was likewise a considerable benefactor to the hospital of Ledbury in diocese, and founded an hospital at his manor of Ledbury, the county for the relief of old and disabled persons of that town. of Hereford. See case of &c. edit. 2 The next year, upon the death of William, abbot of St. the Regale, Alban's, the monks applied to the king for leave to proceed p. 106. 277. to an election, and chose John, prior of Hertford. Godwin in electing the Alban's. And since, in honour of the proto-martyr, St. Alban, this Hereford. abbot had the privilege of precedency, I shall mention the The form of method of electing as it stands in Matthew Paris, a monk of abbot of St. this society. Their way was this: at a full chapter, where, besides the members of the house, the priors of their cells were present, they enjoined three or four of their confessors to pitch upon twelve members of the convent, whom they knew to be persons of conscience and discretion. The reason why this nomination was referred to the confessors, was, because their function had made them more particularly acquainted with the inward state and disposition of men's minds. These twelve were empowered to choose an abbot, either out of their own number, or from the remainder of the convent, or out of any of the cells belonging to the abbey. And that they might not choose to no purpose, they had an instrument under seal, by which the convent obliged themselves to abide by the election. This abbey, having the privilege of a papal exemp- a. D. 1235. tion, the election was, of course, to be confirmed at Rome. At which time the abbot was obliged to take an oath to engage his submission to the pope. Besides this, the pope Id. p. 410. wrote commonly to the bishop of London to examine the elect, and then give him his solemn benediction. Concil. tom. 11. p. 317. Paris, p. 413. Jews. This year seven Jews were brought before the king at The barbaWestminster, and prosecuted for stealing a Christian boy, rity of the and circumcising him with a design to crucify him at the next Paschal festival. Upon their being convicted they confessed the indictment to the king, and were punished for their barbarity. Which way their nation procured the pope's favour is not mentioned; but Matthew Paris tells us, EDMUND, they got a bull from the court of Rome not to be imprisoned, Abp. Cant. nor any ways outraged by Christian princes to force them to part with their money 7. Pope Gregory the Ninth's de lished. Id. 410. 437. This year, pope Gregory IX. published his decretals, commonly called the second part of the 'Cursus Canonicus.' This cretals pub- work takes in the epistles of several popes, and particularly those epistles which were written from the year 1150, when Gratian published his decree, to the year 1230, in which, according to some authors, this collection of decretals was published, though Matthew Paris places it five years afterwards. To these decretal epistles are likewise added the constitutions of councils, and some decisions of the fathers. This collection was drawn up by Raymond de Pegnafort, the pope's penitentiary, and is digested into five books. The first book treats principally of the ecclesiastical law in general, and of the several sorts of judges who have jurisdiction in the Church. The second dilates upon civil process, or the forms of prosecuting an action. The third and fourth give directions about sentence and passing of judgment in civil matters, taking in the cases in which the clergy are 'A noble instance of the improved temper of the popes toward the Hebrew people in general. The persecution of the Jews was one of the most infamous transactions of the time. They indeed, in no trifling degree, brought it on themselves, for when they were in power they too persecuted Christians with the most sectarian spite imaginable. They should have known that action and reaction are equal, and that persecution always begets persecution. They should have recollected "That time at last sets all things even; Of him that treasures up a wrong." Still the misconduct of the Jews was no excuse for the misconduct of the Christians. The debt of gratitude which we owe the Jews ought to outbalance the debt of vengeance. To them, as St. Paul argues, are we indebted for the divinest monuments of antiquity; and if we analyse the history of the middle ages, we shall find the Jews still the chief light that lingered in the firmament of the dark ages. I profess the highest obligations to the Jewish scholars, especially those of the cabalistic school. To such men as Aben Esra, Maimonides, Riccius, and Rittangel, may we attribute the best learning of Reuchlin, Agrippa, Mirandola, Postellus, Kircher, and Voisin. Of the history of Jewish literature the public are, generally speaking, as ignorant as Caffres, in spite of the labours of Buddeus, Brucker, &c. &c. We hope, however, that the genius of Mendelssohn in Germany, and D'Israeli in England, have prepared the way for a more extensive investigation of rabbinical learning; that the gross folly and injustice of our former treatment of the Jews will be corrected, and that we shall make them all the amends in our power, by granting their religious and civil rights, and abrogating their disabilities. III. concerned, together with those relating to marriage. The HENRY fifth treats of the matter and form concerning trial and K. of Eng. judgment in criminal causes. This collection was not only supplemental to the old canon law, but likewise altered some part of it. For instance; it is decreed that illegitimate persons should not be capable of bishopricks, abbacies, or ecclesiastical promotions, without a dispensation from his Paris, p. holiness. The pope, as Matthew Paris observes very well, Pin's New foreseeing that this constitution would prove very serviceable Eccles. to the court of Rome. 417. Du Hist. cent. 13. tices to im About this time, the Caursins, or Italian bankers, grew The Caurvery troublesome in England; most of the prelates were sin's prachampered by them: and the king himself was very deep in poverish the their debt. Their way was to take their advantage of peoEnglish. ple's necessities, and practise usury under the notion of trade. Their lending money, as the historian phrases it, was not to assist their neighbours, but to circumvent them: not to relieve the indigence of others, but to gratify their own avarice. If the money was not repaid at the time agreed, the debtor was obliged to pay one mark every two months for the loan of ten. And for this oppressive interest, they had a security drawn up with all the caution and strength imaginable. See Re cords, num. London ex Caursins. These methods of exaction, notwithstanding they were 35. forbidden by canon and common law, were countenanced by the court of Rome, as appears by the following instance: When Roger, bishop of London, was informed how usuri- Bishop of ously these Caursins dealt with the fortunes of the English, communiand particularly, how great a grievance they were to the mo- cates the nasteries, he admonished them to desist from these unjustifiable courses, and do penance for their past misbehaviour. These Caursins, instead of mending their manners, laughed at the admonition of this good prelate, and threatened him, in case he went farther. The bishop, being a person of conscience and courage, excommunicated the whole clan of them, and to prevent his diocese from suffering, ordered them to remove immediately to a remote distance from London. But these men confiding in the pope's protection, not only slighted the censure, but procured an order from the 8 Caurcines, Causini, so called from Caorsium, or Caorsi, a town in Lombardy. -COWEL. ED MUND, court of Rome to summon the bishop thither to answer his Abp. Cant. proceedings against them. The bishop being not willing to expose the Roman partialities, bore the insults of the Caursins, and dropped the prosecution. Paris, p. 419. The Franciscans desert their rule. Ibid. Ibid. The bishop of Chiches up the broad seal. A. D. 1236. The late orders of the Dominicans and Franciscans began now to run riot more than ever, and encroach upon the ancient monasteries. They likewise received frequent confessions in towns and villages, to the disadvantage of the parochial priests, and they pretended a faculty from the pope for their warrant. They alleged this authority was given them, because some of the faithful were ashamed to confess to their own rector: others, as they pretended, scorned to do it, because the priest was guilty of the same faults as themselves, and sometimes they were afraid to trust his discretion with their secrets. In all these cases, the Franciscans pretended a commission to discharge the office of a confessor. In short, these Franciscans lived contrary to their institution, grasped at property, and drove into secular business. They were agents and attorneys to men of quality, and some of them secretaries to the pope; at whose court their interest was so great as to procure an assignment of some of the lands of the monasteries to be settled upon their fraternity. At last, they grew so excessive in their demands, that the pope thought fit to check them. The next year, the king demanded the broad seal of the ter refuses bishop of Chichester, then lord chancellor. The bishop reto deliver plied, the seal was delivered him in parliament at the instance of the barons and great men of the kingdom, and that he could not resign it without their consent. Matthew Paris gives this bishop the character of an admirable minister of justice: and that he was apprehensive the office would be disposed of to some impoper person. But that this plea could justify him in his non-compliance, is more than I can discover. The difference be tween the the common Under this year, sir Edward Coke mentions the making of the statute of Merton. Now because a branch of this statute canon and relates to the Church, I shall lay it before the reader. The ninth chapter mentions a debate concerning the conditions of legitimacy, and here all the bishops desired the temporal 20 H. III. nobility to consent, that those who were born before matrimony (provided their parents were afterwards married), law, with reference to bastardy. cap. 9. III. 438. should be as legitimate to inherit from their ancestors, as HENRY those that were born after matrimony. The ground of their K. of Eng. motion was, as the statute mentions, because the Church allowed such to be legitimate; there being a constitution of pope Alexander III. to this purpose: however, Glanville observes, that this part of the canon law, being contrary to the usages of the realm, was not binding. And therefore, notwithstanding the pretensions of the court of Rome ran high, yet in the case of general bastardy, when the king wrote to the bishops to certify who was lawful heir to any lands, or other inheritance, they ought to certify according to the law and custom of England, and not according to the Roman canons and constitutions, when they happened to clash with the laws of the realm: the bishops therefore endeavoured to remove the contrarieties between the Church and state, and to be relieved from the restraints of the common law. But to this motion, all the earls and barons unanimously replied, nolumus leges Angliæ mutari i. e. they would not suffer any innovation upon the ancient constitution. To speak clearly in this case, the common law appears preferable to the canon. Because, not to allow those to be legitimate, who are born before marriage, seems a greater discouragement to licentiousness. Coke's tes Upon this statute sir Edward Coke observes, that both Sir Edward before, and after the reign of king Henry III., many of the timony to judges, and great officers of the realm, such as lord chan- the integrity of the cellor, treasurer, privy seal, &c., were of the clergy,-bi- clergy. shops, deans, and priests. stitutes, p. ld. in primer. cap. 51. fol. 265. And here, this learned lawyer gives them the commendation of a general integrity: that they were not overborne, by Coke's Inany partialities to the court of Rome: that they were true 2. fol. 96. et to their office and the constitution: that they constantly deinc. maintained the laws of England, so that no encroachment or Westm. breach was made upon them by any foreign power. In the year 1237, in the latter end of June, cardinal Otho A. D. 1237. was sent legate into England, at the king's instance. The Otho, the legate, barons were disgusted at his coming, and charged the king comes into with inconstancy of counsels, with acting by the advice of a cabal; with revoking his grants, and with breach of faith. It is said the archbishop of Canterbury remonstrated with the England. |