\';>\^:v>:\!;. mmm^mmm^^m^^M^' ;';':;•:;' ;o;o.;.^.^i'K\H^m'^Jk\\K>J^!vm»..^ ,^>»J>S'y>h>!?SM .\*.i^«.iMSV>iV.SOiLSi.\V.\V\VAVV PRINCETON, N. J. "% Shelf. BR 476 .P47 v.l Perry, G. G. 1820-1897 A history of the Church English A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHUECH first PniolJ. FROM THE PLANTING UF THE CHURCH IN BRITAIN TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII. /;}■ JIIK SAME AVTIIOi:, THE STUDENT'S ENGLISH CHURCH HISTORK FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENUY VIII. TO TUE SILENCING OF CONVOCATION IN THE ISth CENTURY. Pott 8w, 1$. id. The Students English Church History A HISTOPtY OF THE ENGLISH CHUECH JFirst ipcrioti FROM THE PLANTING OF THE CHURCH IN BRITAIN 10 THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII. By G. G/rEREY, M.A. CANON OF LINCOLN AND IIKCTOR OF WADDINGTON LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1881 The right of tr^niddtion is reserved. Uniform with the present Work. I. THE STUDENT'S MANUAL OF OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. FiioM THK Creation ok the World to thk Return ok the Jews kuom Caitivity. With nii Iiitro York : Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries ..... r>24 Tarle of Succf^ssion of English Kings, Archbishops of Canterrlry, and Pores ..... r.39 Chronological Tarle of Events .... 545 INDEX 663 CORRIGENDA. Page 47, line 10, for has, read \va.s. Page 57, line 12, for Erconwald, rmd Earconbort. Page 91, line 16, after Rome, ddc comma. Page 94, line 7, for has, read had. Page 146, line 30 ' Page 171, line 15 I ^^^ chrodegand, read Chrodegang. Page 216, note Page 537, lino 32 - Page 191, line 4, for such, rcaxl those. Page 312, lino 20, for de, read dcs. Page 398, line 17, for was, read were. Page 532, line 21, for 1408, rend 1409. Pasre 535, line 31 Page 558, line 55 \ for 1464, read 1444. (left col.) ^^%^'t col) '' I f^' Ceolwulp. recul Ccolwulph. \ 'THSO HISTORY OP THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND FROM ITS FIRST PLANTING TO THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII. CHAPTER I. TRACES OP THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. 1. Uncertainty of the date of the commencement of Christianity in Britain, 2. The Legend of St. Joseph of Arimathea. 3. The Con- jecture as to St. Paul. 4. The Legend of Lucius. 5. Christianity probably established in Britain in the second century. 6. Testi- monies of Tertullian, Origen, Sozomen, Eusebius. 7. British Martyrs. 8. The Story of St. Alban. 9. Other probable Martyrs. 10. The Council of Aries. 11. Nica-a and Sardica. 12. Orthodoxy of the Britisli Church. 13. British Bishops at Rimini. 14. Testi- monies of the Fathers as to the British Church. 15. The history of Pelagius and Celestius. 16. Introduction of Pelagianism into Britain. 17. Mission of Germanus and Lupus. 18. The Roman Province of Britain Christian before the coming of the Saxons. 19 Missions of St. Ninian and St. Patrick. 20. British Church driven into Wales and Com wall. 21. The Invective of Gildas. 22. Improvement at close of sixth century. 1. The earlier history of Christianity in Britain must needs bear the character rather of an inquiry or investiga- tion than of a narrative. The secuLar history of Roman Britain is dark and indistinct; much more so is the religious history. It is, indeed, certain that the Church of Christ had struck its roots into the soil long before the Christianising of the empire by the conversion of Con- stantine. But the exact date of the first appearance of Christianity in Britain it is perhaps impossible to ascertain. A passage in Gildas seems to assert that Britain received B » 2 TRACKS OF TIIK HISToRV OF (.mm-, i. Christianity at the very beginning of tlie Cliristian era, hut the passage is evidently rhetorical, and (JiKhis is a writer of tlie sixtli century.^ The same writer also bitterly laments the absence of all records of the first planting of Christianity in the land. 2. The legends which assert that the Christian Church was first planted here by St. James, the brother of John, by St. Simon Zelotes, by St. Peter, are not worth examining. Scarcely more consideratitui is due to the legend of St. Joseph of Arimathea, which ai)pears to have been first set forth by William of Malmesbury in the twelfth century, and which was unknown to the earlier writers. From this legend, however, a residuum of truth may Ik* extracted. It seems to show that the religious house at (Jlastonbury was probably the oldest in the kingdom, and dated from Ihitish times, inasmuch as no rival claim for superior anticpiity was ever raised against it.^ From this it would follow that the first part of Britain that was Christianised was the south- west, and hence that the first introduction of Christianity into Britain was from Eastern rather than from "Western sources, the intermediate agent being France. The West of England liad a trade with the South of France, and especially with the Greek colony <^f Marseilles. Hence the production in Britain of a Christianity which had some special Eastern peculiarities. 3. The assertion that Christianity was first preached in Britain by St. Paul has a certain amount of probability. The Pudens and Claudia mentioned in the Second Epistle to Timothy may have been the same Pudens and Claudia the latter of whom is said by Martial to have been of *The passage runs thus : " Interea glaciali fngore rigcnti insuUr, et velut longiori terraruiu secessu, soli visibili non proxinife, verus ille sol non de tirmamento solum tcmporali sed de suniniu etiani cccloruin aive, cuneta tempora excedenti, orbi uuivtiso pra'fulgidum sui coruscum ostendens tempore (ut scimus) summo Tiberii Ctesaris ((pio absque ullo impedimento ejus propagabatur religio, comminata, senatu uolente, a principe morte delatoribus militum cjusdem) radios suos primum indulgot, id est pmet'ei»ta Christus." — Gildas, cd. Gall. p. 11. - At the Council of Basle the English deputies contended for the superior antiquity of their Cliurch against the representatives of Franco and Spain, on the ground of its foundation by St. Joseph of Arimathea. CHAi'. I.] THE EARLY DKlTlSll CHURCH. 3 British origin ;i which would imply that St. Paul had made important British converts before the date of his last epistle. The Pomponia Grsecina, said by Tacitus to have been accused of "foreign superstition" to her husband, who had been a dweller in Britain/ may have learned the opinions denounced (which were probably Christian tenets) in Britain. Between the fifth year of Nero, when St. Paul was set at liberty, and the fourteenth, when he suf- fered martyrdom, there is abundant room for a visit to Britain, and the assertion of St. Clement of Borne that he travelled " into the extreme west," and the similar expres- sions to be found in Basil, Chrysostom, Jerome, Epiphanius, and Theodoret, may have something more of historical value than is usually imputed to them. But in this matter we cannot go beyond conjecture. 4. There is, perhaps, less historical foundation for an- other legend which was a great favourite with the earlier writers, and which told how Lleuer Ma^r or Lucius, a king of the Britons, became in the second century a Chris- tian, and desiring to be better taught, sent a letter to Eleutherus, then Bishop of Rome. This story rests upon the Catalogus Punfijkum Bomanorum, written A.D. 530, and was first published by Bi'de. Hildas knows nothing of it. A vast array of chroniclers has repeated it, but the assertions of those separated by so long an interval prove nothing. No less than twenty-three different dates are assigned for the conversion of the supposed king,^ and the letter which he is asserted to have sent to the Pope is utterly condemned as a forgery by its internal evidence." But the legend of Lucius seems to give some support to the opinion that the Church of Christ must have been introduced into Britain at least during the second century. 5. How indeed could it be otherwise in a Boman pro- 1 Claudia ccerukis cum sit Rujina Britannis Edita.—^l-^vt Epig. iv. 13, 1. The name of Puclens is certainly to be found in Britain. It has been identified as tliat of the giver of a site for a heathen temple at Colchester. — Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, i. 22. 2 Tacit. Annal. xiii. 22. 3 See Usher, De Britann. Eccl. Primordiis, c. iii. ^ First printed in 1521, and again by Lambord in the Archaionomia. 4 TRACES ur TJIK IllSToUV UF [chai-. i. vince witli constant communication between it and the capital, wliere a tlouri.shing Christian Chuicli existed ; and in a country with a tradin*,' connection with tlie East, which was now every wliere full of the religion of Christ 1 There were probably befcjre the close of the second century Roman Cliristians in Ihitaiii, as well as British Christians not converted i'unn K(^man but from other sources. 6. TertuUian, in the well-known passage in which lie testifies to the existence of Christianity in Britain, specially asserts that this religion flourished among the Britons " in places which had never been approached by the Komans." * This testimony as to the existence of Christianity in Britain is of the beginning of the third century (208 A.D.) A little later (239) Origen speaks of Britain as having one religion, and that one the religion of Christ'' In another passage, however, he declares that as yet not all the Britons have received the gospel.^ Constantius, the father of Con- stantine, is said by Sozonien to have favoured and sup- l)orted Christianity in Britain ;* and there are several passages in the historian Eusebius which imply the exist- ence of a Christian British Church.* 7. In the terrible persecution of Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century, there were not wanting to the British Church martyrs ready to confirm their tes- timony with their blood. Gildas mentions Aaron and Julius as having suffered at Caerleon, and Alban at the Roman town of Verulamium.* It is asserted, indeed, by Eusebius, that Constantius prevented the fury of the Dio- cletian persecution from being felt in Britain / and Lac- tantius, though he declares that Constantius caused the Convcnticula, or churches, to be destroyed, yet says that " the temple of God, which is in men, was preserved safe by him."* ^ ' * Britannorura inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita," — Adv. Judccos, c. vii. 2 " Quando eiiim terra Britannia^ ante adventum Christi in Unius Dei convenerit religionem." — Homil.iv.in Ezek. (Jerome's Translation). * Origen, Homil. xxviii. in Matt. xxiv. •* Sozom., Jlist. Eccles. i. 6. ^ Dcm. Evang. iii. 5 ; Vita Constant, ii. 28 ; Ih. iv. 9. ^ Gildas, Hist. viii. ' Euseb., Hist. Ecc. viii. xiii. 12. ^ Lactant. de Morte Fers. xv. xvi. ciiAr. I.] THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. 5 8. There is, however, so strong a tradition as to the martyrdom of St. Alban, that we must assume that he, at least, suffered. Tlie tradition, as given by Bede, is as fol- lows : — Albanus was a Eoman soldier, who hospitably received and entertained a Christian priest flying from the persecution. By this priest he was instructed and baptized. The priest being discovered and sent for, the soldier changed garments with him, and presented himself in his place. Being recognised, he was ordered to sacrifice to the gods ; but refused, and declared himself a Christian. Upon this he was terribly tortured. Still being constant, he was ordered to execution ; l)ut the soldier api)ointed to perform the office, touched by the fortitude of Albanus, refused to do his work, and also declared himself a Christian. The two were martyred together, but the name of only one of them has survived. ]\iiracles are said to have been worked at the execution. A river dried up when Alban desired to pass. A fountain burst forth when he desired water. The eyes fell from the head of the executioner. Miracles are said to have followed his death. But that Alban was a real character and his martyrdom a real event there is no question. About the date of his death there may be more doubt.' 9. Upon the whole, the balance of probabdity seems to incline to the supposition, not only that St. Alban suf- fered at this time, but that many others suffered also, as Gildas and Bede assert. The courtly expression of Euse- bius, who desired to flatter Constantine by eulogising his father, does not go for much ; and the assertion of Lactan- tius as to buildings alone having suffered is somewhat rhetorical. And if" persecution prevailed in Britain, there is no Reason to doubt that here too, as in other places, it bore its natural fruit in the growth of the Church. 10. In the year 314 was held a Council at Aries in 1 "That St. Alban's martj-iilom happened iu the Diocletian perse- cution rests only upon the knowledge or (according to another reading) on the guess of Gildas himself. And the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Lib. Landavcns. , although the latter still attributes it to that per- secution, date it in 286."— Haddan's Note to Councils of Great Britain, i. 6. 6 TliACES UF THE llLSTuKV UF [< iiap. i. France to consider tlie o})inion.s of the Donatists. At tliis Council, -vvliich was attended by a large number of Western bishops, three British bishops were present, and aflixed their signatures to the decrees of the Council. Their names as read in the ancient KoU are — " Ehorius, l)ishop of tlie town of Eboracum (York), in the province of Britain; Uestitutus, bishop of the town of London, in the above north- ern province ; Adelfius, bishop of the town of Caerleon (or ]terhaps Lincoln).* Besides these, Sacerdos, a presbyter; and Arniinius, a deacon." The Synod of Aries was the most im})ortant of any that were held before the gt-neral CV)uncil of Niciea. It had in it bishops from all i>art5 of the Western Church. It not only condemned the Donatist heresy, but also undertook to settle other points Avhich needed settlement, as the controversy as to the time of Easter, the ba})lism of heretics, the rules for discipline. It promulgated twenty-two valuable canons on these })oints. By the presence of some of its chief bishops at this Synod the British Church must have been well informed as to the mind of the Universal Church, while by its still preserving a way of calculating Easter dilferent from that which was generally accepted in the West, it showrd an indej)endence and self-reliance which indicate a considerable strength. H. There is good reason also for believing that at the great Council of Nicavi, held eleven years after that of Aries (325), British bishops were present. The Emperor Constantine, who sunnnoned the Council, connect^'d as he was with Britain, would naturally summon bishops from that island to the general gathering, and we have the testimony of Athanasius that the British Church accepted and assented to the faith as defined at Nica'a.^ xVt the Council of Sardica (3i7), which acquitted Athanas^ius of the charges brought against him, British bishops were either present, or, if not present, signified afterwards their adhesion to the decisions of the Synod.^ ^ The MS. has apparently Colonia Loiidincnsium, but for tliis we must read either LcgioncnsiniUy i.e. Caer-Lcon, or Lincknsium, which would imply Lincoln. This latter town was an early head-quarters of the Romans, and the conjecture seems a very jtrohable one. See Bingham, B. ix. c. 6, § 20. 2 Athanas. ad Jovian Imp. •* Athanas. Apol. coiil. Arian. CHAP. I.] THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. 7 12. There appears, indeed, to be no reason for suppos- ing that Arianism was accepted in Britain, although GUdas, misapplying a general expression in Euse1)ius, asserts the contrary.' Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, often called the Western Athanasius for his vigorous defence of the faith, writes a congratulatory letter to the bishops of Britain (among others) on the ground of their orthodoxy.^ 13. At the unfortunate Synod of Bimini (359), when all the more orthodox were entrapped by the Emperor Constantius into accepting an Arian formula, three British bishops were present. Tliese are said to have l)cen so poor that they accepted the imperial allowance wlien the other bishops refused it. They had previously rejected a collection made among their brethren at the Council for their support, "thinking it rather right to be burdensome to the general revenue than to individuals.'"-^ 14. St. Chrysostom, writing in 3G7, speaks of the British Islands as possessing churches and altars. In another passage he says that in Britain you may hear the truths of the gospel spoken indeed in another language, but not other in meaning.' Several passages in St. Jerome imply that the Britons were in the habit of making pil- grimages to the holy places in Palestine.^ The same is also asserted by Palladius and Theodoret.« 15. This custom of making pilgrimages to the holy places must have tended to keep up and strengthen the connection which always seems to have existed between the British Church and that of the East, and the history of the remarkable persons now to be spoken of still further increased and strengthened this connection. Early in the fifth century one of the most conspicuous figures in the Church of that day was Pelagius, universally declared to have been a British monk ; Augustine, Jerome, Prosper, 1 Councils, etc. (Haddan and Stubbs), i. 8, note. 2 Hilar. Pictav., de Synodis Prologct. § 2. 3 Sulpic. Sevcrus, Hist. Sac. ii. 41. 4 Chrysost., Cont. Judccos, Serm. de Util. Lect. Script, in Epist. II. ad Cor. XII., Homil. xxviii. 5 Hieron, Ep. XLIV. ad Paulam, Epist. LXXXIV. ad Oceanum. 6 Pallad., Eist. Lausiac, cxviii. ; Theodoret, Philoth., xxvi. 8 TRACES OF THE HISTORY OF [< hai-. i. Orosius, all distinctly state this. Born, according to the testimony of numberless chroniclers, in Cambria, and pro- fessed at the monastery of Bangor, he was some sixty years old ^ when his oi)inions began to attract attention, and to draw upon him the notice of three of the greatest of the Fathers — Augustine, Clirysostom, and Jerome. Tliough called a monk by all his contemporaries, it is not to be supposed that Belagius was a C(i'n<»bite, or l)ound by any special rule, lie was a layman, and had adopted probably a life of contemplation and study, such as that of which an example had been given a hundred years before by Bacho- mius in the East. The name Belagius was evidently one adopted to give a dignified and learned character to the man, but whether the original name was Morgan, as Camden and Usher su})pose, may be doubtful. The for- tunes of Belagius arc linked together with those of a friend of his named Celestius, who appears to liavc been of the Scotic or ancient Irish race. St. Jerome's invective against him calls him "a dog (tf Albion, one bred from the Scotch race, the near neighbour to the British." ' Both these men, Belagius and Celestius, are said by Gennadius to have writ- ten treatises before they became known and attracted notice as heretical teachers — Celestius on tlic monastic state, and Belagius on the Trinity and on the religious life. About the end of the fourth century these two British monks left their AVesti'rn homes, and, visiting first Egypt and then Constantino})le (where they became known to St. Cliry- sostom), finally found themselves at Bome. They arrived there in the pontificate either of Siricius or Anastasius, in the last decade of the fourth century. At that period the absorbing business, the great topic of interest at Rome, was 1 It is asserted by Dempster, on the faith "of a very ancient ecclesiastical -wTiter," that he was born on the same day as Augustine, in the year 351. ' Professor Bright thinks that these exjjressions were used of Pela- gius, and says — "It is an error to make Jerome refer to Celestius as Irish {Early E, Ch. Hist., p. 14, note). I venture to differ from this. Ho also says Pelagius "had left Britain in early life." This, I tliink, is not so. He was some forty years old before we hear of him at Rome. An exhaustive account of Pelagius and Celestius will be found in AViggors' Augustinismus, etc. (Hamburg, 1833). CHAP. I.] THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. 9 religion, and the questions connected with it. Into the speculations wliich were everywhere rife the two Western monks entered eagerly. They speculated not on the objective truths of the nature of the Godhead, but on the subjective facts of the human will. They sought to dis- cover how the great truth of the freedom of the will, and the manifest power which men have of choosing between two alternatives, could be reconciled with the extreme opinions which prevailed on the misery and helplessness of human nature, and the need of frightful austerities to mortify the flesh. They soon attracted attention, and rose into distinction. Before the year 309, when Kufiinus left Kome, they had become intimately acquainted with him, and had learned from him tliose views adapted from the speculations of Origen, which were the foundation of all their theological system. They were also intimate visitors at the house of Pammachius. Their reputation soon reached Augustine in Africa. They were known to and highly esteemed by Paulinus of Nola. Augustine wrote of them that " their abilities were great and acute." He calls them " most powerful, most renowned." Pelagius is described as " in the highest degree acute." Celestius, " a man of most vigorous judgment." The addresses and harangues of Pelagius are described as " vehement and burning." His books are made popular by "their bitter and eloquent style." ^ The sojourn of Pelagius and Celes- tius in Kome extended over fifteen or sixteen years. That which first caused them to be suspected of heresy was the animadversions made by Pelagius in his lectures on a book then intensely popular — the Confessions of St. Augustine. But his first distinct utterance of his peculiar views was conveyed in his Commentary on the Epistles of 8t. Paul, made public about the }'ear 409. The first Avork of Augus- tine against these views {The Epistle to Marccllinus) was Avritten in 412. After the devastation of Rome by Alaric, Pelagius and Celestius went first to Sicily, then to Carthage. From thence Pelagius passed on into Palestine, while Celestius remained at Carthage. They both now began to ^ Augustinus, Epp. ad Paulinum, ad Bonifacium, ad Juhanuin ; De Natura et Gratia ; De Gestis Falsest. lU TRACES OF TllK 11 ISTOKV OF [cnAP. i. teacli more openly, denying the doctrine of original sin, asserting the freedom of the will, and the power of man to do right of himself, though they by no means denied the valuable help of the grace of God ; asserting also the possi- bility of a human being reaching complete jii'rfection. Celestius was excommunicated by a Synod at Carthage. Pelagius in Palestine wjis soon engaged in fierce strife with St. Jerome. The former, liowever, was supported by John, bisliop of Jerusalem, and by a powerful party. It is not needful here to notice the various controversial writings which were j>ut forth on the one hand by Augustine and Jerome, on the other by Pelagius and Celestius. Suffice it to say that the fragments of the writings of both these monks which remain exhibit very considerable talent antl power, though they are unquestionably chargeable witli fal*(! doctrine. An attempt was made by the opponents of the new views to crush them by the decisions of u Synod, but at Diospolis (the ancient Lydda) a small Synod of the bishops pronounced them to be free from heresy. This acquittal evidently arose from a misunderstanding. Eastern prelates did not fully understand the Latin terms. In Africa two Synods organised by Augustine strongly condemned the Pelagian views. An unexpected difficulty now arose for the defenders of orthodoxy, from the action of the Pope. Zosimus, a Greek who had succeeded to the papal chair, received favourably the appeals of Celestius and Pelagius, antl pronounced them free of all heresy. This was in direct contradiction to the decisions of his predecessor, and he himself was soon obliged by the ener- getic action of Augustine to recant and acknowledge himself to have been in error. The Pelagians were now condemned by a rescript from the Court of Pavenna, and banishment and confiscation of their goods was decreed against them. But their opinions had taken deep root and spread far and wide, and an influence proceeding from the British Church, and disseminated by British teachers, aft'ected all the chief centres of Christianity. What special effect did it liave upon the Church in Britain 1 1 6. It is asserted by Prosper that Agricola, the son of Severianus, a bishop who had adopted Pelagian views, was CHAP. I.] THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. U the first introducer of these heretical opinions into Britain.^ Fastidius, a British bishop, mentioned by Gennadius as a writer of a book on the Christian life, and another on pre- serving widowhood, was also probably a semi-Pelagian.** 17. The heresy spreading rapidly, the orthodox deter- mined to ask aid to combat it from the neighbouring Church of Gaul. "An embassy," says Constantius, " directed to the Gallic bishops, informed them that the false opinions of Pelagius had spread far and wide, and that the Catholic faith needed immediate succour. With this object a numer- ous Synod was collected, and by the judgment of all two illustrious lights of religion are fortified ])y the prayers of all for the work — namely, Germanus and Lupus, apostolical priests, living, indeed, in body upon earth, but already possessing heaven by their merits."^ Passing over into Britain, they were followed by enormous crowtls, and every- where converted the people to the true faith. The heretical leaders at last determined to oppose them openly, and before a vast assembly of the people a disputation was publicly held at Verulamium. The apostles of the truth were com[)letely triumphant, and the people could scarce be restrained from laying violent hands on the Pelagians. Such is the account given by Constantius, a presbyter of Lyons, who wrote a life of Germanus, with whom he was contemporary. On the other hand. Prosper of Aquitain, the chronicler, attributes the mission of Germanus and Lupus to the action of Pope Celestine, who had been ap- pealed to by Palladius the deacon, to help the endangered Church of Britain. There is no room for doubt as to the main facts, namely, that Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, bishop of Troyes, did visit Britain with the object 1 Prosper, Aquitan. Cliron., and Coiitra CoUaforem, § 58. ^ See HadJan aud Stubbs, Councils, i. 16. This, however, is denied by Stillingfleet, who considers the book orthodox (it is printed in the Bihl. Patrum). The special point of Scmi-Pclagianism was the denying the necessity of preventive gi*ace. It repudiated the heresy of Pelagius in denying original sin, and all mischief from the Fall ; but it asserted man's power to turn to God of himself. At the same time it held that many were di*awn by the operation of grace. — Prosper, Cont. CoUatorem, s. 40 ; Milman, Lat Cliristianitxj, i. 130. ^ Constantius, dc Vita Germani, i. 19. 12 TRACES OF THE IlISTOKY OF [.iivr. i. of instructing the people, probably in the year 429, and that they were to some extent successful. But the influ- ence which these missionaries exerted soon passed away after their departure from Britain. Tlie people relapsed into Pelagian ism, and sorrowful messages were addressed to Germanus praying for his renewed help. Lupus being unable to join with him, Germanus appealed to Severus, bishop of Treves, for assistance, and together with him came again to Britain in tlie year 447. A miracle said to have been i)erfc)rmed by (Jcrmanus in restoring a crippled youth named Elaphius to the use of his limbs, gave such prestige and force to the teaching of the Gallic bishops that the false opinions of Pelagius were utterly ca.st down and discredited.' It is to the earlier visit of Germanus that the st(uy of the Hallelujah Battle is attributed ; and tliere is nothing incredible in the supposition that an army of Britons contending against their pagan and un-Ko- manised brethren the Picts, and the allied Saxons, who had already begun to prey upon P>ritain, should have been stirred to martial enthusiasm by the presence of the saint, and cheered on to victory by the loud hymns raised by him and his followers. 18. Before the i>eriod when the fatal step wa.s taken of subsidising the Saxons, the Koman ])rovince of Britain may be regarded as essentially Christian. (Jildas asserts the general existence of churches in later Koman Britain. There are special records in Bede and other early chron- iclers of British churches at Canterbury (St. Martin's, St. Saviour's); near Verulam ; at Caerleon (two); near Chester; at Glastonbury ; at AVhitherne, in (ialloway ; near Eves- ham. Traces of Bomano-lh'itish churches are believed still to remain at Dover, liicliborough, Beculver, and Lyminge in Kent, at Brixworth in Northamptonshire, besides the numerous remains possibly belonging to a post-Boman period in AVales and Cornwall. 19. And it is an indisputable fact that the British Church not only itself flourished during the Roman occu- 1 Constantius, dc Vita Germani, ii. 1-4, Later legends connect Germanus with Yoitigem. It is singular that GilJas knows nothing of Germanus. CHAP. I.] THE EARLY BRITISH CHURCH. 13 pation, but tliat it also sent missionaries to other churches. Of the first of these, St. Ninian, Bede thus speaks : — " The Southern Picts, long time ago, as they say, left the errors of idolatry and received the true faith, having the Word of God preached to them by Ninian the bishop, a most rev- erend and holy man of the nation of the Britons, who had been regularly taught at Rome the Christian faith and the mysteries of the truth. His Episcopal See was made illus- trious by the name of St. Martin, and by the church dedi- cated to him ; and there he himself rests in body, together with many saints, which holy place the race of the English now holds. It is in the province of Bernicia, and is commonly called the White House (Whithern) because he made his church of stone in a fashion to which the Britons were unaccustomed." * Other authorities record a visit made by Ninian to St. Martin, to whom he dedicated his church ; and as St. Martin died just at the close of the fourth centuiy, the work of Ninian in Galloway must be placed early in the fifth. Another still more famous mis- sionary of the British Church was St. Patrick, the apostle of the Irish. Among the various legends by which the work of St. Patrick is obscured there would seem to be some foundation of fact obtainable. Palladius, a Roman missionary, had first endeavoured to convert the heathen Scots (Irish), but was driven away by them and landed in Scotland, where, among the Picts, already in part Chris- tianised by St. Ninian, he found a home, and built, as it is said, a church at Fordun. A young Briton who had come under his influence and been told by him of the heathen inhabitants of the neighbouring island, was stirred up to attempt the work in which Palladius had failed. His father was Calphurnius, a noble Briton, and his mother Conche, niece to St. Martin of Tours. He gave himself to the work, and succeeded in planting Christianity in Ireland. 20. The irruptions of the Saxons and Angles into Britain, and the wars carried on during a century, almost uniformly with bad success to the Britons, had the effect of filling the main part of this island with heathen colo- nists. The Britons, whether Christian or pagan, were either 1 Bede, Hist. Fed. iii. 4. 14 TRACKS «»K TIIK IlISToKV ol' [ijiai. i. exterminated, made slaves of, or driven into two main dis- tricts— the one on the west, extending from tlie Clyde to the Dee ; the other in the south-west, comprising Corn- wall, Devon, and part of Somerset. In these two districts, and among the mountains of Wales, what«'ver was left of the British Clmnh was to he found. What was its con- dition an;t'»l to honour it may thence inwardly fall by vainglory. For we must call to mind that when the disciples returned with joy after preaching, and said to their Heavenly Master, ' Lord, even the very devils are subject unto us in Thy name,' they were presently told : * In this rejoice not, that the devils are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.' For all the elect do not work miracles, and yet the names of all are written in heaven." Augustine is bid to remember his shortcomings, which ought to extinguish all vanity, and to reflect that if any miraculous eff*ects had been shown, this was done, not for him, but for the sake of those whose salvation had been given to him.^ While the Eoman Bishop was thus fostering the beginnings of the Church in England, the newly ^ It is unnecessary to note that this arrangement was never carried, out, but the directions as to the relative position of the Metropolitans gave occasion to the long contest waged by York against Canterbuiy on this point. 2 Greg., Epist. ix. 39. Bedc, I. xxxii. ^ Bede, I. xxxi. 590-004.] AXD AMONG THE EAST SAXONS. 29 converted king of Kent was showing liimself solicitous for its temporal interests. Retiring from his palace in Canterbury to Reculver, he gave up the former to the uses of Augustine and the missionaries. Near the king's palace was an old Roman church long desecrated. This Augustine reclaimed and rededicated as Christ Church, enlarging it with choir and aisles and apses in imitation of the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter at Rome. This was the original of the venerable cathedral of Canter- bury. He then proceeded to erect outside the city walls a monastery on the site of an old Roman Temple, which he dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, and with the help of Ethelbert, who "enriched it with several donations,"' he was able rapidly to advance it. This was the monastery after- wards called by the name of its founder, St. Augustine's.2 Having full license now to reclaim for the purposes of worship any of the old Romano-British churches, he also recovered, and rededicated in the name of St. Pancras, another ancient Roman church near Canterbury. 13. The powers given by Pope Gregory to Augustine of being supreme over all Christians in the island, natur- ally led him soon to attempt to bring the British churches under his regulation, and to make them submit to his authority. The anti})athies of race, and the recollections of the long and bitter struggles between the Britons and the Teutons, would necessarily form a great impedi- ment, but it was thought that the faith common to the two might overcome this. And had the demands of Augustine been less exacting, or his demeanour more conciliating, this might have been the case. A meeting was arranged between the Archbishop and certain repre- sentatives from the British churches of "Wales, at a place which is described by Bede as "Augustine's Ac," that is Augustine's Oak, on the borders of the Wiccii and West Saxons."^ The Avay in which Augustine commenced the 1 Bede, I. xxxiii. 2 On the question cas to the relative antiquity of Christ Church and St. Augustine's a gi-eat strife arose. (See Thomas of Elmham, Rolls Series, pp. 84, 85, etc.) 3 Bede, ii. 2. The AViccii or Hwiccians were settled along the banks 30 TLANTINCJ OF THE CHURCH IN. KENT [i iiAr. ii. interview did not promise well for its success. He began by admonishing the Britons as to the irregularity of tlieir proceedings, especially in the matter of keeping Easter, which they persisted in observing on the 14th day of the month when the full moon fell riglitly for this, wliereas the custom now generally accepted in the Church did not allow the festival by any possibility to be observed before the 15th,i in order to avoid the day of the Jews' I*assover. Other customs and traditions of the British Churcli were also denounced. The British clergy naturally defended their long-i)racti8ed customs. Augustine, instead of a friendly argument with them, demanded that the matter should be settled by a trial as to which of the parties could work a miracle. A blind man was brought who (it is said) could not be cured by the British, but was immediately healed by the prayers of Augustine. There must have been some susi)icious circumstances connected with this transaction, as the P>ritish clergy do not seem to have been struck and awed by it. They demanded another meeting. At this seven British bishops and many learned men from their famous monastery of Bangor assisted. They had previously consulted a hermit renowned for his piety as to whether they ought to forsake their traditions at the bidding of Augustine. The hermit had told them that if Augustine showed himself meek and humble they might do so. They were to judge as to his humility by observing whether he rose up to receive them when they came to him. Augustine remained sitting. The British bishops charged him with pride and haughtiness. Augustine replied that many of their traditions were contrary to those of the universal church, but that if they would abandon their computation of Easter, and their peculiar mode of admin- istering baptism, and would join with him in preaching the gospel to the English, he would readily tolerate all their other peculiarities. They responded that they would change none of tlieir customs. Then Augustine threatened of the Severn. The place is supposed to have been the ^'illage of Aust or Aust-cliff on the Severn, in Gloucestershire. ^ See above, Notes and Hlnstrations to Chap. I. 596-604.] AND AMONG THE EAST SAXONS. 31 them, that if they would not seek to convert the English, they would suffer death at their hands. His threat received so marked a fulfilment, that on the one hand it was held to have been a prophecy, on the other, he lias been charged with complicity in the massacre which followed, though it was certainly some nine years after his death. ^ For Ethelfrid, king of the Northumbrians, making war upon the British, defeated them in a great battle near Chester. During the battle a large body of the monks of Bangor were observed by the pagans occupied in prayer for the success of the arms of their countrymen. " These men," said the Northumbrian king, " are figliting against us as much as the others." The conquering Angles fell upon them, and out of the twelve hundred monks only fifty survived. 14. The unsuccessful negotiations with the British are generally assigned to the year 603 ; and in the following year, GO 4, Augustine made a great step forward in estab- lishing the Church of Christ among the English. Sebert, the king of the East Saxons, was the nephew of Ethelbert of Kent, being the son of his sister Ricola. Tlie Christian missionaries, therefore, obtained an easy access into his dominions, which contained the great city of London, the opulence and importance of which had been scarcely injured by the Anglo-Saxon conquest,^ and which was then, as in Roman times, by far the leading city in the island. Here were two famous temples of the Roman heathen worship, one of Diana in the centre of the city, and another of Apollo in the neighbouring island of Thorney. Sebert, now converted to the faith, determined, in ^ The massacre of tlie "Welsh monks by EtlieLfrid was "almost certainly "in 613 (Haddan and Stubbs, Councils). It seems strange that so many writers have attempted to connect Augustine with this massacre, inasmuch as it is certain that he died in 604. Bede carefully notes that the massacre took place after the death of Augustine. (Bede, ii. 2). It has been suggested that the passage in Bede is an interpolation, because it is not found in King Alfred's translatiou. This probably may be accounted for. The passage is in all the most ancient MSS. of Bede. There can be no good ground for supposing that Augustine had anything to do with the massacre. See Collierj 1. 180, sq. ' Palgrave, Hist, of England, i. 61. 32 PLANTING OF TlIK CHURCH IN KENT, etc. [ciiAr. ir. concert with Ethelbert, to build on these sites two great Christian churches ; the one in the city to be dedicated to St. Paul, the other at Thorney to St. Peter.^ For this pro- mising field of mission labour one of the band of Ivoman missionaries, Mellitus, was set ai)art by Augustine, and consecrated the first bishop of London. At the same time, for further help in his own nearer neighbourhood, another bishop was consecrated for a portion of the county of Kent. The place chosen for his See was the town of Kof, the Englishman, where King Kthell)ert built a church in honour of St. Andrew, and endowed it with many gifts." This church was entrusted to Justus, consecrated by Augustine the first bishop of Rochester. 15. One other important act was done by Augustine before his earthly work was completed. Fearing " lest upon his death the state of the Church, as yet unsettled, n)ight begin to falter if it should be destitute of a pastor even for an hour," he consecrated Laurentius to be his successor at Canterbury.^ After this the prelate who had been instrumental in perfoiming so gi-eat a work, and who, in si)ite of probaVjle imperfections and mistakes, haliy, Art. " Beda.' 34 THE TLANTING OF THE [chap. hi. CHAPTER III. THE PLANTING OF THE CHURCH IN NORTHDMBRIA. 004-655. 1. L.inic'iitius, Rocoinl Anliliishoj), cmlravours (o conciliato tlie British, Hcotcli, ami Iiisli. 2. Mellitus, bislioji of Loinlon, nt tends a Roman Synod. 3. Midlitus and Justus n-tirc to France. 4. The vision of Laurentius aiul the conversion of Eadl)altl. 5. Mellitus Arclihisliop. 6. Paulinus goes to Northuniliria. 7. The hesitation of Eadwin is overcome. 8. The lieathen Avorslup overthrown in Northumbria. 9. General conversion of the Northumbrians. 10. Successof Paulinus in Lindsey. 11. He consecrates Ilonoiius Arcliltishop of Canterbury at Lincoln. 12. The overthrow of the Northumbrian Church. 13. Victory of Oswald, and restoration of the Faitli of Christ in Northumbria. 14. St. Aidan and OswaM. 15. Final overthrow of Paganism in the North of England. 1. The zeal and vigour wliidi lia»l Ix'on conspicuous in Augustine were no less reniarkaMc in liis successor Laurentius. The first important act of his j)rimacy seems to have been a renewed attempt to bring tlie British and Scotch^ bisliops into conformity with the Cluirch over which he presided. With this view he sent synodical letters in the names of liimself, i\Icllitus, and Justus, to the British, Scotch, and Irish bishops, to the following effect : " To our most dear brothers the lords bishops or abbots throughout all Scotland, Laurentius, Mellitus, and Justus, servants of the servants of God. When the Apostolic See, according to the universal custom which it has followed elsewhere, "• The Chureli of the Scots and Picts having received the Faith from St. Ninian and British missionaiies, naturally followed the traditions of the British Church. The Irish Cliurch, in like manner, liad been founded l>y Patrick, a Briton, and had in turn sent missionaries (as St. Coluniba) to Scotland. All these Churches were therefore agi'ced in holding peculiar customs as to Easter, bajitisni, the tonsure. The term Univcrsa Scotia includes Ireland. 604-655.] CHURCH IN XORTHUMBRIA. 35 sent us to these western parts to preach to pagan nations, we came into this island which is called Britain without having any previous knowledge of its inhabitants. AVe held both the Britons and Scots in great esteem for sanctity, believing that they had proceeded according to the custom of the universal Church ; but coming acquainted with the errors of the Britons, we thought the Scots had been better, until we were informed by Bishop Dagan, coming into this aforesaid island, and the Abbot Colum- banus in France, that the Scots in no way differ from the Britons in their behaviour ; for Bishop Dagan, coming to us, not only refused to eat with us, but even to take his repast in the same house wherein we were entertained."^ Another letter was also addressed by the same bishops to the priests among these nations. Neither of the epistles appears to have had any success. 2. It was natural that a close intercourse should be kept up by those who had come forth from Eome with their mother Church. Hence we find Mellitus, Bishop of London, present at a Synod in Rome, in 610, and taking part in the proceedings. On the conclusion of the Synod, he brought back with him to England copies of the decrees and letters from the Pope (Boniface lY.) to Laurentius and Ethelbert.2 3. All went well with the newly-planted Church in England, until the death of Ethelbert, king of Kent, who finished a reign of 56 years on February 21, 616. His queen. Bertha, had died previously. Ethelbert had been a staunch defender and a munificent supporter of the Church ; but his successor, Eadbald, refused to adopt the Christian faith, and scandalised all good Christians in his dominions by marrying his father's widow. Shortly after Ethelbert died his nephew, Sebert, king of the East Saxons, whose sons in like manner were pagans. There was now no Chris- tian prince left in England, and the Church was in sore dan- ger. Mellitus was first expelled out of London, and coming to confer with his fellow bishops in Kent, it was determined that both he and Justus should retire to France, whither Laurentius, the primate, designed soon to follow them. 1 Bede, ii. 4. ^ Ih.^ u.s. 36 THE TLANTING OF THE [vu.w. in. .4. On the last night of his intended sojourn in Eng- hmd, Laurentius causccl his bed to be Laid within the Church of St. Peter and Paul Perhaps still uncertain as to his line of duty, he expected and desired some revelation of the Divine will, by way of a vision. If so, liis desire was not disappointed, for it seemed to him in his sleep as if St. Peter appeared to him, and severely scourged him for meditating this desertion of his post. It is probable that through this vivid dream the bishop perceived a method of inlhiencing the king, and tliat he either himself inHicted, or caused some one to inflict, stripes upon him, the marks of which he might show to the king.^ Upon seeing the scars, Eadbald was much astonished, and asked who had ventured thus to assault so great a man. Lau- rentius re))lied that the strijies were inflicted by tlie great Apostle of Christ. Struck with amazement, the king de- termined to abjure idols, abandon his incestuous marriage, and to be baptized. He became a zealous promoter of Christianity; recalled Mellitus and Justus; and carried (m with vigour the church-building which had been begun by Ethelbert.- 5. In the year GIO died Laurentius, tlie second Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and was succeeded by Mellitus, who had been unable to induce the East Saxons to allow him to return to his See of London. Justus had been allowed by the now Christian king Eadbald to return to Kochester. Of the primacy of iMcllitus, the only thing recorded l)y Bede is the sudden stoppage of a conflagration which threatened to destroy the whole city of Canterbury, by the efficacy, as it was thought, of his prayer. He died in the year 624, and was buried, like his predecessors, in the church of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul. 6. Mellitus was succeeded by Justus, who left his See of Rochester for the more important post of Canterbury. His primacy was destined to witness a large extension of ^ Perhaps a more probable explanation is that some Christian monk or priest personated St. Peter, and actually scourged the Archbishop. - Bede, ii. 6. He built the church of St. Mary in Canterbury, afterwards annexed to the Abbey Church, and known as the Churcli in Cryptis. — Thomas de Elmham, p. Hi. 604-655.] CHURCH IX XORTHUMBRIA. 37 the Clmrch in England. Pope Boniface sent to Justus the pall with his license to consecrate bishops, and acting on this he consecrated Eomanus to succeed him in the See of Rochester/ More important events soon followed. Eadwin, king of the Northumbrian Angles, had now risen into the position of Bretwalda, by his victories over the Britons, and his conquest of the Mevanian Islands.* Desirous to strengthen his rising power by alliances, he had demanded of Eadbald, king of Kent, the hand of his sister Ethelburga, but had been answered : " It is not lawful to marry a Christian virgin to a pagan husband ; but the faith and mysteries of the heavenly King should be profaned by her cohabiting with a king that was altogether a stranger to the worship of the true God." "* Eadwin, on receiving this answer, ottered to guarantee to his bride the fullest freedom for her worshij), and to allow her to bring any Christian companions witli her. He held out also a hope of his embracing the Christian religion himself. Upon this Paulinus, one of the second band of Itoman missionaries, who had been labouring for twenty-four j'ears as a priest in Kent, was consecrated bishop, and sent to accompany Ethelburga to her northern home (July 625). He made but little progress until, on the night before Easter Sunday (026), King Eadwin was wondrously saved from the dagger of an assassin by the devotion of his minister Lilla, who received the blow in Ids own body ; and on the same night Queen Ethelburga was safely delivered of a daughter. Ead- win's heart was softened towards Paulinus, to whose prayers he attributed the safe deliverance of the cpieen, and he vowed that, if he returned safe and victorious from his wars with the "West Saxons, he would cast off idols and serve Christ. Meantime he gave his infant daughter to the bishop for baptism, and twelve of his household were also baptized. 7. But the king himself, though crowned with victory, still hesitated about baptism, though he had abjured his idols. " He was a man," says Bede, " of extraordinary sagacity ; and he sat alone by himself a long time silent as to his tongue, but deliberating in his heart how he should ^ Bede, ii. 8. - i.e. Aucclesea and Mau. ^ Bede, ii. 9. 38 THE PLANTING OF THE [chai'. hi. proceed, and which religion he should adhere to." * Letters addressed to him by tlie Pope (Bonifiice V.), pointing out to him the vanity of the heathen rites had failed to deter- mine his decision. The entreaties of his young wife Ethelburga equally fell short of persuading him. It was then that Paulinus, becoming acquainted with a strange passage in the king's early life,*"' was able to bring an effective influence to bear upon him. For Eadwin, in his early days, when in exile in the kingdom of Kedwald, king of the East Angles, and in utter despair of escai)ing from the cruelty of Ethelfrid, king of Northumbria, had seen in a vision an aged man, who assured him of future safety, and placing his hand upon his liead, had bidden him to remember that sign. Soon after this Kedwald defeated Ethelfrid, and slew him, and Eadwin was raised to the throne of Northumbria. Paulinus, becoming acquainted with this, came to the king in one of his periods of solitary meditation, and, placing his hand upon his head, asked him if he " remembered that sign." Eadwin, struck with amazement, fell down at the bishop's feet. Pauliims raised him up, and bade him no longer delay that which he was doubting about, but receive the faith, and save his soul.' 8. But King Eadwin would not cast off the faith of his forefathers Avithout solemn conference with his principal friends and counsellors. At York, the chief men (»f the nation met to deliberate. Colli, the high priest of the faith of Woden and Thor, took the lead in declaring that he had become persuaded that the gods whom he served were worthless, for they did nothing more for him than for others, though he expended so much pains upon them. Another of the king's chief men illustrated the pitiable ignorance of man as to his after destiny by the beautiful apologue of a bird flying out of the dark cold night into the light and warmth of a banqueting room, and passing swiftly through into the outside darkness once more. So dark, he said, was man's mind, both as to what he was be- ^ Bede, U.S. 2 Bede's words are : " As we may suppose, it was shown him in spirit." It is probable that the king had not been entirely silent as to this vision, and Paulinus may have heard of it from the relation of othei-s. 3 Bede, ii. 12. 60:t-655.] CHURCH IX NORTHUMBRIA. 39 fore, and what he will be after the short brightness of life. Then Paulinas took the word, and spoke of the glories of the world to come. Coifi, the priest, declared that if the religion of the Christians could give these, it was indeed worth accepting. " Let us up," he said, " 0 king, and destroy the images and temples of these worthless gods." " But who," said the king, " will venture to commence the work?" "Who can do this so fitly as myself," said Coifi, " who have served them more than other men 1 " So, mounted on a stallion, girt with a sword, and with a spear in his hand,' the chief priest of the heathen rites made assault upon the fiimous temple of Godmundigham. The spear was cast against it, the gods publicly insulted, and no vengeance lighted upon the daring priest. Tlien the people, gathering courage, rushed in a tumultuous band upon the temples and idols of the heathen gods, overthrew and de- stroyed them ; and thus was Northumbria purged of the worship of the false gods." 9. King Eadwin, with all the nobility of the nation, and a large number of the common sort, received the faith and the washing of regeneration at Easter-eve (April 11, 627). They were baptized at York in a little wooden church, which had been hastily erected and dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle,"* the first germ of the glorious pile of York Minster. A nobler church of stone was immediately begun, intended to enclose the little wooden baptistery ; and here, in his capital city, in imitation of what had been done in Kent, King Eadwin fixed the See of his instructor, Paulinus, who thus became the first Archbishop of York. King Eadwin's sons by a former marriage, Orfrid and Eadfrid, were baptized, as were all his children by Ethel- burga ; and " so great was the fervour of the faith, and the desire of the washinf^ of salvation among the nation of the Northumbrians, that Paulinus, at a certain time, coming with the king and queen to the royal country-seat, which is called Adgelsin, stayed there with them thirty-six days, 1 " It was not lawful for the high priest either to carry arms, or to ride on any but a mare." — Bede, ii. 13. ^ Bede, ii. 13. 3 Nennius {Hist. Brit.) says that 12,000 people were baptized on the the same day as Eadwin. 40 THE PLANTING OF THE [cnAP. in. fully occupied in catecliising and baptizing ; during which days, from morning to night, he di«l nothing else but instruct the people, resorting from all villages and places, in Christ's saving Word ; and when instructed, he washed them M'itli the watrrot" absolution in the river Glen, which is close by."^ Tliis was in the northern i)art of the king- dom of Eadwin (Bernicia) ; but in the southern part (Deira) the work went on with equal success. Great numbers were baptized in the river Swale, which runs by the village Cataract; and on the i)lain of the Don a church was built, which was afterwards burnt in tlie uidiappy wars with the infidels.-' 10. But the labours of the great missionary Paulinus were not confined to the kingdom of the Northumbrians. He crossed the Humber, and made his way into ^lercia, ])reaching the gosi)el with great success in the district of Lindissa, or Lindsey. Advancing southwards to the lioman town of Lindum-Culonia, he converted to the faith iilecca, the ealdorman, and all his household; and not far from the famous Koman arch of Trajan, and close under the Koman enclosure of tlie camp or castle, he built a little stone church of nolde worknuuiship, which was afterwards made famous as the i»lace of consecration of the fifth Archbishop of Canterbury.^ The ministrations of Paulinus in Lindsey were not confined to Lincoln. Leaving the neighl^ourhood of the Witham, he proceeded to the grandly-Howing Trent, and there, at a place calletl l>y Bede Tiovulfingacestir, which has been identified as the modern Torksey, and is about the nearest point of the Trent to Lincoln, were baptized, in the presence of King Eadwin, a vast number of people by Paulinus, assisted by James the deacon. Thus was the Church first planted in Mercia.^ 1 Beile, iii. 14. The village of Yevcrinjij, under the Cheviots. "Another place in the same district preserves the tradition of a similar visit in its name of Pallinsburn." P>right, p. 120. - The village is Catterick or Catterick-Bridge. Tlie place of tlie Church perliaps, Almonbury, i.e. Albansbury, the town of St. Alban, to wlioni the church was dedicated. According to others, Doncaster. 3 This churdi still surWves under the name of St. Paul's. The Nonnan castle is built over much ancient Roman work. •* Bede, ii. 16. Paulinus is described by Bede as "tall of stature, 604-C55.] CHURCH IX XORTHUMBRIA. 41 11. It was -svliile Paulinus was thus employed that Archbishop Justus died, and the clergy of Canterbury having chosen Honorius to be his successor, he came to Paulinus at Lincoln, and was there consecrated by him, in the stone church which Paulinus had raised, fifth Arch- bishop of Canterbury (G27). To botli tliese prelates, one of whom was destined to preside over the Northern, the other over the Southern province, the Bishop of Rome, Honorius, sent palls. These were accompanied by en- couraging letters addressed to Eadwin, and a letter to Honorius, directing that when either of the two Metro- politans deceased, tlie survivor should consecrate a successor without waiting to apply to Pome. The difiiculty M'hich stood in the way of appointing a Bishop of London had thus caused Gregory's original arrangement to be abandoned. Canterbury was to be definitely accepted in place of London, but York and Canterbury seem to be still placed on the same footing, the senior of them to be the Primate.^ 12. But now a terrible calamity overtook the Church planted in northern England. For six years King Eadwin had zealously forwarded the work of spreading the gospel, and great advances had been made, both in his own dominions, and in those of his neighbours. Probably Penda, the tributary king of Mercia, foresaw that if Chris- tianity spread among his subjects, his power would soon vanish, for he was resolutely attached to heathenism. Joining, therefore, with Cadwallader, king of the Western Britons, he led his forces against King Eadwin, and defeated him with great slaughter at Hatfield (G33). Eadwin was killed, and all his army was dispersed, and the Northumbrian and Mercian Christians were given over to the savage violence of the heathen conqueror and his not less ferocious Christian ally; for, says Bede, "The Britons to this day pay no respect to the faith and religion of the English, nor correspond with them any more than with Pagans."- Thus the Church, which had scarcely a little stooping, his hair black, his visage meagre, his nose slender and aquiline, liis aspect both venerable and majestic." 1 Bede, ii. 17, 18. ' /&., ii- 20. 42 THE PLANTIXG OF THE [.hap. hi. taken root, was completely overthrown in Nortlmmbria. The queen, Etlielburga, attended by Paul inns, escaped by sea into Kent, and some of the rich church furniture, given by the zeal of Eadwin, was conveyed to Canterbury. But the work of Paulinus seemed to be hopelessly ruined. He, himself, reaching Kent, found an asylum in the church of Rochester, whose l)isliop, Komaiuis, liad been drowned.^ The See was committed to him by Honorius and I'adbald, and here he continued to labour till his death (043).- 13. At York, Paulinus had left in charge James the deacon, who laboured assiduously to prevent the extinction of the faith. Tlie village of AM/ioy bears witness by its name to his presence and work there. Yet, for a short space, all was dark and a^jparently hopeless for the Christian cause in Northumlnia. The banished son and nephew of Ethelfrid succeeded to the rule, — one of Bernicia, the other of Deira ; and, though both of them had pro- fessed Christianity while in exile among the Scots, ]x)th renounced it on their accession to power. But the war with Cadwallader, the liritish king, not being terminated by the death of Eadwin, both the renegades, Osric and Eanfrid, were slain by this fierce warrior, wlio oppressed Northumbria for a year. Then Oswald, brother of Eanfrid, and son of Ethelfrid, rallied the Christians of Xorthumbria, and, attacking the British king with a very small force, overthrew and slew him at Dilston (534).^ Oswald had raised the sign of the Holy Cross before engaging, and had joined with his soldiers in prayers to Heaven ; for which cause the place was afterwards called " the Heavenly Field," and many miracles are said to have been done there ; and before that time there was " no sign of the Christian faith, no Church, no altar, throughout all the nation of the Bernicians.""* 14. Oswald united the claims of both Osric and Eanfrid, and reigned over the two provinces of Northumbria. He had learned Christianity when in exile in Scotland from the disciples of St. Columba, the Irish missionary, who had established a religious centre at the little island of ^ Thomas de Elmham, p. 173. - Beele, u.s. '^ lb., iii. 1. ^ lb., iii. 2. 604-655.] CHURCH IN NORTHUMBRIA. 43 Hy or lona.^ Consequently, wKen lie desired to restore the faith in his kingdom, he did not send for Paulinus, but sought teachers from the place which he had learned specially to revere. They sent to him Bishop Aidan, " a man of singular meekness, piety, and moderation, zealous in the cause of God,"^ although he did hold that Easter Sunday might fall on the fourteenth of the month, and differ from the Koman use as to tlie tonsure and the use of the chrism in baptism. To him the king assigned, as an abode and See, not the church of York, which Eadwin had begun, but the quasi -island of Lindisfarne, where he built a religious house. He seconded Aidan's work with the greatest zeal, and it " was delightful to see," says Bede, " the king himself interpreting the Word of God to his commanders and ministers, for he had perfectly learned the Language of the Scots during his long banishment."^ Under the fostering care of Oswald, the Church rapidly grew in Northumbria. The teachers who came from Scotland practised the regular discipline, and lived in com- munity. Money and lands were freely given by the king to found monasteries, and the zeal and devotion of Aidan inspired all around him. 15. But in the ninth year of his reign King Oswald was overthrown and slain at Maserfield by the same ruthless Pagan chieftain, Penda, the king of the jMercians, who had slain King Eadwin (0-ii2). He was succeeded by Oswy, his brother, who continued to uphold the Church, but not with the same pure devotion as Oswald had done, for he cruelly put to death Oswin, of the race of Eadwin, who had obtained the government of Deira, and was distinguished for his devotion and humility.^ Twelve days after Oswin, whom he greatly loved. Bishop Aidan himself was taken to his rest. King Oswy, being driven to desperation by the exactions of Penda, king of the Mercians, determined to engage him, though but with a small army. Before the ^ For an account of St. Cohimba see Notes and Hlustrations, 2 Bede, iii. 3. It is well to observe that Bede, although he holds the British customs to be such great enormities, nevertheless does not stint his praise for true British saints such as was St. Aidan. 3 lb., iii. 3. * lb., iii. 14. 44 THE CHURCH IX XORTHUMBRIA. [riiAP. iir. battle he vowed liis infant daughter to a religious life if he should be successful. He completely triumphed over the pagan forces at AVingfield (G55), and having "cut off the wicked king's head, converted the i\Iercians and the adja- cent provinces to the grace of the Christian faith." ^ Thus the Christian faith was again firmly planted in Northum- bria. " Tlie battle of Wingfield," says JNIr. Freeman, " is a name which is obscure as it now stands, but it marks an important turning-point in the history of our island. The strife between the creeds of Christ and Woden was there finally decided ; the Mercians embraced the religion of their neighbours, and Nortlunnberland again became the leading power of Ihitain." '' It will now be necessary to revert to otlit-r of tlie Teutonic kingdoms, and to see how the Church took root in them also. ^ Iji'do, iii. 24. Tlit-iv is u curious loiifusitm in Pude's statements as to King IViula. In c. 21 he iv^iresents liini as not upposoil to the Cliristian ivli«^M(in, thout^li liinisell" a pagan, and as allowing liis son to many a Cliristian princess. In c. 24 he is described as a ferocious pagan, who was bent on exterminating tlie Northumbrians, and his death is said to ])e the means of opening Mercia to the faith. - Xonnan Conquest, i. 37. 60i-655.] NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 4.5 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. ST. COLUMBA. In the case of all the earlier apos- tles of Christianity Ave have to con- tend with legend and manifest exag- geration in trying to obtain a know- ledge of their true history. Columba is said to have been born at Gartan, in Donegal, about the year 521. He be- longed to a chieftain's family, and was able to found several monas- teries. His clan being involved in a quarrel with King Diarmaid, ou account of an insult offered to him, Columba, penitent for the blood shed on his account, determined to go on a Christian mission to Scotland. In 563 he embarked in an open boat covered with skins, and on Whit- sunday eve landed on a little island known by the name of Hy (Island), and afterwards softened into lona. Columba obtained a gi-ant of this island from the chief of Argyleshire, who was of Irish blood, and pro- ceeded to erect a monastery there, the buildings being of the simplest description. The first monks were all Irish, but Britisli and even Saxons came to join them. Columba was remarkable for his assiduous study of Holy Scripture, and the monks were employed in learning the Psalter by heart and trans- cribing the lives of saints. Tliey were also diligently engaged in out- of-door occupations needed for their support. The settlement, chiefly owing to the great qualities of its head, became immensely popular, and speedily sent off oflshoots into the neighbouring district. Columba himself went on a mission to the Picts, and carried the gospel to the Orkneys and Hebrides. He visited Ireland, and took a leading part in a council held there, and then re- turned to his Scotch home. A con- tinued progress in influence and use- fulness attended his work. He caused larger and stronger boats to be constructed, and was constantly employed in visiting, supervising, and directing the many monasteries among the islands an(l on the coast in the west of Scotland wliich he had founded. At length, at a great age, on the morning of Sunday, June 9, A.D. 597, this holy and most success- ful pioneer of Christianity departed to his rest. " On the Saturday afternoon he was transcribing the thirty-fourth Psalm (Ps. xxxiii, E. v.), and coming to the verse, 'They who seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good,' he said, * Here I must stop, at the end of this page ; what foUoAvs let Baithcn Avrite.' He then left his cell to attend Vespers, and return- ing at the close, lay down on his couch of stone and gave his last injunctions to Baithen, till the bell at midnight called them to the noc- turnal oflice. St. Columba Avas the first to enter the oratory, and Avhen the brethren folloAA'ed Avith lights, they found the saint prostrate before the altar, and he soon passed aAvay with a sweet smile ou his face, as though he had merely fallen into a gentle sleep." — Dr. Smith's Die- tionary of Christian Biograj)hy, Article "Columba." 46 PLANTING OF THE CHURCH IN [ciiAr. iv. CHAPTER IV. PLANTING OF THE CHURCH IN THE OTHER ENGLISH KINGDOMS THE CONFERENCE AT WHITBY. G32-CG4. 1. Conversion of the East Angles. 2. Conversion of tlie West Saxons. 3. The See transferred to Winchester. 4 Leutlierius ina)ishop of London. 8. Wliich jiarts of the land Avere converted from Roman, and whidi from British sources. i>. The two Uses must needs collide 10. Their Collision in North- nmbria. 11. The Conference at Whitby. 12. EtlVcts of the Whitby ('(nift-rence. 1. Five years after tlu; l»ai>tism of Eadwin, king of Nortliiim- bria, was baptized Eorpwald, king of the East Angles ' (032). Ilis fatlierlvedwald, wlioliad entertained Eadwin of North- nmbria during his banislnnent, liad been bai)tized formerly in Kent ; but cither mistaking Augustine's ruling as to the heathen temples and worship, or still adhering in his heart to his old faith,' hail endeavoured to unite in the same church the worship of Christ and the false gods. His son Eorpwald was more thorough-going in his acceptance of the truth, but very soon after his conversion he was slain. Then after three years of anarchy, Sigbercht, brother to Eorp- wald, obtained the rule of East Anglia, and being a " most Christian and learned man," applied himself earnestly to the ^ A.-S. Chronicle ; but otlier autlioritios place the conversion of Eorpwald in 627 or 628. See Smith on Bede, ii. 15. " Bede says, ' ' Seduced by liis wife and certain false teachers." It is evident, however, that Redwald did not completely apostatise from Christianity, but made an attempt at combination. This ma]/ have proceeded from the views set forth by Grcgoiy as to the heathen temples. 632-G64.] THE OTHER ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 47 planting of the Church there. Sigbercht had, during a period of banishment, lived in France, and there had be- come fully instructed in the Christian faith. It was natural for him, when he reached power, to seek instruction for his people in the same quarter where he himself had found it. Accordingly, Felix, a Burgundian bishop, was, with the consent of the primate Honorius, appointed to superintend the missionary work among the East Angles. His success was great. His See was established in the city of Dunwich, in Suffolk, which has thus the original of that which many centuries afterwards became the See of Norwich.' 2. A more important conversion than even that of East Anglia, inasmuch as the tribe was more aggressive and played a greater part in the subsequent history of the land, was that of the West Saxons, or tlie kingdom of Wessex. AVessex occupied a large and fertile part of the south of England, having access both to the Southern Sea and to the estuary of the Severn, but during its earlier days it was not able to cope with the power of the northern princes. Five of its kings fell in battle against Eadwin, and Penda, the lieatlien king of Mercia, took away a large district from it." The gospel was first preached to the West Saxons by Birinus, a missionary from Rome, who undertook to Pope Honorius to sow the seed of the holy faith where no otlier teacher had been before him. He received episcopal consecration from Asterius, bishop of Genoa, and started on his mission. He found the AYest Saxons utterly heathen, and commenced his work among them (634). The king himself, Cynegilsus, was disposed to receive the faith, perliaps from the knowledge of the fact that the most powerful princes of the land had already ^ Bede, ii. 16. Herbert of Losinga, in the time of William Rnfus, moved the See, then at Thetford, to Norwich, and built the cathedral Before that time Dunwich had been united to Elmham, the other East Anglian See, and the bishop of the East Angles was Bishop of Elmham. This was Stigand's title in the time of Edward the Confessor. Then followed the movement of the See to Thetford, six years after the Con- quest, and soon afterwards to Norwich. Dunwich has long since dis- appeared beneath the sea. See Thomas de Elmham, p. 167. - Freeman, Norman Conquest^ i. 36. 48 I'LAXTIXG OF THE CHURCH IN [. hai-. iv. become Christian. He was also uitliout doubt influenced by Oswald, the Bretwalda, kini^ of the Xortlunubrians, who was then in his territories seekini? his daii'ditcr in niarriaire. He was baptized in the presence of Oswald, and the people, as they universally did, following in great numbers the example of their king, Lirinus was able to see speedy fruit of his labours (G35). Cynegilsus, with the consent of Oswald, gave him the city of Dorchester in whicli to estab- lish his See, and ]\v\v, hv built a cliiirch and ended his days/ 3. In the year G43 (or G42'") Coinwalch or Kenwealh succeeded to the kinirdom of the West Saxons. He soon began to take steps for abandoning Dorchester, j)robably as being too near the borders of the Mercian kingted those of Rome.^ The ultimate effect of the meetiii,i; at Whitby was to settle for the whole Church of England a conformity to the Church of Konie, and thus to pave the way for the w^ork of the great prelate who was soon to succeed, and whose mission it was to constitute the churches of the various kingdoms into one great national church — the Church of England. ^ l>e(lc, iii. 26. It shoultl be observed tliat the dooision anivi'd at at "Whitby was the act of an iiulepeinU'iit National Synoil, ami in no way dittated or even inlhienfed from Rome. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. (A) THE KAKLY MONASTERIES OF ENGLAND. Houses for " common life," gnided more or less by "rules," may be regarded as having l)een an absolute necessity for the estab- lishment of Christianity among wild and unsettled races. Thus the earlier C'liristiaiiity, both of the British and English tyi>e, led to the founding of monasteries. Of the more famous British monasteries, the oldest (according to William of Malmesbury) was Glastonbury, the traditions about which have been mentioned (Chap. I.) The next most famous was perhaps Bangor, in North Wales. Bangor (high circle) is a name belonging to several monasteries (Bright, E. E. Ch. Hist., 29). Tlie North Welsh Bangor is said to have numbered 2000 monks. Some writers say that Pelagius was a monk of this establishment. In Northumbria, when Aidan came from St. Coluraba's House of Hy, he founded Lindisfarue (635). After I the battle of Wingficld (GGf)), six j religious houses were founded in I Bernicia, six in Deira. Gillmg, the I original of Tynemouth, was founded I in expiation of the munler of Oswin ' (651). Hihla, who foun.led Whitby in 657, had been i»reviously abbess of a small nunnery near llaitle- pool. At Medcshanistede (after- wards Peterboro') the first religious house of central England was formded (656). Of the earlier religious houses springing from Romano-English sources we must of course put first the two Canter- bury monasteries, those of Christ Church and St. Peter and St. Paul (St. Augustine's), which may be assigned to the end of the sixth century. Afterwards, as each king- dom and district received the gospel, a religious house commenced its existence at the central spot, the See or Seat of the Bishop. Thus Dorchester and Winchester began, and Selsey was founded by Wilfrid, who had already founded many religious houses in the north. Of CHAP. IV.] NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 55 religious houses which were not j ^^^ ^HE MONK C.EDMON. Cathedral centres, one of the earliest ^ ' v^^^x^^iv-x^. and most famous was Croyland, Caedmon was a cow-herd attached among the Lincolnshire Fens, which to Whitby monastery, noted for his owed its origin to the hermit stupidity, and for not being able to Guthlac, about the end of the ; sing at the beer- parties of his com- seventh century, and Evesham, founded by Bishop Egwin about the same time. Bardney, in Lincoln- shire, was also a very early Mercian house. The earlier monasteries were governed by a much less elaborate rule than that of St. Benedict, which only slowly found its way into Englaml, and the rule of one house ditlered in many ways from that of another. See Article " ^lonasteries," Dictionary of Chris- tian Antiquities. (B) THE ABBESS HILDA. Hilda was the grand-niece of King Eadwin, the first Christian king of Northunibria. She was baptized at York by Paulinus at the age of thirteen, and desired to join her sister Hereswid in a Frankish con- vent, but was recalled by the sum- mons of Bishop Aidan. Slie was for one year a nun in a small cell on the north of the Wear, then abl)ess at Hartlepool, then foundress rades. One night he had retired in melancholy from a merry meeting, and lay down in a cattle-shed, where he had a dream that some one bade him sing of the creation, and lines seemed to be suggested to him in his dream, which in the morning he was able to remember. On this being told to the abbess Hilda, she caused a portion of Scripture to be read to him, and bade him turn it into poetry. He did so. His "gift" was admitted, and he be- came a monk. Many a poem did he afterwards indite on sacred sub- jects. He was the first poetry- writer in the English tongue, and thus the "father" of English poetry. "We are indebted to Bede for a general description of Ca-dnion's poems. He put into verse, among many other things, the books of Genesis and Exodus. In the New Testament he sang the chief incidents in our Lord's life, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the teaching of the Apostles. On the terrors of the coming judgment, the pains of hell, and abbess of Whitby. She was ' and the blessedness of heaven, he a woman of great power as well as | wrote numerous poems, and many of great devotion. Her house con- 1 on the goodness and visitations of sisted of monks as well as nuns, living in separate establishments. No le.ss than five of her monks reached the episcopal dignity. The ! ous visitant place chosen by her for her convent | inspiration Providence. Bede gives us a trans- lated fragment of the poem that the new-made poet sang to the mysteri- who first awoke his King Alfred, in his was called Strcnajshalch, the *' bay I version of Bede, gives the words in of the lighthouse. " It was founded i the vernacular, and it is probable about 657, and at once attained a high reputation for sanctity and learning. Hilda died in 680, and was succeeded at Whitby by the princess - nun Elfled, Avho had been devoted by her father Oswy to the monastic life just after the great victory of Wingfield. that the king is quoting Caedmon s own words. These words have been used as a test applied to other alleged poems of Ctedmon, but the genuineness of these is still doubt- fxil,"_See Article "Credmon" Dr. Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography. 56 PRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE, [chap, v, CHAPTER V. PRIMACY OF ARCrTBISHOr THEODORE. 668-709. 1. Wif^liard sent to Rome for consecration as archbishop, 2. Wighard (lying, Tlieodore is consecrated in his stead. 3. Tlieodore visits the English Church. 4. The Council of Hertford, 673. 5. Theodore's absolute power. 6. E.xtirpation of the Britisli "Uses." 7. Tlieo- dore divides the Northumbrian diocese. 8. The Mercian diocese divided into five. 9. The Council of Hatfield. 10. Cuthbert made liishop of Lindisfanie. 11. Death and character of Tlieodore. 12. Earlier work of Wilfrid as bishop. 13. He appeals to Koine against Ecfrid and Theodore. 14. The decision of Rome reinidiated in England — Wilfrid iini»risoned. 15. Wilfrid converts the South Saxons. 16. Rejtlaccd in York — again banished — Bishop of Leices- ter. 17. Synod of Easterfield — Wilfrid ajijieals to Rome. 18. Coni- jtromise made at the Synod of the Nidtl. 19. Wilfrid's death and character. 20. Commencement of the /Vtroc/nV// ,S7/.s7')«. 21. Relations between State and Church. 22. Protection of the Clinrch by the State Laws of Ina and Wihtred. 23. Attempt to jiersuade Hritish Churches to abandon their uses. 24. Adhelni, first Bishop of Sherborne. 25. The missionaries Willibrord and B06 During the four years' vacancy of the See, it was administered, says Thomas de Elmham, by Bishop Wilfrid.-P. 193. Bnt this does not appear compatible with the chronology of Wilfrid's life. 3 That the English kings requested the Pope to do this, and that he did not do it independently of them, appears plainly from Vitalian s letter to Oswy.— Bede, iii. 29. See Bright, 216. 58 PRLMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE. [cnAr. v. tt'Tu} Theodore was consecrated March 26, GG8, and about two montlis afterwards was sent towards England,- the abbot Adrian being ai)pointed to accompany him, both as being acquainted with Western customs, and also to take care that Theodore " should not, according to the custom of the Greeks, introduce anything contrary to the faith into the church where he presided." ' The prelate thus chosen in somewhat of a haphazard fashion, and without any pre- vious knowledge on the part of the P<)i)e, proved a most valuable and efficient director for the Euglisli Church. 3. His first care was to visit all the island wherever the nation of the Angles inhabited. He was, says the historian, everywhere most willingly entertained and heard by all persons, being accompanied and assisted by the abbot Adrian. Both of them dispensed freely the stores of their learning, having many disciples whom they instructed both in sacred and i)rofane literature. Theodore was every- where obeyed as the archbishop of the whole land. The times were happy and peaceful.* All men were intent upon learning the doctrines of the faith, and improving their manner of worship. Sacred music was now generally taught and practised. Theodore appointed l)ishops where he saw them to be most needed, and among others he re- consecrated Chad, who was removed from the See of York and made bishop of Lichfield, as has been already said.'^ 4. In the year G7n died Oswy the Bretwalda, king of the Northumbrians, and was succeeded by Ecgfrid, his son. With Oswy the ascendency of the Northumbrian kingdom expired, and Mercia now rises into pre-eminence. But it was not within the kingdom of Mercia, but at Hertford in 1 Bedo, iv. 1. - Bede in this place and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle pnt Theodore's arrival in Enghind in the year G6S, but in the next chapter Bcde says that he anived in his see the second year after liis consecration. He was detained in France from various causes. King Egbert sent his reeve Redfrid to bring him into England. He arrived and was installed at Canterbury the second Sunday after Pentecost, May 27, 669. See Bright, pp. 222-3. » Bede, ib. ■* Ecclesia mirijici Sabhatizavit, says Thomas de Elmham, p. 206. 5 Bede, iv. 2. 668-709.] TRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE. 59 the dominions of the East Saxons ^ that Theodore assem- bled his first council (G73). At this were present Theo- dore, the archbishop ; Bisi, bishop of the East Angles ; Pulta, bishop of Rochester ; Leutherius, bishop of the West Saxons ; Winfrid, bishop of the Mercians ; and (by his proxies) Wilfrid, bishop of the Northumbrians. The Archbishop first exhorted those present to receive all things that had been canonically decreed by the Church, and they agreed to do so. Theodore then produced a Book of Canons. I. The first of these ordained that all should keep Easter on the same day, namely the Sunday after the 14th of the first month. II. That no bishop should in- trude into the diocese of another. III. That no bishop should trouble monasteries or take anything forcibly from them. IV. That monks should remain in the monastery where they have been professed. V. That priests sliould not wander from one diocese to another, nor be received with- out letters of recommendation. YI. That bishops and clergy, when travelling, should be content with the hospi- tality aftbrded them, and not exercise clerical functions without leave of the bishop where they were. YII. That a synod be held every year in July at Clovesho. VIII. That bishops should take rank according to the time and order of their consecration. IX. That additional bishops be ap- pointed as the number of the faithful increases — no detailed proposals at present. X. That marriages be not made with those of near kindred ; that divorce be only allowed for adultery; that the divorced person do not marry again. These canons were all accepted and subscribed by those present, and thus the foundation of the discipline of the English Church was laid.^ 5. Theodore, by virtue of the deference and respect everywhere paid to him, was able to act altogether as an English pope. Soon after this Synod he deposed Winfrid, bishop of the Mercians, for " some disobedience," and in his place consecrated Saxulf He also consecrated Earcon- wald to be bishop of the City of London, who obtained a ^ On tlie borders of Mercia and Essex. - Bede, iv. 5 ; Tkomas de Elmham, 238 ; Haddan and Stubbs, iii. lis, sq. GO TRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE, [.hap. v. high reputation for sanctity. Monasteries were now every- where springing up in the land. Earconwald before his consecration had founded a religious house of men at Chertsey, and one for women at Barking. Saxulf had been the first abbot of IMedeshampstede, afterwards ])etter known as Peterborough. In the north Lindisfarne and Whitby were already famous. In the south 8t. Augus- tine's at Canterbury, and the British founded Glastonbury. The earlier condition of the Church, before the introduction of the parochial system, was altogctlier monastic, a certain proportion of monasteries being as necessary to the exist- ence of tlie Church in a diocese, as the bishop liimself. G. Under the vigorous administration of Archbishop Theodore that complete subjection of the English customs to those of Ivome, which liad been determined on at Whitby, was now carried out. The national uses had no powerful supporter, and were everywhere obliged to yield. Accord- ing to the Penitential of Theodore, the bishops who had been consecrated by the Scots or Britons were not to be admitted to the offices of their function without the impo- sition of the hands of a Catliolic bishop ; chrism and the holy eucharist were itcrmitted only to those who made profession of reuniting themselves to the Church, and those who doubted of their ])aptism were to be rebaptized.* Theodore also introduced that potent instrument of clerical power — the i)ractice of auricular confession — which was unknown in the Church of England before his time."* 7. One of Archbishop Theodore's chief works was the creation and constitution of new Sees, a pressing need, as the Church in England began to expand and grow. The principle of subdivision of Sees had been affirmed by the Council of Hertford, but Theodore carried it out in a high-handed and autocratic manner which caused much heart-burning, and which brought him into collision with Wilfrid, the famous bishop of York, whose settlement in that See by Theodore's act has been already mentioned. The history of Wilfrid will be brought into a connected ^ Theodori Penitent., "De Communione Scottorum." — Thorpe's Ancient Laws, p. 307 ; Haddaii and Stubbs, iii. 197. ' Eghcrti Dialogus — Ecclcs. Instit. — Thorpe's Ancient Laws. 668-709.] PRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE. Gl form subsequently ; it is sufficient here to say that about the year 678, Theodore, without any consultation with him, consecrated three new bishops to act with Wilfrid in his diocese,^ and upon his appeal to Eome against the arrangement, appointed one of these to occupy his See of York. Three years afterwards he subdivided the diocese again ; made Eata bishop of Lindisfarne, Trumbercht of Hexham, and Trumwine of the Southern Picts, who had been subjected by the Northumbrian king, establishing his See at Abercorn. 8. A more important subdivision even than this Avas that which was made by Theodore of the great Mercian diocese, the See of which was at Lichfield. In the year (probably) 679, a partition of this was effected by Theodore into five dioceses, with the consent of a Mercian Witena- gemot, viz. Lindsey, Leicester, Lichfield, Worcester, and Hereford.' The northern of these dioceses, that of Lindsey, a district which had been conquered and reconquered by the kings of Northumbria and Mercia, had its See at a place called by the chroniclers Siddena or Siddena Castra, which may be almost certainly identified as the modern Stow.^ Leicester was a convenient centre for the Mid- Angles. At Lichfield Saxulf was already established, and retained his See. Worcester was the capital of the sub- kingdom of the Hwiccians, and its king, Oshere, was anxious for a bishop. At Hereford, Putta, who had been obliged to quit Rochester, was established. Thus, without any difficulty or opposition, the one huge diocese fell naturally into five, and a great accession of strength was brought to the English Church. ^ Lindsey was just at that period under Northumbria. Tlie three bishops were therefore Eata and Bosa for Lindisfarne, and Eathed for Lindsey. In a very short time Lindsey was reconquered by Mercia, and Eathed retired to Ripon, not, however, to act as bishop, 2 Florence of Worcester makes Dorchester the fifth, but Dorchester was not now in Mercia. It was a part of the See of Winchester. It is probable that Bede speaks by mistake of jEtla, a bishop of Dorchester, for Heddi of Winchester, and that Florence was misled by this. See Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 128, sq. 3 The earliest mention of the Syddensis civitas as the seat of the Lindsey bishopric is at the Council of Clovesho, a.d. 803. — Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 547. C2 TRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOr THEODORE, [chap. v. 9. Furnished now with a respectable number of suffra- gans, Arclibishop Theodore was able to hold a synod which should make its voice heard and respected by the whole Church. Under him tlie Church of England could meet, not simply to regulate its own internal discii>line, but to ])ronounce an opinion on matters of general concernment. Tliis was the period when one of the forms of heresy which sprang out of the great controversy on the nature of the incarnation was agitating the Church, and ^lonotheletism, the last wave of Eutychianism, was gaining many adherents. In the same year that the third Council of Constantinopli' was held, which condemned this heresy (G80), there was held at Hatfield, under Archbishop Tlieodore, a Synod, which in like manner repudiated it, and which also for- mally declared the acceptance of the Church of England of the five General Councils, their canons and decrees, and that the Church of England believed as they believed, and anathematised those whom they anathematised.^ 10. In the year G85 we find Archbishop Theodore again exercising his autocratic authority by tlic deposition of Trumbercht from the See of Hexham. In the sanu' year a Synod was held at Twyford or Alnmouth, at which the Archbishop presided. It was agreed that the See of Hexham should be filled by the appointment of Cuthbert, who had been prior of Melrose, then of Lindisfarne, and now retired to live as a recluse on the little island of Farne.^ He shrank from the responsibility of the episcojjate, but at length yielded, becoming bishop of Lindisfarne, while Plata Avas translated to Hexham. Cuthbert's holiness and devo- tion to his work made him a great power for good in the Northumbrian Church. When his end drew near, he retired again to his hermitage on Fame, where he died.' 11. The bitter quarrel which arose between Theodore and Wilfrid out of the subdivision of the northern dioceses, did not, happily, prevent their reconciliation before the death of Theodore. This took place September 19, 690. 1 Bede, iv. 17. The canons of the Lateran Council of 649, which liad been brought to England by John the Precentor, were adopted by the Hatfield Council It also accepted the doctrines of the " double Procession" of the Holy Spirit. See Bright, p. 319, - Bede, iv. 27, 28. ^ March 20, 687. 668-709.] PRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE. 63 Theodore was eighty-eight years of age, and had governed the Church of EngLand for twenty-two years. By his great powers as an administrator, his strong character and deter- mined will, his learning and high qualities, he had conferred infinite benefits on the English Church. He had organised dioceses throughout the land, had effected the commence- ment at least of the parochial system,^ had restrained the violence of kings, and had strengthened in every way the influence for good. He was autocratic in his proceedings, and had no doubt angered many, but a strong ruler was greatly needed for the Church in the weak and disorganised state in which he found it, and such an one the providence of God gave to the English Church in him. He was buried at Canterbury, within the church of the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul, the northern porch, in which his predecessors lay, being already full. 12. It is now the place to bring together the main facts in the interesting history of Wilfrid, who was con- temporary with Theodore, and brought into some unpleasant relations with him. It has been already said that he took a prominent part in the conference of Whitby, and was afterwards nominated to the See of York. He thought fit to go into France for consecration, the English primate (Deusdedit) being dead, and most of the other bishops being (in Wilfrid's eyes) uncanonical through their Scotic consecration.^ In France he obtained a magnificent conse- cration, but he remained so long in that country that another was put into his place at York. This, however, was remedied by Archbishop Theodore, and Wilfrid entered upon his Diocese of Y^'ork (G69). During the time that he had been kept out of his See, Wilfrid, whose energy was immense, had been usefully employed in Mercia, which for the moment was without a bishop. On succeeding to Y^ork, he gave himself with great vigour to his work. He found his church at Y^ork dilapidated, and repaired and beautified it ; he built a grand church at Papon, another at Hexham; he diligently laboured to improve 1 Bright, 362. 2 The only one whom Wilfrid would hold to be absolutely unob- jectionable was Boniface, bishop of Dunwich. 6-1 TRDIACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE, [chap. v. the divine service, setting Eddi^ and (Eona to teach the way of responsive song, according to tlie custom of the primitive Church. Everywhere throughout his diocese he went teaching, confirming, and ordaining. 13. But Wilfrid's bohl and energetic si)irit soon em- broiled him with Ecfrid, king of Northumbria. Ecfrid's queen, Etheldreda, whom he tenderly loved, was en- couraged by Wilfrid to devote herself to a monastic life, and in spite of her husband's opposition received the veil from the hands of Wilfrid. The queen who succeeded her was bitterly hostile to Wilfrid. He was banished the court; and when in 078 Archbishop Theodore, at Ecfrid's invitation, visited Northumbria, he altogether sided with the king as against the l)ishop. Then was made that par- tition of Wilfrid's diocese, without any consultation with him, of which mention has been made ; and A\'ilfrid, indig- nant, appealed to liome, and determined to set oil at once to prosecute his cause. On his way he was driven by stress of weather to the coast of Friesland, and landing there he zealously laboured at the conversion of the heathen inhabitants. Leaving Friesland, Wilfrid j(»urneyed on through France, escaping by the way i>lots arranged against his liberty, and reached Home about the middle of the year G79. A preliminary council was held after his arrival to consider generally the state of the English Church.- It was then determined that his case should be. specially inquired into, and a Synod of fifty bishops was summoned to try it, in the church of the Lateran. The decision arrived at was that Wilfrid had been dealt with unfairly, that he must be replaced in his diocese, and that any divi- sion of it must be made by him with the consent of a council at York. But at the same time it was declared that Theodore's division of dioceses was right in principle ; that each English kingdom was to have its bishops, and that the number for the whole country should be twelve.'' 1 Eddius or Eddi wrote tlie life of the Lisliop, in a strain of the highest laudation. - Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 131. 3 Johnson, English Canons, i. 102-104 ; Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 136 ; Bright, 295. Mr. Johnson holds that the decision was substan- tially in favour of Theodore ; Professor Bright, on the contrary, that it was in favoiu- of Wilfrid. 068-709.] PUIMACY OF ARCHBISHOr THEODORE. 65 The Archbishop was thus encouraged to proceed in his work of increasing the episcopate, and soon after this followed the subdivision of Mercia, and the further sub- division of Lindisfarne. It does not appear that the Koman decision in favour of Wilfrid (if it is to be considered such) in any way benefited him, or changed the state of affairs. Wilfrid remained at Rome, when it would seem that he ouiiht at once to have returned to endeavour to amend the matters in which he considered himself aggrieved. He took part in the large Synod held at Kome in 680, on the subject of the Monothelite heresy, when he should rather have been present at Hatfield ; and then at length he found himself once more in Northumbria. 14. In the Witan which he attended after his return he exhibited the document obtained at Rome, which con- tained the favourable provisions ; but it was received with contempt, and declared to have been obtained by corrupt influences. So great indeed was the anger excited in the English king and his councillors against this first appealer to liome, that he was thrown into prison, and immersed in a dark dungeon in the midst of the rigours of winter After a nine months' imprisonment he was liberated, and he then retired into Mercia. Here, however, finding the influence of the Northumbrian khig and queen, and the archbishop, too strong against him, he could not remain. He passed into Wessex, and from thence, still persecuted, he made his way into the territory of the South Saxons, the only kingdom of England which was as yet entirely heathen, with the exception of its king and queen.^ 15. Edilwalch, the king of this country, had been bap- tized in Mercia ; and Ebba, the queen, was a Christian princess of the Hwiccian race, so that the opportunity was very favourable for the conversion of the people. Wilfrid was eloquent and zealous ; and it is said by Bede that his exhortations were greatly helped by the fact that a long 1 For all the preceding portion of Wilfrid's history after his appeal to Rome we are dependent on Eddius. Bede merely says in one place that " he went to Rome, and returned to Britain " (iv. 13). In another, that " he was acquitted of what had been laid to his charge, and de- clared worthy of his bishopric " (y. 1 9). See Article ' ' Eddius, " Diction- ary of Christian Biography. 66 PKIMACY OF AKCHBISHOP THEODORK. [.hap. v. (liuiiglit, wliich liad produced a t(Tril)le famine, ceased coiiicideiitly with liis ministrations ; and that he instructed the people in the art of fishing in tlie sea, they liaving l)een before contented to grope after eels in the rivers. Wilfrid establislied himself at Selse)^ where he built a monastery (081). There he remained for five years,^ until the death of Ecfrid enabled him to return to Northund»ria. On Wilfrid's return to the north, and after the conquest f>f the Soutli Saxon kingdom by Wessex, the Chri^^tians of the southern kingdom were placed under the bisho}) of Win- chester. The conversion of the inhabitants of tlie Isle of Wight, which then belonged to the South Saxon kingdom, soon followed; and "thus," says Bede, "after all the pro- vinces of the island of Britain had embraced the faith (tf Christ, the Isle of Wiirht also received the same."" IG. AVlien AVilfrid returned to Northumbria (C8G), of which Alfrid was now king, he found the See of Hexham vacant by the recent death of Eata. To this he succeeded as administrator ; but he was not inclined to be contented with anything else than his own old See of York. Bosa, the occui)ant of this, was by some means induced to retire, and AVilfrid was again bishoj) of York. But the Roman decree was not carried out. Cuthbert remained bishop of Lindis- farne, and at his death a successor was a[)pointed to his See, and Wilfrid was content to accept the reduced See as it had been settled l)y Theodore.' It appears, however, that this contentment was not of long duration. On the proposal to erect a sei)arate See at Kipon,* Wilfrid revived his claims to the whole province of Northumbria. For doing this he was banished by the king and Witan of Northumbria, and retiring into ^lercia, was entrusted with the See of Leicester, then vacant by the death of Cuthwin (G91). ^ The See of Selscy, the original of Chichester, was not cstaUished till 709. - IJeile, iv. 13. ^ Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 171. Abcrcorn had been reconquered by the Picts. ^ The monastery of Eipon had been governed by a bishop (Eathed, expelled from Lindsey, and then by AVilfrid), but it was not a See separate from York. 668-709.] niLAlACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE. 67 17. Here lie remained for sometime; but about the beginning of the eighth century a movement arose as to reconsidering his case. A council was held at Easterfield, a place situated somewhere in Yorkshire (702), under the presidency of Bertwakl, Archbishop of Canterbury. At this Wilfrid was summoned to appear, and he came attended by many of his abbots. He was asked whether he would submit to the regulations of Theodore, i.e. to the subdivision of the Northumbrian diocese, against which he had appealed to Rome. He refused, and again appealed to Home. The king and the council were much exasperated. It was decreed that Wilfrid should be deposed from the episcopal dignity. Once more he appealed to Rome, and set out in company with Acca to lay his cause before the Pope. The archbishop forwarded the charges made against him. A Synod met to consider the matter, but an obscure and temporising decision only was arrived at. It is evi- dent that the Roman Curia feared to put itself in direct opposition to the sentence of the English Church. Wilfrid slowly returned to his country, weary and broken-spirited. 18. At another council, held somewhere on the river Nidd (706), a compromise was agreed upon. Wilfrid was to return to a Northumbrian See, but not to York. He was to have the See of Hexham and the minster of Ripon, recovering, however, his domains and monasteries. His Roman appeals had not much availed him. " In fact," says Professor Bright, " the second compromise was less favour- able than the first." ^ But Wilfrid was now broken in health, and weighed down by old age, and he must needs submit. 19. After a short time spent in his northern diocese, he undertook another visit to Mercia, where . he had founded many religious houses ; and at length in the minster of St. Andrew, at Oundle, he died (70 9).^ Thus passed away the most energetic and remarkable of the early English Churchmen — a man of wonderful activity, great resources, conspicuous talents ; but a lover of pomp and show, and power and rank ; a man to whom it was almost impossible to occupy a subordinate position, and for whom ^ Early English Church History, p. 415. ^ Bede, v. 20. 68 PRIMACY OF ARCHBISHOP THEODORE, [riivr. v. troubles must need arise when brought into collision "svith the stern discipline of Archbishop Theodore, and the stron. He.xham (Eata) I'i. Sidnacester (Eiidhed' 14. Worcester (Bosel) . ir*. Leicester (Cuthwin) IG. Selsey (Wilfrid) . 17. Sherborne (Aldhelm) — Bright's Kuril/ EnijUsh C US, f.O. 1 Not permanently tstablishod A.O. ■) . .^.iir . GOl . GUI . G2r. . G.n . G:5.'. . G:;.'. . GGJ . 6r)G . G7:? . 67G . G78 . G78 . ♦;so . (ISO . 'G81 . 70.') 7/. IIi.s(. till TOO. 734-S03.] PERIOD OF THE THREE METROPOLITANS. CHAPTER VI. THE PERIOD OF THE THREE METROPOLITANS. 734-803. 1 . Egbert, first Arclibishop of York. 2. Boniface censures the state of morals in England. 3. Exhorts Archbishop Cuthbert to hold a Council. 4. The Council of Clovesho (747). 5. Low state of morality in the country. 6. King Olfa procures the erection of Lichfield into a Metropolitan See. 7. The Constitutions of Chelsea. 8. Archbishop Ethclheard. 9. Alcuin. 10. Alcuin writes against the Decrees of the second Nicene Council. 11. His Letters to Clergy in England. 12. The Council of Frankfort. 13. Ethelheard driven from Kent. 14. King Keiiulf desires to restore the lost Dio- ceses to Canterbury. 15. Ethelheard visits Rome. 16. Pope Leo agrees to withdraw the Metropolitan power from Lichfield. 17. Council of Clovesho (803) finally decides against the Metropolitan claims of Lichfield. 1. The counsel offered by the venerable Bede to Egbert, Hisliop of York, that, with a view to the greater efficiency of discipline and the advancement of the Church, he should assume the dignity originally granted to the See of York by Gregory, and demand the pall of a Metropolitan, no doubt concurred with the wishes of that prelate on the matter. Either immediately after the letter was written — if not before it was finished ' — Egbert became Metropoli- tan and Archbishop of York. Paulinus had occupied this position a century previously ; but from the long interval which had intervened when York was merely an ordinary See, Egbert may be regarded as the first Archbishop of York, and first Metropolitan of the North. In the following year (735) Nothelm, a priest of London, not belonging to a ^ See Haddan and Stnbbs, iii. 326. The date of liis receiving the pall was probably before Ills consecration of Bishop Frithbert to Hexham, wliich took place September 8, 734. The letter was written some time in 734. See Art. " Egbert," Dictionary of Christian Biocjraiohy. 7G PERIOD OF THE THREE METROPOLITANS. [. ii.U'. vr. monastic order, was consecrated Arclibishop of Canterbury in succession to Tatwin. Botli the new Metropolitans, im- mediately on receiving the pall from Pope Gregory III., consecrated suftVagan bishops — Egbert to the sees of Hexham and Withern ; Nothelni to those of Hereford, Elmham, and Sherborne.' In 740, Archbishop Nothelni died, and was succeeded by CutlilxTt, bishop of Hereford, sprung from a noble English family. 2. But the most inthiential prelate at this time in England was one who did not occupy a diocese within the limits of the island, but in a foreign country, where, as has been seen, he had gained signal success by his intrepidity and devotion. Boniface, mindful of his English origin, and of the Church of his l)aptism, strove earnestly to abate the scandals whicli weie becoming painfully prevalent in Eng- land. The testimony of Bede as to the demoralisation spreading in the monasteries is unhappily confirmed by a letter which the Archlushop of Mentz and five other Ger- man bishops aresent.* The records of the Council of Frankfort are extremely interesting, as it was, in fact, the first movement of the Western Clnirch to assert its independence of the East. The vast power of Charlemagne, the* control which he exercised over the Pope, the earnestness with which he had adopted the views advocated by Alcuin, availed to make nearly three hundred prelates, including deputies from Eome, 1 Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 470. = lb., iii. 472. =* lb., iii. 474. ^ lb., iii. 481. 734-803.] PERIOD OF THE THREE METROPOLITAKS. 85 set themselves in complete opposition to the arrangement lately sanctioned both by Constantinople and by Rome as to image-worship. By the action of this Council, which the Pope afterwards sanctioned, the Roman See was withdrawn from the danger of falling into a position subordinate to that of Constantinople. The Church of the West was, as it were, founded. The Roman Bishop, whose power was growing less and less, received a sudden and enormous accession of influence, though at the cost of his own con- sistency, as he now repudiated that which, a little before, he had accepted. When it is considered how important a part Alcuin bore in forming the mind of the emperor, and determining the policy which brought about the Council of Frankfort, and thus gave strength and vigour to the AYestern Church, it must be admitted that the English Church has had no small share in colouring the religious history of Christendom. 13. The acquiescence of Ethelheard in the diminution of the authority of tlie See of Canterbury made him a very unpopular archbishop in Kent. About the year 796, an attempt was made by Eadbert Proen ^ and the Kentish nobles to shake off the yoke of Mercia ; and the archbishop, a Mercian, and a partisan of Offa's rule, was made the subject of attacks, so that he fled away from his See, and sought a refuge Avith the Mercian king.^ The powerful Offa died about the time that these troubles began, but his successor, Kenulf, was after a time able to reduce Kent to ol)cdience, and to restore Ethelheard to his See.^ For his desertion of his post, Ethelheard is somewhat severely taken to task in a letter addressed to him by Alcuin, where he is recommended to do penance for this lapse. At the same time, Alcuin speaks of it as most desirable that the dignity of the See of Canterbury should be restored, and the schism healed, not taking from Arch- 1 He was an apostate priest. He held the chief power for about three years. - Haddaii and Stiibbs, iii. 495, 510. ^ Egfrid, who had been made king in his father's hfetime, but died before him, was desirous to do this had not death prevented him.— Thomas de Ehnham, p. 336. 86 PERIOD OF THE THREE METROPOLITANS, [chap. yi. bishop Higbert his position of Metropolitan so long as he lived, but preparing that at his death things should return to their old arrangement.^ 14. Of the same mind in this matter was Kenulf, the new king of Mercia. He saw that the opposition developed against Ethelheard in Kent was a difficulty in the way of upholding his authority, and that he obtained no sub- stantial benefit from the metropolitan position of Lichfield. He therefore Avrote to Pope Leo, magnifying the dignity of the See of Canterbury, and adding, " The honour of this dignity. King Offa, on account of the ill-will which he entertained towards Jaenbert, the archbishop, and the Kentish people, first strove to impair by dividing Canter- bury into two provinces, a proceeding which your pre- decessor, Adrian, confirmed, honouring the bishop of the Mercians with a pall. We would desire your Holiness to consider whether this be not a rending of the coat of Christ, and whether it would not be well to restore the former unity. "^ The Pope answers that "the establishment of the position of Lichfield had been done at the desire of King Offa, and of all his nobles, on account of the large size of his dominions, and for many other good causes."^ He does not say anything definite as to restoring the jurisdiction to Canterbury, but he reminds Kenulf, signifi- cantly, that Offa had promised very large gifts to the See of St. Peter. 15. As matters did not progress very rapidly. Arch- bishop Ethelheard determined on a visit to Eome. He had first held a conference with Eanbald, Archbishop of York, and had ascertained, probably, that no opposition would be offered by him to the return to the old state of things. There is a letter from Alcuin to Ethelheard touching this journey, in which, as in all his letters, he speaks severely of the ostentation and luxury of the English clergy, and trusts that they will not exhibit these in foreign lands to the scandal of the Church. He also promises Ethelheard his horse with a saddle suitable to an 1 Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 518. ' Willelm. Malmesb., De. Gcst. iZery.— Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 522. 3 Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 524. 73i-803.] PERIOD OF THE THREE ilETROPOLITAXS. 87 ecclesiastical rider. Alcuin also wrote to the Emperor Charles to recommend the archbishop to his protection.^ 16. The journey of Ethelheard appears to liave been efficacious, as in the year following that in whicli it was undertaken, the Pope addresses to him a letter giviii"- to him and his successors the authority " over all the churches of the English, as it had been in old times,"" and threaten- ing with deposition any who refused to concede this authority to him. By another letter to King Kenulf, the Pope informs him of what he has done, and declares that he has fully restored to him the jurisdiction wliich had been taken from his See.'' 17. Leo had thus undone that which his predecessor Adrian had done by granting the pall to Bishop Higbert. But there remained the fact that the erection of Lichfield into a Metropolitan See was not the act of the Pope, but of the English Council of Chelsea. If, therefore, the arrangement was to be undone, it must be undone also by an English Council. Accordingly, in the year 803, in the " celebrated place" called Clovesho, where so many councils had been held, was assembled a meeting of Archbishop Ethelheard, eleven bishops of the southern province, divers abbots and presbyters, as well as King Kenulf and some of his great men ; and the metropolitan dignity was solemnly taken from Lichfield and restored to Canterbury. The act of the Council recites what had been procured by King Off"a to the great detriment and injury of the See of of St. Augustine, and declares that with the co-operation of Pope Leo, Ethelheard, and all his fellow-bishops, and all the dignitaries there assembled, had determined that an Archiepiscopal See should never be allowed any more in Lichfield, nor in any other place save Canterbury, and that the pall granted by Pope Adrian to Lichfield availed 1 Haddan and Stnbbs, iii. 532, 533. - Ih., iii. 537. No mention is made of York, but it cannot have been intended to change the relations then existing between Canter- bury and York. '^ Willelm. Mahnesb., De Gcst. i^c^/.— Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 539. See Thomas de Elmhani (p. 336), who gives all the credit to Ethelheard. 88 PERIOD OF THE THREE METROPOLITANS, [chap. vi. nothing, inasmuch as it had been obtained by surreptitious means and false rej^resentations.^ Thus did this dispute at length terminate, and Lichfield subsided into its former place of one of the suffragans of the See of Canterbury.^ 1 Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 542. " Arclibisliop Higbert appears to have resigned. He signs one of the Acts of the Council as Hioibeit-Abbas. 803-925.] THE PERIOD OF THE DANISH TROUBLES. 89 CHAPTER VII. THE PERIOD OF THE DANISH TROUBLES. 803-925. 1. Supremacy of Wessex. 2. Orders for Reformation of Monasteries. 3. Remonstrance of English Bishops against the Primate being obliged to go to Rome for the Pall. 4. Quarrel between King Kenulf and Archbishop Wulfred. 5. Council of Chelsea, 816. 6. Stoppage of Church progress through Danish invasions. 7. The Dotations of Ethel wulf. 8. Destruction of Monasteries and Churches by Danes. 9. Mart}Tdom of King Edmund. 10. Ceoluoth introduces Secular Clerks at Canterbury. 11. Settlement of the Danes, and Baptism of their Chief. 12. The Ecclesiastical Laws of King Alfred. 13. The Laws agi-eed upon between him and Guthrun. 14. Alfred's aocount of the English Church in the Preface to Gregory's Pastorale. 15. Other books translated by King Alfred. 16. Tlie learned men patronised by Alfred. 17. The new Bishops — Pope Formosus and Archbishop Plegmund. 18. The Church under Edward the Elder. 19. The Laws of King Athelstan. 1. During the earlier part of the ninth century the supre- macy which had been long enjoyed by Mercia is transferred to Wessex, and Egbert, by a series of brilliant victories over the other English kings, as also over the Britons of Corn- wall and Wales, becomes fully established in the state and honour of the eighth Bretwalda, or supreme governor of the island of Britain. 2. The history of the Church during this period is some- what obscure. No doubt, in the councils which were so constantly held, remedial measures for the evils and scandals of the time were devised, though often, probably, but im- perfectly carried out. In that same Council of Clovesho, which had terminated the metropolitnn state of Lichfield, a remedy was sought to be applied to the crying abuses which, by the acknowledgment of all, prevailed in the monasteries. Secular persons were no longer to be allowed to i)rcside as 90 THE PERIOD OP THE DANISH TROUBLES, [chap. vii. abbots, and the monasteries were all to observe a rule, not, as it appears, a uniform one, but as it is expressed, " such an one as is contained in the privileges granted by the Apostolic See, or was delivered by apostolical men in the beginning of the infant Church in sacred canons, or even such as was appointed by the special possessors of the monasteries." This constitution is signed by 12 bishops, 26 abbots, 41 presbyters, 1 archdeacon, and 4 deacons ; so that from it we may gain a pretty clear idea of the compo- sition of the ecclesiastical council of the time.^ 3. In the year 805 died Ethelheard, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was succeeded by Wulfred, who had been his archdeacon. After his election and consecration, the clergy in synod assembled addressed a letter of remonstrance to Pope Leo on the custom which had been growing up of the English Metropolitans being obliged to go to Eome to solicit the pall from the Poj^e. They point out to him that Augustine, though only a priest when sent to England, was not required to go to Rome for consecration, but to the French bishop of Aries, and that the pall was afterwards sent to him. In like manner, by the directions of St. Gregory, when a Metropolitan died, the other who survived was to consecrate a successor, and Gregory promised that palls should be duly sent, as they had been to Paulinus, consecrated by Justus, and Honorius, consecrated by Paul- inus, as also to the three bishops consecrated by Augustine, who in turn occupied the Metropolitan See of Canterbury, viz. Laurentius, Mellitus, and Justus. They desire that the ancient custom should be preserved, and the English Metropolitans freed from the burden which had been im- posed upon them.^ In consequence of this remonstrance the pall was sent to Wulfred in the following year. 4. By a letter addressed to the Emperor Charles by Pope Leo, in the year 808, we find that the Metropolitans both of Canterbury and York ^ were on bad terms with their respective kings. The Pope solicits the help of the 1 Haddaii and StublDS, iii. 546-7. There are numerous indications that the Benedictine rule was not observed in the English monasteries before the Conquest. '"■ Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 559. ^ /j.^ iii_ 552. 803-925.] THE PERIOD OF THE DANISH TROUBLES. 91 Emperor to heal the quarrel ; but, in the case at least of the southern Metropolitan, it was not healed, hut went on increasing, until at length it culminated in one of the strangest and most obscure episodes in our early Church history, viz. the infliction of a six years' interdict on the southern province. The learned editors of the Councils of Great Britain think that the origin of the quarrel may be traced " to a similar series of circumstances to that which caused the establishment of the archbishopric of Lichfield — the jealousy felt by the Mercian king towards the Kentish Primate, which arose after the deaths of Ethelheard and Cuthred, and was probably intensified by the dislike of the friendship of the archbishop with the emperor." ^ King Kenulf seized upon the Kentish monasteries of South ^linster and Eeculver, which properly belonged to the archbishop, and by representations made at Rome, having gained the Pope to his side, was able to cause the suspension of the archiepiscopal authority, and, it would seem, of all ministerial functions through the land for six years. " The whole nation was deprived of the benefits of primordial authority, and of the ministry of holy baptism, for six years." ^ About midway in this period there was held a council in London, when King Kenulf met the archbishop and offered to be reconciled to him, to set him right with the Pope, and, it would seem, to restore the monasteries which he had seized, if he would give to him a town of his (called Leogenerhamme) and the sum of 120 pounds of denarii. Should the king fail in his conditions, the money to be restored. On the other hand, if the archbishop did not consent, he was threatened with perpetual exile, and the loss of all his goods. Wulfred was very unwilUng to 1 Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 587. Yet it is remarkable that Kenulf was the person who moved in the matter of doing away the arch- bishopric of Lichfield. - Canterhury Cartulary; Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 602. "It is difficult," say the editors of the Councils, "to believe that so strange and unprecedented an event as a virtual' interdict should have taken place unmentioned by any of our annalists ; but the evidence for it depends on an original contemporary Act and ancient version of the same recorded in the Cartularies of Canterbury and Worcester."— H. and S,, iii. 587. 92 THE PERIOD OF THE DANISH TROUBLES, [chap. vii. come to terms, distrusting the king utterly ; but he was over-persuaded by the chief persons of the land, who ear- nestly desired the reconciliation. He yielded, therefore ; but as he had expected, King Kenulf held fast to his monas teries, did not take any steps to remove the interdict, and altogether falsified his promises. The dispute was only terminated by the death of Kenulf in 822, and even then liis daughter Cwendritha, an abbess, continued to hold the archiepiscopal estates until she was finally obliged to give them up by the Council of Clovesho in 825.^ Thus ended this singular quarrel. As to the interdict, it does not seem clear whether it was inflicted by the Pope at the request of Kenulf, or by Kenulf himself with the consent, or at least connivance, of the Pope. The latter, however, appears best to accord with the expressions used in relation to it. 5. Before the quarrel between the king and the arch- bishop had become strongly developed, a council was held at Chelsea, in which the Mercian king, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the southern prelates, were present (816). The canons enacted at this council contain some points worth noting. Canon 2 ordains that all churches, when built, should be consecrated by the bishop with the sprinkling of holy water, and all other ceremonies prescribed in the Book of Ministrations;^ that the Eucharist, with the relics, should be enclosed in a case and preserved in the church, and that there should be a representation (depictum), either on the walls or on the altar, of the saints to whom the church was dedicated. Canon 5 ordains that the Scoti (Scotch or Irish priests) should not be allowed to minister, as their orders were uncertain. Canon 10 enacts that on the death of a bishop the tenth part of his goods should be given in alms to the poor; also, that every Englishman who has been adjudged to slavery to the bishop should be liberated ; that in each church in the diocese 30 psalms should be sung for the soul of the deceased ; that each abbot and head of a religious society should cause 600 psalters^ and 120 masses ^ Hcaddan and Stubbs, iii. 603. - This is a reference to the service for dedication contained in Egbert's Pontifical (ed. for Snrtees Society). ^ Psaltcrios — Mr. Johnson translates Psalms. It is singular to ob- S03-925.] THE PERIOD OF THE DANISH TROUBLES. <^ritioc. — Mem. Dunstan, ap. init. K 130 PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY, [chap. ix. celebrate mass at St, Peter's altar ; and the Pope himself put on him the pall, and the matter of the clerks having been discussed between them, the Pope authorised ^Ifric to turn them out of the monastery, and to " put in men of that order which the blessed Gregory commanded Augus- tine therein to place." The archbishop returned and " occupied the archiepiscopal chair," and then went to Can- terbury, and, with the consent of the king and the people, " drove the clerks out of the monastery, and therein placed monks, all as the Pope had commanded him." ^ Thus the secular canons of Christ Church, who had been introduced by Archbishop Ceolnoth on account of the scarcity of monks, and who had contrived to hold their own through- out the period of Dunstan's influence, were at length ejected in favour of men of the character of the original occupants of Christ Church. Monachism, under Ethelred and JEifric, may be considered to have finally gained the feriumph over the secular clergy. But this new movement lasted only as long as the supremacy of the family of Edgar. The Danish kings who succeeded, as more practi- cal men, founded colleges.^ G. It was during the occupancy by ^Ifric of the See of Canterbury (1002), that the horrors of St. Brice's day were enacted, and the unsuspecting Danes were massacred by the command of Ethelred. He also witnessed the ter- rible miseries brought on the land by the avenging army of Sweyne. It was reserved, however, for one who had already gained the character of a saint by his asceticism and devotion, to illustrate, by a striking example, the yet un- tamed ferocity of the Danes, and the Christian courage which could animate one whose life was devoted to God. Elphege had been taken from a Benedictine monastery to be bishop of Winchester, and though strongly opposed by tlie secular clergy, had yet gained the admiration of all by his devotion and alms-deeds. In 1006, on the death of ^Ifric, he was, with the applause of all the nation, trans- lated to Canterbury,^ Even the troublous times on which ^ Anglo-Saxon Clirou., s,a, 995. 2 Stubbs, Introduction to £);/>. Cant., p, xix. 3 Hook, i, 463. There is a Life of Elphege, by Osbern, printed in Aiiglia Sacra, vol. ii. 988-1042.] PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY. 131 he had fallen could not excuse the new Primate from the journey to Rome for the pall. His first act on his return was to unite with the Archbishop of York in inducing King Ethelred to summon a council. Accordingly, a general assembly of the great men of the kingdom was held at Eynsham, in Oxfordshire, in the year 1007, or somewhat later. At this council, which had the character of a AVitenagemot, both secular and ecclesiastical laws were passed. An earnest religious spirit seems to have per- vaded the assembly. " The bishops, with mutual instruc- tions, exhorted each other in their wholesome discourses to adorn themselves with comeliness of faith, hope, and charity, and of the four principal virtues, viz. prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance ; and they appointed a daily mutual intercession, and faithfully confirmed a league of peace and concord between themselves." ^ 7. The character of the laws enacted at Eynsham is decidedly mild. Monks are exhorted to observe chastity, the wearing of the habit, and to serve God " in the best manner that they can." Priests are to consider that they cannot " lawfully cohabit with a wife." ^ If they will " desist from this," an " addition of worldly honour " is promised them. "They shall be equal to a thane, both as to their weregild, their rights in lifetime, and burial." Churches are declared to be under special protection, and no man can bring a church into servitude, or make mer- chandise of it, or turn out a " church- thane," without the bishop's consent.^ Tithes are to be duly paid, " that is, plough alms, fifteen nights after Easter at farthest ; tithe of young, at Pentecost; and of all fruits of the earth, by All -hallow's mass; and the Kome-fee, by Peter's mass ; and the church-scot, at Martin's mass ; and the light-scot, thrice a year ; and the soul-scot, at the open grave." Feasts and fasts are to be strictly observed ; ^ Johnson, Eng. Can., i. 481. ^ Yet, says the canon, *' Some have two or more, and some, thougli they dismiss her whom they formerly had, afterward take another, the former living." * This limitation of the rights of patrons, preventing them from "makinor merchandise " of their churches, is observable. 132 PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY, [chap. ix. Ember-days and Fridays as fasts ; and Lent made to ex- tend from Scptuagesima till the fifteenth night after Easter. Intermixed with these religious laws are pro- visions for a universal coinage, for the preparation of the fleet, and against desertion from the army, and many earnest exhortations to good living are joined.^ " The circumstances of the country," says Dr. Hook, " rendered the meeting peculiarly solemn." ^ 8. A terrible proof indeed was now to be given of the insecurity which encompassed even the greatest and best of those assembled at Eynsham. The plundering bands of Danes, unchecked by the feeble resistance of the English, marched as they pleased across the land, robbing, burning, and murdering. In 1011 they were before Canterbury. They had threatened the city before, but had been bought off by money. Now they had returned, determined to wring the very last penny from the dignitaries of the metropolitan church. The archbishop, though entreated to fly, refused to do so. He exhorted the citizens to fight like men, and for twenty days they kept the foe at bay. Each soldier, as he went to the ramparts, repaired first to the cathedral, where the Primate was ready to bless and housel him. But on the twentieth day a traitor, said to have been an abbot, enabled the enemy to enter.^ He set fire to a portion of the city, and while the garrison rushed to extinguish it, he opened the gates of the undefended part. Then ensued one of the most terrible scenes ever recorded. The outrage, torture, and murder of women and children were carried on amidst fiendish laughter and mockery. The archbishop appealed to the murderers by their manhood not to make war upon infants. He was seized and carried to see his cathedral in flames, and to witness the devilish sport in which the Danes indulged of cutting down the unfortunate monks and priests as they 1 Johnson's Eng. Canons, i. 482-493. ^ jrchbisJwjys, i. 464. ^ iElfmaer, abbot of Canterbury. It is observable that Osbern in bis Life of Elphege, says nothing of the traitor. As he was a Canter- bury monk, he may have desired to screen his memory. The A.-S. Chronicle says, " yElfmaer betrayed it, whose life the Archbishop iElfeah had before saved." 988-1042.] TEPJOD OF THE DAXISH ASCEXDEXCY. 133 rushed from tlie burning pile. Some Avere spared to be sold as slaves, or ransomed at large sums. Among these latter was the archbishop, whose ransom was fixed at 3000 pieces of silver. The archbishop refused to use the reve- nues of the Church for ransoming himself. He was then bound in chains and carried along with the marauding army when they quitted Canterbury. For seven months he was led about by them, and it is said that during that period he converted many of the Danes to Christianity. At length the patience of his captors was exhausted. They demanded the payment within eight days. The archbishop still resolutely refused. Then, at one of their drunken orgies at Greenwich, the leaders of the army sent for the archbishop, to amuse themselves with threatening and in- sulting him. "Money! money !" they shouted. The Pri- mate with true dignity refused to gratify them, but exhorted them to repentance. Then some one threw an ox bone at the venerable speaker. Amidst a shout of laughter the example was generally followed. Elphege was knocked down wounded and bleeding. A friendly Dane clove his skull with a battle-axe, and ended his sufferings.^ The Danes, struck with somewhat of contrition for the murder, allowed the body of the Primate to be honourably interred at London. It was afterwards brought in state by a Danish king to its final home at Canterbury. 9. The heroic fortitude of Elphege contrasts strongly with the timidity displayed by his successor Lyfing, a monk of Glastonbury, who, in terror of the Danes, fled away from England. These savage invaders were everywhere tri- umphant. Ethelred fled to Normandy, from whence, upon the death of Sweyne, he was recalled by the English AVitan, who declared that "no lord could be dearer to them than their natural lord, if he would rule them better than before." ^ This Ethelred undertook to do. He re- turned, bringing with him the archbishop, and in order to inaugurate an improved administration, held a council at Habam (1014), where certain religious laws were passed. The first of these orders attention to religious duties and 1 A.-S. Chron., s. a. 1012 ; Osbcrn, Fita ct Martyrium S. Elpliegii, Ang. Sac, vol. ii. 134-112. 2 a.-S. Chron. s. a. lOM. 13-1 PERIOD OF THE DAXISH ASCENDENCY, [chap, ix the payment of tithes. The second orders a special fast, with processions, confession of sins, and satisfaction on the three days before the Feast of St. Michael next ensuing. ^ The third charges every congregation to have a mass sung daily for the king, and in convents the inmates are to sing, " with their limbs extended on the earth," the psalm " Lord, how are they increased that trouble me," during the present troubles, and to use the " Collect against the pagans," and to celebrate thirty masses for the king and people, and every monk is to sing thirty psalters. The fifth forbids selling men for slaves. The fourth and seventh reiterate directions as to church-dues and tithes. The eighth gives directions for the office of a judge, forbids bribes, directs care to be taken as to the appointment of deputies, orders the judge to be calm and patient, and no respecter of per- sons.^ 10. The religious preparations thus made for a struggle against the Danes were accompanied by a greater display of valour and conduct than the English had previously shown. The gallant citizens of London again and again foiled the attacks of the enemy, and Edmund Ironside, a true hero, made so determined a stand that Cnut, the Danish king, agreed to divide the land between them. But on St. Andrew's Day (lOlG) King Edmund died, and thus Cnut became ruler of the whole land. It was now to be seen how the Church of England would fare under one who, though he himself had embraced Christianity, never- theless inherited all the savage traditions and ferocious nature of the race from which he sprang. 11. From almost the commencement of the reign of Ethelred (981) down to the accession of Cnut to the whole kingdom (1017) — a period of thirty-six years — England had been harassed, distracted, and convulsed by a constant series of wars, rapines, burnings, and murders. The Primate ^ It is supposed that tins was done in imitation of what had been done in Apulia, where a signal victory was obtained by the Christians over the Northmen, owing, as was believed, to the aid of St. Michael. There was then a feast of St. Michael on May 8, as well as on Sep- tember 29. The former of these days is supposed to be here intended. — Johnson's Eng. Canons, i. 496. ^ Johnson, Encj. Can., i. 495-500. ^88-1042.] PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY. 135 of the Church had been foully slain ; many clergy and monks had perished.^ Some parts of the country had alto- gether lost their Christian organisation. The period had been marked by the constant recurrence of treachery of the most hideous character. The repeated treasons of Edric, the massacre of St. Brice, the mutilations of hostages by the Danish princes, all invest it with a peculiar horror. It may be assumed that if external religion were almost extinguished, internal religion and morality had fared even worse. " The traffic in human beings had become an important branch of commerce. What has been rarely known among the debased negro tribes — brother sold brother, the father his son, the son his mother ! Terror of the ferocious Northmen had deadened every energy." ^ From this miserable con- dition the Church and country began to recover immedi- ately after the accession of Cnut. He from whose savage youth the worst auguries might have been drawn, never- theless proved himself a tender and prudent guardian of the Church, and a friend to its best interests. The reign of Cnut commences with murders and banishments, but no sooner is he firmly seated on the throne than a remarkable change takes place. " The stern warrior appears from this time as a provident and wise ruler, capable of valuing and promoting and profiting by all the blessings of peace." ^ Cnut was a nominal Christian when he succeeded to the throne. He soon shows himself to be an earnest promoter of Christianity. " The society which is unable to withstand his arms almost immediately humanises and elevates him." * 1 2. The most obvious and the most likely form for the awakened religious feeling of a prince of battles and mur-« ders to take (especially at a time when the idea of satisfac- tion was the one most prominent religious idea) was that of ^ For the most part the Danes, in this second period of invasions, appear to have chosen to extort money from the monasteries under threats rather than destroy the monasteries. See the account given in the Chronicle of Croyland, attributed to Ingulph, but written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. This clironicle, though tainted by the fictitious name of its author, was yet doubtless compiled from original materials. ^ Lappenberg, ii. 179. 3 lb., ii. 201. 4 Stubbs, Const. Uist., i. 243. 136 PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY, [chap. ix. building churches and religious houses. Accordingly, Wil- liam of Malmesbury says of Cnut, " The monasteries through- out the whole of England, which had been either violated or overthrown in either his own or his father's wars, he restored ; all the places in which his battles had been fought, and especially Aschendun,^ he decorated with churches, and appointed to them ministers who, through- out all succeeding ages, might make supplication to God for the souls of those who were there slain. Over the body of St. Edmund, whom an earlier generation of Danes had slain, he built a church with a royal spirit, placed there an abbot and monks, conferred upon it many farms and mighty ones, and such was the amplitude of his gifts that at this day it can look down upon almost all the monasteries of England." ^ He conciliated the Pope by the restoration of St. Peter's penny, and gratified the English clergy by be- stowing Danish bishoprics upon some of them. The priests chosen for these Sees were consecrated by Ethelnoth, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, who grounded upon this a claim for supremacy over the Scandinavian Church. He was, how- ever, stoutly resisted in this by Unwan, Archbishop of Hamburg, and Cnut was obliged to uphold the authority of the latter.^ 1 3. But Cnut's care for the Church was not confined to its outward organisation or its temporal possessions. At some period during his reign a number of ecclesiastical laws were passed in the Witans convened by him. During the ^ Assingdon in Essex, the place where he had gained so decided a victory over Edmund. "This was for the Danes what half a century later Hastings was for the Normans, " — Lappenberg, ii. 192. " Accord- ing to one account," says Mr. Freeman, "not Assandun only but all his battlefields were marked by commemorative churches. But as Assandun was Cnut's only undoubted victory on English soil, and as men do not usually commemorate their defeats, we may conclude that Assandun was his only foundation of the kind." — Norman Conquest, i. 485. 2 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gcst. Reg. (Saville), p. 41. It is remark- able that Cnut not only enriched English monasteries, but also did the same in France and Germany. St. Omer's, Chartres, Bremen, and Cologne received substantial benefactions from him. — Lappenberg, ii. 204. 3 See Lappenberg, ii. 205. 9S8-10i2.] PERIOD OF THE DAXISII ASCENDENCY. 137 Heptarchic period ecclesiastical councils, as instituted by Theodore, were frequent, though from these the lay element was not excluded, and " they are scarcely distinguishable from the separate Witenagemots." But after the Danish troubles such councils are hardly to be found. Church laws are now passed by the Witenagemot, in which there always existed a strong ecclesiastical element. " No jea- lousy as yet existed between the two systems;"^ no plainly marked distinction, in fact, between the secular and eccle- siastical was perceived. It seemed as obvious a thing that King Cnut should make "laws ecclesiastical" as laws civil. In an ancient collection of these former which has been got together, the first commands the love of God and the king ; the second enacts the sacredness of the Church as a sanc- tuary for criminals ; the third has the curious declaration that all cliurches are not equally potent as sanctuaries. There are " head churches," for violating which the fine is to be two hundred and forty shillings ; " middling churches," the sanctity of which is valued at one hundred and twenty shillings ; " lesser churches, which have a burying-place, but where little service is done," for which the fine is sixty shillings ; and "country cliurches, where there is no burying place," for violating which the fine is only thirty shillings. The next laws, after describing the exalted dignity of a priest, enact how he is to make purgation by ordeal when accused of a crime. The purgation of the priest was to be by the housel — that is, if he denied his guilt and celebrated mass upon that denial, he was to be held free ; but if there was a triple accusation against him — that is, an accusation by three persons — then he was to get two other priests to be compurgators with him. But if he could not find any friends ready to imperil their souls for his truth, he was "to go to Corsned " — that is, to put a piece of bread and cheese in his mouth, praying that it might choke him if he was guilty."^ In the sixth canon the clergy are exhorted to godly living and to obeying their rule — " Let them know full well that they cannot of right converse with women in a carnal manner, and let him that will desist from this and 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. 230-2. ^ See Johnson's Eng. Canons, i. 504, and Notes, 138 PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY, [chap. ix. preserve cliastity find mercy with God, and for his worldly worship be worthy of the right of a thane." The seventh law forbids marriages within the sixth degree of relation- ship, and with " the kin of a former wife," and with sureties at baptism, a consecrated nun, or a divorced woman. The laws as to Church dues and fees are almost identical with those in the laws of King Edgar, as also those for the fasts and feasts. " St. Edward's ^ mass-day" is declared to be appointed by the Witan as a mass-day for all England. The laws then assume the character rather of a sermon than a code, earnestly pressing upon men Christian lives, bidding them go to housel three times a year at least, and to learn well Paternoster and Credo, exhorting the clergy as shep- herds to care for their sheep, and provide them with wise instructions.^ In another collection of Cnut's " laws eccle- siastical" one enactment forbids any man being sold as a slave into a heathen country, lest his soul should perish. But the selling of a slave to Christians is not forbidden. Offend- ers against the laws are in this code somewhat strangely called upon to desist, instead of penalties being fixed for their misdeeds. A law of King Edgar, which bids the bishop sit on the bench with the ealdorman, is repeated. The priest is here called an " altar thane." The Sunday is guarded from work by severe penalties. No executions are to take place on Sundays. By the 29th law it is enacted that " all people ought of right to assist in repairing the church." ^ This code also ends with a devout exhortation to religious obedience and holy living.^ 1 4. The very strong religious tone which is apparent in the laws of King Cnut was not contradicted by or opposed to his way of life. His rule was just and equitable. " The forsaken fields were cultivated anew, fortresses, bridges, and roads restored, churches and chapels erected. Neither against the king nor his ofiicials has one complaint on the part of the Anglo-Saxons reached us." ^ Connected with his zealous building of churches before mentioned, the con- 1 That is, the young king who was slaiu by his stepmother in 978. 2 Johnson, English Canons, i. 501-511. 2 This is probably the earliest institution of church-rate. * Johnson, English Canmis, i. 512-520. ° Lappenberg, ii. 208. 988-1042.] PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY. 139 secration of the church at Assanduii, huilt in commemora- tion of his great victory, is worthy of notice. The church had been built in partnership with Thurkill as earl of the district, and as Cnut's chief comrade in the battle ; and it was consecrated in 1020, in the presence of the king and the earl, by Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, and several other bishops. Tlie church was built of stone, though that ma- terial was not easily to be found in the neighbourhood. It was wanting, however, in grand proportions, and was only founded for a single priest ; and it is remarkable that Stigand, afterwards so prominent a figure as Archbishop of Canterbury, was the first priest of Assandun.^ 15. The employment of the Archbishop of York in the consecration of Assandun was due probably to the fact that the primacy was at the moment vacant. Archbishop Lyfing having died in this year.^ The most notable matter re- corded in connection with this prelate is that he declined to go to Eome for the pall ; and as this ornament was now only granted on a personal application, the archbishop never obtained it.^ The prelate who succeeded him was of a higher cast. Ethelnoth, called by the chroniclers " Dean of Christ Church," "^ was originally a Benedictine of Glaston- bury, that famous abbey which gave no less than seven primates to the English Church before the Conquest.^ Ethel- noth, as president of the Canterbury monks, was brought into contact with Cnut, who learnt to respect his character and opinion, and to be influenced by his advice. When the See of Canterbury fell vacant, Cnut nominated Ethelnoth to it (without, apparently, referring at all to the chapter), ^ Freeman's Korman Conquest, i. 471. 2 A.-S. Chron., s. a. 1020. ^ Hook, Lives of the Archbishops, i. 476. ^ "From 1012 to 1070 a curious compromise between theory and fact seems to have prevailed [at Christ Church]. The church was a monastery, and the inmates Lore the name of monks ; but they did not keep the monastic rule, and, moreover, assumed the titles of a secular chapter. Their president Avas called a dean ; the monks were also cathedral canons." — Stubbs, Introd. to Ep. Cant., p. 24. 5 Willelm. Malmcsb., Dc Gest. Reg., p. 42 (ed. Saville). The arch- bishops were Brihtwald, Athelin, Duustan, Ethelgar, Siric, Eli.hege, and Ethelnoth UO PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY, [chap. tx. and issued his letters patent to Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, to consecrate him. This was done as the king de- sired, and Ethelnoth afterwards proceeded to Kome to obtain the pall. On his way home, at Pavia, he considered him- self fortunate in becoming the possessor of an (alleged) arm of St. Augustine at the price of a " hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold." ^ This costly relic he presented to Leofric, earl of Mercia, for the church at Coventry, which, in conjunction with the Lady Godiva, his wife, he had magnificently furnished. The devotion of the archbishop was imitated by Cnut, who visited Glastonbury with the archbishop, to do honour, as he said, to the place where " his brother's " ^ remains rested, and gave to the church a grand cope embroidered with the figures of peacocks in various colours.^ Cnut also adorned and enriched the cathedral church of Canterbury. 1 6. The bearing of King Cnut towards the Church, and the effectual services which he rendered in raising it up after the long miseries of the Danish wars, may perhaps best be estimated by his letter, written after his pilgrimage to Rome.'* " This," says an able writer, " is his best epi- taph." ^ It certainly exhibits him not only as a devout worshipper, but as an able ruler, prudently providing for the best interests of the Church. He tells his people that he has undertaken his journey to Eome to pray for the for- giveness of his sins, and for the welfare of his people. He thanks God for allowing him to visit the sanctuary of the Apostles, especially as he believes that St. Peter has great power in binding and loosing.^ He then describes the great assembly which had been held at Rome, at which the Em- peror had been present and King Rodolph, and at which 1 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gcst. Reg., p. 42. 2 The body of Edmund Ironside was buried at Glastonbury. Cnut calls him his brother, as having been joint king with him. 3 Will. Malmesb., Ih. ^ The exact date of the Roman visit is uncertain. 1031 is the date usually adopted ; but see Freeman (i. 479, Note 2), who adopts 1027. ^ Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. 479. ^ This is almost an exact parallel with what is attributed to Oswy, king of Northumbria, at the Synod of Whitb)^ 988-1042.] PERIOD OF THE DAXISH ASCENDENCY. Ul they had agreed to remove obstacles from the way of Eng- lish pilgrims going to Eome. He says that he had expressed his " high displeasure" to the Pope at the immense sums of money exacted from his archbishops when they went to Rome to get the pallium, and it was promised that this should be no more done. He declares that he has humbly vowed to Almighty God to amend his life in all respects, to rule his people aright, to uphold strict justice, to enforce impartial law for rich and poor. He is going to Denmark to conclude a treaty of peace, then he hopes to return to England. He desires that before he comes all dues belong- ing to God be carefully paid, and the pence payable to St. Peter. Those who make default will be fined. ^ 17. On the matter which had caused so great excite- ment in the reigns of preceding English kings, the question between the regulars and seculars, it does not appear that King Cnut took a decided line either way.^ Assandun, liis chief, perhaps his only, new English estab- lishment, was secular. On the other hand, when he rebuilt the minster of St. Edmund, and endowed it with such rich gifts, he turned out the secular canons who had before been attached to it, and planted there an abbot and monks. His benefactions were chiefly given to monasteries. St. Benet at Holm, Winchester, Ely, and Ramsey partook of his bounty. From the general fairness and breadth of his character, it may be assumed that merit, whether secular or regular, found in him a ready patron. 18. The eighteen years of the reign of Cnut were a time of growth and restoration, both for the ecclesiastical and civil interests of the country. During the period of the divided empire which followed his death, only signs of retrogression as regards Church matters can be perceived. AVe read of bishoprics being held in plurality and sold for money.^ Archbishop Ethelnoth, who had been the friend 1 Florent. Wigorn. s. a. 1031 ; AVillelm. Malraesb., Dc Gcst. Beg., (ed. Saville), 41. 2 Mr. Freeman says, " He mainly but not exclusively favoured the monks." — Conquest, i. 484. Mr. Stubbs appears to favour the opposite view. — Introd. to Epp. Cant., p. xix. ^ Freeman, i. 563. Stigand was appointed to a bishopric, then 142 PERIOD OF THE DANISH ASCENDENCY, [chap. ix. and counsellor of Cnut, and who is said to have refused to crown Harold, inasmuch as Cnut had willed the crown only to the children of Emma, died soon after his patron. He was succeeded by Eadsige, who had been a chaplain of Cnut, and who had been consecrated as coadjutor bishop by Etbelnoth during his lifetime, taking his title from the little church of St. Martin's at Canterbury, "in which Queen Bertha prayed and Luithard preached."^ The new arch- bishop was not of the high character of the last ; he is said to have been a time-server. He crowned Harold, which Ethelnoth had refused to do, but he was quite as ready to crown Edward, the son of Emma. The other Primate, ^Ifric, Archbishop of York, obtained an evil notoriety by supporting the tyrannical proceedings of Harthacnut after the death of Harold. It was by his counsel, according to William of Malmesbury, that the corpse of Harold was disinterred and beheaded, and thrown into the Thames.^ ^Ifric also, by the aid of the evil king, seized the bishop- ric of Worcester, to which Lyfing had been appointed, but which had been held in plurality by the three preceding archbishops of York. Bishop Lyfing was beloved by the people of his diocese, being a friend and supporter of Earl Godwin, who was striving to uphold the liberties of his country against the Danish tyrant.^ Archbishop ^Ifric was violently forced into the diocese, but the people refusing to receive him, he induced the king to take a terrible vengeance upon them, — to burn and spoil the city of Worcester.* Another grievous scandal was witnessed in the north. Edmund, the second bishop of Durham, had succeeded in raising a minster over the bones of St. Cuthbert. In the year 1042 he died when at Gloucester with King Harthacnut, and Eadred, called by Simeon, ^' second in rank after the bishop," purchased the See of deposed before consecration because some one else offered a larger sum. 1 Hook, Archbishops, i. 488. 2 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gest. Pont., 154 (ed. Saville). 3 Freeman, i. 572. * Willelm. Malmesb. Simeon Dunelm., p. 179 (Twysden). Bishop Lyfing was restored the next year, having found means to pacify {scrcnarc) the king. 988-1042.] NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 143 the king by great treasures taken from the coffers of the Church. The simoniac was, however, not allowed to take possession of his ill-gotten dignity. As he was about to enter the church, he was seized with a sudden malady, and died after lingering ten months.^ In the midst of all these scandals of Church and State, it must have been a relief to all well-disposed folk when King Harthacnut died suddenly at a drinking bout in Lambeth, and "all the people received Edward for king, as was his natural right." ^ ^ Simeon Dunelm,, Hist. Dunclm., p. 34 (ed. Twysden). 2 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s. a. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. THE WRITINGS OF ^LFRIC. The following is a list of the wTit- ings attributed to ^Elfric taken from Mr. Wright's Biograj^hia Literaria. 1. A Latin Grammar, being a translation of the old grammars of Donatus and Priscian, preceded by a Latin and Anglo-Saxon preface. 2. A Glossary of Latin words most commonly used in conversation, 3. A Colloquium or conversalson in Latin, with an interlinear Saxon gloss. 4. An Anglo-Saxon Manual of Astronomy. 5. A collection of Homilies, amounting in number to eighty. " These sermons are trans- lations and compilations from the Latin homilies which had long been used in the Anglo-Saxon Church ; even the famous paschal sermon, in which the Anglo-Saxon doctrine ot the Eucharist is stated, is in its more important part taken from the Latin of Ratramn. " 6. Another set of Homilies compiled from the Latin, commemorative of the different saints revered by the Anglo-Saxon Church. 7. A translation of the Pentateuch and the Book of Job. 8. A Treatise on the Old and New Testament. 9. A Treatise on the Trinity. 10. The Abridgment of Ethel wolf's Constitu- tions for the monks of Eynshara. 11, [Perhaps] the Translation of the Life of Guthlac. 12. An Epistle to Sigferth on the marriage of the clergy. 13. [Probably] Sermo Jilfrici Episcopi ad Clericos. 14. Sermo ad Sacredotes. 144 CONTEST BETWEEN^ NATIONAL [chap. x. CHAPTER X. CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONAL AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 1042-1066. 1. Good auguries for the Clmrcli in the accession of Edward. 2. His promotion of foreign prelates. 3. Stigand advanced to Winchester. 4. Leofric first bisliop of Exeter. 5. Ulf bishop of Dorchester at Vercellae. 6. Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury ; foreign influence at its height, 7. Robert and Ulf expelled. 8. Stigand archbishop. 9. Herman bishop of Ramsbury, and the Malmesbury monks. 10. Earl Harold's foundation of Waltham. 11. Gisa bishop of Wells. 12. Ealdred's advancement to the See of York. 13. Wiilfstan bishop of Worcester. 14. Building and consecration of Westminster Abbey. 15. Archbishop Stigand consecrates Harold. 1. The restoration of the English family and of the line of Cedric and Ethelred, in the person of a prince renowned for his virtue, and especially for his devotion, gave promise of good days for the English Church. In the election and appointment of Edward, a bishop had borne a prominent part. Lyfing, bishop of Worcester, hardly used, as we have seen, by Harthacnut and .^Ifric, had great influence in the land through his close connec- tion with Earl Godwin. He had been favoured by King Cnut, and by him appointed to the Devonshire and Corn- wall See,^ the headquarters of which were then at Crediton. When appointed to Worcester he had not relinquished the western See, but had held it in plurality. There were many examples of this evil practice at that time, Worcester esjjecially being a sort of appanage to York.^ Lyfing, ^ The See of Cornwall, the original of which was due to the ancient British Church, was united to that of Devonshire during the episcopate of Lyfing. Now, after more than eight hundred years, again happily dissevered. 2 On the connection between Worcester and York, see Stubbs's Const. Hist., i. 239, note. 1042-1066.] AXD FOREIGN INFLUENCE. 145 known as " the eloquent," and admired as a true patriot liishop, must have had much power to commend the new king to Churchmen.^ Edward was "hallowed" king at "Winchester on Easter- day (1043) "with great worship," and Archbishop Eadsige "well instructed and exhorted liim."^ No better promise for the tranquillity and advance- ment of the Church could be given than in such a ruler so generally acceptable to the nation. 2. The one thing which to a great extent marred all these good hopes, was EdAvard's inveterate preference for foreigners, and his constant practice of putting foreign Churchmen into English Sees. Edward had spent his life in Normandy, and Avas more Norman than English. His great eagerness was to surround himself with Normans. But besides the Normans and Frenchmen brought over by him, there were many Germans or Lotharingians promoted in the Church at this time.^ The Church of England thus gradually acquired a foreign complexion and foreign habits. Speaking of the Lotharingians, Mr. Freeman says, "II they were not Normanisers, they were at least Eomanisers. They brought with them habits of constant reference to the Papal See, and a variety of scruples on points of small canonical regularity, to which Englishmen had hitherto been strangers."* Increased connection with the Continent meant, in fact, increased subordination to Eome. The naiimal character of the Church of England was impaired. " We now first hear of bishops going to Eome for consecra- tion or confirmation, and of the Eoman court claiming at least a veto on the nomination of the English king."^ Eobert of Ju midges, a Norman monk, made bishop of London, becomes the great adviser and director of the king. What the Church gains in tranquillity and in royal favour she loses in nationality and freedom. 3. The man destined to take the most prominent stand ^ See Freeman, ii. 82, and the quotations from William of Malmes- bury. ' i\nglo-Saxon Chronicle, s. a. ^ Freeman ii. 80. — ""We can hardly fail to see in these appoint- ments an attempt of Godwin and the patriotic party to connterbalance the merely French tendencies of Edward himself." ^ Norman Conquest, ii. 81. ^ Freeman, ii. G7. L 146 CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONAL [chap. x. against this foreign influence in the Church of the land, is heard of again in a singular manner about the time of Edward's coronation. Stigand, appointed priest at Assandun by Cnut, had been nominated to a bishopric, but his nomination had been cancelled before consecration. Now again he is both nominated and consecrated bishop of Elmham in East Anglia.^ But he is not allowed to enjoy his dignity. He is deprived of his See, and his goods are confiscated, probably on the ground that he was aiding and abetting Queen Emma in her schemes for bringing in a Danish prince.^ In the year 1047, however, Stigand regained a sufficient influence to obtain the appointment to the important See of Winchester, vacant by the death of Bishop ^Ifsige. 4. Lyfing, bishop of Worcester, died in 1046, and was succeeded in that See by Ealdred, whose name frequently occurs in the after history. In the Devonshire bishopric Lyfing was succeeded by Leofric, a Briton, that is, pro- bably, a native of Cornwall and a Briton by race.^ The episcopate of this prelate was signalised by the removal of the See from Crediton to Exeter (1050), and in the church of St. Peter in that city, Leofric was solemnly enthroned by Edward and Emma. This, and the removal of the See of St. Cuthbert to Durham, was the beginning of that policy which was consummated by the Council of London in 1075. Bishop Leofric was an upholder of the secular cause as against the monastic. He removed the nuns from the Church of Exeter, and substituted for them a society of secular canons, who were to live ac- cording to the rule of Chrodegand,* though not bound by monastic vows, nor wearing the monastic habit. ^ The See of Dnnwicli had been amalgamated with Elmham, which now included Norfolk and Suffolk. It was soon after moved to Thetford, and then to Norwich. ^ Freeman, ii. 65. ^ lb. , ii. 83. 4 The rule of Chrodegang followed closely that of St. Benedict for monks. The same canonical hours are enjoined. The bishop stands in the place of the Abbot, the Archdeacon of the Prior. But there are two fundamental differences. The canons were bound neither by the vow of poverty, nor, in its monastic strictness, by the vow of implicit obedience. See Dr. Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography, Article "Chrodegang." 1042-1066.] AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE. 147 5. While the national and foreign parties in the Church of England were more or less evenly balanced in the appointment of prelates, the latter party gained great strength by the custom which began to prevail about the middle of the century, of English prelates attending at foreign Councils. At the Synod of Rheims, held by Pope Leo (1049), several English prelates were present, and at that of Vercellse (1050), held to condemn the doctrines of Berengarius, English affairs took a prominent place. The previous year Eadnothus II., bishop of Dorchester, who had built a fair church at Stow in Lindsey, to do honour to the old home of his See, ^ had died, and the great See of Dorchester was conferred by the king on one of his Norman chaplains, named Ulf. One of the old English chroniclers says emphatically, " he ill bestowed it ;" another declares of Ulf, " he did nothing bishop-like, so that it shames us now to tell more."^ This objectionable prelate had now to appear before the Council to seek confirmation from the Pope — an innovation rapidly growing at this time. He was found very incompetent. The Chronicle says : " They were very near breaking his staff, if he had not given the greater treasures, because he could not do his offices as well as he should." ^ The " greater treasures," however, availed to procure for Ulf confirmation and consecration, and he returned from Vercellse bishop of Dorchester, a standing monument of the lengths to which the king's evil partiality for foreigners could carry him. 6. But a still more striking and insulting proof of this was now to be given to the Church of England. Before the end of the year (1050) Archbishop Eadsige died. He had previously been incapacitated by illness, and had consecrated Siward as his coadjutor. But Siward died before him, and after his death Eadsige had performed, or attempted to perform, his archiepiscopal functions again. The monks of Christ Church elected as his successor iElfric, a monk of their house, and a kinsman of Earl Godwin. ^ Stow, no doubt, was the ancient SidJena or Sidnacester, tlio original home of the Lindsey bishopric. '' A.-S. Chron. (ed. Thorpe), ii. 140-142. ^ Ib.,i[>. 143. 148 CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONAL [chap. x. The king disregarded their choice, and bestowed the primacy on Eobert, the Norman bishop of London. He was probably the most unpopuhir foreign prelate in the kingdom, and as his influence with the king was known to be all-powerful, the worst was feared from the appoint- ment.^ Kobert at once went to Eome, and returned with the pall. On St. Peter's day (June 29, 1051), he was enthroned. His first act was a remarkable assertion of papal authority as against national law and custom. Spearhafoc, abbot of Abingdon, had been nominated bishop of London, and applied to the new Primate for consecration. Eobert refused to consecrate him. He declared that he had been forbidden to do so by the Pope.^ The abbot, though denied consecration, neverthe- less went to occupy his See ; " he resided in it with the king's full leave all the summer and autumn." ^ But the foreign influence was for the moment all-powerful. Spear- hafoc was expelled, and William, a Norman, consecrated in his room. Earl Godwin, the head of the English party, was banished, and Norman influence seemed to be triumph- ant both in Church and State. 7. The return of Earl Godwin and Harold, in the following year, by force of arms, changed the whole aspect of aff'airs. The foreign prelates, dreading the popular indignation, were then onl}^ anxious to fly. Of the two most conspicuous among them the chronicler tells us : " Archbishop Eobert, with Bishop Ulf and their com- panions, went out at East-gate (London), and slew and otherwise maltreated many young men, and straightway betook themselves to Eadulfsness (Walton -on -the -Naze), and there lighted on a crazy ship, and he betook him- 1 Robert, in order to strengthen tlie Norman influence in England, began the practice of establishing alien priories — little establishments of foreign monks, being branches or offshoots of great foreign houses. These served admirably to uphold foreign influence, but they were a tei-rible thorn in the side of the English bishops, to whose discipline they would not submit. See Hook's Archhishops, i. 496. 2 "Things had come to such a pass, that an Englishman appointed to an English office by the king and his Witan was to be kept out of its full possession by one foreigner acting at the alleged bidding of another."— Freeman, ii. 122. ^ A.-S. Chron., ii. 144. 1042-1066.] AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE. UO self at once over the sea, and left his pall and all Chris- tianity here in the country, so as God willed it, as he had before obtained the dignity as God willed it not." ^ The next day the "Witan proclaimed the fugitive bishops to be outlaws. The bishop of London is said by one chronicler to have escaped with Eobert and Ulf, but the chronicler quoted above does not mention him. As he was soon afterwards restored to his See, it is probable that he did not share in their flight, or at least not in the violent deeds which seem to have accompanied it." The Primate at once betook himself to the Pope. There had been few (if any) appeals by English Churchmen from a sentence of an English Court to the Roman Curia since the time of Wilfrid.^ Wilfrid, indeed, had not gained much by his action, neither did Archbishop Robert. No notice, in fact, was taken of his appeal in England, and by the consent of the Witan,"^ Stigand, bishop of Winchester, was advanced to the primacy, and took possession of the pall which Robert had left behind him. 8. It is somewhat remarkable that Stigand should have been chosen for the primacy rather than ^Ifric, who had been elected by the Canterbury monks before Robert's intrusion. But Stigand had been engaged in negotiating between the king and Earl Godwin. He was a person evidently of much influence and energy of character. The popular party probably desired him, and the king, who was for the moment helpless, as being deserted by his foreign allies, yielded. The policy, however, of at once advancing Stigand, was an unfortunate one. He continued to hold the See of Winchester, and thus gave sufficient ground for his enemies to declare his promotion un- canonical. He had never been elected by the chapter of his See, which was also opposed to precedent. He did not aff'ect to disregard the Roman pall, but seized upon that of Robert, which was an absurd pretence. At length he applied for a pall for himself, but to a usurping Pope. 1 A.-S. Cliron., ii. 152. ^ gg^ Freeman, ii. 331, note 1. ^ Hook's Archbishops, i. 504. * This seems to be implied by the chronicler, but is not absolutely stated. 150 CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONAL [chap. x. Churchmen generally in the country regarded him not as legitimate Primate, but simply as de facto archbishop. The consecrations of prelates during his incumbency were generally done by other hands. ^ Harold himself passed him over, and preferred the ministry of other prelates. Finally, Duke William was able to allege as one of the reasons which called him to England, the uncanonical intrusion of Stigand into the primacy of the church. ^ As regards the other bishops who were implicated in these troubles, Ulf of Dorchester was after a time replaced by Wulfwig, an Englishman, and William was restored to the See of London. He was now the only Norman who retained a bishopric.^ 9. After the death of Godwin, his son, the Earl Harold, occupied the position of greatest influence in the land, and was able, for the most part, to bend the king to his will. The contest between seculars and regulars, begun in the days of Dunstan, still continued. The Devonshire See had been provided with a secular chapter. It was now at- tempted to do the same for the See of Wiltshire, and Harold's influence was invoked and exercised to save the threatened monks. Hermann, a man of Flanders, was bishop of Eamsbury. He complained to the king that he neither had a chapter of clerks nor a sufficient revenue, and he asked that both might be supplied to him by the gift of the abbey of Malmesbury, the abbot of which was lately dead. The monks might be made to give way to canons. The revenues of the monastery would supply what was lacking in the See. The king agreed to the proposal. The Malmesbury monks, animated by the usual hatred of monks towards bishops, addressed themselves to Harold. He obtained for them a reversal of the grant of the monastery, and the baffled bishop retired abroad in anger.* ^ Yet it is remarkable that after the Conquest and by consent of "William, Remigius was consecrated by Stigand. ^ See Freeman, ii. 342, and Appendix U. William of Malmesbury lias much to say of the matter, both in the De Gestis Regum and Dc Gestis rontificum. In the latter he attributes Stigand's errors to ignorance. ^ Freeman, ii. 346. 4 Willelm. Malmcsb., De Gcst. Fontif., 142 (ed. Saville). Mr. 1042-1066.] AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE. lol 1 0. Earl Harold appears as the champion of the monks on this occasion. But it is by no means to be inferred from this that he was a partisan of the cause of tlie regulars as against the seculars. The noble college whicli he built and endowed at Waltham, and in which he estab- lished secular clergy, rather proves the contrary. Waltham was connected with the legend of a famous crucifix, and a small church had been built there by Tofig before it passed into the hands of Harold. This was rebuilt by the earl on a splendid scale, and enriched Avith precious gifts. A dean and twelve canons, liberally endowed, were settled in this church. These clergy were not bound by vows. Some of them were probably married. Their duty was not merely to minister in the church, but to form a school. A man famous for learning, Adelard of Liittich, was brought over to be lecturer in the college. The foundation of Waltham, so plainly differenced from the monasteries by its evident use- fulness, stands out unique in its day, and was an anticipation by some centuries of the great colleges of our universities.^ The church of the college was consecrated in May 1060, and it is remarkable that Archbishop Stigand was not called to perform the duty, but Cynesige, Archbishop of York. It has been argued from this that Harold was in doubt as to the canonical status of Stigand, but it scarcely seems probable that such scruples should have occurred to him. Stigand, if not canonically Archbishop of Canterbury, was at any rate canonically a bishop, and therefore competent to per- form this office. But it may be that the feelings of the clergy present were against him. 11. Soon after the consecration of Waltham, we find Earl Harold involved in a dispute with Gisa, the Lotha- ringian bishop of Wells. He is said to have kept back Freeman puts the occurrence in 1055. Hermann afterwards returned and became bishop of Sherborne, as well as Ramsbury, and twelve years after the Conquest, transferred the united Sees to Salisbury. — Freeman, ii. 406. 1 The interesting subject of Waltham has been so fully worked out by our great Oxford historians, Messrs. Stubbs and Freeman, that nothing remains to be elucidated. See the Treatise Dc Inixnlione and Mr, Stubbs's Preface, and Freeman's Norman Conquest, ii. 439, sq. 152 CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONAL [chap. x. from the bishop some estates belonging to the See. It was not on any ecclesiastical grounds that the quarrel turned, and we do not find that Harold, on this occasion, was acting as the champion of the regulars, as he had done at Malmes- bury. Gisa, indeed, was busy, not in expelling monks, but in enlarging, strengthening, and enriching the very feeble canonical body which he had found in existence on his promotion to the See. 12. Archbishop Cynesige, the consecrator of Waltham, died before the close of the year, and his place was immediately filled by Ealdred, bishop of Worcester, who attempted once more to carry out the arrangement, for which there was a considerable amount of evil precedent, of holding Worcester in conjunction with York. Of this prelate, William of Malmesbury has some strange stories to relate. First of all, he declares that it was by the adminis- tration of a bribe that Ealdred " abused the simplicity of Edward," and obtained the grant of the northern arch- bishopric. Then he has a very interesting account of Ealdred's journey to Rome to fetch the pall. He went in company with Gisa and Walter, who sought consecration, and also in company with Earl Tostig and his suite, who were bound to the Papal See on business of the king's. Ealdred was kindly received by Pope Nicholas, and made to sit by his side in a synod which Nicholas had summoned against the simoniacs. The two bishops -elect were examined and consecrated, but the scrutiny in Bishop Ealdred's case did not turn out so favourably. He was compelled to admit that he had paid money for his pro- motion, and the avowal being, as it seems, openly made, it was necessary to inflict an open censure. He was sentenced to be degraded from all ecclesiastical dignity. After this, the English party, much humiliated and very indignant, set out on their homeward journe5^ But at Sutrium a band of robbers fell upon them, and stripped them of all their goods. This, as it happened, was a fortunate occur- rence for Ealdred. They returned to the Pope, and Earl Tostig, full of fury, proceeded to hurl reproaches at him for what had occurred. " Of what value," he asked, " were his excommunications when there were at his very doors 1042-1066.] AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE. 153 those who utterly despised them?" The Pope was severe to suppliants, but had no weapon to launch against open rebels. He claimed the restitution of what they had been robbed of through the Pope's ill government. If they were not compensated, the English king would be justified in stopping the payment of the tribute of St. Peter. The Pope, terrified at this threat, at once changed his demeanour. He conferred the pall upon Ealdred for York, only stipu- lating that he should resign the Worcester See.^ 13. The Archbishop Ealdred returned with the pall (1061), and was soon followed by certain papal Legates, partly, no doubt, with a view of seeing that his promise of the resignation of the See of Worcester was effectively carried out. There was, at that time, at the head of the Worcester monastery, a prior named Wulfstan, a man distinguished alike for learning and sanctity. He was the friend of Harold, and acceptable at the same time to the Witan and to the papal Legates. The monastic chapter readily elected him to the See, but Wulfstan himself was with difficulty persuaded to undertake the oflfice. He was consecrated by his predecessor. Archbishop Ealdred,^ and became the most valuable and saintly prelate of his era. Though of pure English race, and, through his friendship with Harold, committed to strong opposition to the foreign invaders, Wulfstan nevertheless secured by his conspicuous virtues the respect of the Conqueror, and was able to render to his Church and country the great service of suppressing to a considerable extent the iniquitous traffic with Ireland in slaves, which then prevailed at the port of Bristol.^ 14. While the national and foreign influences were contending for mastery in the Church of England, the king was ever unmistakably on the side of the foreigners. Edward desired to bring the Church of the land into more 1 Willelm. Malraesb., De Gcst. Pontif., p. 154 (ed. Saville). Vita St. Wulfstani. — Ang. Sacra, ii. 250. 2 'William of Malmesbury says Ealdred robbed him of almost all his farms ; and it was not till after his death that Wulfstan succeeded in obtaining their restoration. 3 See Life of St. Wulfstan by William of Malmesbury in AngUa Sacra, vol. ii. The slave-trade is described at page 258. 154 CONTEST BETWEEN NATIONAL [chap. x. and more complete subjection to the Church of Eome. One cause of this was tlie intense and special devotion which he ever felt and expressed to the cultus of St. Peter. In honour of this saint, the adopted patron of his life, the king had been engaged in erecting a costly and noble monument. On the island of Thorney, famous for its connection with the earliest Christianity in the land, Edward had enlarged and rebuilt the ancient monastery, and had long been occupied in raising a grand abbey church destined to eclipse all other religious buildings in the land. -This was to celebrate for ever the glories of St. Peter. Foreign workmen and the architectural skill then being wonderfully developed on the Continent, had enabled him to erect a magnificent temple, and on the 28th December^ 1065 the church of the West Minster was consecrated with every circumstance of pomp, the whole of the notables of England, both in Church and State, being present.^ There was one conspicuous personage, however, who was absent from the grand ceremonial, and this was King Edward himself. Overpowered by a malady which was fast bring- ing him to his grave, Edward was constrained to entrust the task of representing the founder of the church to his Queen, Edith. Within eight days of the consecration of the abbey, the funeral rites of its builder were celebrated within it, and very soon afterwards it was the scene of the consecration of the newly elected king, the Earl Harold. 15. At the time of the death of King Edward, Arch- bishop Stigand displayed great energy and vigour. He at once, as the first man in the country, summoned the Witan. The members of it were already present at West- minster for the ceremony of the consecration, and in fact, the regular winter Parliament was proceeding there. But ^ The chronicler calls it "Childemas Day," the feast of the Holy Innocents. 2 No part of the minster as built by Edward now remains, save a few bases of pillars and other fragments. But a considerable amount oi the domestic buildings of the abbey is to be discovered. See Freeman, ii. 507. In a Norman-French poem called The History of St. Edivard the King, published in the Eolls Series, there is a full account of the church and the consecration. 1042-1066.] AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE. 155 Stigand took the initiative in calling upon it to act in the matter of the succession. It was a difficult question. The nearest heir of the royal family was a boy, but in those days there was no absolute law of hereditary succession. The Witan chose Earl Harold, the brother of the Queen Dowager, — and confessedly the most worthy of the crown of any man in the kingdom. The people gladly accepted him. Then Stigand consecrated Harold in the new abbey of Westminster. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. THE ECCLESIASTICAL LAWS OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 1. Clergymen and scholars to enjoy privileges of their order, and to be under protection of the Church. 2. Times during which lawsuits and prosecutions Avere to cease — viz. from Advent to Octaves of Epiphany ; from Septuagesima to Octaves of Easter ; from Ascension-day to Oc- taves of Whitsunday ; the three days in Ember Aveeks ; Saturdays, from afternoon till Monday morning ; vigils of the days of St. Mary, St. Michael, St. John Baptist, the Apostles, and other chief saints ; anniversaries of consecration of churches ; persons travelling for any religious act or purpose, Avere to be exempted from molestation. 3. Church business to have precedence in the king's courts. 4. Church tenants to plead jn Church courts,^ unless these fail in doing justice. 5. Church, church- yard, and priest's house and premises to be sanctuary, unless sanctuary be abused for purposes of crime. Res- titution of stolen goods to be com- pelled in the case of thieves taking sanctuary. 6. Any person injuring church or clergy to be cited if con- tumacious to the king's courts. If he refused to appear, to be outlawed, and his head might lawfully be taken. 7. The tenth sheaf of corn, the tenth of cattle, cheese, and milk to be paid to the Church. 8. Tenth of fees, underwood, meadow, parks, AvaiTcns, fish-ponds, mills, gardens, and gains in trading, to go to the Church. " This revenue granted by the king, the nobility, and the com- mons." 9. Regulations for the trial by ordeal. 10 and 11. Regulate payments for Peter's pence and Dane- gelt. 12. Fixes the amount of fine for killing a slave or tenant. The king and arclibishop to receive three marks each, bishop and ealdorman tAventy shillings each. 13. Regu- lates treasure-trove in churchyards. Gold to go to the king, of silver the CroAvn to have half, the Church the other. All Jcavs in the kingdom are declared to be under the pro- tection and guardianship of the CroAvn. 1 i.e. Courts presided over by Church officials, manor courts of the Church- not spiritual courts. 1'56 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xi. CHAPTER XL FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 1066-1087. 1. Ecclesiastical effects of the Conquest. 2. Appointment of foreign prelates. 3. Ravages of the Normans. 4. Council of Winchester, 1070. 5. Council and Synod of Windsor, 1070. 6, Appointment of Lanfranc to tlie primacy. 7. Consecration of Thomas, Archbishop of York. 8. Lanfranc visits Rome. 9. Primacy dispute settled at Winchester and Windsor, 1072. 10. Building of cathedral churches by the foreign prelates. 11. Change of Sees from villages to cities. 12. Prohibition of clerical matrimony. 13. Separation between ecclesiastical and lay jurisdictions. 14. Effects of this. 15. The royal supremacy under William. 16. Independent spirit towards Rome shown by Lanfranc. 17. The attempt to secularise the mon- astic cathedrals. 18. St. Wulfstan at Worcester. 19. St. Osmund at Salisbury. 20. Remigius at Lincoln. 21. Hardships of English monks. 1. The contest which had been proceeding through all the reign of Edward between foreign and natural influences in the Church of England, was destined to be completely decided in favour of the former by the great secular revo- lution of the Conquest. It was as much the policy of the Conqueror to substitute foreign ecclesiastics for native in places of influence in the Church, as it was for him to put foreigners into places of power, wealth, and influence in the State.^ And thus it came about that, putting aside instances of individual hardship and oppression, the Church of England generally suff'ered this mischief at the Conquest — it lost to a great extent its nationality. And the Church policy of the Conqueror contributed towards the same end as his administration of preferment. The separation of the 1 Throughout this chapter I am constantly indebted to Mr. Free- man's chapter on The Ecclesiastical Settlement of England at the Conquest (ch. xix. vol. iv.) 1066-1087.] IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. I57 ecclesiastical from the secular, both in legislation and juris- diction, snapped asunder some of the national bands, and threw the Church of England more directly into the arms of the Pope. But while the Church in England suffered in the point of its nationality, it gained considerably in the matter of its efficiency.^ A vast amount of vigour was imported into the Church as into the State, though in both cases accompanied by injustice and cruel wrongs. 2. The first ecclesiastical effect of the Conquest was shown in the exclusion of bishops and abbots of the Eng- lish race from all preferment. The deposition of those al- ready in possession was soon to follow, but at first a cautious moderation was observed. Stigand and his friends must have anticipated the coming storm, but it did not come immediately. William, indeed, would not accept his " hal- lowing " from the hands of Stigand, but preferred Ealdred, Archbishop of York, who " hallowed him on Midwinter's day at Westminster." ^ Stigand, however, was allowed to perform other episcopal acts, and was not immediately suspended.^ But though some of his acts were tolerated, the Primate was not trusted, and when William visited Normandy in 1067, Stigand was taken with him as a sort of hostage, perhaps to ensure the quiet of the national party in the English Church. Athelnoth, abbot of Glastonbury, was also made to accompany AVilliam, probably for the same reason. Some time during the year 10G7, probably near to its close, the Primate was permitted or obliged to consecrate Eemigius to the See of Dorchester.* Eemigius was a monk of Fescamp, who had been long employed by William, and who is said by all the chroniclers to have 1 ' ' The Enghsh Church was drawn into the general tide of eccle- siastical politics, and lost much of its insular character ; it gained in symmetry and definiteness of action, and was started on a new career." — Stubbs, Const. Hist, i. 280. ^ ^ .g. Chron., ed. Thorpe, ii. 169. 3 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gcst. Pontif., p. 36 (ed. Hamilton). 4 See the Professio Rcmigii made to Lanfranc, printed in Girald. Camb. vii. (Appendix A). The editor does not appear to be aware that this Profession had been before printed by Dr. Inettin an English translation. Eemigius was, no doubt, consecrated in 1067, but at what period of the year is uncertain. Mr. Freeman puts it quite at the end (iv. 131). 158 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TEIUMPHANT [chap. xr. made a direct compact with his patron, that on the condi- tion of furnishing him with a ship and armed men, he should succeed to the first See which fell vacant in England.-^ Wulfwig, bishop of Dorchester, died soon after the Conquest, and the great Mercian See was given to Remigius. It may have been from a refinement of malice that the English Primate was thus made to inaugurate the ascendency of the foreigner, and to perform an act which certainly presaged his own downfall. Certain it is that this appointment was the beginning of a complete era of exclusion for English- born Churchmen from all preferment. " For a long time the appointment of an Englishman to a bishopric is un- known, and even to a great abbey it is extremely rare." ^ 3. For the two years which succeeded the Conquest there may be said to have been no Church history in Eng- land. The whole land was writhing in the deadly grasp of the Conqueror. First in the west and south, and then in the north, a devastation of the country, conducted in a systematic and ruthless fashion, which the inhumanity of no previous tyrant had conceived, and which left the rav- ages of the Danes far behind, paralysed all action save the mere struggle for life. The minster of York was now burned,^ as that of Canterbury had been (accidentally) on the day of William's return from Normandy. William professed a reverence for the Church and its sanctuaries, and some of the richer English, hoping by this means to shield somewhat of their property, had stored up wealth in the monasteries. The only effect of this was to cause William to make a general raid on the monasteries. Throughout the whole of England, says a chronicler, he caused the monasteries to be carefully searched, and all deposits found in them to be carried away into his treasury. Another chronicler declares that he not only stole money but charters which he had himself ratified ; and another, that he did not spare the sacred chalices and shrines of the saints.^ This spoliation took place during the Lent of 1 Will. Malmesb., De Gest. Pont, p. 312 (ed. Hamilton). 2 Freeman, iv. 131. ^ fi^j.. Wig., ii. 4 (E. H. S.) 4 Flor. Wigorn., ii. 5 ; A.-S. Cliron., ii. 176 ; Thorn., p. 1787 (ed. Twysden) ; Matt. Paris, ii. 6 (ed. Liiard). 1066-1087.] IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 159 1070, and William thus inaugurated the ecclesiastical set- tlement of the land with which he now proceeded to occujiy himself. 4. At Winchester after Easter 1070 met the great council of the nation. William was again crowned, but this time not by an English bishop, but by the Legates of the Pope sent to congratulate him, and to assist him in the great work of bringing the English Church more completely under a foreign yoke, and of deposing the national bishops. The Primate Stigand was the first to suffer. There was abundance of colourable pretext for his deposition. He had held the bishopric of Winchester together with the primacy ; he had thrust himself into the primacy while Eobert was yet alive ; he had used his pallium, and (worst of all) he had applied to Benedict the anti-pope for a pallium for himself. In his case the malice of the Pope against one who had supported a rival, as well as the hatred of William to a man of English race, might both be gratified, and Stigand was deposed, and imprisoned for the remainder of his life at Winchester.^ The next victim w^as ^thelmser the brother of Stigand, who had succeeded him as bishop of the East Angles, and whom, doubtless, his close relationship to the Primate was held sufficient to condemn.^ Florence of Worcester adds, " Certain abbots were there degraded, the king endeavouring that as many as possible of the English should be deprived of their honour, in whose place he substituted persons of his own race for the confir- mation of the new kingdom which he had acquired.^ And some, both bishops and abbots, against whom there was no apparent cause of condemnation, either from the councils or the secular laws, he deprived of their honours, and detained 1 Flor. Wig., ii. 5. Willelm. Malmcsb., De Gest. Pontif., 37. This last writer accuses Stigand of simony and grievous covetousness. 2 Mr. Freeman notes, from the Domesday Survey, that -ffithelmoer had a wife (iv. 335, and note). 3 Eadmer says, " Usus atque leges quas patres sui et ipse in Norman- nia habere solebant in Anglia servare volens de hujusmodi personis episcopos abbates et alios principes per totam terram instituit, de quibus indignum judicaretur si per omnia suis legibus, postposita omni alia consideratioue, non obedirent." — Hist. Nov. (cd. Selden), i. 6. 160 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xi. as prisoners to the end of their lives, only, as I have said, induced to do this from a possible danger that might arise to the new kingdom." ^ This council also decreed the seizure of ^thelric, late bishop of Durham, who had re- tired from his See to the Peterborough monastery, and also the outlawry of -^thelwine, his successor in that bishopric.^ The council dealt too with a man of more conspicuous position than some of these — one whose sanctity was re- cognised and venerated on all sides — Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester. There was no question of deposing this pre- late, Englishman though he was. Such a proceeding would have been somewhat too monstrous. But Wulfstan himself came forward to demand the restitution to his See of lands, which had been, as he alleged, improperly taken from it by Ealdred, Archbishop of York. The matter was left undecided, on the ground that, the Church of York being vacant, there was no one to defend the opposite interest.^ 5. At the national council held soon after (May 23) at Windsor, William nominated Thomas, a canon of Bayeux, to the archiepiscopal See of York, and Walkeline, one of his chaplains, to that of Winchester, vacant by the deposi- tion of Stigand. The work of deposing the English pre- lates was then resumed, but now in a purely ecclesiastical Synod held by Ermenfrid, the Pope's Legate ^ (May 24). At this Synod Agelric (or ^thelric), the bishop of Selsey, was deposed. His oftence is not specified, indeed the chronicler asserts that he was "free from fault," and that his deposition was "uncanonical." He was put in prison at Marlborough, ^thelric's crime was no doubt his nationality. Certain abbots were also now deposed. Her- fast and Stigand, both Normans, were appointed bishops, the one of Elmham and the other of Selsey, and certain Norman monks received abbeys. The two primatial Sees 1 Flor. Wig., ii. 5. 2 Simeon of Durham records the fact of ^thehvine's attempted flight \vith a great amount of the treasures of the Church — his being driven back — his capture and confinement at Abingdon. — Sim. Dunelm., p. 41 (ed. Twysden). 3 pior. Wig., ii. 6. ^ The chronicler is careful to tell us that it was by the "King's order " that the Legate acted. 1066-1078.] m THE ENGLISH CHURCH. IGl being both vacant, the new bishop of Winchester was con- secrated by Ermenfrid, the Pope's Legate.^ Thus the sub- jugation of the English Cliurch to the foreign authority went rapidly forward. 6. But in order to perfect and give stability to this policy, it was needful that an able and efficient man should be placed in the highest post of the Church, and then, by causing the new Metropolitan of York to make profession of canonical obedience to the new Primate of Canterbury, a unity and consistency might be given to the Church of England, and the scheme of St. Gregory for dividing it into two independent provinces might be altogether effaced. The choice of the king, which was ratified by the National Council, fell upon Lanfranc, abbot of Caen in Normandy. Lanfranc had been long well known to William. He was a native of Pavia in Italy, distinguished for his learning and acquirements no less than for his natural abiHty. In search of a monastery in which to make his profession, he had been attracted to Bee by finding the abbot with his frock tucked up employed in baking. He entered the monastery, and soon, by his lectures on dialectic, made the abbey famous. Having offended one of the royal chaplains '^ by deriding his ignorance, Lanfranc was summoned to court, and William quickly discerned his powers. He was pro- moted to be abbot of Caen, and then to be Primate of Eng- land. His selection for this great dignity was made known to him by the Legates of the Pope, Ermenfrid and Hubert, who went expressly to inform him of it, and a Synod was held in Normandy authorising him to accept the dignity. Lanfranc expressed his unwillingness, dwelling on the feeble- ness of his bodily powers, and his ignorance of the language of the country, and of the barbarous races over which he would have to preside. But these excuses, if genuine, Avere not allowed to have weight. Both William and the Pope evidently attached the greatest importance to secur- ing this able man for the primacy. Lanfranc accordingly reached England in August, and having been duly elected by the chapter of Canterbury, he was consecrated there 1 rior. Wigora., ii. 6 (E. H. S.) " Hcrfast, afterwards made bishop of Elmliam. M 162 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xi. August 29, 1070) by William, bishop of London, Walke- line of Winchester, Remigius of Dorchester or Lincoln, Siward of Rochester, Herfast of Elmham, Hermann of Sherborne, Gisa of Wells.^ 7. Soon after the consecration of the new Primate, Thomas, elect of York, arrived at Canterbury for consecra- tion. Lanfranc, no doubt fully informed of the mind of the Pope in the matter, demanded of him a written profession of obedience to the See of Canterbury. Thomas replied that he would not do this unless he saw ancient authorities for it, and heard arguments to convince him that he could do it without prejudice to his church. Lanfranc, in his account of the matter, attributes this to ignorance on the part of Thomas, and to inexperience of the customs of Eng- land. But Thomas was no doubt well aware of the arrange- ment of St. Gregory, and also that it could not be shown from English custom that the northern Primate had always professed obedience to the southern. Thomas therefore went away unconsecrated. The king now thought it necessary to interpose. He held that Lanfranc was asking too much. Thomas also was a man well learned and of great knowledge. But Lanfranc was able to convince AVilliam that he had right and authority on his side, and Thomas was required to give a written profession of obedience, A sort of compromise was, however, allowed. No Archbishop of York was to be obliged to promise obedience to the See of Canterbury in future, unless a com- petent council should in the meantime decide that it was to be so. On these conditions Thomas was consecrated.^ 8. Lanfranc, after his consecration, was recpiired, as a dutiful son of the Papal See, to go to Rome for the pal- lium of Metropolitan. He took with him Thomas, the newly consecrated Archbishop of York, and Remigius, bishop of Dorchester and Lincoln. Both of these needed the papal dispensing power. Thomas was the son of a priest, and hence was considered to have canonical unfit- 1 Willelm. ]\Ialmcsb., Dc Gcst. Pont, pp. 37, sq. (ed. Hamilton); Flor. Wig., ii. 7 ; Lanfranci Einstolca (ed. Giles), i. 19, 20. 2 Willclm. Malraesb. {ex. Ep. Lanfranci), p. 39. Freeman, iv. 350, sq. 1066-1078.] IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 163 ness for the ministerial office. Remigius had notoriously aided William by providing a ship and men-at-arms, on the understanding that he was to have a bishopric. He thus might be regarded as tainted with simony. Lanfranc was received with all honour by Pope Alexander. To the astonishment of all in the Eoman Court, the Pope rose up as he entered ; and, anticipating his prostration with an affectionate embrace, said, " We honour you not on account of your archbishopric, but as our old master, to whom we owe all we know — nevertheless, St. Peter must have his due reverence." Then Lanfranc prostrated himself before him, but was at once raised up and kissed, and made to sit by his side. The day was passed in pleasant discourse. On the morrow Lanfranc formally accused Thomas of being the son of a priest, and Remigius of having bought his See. The two prelates resigned their staves and rings, and prayed for a merciful consideration. Lanfranc declared them to be men of worth, and most useful to the king, and supported their prayer. Upon this the Pope said, " Look you, you are the father of that country ; do you decide what is best to be done. Here are the pastoral staves, take them and use them as you hold best." Then Lanfranc, taking the staves, restored them to the two bishops.^ He himself was gratified by the present not only of the ordinary pallium of Metropolitan, but also of another which the Pope himself was wont to use in saying mass. Then Thomas brought the question of the relative rights of Canterbury and York before the Pope. He claimed an independent primacy for York, and as suffragans of the See the bishops of Dorchester and Lincoln, AVorcester and Lichfield. He cpioted the letter of St, Gregory, which declared the two Sees equal, the priority of the prelates to be determined by date of consecration, and he asserted that the three bishops named had always been suliject to his predecessors.^ Lanfranc replied that the constitution of St. Gregory did not apply ^ Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 6, 7 (ed. Seklen) ; "Willelm. Malniesb., p. 65. 2 This was altogctlici- a mistake, but tlicrc liaJ been sufficient complications in the history of the Mercian bishopries to make the contention phiusiblc. 164. FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xi. to Canterbury, but to London and York.^ He also denied the assertion as to the three Mercian Sees. The Pope very wisely ordered the whole question to be examined and decided in England. ^ 9. Accordingly, at the Easter following (1072), the cause was discussed at Winchester, and the prelates brought forth their pleadings. Lanfranc caused the History of Bede to be read, showing how Canterbury was originally the Primatial See, and then quoted a long series of papal letters, all confirming and strengthening this position of Canterbury. The Archbishop of York contended that Gregory had given precedence merely to Augustine per- sonally, that he had never assigned any primacy to the See of Canterbury, but had desired the southern primacy to be at London. To this Lanfranc replied that, in giving the primacy to Augustine, Gregory gave it also to his successors, even as Christ, in giving the primacy to Peter, gave it to his successors. This sophistical argument appears to have had some weight attached to it. " Thomas," says the chronicler, "succumbed to such great reasons." The primacy of Canterbury was decreed, and the Humber was to be the division of the two jurisdictions. The matter was finally decided in this sense at a council held at Wihdsor at Whit- suntide (1072),^ which appears to have been a purely ecclesiastical assembly, sitting probably concurrently with ^ St. Gregory had given Canterbury the primacy during the life of Augustine. Afterwards he decreed tliat York and London Avere to be the two primatial Sees, each with twelve suffragans, seniority giving the precedence. The arrangement never having been carried out, did not now appl)^ 2 Willelm. Malmesb. {Ex. Ep. Lav f rand), pp. 41-65. 3 For the full account see Lanfranc's letter to the Pope, quoted in "Willelm. Malmesb., Be Gest. Pontif., 41-65 (ed. Hamilton) ; and the same writer, De Gest. Reg. , p. 66 (ed. Saville). Mr. Freeman says that the council at Winchester was purely ecclesiastical ; that at Windsor the general Gemot, and therefore partly lay (iv. 358 and notes). I venture with much diffidence to differ from this view. Lanfranc {Ep. 23) speaks of the Winchester Council as having the lay element. William of Malraesbury says of the Windsor Council that it Avas com- posed of "the king, the bishops, and abbots of divers orders. " The matter would therefore appear to have been terminated by the spirituality alone. 1066-1078.] IX THE EXGLISII CHURCH. 165 the Gemot. At the same council the important matter of the precedence of the bishops in council was settled — Canterbury was to preside, York was to sit at his right hand, next to him was to be AYinchester, and on the left of Canterbury, London. If York, in the absence of Canter- bury, presided, London Avas to be on his right, Winchester on his left. The rest of the bishops in the order of their consecration.^ 10. With the settlement of this dispute, the Church of England may be regarded as having fairly entered on the new phase and condition of things brought about by the Conquest. The foreign prelates who had been intro- duced into English Sees brought to them, for the most part, an increase of vigour, energy, and power. Everywhere cathedral churches, conceived with a grandeur of design, and executed with a solidity and beauty of detail unknown before in England, began to arise. At Canterbury Lan- franc rebuilt in seven years, with splendid magnificence,^ the Metropolitan church, which had been destroyed by fire just at the period of the Conquest. The church of York w\as rebuilt by Archbishop Thomas. St. Paul's was begun by Bishop Maurice on a scale of vast splendour. Walkeline at Winchester raised a grand minster, much of which still remains untouched. Gundulf rebuilt Rochester, AYulfstan Worcester ; while at Lincoln, on a new site, and in a newly chosen place for the cathedral of his diocese, the Norman Eemigius raised a splendid pile, which on its completion was held to be inferior to none in England. 11. The change of the place of his See from Dorchester to Lincoln ^ by Remigius, was probably the first of those transfers of Sees in this reign which marked the increase of vigour in the Church as much as the rebuilding of the cathedral churches did. In the reign of Edward a change of this sort had taken place in the removal of the western See to Exeter, and at an earlier period in that of Lindis- farne to Durham. But now this policy was generally 1 Willelm. Malmesb., Be Gcst. Reg., 67. 2 "Th'e building was enriched with every ornament known to the age." — Freeman. 3 See Henric. Huntingdon, Hist., p. 213 (cd. Saville). 1G6 FOPtEIGN INFLUENCE TPJUMrHAXT [chap, xi. adopted and sanctioned by the decree of a council. The charter granted to Eemigius for his new foundation recites that it was by the advice and authority of Alexander the Pope that he had transferred his See from Dorchester to Lincoln; and, as Alexander died early in 1073, it is prob- able that the removal had taken place before that date.^ A council was held at St. Paul's in 1075, when a canon was enacted as follows: — "According to the decrees of Pope Damasus and Leo, and the Councils of Sardica and Lao- dicea, it is granted by royal favour and the authority of the Synod to three bishops to remove from villages to cities — that is, Hermann from Sherborne to Salisbury, Stigand from Selsey to Chichester, and Peter from Lichfield to Chester."^ Other changes of a similar character followed later in the reign. Elmham, the East Anglian See, was removed to Thetford in 1078, and afterwards in 1101 to Norwich. Wells in 1088 ceased for a time to be the cathedral of the Somersetshire bishopric, and Bath was adopted in its place. 12. At the Council held by Lanfranc at Winchester in 1076, a very important matter touching the clergy was treated. Clerical celibacy was now being earnestly pressed by the great Pope who governed at Eome, and in 1074 a Eoman Council had absolutely prohibited the mar- riage of the clergy. Lanfranc was now to consider how far this law could be applied to the English Church, in which clerical matrimony had never ceased to be an ordi- nary practice. Accordingly, at Winchester, a canon was enacted, which draws a distinction between the capitular and the secular clergy. It prohibits matrimony absolutely 1 Both Mr. Freeman and Mr, Stubbs, however, put it in 1085, But the fact of the transference not being mentioned in the Council of London, 1075, seems to imply that it had taken place. Eemigius, also, signs the acts of that council as Episcopus Lincolniensis. There seems, therefore, to be some good ground for the earlier date. Mr. Dimock (Giraldus Cambrensis, vii, 19) adopts the date of 1072, on the ground that the transference was ordered in the Windsor Council of 1072, together with other Sees ; but in the London Council,'where the other Sees are again mentioned, Dorchester and Lincoln are not mentioned. ^ Johnson, Encj. Canons, ii. 14. 10G6-1078.] IX THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 1G7 to the former, to tlie latter it forbids it for the time to come, allowing, however, the priests already married to continue living with their wives.^ This, as has been well observed, although doubtless a politic compromise, never- theless " amounted to giving up the point as a matter of principle. For if, as Hildebrand taught, no saving grace could be bestowed by the ministrations of a married priest, a large part of the people of England w^ere doomed to go without valid sacraments for years to come." ^ As a matter of fact, the canon was never strictly observed in England, though its enactment and the repeated attempts to prop it up in after councils involved a considerable amount of unhappy subterfuges, and no small scandal to the Church. Another canon of this Council forbade any marriage to take place without the priest's benediction, and another forbade all " supplantation of churches." This latter was intended to check an abuse beginning to be very pre- valent, by wdiich all churches which could not show an actual charter or written title to their estates were liable to be despoiled of them. As estates in earlier times had frequently been conveyed by word of mouth, or by giving a staff, and without any written document, this was a griev- ous hardship, and it was also productive of many dishonest practices on the part of the holders of the estates, the monks without scruple forging documents by which the attacks of their adversaries might be defeated.^ 1 3. At wdiat precise date the most important part of the ecclesiastical policy of this reign — the separation between the ecclesiastical and secular jurisdictions — was carried out, is uncertain, the charters not being dated. In the early English Church, as has abundantly appeared, there was no separation between ecclesiastical and secular causes, either as regards the persons who tried them or the places where they w^ere heard."* This was altogether ^ Jolmson, English Canons, ii. 18. 2 Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 425. 3 Johnson, English Canons, ii. 19. Mr. Johnson adds — "This was the cause of so many false deeds and charters as are everywhere to be found in the repositories of the antiquarians." ■* " The practice of separating ecclesiastical and temporal affairs liad 168 FOREIGN mFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xr. opposed to the policy of Pope Gregory, who sought to make the clearest possible distinction between the two, and under his directions probably Lanfranc exerted his influence upon the king to induce him to efi'ect this. It is certain that William had no intention of allowing spiritual causes to be altogether removed from the con- trolling power of the Crown, but he consented to order a separation between them and lay suits in the first instance. This was done by the promulgation of two charters — one addressed to " the liege men of Essex, Hertford, and Middlesex ; " the other, " to the Earls, Sheriffs, and all other persons, whether French born or English, within the bishopric of Remigius." The substance of the charter is the same in both cases. It runs as follows : — "Know ye and all my liege men in England that I have determined that the episcopal laws, which up to my time have not been right, nor according to the precepts of the sacred canons in the kingdom of the English, should be mended by a com- mon council, and by the advice of my archbishops, bishops, abbots, and all the principal men of my kingdom. Where- fore I command and charge you, by royal authority, that no bishop nor archdeacon do hereafter hold pleas in the Hundred, according to the laws episcopal, nor bring any cause before the secular jurisdiction which concerns the regimen of souls. But whoever is impleaded by the laws episcopal for any causes or crime, let him come to the place which the bishop shall choose or name for this purpose, and there make answer concerning his cause and crime, and not according to the Hundred, but according to the canons and the laws episcopal let him do right to God and his bishop. But if any one, being lifted up with pride, scorn or refuse to come to the bishop's court, let him be summoned three several times ; and if by this means he be not brought to amend, let him be excommunicated, and, if need be, for the support of this, let the strength and justice of the king and sherifl" be used ; and he who upon summons refuses to come to the episcopal court shall make satisfaction for every summons according to the laws episcopal. This also even been solemnly condemned by a formal decree of a national Gemot." — Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 392. 10GC-107S.] IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 1G9 I absolutely forbid, that any sheriff, provost, minister of the king, or any other layman, do any ways concern himself with the laws which belong to the bishop, and let no lay- man bring another man to judgment without the sentence of the bishop ; and let judgment be nowhere undergone but in the bishop's See, or in that place which the bishop shall appoint for that purpose." ^ 14. It is hardly probable that an ordinance of this importance, setting forth, as it did, a complete change in the constitution of the country, and involving the most serious issues, should have been delayed so late in AVilliam's reign as 1285.^ It is probably to be placed much earlier than this. " The change," says Mr. Stubbs, '' involved far more than appeared at first. The growth of the canon law in the succeeding century from a quantity of detached local or occasional rules to a great body of universal authorita- tive jurisprudence gave to the clergy generally a far more distinctive and definite civil status than they had ever possessed before, and drew into Church courts a mass of business with which the Church had previously had only an indirect connection. , . . The clergy found themselves in a position external, if they chose to regard it so, to the common law of the land ; able to claim exemption from the temporal tribunals, and by appeals to Eome to paralyse the regular jurisdiction of the diocesans. Disorder followed disorder, and the anarchy of Stephen's reign, in which every secular abuse was paralleled or reflected in an eccle- siastical one, prepared the way for the Constitutions of Clarendon and the struggle that followed, with all its results, down to the Eeformation itself." ^ 15. The great increase in power which the Church gained by the separation of the two jurisdictions was com- pensated for under William by his vigorous assertion of the royal supremacy inherent in the Crown of England, and used by him in its true and fitting character as a check to the encroachments of the Pope. The right of investiture of spiritual persons in the privileges of their office was 1 Stubbs, Select Charters, p. 81. 2 This is the date conjectured by Sir II, Spelman, and accepted by Julmsou. ^ Stubbs, Constit. Ilist.y i. 28i. 170 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xi. always practised by William without question from the Pope. When Gregory demanded homage of him for the realm of England, he simply refused it on the ground that his predecessors had never paid it to the Pope's pre- decessors.^ His other relations with the Pope are described by the historian Eadmer as follows : — " He Avas not willing to suffer any one in all his dominions to receive any actual pontiff of the Eoman city as the apostolical pontiff except by his orders, or to accept his letters unless they had first been shown to himself The Primate of his kingdom — I mean the Archbishop of Canterbury — when he presided at a general assembly of bishops, he did not allow to command or prohibit anything except such matters as were in accord- ance with his will, and had been first settled by himself To none of his bishops did he give liberty to sue any of his barons or officers, if accused of incest or adultery, or any capital crime, or to pronounce excommunication upon them, or any ecclesiastical penalty, except by his orders." ^ The ecclesiastical supremacy, therefore, claimed and exercised by William I., even exceeded that wdiich Avas exercised by Henry VIII., as this latter monarch never asserted a right to stay excommunications or purely Church censures.^ 16. The same spirit of independence towards Eome exhibited by William was also in a measure shown by Archbishop Lanfranc. He was rebuked by Pope Gregory for not having brought the king to a better mind. He answered that he had indeed advised him differently, but had not persuaded him. The King's letters to the Pope, he says, have explained the reason. This was something like taking William's part as against the Pope. Accordingly Gregory's tone towards the English Primate becomes very severe. He is rebuked for not coming to Pome and pre- senting himself at the threshold of the Apostles, and is distinctly threatened with being suspended from his epis- copal office if he does not appear within four months. 1 E^)}'). Lanfranci, 10. Eadmer (ed. Selden), p. 104. 2 Eadmer (ed. Selden), p. 6. 3 "There was no time when the royal supremacy in matters eccle- fciastical was more fully carried out than it was in the days of the Conqueror." — Freeman, iv. 437. 1066-107S.] IX THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 171 There is no record tliat Lanfranc obeyed this curt injunc- tion, and certainly Gregory never proceeded to inflict suspension upon him.^ 17. On one point of ecclesiastical policy Lanfranc was zealous to carry out the papal policy. In the history of the English Church before the Concpiest, various attempts had been made to give efifect to the views of Dunstan, by connecting all the cathedral churches with monasteries, and making the monks constitute the chapter ; in which case the bishops as elected by the chapters would of course be regulars. This policy was only partially suc- cessful before the Conquest. More than half of the chapters continued to be composed of secular canons,^ and the efforts that had been made to bring these canons under the rule of Chrodegand or Augustine had failed. It would seem that William was in favour of the arrange- o ment of secular canons, as he allowed the new foundation of Eemigius to be thus constituted. Indeed, Eadmer asserts that not only the bishops who were not regulars, but also the king and the chief men of the kingdom were of that opinion. They desired to get rid of the monks from Canterbury, and Walkeline, bishop of Winchester, had prepared a body of canons to supplant the monks at St. Swithun's.^ But Lanfranc stood firm, and having obtained a letter from Pope Alexander strongly supporting him in his policy, he was able to frustrate the attempt to remove the monks from Canterbury,"* to oblige Eishop Walkeline to give up his project for Winchester, and to ^ See tlie letters of Gregory, printed in Labbe, Condi., v. xii. One chief reason why Lanfranc was thus peremptorily summoned to Rome, was to meet Berengar of Tours, whose cause Gregory had taken up. The Pope publicly declared that Berengar was ''much more diligent than Lanfranc iu the study of the Scriptures." See Martene, vol. iv. 109. ^ At the time of the Conquest, York, London, Hereford, Selsey, "Wells, Exeter, Rochester, Lichfield, Dorchester, and Elmliam, were secular — Winchester, "Worcester, Sherborne, Durham, Canterbury, monastic. ^ Eadmer, Hist. Kov. (ed, Selden), p. 10. * For the curious mixed history of the Chapter of Canterbuiy, see Mr. Stubbs's Preface to Epp, Cantuar., pp. xxiii.-xxv. 172 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TRIUMPHANT [chap. xr. enable Gundiilf to substitute monks for canons at Rochester. The cathedrals thus continued to be divided nearly equally between the two systems. 18. The energy of the prelates of the period of the Conquest was not confined to church-building and external work. Zeal and earnestness may be observed in the work both of the bishops of the English race who were allowed to remain, and in the new-comers. The honour of the English bishops was well sustained by St. Wulfstan at Worcester, who has left behind him a name second to none of the prelates of that era.^ The attempt to eject him from his See, on the ground of ignorance, altogether failed, for his life was so holy, and his character so high, that this for very shame could not be entertained.^ The good English prelate was therefore allowed to con- tinue his work. This work consisted not only in the rebuilding of his cathedral, and the vigorous government of his clergy,^ but in an earnest attempt to get rid of the great scandal of his age and country by the abolition of the slave trade between England and Ireland. The account given by William of Malmesbury, in his Life of St. Wulfstan, of this unholy traffic almost surpasses belief St. Wulfstan went to Bristol, then the head-quarters of the trade, and by his earnest and long -continued ex- hortations, induced the merchants in great measure to abandon it.'* 19. The fame of St. Osmund, bishop of Salisbur}^, rests upon a somewhat different foundation from that of St. Wulf- stan. He was pre-eminently a learned man, and skilled in all matters of ritual. William of Malmesbury says of him : "He brought together clerks from every quarter who were famous for letters, and by his liberal treatment of them, constrained them to remain with him. In his church more than anywhere else, was conspicuously seen 1 "In sanctitate iiostro srecnlo nominatissinius. " — Willelm. Malmesb., De Gest. Pont, p. 278. ^ lb., p. 285. 3 "In divino segnitiem nullo modopatiens si quis ministrorum vel temulentia vel somnolentia victus niatutinis non affuisset, acri ferulae ictu in ilium ulcisci." — Ih., 282. ** See Life of St. Wulfstan in Wharton's Anrjlia Sacra, vol. ii. 1066-1078.] IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 173 an illustrious body of canons, renowned equally for their powers of song and for their literature. An abundance of books was sought for and got together, the bishop himself not disdaining either to copy or to bind them when written." ^ To the ritual zeal of Bishop Osmund the Church of England owed an amended Breviary and Missal, which, under the name of the Sarum Use, became the most generally adopted of the English Service Books.2 20. At Lincoln, Eemigius, whose accession to his^See had involved somewhat of scandal, redeemed his fame by his liberal and generous charity, and his active labours as a preacher. A writer of his life tells us that " every summer, from May till August, besides his ordinary works of charity, he gave support to a thousand poor persons, and besides this fed and clothed a hundred and sixty, w^ho, being blind, lame, or sick, could not come to the general table. It was his wont to have with him at dinner every day thirteen poor persons, and every Saturday he was in the habit of celebrating a Maunday with the greatest humility. He founded a hospital for lepers at Lincoln, and for their support settled on it a rent of thirteen marks. These he frequently visited, comforted, and instructed. He found the flock committed to him steeped in horrible sins, accustomed to sell their own children into slavery, given to incest, adultery, and promiscuous fornication ; these by his preaching and instruction, actively carried on in all parts of his diocese, he ceased not to strive to bring to a better mind." ^ 21. But the zeal and earnestness to be traced at the time of the Conquest were coincident with an impairing of the nationality of the Church and with unjust oppression towards some of its prelates. Still less scruple was shown as regards the abbeys than had been shown to the Sees. 1 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gcst. Font., p. 184. ^ Brompton, writing about 1200, says of Bishop Osmund's Custom- book, which contained the offices, that it was used almost everywhere in England, "Wales, and Ireland. — Brompton, (ed. Twysden), 977. It was drawn up about 1085. Osmund is said to have been a relative of the Conqueror. ^ Giraldus, Vit(t Rcmigii, Op., vii. 17-20. 174 FOREIGN INFLUENCE TEIUMPHANT [chap. xi. Everywhere abbots of English race were deposed, and foreigners substituted in their room. These also were great builders, and many magnificent structures rose under their hands. ^ But, for the monks of English race, their rule was doubtless severe and harsh. In one notorious instance, in- deed, the tyranny of an abbot involved a wholesale massacre of the monks. At Glastonbury, Thurstan of Caen insisted on the monks giving up the use of the Gregorian chants, and adopting the use of William of Fescamp. They re- sisted, and the abbot, furious at their insubordination, called in armed soldiers and bade them shoot the refractory monks ; three were slain and eighteen wounded.^ At Malmesbury, Turold, intruded on the abbey on the expulsion of Brehtric, governed his monks with such strict military discipline that AVilliam transferred him to Peterborough, where he thought his military qualities might be more usefully emj)loyed in resisting Hereward and the English outlaws.^ But more galling to the monks, perhaps, than even the strict discipline, was the contempt poured by the new-comers on the saints of the English race. In some cases their tombs were opened and their bones scattered.* The Primate set the example of undervaluing English saints. He refused to acknowledge the merits of St. Elphege, sa^ang that he was slain for not paying a sum of money, and not for contending for the faith.^ This error he afterwards, indeed, abandoned, on the persuasion of St. Anselm ; but its origin indicates a con- temptuous tone of mind towards the worthies of the Eng- lish Church, which no doubt was the feeling prevalent among the Norman ecclesiastics.^ Thus the English clergy and monks had to bear not only the spoiling of their goods, but also the mortification of being undervalued and de- si3ised by the dominant race. It was scarce possible, in- ^ *' Ubiqiie nova monasteriormn sedilieia, siciit hodie apparet, con- strncta." — Eadmer, p. 7. ^ A.-S. Chronicle, ii. 185. 3 Willelm. Malmesb., Be Gest. Pontif. , p. 420. * Matt. Paris., GcsL Abb. S. Albani. ^ Eadmer, Vita Anselmi, p. 42 (ed. Selden). ^ Eadmer says : — " Angli isti inter quos degimns instituernnt sibi quosdam qiios colerent Sanctos. De sanctitatis eorum merito animiim a duLietate fleet ere nequeo." 1066-1078.] IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH. 175 deed, that it should be otherwise. But if these temporary inconveniences and troubles ushered in the beginnings of a higher life and greater earnestness in the Church, they certainly have some compensation, at least in the judgment of posterity. 176 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xii. CHAPTER XII. CONTEST BETWEEN THE LAY AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. 1087-1107. 1. An organised system of simony. 2. Anselm comes to England. 3. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. 4. Negotiations with the King, and consecration. 5. Beginning of quarrel with William. 6. Ecclesiastical business at Hastings in 1094. 7. Council of Rocking- ham ; Anselm outlawed. 8. The King obtains the pall from the Pope. 9. Anselm goes to Rome. 10. Consecration of the first Bishop of Waterford. 11. Confiscation of Church revenues. 12. Anselm returns to England. 13. Has to face the custom of lay investiture of prelates. 14. Progress of the dispute ; counter-statements of the Envoys. 15. The Council of Westminster (1102). 16. The prelates- elect converted to Anselm's views. 17. Anselm again at Rome ; Henry seizes the Canterbury estates. 18. Mischievous eff"ects of Anselm's absence from his See. 19. Exactions from the clergy by the King. 20. Settlement of the investiture dispute. 21. Nature of the compromise. 1. On the death (5f William I. and the accession of his son the Church of England had to contend against a new class of enemies and a new sort of dangers. However harshly and unjustly William I. may have sometimes acted towards Churchmen, there is no reason to question the truth of his own assertion, made at his death, that he had never sold Church offices for money. It is true that the reward given to Eemigius for substantial service, according to a previous compact, had much the same character ; but, at any rate, a decent veil was thrown over simony ; it was neither openly exhibited nor encouraged.^ On the accession of William II. all this -was changed. By a systematic and acknowdedged arrangement introduced by a clerk named Ralph Flambard, who was appointed the king's Justiciary, all Church prefer- ^ Ordericus Vitalis says of him — "The heresy of simony he utterly abhorred, and in choosing bishops and abbots he considered not so much men's riches or power as their holiness and Avisdom," 10S7-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL TOWERS. 177 ments were openly administered for the benefit of the royal revenue. AVhenever a prelate or beneficed clerk died, the royal officers at once took seisin of the benefice, and re- ceived the profits for the Crown, until such time as a clerk could be found who would pay to the royal exchequer the price at which the preferment was valued. This system was not fully carried out during the lifetime of Lanfranc, of whom the king stood in some little awe ; but at his death in 1089, not only the estates of the primatial See, but the whole of the ecclesiastical estates of England, were deli- berately treated as the property of the Crown, to be granted out on a sort of feudal tenure to occupants who would pay a sufficient honorarium, or else to be held continuously for the use of the king. By this arrangement not only was the most grievous injustice and robbery continually perpetrated by the State, but the whole of the clergy of England were encouraged and almost compelled to taint themselves with simony.^ A rapid deterioration of the character of the clergy and of the condition of the Church followed neces- sarily upon such a state of things as this. The open and scoffing profligacy and contempt for religion exhibited by the king and his minions contributed an evil influence, and Christianity seemed in danger of perishing out of the land, when one was raised up whose work had a mighty influence in staying the progress of evil and upholding truth and righteousness. 2. This man, whose influence was destined to be so valuable for the English Church, was Anselm, abbot of Bee. A native by birth of the subalpine town of Aosta, he had crossed the Alps and been attracted to the Norman abbey of Bee by the fame of Lanfranc's teaching. AVhen Lanfranc was removed to Caen he succeeded him as prior, and in 1078 he became abbot of Bee, and in that same year paid a visit to England, where the Norman abbey had been endowed with divers estates. " With a larger heart than the Normans," says his biographer, " he warmed towards the English with something of the love and ^ Willelm. ]\ralmesb. , Be Gest. Reg. , p. 69 J (ed. Saville) ; Ordericus Vitalis, B. x. ch. 2. On the systematic character of the scheme of Ralph Flambard, see Stubbs, Comt. Hist., i. 298. N 178 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap xii. sympathy which had filled the soul of the great Eoman Pope who had sent us St. Augustine." ^ Anselm's visits to England were repeated several times after this, and in 1092, when the church and lands of Canterbury had been for long years in the hands of the notorious Ealph Flam- bard, and men Avere weary and sick of the unrighteous practices and scandalous oppressions by which the Church was being degraded, Hugh, Earl of Chester, prevailed with much difficulty on the famous abbot to make another visit to the suffering land. The general feeling as to the iniquity of keeping the Church without an archbishop was so strong that, at the meeting of the Court at Gloucester at Christ- mas 1092, it was determined among the nobles to ask the king's leave that in all the churches prayers might be said that God would incline the heart of the king to make an appointment.^ Anselm was desired to draw up a form of prayer. With great reluctance he consented. The king, who had given a mocking consent to the request of the nobles, exclaimed — " The Church may pray as much as it likes ; I shall, nevertheless, do just as I please." On some one suggesting to him the holiness of Anselm, who had arranged the prayers, and saying he loved nothing but God — " Except," said Rufus, " the archbishopric of Can- terbury." The other replied that he did not think that he in any way desired this. " He would run to it dancing and clapping his hands," said the king; "but by the holy face of Lucca, neither he nor any one else shall be archbishop at this time except myself." ^ 3. But from this defiant and blasphemous tone the sharp touch of dangerous illness caused the hardened king to recede. At the beginning of Lent William was lying sick at Gloucester, and, believing his end to be approaching, desired Anselm to be sent for to minister to him. The good abbot, who was haj^pily staying near, at once came, and exhorted the king to confession and amend- ment of life. Eufus, under the influence of compunction, ordered the prisoners to be discharged from the dungeons, 1 Church, Life of St. Anselm, p. 90. 2 " Quod posteris mimm dicta fortasse videbitur." — Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 15. ^ Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 15, 16. 10S7-1107.] LAY AND Sl'IRITUAL TOWERS. 179 promised to fill up the vacant clmrclies, and undertook, if spared, to lead a good life for the future, and to govern with justice and mercy. Those who were around him, delighted with the salutary change, besought him at once to give evidence of its reality by appointing an Archbishop of Canterbury. Kufus consented, and very naturally nominated the abbot Anselm. All were rejoiced, but Anselm himself shrank from the honour with unfeigned and overpowering dismay, and it was at length almost by force that he was brought to yield. ^ The king freely pro- mised him everything, but when he was restored to health all his promises were forgotten. Nay, as though in anger against himself for having Aveakly yielded for a moment, Rufus strove to make the state of things in England worse than it was before ; ^ and when exhorted by a well-meaning prelate to be warned by his illness to have more care for God in the future, " Know, 0 bishop," he replied, " that God shall never have any goodness from me on account of the evil which He has inflicted on me." 4. The king being in this temper, it was absolutely necessary that Anselm should have some definite under- standing with him with regard to the possessions of the See of Canterbury, before he could consent to undertake the oihce of archbishop. At an interview with him he demanded first that all the lands held by Lanfranc should be made over to him ; secondly, that those which had been granted away before Lanfranc's time should be restored if the claim to them could be established ; thirdly, that the king should act by his advice in spiritual matters ; and lastly, that he should recognise Urban as Pope and not Clement. To the first of these demands Rufus agreed ; to the others he would say nothing. Afterwards, at Windsor, he begged of ^ Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 17, 18, gives a long accouut of the struggles of Anselm, which, knowing as he did what Rufus was, we may well believe to be sincere. On the same day on which Rufus appointed Anselm he also nominated Robert Bloet to the See of Lincoln. He was not consecrated till 1094. 2 Eadmer, p. 19. " Omne malum quod rex fecerat, priusquam infirmatus fuerat, bonum visum est comparatione malorum quai fecit ubi est sanitati redonatus." 180 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xii. Anselm not to press his claim to estates that had been alienated since Lanfranc's death for military service. To this request to him to consent to the spoliation of the See Anselm refused to listen, and determined, rather than yield to it, to refuse consecration. Then a great clamour was raised by the chief men of the State at the prospect of a still continuing vacancy of the Primacy. The king at length yielded, and at Winchester, before the Council of the land, Anselm was made the king's man for the whole archbishopric as Lanfranc had held it. On the 5 th of September Anselm was received at Canterbury with the greatest demonstrations of joy ; but on the very day on which he was enthroned in the archbishop's seat Ealph Flambard appeared, and commenced a suit against him^ on the part of the king. This was enough to cast a damp on the general joy, and was a sad presage of the future. On De- cember 4, 1093, Anselm was consecrated by the Archbishop of York, all the bishops of England except Worcester and Exeter taking part in the ceremony. When Walkeline, bishop of Winchester read the Act of Election, the church of Canterbury was found to be described therein as toiius Angl'm MetrojwUtana. To this Archbishop Thomas ob- jected, saying that these words altogether took away his rights, and the reasonableness of the objection being ad- mitted, the word Metropolitana was changed to Primas, and under this character the consecration went forward.^ 5. Anselm was no sooner consecrated than he was involved in bitter quarrels with the king. William wanted money for his war in Normandy, and the Primate was not willing to give what would seem like a simoniacal payment for his See. He offered, indeed, five hundred marks, but this was despised as insufficient, and Anselm then dis- tributed it among the poor. To the archbishop's earnest request that William would summon a Council to devise some means for checking the fearful licentiousness of the period, and would nominate to the vacant abbacies, a con- temptuous refusal was returned. William was waiting at 1 "Placitum contra eum instituit." — Eadmer. The suit was pro- bably against some of the archbishop's tenants for arrears. 2 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 19-21 (ed. Seklen). 1087-1107.] LAY AND SriRITUAL POWERS. 181 Hastings for a fair wind to pass into Normandy, and all the bishops were with him to help him with their prayers. The king expressed his bitter hatred of the Primate, and desired him to depart. This Anselm at length did, hopeless as he must have been of obtaining any good thing from such a monarch.^ 6. During the assembly of the bishops at Hastings in 1094, while the king was waiting for a fair wind, several pieces of ecclesiastical business were transacted. Before Anselm had departed in sorrow and indignation, he and his suffragan bishops (February 11) solemnly dedicated the church of the abbey which the Conciueror had vowed as a thank-offering to St. Martin if he should obtain the victory over Harold. Various difficulties had delayed the finishing of the abbey for some twenty years after its com- mencement,^ and he who had vowed it was not allowed to witness the completion of his work. Its consecration is important in English Church history, because of the exemption from episcopal control which was granted to it. Battle Abbey became thus the first of the English monasteries wdiich introduced the evil custom of exemptions, a custom which tended more than anything else to the overthrow of monasticism in the land. On the day follow- ing the consecration of the church dedicated to St. Martin,^ Eobert Bloet, the king's Chancellor, was consecrated to the bishopric of Lincoln. Bloet had been nominated by the king to the See of Lincoln, which had then been vacant nearly a year, at the same time that Anselm was nominated to Canterbury ; but the Archbishop of York, secretly encouraged thereto by the king, revived his claims over the See of Lincoln ;* and not until Bloet had given a large bribe to the king'^ would he force the northern Primate to 1 Eadmer, pp. 23, 24. ^ gee Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv. 407. ^ See Mr. Dimock's note to Giraldus Cambrensis, vii. 31. ^ Henric. Huntingdon, Hist, f. 213 h (ed. Saville). It appears that the claims of York against Lincoln were twofold. The archbishop churned parts of Lindsey as belonging to his diocese, and the wliolc See as a suffragan See of his province. ^ Stubbs, Act. Foniif. Ehor., p. 1708 (ed. Twysdcn), says one thousand pounds ; Henry of Huntingdon, f. 213 (ed. Saville), live thousand. ] 82 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xii. yield his claim. The consecration was performed in the "church of St. Mary, which is within the castle itself"^ At the same time and place also, a singular transaction took place. Herbert de Losinga, bishop of Thetford, was arraigned for an attempt to go beyond seas to Pope Urban, in order to obtain absolution for simony. He had bought for himself the See of Thetford, and for his father the abbey of Hyde at Winchester. This would suffice to embitter Anselm against him. The king, on the other hand, who had received a thousand pounds for the trans- action,^ had no mind to have his dealings denounced at Rome, neither had he as yet made up his mind to recognise Urban as Pope. The unfortunate bishop, therefore, had both King and Primate against him, and was deprived of his pastoral staff. 7. On the return of "William from Normandy, the quarrel between him and the Primate was renewed. Anselm desired to be alloAved to go to Rome for the pall, but when he declared that he intended to demand it of Pope Urban, the king would not consent. This Pope, he said, had not as yet been recognised by him ;'^ and it was the undoubted prerogative of the king to settle, in the case of a disputed election, who was to be accepted as Pope. Anselm maintained that he could recognise no other as Pope, that he had already recognised Pope Urban. He demanded that the Council of the English prelates and nobles should be assembled to settle this important question. A meeting of the great Council of the nation was accord- ingly held at Rockingham, on Mid-Lent Sunday (March 11, 1095). Anselm made a speech to the Assembly. He explained the point of difference between himself and the king, and declared that he had already recognised Urban 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 23. 2 Roger de Hoveden, i. 148 (ed. Stubbs) ; Florent. Wigorn., ii. 33. ■\Villiam of Malmesbnry {De Gest. Pontif., p. 151) calls Losinga "Magnus in Anglia simonise fomes ;" but he does not sliow him to Lave been worse than other prelates of his day. Farther on he tells us that he was penitent, that he received back his staff and became a good bishop, and builder of his cathedral. 3 Eadmer, p. 25. 1087-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL TOWERS. 183 when abbot of Bee, and could not now witlidraw liis recognition.^ The king, however, would not acknowledge Urban, and how was he, the archbishop, to combine lo)^alty to the Pope with obedience to the king 1 He desired the counsel of the bishops. The bishops' advice was that he should not attempt to run counter to the king. " Give up," they said, " this Urban, who can never be any advan- tage to you, cast away the yoke of servitude, and asserting your freedom as becomes an Archbishop of Canterbury, be ready to follow the king's directions." Anselm replied that he could never renounce Urban. His reply was carried to the king by William de St. Carileph, bishop of Durham, who acted as the spokesman of the bishops, and the chief supporter of the king. In return, the archbishop was informed that by thus creating a Pope of his own in op- position to the Crown, he was, in fact, guilty of treason. He demanded that this charge against him should be brought to the proof, and declared that he was ready to defend himself. But the bishops were not disposed to constitute themselves judges of their Primate, and the nobles showed rather a disposition to support him. The king then, having made the bishops formally renounce all obedience to the Primate, declared him outlawed, and swore that from henceforth he could never hold him for archbishop or spiritual father.^ 8. Being thus put out of the protection of the laws, Anselm desired to be allowed to leave the country, but this was denied to him. The king, changing his tactics, instead of attacking him for recognising Urban, whom he had not himself acknowledged, now recognised and heavily bribed Urban, obtaining by this means the despatch of the pall by the hands of a papal Legate for himself to bestow upon the archbishop if he w^ould submit to his will. He attempted, indeed, to obtain from the Pope the deposition of Anselm, but this he could not obtain. Having now the pall in his hands, the king endeavoured to exact from the Primate the pay- * Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 26. The fullest account of these trans- actions is to be found in Eadmer, who was present at the Council. 2 Eadmer, HisL Nov., 26-31. 184 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xri. ment of a sum of money as its price. Anselm refused.^ At any rate Anselm would sue to him for the gift of the pall. In this too Anselm was resolute. It was a papal gift and privilege, he could not take it from the king. Thus baffled at all points, the king yielded. The pall was laid on the altar of the church of Canterbury, and from thence was taken by Anselm and assumed with great devotion. 2 The king resented his defeat bitterly. Anselm's chief opponent, William de St. Carileph, bishop of Durham, being regarded by Rufus as having failed, was made to experience such cruel ill-usage from him that it hastened his death. ^ The bishops who had taken so strong a part against the Primate now desired to be reconciled to him, and he exhibited no angry feelings towards them. He had throughout contended for right and principle, and though his claim to recognise a Pope whom his sovereign and Church had not recognised may be held to be of doubtful justice,* yet in the real ground of William's hostility to him — his refusal to pay money for his appoint- ment and privileges — all must sympathise with Anselm. 9. After a short lull the quarrel between the king and archbishop broke out again ; and, as before, the cause of it was the question of money. Anselm had indeed readily furnished his contingent of the sum raised to pay the mortgage of Normandy to William, while his brother Eobert went on the Crusade. He had even taken the strong measure of borrowing part of the sum required from the treasure of the church of Canterbury.^ But the men whom ^ " Negavit se quicquam propter hoc daturnm quia parvi aestimaret beneficium cujus amplitudineni ipsi tanti penderent." — Willelm. Malmesb., Be Gest Pont, p. 90. 2 June 10, 1095. Eadmer, Hist Nov., 31-31 ; Flor. Wigorn., ii. 37; Willelm. Malmesb., De Gest. Pontif., 86-91. 3 See Notes and Illustrations to this Chapter. * England generally inclined towards the Antipope. " In Guiber- tum pro metii regis inclinatior. " — AVillehn. Malmesb. *' It was a fair question to men with the inherited convictions of the religion of that age. The claim which William maintained had come down to him from his father, who had insisted on it resolutel}'-, with Lanfranc's sanction or acquiescence, even against Gregory VII." — Church, Life of St. Anselm, p. 199. s Eadmer, p. 35. 1087-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. 185 he had furnished to the king for his Welsh expedition had been insufficiently equipped, and a sum was demanded of the archbishop for compensation. Anselm's reply was a request for leave to go to Rome. It does not appear that there was any special reason for this request, except that the archbishop desired to get out of the way of the royal exactions.^ The bishops remonstrated against it, and the king refused his permission. But Anselm persisted in demanding leave, and at length he was allowed to depart, but without a formal sanction for his going ; and, in fact, at the last moment he was subjected to the indignity of having his goods searched to see if he was carrying away any of the king's treasure. For nearly three years Anselm continued uselessly hanging about the papal court, or living in Italian monasteries. He was courted and caressed by the Pope, styled alterius orbis FcqM,^ but he got no substantial help, and so he wasted his time until the death of King William. This betaking himself to Rome when things went against him was hardly worthy of the bold stand which the archbishop had before made against simoniacal exactions, and was the beginning of that miser- able system of papal appeals which more than anything else inflicted deadly injury on the Church of England.^ 10. Before Anselm left England for his long foreign sojourn he had taken part in an important episcopal act connected with the Church of Ireland. In 1096 AYaterford was erected into a See, and Murtach the king, Donald bishop of Dublin, and Dermot the king's brother, together with the clergy and people of Waterford, addressed a letter ^ Henry of Huntingdon says lie went "quia nihil recti rex prarus in regno suo fieri permittebat." — f. 216 (ed. Saville). 2 Willelm. Malmesb., JDe Gest. Pontif., p. 100. This was said at the Council of Bari, when Anselm was specially called upon by the Pope to argue against the Greek doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Spirit. ^ "And thus began that system of appeals to Rome, and of inviting foreign interference in our home concerns, which grew to sucli a mischievous and scandalous height, and Anselm was the beginner of it." — Church's Anselm, p. 223. The details of Anselm's foreign sojourn are given at much length in Eadmer, Hlsf. Nov., b. ii., and William of Malmesbury, Dc Gcst. Font., pp. 92-102 (cd. Hamilton). 186 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap, xii. to Ansel m, praying bim to consecrate as bishop of the neAv See Malcliiis, a monk of the monastery of Winchester. Ansehn, after having examined the bishop-elect and found him competent, complied with their request, and conse- crated him at Canterbury, December 27, 1096, being assisted by Ralph, bishop of Chichester, and Gundulf, bishop of Rochester.^ 11. The archbishop having left his post, and the other bishops being without spirit or courage to resist the king's exactions, a most complete system of organised confiscation was adopted towards the Church revenues. Ralph Flam- bard, the great spoiler, who had shown singular dexterity in the work of robbing the Church, was advanced, after the death of William de St. Carileph, to be bishop of Durham, and the king appointed him " general impleader and exactor of the whole kingdom." ^ "By many and various ways," says the chronicler, " both before his eleva- tion to the episcopate and when bishop, did he afflict both small and great alike, and this he continued to do quite up to the death of the king, for on the very day on which the king was slain he held in his hands the revenues of the See of Canterbury and the Sees of Winchester and Salis- bury." ^ Such was the state of miserable spoliation and oppression from which the arrow shot by an unknown hand in the New Forest delivered the Church of England. 12. The great contest into which Anselm now entered with the Crown is distinctly connected with his presence at the Council held at the Lateran in Rome in the year 1099. At this the burning question between the Popes and the Emperors — that, namely, of lay investiture — was brought forward for discussion. The right claimed for the ruler of giving the ring and the crozier to the bishop, and thus making him " the man " of the emperor or king, found, as might be expected, little support in a council of eccle- ^ Eadnier, Hist. Nov., p. 36. The consecration of Archbishop Samuel to Dublin, said by some to have taken place previously to this, could not very well have been done at the time alleged, as it is Donald, not Samuel, who applies for the consecration of Malclius. 2 Flor. Wigorn., ii. 46. ^ 3 21)^ Besides eleven abbacies ; A.-S. Chron., ii. 204. 1087-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL TOWERS. 187 siastics. Excommunications and anathemas were freely- uttered against all those who gave and all those who accepted lay investiture. The clergy declared that it was " a thing too execrable that the hands which had been so highly honoured as to be allowed to do that which no angel could do, namely, to create God the Creator, and offer Him for the redemption of the world, should be degraded to become the servants of those hands which were polluted by obscenity or stained by rapines and the unjust shedding of blood." ^ A general shout of " Be it so! be it so!" was raised by the Council. Under the influ- ence of this excited feeling, and fully possessed with tlie strength of the papal views on the matter, Anselm returned to England on the invitation of the new sovereign, Henry I. (September 23, 1100). 13. Henry, a prince of great aliility, and anxious to strengthen his title, which, while his elder brother lived, was insecure, saw the absolute necessity of making some concessions to the Church as well as the State on his acces- sion. The policy of William, which had been established and systematised by Ralph Flambard, of obtaining for the king a regular revenue from Church benefices, was now deliberately abandoned. In the first article of his Charter of Liberties Henry declares — " I make the holy Church of God free. I will neither sell nor put to farm [its property]. I will not, when an archbishop, or bishop, or abbot dies, take anything from the domain of the Church, or from its men, until a successor enters upon it." ^ But there was no promise of giving up the Crown's right of appointment to ecclesiastical offices, and of investing the holders of them in their privileges and jurisdictions, so as to make them the king's men. Anselm, therefore, fresh from the violent enthusiasm of the Roman Council, was brought face to face with this claim, which was held in such utter abomination at Rome. He himself was in a difficult position to dispute it. He had acquiesced in it at the time of his own appoint- ment, and had received investiture from William H. He had accepted the system which had been sanctioned by his pre- 1 Flor. Wigorn., ii. 43. 2 Stiibbs, Select CJiarters, p. 97. 188 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xii. decessor Lanfranc. How was he now to act against that which he had previously tolerated 1 14. Anselm's first relations with King Henry were very friendly. He took vigorously his part against his brother Robert, and was able to influence the nobles so as to keep them faithful to their oaths sworn to Henry. He sanc- tioned his marriage with Edith, daughter of the king of Scotland, who had the blood of the old English kings in her veins, but about whose marriage there was a difiiculty, as she had been an inhabitant of a nunnery, though with- out actually taking the veil. But the demand made by the king on him for homage Anselm at once stoutly refused. He declared that he would only be guided by what had been ordained by the Pope. If the king were ready to accept this, well and good ; if not, he could not remain in England.^ The king was very indignant, but Anselm's support was necessary to him, and it was agreed that messengers should be sent to Rome to ascertain the Pope's decision on the case. Paschal had succeeded Urban on the papal throne, but his policy was the same. He returned, after some delay, a letter to the king, in which he asserts the highest claims for the spiritual authority, and declares that he will not tolerate the king's claims to nominate to Church preferments and to invest ecclesiastics in them. This letter was read at the Whitsuntide Council (1101), and caused great indignation. Henry was urged to demand that the archbishop should become " his man," and promise to consecrate those whom he should appoint to Sees, or else be banished. Anselm replied that he could do nothing, except what the Pope allowed, without incurring excommunication. " What is that to me?" said the king ; " I will not lose the customs of my predecessors, nor will I endure in my kingdom any one who is not my subject." Upon this Anselm quietly retired, saying that he would await the event in patience. The archbishop had not long remained in quiet when letters from the king reached him of a friendly tone, desiring another interview with him. They met at Winchester, and it was mutually agreed to send another embassy to the Pope, three bishops being 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 56. 1087-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. 189 sent on the king's part, and two monks for the archbishop. AVhen this embassy returned, bringing letters from the Pope both for the archbishop and the king, a great Council was hekl at London. Ansehn was formally called upon to accept "the customs of the fathers." He replied that he would be guided by the Pope's letters. " The letters are not the question," said the king ; " will you or will you not submit ?" In fact, the Po23e's letter to the king, with many praises for what he had done in remedying the mischiefs of the last reign, had yet refused to concede the point of the investitures. But the bishops who had been the king's envoys declared that, though the Pope had thought it neces- sary to write this, they had nevertheless been privately informed that, if the king would act well in other matters, the Pope would not trouble him about the investitures. This the two monks denied, and appealed to the Avritten judgment of the Po^oe. The bishops, however, were firm, and they had the support of the Council. Both sides adhered positively to their views, and it was determined to send a third time to Eome. The probability is, not that the bishops reported falsely, but that the Pope had been guilty of a duplicity not altogether unknown at Eome.-^ 15. The king appears to have been satisfied at the turn which events had taken. Perhaps he only wished to gain time. However, he proceeded to act on what he held to be his right. He gave the pastoral staff to two of his clerks, appointing Koger, his Chancellor, to the See of Salisbury, and another Roger, the head of his kitchen,^ to that of Hereford. Anselm was also allowed to do that which he had long desired to do, viz. to hold a council. About ]\Iichaelmas 1102 there met at Westminster, in St. Peter's church, a general council of the bishops ^ and abbots of the 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 55-66. Willelm. Malmesb., Be Gest. Pontif., pp. 104-109. See Hook, Lives of the Archbishops, ii. 248. 2 Lardesarium suum. — Eadmer. 3 The bishops present were Gerard of York, :Maiirico of London, AVilliam (elect) of Winchester, Roljert of Lincohi, Samson of Worcester, Robert of Chester, John of Bath, Herbert of Norwich, Ralph of Chi- chester, Gnndulf of Rochester, Hervey of Bangor, and the two clerks lately nominated to Sees— Roger of Salisbury and Roger of Hereford. It 190 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap.xii. realm, together ^vitli the kmg and chief nobles, who attended at Anselm's desire ; inasmuch as the correction of morals, at which the council aimed, would thus be better promoted. The council ordained twenty-nine canons as follows : — (1) That bishops do not keep secular courts of pleas ; that they be apparelled not as laymen but as becomes religious per- sons, and have honest men to bear testimony to their con- versation. (2) That archdeaconries be not let to farm. (3) That archdeacons be deacons. (4) That no archdeacon, priest, deacon, or canon marry a wife, or retain her if mar- ried ; ^ that every subdeacon be under the same law, though he be not a canon, if he hath married a wife after he had made profession of chastity. (5) That a priest who has illicit intercourse with a woman be not a lawful priest ; let him not celebrate mass, or be heard by others if he do. (6) That none be ordained subdeacon, or to any degree above that, without professing chastity. (7) That sons of priests be not heirs to their fathers' churches. (8) That no clergy- men be reeves or agents to secular persons, nor judges in cases of blood. (9) That priests go not to drinking bouts, nor drink to pegs. (10) That priests' clothes be all of one colour, and their shoes plain. (11) That monks and clergy who have forsaken their order do either return or be ex- communicate. (12) That the tonsure of clerks be visible. (13) That tithes be paid to the Church only. (14) That churches or prebends be not bought. (15) That new chapels be not made without the consent of the bishop. (16) That churches be not consecrated till all necessaries be provided for the priest and the church. (17) That abbots do not make knights, and that they eat and sleep in the same is said by Johnson tliat Hervey of Bangor was the first Welsh bishop who ever attended an English synod. He represented himself to have been driven out of his See by secnlar violence. He was soon after- wards made bishop of Ely. — Johnson, English Canons, ii. 25. 1 This was a great advance on Lanfranc's canon of 1076, and was the first deliberate attempt to make the secular clergy put away their wives. It was not, however, successful. Henry of Huntingdon says very wisely, "Quod quibusdam mundissimum visum est, quibusdam periculosum, ne dum munditias viribus majores appeterent, in immun- ditias horribiles, ad Christiani nominis summum dedecus, inciderent." — f. 217 (ed. Saville). 1087-1107.] LAY AND SriPJTUAL POWERS. 191 house with their monks, except in case of necessity. (18) That monks enjoin penance to none without their abbot's consent, and that abbots give no license to enjoin it to any but such whose souls are entrusted to their cure. (1 9) That monks be not godfathers, nor nuns godmothers. (20) That monks do not hire farms. (21) That monks do not take the impropriations of churches without the bishoj^'s consent, nor so rob those which are given them of their revenues that the priests who serve them be in want of necessaries. (22) Tliat promises of marriage made between man and woman without witness be null, if either party deny them. (23) That they who wear long hair be so clipped that part of their ears be visible and their eyes not covered. (24) That they who are related in the seventh degree be not coupled in marriage, nor cohabit if married ; and if any who is con- scious of this crime do not discover it, let him acknowledge himself an accomplice in the incest. (25) That corpses be not carried out of their parishes to be buried, so that the priest of their parish lose his just dues. (26) That no one attribute reverence ^ or sanctity to a dead body, or a foun- tain, or other thing (as is sometimes done to our knowledge), without the bishop's authority. (27) That no one exercise that wicked trade, which has hitherto been practised in England, of selling men like beasts. (28) Those guilty of sodomitical crime, and those who voluntarily aided them, were struck with heavy anathema., till, by confession and penance, they had deserved absolution ; and it was ordained that if any ecclesiastical person were guilty of this crime, he be never admitted to any higher order, and that he be de- graded from that in which he was ; if any layman, that he be deprived of all lawful dignity in the whole realm, and that no one but the bishop presume to absolve him except he were a vowed regular. (29) That the aforesaid excom- munication be published in all churches throughout England every Lord's-day.^ With this last stipulation Anselm was obliged soon to dispense ; so great, says Eadmer, was the number of transgressors in every class of men. In addition ^ Eadiner has "ne quis temcrarid novitate," which is left out in Johnson's translation. - Eadmer, Hist. Nov., 67-08 ; Johnson's JS'^j^/. Canons, ii. 24-2B. 192 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap.xii. to making canons, the council also proceeded to strike at some notorious offenders. Three abbots — Guy of Pershore, Wimund of Tavistock, and Aldwin of Eamsey — were de- posed for simony. Three others who had got possession of abbeys, though not yet instituted — namely, Godric of Peter- borough, Haymo of Cerne, and Egelric of Middleton — were removed for the same offence. For other offences Richard of Ely, Eobert of St. Edmund's, and the abbot of Michelney, were deposed.^ 16. The bold stand made by Anselm against the king's prerogative was not without its effect on the bishops and clergy of England. In the former reign they had been miserably subservient to the oppressions and spoliations of Eufus ; but now even those who had received promotion from the king began to assumie an attitude against his claims. The independence of the spiritualty of the tem- poral power, advocated with such extreme violence at Rome, was a fascinating and attractive doctrine to Churchmen, and Anselm was already becoming a hero in the eyes of his brethren. Thus William Giffard, nominated by the king to the bishopric of Winchester, refused to be invested by the king. Henry, however, was determined that William, who was a statesman much trusted by him, should be made bishop. The Winchester chapter was equally desirous to obtain him, and so the king '' connived," says Eadmer, at his receiving the staff from Anselm.^ But when the Primate was required to consecrate him, together with the bishops- designate of Salisbury and Hereford, he positively declined. He would consecrate William, he said, but not the others. Henry then ordered that the consecration should be done by Gerard, Archbishop of York. Upon this the designate of Hereford, Reinhelm,^ brought back to the king his staff and ring, declining to be consecrated by Gerard against the wishes of Anselm. The king drove him from the court in ^ Eadmer, u. s. " And many there, both French and English, lost their staves and authority which they had unjustly acquired or lived on with iniquity." — A.-S. Chron., ii. 206. 2 Hist. Nov., p. 69. ^ The king's "larderer," Eoger, had died before consecration. Kein- helm was a clerk of the royal chapel. 1087-llor.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. 103 anger. Archbishop Gerard was now prepared to consecrate William to Winchester and Roger to Salisbury, but the courage of the former failed him ; his conscience would not allow him to receive consecration in what he thought an irregular manner.^ He declared to the bishops assembled for the service in St. Paul's Cathedral that he would rather be spoiled of all than thus be hallowed. The service was broken off. The bishops, in confusion, reported the matter to the king. William was despoiled of all his possessions and banished ; but the people extolled his name as that of a confessor for the truth, and cried shame upon the bishops. Anselm had won a great victory.^ 17. The king, however, had no thought of yielding, and was determined to make a strong effort to subdue Anselm. Appearing at Canterbury in Lent 1103, he demanded of him that he should accept the ixdernce consuetudines, and do him homage. Those about the king believed that he intended inflicting some serious punish- ment on Anselm if he refused. But the Primate was firm. He could not do it unless the Pope allowed. The messengers were now come back from Pome. He desired the king to inspect their letters. Henry would not look at the letters. " What has the Pope to do with my concerns?" he cried; "that which my predecessors enjoyed is mine. If any one takes it away, he is my enemy." " I desire to take away nothing," replied Anselm, " but I would rather lose my head than yield in this." ^ The king saw that the only way out of the difficulty was to get Anselm himself to go to Rome, where he might hear from the Pope advice very different from that which the Pope wrote to him in formal documents, and similar to that which the Pope had doubtless spoken to the three bishops. Anselm consented to go. Arrived at Rome, he found William Warelwast an envoy from the king to oppose him. William was a dexterous envoy, and ^ Tarn nefando ministerio. — Eadmer. 2 Ea' mer, p. 69; Willelm. Malniesb., De Gest. Pont., p. 110. Roger, bishop of Salisbury, thus left alone, " prsedicanda prudentia ita rem temperavit ut nee regem iiritaret nee archiepiscopo injuriam faceret." — Willelm. Malmcsb, 3 p]admer, p. 70. 0 194 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xii. represented the great benefits which would accrue to the See of Rome by favouring the king of England, at the same time that he used other methods of persuasion. But the Pope was unable to yield in a matter on which such great interest was excited in men's minds. He wrote to the king, indeed, a friendly letter by way of keeping the matter open, but he would not sanction his investitures.^ Tlien, on the way back, Anselm was informed by William Warelwast, that unless he would return to England to be the " king's man," the king did not desire his return. Having ascertained this to be the case, the archbishop remained at Lyons, and the king seized the estates of the See, appointing as receivers two of the archbishop's men.^ 18. Again the archbishop condemns himself to a long period of inactivity and uselessness rather than yield a point, which doubtless he held to be of high importance for the welfare of the Church, but which should hardly have been allowed to stand between him and some attempts to reform the grievous moral and ecclesiastical corruptions of the land in which he held the highest religious rank. He remained waiting a year and a half at Lyons, while the Church in England was suffering from every sort of mischief.^ He was hoping that the Pope would excommunicate Henry ; but the Pope had substantial reasons which induced him not to do this. Then Anselm himself determined to return to England and pronounce the excommunication. Henry, not de- siring this, contrived to meet him abroad, spoke him fair, restored to him the revenues of his See, but still would not yield as to the investiture. Once more a reference to Rome was determined on, and during the long time in which the answer was delayed, Anselm retired to his old monastery at Bee. Here a letter given by Eadmer reached him from England, which described in terms, sufficient, one would suppose, to move the firmness of the Primate, the ^ See Hook, Lives of the Archbishops, ii. 255. 2 Eadmer, IlisL Nov., pp. 70-76 ; Willelm. Malmesb., Be Gest. Pontif., 110-114. ^ The Pope, though upholding Anselm, reminded him how griev- ously the Church was suffering from his absence. — Eadmer, p. 79. 1G87-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. 195 miserable state of things in tlie English Church. The writer declares that the point in dispute between Anselm and the king appeared to every sane man in England to be nothing at all, but rather a contrivance of the devil to vex the English Church. Meantime the possessions of the Church were being plundered, and the service of God neglected. The clergy were given over to all iniquity. The laity contracted marriages wath their near relatives in spite of the Church. The enactments of the late council against abominable crimes, and the perpetrators of them, w^ere altogether a dead letter. Things were worse than could be shown by writing. Men freely said that all this was the archbishop's fault, inasmuch as he who could have done most to abate these evils kept away for a mere nothing. The writer solemnly appeals to the archbishop whether such proceedings were justifiable.^ 19. Meantime, though the most important disciplinary directions of the Council of \Yestminster remained a dead letter, those by means of which money might be extorted from the unfortunate clergy were not allowed to sleep. The clergy had been ordered to put away their wives, but they had not done so, and had no intention of doing so. Upon this, the king inflicted a heavy fine upon all married clergy, allowing them thus to purchase immunity from the decrees of the council by payments to him. But this source of revenue not proving sufficient, the king inflicted a fine upon all parishes, and for this the parson of the parish was made responsible.^ A widespread trouble was caused. Two hundred presbyters in albs and stoles, with their feet bare, appeared before the king and besought his mercy. They were roughly repulsed. The bishops in their despair addressed Anselm, begging him to return, but the impracticable archbishop merely answered that he was waiting for the envoys from Rome. He wrote, how- ever, to the king, remonstrating with him as to his treatment of the clergy. But the king would not admit himself to be in the wrong. At length the messengers returned from Eome. The Pope, evidently desiring a compromise, bade Anselm to release from excommunication 1 Eudmer, Hist. Xov., p. 81. 2 Eadmcr, lb., p. 83. 196 CONTEST BETWEEN THE [chap. xii. those who had received lay investiture, and those nobles who upheld the royal policy. Anselm was clearly in- tended to return to England and live at peace with king and bishops.^ Henry now visited the archbishop at Bee, and some friendly intercourse having taken place between them, at length (1106) Anselm consented to return to his See, from which he had been for three years very unjustifiably absent. 20. Now at last the settlement of the weary dispute came. "On the first of August" (1107), says Eadmer, " an assembly of bishops, abbots, and nobles, was made at London in the king's palace.^ For three days continuously the matter of the investitures to churches was discussed between the king and the bishops, Anselm being absent, some striving that the king should make them according to the manner of his father and brother, and not according to the precept and the obedience due to the Pope. For the Pope standing firm in the sentence which had been promulgated on this, had conceded the matter of homage which Pope Urban had forbidden equally with investitures, and by this means had got the king to yield about investi- tures. Then in the presence of Anselm, the multitude of people standing by, the king agreed and enacted that from henceforth no one should be invested in England in a bishopric or abbey by the giving of a pastoral staff or a ring by the king, or any lay hand, and Anselm agreed that no person elected to prelacy should be debarred from consecration on account of the homage which he should do to the king. These things being so settled, in almost all the churches of England, which had been long widowed of their pastors, by the counsel of Anselm and the nobles, without any investiture of pastoral staff or ring, fathers were instituted by the king." ^ This compromise having 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 87. 2 This, says Professor Stubbs, "must have been a very large gathering, and here and during the other councils of this reign, we may observe a peculiar mark of our ecclesiastical history, the king holding his Council at AVestminster, while the archbishop holds his at the same city, a precedent for the coincident summoning of Parliament and Convocation in later days." — Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. 374. ^ Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 91. 10S7-1107.] LAY AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. 197 been effected, the consecration of the bishops, about which so much difficulty had arisen, immediately followed. William, elect of Winchester, Roger of Salisbury, Reinelm of Hereford, and William AVarelwast, who had conducted all the king's negotiations with the Pope, now elect of Exeter, were consecrated by Anselm, Gerard of York, Robert of Lincoln, John of Bath, Herbert of Norwich, Robert of Chester, Ralph of Chichester, and Ralph of Durham.^ 21. The compromise thus effected between the King and the Pope, and the Primate who represented the Pope's policy, was a judicious one, and in fact the only one possible under the circumstances. In face of the rising power of the Church, and the jealousy of lay control which had been developed, it was impossible for the king to keep in his hands the semi-ecclesiastical investiture of bishops by the ring and staff ; but by securing the oath of homage he still ensured their being English subjects. Henry also surrendered the right of nominating to Sees independently of chapters, but by ordaining that the chapters should make the election in the court, he secured .their choosing the candidate wdiom he himself might favour. The arch- bishop might now hold councils when he pleased, but a necessary preliminary was that the king's consent must be obtained before the assembly could meet or legislate. The Pope's jurisdiction was recognised in England, but no Legate was allowed to visit England without royal license.^ Under the circumstances, as much was done as was possible and perhaps needful to save the ancient right of royal supremacy, while the liberty granted to Churchmen was sufficient to satisfy the scruples which had of late assumed such large dimensions. ^ Eadmer, Hist. Nov. , p. 92. It seems startling to find the notorions miscreant Ralph Flambard calmly acting with Anselm in consecrating the new bishops. Gerard, Archbishop of York, made a promise of allegiance to Anselm. That is to say, he promised that as archbishop he would pay him the same obedience which he had already vowed to him as bishop of Hereford. ^ See Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. 317. 198 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. [chap. XII. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. WILLIAM DE ST. CARILEPH, BISHOP OF DURHAM. William de St. Carileph is a personage of some importance as the biiilder of the great cathedral of Durham. He was a Norman monk (St. Calais, in the diocese of Mans), and afterwards abbot of St. Vincentius in the same diocese. Being a good man of business and a fluent speaker, he obtained from William I. the bishopric of Durham (1081), was in high favour under William Rufiis, and succeeded Ro- bert Bloet, bishop of Lincoln, as chancellor. He was involved in the plots of Odo of Bayeux, and had to fly from England. After two years' exile he was, however, allowed to return. Henceforth (according to William of Malmesbury) he courted the king most assiduously, and adapted himself to every tem- per of the royal mind. Thus he took occasion of the king's anger against Anselm to make himself the leader of the party of bishoj)s against him. The firmness of Anselm, how- ever, foiled him, and the king's anger fell upon him. At the court at Gloucester, being absent, he was or- dered to attend. A message was brought that he was sufi"ering from illness. The king swore he was only feigning. Then the unfortunate bishop, more dead than alive, made his appearance. His' brethren, in- stead of cheering him, discussed the place of his burial, and thought he ought to be buried within the church of St. Cuthbert, which he was rebuilding so magnificently. I This honour he disclaimed with his dying breath, but desired to be buried in the chapter-house (1096). He introduced monks at Durham, and conferred special privileges on i the prior. — Willelm. Malmesb., De ' Gest. Font, 272. 1107-1135.] THE LEGATINE AUTHORITY. 199 CHAPTER XIII. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 1107-1135. 1. Council of London, 1108. 2. Foundation of the See of Ely, 1109. 3. Thomas II. of York and Anselm. 4. Death and character of Anselm. 5. Archbishop Ralph and the Pope. 6. The claim to send a Legate to England. 7. Thurstan treacherously obtains consecration to York from the Pope. 8. Renewed abortive attempt to send a Legate to England. 9. Archbishop William concedes the point of the estab- lishment of a Legate. 10. The Legate Cardinal John of Crema. 11. Council of Westminster, 1125. 12. Archbishop of Canterbury be- comes Papal Legate. 13. Council of Westminster, 1127. 14. An- other council (1129) on clerical matrimony ; the king sells licenses to the married clergy. 15. Fountains Abbey founded — the Cister- cian order. 16. Foundation of the See of Carlisle — Austin canons. 17. Death of Henry I. — His policy towards the Clmrch. 1. There can be no question that the work which Anselm had done had been salutary for raising the character of the Church, and the dignity of the episcopal office — in danger as it was of falling into the degraded condition of a mere feudal service of the king. " The king was strongly and solemnly reminded that he owed an account for the persons whom he appointed bishops ; they were not merely his creatures ; they were not merely elevated and promoted on the terms on which he made a knight or a baron ; the office was not his in the sense that he could sell it." * And a decided improvement in the state of the Church of Eng- land may be traced during the greater portion of the reign of Henry. But there were many among the clergy who regarded with anything but satisfaction this attempt to regulate by the new discipline of Eome the old habits and customs of the Church of England. This was especially the case with respect to clerical matrimony. The sweeping ^ Church, Life of Anselm, p. 291. 200 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiii. canon passed in 1102, ordering all priests to put away their wives, had been but little regarded. The king had used the resistance of the clergy as the means of extorting fines, but this also had not availed to put a stop to clerical matrimony. " Many presbyters," says Eadmer, " making light of the statutes of the Council of London, and of the vengeance which the king had exercised towards them, still retained their wives, or indeed married wives, which they had not done before." ^ Anselm was very anxious to re- ,strain this liberty, and the king, seconding his views, sum- moned a council of the magnates of the kingdom and the bishops to meet at London (1108), which ordained as follows: — (1.) That priests, deacons, and subdeacons should live chastely and keep no women in their houses but such as were nearest of kin to them, according to the decrees of the Council of Nice. (2.) That such as have kept or taken wives since the prohibition of the Council of London, and have celebrated mass, do so wholly discard them as not to be with or meet them in any house know- ingly ; and that the women may not live on any ground belonging to the Church. (3.) If they have any honest occasion to speak with tbem, let it be done without doors before lawful witnesses. (4.) If any of them (the clergy) are accused by two or three lawful witnesses, or by the public report of the parishioners, to have transgressed this statute, let him, if a priest, make his purgation by six wit- nesses, if a deacon by four, if a sub-deacon by two ; and if he fail, let him be deemed a transgressor. (5.) Let such priests as choose to live with wives in contempt of God's altar and their holy orders be deprived of their office and benefice, and put out of the choir, being first pronounced in- famous. (6.) And if a priest celebrate mass and do not leave his wife, let him be excommunicated unless he come to satis- faction within eight days after summons. (7.) Let arch- deacons and canons be liable to the same sentence as to their leaving their wives, and as to the censure to be passed if they transgress. (8.) All archdeacons shall swear that they will not take money to tolerate men in transgressing this statute, nor for tolerating priests whom they know to ^ EaJmer, Hist. Nov., p. 94. 1107-1135.] LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 201 have wives, in celebrating mass, or in having vicars; and if they shall hear them charged with this, they shall inquire into the truth. Deans shall, in like manner, swear to these things, and they who refuse to swear shall lose their offices. (9.) Priests who choose to leave their wives and to serve God and His holy altar, shall have vicars to officiate for them during the forty days in which they are to desist from their office, and are to have penance enjoined them at the bishop's discretion. (10.) All the movable goods of the clergy who offend after this shall be given to the bishop, as well as the concubines with their goods, as adulterous persons. 1 The last clause of these decrees is wanting in the report of Florence of Worcester. It is to be hoped it was not really sanctioned by the council. By the old law of England the adulterous woman became the slave of the bishop. 2 This would therefore put it into the power of the bishop to sell the wives of the clergy as slaves. 2. One of the last imj)ortant transactions in which Anselm was concerned was the forwarding the arrange- ments for the creation of the See of Ely. The account of this reads somewhat differently in Eadmer, and in William of Malmesbury and the monkish historian of the Historia Eliensis? According to the former, the large and unmanage- able size of the See of Lincoln Avould seem to have been a matter for consideration at the council between the kinsr o and nobles, and the Primate and the bishops. It was thought that it would be " conducive to the cause of Chris- tianity," ^ that from the diocese of Lincoln enough should be taken to make a See, of which the abbey of Ely should be the cathedra. Anselm wrote to the Pope recommending the plan, and Eobert, bishop of Lincoln, being willing to con- sent to it for an equivalent which he received, the matter was accomplished. But according to the monastic account and that of William of Malmesbury, whose predilections did not incline him to regard the putting a famous monastery under the power of a bishop as an unmixed good, the matter 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., p. 95 ; Flor, Wigorn., Chron., ii. 58. 2 Jolmson, Eiuj. Canons, ii. 33. 3 Printed in Anglia Sacra, vol. i. * "Ratio Cliristianitatis id utile fore siiadebat." 202 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiii. reads differently. In this view the foundation of the See was due to the ambitious machinations of " one Hervey/' as William of Malmesbury calls hhn, who had been bishop of Bangor, but who had left his See in the hope of getting an increase of wealth, alleging as a pretence that he could not agree with his Welsh neighbours.^ He was assigned by the king as acting abbot to the monastery of Ely, and recom- mended himself so well to the monks that they desired to have him their abbot for a continuance. Hervey suggested to them that it would be greatly to the honour of the society to become the chapter of a bishop, and the monks assent- ing, Hervey obtained the sanction of the king, and induced him to direct the bishop of Lincoln to consent to it, " the royal liberality giving him that which was not its own, viz. a vill belonging to Ely, Spaldwick by name." ^ Upon this, Hervey, having obtained the Pope's consent, was en- throned first bishop of Ely, 1109.^ 3. The closing days of Anselm's life were troubled by a dispute with Thomas II. elected Archbishop of York in succession to Gerard. Both Thomas himself and the canons of York were anxious that the northern Primate should be spared the profession of canonical obedience to Canterbury. This was sought to be accomplished by delaying the consecration of Thomas, as it was thouglit that Anselm's life was drawing near to its close. With him at Canterbury there could be no hope of evasion, but during the vacancy of the See, or with a new occupant, the matter might perhaps be managed. Thus Thomas delayed, on one pretence or another, to apply for consecration. He pleads his poverty, then that he had sent to Eome for the pall, and must await its arrival, then the opposition of his canons. Anselm saw clearly through all these devices, and in order to guard against the possibility of their success charged solemnly all his suffragans that in case his death 1 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gcst. PonL, p. 325. ^ /j^^ ^^^ ^^ ^ Though Eadmer makes the arrangement of the See independent of Hervey's machinations, he says of his appointment, ' ' quod quidem ut adipisci mereretur multa prece, multis multarum rerum promis- sionibus, multorum quoque officiorum exhibitionibus, vix post obitum strenuissimi Anselmi obtinuit." — Hist. Nov., p. 104. 1107-1135.] LEGATIXE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 203 should happen before the conseeration of Thomas, tliey were not to consecrate him without the due profession. This prudent precaution was completely successful. The Primate died before Thomas was consecrated, but all the bishops remaining firm to the charge which Anselm had given them, and being supported by the king, Thomas was obliged to make the required profession.^ 4. The life of the great Primate was now come to its close. He died on April 21, 1109, exhibiting in his last illness much devotion and charity. Anselm was one of the greatest prelates with whom the English Church has been adorned. He was one of the most learned men and deepest thinkers of his age. No breath of slander could assail his morals. His earnestness and devotion were beautified by tolerance and gentleness, which attracted even his enemies. His ecclesiastical policy was the result of full conviction, and was all founded on principle, and while it did much to enslave the English Church, it also did much to purify and elevate it. How vast was the interval between Anselm, bringing all things into subjection to the Pope, and his contemporary Ealph Flambard, scheming to make the Church a mere tributary appanage of the Crown. Both may be held to be wrong, but what a difference be- tween the morality and aims of one wrong-doer and the other ! The weak point in Anselm 's character, while it was also his strength as a partisan, was that he was a man of one idea. While he was contending for the claims of the Church in investitures, he could think and care for nothing else. A great part of his primacy was spent abroad, though the English Church with its grievous corruptions needed above all things such a governor. If he could not have his own way on what he had set his heart, he would do nothing. Even at the very last, in the dispute with Thomas, elect of York, he wrote to the Pope that if Thomas should gain his point he would leave England for good.^ His absence from England during the reign of Rufus seems due to pique rather than to principle. Anselm could not yield. The 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., 97-104. 2 Ih., p. 99. For an account of Anselm's AVTitings, see Notes and lUustrations to this Chapter. 204 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiit. claims of expediency had no weight with him. Such a character is great and noble, but falls short in the important point of doing good in its generation.^ 5. After the death of Anselm Henry imitated the evil example of his brother Rufus, and kept the primatial See vacant for no less than five years. In another point, too, he seems to have imitated the bad policy of the two pre- ceding kings. In all the appointments made by him to abbacies or Sees he studiously avoided giving any prefer- ment to a man of English race. " If he were an English- man," says Eadmer, " no amount of virtue could cause him to be judged worthy of honour." ^ At length, after five years' delay, the general clamour of all the chief men of the State compelled the king to provide a successor to Anselm. A great council was summoned at Windsor (April 26, 1114). The king desired to appoint Faricius, abbot of Abingdon. The council desired to have a secular clerk. A compromise was efi'ected by the election of Ealph, bishop of Rochester, who had been an abbot, and was a person generally popular with all classes.^ The election having been regularly made, a deputation of the Canterbury monks was sent to Rome for the pall, the archbishop being unable to undertake the journey on account of illness. Pope Paschal treated the canons of Canterbury with marked contempt, and took no notice of them. Anselm, a nephew of the archbishop, who had been much in England, and was living at the papal court, then took their case in hand, and in- duced the Pope to send the pall by him. At the same time the Pope wrote an angry letter complaining that the See of Rome was treated by the English Church and king with scant reverence. No appeals came from England, no questions were referred to Rome for decision. The English Church presumed to act independently. He trusted this 1 " As a practical man lie failed, and faults in liis character were ednced of whicli he was not himself conscious, and to the existence of Avhich his admirers were equally blind. It was requisite for him not only to maintain, but according to circumstances to modify his prin- ciples," — Hook, Lives of the Archhishops, ii. 266. 2 Hist. Nov., p. 110. 3 Willelm. Malmesb., De Gcsi. Pontif., p. 125. 1107-1135.] LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 205 would be rectified by the agency of Anselm, whom he had sent to negotiate matters.^ The pall brought by Anselm was received with all devotion by the new archbishop, and the king summoned a general council of prelates and nobles to meet at Winchester (September 15, 1114). At this assembly Anselm produced a long letter from the Pope, reprehending in severe terms the independent proceedings of the king of England, his presuming to hold councils without the papal authority, his ordering the translation of bishops, and other enormities. It was determined by the council to send messengers to Eome to explain to the Pope the position of the English Church, and William Warelwast, bishop of Exeter, though now blind, was selected for the purpose, as being the most familiar with the papal court. ^ 6. Anselm also returned to Rome, and in the following summer (1115), the king being in Normandy, he came to him, bringing a commission from the Pope to act as Legate in England. This was a new and unheard-of claim. It was something quite different from receiving legates for special purposes and with a defined object. The establishment of a permanent Legate in England had never been tolerated. When the attempt became known in England there was a general excitement ; bishops, abbots, and nobles met at London, and it was determined to despatch the Archbishop of Canterbury at once to the king and the Pope. He found the king at Rouen, and Anselm with him. The eff'ect of his interview with Henry was that the papal Legate was forbidden to enter the country.^ From the visit to the Pope no special results followed ; the archbishop was not able to procure a personal interview, he merely obtained a letter from Paschal to the king, saying that he did not desire in any way to interfere with the privileges of the See of Can- terbury. ^ lEadmer, Hist Nov., p. 112. -lb., p. 116. ^Ib., p. 118 ; Willelm. Malm., De Gcst. Pontif., p. 128. He Ava.-^ stopped on the ground that it was the ancient privilege of the Arch- bishops of Canterbury to be legates of the Pope. This is not to be interpreted as though the archbishops were actually appointed legates as yet, but that by their office and connection with Rome, they wore the proper persons to act for the Pope. 4 Willelm. Malmesb., Dc Gcst. I'onlif. p. 129. 206 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiii. 7. The independent attitude assumed by the Church of England was now causing decided uneasiness at Rome. This ill feeling was further aggravated by the circumstances connected with the dispute between Thurstan, Archbishop- elect of York, and Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury, a dispute which had a very important effect on the after history of the Church of England. Thurstan, being elected to York, applied for consecration to Archbishop Ralph. The Archbishop of Canterbury required the customary oath of obedience. Thurstan objected. An appeal was made to the king, who upheld the Archbishop of Canterbury's claim. Upon this, Thurstan renounced his election, but being over-persuaded by his friends, adopted it again, and applied to the king to accept him. He also invited the interposition of the Pope ; and going to Rome, obtained a letter from Pope Paschal to the king, recommending his consecration, and offering to settle any disputes between the two primacies afterwards. Archbishop Ralph, however, was firm in refusing to consecrate, and the king supported him. At this time Calixtus II., a Frenchman, became Pope after a disputed election. He held a Synod at Rheims, to which Thurstan went. The king had exacted a promise from the new Pope that he would do nothing prejudicial to the See of Canterbury, and had warned the Pope not to consecrate Thurstan. Calixtus had replied that he would do nothing to lower the dignity of the See of Canterbury. Nevertheless, on the day before the synod met, the Pope consecrated Thurstan in spite of the protests of the archdeacon of Canterbury. Not only did he con- secrate him, but he conferred upon him, so far as in him lay, the privilege of not being subject to the See of Canter- bury (Oct. 19, 1119). King Henry was so indignant at this trickery, that he prohibited Thurstan from residing in any part of his dominions.^ The ultimate effect of Thurstan's action was that henceforth " the assembling of national councils became almost a matter of impossibility ; 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 117-124 ; Willelm. Malmesb., De Gest. Tontif, 262-266. In the following year, however, Henry relaxed this sentence on the threat of the Pope to excommunicate him and suspend the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and Thurstan returned to his See. 1107-1135.] LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 207 the disputes, amounting often to undignified personal altercations between the archbishops themselves, disturbed the harmony of even the royal courts and national parlia- ments."^ 8. Pope Calixtus having thus shown himself utterly careless of the wishes of the king of England, could hardly expect that so much deference would be shown to him as for the old custom of the land, which prohibited a papal Legate from establishing himself in England, to be abrogated in his favour. Yet, when he had become settled in the papacy, and put down his rival, he attempted this. In order to impress the king and the people of England, he selected as his Legate, Peter, son of a very famous Peter, Prince of the Eomans. Great reports were circulated of the grandeur and talent of the coming envoy. The king sent a bishop and a clerk to meet him abroad, and accorded him his permission to enter England, though he had not the least intention of allowing him to stay, or, in fact, to do any act as Legate in the land.^ Peter arrived, and desired license to act as Legate. The king alleged the fact that he had much business on his hands ; that before the claim of the Pope to have a Legate in England could be allowed, there must be a general meeting of the prelates and barons of the land to consider the point ; that it was one of the ancient privileges of England that the kingdom should be free from all domination of a Legate, and that this ancient right he would never abandon willingly. Impressing this upon Peter with abundance of civil words, he, in fact, bowed him out of England.^ Sojourning at Canterbury on his way back, Peter received strong repre- sentations from the monks as to the way in which Canter- bury had been treated in the matter of Thurstan, and was brought, himself to acknowledge that the primatial church had been badly used, and that he would do what he could 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist, ii. 198. ^ His conductors were especially charged not to allow the proposed Legate to lodge in any monastery, but to bring him straight to the king. ^ " Immunis ab omni officio, cum ingenti pomiw, via qua venerat extra Angliam missus est." — Eadmer. 208 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap, xiir, to remetly the injustice done. The independence of the English Church was thus carefully guarded by the action of a wise and vigorous king, acting under the advice of a primate of no narrow views. The death of Archbishop Ralph followed soon after the episode of the would-be Legate Peter.^ In him the Church of England lost a wise, far-seeing, and liberal-minded prelate, and one who well understood the due position of the English Church, and the nature of the unjust encroachments attempted by Rome. 9. The prelate who succeeded Ralph in the chair of Augustine was, unfortunately, a person of a different character from his predecessor. He owed his election, principally, to the fact that he belonged to an order which occupied a sort of middle position between the regulars and the seculars, — that, namely, of Canons Regular. For when, at the council held at Gloucester on the Feast of the Purification (1123), the question of appointing a prelate to the See of Canterbury was discussed, great differences manifested themselves. The monks of Canterbury pre- sented the names of certain persons of the monkish order whom they had selected. But the bishops, who were all seculars, said they would not have a monk to rule over them. The monks replied that from the time of Augustine the See of Canterbury had been always occupied by monks. The king, however, fa-voured the clerical party, and the names of four clerks were submitted to the deputation from the Canterbury convent, that they might select one from them. Their choice fell upon William of Corbeil, who had been a clerk of the notorious Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham, but afterwards, " with the object of 1 Eadmer, Hist. Nov., pp. 137, 138, 141. We here take leave of Eadmer as a guide, who had so faithfully depicted the lives of Anselm and Kalph. He had been selected by Alexander, king of Scotland, for the bishopric of St. Andrews, but refused to be consecrated without taking the oath of obedience to the See of Canterbury, to which the king of Scotland would not consent. Archbishop Ealph is also the last of the primates in William of Malmesbury's Gesta Pontificum. He gives the highest character of him, concluding, "de quo quicquam sinistrum suspicari contra religionem est niti." 1107-1135.] LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 209 bettering liis life," had been transferred to the priory of the canons regular of Chiche in Essex. He thus might be regarded as uniting the two characters of secular and regular. When his election had been confirmed, Archbishop Thurstan kindly offered to consecrate him, but his offer was declined unless he would declare that he consecrated him as Primate of all England. This Thurstan was by no means prepared to do, and William was consecrated by his suffragans, and immediately after- Avards set out to Eome to obtain the pall ; Thurstan also going at the same time to keep a careful watch over the newly obtained immunities of York.^ The king did not fail to send clerks with the archbishop to guard his interests, but either he was badly served, or else Archbishop William and the Pope contrived to enter into a secret compact, for there can be no doubt that now the whole question of the Koman Legate was conceded as far as the archbishop was concerned. He agreed also, that the quarrel between the two primatial Sees, which had been sharply urged by both the archbishops at Rome, should be decided in a council in England, at which Legates of the Pope should preside.^ 10. Soon after the return of the archbishop, the consent of the king having been obtained, the papal Legate, John, Cardinal of Crema, arrived in England. The reception which he met with from the archbishops, each eager to secure his good will for their side, moves the patriotic indignation of the monk Gervase. " Too pompously, indeed, was he received. He made his progress through England, and everywhere excited extreme indignation. You might see, indeed, a thing before unheard of in the kingdom of England, a clerk, forsooth, who had only reached the grade of the priesthood, taking precedence of archbishops, bishops, abbots, and all the nobles of the land ; sitting upon a lofty throne, while they, sitting beneath him, were waiting for his nod. On Easter Day, at his first coming into England, he celebrated the office of the day in the mother Church in the place of the chief pontiff, presid- ing on an elevated seat, and using the pontifical insignia, ^ Simeon Dunelm., Hist., pp. 247-248 (ed. Twysden). ^ Simeon Dunelm., p. 250. 210 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiii. altliough not a bishop, but simply a priest. The minds of many were gravely scandalised, for they saw in this both an unusual novelty and the destruction of the ancient liberties of the kingdom of England. For it is a thing most well known to the kingdom of England, and to all the regions lying round about, that from the days of Augustine, the first Metropolitan of Canterbury, up to the time of that William, all the successors of Augustine who were monks had been held primates and patriarchs, and had never been placed under the dominion of any Eoman Legate." ^ Political reasons were for the moment all-powerful with the king, and induced him to treat this Legate in a different manner from that which had been used towards those who had before attempted to exercise the Roman authority here.^ He was allowed to move freely about the country. He went to Scotland to settle a dispute between the Scots and Archbishop Thurstan, and on September 9 (1125), he presided, much to the disgust of both clergy and laity of the English Church, in a great council at Westminster.^ 11. The canons enacted at this council were as follows: (1.) We, following the ancient fathers, forbid by apostolical authority any man to be ordained for money. (2.) We charge that no price be demanded for chrism-oil, baptism, visiting or anointing the sick, for the communion of the body of Christ, or for burial. (3.) That at the consecrat- ing of bishops, blessing of abbots, dedicating of churches, neither the cope, the carpet, the towel, nor the basin, — nothing in fact at all, — be demanded violently, nor taken except willingly offered. (4.) That no monk or clergyman accept a church, tithe, or any ecclesiastical benefice at the hand of a layman, without the bishop's consent ; that every such donation be null, and the offender liable to canonical punishment. (5.) That no one challenge a church or prebend by inheritance from his father, or appoint his own successor to an ecclesiastical benefice. (6.) That clergymen who have churches or benefices be 1 Geivas., Act. Pont. Cant., p. 1663 (ed. Twysden). 2 For these, see Hook, Lives of the Archbishops, ii. 308. 3 Contin. Flor. Wigorn., ii. 81. nor-1135.] LEGATIXE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 211 deprived of them if they refuse to be ordained though their bishops invite them to it, that they may live more at liberty.^ (7.) Let none be promoted to a deanery or priory but a priest ; none to an archdeaconry but a deacon. (8.) Let none be ordained priest or deacon, but to some certain title ; if he be, let him not enjoy the honour of his order. (9.) Let no abbot, clergyman, or layman eject any one from a church to which he has been ordained by the bishop, without the bishop's sentence, under pain of excommunication. (10.) Let no bishop ordain or judge one of another diocese ; for no man is bound by a sentence passed by an improper judge. (11.) Let no one receive to communion him that is excommuni- cated by another ; if any one do this, let him be deprived of Christian communion. (12.) Let no one person have two archdeaconries, or two honours of a different grade. (13.) By apostolical authority we forbid to priests, deacons, subdeacons, and canons, intercourse with concubines, or to live with any woman except mother, sister, aunt, or such women concerning whom no suspicion could arise. Who- soever shall violate this decree, upon confession and conviction, must suffer the loss of his order.^ (^4.) We forbid usury and base gain of every sort to clerks. Let the offender, upon confession and conviction, be degraded. (15.) Those who practise sorcery — sooth- sayers and fortune-tellers, and those who support them — we doom to excommunication and perpetual infamy. (16.) We forbid those that are related within the seventh degree to be married ; if any such are married, let them be separated. ^ Mr. Johnson says that this means proceeding from minor orders to the diaconate or priesthood. Bnt there is no question that actual laymen held benefices, employing vicars for the service. This griev- ance continued long, and will appear again in the time of Grossteste. 2 A strange comment on this promulgation of the Legate is men- tioned by Henry of Huntingdon, who says of him : — " Cum in concilio severissime de uxoribus sacerdotum tractasset, dicens summum scelus esse a latere meretricis ad corpus Christi conficiendum surgere, cum eadem die corpus Christi confecisset, cum meretrice post vesperam inter- ceptus est. Res apertissima Londonise gesta negari non potuit. Sum- mus honor prius ubique habitus in summum dedecus versus est." 212 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiii. (17.) We forbid the refusal of regard to husbands and the witnesses they produce, when they charge their wives with consanguinity — let the ancient authority of the Fathers be preserved.^ 12. In this Synod nothing was done towards settling the vexed question between York and Canterbury, which had been the ostensible reason for the mission of the Legate into England. It has always been the policy of Rome to keep questions of dispute unsettled and open, that thus a more complete dependence upon itself may be maintained. The Legate and the two Primates left Eng- land for Rome soon after the Council. It was promised that the relations of the two Sees should be settled by the Pope himself. And now the policy of the Roman Pontiff invented a method by which the desire for precedence and authority cherished by the prelate of Canterbury might be satisfied, and at the same time the ambition of the Roman See to govern all the churches might be gratified. The method by which he proposed to make the See of Canter- bury dominant over that of York, was to make the arch- bishop of the former the Legate of the Roman Pontiff. This Archbishop William weakly and shamefully accepted, and thus gratified his own personal ambition at the expense of the dignity and independence of his Church.^ The Primate of all England, aUerius orhis pajm, the patri- arch to whom the bishops of the British Church of Wales, the Irish Church, and the Scotch Church, now looked for consecration, was henceforth to govern his province in the name and by the authority of the Pope. It has been well said of this transaction, that " the Archbishops of Canter- bury were by this means stripped of their rights, and clothed with the shadow of them. It is here that we are ^ Contin. Flor, Wigora., ii. 8 ; Simeon Duuelm., p. 253 ; John- son, Eng. Canons, ii. 34-37. 2 The Bull of Honorins may be found in Wilkins, i. 409. Dr. Hook endeavours to apologise for William ; but he forgets that William's predecessor, as well as the king, had successfully resisted the Pope's claim. Professor Stubbs says that the king was acting in con- cert with the Primate in obtaining the legateship. Of course, if there was to be a legate, it was better for the king that it should be one of his own bishops than a foreigner. —See Stubbs, Const. Hist, i. 375. 1107-1135.] LEGATIXE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 213 to date the vassalage of the English Church."^ The lega- tine authority of the archbishop was to extend to Scotland as well as to England, and by virtue of it he had the poor satisfaction of repulsing the Archbishop of York, at the cere- mony of placing the royal crown on the head of Henry, at Windsor (Christmas 1126), and causing him to lower his cross.^ 13. At the beginning of the year 1127 the archbishop and all the bishops took the oath of allegiance to Henry's daughter Matilda, an oath which, though solemnly renewed afterwards, was shamefully disregarded by them when the time of trial came. The new Legate of the Pope, anxious to make full proof of his dignity and power, summoned a council at Westminster (May 13, 1127), "by virtue of the power of Peter, prince of the Apostles, and his own." In this council he presided as Legate of the Apostolic See. But his triumph over his rival Thurstan was snatched from him, for the wily Thurstan, " by messages and letters," showed that he was hindered by a reasonable cause from " being present at that assembly." ^ The canons passed by this council were for the most part a repetition of those enacted in 1125. Sorcery was strongly condemned (Canons 1, 2, 3). Deans were to be priests, archdeacons deacons. (4.) Clerical matrimony was again strictly for- bidden. Beneficed persons were to be deprived if married ; assistant priests to be interdicted from officiat- ing. (5.) Concubines of priests were to be expelled from the parish, unless they were lawfully married there. If they offended again, they were to be sold into slavery.* (6.) Archdeacons were not to hold two archdeaconries. (7.) Clergy were not to farm churches. (8.) Tithes were to 1 Inett, Ch. Hist, ii. 221. 2 Contin. Flor. Wigorn, ii. 84 ; Gervas., Act. Pont. Cant, p. 1663. The Chronicler records with evident satisfaction, " Lator Cnicis, quam in regis capellam se coram fecit deferri, extra capellani cum cruce ejectus est." ^ Contin. Flor. Wigorn., ii. 86. * This probably did not apply to the wives, inasmuch as in the former canon, a distinction is drawn between the conjugcs and tlie coiicubincc. It may, however, have inchided both ; as by the canons of 1108, the wife was to be judged an adulteress, and to become the chattel of the bishop. It is unnecessary to point out the iniquity of the provision. 214 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE [chap. xiii. be paid punctually. (9.) No rector was to give away churches or tithes, or to take them without the consent of the bishop. 1 (10.) No abbess or nun was to use more costly garments than lambskins or catskins.^ 14. The severe canons passed against clerical matri- mony in these several councils might be expected to produce speedily considerable effect. But it appears that this was not the case. Priests still lived with their wives, and it is to be feared illicit connections were also very prevalent. So firmly rooted was the custom, that, in accordance pro- bably with the request of the archbishop, the king ordered the assembling of a council in London, in the beginning of August 1129, specially to take counsel about this matter. The chronicler, Henry of Huntingdon, who, as himself the son of a priest, was a strong opponent of the attempt to enforce clerical celibacy, records with somewhat of irony the proceedings of this assembly. "There were many bishops assembled," he says, " the columns of the kingdom, and the bright lights of sanctity. But the king played a trick upon them through the simpleness of Archbishop AVilliam. For they gave up into the king's hands the having justice done concerning the wives of the priests, and they were held to have greatly lacked prudence in thus acting by what appeared afterwards, when the matter was terminated in a way which reflected great disgrace upon them. For the king took large sums of money from the priests, and so redeemed them from observing the canons. Then, when it was too late, the bishops were ashamed of their concessions, when everybody saw that they were deceived, while their clergy were heavily burdened." ^ 15. The year 1132 witnessed the foundation of Foun- tains Abbey, the most famous house of the Cistercian Order.* The Cistercian or White Monks had only lately 1 This refers to the formation of vicarages. In many eases the monastery had become the persona, and no arrangement as to what portion of the tithes was to be given for the vicarage was to be made without the bishop, nor was the monastery to receive the tithes of any church without his sanction. ^ Contin, Flor. Wigorn.,- ii. 86-88. '^ Hen. Hun., Ilistor., p. 220 (ed. Saville). "* Ann. de Waverleia, Ann. Monast.. ii. 223. 1107-1135.] LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND. 215 obtained a footing in England (1128), but from this time forward they contrived to monopolise all the most liberal gifts of lands and wealth for monastic purposes, and were the most popular form of " religion " in England. The Cistercian Order was due to the zeal of Kobert, Alberic, and Stephen, the Englishman who endeavoured, in the eleventh century, to bring about a reform of the prevaiUng laxity of the Benedictines. They founded a monastery at Citeaux, in Burgundy, in the rule of which manual labour was to have a prominent part, and the strictest asceticism was to be enjoined. The order of the AVhite Monks soon increased rapidly. "Within thirty years from its founda- tion its first abbey was built in England, at Waverley, near Farnham, in Surrey. The popes heaped privileges upon the Cistercians, and granted them complete exemption from episcopal control, and even from the restrictions of an interdict. It Avas this which was the especial attraction of the order, and all those who were ready to dedicate their goods to the Church were encouraged to choose this channel. The great abbeys of Rievaulx, Tintern, and Fountains, sprang into being soon after that of Waverley. Fountains was founded by a detachment of thirteen monks from St. Mary's, at York, who, hearing of the austerities of the Cistercians, and conscience-smitten for their own laxity, inau2;urated an establishment of the new and stricter order under the protection, and with the aid, of Archbishop Thurstan. It soon began to send offshoots to found other abbeys, one of the earliest of which was that of Meaux, and its prosperity was so great, that it became one of the wealthiest and most luxurious abbeys of the land.^ 16. In the year 1133 another See was given to the English Church. The king founded the bishopric of Carlisle " on the confines of England and Scotland," and placed there as the first bishop, Adulf, the prior of the canons regular of St. Oswald, " to whom he had been accustomed to confess his sins." The bishop naturally determined to form his chapter of the order from which he 1 Much information will be found about the Cistercians in the Annals of Waverley and of Meanx (Mclsa), published in the Roll Series, and the learned prefaces of the editors. 216 THE LEGATINE AUTHORITY IN ENGLAND, [chap.xiii. himself had sprung, and accordingly established a body of canons regular at his See/ This was among the first of the houses of canons regular established in England.^ The order did not differ in any essential particular from those of monks. The canons were outwardly marked by wearing a caj) and allowing their beards to grow, and their rule had some variations from that of St. Benedict. 17. By the death of Henry I. in 1135 the State lost an able ruler, and the Church a temporal head, who, con- sidering the times in which he lived and the material with which he had to deal, was on the whole favourable to her best interests. But during the latter part of the reign of Henry his ecclesiastical policy underwent a considerable change. The ruler who had so stoutly withstood the claims of Rome when advocated by Anselm, and the attempts to force a Legate upon the country when Ralph was Primate, relaxed his opposition to Rome, allowed the legatine power to be established as an institution of the land, and the rulers of the Church to take their own course. This was greatly due to his desire to obtain the good will of the clergy in support of his daughter's claims to the throne. Twice were the Primate and all the bishops called upon to swear allegiance to Matilda, but the oath was lightly disregarded in the troublous times through which the Church of England was now to pass. ^ Ann. de Waverleia, Ann. Monast., ii. 223. 2 Not the very first ; probably the house of St. Osyth at Chiche, of wliich Arclibishop William was the prior, was the first. The canons regular must not be confounded with the canons secular living under the rule of Chrodegand, several societies of which had been established in England, but without much success. The canons regular professed a rule drawn from the writings of Augustine. Pope Innocent, at the Lateran Council, 1139, decreed that all societies of canons should be bound by this rule. But divers variations from the original Austin Canons afterwards sprang up, — as the Premonstra- tensian and the Gilbertine. At the time of the Dissolution the Austin Canons possessed 175 houses in England. CHAP. XIII.] KOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 217 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. (A) THE LITERARY WORKS OF ANSELM. It is not easy to give in a short space an adequate account of the literary works of Anselm. He Avas a great philosophical and meta- physical writer, as well as a great theologian. His metaphysical works were chiefly composed when he was prior of Bee. It was then he wrote on "Truth," on "the Liberty of the Will," on "the Gram- marian," and those more famous treatises, the Monohgiuvi and the Proslogium. The first of these is a dialogue, the great object of which is to identify truth with rectitude, and to connect it with the highest Right, that is, God. It would seem as if Auselm's doctrine pointed to- wards that held by Erigena and others, i.e. the falsity, or, in other words, the non-existence (ia a true sense) of evil. The two treatises, De Voluntate and De Lihero ArUtrio, en- deavour to establish the theory that the will is perfectly free to choose the right, but not free to choose the wrong, the choice of which implies that the will has been brought into slavery. The dialogue on the "Grammarian" is a rather trivial disquisition as to Avhat the essence of a grammarian is. Is he a substance or a quality? Of a far more im- portant character is the Monologue, which is " an attempt to elicit from the necessity of reason, without the aid of Scripture, the idea of God and the real foundation of it, and to exhibit it without the usual employ- ment of learned proofs." — (Church). In the Proslogium the argument advanced is that the innate idea of God in the soul is a complete jjroof of the existence of God (the argument afterwards advanced by Descartes). The most famous theological treatise of Anselm is the Cicr Deus Homo, a treatise on the Incarnation, which suggests many speculative novelties on the great doctrines of the faith, although, at the same time, it contains much admirable matter on the great subject of which it treats. Anselm also wrote on Predestination, on the Trinity, on tlie Procession of th^. Holy Spirit, and many homilies and meditations. 218 THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES, [cHAr. xiv. CHAPTER, XIV. THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 1135-1154. 1. Relations of Stephen to the Chnrch. 2. Stephen's Charter. 3. His poor performance of his promises. 4. Charges against the bishops of that day. 5. Stephen's treatment of the bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln. 6. The Legate calls a council and summons the king. 7. Stej)hen resists the council. 8. Civil and Canon law introduced into England. 9. Outrages on religious places and persons. 10. St. William of York. 11. Archbishop Theobald defies the king, and lays the land under an interdict. 12. Leading Churchmen combine for a settlement of affairs. 1. There can be no question that the successful seizure by Stephen, Count of Blois, of the crown destined for Matilda was greatly due to the support which he obtained from the Church dignitaries. These, as has been said, had all twice taken the oaths to Matilda, but they lightly dis- regarded their obligations. The most influential of the bishops at that moment were William, Archbishop of Canterbury, Eoger of Salisbury, the Justiciary of the king- dom, and Henry of Winchester. The latter of these was the brother of Stephen, and of course devoted to his interest. It was, according to William of Malmesbury, from the pledges given by him that Stephen would allow perfect liberty to the Church, that the archbishop was induced to crown him at Winchester on St. Stephen's day (1136). Bishop Roger, the Justiciary, had been previously gained, and he, together with Henry of Winchester, assisted at the coronation. There were no other bishops present, no abbots, and but few nobles.^ In fact, the Church generally was taken by surprise, and knew not what to expect from the new king. At or soon after his coronation, Stephen, 1 Willelm. Malmesb., Hist. Nov., p. 101 f? (ed. Saville). 1135-1154.] THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 219 desiring to propitiate the good will of tlie clergy, promised to allow the canonical election of bishops, and not to pro- long vacancies ;^ and during the first year of his reign lie issued at Oxford an important charter guaranteeing the liberties of both Church and State. 2. Those parts of this charter which related to the Church ran thus : — " Out of reverence and love of God I agree that holy Church shall be free, and I steadfastly pro- mise to it due respect. I undertake to do nothing, or permit nothing to be done, in the Church or in Church matters, simoniacally. I declare and confirm justice and power over ecclesiastical persons and their goods to belong to the bishops, as well as the distribution of ecclesiastical honours. I decree and allow that the dignities of churches, confirmed by their privileges, and their customs held according to ancient tenure, shall remain inviolate. All the possessions of churches and their tenures, which they held when William the king, my grandfather, was alive, and at his death, I grant to them freely and absolutely, without any right of challenge from opponents. If any of these things held before the death of the said king, but now lost, the Church shall afterwards seek to recover, I reserve for my indulgence and right of dispensing the power either of restoring them or inquiring into the claim. I confirm whatever grants have been made since his death, either by the liberality of kings or the gifts of chief men, whether made by way of offering, or purchase, or by any exchange. I promise that I will act according to peace and justice in all things, and to my power preserve them. The forests which William my grandfather and William my uncle instituted and held I reserve to myself All the rest which Henry the king superadded I restore and concede, without quit-rent, to the churches and the kingdom. If any bishop or abbot, or other ecclesiastical person, shall before his death have distributed his goods reasonably, I confirm it ; if he shall die without having done this, let the distribution be made for the good of his soul according as the Church counsels. While Sees are vacant of their proper pastors, I will commit them and all their possessions to the custody 1 Hen. Hunt., Hid., f. 221 (ed. Saville). 220 THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES, [chap. xiv. of clerks or honest men of the same church, until a pastor be canonically supplied."^ 3. Such were the great promises of the new king. But the chroniclers do not allow us to believe that they were very carefully observed. *' He kept none of these things," says Henry of Huntingdon ; " he broke his vows to God, and his paction to the people." ^ William of Malmesbury writes the charter, but adds — " The names of the witnesses, who were many, I do not take the trouble to write, for he changed all these things as utterly as though he had only -taken the oath to show himself before the whole kingdom as a perjured person. A man he w^as, indeed, of most mild disposition, but yet I must not hide the truth. Had he not obtained the kingdom unlawfully, and had he not lent his ears to the whispers of malevolent persons in the adminis- tration of it, there would have been but little falling short in him of true kingly excellence. Yet under him the trea- sures of some churches were plundered ; estates given away to laymen ; the churches of clerks were sold to strangers ; bishops were captured or compelled to give up their pro- perty ; abbacies were granted to unworthy persons, either to please friends or to pay off debts. These things, indeed, were not so much due to himself as to his counsellors, who constantly persuaded him that he need never be in want of money as long as the monasteries were filled with trea- sures."^ Another chronicler draws a yet more lamentable picture : — " Every one raises his head against another ; dis- cord arises which lays waste all things, both high and low ; there is robbery and spoliation everywhere ; the strong crushes the weak, stifles his complaints with threats, and hands over to death any one who resists. The great care not how the wretched poor are afflicted — all only think for themselves, provide castles stocked with supplies and gar- risoned by armed bands."* 4. In these respects the bishops, it is to be feared, were for the most part but little better than the lay barons. A ^ Stubbs, Select Charters, p. 114. 2 Hen. Hunt., Hist., ff. 221, 222. " Willelm. Malmesb., Hist. Nov., f. 101 h (ed. Saville). •* Contin. Flor. Wisorn., ii. 96. 1135-1154.] THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 221 contemporary writer, the aiitlior of the Gesta Regis Stephanie accuses them of having done no little to aggravate the miseries of the land. He says they were in an abject state of terror, like a reed shaken with the wind, and would not give protection to anybody. They feared to strike with the sword of the Word of God the children of Belial, but in terror at these bold misdoers they either altogether sub- mitted to them or only spoke some mild and trifling sen- tence against them. Some of them most unepiscopally occupied themselves in furnishing their castles with food and armed retainers, and were more pitiless in plundering their neighbours than any of the freebooting barons. Some of them, girt in armour and mounted on their war-steeds, joined in plundering expeditions, and were ready to inflict prison and torture on their captives to extort money, laying the blame of all not upon themselves but uj^on their fol- lowers. To omit others — for all were not equally to blame — the bishops of Winchester, Lincoln, and Coventry were beyond all others publicly accused of these evil and ungodly practices." ^ 5. Yet though the bishops may have deserved but little of their countrymen, and have been but too ready to follow the bad example of the temporal barons, it is never- theless certain that the reverence with which their oflice was regarded had not died out, for nothing created such a storm of unpopularity against King Stephen, and went so near to endanger his throne, as his seizure of the bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln at Oxford, and his compelling them to surrender their castles and their treasures. Roger, bishop of Salisbury, the favourite minister and justiciary of Henry L, had amassed vast treasures, and had expended them in erecting four beautiful castles at Malmesbury, Devizes, Sherborne, and Salisbury. Of his nephews, one (Alexander) had been promoted to the bishopric of Lincoln, another (Nigel) to that of Ely. The former of these had imitated his uncle in castle -building, having erected the ^ Gcsia Regis BtepTiani, p. 96 (Eng. Hist. Soc.) The bishops specially noted were Henry, the king's brother, Alexander of Blois, nephew of the Justiciary, and Roger de Clinton. 222 THE CHURCH IX TROUBLOUS TIMES, [chap. xiv. castles of Newark, Sleaford, and Banbury,^ in his diocese. Some of the bad advisers of whom William of Malmesbury speaks, had been frequently suggesting to the king that the wealth and possessions of these magnificent prelates were, altogether unbecoming to Churchmen, and ought to be turned to better account. At the council held at Oxford, June 1139, Stephen determined to act upon these sugges- tions. The bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln were sum- moned to attend ; they went unwillingly, knowing perhaps the mind of the king towards them. They considered it necessary to be attended by a large body of retainers, and a tumult, accidental or intentional, arose between their fol- lowers and those of the Count of Brittany. The prelates ■vyere summoned before the king ; they were charged with levying war, and bid to give up the keys of their castles.^ They hesitated, and were immediately taken into custody. Nigel, bishop of Ely, who had escaped before the arrest of his relatives, hastened to Devizes to put the castle in a state of defence against the king. Stephen soon appeared before it with the bishops as his prisoners, and with Roger, the Chancellor, the son of the bishop of Salisbury, whom he threatened to hang if the castle were not surrendered. Bishops Roger and Alexander entreated Bishop Nigel to surrender, and declared that they would not taste food until he had done so. For three days the bishop of Ely held out, and his brother and uncle were constrained to fast. Then he surrendered the castle, and the king came into the possession of no less than seven strong places fur- nished with vast treasures.^ 6. So violent and grievous an outrage, done to leading Churchmen, excited a vast commotion. Henry, bishop of 1 He also built four religious houses, viz, Thame, Haverholme, Louth Park, and the house for Austin Canons at Dorchester. 2 Conveniri jussit episcopos ut curiae suae satisfacerent de hoc quod homines eorum pacem ipsius exturbassent ; modus satisfactionis fuit ut claves castellorum suorum quasi fidei vades traderent." — Will. Malm., Hist Nov., p. 102 J (ed. Saville). 3 Willelm. Malmesb. , ^'s^. Nov., f. 103 (ed. Saville) ; Contin. Flor. Wigorn., ii. 103 ; Henric. Huntingdon, Rist.,l 223 (ed. Saville) ; Gesta Regis Stephani, 47-51, E. H. S. 1135-115^.] THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 223 Winchester, was the brother of the king, but he was also the Legate of the Pope, and bound to defend the privileges and immunities of Churchmen ; and at this moment the bishop of Winchester, who had done so much to help the accession of Stephen, was not very favourably disposed towards the king ; for at the death of Archbishop William (November 1, 1136) he had expected to be advanced to the dignity of Primate. Stephen, however, probably fearing that his brother would thus become too powerful, refused to second his views. The bishop of Winchester procured the presence of a papal Legate, Alberic, bishop of Ostia,^ to aid him with his influence and intrigues in his designs on the primacy ; but all his plans were unsuccessful. The king obtained the election, by the Canterbury chapter, of Theobald, abbot of Bee, who was consecrated January 8, 1139. To make up for the disappointment wdiich the bishop of Winchester had experienced, the Pope conferred upon him the office of Legate (1139), and thus constituted him virtually a more influential person than the archbishop. Proud of his new dignity, and anxious to show its power ; angry and resentful against the brother who had slighted him, the bishop of Winchester called a council of the pre- lates in the name of the Pope, and cited King Stephen to appear to answer for his outrage on the bishops of Salis- bury and Lincoln. 7. The king appeared by his representatives in answer to the summons, but he was by no means in a yielding mood. He caused his advocates to plead against the bishops that it was utterly against the canons for bishops to possess castles, and that even supposing it was lawful for them to have them, yet, when the king demanded their surrender to him for purposes of State, they ought not to refuse. Stephen also declared that if any attempted to appeal to Rome against him, it would be at their peril. His attitude was so defiant that the Legate and the bishops were cowed. They did not dare to speak the curse of the Church against him, though he had thus violently dealt with ecclesiastical property. They had recourse at length to prayers and ^ This Alberic held a Legatine Council during this short sojourn ia England. See Johnson, Eng. Canons, ii. 42. 2'2i THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES, [chap. xiv. entreaties that the king would have pity upon the Church and upon his own soul, and not suffer this serious " breach between Church and State " to arise. Stephen appears to have promised little, and to have performed still less.^ 8. Theobald, who had succeeded to the primacy in spite of the intrigues of Henry of Winchester, introduced some important changes in the matter of Church law. The Conqueror had caused the separation of Church courts from those of the common law, but the law which the Church courts administered was doubtful and uncertain, and there was no regular standard or body of jurisprudence by which their decisions were guided. The twelfth century witnessed the rise in Italy of the study of civil law founded upon the Pandects of Justinian, and in imitation of this code the Church began to compile a code of her own, the most famous form of which was finally due to the labours of Gra- tian, a Benedictine monk.^ This law Archbishop Theobald determined to introduce into England.^ He sent one of his clerks, Thomas Becket, afterwards so famous in history, to study the new science at Bologna, and when, at the death of Pope Innocent II. (1 1 43), the legatine commission granted to Henry of Winchester expired, and Theobald obtained the appointment of Roman Legate, he was able to carry out his purpose.^ From the time of its appearance, about 1151, the compilation of Gratian, known as the Decretum, was the text-book of the English Church courts.^ The Arch- bishop of Canterbury was from the time of Theobald held to have a prescriptive right to the character of Eoman Legate, and was styled Legatus natus, but his authority might 1 Willelm. Malmesb., Hist. Nov., pp. 103 b, 104 a (ed. Saville). ^ " Burchard of Worms, Ivo of Chartres, and after them Gratian sup- plied manuals of the new jurisprudence." — Stubbs, Co7ist. Hist, ii. 171. 3 Gervase says of him, " Cum esset natura simplex et aliquantulum literatus, ascivit clericos scholares quorum consilio suo impetu quolibet ducebatur." — Chron., p. 1312 (ed. Twysden). * *' Tunc leges et causidici in Angliam primo vocati sunt, quorum primus erat magister Vacarius. Hie in Oxonefordia legem docuit." — Gervas., Act. Pont. Cant., p. 1665. ^ Gratian's Decretum contained the false decretals of Isidore, and hence was by no means a trustworthy guide for papal decisions. 1135-1154.] THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 225 at any time be superseded by the mission of a Legate direct from Rome called Legatas a Latere, so tliat the appointment, though it might give him temporary precedence over his rival the Archbishop of York, did not really confer upon him either dignity or power, while it altogether destroyed his independent attitude towards the See of Rome. 9. The troubles of the evil days of Stephen had one especially marked feature, that the reverence for holy places and the rights of sanctuary were almost entirely cast away. The chronicler tells us that the buildings erected by pious founders for the service of God were now violently seized and turned into freebooters' castles. Thus one Geoffrey expelled the monks of Ramsey, and used the monastery as his castle. Count William of York treated in the same way the monastery of St. Mary at Bridlington, and Alan, Count of Richmond, violently entered and seized the church of Ripon.^ Everywhere throughout England men were striving to get castles, each of them, says William of Mal- mesbury, defending, or I should rather say wasting, its own district. Into these robbers' holds armed men drove away from the fields herds and flocks, and spared neither churches nor cemeteries in their plunder. When the houses of the wretched peasants had been utterly spoiled, they then threw themselves into dungeons, nor did they let them go till they had exhausted all that they had, and all that in any way they could procure. Many perished in the tortures used "upon them. The Legate, w^ith the bishops, again and again excommunicated all violators of cemeteries and churches, and those who laid hands upon men of religious orders or their dependaiits, but their anathemas were scarce of any avail. Such w^as the utterly miserable state of the land that not even bishops or monks could go from one toAvn to another in safety.^ Yet though the reverence for holy places and things would seem to have almost departed, at no time did the building of monasteries go on more rapidly, due mainly, no doubt, to the zeal stirred up by the new Cistercian Order. Ford and Meaux, Thame, Boxley, and 1 Jolianii. Hagustald. (TwysJpn), p. 273. - Willebn. Mahne.sb.,7/w^. Nov., p. 105 a (eJ. Savillc). 226 THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES, [chap. xiv. Woburn, Bruerne, Combe, and many other religious houses, owe their origin to this period. 10. Amidst the grievous complaints against secular and martial prelates, some of them said to be even more fierce and cruel than secular barons, it is pleasant to turn to one at least of another temper, and to contemplate in St. William of York a gentle and holy man who adorned the religion of Christ. The only fault of William appears to have been that he was a nephew of the king, and was thus pressed, perhaps somewhat strongly, on the chapter of -York by royal influence. This seems to be the only excuse for the opposition which arose against him at York, which was propagated to Rome, and upheld by all the influence of the great St. Bernard. William was a canon of York and treasurer of the church, and at the death of Thurstan was, after a considerable delay, for his conspicuous merits, elected by a majority of the canons to the archiepiscopal throne. " He was a man," says Thomas Stubbs, " of noble race, and incomparably distinguished by the excellence of his morals and his most pure life. But Osbert the arch- deacon (who perhaps desired the post for himself), urged on by envy, contrived to stir up a quarrel among the elect- ors, and pertinaciously hindered the confirmation of the election, although by all men William was held to be worthy. The business was therefore suspended, and the parties to the election summoned to Rome, and there, through the false accusations of his adversaries,^ William' could not obtain the grace of consecration. For five years the process ran on, and at length nothing seemed to remain to cause further delay. But Eugenius, a Cistercian monk, had succeeded to the Papacy, and he, on no ground of per- sonal unfitness, but simply because he chose to do so, declared the election void." Henry Murdak, a monk of his own order, was consecrated, and for the period of his episcopate William v/aited quietly and meekly.^ On the 1 The sum of their charge, says John of Hexham, was that William, Earl of York, declared at the synod that it was the wish of the king that William should be elected. — Johann. Hagustald., p. 272 (ed. Twysden). 2 He retired to Sicily and lived with his friend Robert, the Chan- 1135-1154.] THE CHUKCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 227 death of Murdak (1153), William was again elected, and now another pope had succeeded the Cistercian pupil of St. Bernard, who condemned his predecessor's acts, and at once consecrated William and invested him with the pall. William returned into England, everywhere reverenced for the purity and holiness of his life. He took possession of his See with all solemnity, displaying (as it was thought) both the power of working miracles and the gift of pro- phecy ; but within thirty days of his arrival at York he died, to the universal regret of his people.^ The episode of his life is chiefly remarkable in showing how a faultless man, canonically chosen bishop, could yet be unfairly kept back from his office by the intrigues of Rome, the inordi- nate jealousy of secular influence, and finally, by that blind devotion to the interests of a particular order, which, even in St. Bernard, seems to have overpowered all other con- siderations.^ 11. The Archbishop of Canterbury, as the bitter foe of Henry of Winchester, was opposed to the claims of William, and nothing perhaps more illustrates the anarchy of the period than the part which Archbishop Theobald was able at this time to j^lay towards the king and the country. Pope Eugenius had called a council at Rheims, to which all the English bishops were summoned. King Stephen, feeling not unnaturally some resentment against the Papacy on account of the unfair treatment to which his nephew St. William had been subjected, and mindful, it may be, of the ancient traditions of the freedom of the English Church, forbade the bishops to attend.^ But the cellor of King Roger, who was by birth an Englishman. (Johann. Hagustald., I. c.) Afterwards, according to Brompton, he lived on a manor belonging to the bishop of Winchester. — Brompton, p. 1041 (ed. Twysden). 1 He is said, in Roger de Hoveden's Chronicle, to have been poisoned at the ablutions after the Eucharist (i. 213, Rolls ed.) 2 Stubbs, Act. Pontif. Ebor. (Twysden), p. 1721 ; Johann. Hagus- tald., p. 268, sq. (ed. Twysden) ; Brompton, p. 1041 (ed. Twysden) ; S. Bcrnardi Epp. ccxxxviii. ccxxxix. 3 This is said by Gervase to have been done at the instigation of Henry of Winchester, out of spite against the archbishop. — Chronica Gervas., 1363 (ed. Twysden). 228 THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES, [chap. xiv. archbishop, a Koman Legate, and feeling more bound to Eome than to England, determined at all costs to disobey the prohibition, and to present himself at the council. As all the ports were carefully watched, so that no vessel could sail from them, he trusted himself to a broken boat, and with great danger and difficulty reached the shores of France. The Pope received him with the greatest joy and honour, and declared before the whole council, that the reverence of the Archbishop of Canterbury was so great for St. Peter and the Eoman Court, that he had reached tiiem rather by swimming than by sailing. It was before this council that the case of St. William was brouojht. It was declared by some of the clerks of York that William had not been canonically elected, but had been forced upon them by the king's nomination. His deposition was decreed, without, as it seems, any hearing of the opposite side, simply on the ground that the king had interfered with the election. As King Stephen's nominee, William would scarce be likely to obtain much consideration, and there by the side of the York clerks, and as one probably to succeed to his place, stood Henry Murdak, abbot of Fountains, a grand foundation of the order to which the Pope himself belonged.^ On his return from the council, Archbishop Theobald was honourably received at Canter- bury, but the king, full of wrath at the open contumacy exhibited by the archbishop, hastened to that city, and after severely upbraiding him, inflicted on him the sentence of banishment. Theobald retired to France, where at St. Omer's he exercised his office as much as he could,^ and carried on a correspondence with the king. Stephen shoAving no disposition to yield. Archbishop Theobald had the audacity to lay the whole land under an interdict. After this he ventured to return to England, and, strong ^ Henry Murdak did succeed, as has been stated. But it is observ- able that at the election which took place after William's deposition, Hilary, bishop of Chichester, obtained the majority of votes, and was unfairly passed over by the Pope in favour of the Cistercian abbot. Gervas, Chron., p. 1363. 2 He consecrated at this time Gilbert, bishop of Hereford, two foreign bishops assisting him. 1135-1154.] THE CHURCH IN TROUBLOUS TIMES. 220 in the support of the Pope, to make his interdict still more pressing. At Framlingham in Norfolk he received a deputation of the bishops of London, Chichester, and Norwich, accompanied by many nobles, beseeching him to relax the interdict. The central authority was so powerless, that the archbishop, though Avithin the terri- tories of Stephen, seems to have acted like an independent prince, and to have treated almost on equal terms with the king. At length it pleased him to withdraw the curse which he had inflicted upon his province on account of his own supposed personal grievances, and he and the king were reconciled.^ 12. The weariness felt by all men in the country of the state of anarchy and misery in which England had been so long kept, was still more oppressive, doubtless, to the rulers of the Church than to secular men. The work of the Church could not go on during such a chaos. Men freely said that Christ slept. Excommunication had lost its power. Men were all accursed and forsworn and abandoned.^ The miseries of the time were sufficient at length to draw together enemies and rivals so pronounced as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of Win- chester. Forgetting their mutual grudge as to the legate- ship, these two influential prelates co-operated with the other nobles of the land in making the settlement which resulted in continuing the regal power to Stephen for his life, and after his death conferring it on the young Henry Fitz-Empress. On the death of Stephen (1154), the arch- bishop conducted a regency as head of the Council of State, and managed aff'airs with prudence and success. The young king came to England, well disposed to the Primate, and his regard for him led him to appoint as his Chancellor, Thomas, his archdeacon, who had long been the principal adviser and director of the archbishop's policy. 1 Chron. Gervasii, pp. 1363-4 (cd. Twysden). ^ A.-S. Clivon. 230 THE GREAT CONFLICT lchap. xv. CHAPTER XV. THE GREAT CONFLICT BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 1154-1170. 1. Importance of the reign of Stephen. 2. Thomas Becket as Chancellor. 3. His reasons for shrinliing from the primacy. 4, Election and consecration of Becket. 5. First coldness between Becket and the king. 6. Other causes of estrangement. 7. The dispute at West- minster on the " ancient customs. " 8. Becket promises to observe the "ancient customs." 9. The Council of Clarendon ; Becket draws back from his promise. 10. He is induced to yield and to swear to the "Constitutions." 11. Becket attempts to escape to the Pope, but is brought back. 12. The Council of Northampton ; Becket's escape. 13. Henry's envoys and Becket before the Pope at Sens. 14. Henry's vengeance on the archbishop's friends. 15. Becket at Pontigny ; his excommunications at Vezelai. 16. Becket at Sens ; his return to England. 17. The letters against the bishops ; Henry's fury. 18. The murder of Becket. 19. Horror at the crime. 20. Effects of Becket's murder. 1. The reign of Stephen is important politically, as " ex- emplifying the working of causes and principles which had no other opportunity of exhibiting their real tendencies." ^ It showed, in fact, that feudalism meant anarchy. And it is important ecclesiastically, because, during its commo- tions, and through the weakness of the secular governing power, the Church made rapid advances in its claims for authority as a rival of the State. Thus the way was prepared for the great conflict which was fought out in the next reign. It is remarkable that during the earlier years of Henry 11. , the same person kept the advancing claims of the Church within bounds, who afterwards, when he himself became responsible for them, contended most zealously for their fullest development. 2. Thomas, archdeacon of Canterbury,^ was appointed 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist, i. 335. 2 For the early life of Thomas Becket, see Notes and Illustrations 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 231 by the king his Chancellor, on the strong recommendation of Archbishop Theobald.^ The archbishop had had plentiful experience of the zeal and capacity of the archdeacon, and he could not have recommended to the king a minister more capable of carrying out the reforms so urgently needed in England after the lawlessness of the reign of Stephen. The great glory of Henry II. 's reign was the inauguration of the rule of law — not depending, as in the Conqueror's time, on the personal administration of the sovereign, but administered by fixed courts and regular judges. In this all-important matter Eecket zeal- ously aided the king. He himself sat as a judge, which previous Chancellors had not done. He was " the Chan- cellor, lawyer, judge, financier, captain, and Secretary of State." ^ By the vigorous policy in which he bore a pro- minent part, during the early days of Henry II., the mercenaries were dismissed, the castles of the robber barons razed to the ground, the Crown recovered its demesne lands, fixed payments were established in lieu of military service, malefactors were punished, the debased coinage improved. There remained but one great class of reforms to be entered upon, viz. the reform of the morals of the clergy. Henry doubtless believed that in this too his Chancellor would furnish him the most efficient aid. He had never as yet shown himself specially eager to defend the liberties of the Church. He had defended the king's claims, as against the bishop, in the matter of Battle Abbey. He had acr uiesced in the clergy being made liable for scutage. He was generally regarded to this Chapter. Probably the Hfe of Beeket has been more written of and commented on than that of any other Churchman. Dr. Giles lias collected seven contemporary lives, all written by men well cognisant of the circumstances — viz. an anonymous Fiia S. Tkonue, Lives by Roger de Pontigny, William Fitz-Stephen, John of Salisbury, William of Canterbury, Lambethiensis, and Herbert de Bosham, To say nothing of the earlier chroniclers and later historians, this life has been investigated with great care by Canon Robertson, Dean Stanley, Dean Milman, and Dean Hook. There is probably no better authority for the events of it than Ralph de Diceto, who was well known both to Beeket and his great opponent Foliot, and the partisan of neither. 1 Roger de Hoveden, i. 215. 2 Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. 461. 232 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap. xv. hy the clergy as a persecutor and enemy of the Church.^ The king, therefore, thought that he could not have a more efficient instrument in bringing the clergy to some- thing like order and decency, than this able and vigorous minister ; and in order to increase his efficiency and power, he determined, on the death of Theobald (April 1161), to make Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury. 3. It was no mere ordinary Nolo Ejnscoparl which made Becket deprecate the honour attempted to be thrust upon him.^ He knew himself to be one who could not perform what he held to be the duties of any post which he accepted, slackly. He was well aware also of the king's mind and intention with regard to the clergy. His view of moral obligation being as it seems entirely positive, and not founded on any deeper principle, he was conscious that what he had upheld when chancellor, he must violently oppose when archbishop. He was contented, therefore, to continue the secular "persecutor," believing that his duty to the king excused and required this of him, rather than become the responsible and high-placed Churchman, when, in his view, the obligations upon him would become changed, and the Church would now demand of him that which before she had not claimed, viz. an entire opposition to the king's will. This singular view of dut}^ Thomas did not fail to impress upon the king during the thirteen months which elapsed between the death of Theobald and his election to the primacy. As, however, it is in itself somewhat difficult of apprehension, and as Henry had had ample proof of the ready service of his minister, it is scarcely to be wondered at, that the king did not believe in it, and that, in spite of warnings and protests honestly put forth by Thomas, he insisted, with his resolute will, in forcing him to accept the post of Primate. 4. The long delay between the appointment of Becket to the primacy and his consecration was due to the opposi- tion manifested on the part of Churchmen to the appoint- ment. The Canterbury monks did not discern, any more than the king, the future line of policy of the archbishop- ^ See Hook, Lives of the Archhisliops, ii. 382. 2 Gervas, Act. Pont. Cant., p. 1669 (ed. Twysden). 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 233 designate, and they were unwilling to elect to the highest post in the Church one whom they had only hitherto known as a strong repressor of ecclesiastical pretensions.^ The suffragan bishops would be equally aijprehensive of accepting such an one to rule over them, and it is said that not until the arrival of the great Justiciary Richard de Luci, with the king's peremptory commands and menaces, could the election be brought about,^ Becket had been previously despatched to England, the king being still abroad, and in May 1162, at a large assembly at West- minster, in the presence of Prince Henry and the Justiciary, the prior and monks of Canterbury elected Thomas as archbishop, and the suffragan bishops accepted him, Foliot, bishop of Hereford, alone protesting.^ The archbishop- elect returned to Canterbury to be consecrated. He was only in deacon's orders, and on the Saturday before Whit- sunday he was raised to the priesthood by Walter, bishop of Rochester. It was intended that his consecratiim should take place the next day, the great festival of Whitsunday, but a dispute arose as to who was to be the chief con- secrator. The Archbishop of York claimed the honour, and it was conceded that it ought to belong to him, if only he would restore to Canterbury the allegiance which had been taken away by Thurstan. This, however, he refused to do. Then a Welsh bishop claimed it as being the senior, by consecration, of all the bishops then present. Walter of Rochester also claimed it as chaplain of the archiepiscopal See. It was at length agreed that (the See of London being vacant) Henry of Winchester was the fitting person, as he w\as precentor of the church of Canterbury, and by the position of his See and his own royal blood, the fore- most of the suffragans of Canterbury. By him, therefore, the ceremony was performed on the octave of Whitsunday, June 11G2, thirteen bishops of the province assisting.* 1 Grim, VitaS. TAomfe (Giles), i. 14 ; R. de Rontigny (Giles), i. 104. 2 See the letter of Gilbert Foliot, printed by Dr. Giles. On the authenticity of this letter, which has been disputed, see jNIilman, Lat. Christianity, iii. 454, note. 3 Grim, Vita S. Thoinm (Giles), i. 15 ; R. de Ponri^ny (Giles), i. 107. * Chronica Gervasil, pp. 1382-3 (ed. Twysden). The first act of the 234 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap. xv. 5. It is said on good authority that one principal reason why the king was so eagerly bent on having Thomas as archbishop, was that he desired to have an archbishop for his Chancellor. Proportionately, therefore, M'as he disappointed when, almost as the first act of the archbishop, a messenger was sent to him in Normandy, bearing the resignation by Becket of the post of Chancellor, and restoring the seal. Henry had calculated that, with the highest dignitary of the Church acting as his Chancellor, and ready to append his seal to that of the king, matters both in Church and State would proceed easily. But this hope was at once dispelled by the action of the archbishop. When Henry then returned to England, at Christmastide, he met the archbishop coldly. The relations between them were already changed.-^ Henry's reply to the cession of the chancellorship was a demand that the archbishop should resign the rich post of archdeacon of Canterbur}^, which, at the king's desire, he had continued to hold to reimburse him for the expense of entering upon his See. Possibly it may have been with the intention of further signifying his annoyance with Becket, that at this time Gilbert Foliot, bishop of Hereford, the only bishop who had ventured to express aloud his dislike of Becket's advancement, was translated to the See of London.^ 6. When the relations between him and the king were thus strained, Becket went to attend the council summoned to meet at Tours by the Pope. He was attended by all his suffragans except three, who were excused on account of illness. His state and retinue were magnificent, and he was treated with marked honour by the Pope, being seated on his right hand. The temper prevalent in the council, and the discourses delivered there, were all un- favourable to the claims of the secular authority ; and new archbishop was to raise the day of his consecration to the dignity of a high festival in honour of the holy and undivided Trinity. 1 Eadnlph de Diceto, i. 307-8 (Rolls ed.) 2 See the letter of Pope Alexander in Diceto : — "Quod idem rex desiderat plurimum et requirit." — R. de Diceto, i. 309, It is also said that Thomas desired his advancement (Gervas, 1384) ; but this seems doubtful. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 235 Becket returned to England more determined than before to concede nothing to the king. On his return he pro- ceeded at once to make divers claims on the part of the temporal possessions and rights of the See of Canterbury, which may possibly have been founded in justice, but which were somewhat inopportune, and calculated to em- bitter against him both the king and the barons whose interests were involved.^ He even ventured, in open con- tradiction of the law of the Conqueror, to excommunicate a tenant-in -chief of the Crown,^ without previously certifying the king as to his intentions. Thus then, when the king and the archbishop met at Woodstock, in July 1163, the ground was already prepared for an open quarrel between them. The immediate cause of this quarrel is obscure,^ but it was connected with some claim made by the king to collect the ancient tax, known as the Danegelt, as direct revenue to the Crown, instead of allowing the sheriffs to col- lect it, making a profit out of it for themselves, and com- pounding for it to the Crown. The archbishop flatly refused to allow this tax to be paid as revenue to the Crown. The king swore by the " eyes of God " that it should be paid as revenue. The archbishop as violently replied that not a penny should thus be paid from the lands of the Church. Thus there was an open quarrel between the king and the Primate.* 7. The ill-feeling thus developed between Becket and Henry soon came to be connected with a question of prin- ciple, and greatly intensified thereby. At this moment the crying grievance in England was the outrageous immorality of the clergy,^ and the immunity which they enjoyed in 1 See Gervas, Chron., p. 1384 ; E. cle Diceto, i. 311. 2 The archbishop gave the hving of Eynesford to one Lawrence. William, baron of Eynesford, the patron of the living, drove out Lawrence. The archbishop excommunicated him. — R. de Diceto, i. 312. Possibly this may not have taken jjlace till after the meeting at Woodstock. '^ See Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. 462. 4 Grim, Vita S. Thomce (Giles), i. 21 ; R. de Pontigny (Giles), i. 113. ' It must be remembered that this term is not to be confined to those in the higher orders, but includes all those Avho had taken the tonsure, as well as their servants and dependants. 236 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap, xv their ill-doings. The long disorders of Stephen's reign had naturally produced a grievous crop of crime and ignorance. This had been in some measure rej^ressed among the laity, but the clerical offenders were still untouched. They had, or claimed to have, a right of being tried only in their own courts and by their own superiors. The effect of this was to bring about an entire failure of justice. William of Newbury, a contemporary annalist, thus writes : — " How many clerks have been deprived of their office in England ^ The bishops will defend the liberties of the clergy and con- tend for the dignity of their order, while they are not care- ful to correct and repress their vices. They think they are performing well their duty to God and the Church if they defend against all public censure those criminous clerks upon whom they themselves either refuse or neglect to inflict canonical censures, as their office ought to make them ready to do. From which cause the clergy called to the Lord's inheritance, and placed as stars in the firmament of heaven, who ought to shine above the earth both in life and word, having impunity to do whatever they please, are led into license and liberty, and throw off all reverence for God, whose judgment seems to tarry, and for rulers, inas- much as the bishops care not to check them, and the pre- rogative of their sacred order exempts them from secular jurisdiction." ^ This monster abuse the king determined now, if possible, to remove. Mainly with a view to this he summoned a great council to meet at Westminister in October 1163. It was agreed both by king and archbishop that after degradation the secular law courts might deal with one who had been a clerk. The exact point of dispute seems to have been whether these courts could punish the degraded clerk for the offence for which he had been de- graded, or only in case he offended again after degradation. It was contended by the Church advocates that the former would be equivalent to punishing a man twice for the same offence; it was replied by the seculars that degradation, even when inflicted, was no adequate punishment for such monstrous crimes as murder, rape, arson, etc. ; that the Church courts, which could not sentence to death, had no 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 237 power to punish such crimes fittingly ; and that it was absohitely necessary that the clerk, having been degraded, should then be handed over to the secular court for a further trial. ^ This argument was so evidently reason- able that the bishops assembled at Westminster were quite prepared to accede to the king's demands. They did not in fact amount to any invasion of clerical im- munities, inasmuch as the criminated clerk was first to be tried before his bishop, and if found guilty, degraded, and then only to be amenable to the secular discipline. Only the king desired that, to prevent the failure of justice and the escape of the clerk, some of his officers should be present at the degradation. But though the bishops were ready to agree to what the king desired, the Primate was not. Possibly he might have been, had there been no ill- feeling between him and the king. But as it was, the archbishop vehemently declared that to grant what was asked would be to impair the liberty of the Church, and by his earnestness he made the bishops draw back where they had before been inclined to yield. All day long the fierce strife continued. At length the king, whose hot temper must have been grievously tried, put to the bishops this plain cpiestion — " Were they willing to observe the ancient customs of the land 1 " They did not reply at once, but took counsel with the archbishop, and then gave for answer, " That they were willing to observe the known customs of the king and kingdom, but without prejudice to their order and the right of the Church." The king, indignant at this answer, which in fact meant nothing, swore with his usual profane oath that he would have those words, " without prejudice to their order," away. The bishops remained silent. Only Hilary of Chichester, a vain and empty man, thought he could mend matters by substitut- ing for salvo ordine, bond fide. The king, who was too angry to consider the force of terms, would have an answer to what he had asked, Yes or No, without any conditions ; and when the bishops would not say Yes unconditionally, he went away in his wrath. ^ 1 See Radulph de Diceto, i. 313. ^ Gervas. Dorobern. Chron. 1384-5 ; Roger de HoveJen, i. 219-220. 238 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap. xv. 8. As the king's wrath cooled down, and as he reflected on the importance of the matter at stake, he determined to try upon Becket the eff'ect of a conciliatory appeal. This was done at Northampton, but the arch- bishop showed himself in nowise inclined to yield ; he rather took the line of lecturing Henry for his attempt to intrude upon the sacred ground of the Church. The effect, therefore, was an increased hostility between them.^ But now Becket, much probably to his surprise and annoy- ance, found by letters from the Pope and the Cardinals that his cause was not espoused by the heads of the Church which he was so zealous to serve. They counselled sub- mission to the king, whose support was so much needed at E-ome. Becket discovered also that some of the bishops who had been with him at Westminster would not support him any longer. He went, therefore, to the king at Wood- stock, and promised to observe the ancient customs without any addition of the phrase "without prejudice to my order." ^ Henry's reply was that the avowal must be made publicly, as the refusal had been, and he summoned a council to meet at his manor of Clarendon, near Salis- bury, January 25, 1164. 9. At the king's command the archbishops and bishops and a large number of barons assembled. All were called upon to accept the ancient customs of the kingdom. Immediately there arose a question as to what these ancient customs were. The expression was too indefinite to justify an oath taken blindly. There were " immense discussions," ^ and at length it was determined that two well-skilled persons — namely, Eichard de Luci, Grand Justiciary, and Jocelin de Bailleul, a French lawyer, should draw up a codification of the customs. They produced a list of sixteen " constitutions," which were represented to be the ancient and recognised customs of the kings of ^ The account of this interview is given in Roger de Pontigny (Giles), i. 116. 2 Roger de Pontigny (Giles), i. 123 ; Grim (Giles), i. 27. ♦* Ad consentiendum quodammodo coactus est." — Gervas, p. 1385. ^ Post immensos tractatus. — R. de Diceto. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AXD STATE. 239 England.^ In these Constitutions the ancient custom as to the point specially in dispute between tlie king and the archbishop is thus set forth: — " Clerks accused of any crime shall be summoned by the king's justice into the king's court, to answer there for whatever it shall be determined they ought t5 answer there ; and in the ecclesiastical court for whatever it shall be determined they ought to answer there ; yet so that the king's justice shall send into the court of holy Church to see in what way the matter shall there be handled ; and if the clerk shall confess and be convicted, the Church for the future shall not protect him." This is sufficiently vague. It does not actually settle the disputed point as to whether a clerk could be tried twice for the same offence — once in the Church court, and then, if degraded, in the secular court. It does not settle whe- ther a clerk, acquitted in the spiritual court, could be tried in the temporal. Probably the archbishop might have accepted this exposition, and not have been induced by it to draw back from his promise. But when we look at the whole body of the Constitutions, the case is very different. Becket found " that he was required to make concessions which involved the sacrifice of the great principle to which he had devoted his life. Instead of a distinct imperium, of which he was to be the head, the Church was to be reduced to its ancient condition under the Anglo-Saxons and the Conqueror, and become merely an imj^erium in imperio." ^ He drew back from his general promise in the face of these particulars. With his principles he could do no less. Better would it have been for his fame had he persisted in his refusal to accept the Constitutions. 10. Oil the refusal of the archbishop to accept the draft of the Constitutions, the rage of the king, the excite- ment of the council, knew no bounds. The bishops were now with the Primate. Only two of them besought him to yield.^ But the barons supported the king. Things looked so threatening that the better among the nobles, 1 They are printed in Gervas. Chron., p. 13S6. They will be found in ISIr. Stubbs's translation in Notes and Illustrations to this Chapter. 2 Hook, Lives of the Archbishops, ii. 409. 3 Jocelin of Salisbury and William of Norwich. 240 THE GREAT CO:N^rLICT [chap. xv. Robert, Earl of Leicester, and Reginald, Earl of Cornwall, earnestly prayed the archbishop to accept the Constitutions. Two of the most famous of the Knights of the Temple, with prayers and tears, urged him to have pity on the clergy, who were placed in imminent danger.^ Everywhere armed men were rushing through the rooms,' brandishing their weapons as if the bishops were to be straightway massacred. Becket at length yielded to the importunity, and promised to observe the Constitutions. He gave per- mission also for the bishops to observe them.^ It may be doubtful whether Becket's promise was made bond fide. Probably he had in view, in making it, the dispensation of the Pope to repudiate it, which he immediately sought. At any rate, when the king required him to put his seal to the Constitutions, he angrily refused. " Never," he said, " should seal of his be put to that writing, nor would he confirm those laws." ^ It seems impossible to reconcile this with a ho7id fide promise to accept them.^ Yet, though he would not seal, he accepted a portion of the MS. of the Constitutions wdiich were written in triplicate,^ and then hastily left the council, directing his course towards AVin- chester. The proceedings at Clarendon do not tend to raise the character of Becket, and he is said to have been so angry with himself, that he appointed himself a forty clays' penance, and eagerly sought absolution from the Pope. 11. Meantime the king, who had thus triumphed over his opponent, was anxious to secure and extend his victory, and applied also to the Pope to make Roger, Archbishop of York — a strong opponent of Becket's — Legate instead of him. Pope Alexander was greatly perplexed. His sym- pathies w^ere of course w^ith Becket, but his interests seemed to require the support of Henry. His plan was to grant the legateship to Archbishop Roger as the king de- 1 Gei-vas, Chron., p. 1386 ; Grim, J^'ita S. TJiomae (Giles), i. 30; R. de Pontigny (Giles), i. 126. 2 Roger de Hoveden, i. 222 (Rolls ed.) ; Gervas, CJiron. I c. 3 Roger de Hoveden, l. c. ; Grim. (Giles), i. 31 ; R. de Fontigny (Giles), i. 127. 4 And if, as is said by some, lie did afterwards seal tliem, tins is still more strange. ^ Grim, R. de Pontigny, u. s. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 211 manded, but to exempt Becket from its control,^ which woidd only have made confusion worse confounded. Becket, indignant at this half-hearted support, determined to plead his cause personally. He had also other matters to complain of. The Archbishop of York had caused his cross to be carried before him in the province of Canterbury, and the Pope would not forbid him the privilege except in the Diocese of Canterbury. Gilbert Foliot, translated from Hereford to London, would not make a profession of sub- jection to the archbishop, upon the ground that he had already made it as bishop of Hereford. The prior of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, demanded the benediction to be given to him in his own abbey, and refused to come for it to the cathedral. At this moment Becket stood absolutely alone, but his spirit did not quail. He embarked privately at Eomney, determined to seek out the Pope at Sens. But the sailors, finding that he had not the king's permission to leave the country, were afraid to proceed, and the arch- bishop was accordingly brought back.^ It would have suited the king's purpose well for the Primate thus to have offended against the law, and the morning after his de- parture the king's officers appeared at Canterbury ready to confiscate his goods. But his presence sent them away in confusion. 12. In the meanwhile the king and his advisers had been carefully deliberating how they might best humble and subdue the archbishop, and thinking that they had found a means of doing so by calling Becket to account for his administration of affairs when Chancellor, a council was summoned to meet at Northampton, October 6, 1161. The weapons now to be used against him were scarcely honourable ones. Becket had obtained a full acquittance and discharge as to all his judicial and fiscal proceedings when Chancellor, before his consecration to the primac}'.^ At his first coming to Northampton a petty insult was ^ His first idea was to make the king Lojjjate, exempting Becket from his control. — Roger do Hovcden, i. 223 ; Gervas., Chron., p. 1388. '- Gervas., Chron., p. 1389. 3 R. de Diceto, i. 314 ; Grim, Vita S. Thomcc (Giles), i. 15 ; R. de rontigny (Giles), i. 108. R 242 THE GREAT COI^TLICT [chap. xv. offered to the Primate. He found the lodging destined for him in the monastery of St. Andrew, full, and no place reserved for him and his attendants. Upon this the Primate sent word to the king that he should not stay un- less proper provision were made for him, and he carried his point.^ He was then called to answer before the council, on the charge made against him by John the Marshal, that he had been refused justice in his court. He met the charge by a bold denial ; but the barons adjudged him to pay a fine of five hundred pounds.^ The shock and annoy- ance of this probably unfair sentence made Becket ill. But the king was not disposed to spare him. He for- mally summoned him to give an account of his receipts as Chancellor. He was called upon to account for the revenues of all the bishoprics, abbacies, benefices, which during vacancy had been paid to him ; for the receipts from the wardenship of Berkhamstead and Eye ; and for numerous matters which he could not possibly answer off-hand, and as to which he had received no intima- tion beforehand that he would be required to give an lien (Giles), i. 218, sq. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 24.5 carried by a goodly band of ambassadors, comprising no less than five bishops — Eoger of York, Gilbert of London, Bartholomew of Exeter, Roger of Worcester, Hilary of Chichester — and many clerks of less dignity, and barons. Louis, instead of acceding to Henry's request, paid all honour to Becket, and the ambassadors, finding themselves unable to effect anything with the king, hastened on to the Pope at Sens. They arrived before Becket, and a consistory being immediately granted to them, they pleaded the king's cause. Gilbert Foliot spoke first, blaming earnestly Becket's rash proceedings in embroiling the Church with the king. The Pope checked him for his vehemence, and he became mute. Then Hilary of Chi- chester began a stilted harangue against Becket, but making an unfortunate slip in his Latin, there was a general burst of laughter in the court.^ The Archbishop of York said he knew well the obstinacy of Becket, and that there was no hope of getting over the difficulty but by the Pope's interference. The bishop of Exeter desired the Pope to appoint Legates to hear the cause. Then the Earl of Arundel spoke in English of the high respect felt by the King for the Pope, and his desire that he would interpose to settle these unhappy diff'erences. The Pope paid great attention to this speech, and in answer to it said that he had the highest regard for the English king, and as they desired to have Legates to settle this quarrel, they should have them. The bishop of London then asked that the Legates might have the power of settling the matter without appeal. To this the Pope would not consent. Li a few days the Archbishop of Canterbury arrived, attended by a gallant train of knights. Being at once admitted to a secret audience by the Pope, he de- clared to him that it was not for a light cause he had left England ; that there had been great love between him 1 His words were — "Et certe virum tantaj auctortatis id non decuit nee oportuit, nee aliqnando o^wrtuebat, insuper sui si saperent non oportuerimt in talibus prffibuisse assensum." Audito itaque qualiter facundus ille rlietor et grammaticus et cansidicus prosiliret de portu in portnm soluli sunt in risum nniversi. — Gervas., Cluvn., p. u^:>. 246 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap. xv. and tlie king, and lie might easily be reconciled to him, but only at the cost of irreparable mischief to the Church. He then produced a copy of the Constitutions of Clarendon. As these were read aloud there arose groans, and tears were shed in the Papal Curia, so terribly did they appear to contravene the rights of Holy Church. Subsequently, at a more private interview, the archbishop acknowledged with tears that the ills which had overtaken the English Church were due chiefly to himself. He, he said, had climbed up into the sheepfold, and not entered by the true way of canonical election. The fear of the secular power had brought about his appointment. Had he, how- ever, resigned it, as his enemies demanded, he would have inflicted still greater scandal on the Church by obeying unauthorised commands. Now, however, before the true ruler of the Church, he solemnly resigned that post into which he had been unduly thrust. Then he took off his episcopal ring, and placing it in the Pope's hands, removed to a distance from the Cardinals. The Pope and Cardinals held a short consultation. Some thought a way out of the difficulty was thus opened for them, and that the arch- bishop might be otherwise provided for. But others thought this course would be base and mean, inasmuch as the archbishop had boldly stood for the right, even to the peril of his life. He was therefore reinstated in his posi- tion, and promised every sort of help and support.^ 14. But promises were all that Becket was to obtain from the Pope, who at that time had a most difficult part to play.^ He was, no doubt, well disposed to aid Becket, but he feared Henry. The most, therefore, that he could do for the archbisliop, was to recommend him to the care of the abbot of Pontigny, while he sent as conciliatory messages as possible to the king of England. Henry was not a man likely to be satisfied with soft words. He united a wonderful political instinct with the most un- bridled passions, and he now proceeded to give one of the worst proofs of his violent nature. He not only seized the archbishop's goods, but he drove into exile, pillaged 1 Gervas., Chron., pp. 1293-1298 ; Grim, Vita S. Thomce (Giles), i. 52. " See Milman, Lat. Christianity, iii. 478. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 247 a^id destitute, all his relatives, dependants, and friends, to the number of about 400, who, "with a refinement of cruelty, were forced to swear that they would present themselves to the archbishop at Pontigny, that he might be the spectator of the mischief he had wrought. By a public edict, the king forbade any one in England to communicate with and aid the archbishop, or even to pray for him.^ 15. While Henry thus raged, the archbishop, in his retreat at Pontigny, had ample opportunity for reviewing the past and considering the future. The accounts of his life in the abbey are somewliat contradictory. Some of his biographers assert that it was that of a mortified and self- torturing ascetic ; but there are other passages which seem to represent the archbishop as too much addicted to luxu- rious living and free indulgence in food and wine.^ It was on St. Andrew's day 1164 that Becket sought this retreat. During his stay there, throughout the whole of the year 11 05, he was revolving projects of resuming the strife with the king of England. He was so much occupied with the study of the canous and the false decretals, that one of his friends, John of Salisbury, wrote to him to remonstrate against such studies, and to recommend the devotional study of the Scriptures. Happy would it have been for Becket had he taken this good advice, and saved himself from the long undignified squabble which he now entered upon with the king. He had, during 1165, three times cited Henry to submit to his censure ; and on these invita- tions being very naturally disregarded, he was preparing to excommunicate him, when he received a letter from Pope Alexander checking his bitterness, and bidding him at any rate to stay proceediugs against tlie king till after Easter (1166). At length, however, his desire to curse his enemies could be no longer restrained ; and on Ascension- day, in the cathedral of Vezelai, the archbishop solemnly excommunicated John of Oxford, promoted to the deanery 1 Gervas., Chron., p. 1398. 2 See, for Beoket's life at Poiitignj^ Hook, Lives of the ArchbisJwps, ii. 436-443. I do not, however, see that the passages quoted prove any excess on the part of Becket. 248 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap. xv. of Salisbury and divers others, clerks and laymen, by name, whom he judged to be most hostile to him ; and finally all those who upheld, observed, or defended the Constitutions of Clarendon.^ This general curse, if it meant anything, included the king and almost the whole nation. Henry's counter-move was to order the persons cursed to appeal against Becket's sentence, and to send forth Becket from his retreat at Pontigny by declaring that he would expel the whole Cistercian order from his dominions if the abbot harboured him any longer. ^ 16. Upon hearing of these violent proceedings at Vezelai, the bishops of the English Church addressed a strong letter of remonstrance to the Primate, which was penned or inspired by his great opponent Gilbert Foliot : ^ but such remonstrances had but little effect upon the arch- bishop.* He always treated the bishops who were opposed to him with a scornful indignation. He excommunicated the bishop of London and the bishop of Salisbury. Being fully persuaded in his own mind, he refused to listen to any suggestion of yielding, and repeatedly declared that he was prepared for and expected martyrdom. During the four years that he remained at Sens, where the king of France had given him an asylum after his expulsion from Pontigny, he waged a continual and internecine war against all who upheld the claims of the secular authority to interfere with the privileges of ecclesiastics. He was surrounded, indeed, with a band of devoted friends, and everywhere, both in France and England, the common people were with him ; but the Pope only feebly supported, and sometimes openly checked him. The king and the barons, the great Church- men of England, were all against him. It is impossible not to admire the courage of the man. Much fault may, no doubt, be found with his tem^^er, his language, his persist- ent enmities ; but his was a grand figure, contending fear- 1 R. de Diceto, i. 318. 2 Gervas., Chron., p. 1400; Grim, Vita S. Thomoe (Giles), i. 59; R. de Pontigny (Giles), i, 155. 3 R. de Diceto, i. 321 ; R. de Hoveden, i. 262. * The answer to this letter, addressed to Gilbert Foliot, will be found R. de Diceto, i. 323 ; R, de Hoveden, i. 256. 115M170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AXD STATE. 219 lossly for what lie believed to be the right. To detail all the proceedings of these four years would fill a volume. The Pope issued no less than four commissions to Legates to endeavour to settle the dispute ; all the chief men of the day were more or less mixed up in it. The letters which passed, the negotiations wdiich took place, were endless. At length Henry, wearied out with the strife, and unable to bend the firm spirit of the archbishop, or to curb the rising power of the Church, determined to yield all.^ At Freteval, on July 22, 1170, the king and the archbishop met. Great cordiality prevailed. Henry agreed that Becket might inflict ecclesiastical punishment on the bishops who had wronged him by taking part in the coronation of the young king. Of the Constitutions of Clarendon nothing was said. The archbishop was free to return to England ; he em- barked at Whitsand, and landed at Sandwich, December 1, 1170. 17. Unhappily the archbishop did not return in peace, but with his spiritual sword drawn in his hand. He had obtained letters from the Pope suspending the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham for having crowned Prince Henry in the province of Canterbury, and without exacting from him an oath to preserve the privileges of the Church ; '^ and another letter to the bishops of London, Salisbury, Exeter, Chester, Rochester, Llandaff", and St. Asaph, sus- pending them in like manner for having joined and con- curred in this act ; while the bishops of London, Salisbury, and Rochester, being old ofl'enders against the archbishop, were excommunicated.^ Having obtained these weapons of offence, Becket proceeded to use them skilfully. Had he brought them himself, his purpose would have been frustrated. The bishops were well aware that he had obtained letters against them, and were on the look-out to seize them on his arrival as contraband and illicit. An 1 This temper on the part of the king was no doubt greatly due to the complications arising from his unfortunate mistake in suffering liis sou to be crowned by the Archbishop of York. There was an immi- nent danger of an interdict. — See Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. 474. 2 R. de Diceto, i. 310 ; R. de Hoveden, ii. 7. 3 R. de Diceto, i. 340-1 ; R. de Hoveden, ii. 8. 250 THE GREAT CONFLICT [cHAr. xv. ordinance of great severity, passed in the preceding year, had made it highly penal to bring any papal letters into the country.^ But Becket had contrived, by means of an unsuspected messenger, to convey these letters into the country before his own arrival;^ and the bishops found themselves suddenly stricken with the terrible bolt of a papal excommunication before the coming of their great opponent. Becket was therefore saluted on his arrival with a fierce demand upon him to undo this work and to absolve the bishops. He informed the king's officers who made this demand, that if the bishops of London and Salisbury would solemnly swear henceforth to obey him, he would absolve them.^ He w^as unmoved by the menaces hurled against him by Ralph de Broc and others, and cheered and exhilarated by the enthusiastic joy with which the people everywhere received him. From Canter- bury he proceeded to London, where the excitement was immense ; but even here he put forth some excommuni- cations.* Being ordered not to approach the court, which was at AVoodstock, Becket returned to Canterbury. Preaching on Christmas Day on the text, " Peace on earth, goodwill towards men," he illustrated his subject by break- ing forth in a furious curse against Nigel de Sackville, Ralph and Robert de Broc.^ These men may have de- served his censure, but the occasion and the manner terribly illustrate the unrelenting character of the man. Mean- time the bishops smitten with the papal curse hastened to seek the king, whom they found in the neighbourhood of Bayeux. They complained of the conduct of the arch- bishop in excommunicating them for doing that which they had done at the king's command. Henry was excited to fury, and was perhaps all the more furious 1 R. de Hoveclen, i. 231. 2 Some say the messenger was a nun. Gervase says the letters were conveyed by a boy wlio had come with Robert, the sacristan of the church of Canterbury, to make preparations for the archbishoj)'s return. — Chron., p. 1413. See also R. de Pontigny (Giles), i. 150. 3 R. de Diceto, i. 342. 4 See William Fitz-Stephen, Vita S. Thomce (Giles), i. 285 ; Grim (Giles), i. 66. s R. de Diceto, i. 342. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 251 because be remembered tbat be bad bimself consented tbat tbe arcbbisbop sbould censure tbese bisbops. Prob- ably he bad not expected anything so severe as a papal excommunication. In bis passion be shouted out the well- known words which availed to send four of bis knights in all baste to Canterbury.^ 18. The four knights^ arrived in Canterbury on De- cember 28, and took up their quarters with tbe abbot of St. Augustine's. They probably hardly knew what they were going to attempt, but bad a general purpose of insulting, terrifying, and bumbling tbe archbishop on tbe following day (December 29).^ They first went to him unarmed, and with the object, as it seemed, of reproaching him with his conduct to the king, and demanding the absolution of the bisbops. An angry colloquy took place. Fitz-Urse was tbe spokesman for tbe knights. He told Becket that be spoke in peril of bis life. There was no sign of timidity about Becket. He defied them to do their worst. The knights rushed out for their arms. The doors of the palace were barred. Sounds were soon heard of some one hewing at them with an axe. His friends im- plored Becket to take sanctuary in the church. He refused. Then be was told it was the time for vespers. Tbe bell was tolling. The arcbbisbop went in bis usual state into tbe church.'* The monks were rushing to close tbe door into the cloisters. Becket -svould not allow them to do so. Tbe church, he said, must be open to all. The monks were too terror-stricken to continue the service. The archbishop stood calmly waiting for bis enemies. They 1 See Grim, Vita S. Thomcc (Giles), i. G8. Grim altogether acquits the king of intending Becket's death. 2 Reginakl Fitz-Urse, William de Tracy, Hugh de Morville, Regi- nald Brito. ^ The year of course, according to our reckoning, was 1170, but it is frequently dated 1171, because it was the custom of many to begin the year from the Nativity, while others began it at the Annunciation. — See Gervas., Chron., p. 1418. ^ There is a conflict of testimony here. William Fitz-Stephen, who was present, says he walked into the church with his cross carried before him. — Giles, i. 299. R. de Pontigny says the monks carried him bodily into the church. — Giles, i. 105. 252 THE GREAT CONFLICT [chap. xv. were soon upon liim, shouting, " Where is the traitor 1 Where is the archbishop V " Behold me, no traitor, but a priest of God," was the reply. After a violent alterca- tion they seized Becket, intending probably to drag him out of the church and to make him a prisoner.^ But the archbishop resisted stoutly. He had been a brave soldier in his day, and knew not how to fear. He seized a pillar. He struck De Tracy to the ground, and hurled a foul epithet at Fitz-Urse.'^ Then Fitz-Urse aimed a blow at him with his sword. It was partly arrested by the de- votion of his faithful attendant Grim, whose arm was nearly severed.^ When Becket felt the blow, and saw the others preparing to strike, he seems to have resisted no longer, but recommended his soul to God and the saints. Then they all wreaked their vengeance upon him, and leaving his mangled body on the pavement, rushed away to plunder.* 19. The horror produced by this great crime was ex- cessive. The king, who could not feel himself clear from having contributed to it, fasted and wept. He was able, no doubt, truly to declare that he had never meditated or intended bodily harm to the archbishop. He had deter- mined to seize and imprison him, though not by the agency of these knights. He obtained absolution from the Pope, though wdth difficulty, and at the cathedral of Avranches in Normand)^, Henry having sworn that he had not sought the death of Becket, but deeply grieved for it, and having made certain promises supposed to be in favour of the Church, was, after a formal flagellation, reconciled to the Church. One of the promises which the king made at 1 They tried to force him upon De Tracy's back, who was to cany him off. — R. de Pontigny (Giles), i. 167. 2 Lenonem ajjpellans.—Qivim., Vita S. Thomce (Giles), i. 76. 3 Grim, i. 77. ^ The particulars of the murder of the archbishop are of course recorded by all his numerous biographers. Of these Grim was an eye- witness and a fellow-sufferer with Becket, whom he gallantly tried to save. Gervase has also a graphic account of the murder. He had been admitted as a monk, and had also received holy orders from Becket.— C^?m., p. H18. 1154-1170.] BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 253 Avranches was to abrogate some at least, if not all, of the Constitutions of Clarendon. 20. The murder of Becket was an unmixed evil to the Church of England. He had been a trouble to the Church during his life. He was a far greater mischief to it in his death. His fate was straightway elevated to the dignity of a cruel martyrdom, and thus all his violent policy, all his anti-national projects, were invested with a divine halo, and became rooted in the affections of his countrymen. As the opponent of the king and barons he had ever naturally been the favourite of the people, and much of the old Eng- lish national sentiment of hatred of the conquering Norman race was mixed with the feelings which he inspired. This contributed greatly to excite the enthusiasm with which his memory was hallowed. The nation gave itself up madly to the worship of St. Thomas. The king was con- strained by the strength of the popular feeling to approach his tomb in the guise of the most abject penitence, and the policy of the Constitutions of Clarendon was much discred- ited. These Constitutions offered a fair promise for the administration and working of a national Church. " They are no mere, engine of tyranny or secular spite against a Churchman. They are really a part of a great scheme of administrative reform, by which the debatable ground between the spiritual and temporal powers can be brought within the reach of common justice, and the lawlessness arising from professional jealousies abolished." ^ They re- mained, indeed, to be the groundwork of later legislation, and a most valuable testimony to the opinions of the day in which they were promulgated. But numberless troubles and contentions between Church and State, and the rapid growth of the Pope's intrusive power, proved the great evil of their temporary abrogation. At the time they were drawn up they were unanimously accepted by the bishops. We have a remarkable testimony from Becket himself that the reverence for the Pope had almost ceased in England. " But for me," he wrote to Alexander, " and my fellow- exiles, all authority of Rome had ceased for ever in Eng- land. There would have been no one to maintain the 1 Stubbs, Const Hist., i. 465. 254 CONFLICT BETAVEEN CHURCH AND STATE. [cHAr.xv. Pope against kings and princes." ^ The reverence paid to St. Thomas was extended to Eome, which, though it had only feebly upheld him in life, yet canonised him after death. No Churchman desiring to stand well with his people could now take national ground. The martyr triumphed where the living Churchman had failed. And yet it was only by an utter misuse of terms that the death of Becket could be called a martyrdom. He died like a brave soldier contending against ruffian assailants who had no authority to attack him, and no power to accept any undertaking on his part had he been willing to make one. There was no question of principle involved in his death. The four savage knights had a hatred of their own to ap- pease, and a hope to win a reward from the king whose secret wishes they supposed themselves to know. Becket withstood them as he would have withstood robbers in a wood, who sought to plunder his treasure. It was the sanc- tity of the place where the deed of violence was done, and the great antecedents of the man who had so long contended with kings and popes, that gave a special character to the murderous act. This sufficed to make all Europe shudder, and to bring it about that the cause which Becket had espoused became so strong that no secular power could for a time resist it. 1 Giles, Letters of Becket, iii. 55. NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. (A) THE EARLY LIFE OF recommended Mm to Archbishop THOMAS BECKET Theobald, into whose service lie was taken. Here he continued to enjoy The father of Thomas Becket was high favour. He was made incum- Gilbert, a citizen of London. Of his bent of Brantfeld, then archdeacon mother a romantic story is told that of Canterbury. On the accession of she was a Moslem girl, who had Henry IL he was recommended by learned to love Gilbert in Palestine, the archbishop for the place of Chan- and sought him out on his return to cellor, in which he served the king England in London. Thomas was well. He proved himself a skilful born 1117. He was taught at diplomatist, and showed also con- London, then at Oxford, afterwards siderable prowess as a soldier, lead- at Paris. His abilities and manners ing an expedition against Cahors, ciiAr. XV.] NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 255 whicli he took, and seizing and im- prisoning a marandiug chieftain named Wydo de la Val. He was remaikalile lor the pomp and splen- dour of his appearance and retinue, and for the great expense in which he indulged. His ready zeal to as- sist the king in repressing the robber nobles of Stephen's reign and the excesses of some of the clergy, led the king to suppose tliat he woidd also zealously support his policy Avhen made archbishop. (B) THE CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON. 1. If dispute shall arise between laymen concerning advowson and presentation to churches, or between laymen and clerks, or between clerks, the matter must be treated and set- tled in the court of the lord king. 2. Churches of the fee of the lord king cannot be given in perpetuity without the assent and concession of the king himself. 3. Clerks accused and charged with any matter, being summoned by the king's justice, shall come into his court, to answer there con- cerning that upon which it shall seem right to the king's court that answer sliould be made there, and in the Church court concerning that which shall seem right to be answered there ; so that the king's justice shall send into the court of Holy Church to see in what manner the thing shall be treated there. And if the clerk shall have been convicted, or have confessed, the Church ought not to defend him any longer. 4. It is not lawful for archbishops, bishops, and parsons of the kingdom to go out from the kingdom without the license of the lord king. And if they go out, if it shall please the lord king, they shall give security that neither in going, staying, nor returning, they shall do evil or mis- chief to the king and kingdom. 5. Excommunicates ought not to give pledge for the future, nor to take oath, but only security and pledge of abiding by the judgment of the Church, that they may be absolved. 6. Laymen ought not to be accused, except by certain and legal accusers and witnesses, in the presence of the bishop, so tliat the archdeacon may not lose his rights, nor anything that he ought to have from thence. And if they who are blamed shall be such that no one is willing or dares to accuse them, the sherifT, being re- quested by the bishop, shall cause twelve legal men of the vicinity, or of the town, to swear before the bishop that they will show the truth in that matter according to their conscience. 7. No one who holds of the king in chief, nor any of his officers of the lordship, shall be excommuni- cated, nor the lands of any of them placed under an interdict, until first the lord king, if he be in the land ; or his justice if he be outside the kingdom, be applied to to do right with i-espect to him ; and so that j what shall belong to the king's court I be there settled, and what shall be- ! long to the Church court be sent to it to be treated there. 8. In appeals, when they occur, from the archdeacon they ought to proceed to the bishop, from the bishop to the archbishop. And if the archbishop fail to give justice, last of all recourse must be had to the lord king ; that by his precept the controversy may be ended in the court of the archbishop ; so that it ought not to proceed further with- out the assent of the lord king. 9. If a quarrel arise between a clerk and a layman, or between a layman and a clerk, concerning a tenement which the clerk wishes to bring to franc-almoign, but the lay- man to a lay fee, it shall be settled by the award of twelve legal men, by the consideration of the chiel- justice of the king, whether the tene- ment belongs to franc-almoign or to the lay fee. And if it shall be awarded to belong to franc-almoign, it shall be plended in the Church !o(3 NOTES AND ILLUSTKATIOXS. [chap. XV. coiiit ; but if to lay fee, iiuless both claim imderthe same bishop or baron, it shall be pleaded in the king's court. But if both claimants make their claim for the fee under the same bishop or baron, it shall be pleaded in his court : but so that on account of the award he who was first seised of it shall not lose seisin until it shall have been proved by the plea. 10. If one who belongs to a city or castle or town or manor of the lord king shall have been cited by the archdeacon or bishop for any crime for which he ought to answer them, and he be unwilling to satisfy tb?ir citations, it is permissible to put him under an inteixlict ; but he ought not to be excommunicated before the chief officer of the lord king in that town be applied to to cause him to come to satisfaction. And if the king's officer fail in that respect, he shall be at the king's mercy, and from that time the bishop shall be able to restrain the accused person by law ecclesiastical. 11. Archbishops, bishops, and all pai-sons of the kingdom who hold of the king in chief, hold all their pos- sessions of the lord king as a barony, and from them must answer the justices and king's officers, and fol- low and do all rights nnd customs royal, and, as other barons, must be present at the judgment of the king's court with the barons, until that the judgment comes to mutilation or death. 12. When an archbishopric or bishopric, or abbey or priory, in the lordship of the king be vacant, it ought to be in his hand, and he shall receive from it all rents and profits as belonging to the lord. And when the time comes for con- sulting the Church, the lord king ought to send for the more import- ant persons of the Church, and the election ought to be made in the chapel of the lord king, by the assent of the lon.1 king and the council of the chief persons of the kingdom, whom he shall have called to do this. And there the elect shall do homage and fealty to the loi-d king as his liege lord, concerning his life and limbs and his earthly honour, saving his order before he be consecrated. 13. K any of the chief men of the kingdom hinder by force the arch- bishop or bishop or archdeacon from trying him or his men, the lord king ought to use law to him. And if by chance any one shall have held back by force from the lord king his right, the archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons ought to use law to him to make him satisfy the lord king. 14. The chattels of those who are outlawed by the king, the Church, or the cemetery must not detain against the king's justice, because they are the king's, whether they have been found in the churches or without. 15. Pleas for debts -which are owed with a promise, or without a promise, are in the king's cognisance. 1 6. The sons of rustics ought not to be ordained withoiit the assent of the lord on whose land they are known to have been born. — Stubbs, Select CJiartcrs, pp. lo-2-134 ; John- son's £ng. Canons, ii 50, $q. 1171-1213.] GROWTH OF THE POWER OF ROME. 257 CHAPTER XVI. THE GROWTH OF THE POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 1171-1213. 1. Papal exemptions of monasteries. 2. St. Alban's obtains exemption. 3. Claims made by Christ Church, Canterbury. 4. Archbishop Ptichard's complaint of the license of the monasteries. 5. Claim of the Canterbury monks to elect the Primate "freely." 6. Election of Ptichard, Prior of Dover. 7. Confirmed by the Pope ; claim to confirm suffragan bishops. 8. Henry's penance at the shrine of St. Thomas. 9. Destruction of Canterbury Cathedral. 10. Council of Westminster, 1175. 11. The Roman Legate allows the clergy to be subject to the forest-laws. 12. Clerical appointments at the Council of Woodstock. 13. Quarrel between the two archbishops at West- minster. 14. A Legate arriving without leave summarily stopped. 15. Henry's foundation of three monasteries. 16. National feeling among the bi.-shops. 17. Election of Archbishop Baldwin ; beginning of quarrel with Canterbury monks. 18. Nature of the quarrel ; success of the monks. 19. Preparations for a crusade ; the arch- bishop takes the cross. 20. Council of Pip>ewell ; ecclesiastical ajjpointments. 21. Secular prelates ; Archbishop Hubert Walter. 22. St. Hugh of Lincoln. 23. Archbishop Hubert Walter obliged to take down the church at Lambeth. 24. Hugh, bishop of Coventry, obliged to restore the rnonks. 25. Suspension of Archbishop Geoffrey of York. 26. Hubert Walter holds Legatine Synod at York. 27. Accession of Innocent III. ; the advance in papal power. 28. Arch- bishop Hubert Walter jields to the Pope. 29. The Council of West- minster, A.D. 1200. 30. Effects of the contemporaneousness of Innocent and John. 31. The disputed election to the primacy. 32. The Pope's proceedings in the matter. 33. Letters between John and Innocent ; Stephen Langton consecrated. 34. John's furious rage. 35. The Pope threatens an interdict. 36. The inter- dict published. 37. Effect of the interdict. 38. The King's re- prisals. 39. John excommunicated ; failure of the Pope's measures. 40. Pandulfs interview with John. 41. John's opposition collapses. 42. He surrenders his kingdom to the Pope, and does homage. 43. The bishops return and absolve the King. 1. For a period of six years the Church of England was practically without a Primate, and that too at a time when a reformation of ecclesiastical discipline was most urgently S 258 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. needed. In the midst of his great struggle against the king, Becket had no time or thought for the administration of the ordinary business of the Church, and the other bishops were so absorbed in and mixed up with the strife, that their diocesan work must have been greatly hindered. There were other causes also at work at this time to hamper episcopal action. With the growing power of the Papacy began to grow up that most formidable obstacle to all good government — the system of granting exemptions to monasteries from episcopal control — exemptions which not only secured license to the parent house, but to all its cells and churches, and all in any way connected with it. There had been some exemptions secured by convents even before the Conquest. A privilege was granted to some houses of electing their own abbots, but the bishop had to approve the abbot and give him benediction. Others had the privilege of keeping the property of the house entirely independent of the diocesan.^ But as yet no monasteries had the power of entirely excluding episcopal control. This license was first introduced by the Cistercians, that order being made everywhere entirely independent of bishops ; but it was soon coveted and eagerly contended for by monks of other orders, and but too often with com- plete success. The first notable example of an abbey obtaining complete immunity from episcopal control by means of papal grants was that of St. Alban's. 2. The famous abbey of King Ofifa, which had suffered hard measure at the time of the Conquest, had nevertheless not ceased to grow in wealth and dignity. Its increasing power and importance led it to desire independence of that episcopal control which it felt to be humiliating to its greatness. An opportunity to effect this occurred, and it was eagerly used. It had been the strange fortune of St. Alban's to reject, on account of ignorance, a candidate for admission into its ranks, who was afterwards raised to the chair of St. Peter as Adrian IV. The Pope, instead of bearing ill-will to the society which had refused him in his youth, felt deeply grateful to it as having really thrown him in the way of his future advancement. Taking advan- ^ Stubbs, Introcl. to Epist. Cant., xxviii. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 259 tage of this feeling, the abbot Eobert applied to Pope Adrian to relieve him of what he styles the " intolerable oppressions of the bishop of Lincoln," his diocesan ; and the Pope, lending a ready ear to his request, gave him a bull which decreed that " all the dwellers in the monastery, all inhabitants of its dependent houses and of its vills, should be altogether free from subjection to bishops, and only be subject to the Roman pontiff." -•• He also appointed the Feast of St. Alban as a day to be observed in all churches, and ordered that the Whitsuntide Processions in the county of Hertford should no longer be made to Lincoln but to St. Alban's. At a subsequent period he also gave to the abbot the right of wearing the episcopal ornaments. These great privileges were, in spite of the opposition of the bishop of Lincoln, continued to St. Alban's by the fol- lowing Pope. The matter came before the Council of Westminster (1163), and the king, though indignant at this papal interference, could find no better way of settling the difficulty than recommending the bishop to make a composition with the abbot. The monastery agreed to give its vill of Tynghurst to the See for a perpetual im- munity for itself, and for fifteen churches immediately dependent on it, from episcopal control. The Processions of these churches were to be made to the abbey, and the abbot was allowed to wear the episcopal ornaments — the mitre, gloves, and sandals — and to preside in a synod at St. Alban's over his affiliated clergy as a bishop.^ Such a precedent would soon find imitators, and nothing could be devised more thoroughly destructive of Church order, and more completely hampering to the bishops. 3. The same policy which appeared full blown at St. Alban's had been going on gradually at Canterbury. St. Augustine's, ever jealous of Christ Church and of its nominal abbot the archbishop, had long been contending for exempt privileges, and the same spirit was also manifested in Christ Church itself. This had, in fact, been encouraged both by Lanfranc and Anselm, in both of whom the 1 Matt. Paris, Hist. Sti. Alhani. ^ Matt. Paris, u. s. ; Dugdale, Monasticon, vi. 1276. The abbot of St. Alban's thus became the first mitred abbot in England. 260 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. monastic feeling was stronger than the episcopal. St. Thomas, who had assumed privately the monkish habit, which he wore under his episcopal robes, continued in the same course. He surrendered the offerings of the church to the monks, and his successor, who was an aflBliated prior of the house, was not likely to oppose it. The history of Christ Church is a chequered one; It had sometimes been secular, sometimes monastic; but after 1070 it may be regarded as completely of the latter character. Its wealth and luxury became enormous, its pretensions overweening ; so that an archbishop who was shortly to succeed, was constrained to embark in a strife against it which lasted many years, and excited the keenest interest in England, and indeed throughout Europe.^ 4. Thus, inside the Church of England, as well as out- side, were growing up influences unfavourable to discipline and subversive of episcopal action. The system of appeals to Eome, encouraged by that See for obvious reasons, was destructive of healthy local control. Abuses multiplied, but there was no power to check them. Within a few years an Archbishop of Canterbury thus wrote to the Pope : — " Abbots exalt themselves against primates and bishops, nor does any one exhibit reverence and respect towards his superiors. The yoke of obedience, in which was the only liope of safety and the remedy against former falsehood, has been shaken off. The abbots greatly detest having a cor- rector of their excesses. They embrace the licence of im- punity, and, relaxing their bond of claustral warfare, give free scope to their desires. Hence it is that the property of nearly all the monasteries has been given over to spoli- ation and plunder. For the abbots outwardly follow the desires of the flesh, caring nothing, provided they make a fair show, and there be peace in their days. The brethren of the cloister, being as it were without a head, spend their time in ease and idle conversation, for they have no superintendent to bend them to a better course of life. Indeed, if you were to hear the stormy contentions, you would think their cloister differed little from a market. ^ See the able Introduction to Epistolcc Cantuarienses by Professor Stubbs. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 261 All this, reverend father, requires your seasonable correc- tion ; for unless a speedy stop be put to this evil, is it not to be feared that as the abbots are released from the bishops, so the bishops will be from the archbishops, and the deans and archdeacons from the prelates V ^ 5. The great dclat shed round the church of Canterbury by the merits of St. Thomas encouraged the prior and monks of Christ Church to assert overweening pretensions in regard to the election of his successor. There was no im- mediate attempt to provide a new archbisliop. For a year all but nine days the church of Canterbury remained in mourning. The altars were stripped, the pavement torn up, the walls bared, the bells silent, and no divine offices were performed in the desecrated building. At length, on the humble petition of the convent, the suffragan bishops of the province met at Canterbury on the festival of St. Thomas the Apostle, and solemnly reopened the church with great pomp and rejoicing. Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, preached on the occasion on the text, " In the multitude of the sorrows that I had in my heart, thy comforts have re- freshed my soul." 2 The important matter of selecting a successor to St. Thomas began soon to be treated of. The king had solemnly purged himself from complicity with the murder, and been absolved.^ The Archbishop of York, the bishops of London and Salisbury, had been relieved of their excommunication, and restored to their functions.^ In August (1072) the young king and his bride arrived in England, and were crowned at Winchester by the Arch- bishop of Rouen."' On September 1, a synod was held at Windsor to appoint the new archbishop. Odo, the prior of Christ Church, demanded that the election should be left free to that body. This unheard-of claim astonished the council, but so great was the terror at the moment of the 1 Epj}. Petr. Blcsensis ; Hook, Lives of the Archhisliops, ii, 536. 2 Ps. xciv. 19. R. de Diceto, i. 349. 3 May 21, 1172. The ceremony was repeated September 27. R. do Hoveden, ii. 34, 35, note. 4 R. de Diceto, i. 347, 348, 351. 5 Gervase says that another insult was thus given to the church of Canterbury.— (7Aro?t., p. 1421. 262 THE GKOWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. overweening pretensions of Churchmen, that it was only met by a request for delay. Odo was to return to Canterbury, and take counsel with his society.^ At Michaelmas the bold prior repaired again to the court, and informed the council that he was still of the same mind. The election must be left free to the monks, or none would be made. The king's advisers could now think of no better expedient than sending the prior abroad to the old king in Normandy. The account of his reception shows very strikingly the enormous effect which had been produced by the murder of Becket. The king prayed the prior, even on his knees, and with outstretched hands, to have mercy upon him, and not to cause him to add another to his crimes. He ear- nestly implored him to choose the bishop of Bayeux, whom the chronicler describes as a simple man easily swayed from his purpose. The prior received the king's request with a stern haughtiness. He was not inclined to accept the bishop of Bayeux, or any one else, without the consent of his society. It was not for that purpose that he had crossed the sea. He returned to England, and again a council was held to endeavour to bring about the election ; but as free liberty was not conceded to him, the prior went back to Canterbury without any election having been made.^ 6. This new and preposterous claim for the monks of one convent to choose the Primate of England, as though he were simply their abbot, w^ithout regard to the king's will, without regard to the suffragan bishops, was altogether perplexing, and, in the state of feeling then prevalent, very difficult to contend with. A fresh attempt was made to bring about an election at Lambeth on March 2. The bishops, taking advantage of the fact that three abbots of Bee (Lanfranc, Anselm, Theobald) had succeeded to the chair of Augustine, and reigned with distinction, induced the Canterbury deputation to unite with them in selecting Roger, abbot of Bec.^ But now a new difficulty arose from the pride and assumption of the monastery. Who was to ^ Gervas., Chron., p. 1422. 3 Gervas., Chron., p. 1423. (Christmas 1072.) 3 Gervase writes as though the first choice of the abbot came from the convent. R. de Diceto seems to imply the contrary, i. 354. nn-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 263 announce the election? The bishops said this privilege belonged to the bishop of London ; the monks, that it was the privilege of their prior. A compromise was at length effected, and Eichard, archdeacon of Poitiers, was allowed to declare the election.^ But the abbot Eoger was not to be persuaded to undertake the perilous dignity. Whether it was from a love of religious retirement or from " littleness of mind," he could not be moved from his purpose, and the See of Canterbury was still vacant. Another council of bishops and clergy was summoned to meet at London at the end of April. Six bishops nominated by the king were appointed without difficulty,^ but when it came to the election of Primate obstacles immediately arose. The same unheard-of claim was stoutly maintained by the prior of Christ Church, that the election should be freely left to the monastery. After much wrangling, it w^as determined to send an embassy to King Henry abroad, to ask for direc- tions. The king gave no definite answer, but he appears to have sent private instructions to the Justiciary, Eichard de Luci, that if the Canterbury monks would not yield, they must be allowed to have their own way. At the be- ginning of June the council met again, and Odo still being firm for a free election, the bishops agreed that the convent should choose two persons. They accordingly selected Odo their prior, and Eichard, prior of Dover, a monk of their house. The bishops naturally enough adopted Eichard, who took the oaths to the king in the chapel of St. Catherine's, Westminster, with the qualifying clause of " without pre- judice to my order," and no mention whatever was made of the " ancient customs."^ So completely for the moment had the cause of St. Thomas triumphed. 7. An unexpected obstacle arose to impede Eichard's consecration. The young king, then on ill terms with his 1 R. tie Diceto, i. 356. 2 Among these was Geoffrey, the king's natnral son, a youth of twenty years of age, to the vast See of Lincoln. R. de Diceto says that the elections were free, but it is absurd to suppose that the young Geoffrey was freely chosen by the Lincoln chapter. Gervase says that the bishops were elected ad libitum regis et curialium (p. 1424). 3 R. de Diceto, i. 369. 264 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. father, wrote to forbid it, and appealed to Eome.^ The elder Henry, with an utter forgetfulness, as it might seem, of the policy which he had been so vigorously striving to advance, appealed also, and the disputed election thus was brought to the decision of the Pope. Previously to this (March 13, 1173) the Pope had addressed a letter to the bishops, clerg}^, and people of England, decreeing the canonisation of Thomas Becket, " whose life had shone with the great glory of merits, and who had at last consummated the glorious contest by martyrdom." ^ The letter was, as might be expected, received with infinite rejoicings, and the influence of Rome was paramount. It is probable that Henry, taking accurate account of the state of feeling, de- termined now, instead of vainly striving to oppose the ultramontane influence, to endeavour to triumph through it, and thus he threw his cause, in opposition to his son and the king of France, unreservedly into the Pope's hands. The character of the elect of Canterbury was no doubt well known to him. He felt sure that in him he should not have a second Thomas to contend with, and he was willing to sacrifice something to obtain for the Church of England a head so well calculated to soothe down the troubled and angry feelings which had been excited, and to bring about a more wholesome condition of things. Richard, the arch- bishop-elect, accompanied by Reginald the elect of Bath, reached Piacenza about Christmas (1173), and embarking at Genoa, arrived at Civita Yecchia after a nine days' voyage. The Pope was at Anagni, and with him were many who most violently opposed the consecration of Richard, bringing all sorts of evil accusations against him and his supporters. He was constrained to prove his freedom from simony, the legitimacy of his birth, and to show that he had taken the oath to the king with the approved reservation, "without prejudice to my order." At length he obtained the confirmation of his election (Ajml 27, 1174), and three days afterwards was conse- crated by the Pope, and the legateship conferred upon him.^ The Pope having thus the primacy of the English 1 Gervas., Chron., p. 1425. ^R. de Diceto, i. 370. ^ R. de Diceto, i. 389, 390 ; R. de Hoveden, ii. 59. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 2G5 Church put into his hands, was indined to koep his advan- tage to the utmost. He asked angrily why the other bishops-elect had not come to seek their confirmation from him. Especially why the elect of Ely (who was probably known to him) was not there.-^ The Pope thus began to claim the right not only of confirming the archbishop, over whose election he had always exercised a sort of control by the device of the pall, but of confirming the suffragan bishops also — an unheard-of stretch of power.^ 8. Henry, pleased with having gained his purpose in the consecration by the Pope himself of one who, he felt sure, Avould not prove an intractable opponent, received the archbishop kindly on his homeward journey.^ He was now preparing for that great act of self-abasement and humilia- tion, nothing less than which, he felt persuaded, would give him back the full confidence of his English subjects, and defeat his son's machinations against him. Before the archbishop had reached England (which was not till Sep- tember 3, 1174), the king of England had conspicuously, and with every exaggeration possible, performed an elabo- rate penance at the shrine of St. Thomas. He landed at Southampton early in July, and restricting himself to a diet of bread and water, and refusing to attend to any matters of business, or even to enter a town, he hastened on towards Canterbury. On approaching that city he dis- mounted at the church of St. Dunstan, and walking with bare feet, and "with every outward mark of the deepest penitence, he arrived at the great church on Friday, July 12. With tears, groans, and sobs, he made his way to the tomb of the martyr. There, prostrate with outstretched hands, he remained long in prayer. Gilbert Foliot, the bishop of London, Becket's most vigorous antagonist of old, preached a sermon. He declared that the king had in no way desired or sought the death of Thomas, but that ^ Upon this Bishop Berter of Orleans ventured on a joke. "My lord," he said, "he has the excuse of the Gospels." "What excuse is that?" said the Pope. "He hath married a wife, and therefore he cannot come." The See was the wife. — R. de Hoveden, ii. 59. 2 See Appendix A, Historical Sketch of Episcopal Appointments. ^Gervas., Chron., p. 1428. 266 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. his incautious words had been wrongly interpreted. The king himself repeated the same assertions publicly. For his rash words he desired now to receive chastisement. He then bared his back, and received from all the clergy present and the monks three or five blows each with a scourge. All day long, and during the night, he remained fasting and praying at the shrine. In the morning he arose, put on his garments, heard mass, and offered costly gifts at the martyr's tomb, assigning a rent- charge of forty pounds a year for providing lights. On the Satur- ,day he departed for London. Then it was believed that the penance was accepted, inasmuch as news was brought to him that on the very day he left the church the king of Scots was captured at Eichmond.^ 9. Those who were so ingenious at interpreting passing events as indications of the Divine displeasure or approval, might with some reason, had they been so disposed, have read in the great calamity which soon afterwards befell the church of Canterbury the displeasure of the Most High at the pollution of His house by creature-worship. But this was a thought which probably occurred to none ^ amidst the fierce conflagration which consumed the church of Lan- franc. The great Norman cathedrals of England were singularly unfortunate. Within a short time the church of Remigius at Lincoln, the church of Herbert Losinga at Norwich, and the church of Lanfranc at Canterbury, suf- fered from fire. The archbishop was received at Canter- bury amidst the ruins of the church (October 2), and enthroned as well as circumstances allowed ; and on the following day he consecrated the four bishops whose non- appearance at Rome had excited the anger of the Pope,^ Reginald, bishop of Bath, having been previously conse- crated by him abroad. 10. The Church being thus furnished with prelates, and the king being at peace, the time was suitable for holding an ecclesiastical synod to consider and care for 1 Gervas., Chron., p. 1427 ; R. de Diceto, i. 383-4. 2 They were, on the contrary, inclined (as the chronicler says) to blaspheme the Lord and His saints for suffering such things 2 Gervas,, Chron., p. 1428. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 2G7 the needs of the Church. If we except the pseudo-synod held by Alberic, the Pope's Legate (in 1138), it was nearly fifty years since an ecclesiastical synod had been held in England.^ The meeting at Clarendon, though it was much concerned with Church laws, was a civil rather than an ecclesiastical assembly. But this meeting at Westminster, on the Sunday before Ascension Day, 1175, w^as purely ecclesiastical, being called by the archbishop (with the con- sent of the king), and consisting of eleven English bishops, the archbishop, the bishop of St. David's, and four abbots. The canons enacted were taken, for the main part, from the decrees of Popes and Councils, but they were in almost all instances somewhat altered.^ From their provisions we gather the existence of considerable scandals in the Church. Canon 1 decrees that subdeacons and those above them in orders are to be unmarried, and that sons are not to be instituted to their fathers' benefices. By Canon 9, Avhich orders that churches be not handed down as inheritances, we gather that this custom had become prevalent, and it is evident that clerical matrimony had by no means ceased.^ Clerks are bidden not to frequent drinking bouts at taverns, not to take secular offices, or to be concerned in judgments about blood; not to w^ear long hair* or unseemly apparel. Bishops are not to accept clerks ordained in foreign dio- ceses. Churches are not to be used as law courts. No money is to be exacted for Church offices ; clerks are not to trade for gain ; deputies or curates are to be in subjec- tion to their parsons ; tithes are to be duly paid. Some curious directions as to the mass are given. Only ten proper prefaces are to be admitted.^ The elements are not to be sopped. Chalices are to be of gold or silver, not 1 The last was under William de Corbeil in 1129. 2 See Johnson, Eng. Canons, ii. 59. 2 When the son of a clerk, Nicholas Breakspere, had reached the Pontifical dignity, it is evident that clerical matrimony had sufficient encouragement. 4 "Ab archidiacono etiam inviti tondeantur."— Gervas., 1430. ' In the Decretal of Pope Pelagius, which is referred to in the Canon, only nine prefaces were sanctioned. A tenth, in honour of the blessed Virgin, was added by Pope Urban in 1095. — Johnson, ii. 63. 268 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. of tin.^ Marriage is to be public, with full consent of both parties. Marriages between infants are null.^ 11. At this Council the old dispute between the Arch- bishops of Canterbury and York broke out again with great violence. During the Becket dispute Pope Alexander had, under the influence of the king, conceded to Archbishop Eoger of York the right of having his cross carried before him in the province of Canterbury, though not in the dio- cese of the archbishop. Some clergy now claimed, on the Archbishop of York's part, the confirmation and extension -of this privilege, and they threw in as a makeweight a wild claim made by him to all the Mercian dioceses. This of course was disallowed, and it was shown that in the discharge of the claim, made with some colour, for the jurisdiction of York over Lindsey, a composition had been formally given and accepted in the time of William Eufus.^ York was to receive the church of St. Oswald in Gloucester, and the abbey of Selby, of which the bishops of Lincoln had been formerly patrons. Upon this it w^as retorted that the compensation was not a real one, inasmuch as the arch- bishop of Canterbury had excommunicated the clergy of St. Oswald for not accepting him as Metropolitan. The representatives of York therefore appealed to Rome. The authority of Eome was now so fully recognised, that the appeal was at once admitted, and in the following year a Legate a latere, Cardinal Hugo, was despatched to England to settle this and some other disputed questions. The king, seeing that in the present temper of the nation it was hope- less to attempt to coerce the clergy in spite of Rome, had now adopted the policy of governing them through Rome — a policy which he found much more easily worked than the other. Thus, lavishing his attentions upon Cardinal Hugo (whom he desired also to make useful in his con- templated divorce case), he arranged -with him a sort of composition of the Constitutions of Clarendon, of which the following were the chief items : — (1.) Clergy not to be ^ Yet tin was usually sanctioned, but not brass, because of the mixture of metals. ^ Gervase, Chron., p. 1429, sq. ; Johnson, Eng. Canons, ii. 59-64. ^ Dusjdale, Monasticon, vi. 1271. 1171-1213.] rOWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 269 brought before secular judges in the first instance, except for transgressions of the forest laws, and in respect of lay fees which they may hold. (2.) Sees not to be kept in the king's hands above a year, except for urgent and manifest cause. (3.) Murderers of clerks convicted, or confessing, to be judged by the secular judge in the presence of the bishop. (4.) Clergy not to be compelled to accept wager of battle. That these arrangements were considered very derogatory to the privileges of the clergy may be gathered from what Gervase says : — " Tlie Legate, seeking rather the favour of the king than of his flock, at the very beginning of his legation agreed that the king might implead clerks for taking game. Behold wdth how sad a beginning, and with what a portentous example, did a cardinal of the Eoman Church commence his mission ! Is this the safe security that Eome gives — that clerks should be dragged into lay courts and condemned there by secular judges?^ But what is there that the accursed hunger for gold cannot do" 1 ^ Certainly a great step was thus made towards the return to the Constitutions of Clarendon, and a severe blow was struck against that policy which St. Thomas had so vigorously upheld.^ 12. While the king was thus skilfully endeavouring to bring clerical malefactors within the reach of the law, he showed some disposition to relax his grasp upon clerical revenues, which for some time past, during the quarrel with St. Thomas, had been tightening more and more. The unfortunate See of Lincoln, which from the richness of its revenues was especially tempting to a needy monarch, had, after more than eight years of vacancy, been allowed to receive his nominee in the person of his youthful illegiti- mate son Geoffrey ; ^ and at a council at Woodstock (July ^ Roger de Wendover, Flor. Hist, ii. 385. 2 Gervas., Chron., p. 1432. 3 Dr. Hook {Lives of ArcJibisJiops, ii. 536) says that the Constitu- tiom of Clarendon were reneAved at Northampton, January 1176, But this is a mistake. It was the Assize of Charendon which was then re- published, which did not specially concern the clergy. — See StuLbs, Co7ist. Hist, i. 669, note. ^ Geoffrey was nominated by the king in 1172, but not confirmed by the Pope till 1175, He took possession of the See, August 1 (R, de 270 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. 8, 1175) Henry bad, with the advice of the bishops, nomi- nated the heads of no less than ten abbeys which had been kept for a longer or shorter time without their abbots.^ John of Oxford, dean of Salisbury, who had been especially conspicuous in the quarrel with Becket, was now made bishop of Norwich. About the same time the diocese of Canterbury was divided into three archdeaconries, it having before been all included in one.^ 13. In March (1176) an attempt was made to settle the questions in dispute between the Archbishops of Can- terbury and York, which had been the ostensible reason of the journey of the Legate into England. A synod was held in St. Catherine's Chapel, Westminster,^ on March 1 4, in which a strange scene occurred. Koger, Archbishop of York, had advanced a claim to take precedence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to sit at the right hand of the Legate, grounding himself on the old constitution of St. Gregory, that of the two Metropolitans of London and York, that one should have precedence who had the prior consecration. He maintained that Canterbury stood in the place of London as the metropolis of the southern pro- vince, and that he, as the senior, ought to have precedence. He forgot that the whole matter had been carefully investi- gated and settled by a council in 1070, and that the scheme of St. Gregory, which had never been carried out, had then been finally abrogated. Determined to try to carry his point by force, Archbishop Eoger, finding on his Diceto, i. 401), and held it till January 6, 1182, when the Pope insist- ing that he should either resign or be consecrated, he chose the former. There was no appointment made to the See for nearly two years after this, so that when Walter de Coutances succeeded in the winter of 1183, the See of Lincoln had been kept without a bishop for very nearly seventeen years. ^ R. de Diceto, i. 401. ^ lb. 3 St. Catherine's was the chapel of the infirmary. Why was not the synod held in the abbey church ? Probably on account of the dis- pute which had arisen between the Legate and the abbot of West- minster. R, de Diceto tells us that the bishop of London had given to the newly-elected abbot the right of wearing the episcopal mitre and gloves. But the Legate, not thinking himself to be treated with proper respect, had forbidden the abbot to wear the mitre, and also inter- dicted the prior from entering the choir of the church. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 271 arrival at the chapel the coveted post already occupied by the Archbishop of Canterbury, endeavoured to squeeze him- self between him and the Legate, but was dragged down from his seat by main force by the suffragans of Canter- bury, assailed with blows, his cope torn, and overwhelmed with abundance of abuse. The injured archbishop carried his complaint to the king, exhibiting his torn garments and demanding justice, while the Legate in disgust gave up the attempt to settle the quarrel, and would have left the country forthwith, had he not been delayed by the earnest request of his friends.^ 14. Cardinal Hugh had been needed for the king's policy, and Henry had contrived to make him useful to himself by obtaining his consent to bringing the clergy within reach of the forest laws. But the king of England was not yet prepared to receive a Legate a latere from the Pope to intermeddle in the affairs of the English Church whenever his Holiness should please to despatch one. Accordingly, when Cardinal Vivian arrived in England in July, he was at once greeted, on the part of the king, with the demand by whose authority he had dared to enter the kingdom without the king's license.^ The terrified Legate declared himself ready to make oath that he would do nothing in England without the permission of the king, and on this understanding he was allowed to pass through the country on his way to Scotland. Probably, had he not been thus somewhat roughly dealt with, the Legate would have endeavoured to take up the matter which his predecessor had failed to settle, and to make some agree- ment between the two Metropolitans. This was partially effected at a synod held at Winchester (August 15, 1176), at which the rival archbishops agreed to a truce for five years, the Archbishop of Rouen and the French bishops in the meantime being requested to examine into and arbi- trate upon the matters in dispute, and both the English archbishops undertaking to abide by their decision.^ 1 There are varying accounts of this scene. William of Newbury says that the Archbishop of York arrived first and took his seat, — D Rch. Ang. iii. 1. See Gervas., Ad. Pont. Cant., 1674 ; Chron., 1433 ; R. de Diceto, i. 405 ; R. de Hoveden, ii. 92. 2 R. de Hoveden, ii. 99. ^ lb. 272 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. 15. It has been observed that Henry skilfully used the prevailing reverence for Eome and its Legates to wrest a privilege from the clergy which he could not compass by straightforward and legitimate means. Somewhat of the same tortuous policy may be traced in the way in which the king discharged the vow made on the tomb of St. Thomas to found three monasteries. The monasteries must be founded to satisfy public opinion, but the king determined that it should not be to him a costly matter to discharge his vow. The tide was at the highest in favour of pure monasticism. The hair shirt of St. Thomas, the glories shed around the Canterbury monks, were in the mouths of all men. In proportion as the purely ascetic system was raised, so was the utilitarian system of colleges of prebendaries, designed to study and teach, lowered. The king, taking skilful advantage of this, induced or compelled the Dean of Waltham, the famous collegiate establishment of King Harold, to resign his dignity and rights into the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury.^ The prebendaries shortly followed his example, and Waltham thus falling into the king's hands, was founded as a house of canons regular, in discharge of one part of the obligation incurred by the king.^ A second part was still more easily per- formed. The nuns of Amesbury had become notorious for their incontinence. They were removed and incarcerated in divers houses, and the king invited over from Fonte- vrault a band of French sisters to take their places.^ The third item in the account has perplexed some of the chroniclers, but it was doubtless considered to be discharged by the establishment at Witham, in the wilds of Somer- setshire, without any help indeed for their buildings or support from the king, of a few Carthusian recluses. The settlement at Witham had well-nigh perished, when it was saved from extinction by the coming of the famous Hugh 1 R. de Wendover, ii. 387. ^ R. de Hoveden, ii. 118. For an account of the foundation of Waltham, see Chap. X. The prebendaries are accused by the monk Gervase of " mundanis operibus et illecebris illicitis plus quani divine servitio intendentes." — Chron., 1434. 3 R de Hoveden, ii. 119. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME m ENGLAND. 273 of Burgundy to act as its prior.^ Nothing could well have been meaner than such a performance of a solemn vow, and it is hardly possible to avoid judging that the king regarded the whole matter with the utmost contempt, and only did what barely sufficed to satisfy the popular sentiment. 16. In contending against the advancing spirit of papalism the king found considerable support from the bishops. Archbishop Richard was in every respect a happy choice, and governed the Church well and wisely. There is extant a letter of his which condemns in the strongest manner the exemption from secular justice claimed for all crimes wherein a clerk was concerned either as a doer or a sufierer. " By this accursed jurisdiction, which we ambitiously and proudly take to ourselves, we offend God and our lord the king, and open a secure way to laymen to ill-treat the clergy."^ What wonder if with sentiments so entirely opposed to the ultramontane and Romanising party, the archbishop has been roundly abused by them ? ^ Nor were the suffragan bishops, for the most part, eager to cast themselves into the arms of Rome. It is remarkable that at the Lateran Council of 1179, where so much good and valuable work was done, only four English bishops were present, while the abbots were in great numbers. " For," says the chronicler, " the bishoi>s of England have constantly asserted that to a general council of our lord the Pope only four English bishops ought to be sent to Rome." '^ Again, when the Pope who succeeded Alexander III., being in trouble with his rebellious Romans, desired help from Henry, the bishops, being con- sulted as to the way the aid should be given, answered that they had nothing to urge against the King's granting a subsidy to the Pope as he thought fit, both on his own account and theirs ; but that they would far prefer to pay 1 Girald. Camb., Dc Instit. Pont., ii. 7 ; Magna Vita S. Hugonis (ed. Dimock), Rolls Series. - Hook, Lives of the ArcJiUslioin, ii. 518. 3 In the matter of the abbot of St. Augustine's he had ventured flatly to disobey the Pope's peremptory summons to go to Rome. — Gervas., Chron., 1444. See for the monkish view of him Gervas., Chron., 1465. 4 p^, ^XG Hoveden, ii. 171. T 274 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. their contributions to the King himself, rather than that he should allow the Pope's envoys to collect money in England, " inasmuch as that might be turned into a prece- dent for the injury of the kingdom." ^ 17. On February 17, 1184, Richard, Archbishop of Canterbury, died somewhat suddenly. In him the Church of England had a great loss, and the misfortune of his death was increased by the prospect of a difficult and stormy scene in the election of his successor. For the monks of Canterbury still held most firmly to their inordi- nate pretensions of having the right to elect the Primate of England with entire freedom, as though he were merely the abbot of their church ; and in the present state of feeling about the church of Canterbury their claims were most difficult to deal with. The suffragan bishops, on the other hand, claimed the right of election for themselves,^ while the king strove to mediate between the two bodies, and to bring them to consent to the election of the same person, promising that he would confirm and accept any election so made. The chronicler Gervase, a Canterbury monk, gives at great length the various negotiations and disputes between the monks and the bishops, first at Windsor and then at London. The result was that the bishops in the first place elected Baldwin bishop of Worcester ; but as the Canterbury convent utterly refused to concur in an election so made, the king declared it null and void. Then the prior and monks of Canterbury, satisfied with this tribute to their power, unanimously made the election of the same person, and so Baldwin was happily translated to Canterbury.^ A better choice could not have been made. Baldwin had been a Cistercian ^ R. de Hoveden, ii. 283. The monk Gervase says of the bishops — "In omnibus ecclesife necessitatibus maximis regis magis quam dei favorem quserebant. — Chron., p. 1471. 2 " The claim of the bishops to take part in the election of the arch- bishop, which was occasionally enforced during the twelfth century, was rejected by Innocent III., and was never revived afterwards." — Stubbs, Const. Hist, iii. 305. See Appendix A. ^ Gervas., Chron., 1468-1474. The account of the election given iu the Life of Baldicin differs a little. See p. 1675. 1171-1213.] rOWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 275 abbot, and was on this ground not distasteful to the monkish feeling. He had, as bishop of Worcester, won golden opinions by his devotion and boldness.^ " He was a man," says Professor Stubbs, " of singular sanctity, courage, and honesty. He was one of the most distin- guished scholars of his time, and has left behind him works which attest his proficiency in the studies of the day." ^ To such a man the state of the monks of his catliedral church was of necessity offensive. They were luxurious, proud, independent, despising the authority of the arch- bishop, raised to the utmost pitch of arrogance by the popularity which attached to the shrine of St. Thomas, and by the vast wealth which flowed into their treasury. Archbishop Kichard had made the offerings of the church over to the convent, and in consequence their riches were immense. " The refectory was the scene of the most abundant and tasteful feasting. Seventeen dishes were served up at the prior's table. The servants and equi- pages of a hundred and forty brethren were numerous and splendid. The monastery had become a little town in which the prior was supreme both temporally and spiritually." ^ Looking at their internal condition, together with their pretensions to dominate the Church of England by electing the primate of their own free choice, it was clear to the new archbishop that the monks of Christ Church needed some abatement of the position which they had taken up. Baldwin therefore commenced a strife against them, which lasted throughout his primacy and that of his successor ; and in which the monks, aided by Rome, ever the zealous upholder of abuses, were able to withstand the power of the Primate, though supported by the king, and ^practically to maintain their ground. ^ Especially on tlie famous occasion Avlien he rescued a malefactor undeservedly condemned, and actually already hanged (R. de Hove- den, ii. 286). Dr. Hook says the man was hanged again next morning, but this was not the case. He was kept in prison till the death of the king. ^ Introd. to Epist. Canf., p. 34. His works arc published in the fifth volume of the Bihliothcca Patrum Cisterciensium. ^ Stubbs, Introd. to Epist. Cant., p. 32. 276 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. 18. Into the complicated details of the struggle be- tween the archbishop and the convent it is impossible here to enter. The letters which passed on the subject fill a large volume/ and the chronicler Gervase, who was himself a prominent member of the contending body, has left a minute history of it. The way in which the archbishop attacked the convent was by erecting, at Hakington, near Canterbury, a collegiate church of secular clergy, which was to be occupied by distinguished men, the suffragan bishops of the province and the king himself having stalls in it. There can be little doubt that this church was in- tended to be the mother church of England, to elect the archbishop, and to supersede and reduce to insignificance the monastery. It was to be endowed out of the estates of the monks ; the offerings at the cathedral were taken from them, and bestowed upon it ; some of the churches of which they enjoyed the tithes were in like manner a2:)propriated to it. It was therefore a question of vital importance to the monastery, and the prior and monks proceeded to contend against the archbishop's scheme with every weapon which they could find to their hands. Eome was of course their great hope, and of the three popes who rapidly succeeded each other at that period, two were strongly on their side, while Gregory VIII., who favoured the archbishop, lived but for a very short period. They had also in their support the great influence of the Clugniac order of monks, which was bitterly opposed to the Cis- tercians, who favoured the Piimate. The archbishop had the aid, more or less open, of the king and the Grand Jus- ticiary, E. de Glanvil. He had with him also almost all the suffragan bishops and the courtiers. But the public opinion of what may be called the religious world was against him. The reverence for St. Thomas, whose com- munity was supposed to be attacked, the high estimation in which the monastic discipline was held in comparison with the secular, were strongly in favour of the monks, and thus it was that they were able to hold out against him, and ultimately to obtain a partial triumph. For during ^ Edited by Mr. Stubbs for the Rolls Series. His admirably lucid Introdiidion gives a very clear account of the quarrel. 1171-1213.] rOWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 277 the long space of eighty -four weeks, in which the monastery was shut up and the monks detained as prisoners to make them yield to the archbishop's demands, they were so well supplied that two hundred strangers were daily fed with the superfluous contributions.^ The archbishop acted with great A-igour. He treated with open contempt on several occasions the papal mandates obtained by the monks.'-^ But in the end, at the commencement of the next reign, he agreed to demolish the church at Hakington, and to remove the prior whom he had placed over the monks at Canter- bury, while the remaining matters of dispute between them were to be reserved for arbitration.^ The whole history well illustrates the tremendous power which the monastic body had now acquired. The king might well complain that " he was a king only in name, that the power in Eng- land was divided into many parts, and that only a small part remained for him. This, that, and the other privilege were possessed by monks, white or black, and canons of different orders. Many even from foreign parts had their possessions in England. The secular clergy were depraved in morals, and only occupied in lawsuits. Eome with persevering hostility seemed to have nothing else to do but to exercise her power over him, to sell its letters of exem])tion, to multiply appeals, and to confound everything for the sake of money." * 19. The strife of Archbishop Baldwin with the refrac- tory monks of Canterbury was interrupted by the engross- ing interest attaching to the preparations for a new Crusade. The capture of Jerusalem by Saladin was known in Europe towards the end of 1187,^ and caused the most intense excitement. One pope was popularly reported to have died of grief. Another pope published his letters exhorting all Christian persons to hasten to the rescue. The Emperor of Germany, the Kings of France and England, and Prince Richard, took the cross. The cardinals agreed to give up ^ Stubbs, Introd. to Epist. Cant., p. 61. ^ /^_^ pp 48-49. 3 Ih., p. 77 ; R. de Hoveden, ii. 325. ^ Gervas., Chron., p. 1599. " Jerusalem was captured Oct. 6, 1187. It was said that Pope Urban III. died of grief at the news, but this was hardly possible, as his death took place on October 20. 278 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. pomp and luxury, and to devote themselves to preaching the Crusade ; and Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, gave himself with eager zeal to the same work. At a great council of prelates and barons held by the King of England at Le Mans, it was agreed that a tithe of all the revenues and goods of both laymen and clerks should be devoted to the Crusade. This tithe, called the Saladin Tithe, was to be collected in each parish by a committee formed of the parish priest, the rural dean, a Templar or Hospitaller, a servant and a clerk of the king, a servant and a clerk of the baron, and a clerk of the bishop. Clerks and knights who took the cross were not to pay the tithe, but all that their tenants had to pay, and all debts due to them, were to be collected and given to them. The bishops were to issue letters ordering the tithe to be paid at the Feast of the Purification. The Pope published an ordinance for the Crusade, declaring (1) that all sins confessed and repented of were forgiven to those who took the cross ; (2) confirm- ing the arrangement for the tithe ; (3) ordering that none should swear enormously, nor play at dice, wear fine clothing, or indulge in luxuries, or take with them any women, save such as might act as laundresses; (4) that where lands have been pledged to creditors, the debtor should have the rents of the year for himself ; that after- wards the creditor should receive the rents, but not as interest but in discharge of the capital sum ; (5) that clerks or laymen might, for the purposes of the Crusade, pledge their revenues for three years ; (6) that the moneys of all dying in the Crusade should be divided between the ser- vants of the deceased, the fund for the sacred war, and the poor.^ The king, after holding this council in his foreign possessions, returned quickly to England (Jan. 30), and at Geddington assembled another council of English prelates and barons (Feb. 11). At this gathering Baldwin, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, preached with such telling effect, that great numbers, both of clerks and laymen, took the cross. The efforts of the archbishop to promote the cause of the Crusade culminated in himself taking the cross and assuming the scrip and staff 1 K. de Hoveden, ii. 335-337. lin-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 279 of a pilgrim. Having made the best provision lie could for the government of his province, and appointed Eichard, bishop of London, his deputy, Archbishop Baldwin sailed from Dover (March 6, 1190), for the Holy Land, from ■which he was not destined to return.^ 20. Before the departure of the archbishop for the Holy Land great changes had taken place in England. The talented and vigorous king, Henry XL, had died sadly at Chinon,^ and his eldest surviving son, Eichard, had suc- ceeded to his great inheritance. Eichard had been received in England with the utmost joy, and crowned at West- minster, September 3, 1189, with exceeding magnificence; four archbishops, fifteen bishops, and almost all the abbots and priors of the country assisting at the ceremonial.^ The rejoicings at the coronation were marred by the fearful riot and slaughter of the Jews which followed it, but this, it is to be feared, did not much affect the prelates and barons assembled, so bitter was the feeling cherished against the wretched Jews. On September 15 the new king held a great ecclesiastical council at Pipewell Abbey in North- amptonshire, with the object of filling up some of the numerous vacancies in Sees and abbeys which had been allowed to accumulate. The late king, who had experienced so much trouble from prominent Churchmen, seemed to desire to have as few of them as possible, and constantlj'- refused to fill up vacant posts. The confusion, scandal, and injury to the Church through this neglect must have been enormous. The new king determined to begin his reign with a diff'erent policy, and proceeded to nominate to the vacancies. In doing this he had regard to the claims of those who had been the faithful servants of his father, but whom Henry, remembering his sad error in the case of Becket, had refused to transfer from secular employments to ecclesiastical rank."* To Godfrey de Luci, who had refused the bishopric of Exeter as not sufficient for his support, he gave the See of AVinchester ; to Eichard, the Treasurer, and archdeacon of Ely, that of London ; to William de Longchamp, his chancellor, that of Ely ; to 1 Gervas., Chron., p. 1564. 2 r, je Hoveden, ii. 366. 2 Ih., iii. 8. 4 stubbs, Introd. to Ejnst. Cant, p. 80. 280 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. Hubert Walter, dean of York, that of Salisbury. Abbots were nominated to Selby and Glastonbury, the deanery and treasurership of York were filled up, and divers other appointments made. Some of these, indeed, were suffi- ciently remarkable, and utterly opposed to all notions of ecclesiastical fitness. Thus Geoffrey, the king's natural brother, who had been employed ever since his resignation of Lincoln in 1181 in secular and military affairs, was now advanced to the high dignity of Archbishop of York, while the same unfortunate church had thrust upon it as dean Henry Marshall, who was actually not in orders.^ The new archbishop-elect, though he had not much claim of his own to advance, was nevertheless highly displeased at the appointments made in his diocese. He remonstrated against them so strongly that the king threatened to deprive him of the archbishopric, and of all his goods at home or abroad.^ 21. The prelates now advanced by Eichard were for the most part promoted in reward for merely secular ser- vices, and their subsequent career was of a purely secular character. At no period of our Church history, not even during the reign of Stephen, are topics of ecclesiastical interest more completely wanting than during the reign of Richard. Three prelates in succession — William Long- champ, Walter of Coutances, and Hubert Walter — exer- cised the great power of Chief Justiciary. Contentions, squabbles, and secular strife occupied the time and thoughts of all the leading Churchmen. In the north, Hugh de Poiset, bishop of Durham — but rather a great baron than a bishop — contended against the authority of Longchamp. Hugh Nonant, bishop of Coventry, the leader of the party of Prince John, was involved in similar bitter strife. The characters of both these latter prelates, as painted, indeed, by their enemies, are so infamous as almost to surpass ^ He was ordained sub -deacon and deacon the same day soon afterwards. When he came to York, he could not obtain installation as dean, but only as a prebendary. The new treasurer was also refused installation. — E,. de Hoveden, iii. 18. ^ It is doubtful how far the threat was carried out, as we find Geoffrey afterwards enjoying the revenues of the See. liri-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 281 belief.^ Archbishop Geoffrey, having been consecrated abroad, returns to England to mingle violently in the general contention. He is arrested, and dragged from the altar, denounced to the Pope by his clergy, but still he fights his way through the stormy scene. Everywhere there is confusion, bitterness, rancour.^ The Archbishop of Canterbury dies abroad at the Crusade, and intrigues are rife for the primacy. An obscure bishop,'_ Eeginald Fitz Jocelin, bishop of Bath, obtains the appointment, much to the surprise of all (Dec. 2, 1191). He dies a few weeks afterwards, and the intrigues recommence. Hubert Walter, bishop of Salisbury, who had greatly distinguished himself in the Crusade, returns to England, and in the midst of the excitement for raising the king's ransom is elected Arch- bishop of Canterbury (May 30, 1193). Soon afterwards he adds to the highest dignity in the Church the highest also in the State, and as Chief Justiciary as well as Primate becomes practically the ruler of England. Hubert was a man of a far higher stamp than Longchamp and others of his secular contemporaries. He was loyal to his master, above self-seeking, an earnest Churchman, as well as a good statesman. But, hampered as he was by his administrative duties, he can hardly be regarded as a model bishop. 22. There was at that period in England perhaps but one prelate who could fairly be thus described. This was Hugh of Avalon, who had been advanced from the priory of the obscure monastery of Witham to the See of the great diocese of Lincoln by the resolute determination of Henry XL, much to the astonishment and vexation of the rich and secular canons of Lincoln. The king had become intimately acquainted with Hugh in his retreat at Witham, to the forests in the neighbourhood of which monastery he often resorted in his hunting excursions. As the prior of a monastery founded by himself, and brought by his own special request from the Grande Chartreuse, it was natural that Hugh should attract his notice ; and as he got to know 1 See Guil. Neubridg., iv. 14 ; R. de Hoveden, iii, 141-149. 2 The history of this stormy period, and the doings of the various bishops, are well brought out by Mr. Stubbs in his Preface to the 282 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. the man, admiration and esteem were produced in tlie king by the many great qualities which he found in him. A man he was, utterly fearless, of keen intellect, of playful humour ; an ascetic without sourness ; devoted to spiritual things, but a shrewd observer of secular things ; a hater of evil, but full of love to every form of suffering. Hugh powerfully influenced the talented but wayward monarch. Having procured his election to Lincoln in 1186, Henry lived with him on terms of friendship till his death ; and his son Eichard was destined to learn that there was one bishop at least that did not fear to oppose the ruinous exactions with which he was wasting the land, and to assert and success- fully maintain the rights of the subject. He was to find, also, that this same prelate feared not to stand before the impetuous king with a courage equal to his own, telling him of his sins, and refusing to yield a jot to his illegal demands ; so that Richard, conquered by the ^^erfect constancy of the man, exclaimed — ' If the rest of the bishops were such as he, no king or prince would dare to lift up his neck against them." 1 23. The appointment of Hubert Walter to the primacy brought about a renewal of the strife between the Arch- bishop of Canterbury and the monks of Christ Church. The college projected and begun by Archbishop Baldwin at Hakington had been taken down, and the materials removed to Lambeth, an estate in which place the archbishops had lately acquired from the convent of Eochester.^ In 1192 the buildings at Lambeth had made some progress. The jealousy of the monks was excited. Archbishop Hubert, after his accession, offered to remove the college to Maid- stone if that would satisfy the monks of Christ Church. They declined. He then proceeded with the work at Lambeth. He held the property of the manor, which gave him a right to build a religious house if he pleased, and he offered to the monks certain conditions which seemed quite ^ See Magna Vita S. Hugonis, lib. v. 2 The archbishops had been tenants of the manor from the time of Ansehn, who had ordained in the chapel and held a council there in 1100. His two successors ordained in the chapel. — Stubbs, Introd. to Ep. Cant, p. 92. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 283 sufficient to guard their rights ; but the monks were obsti- nate. They believed themselves strong at Rome, and they were not mistaken. Innocent III., who succeeded the aged Celestine, ujDon hearing the representations of the monks, and ^vithout caring to consult Hubert, ordered the demolition of the church of St. Thomas at Lambeth within thirty days, on pain of suspension, accompanying this man- date with an order to the suffragan bishops to withdraw their allegiance in case of Hubert's refusal.^ This extremely audacious invasion of the liberties of Church and State called forth the ire of King Eichard, who sent the arch- bishop orders not to obey it. The king now took up the cause somewhat warmly, and used some severe measures towards the convent. The archbishop was rather intent on having the matter reheard at Rome. It was reheard, and the Pope repeated his former mandate. The archbishop yielded. The church of the Lambeth College was levelled to the ground. The king, indignant, seized upon the estates of the monks ; and he j^erhaps might have forced them to yield, but his death prevented further action. The dispute continued, but the archbishop was really powerless against the prestige of the Canterbury convent, backed by the power of Rome in the vigorous hands of Innocent. As Baldwin had been defeated at Hakington, so was Hubert at Lam- beth,^ and the monastic interest triumphed. 24. It was the same in another case of dispute between monks and canons which was proceeding about the same time. Hugh de Nonant, bishop of Coventry, had expelled the monks from his church, and had substituted prebend- aries in their room (1191). The character of this prelate was probably a bad one, otherwise even his enemies could scarcely 1 Letters 434, 435 of Eii. Cant, p. 391 (Rolls ed.) R. de Diceto says: — "Data fuit Petro potestas eedificandi, potestas nuiltiplieandi, potestas transferendi sedes, sed qua lege, quo canone sit iudulta licentia diruendi locum sanctum judicet Ipse qui potestatem dedit iEdificandi " (ii. 165). The cliurcli was demolished about Januaiy 1199. The archbishop was allowed to found a small college of Premonstratensian canons, if he desired, hut not out of the revenues of Christ Church. — See R. de Wendover, iii. 134. 2 For the terms of the final arrangement, see StuLbs, Introd. to Ejj. Cant., p. 109. 281 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. have ventured to bring such accusations against him.^ It is said that he came to personal encounters with the monks, and exhibited himself black and blue from their blows in the council of Westminster. It is certain that he was the bitter enemy of the order, and advised Richard to send all the monks to the devil, and substitute canons for them in all the cathedrals.^ His policy, however, was not successful, even in his own cathedral. The struggle lasted for some years ; but in 1198, which was also the year of the bishop's death, Archbishop Hubert, and Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, -acting under a precept from the Pope, restored the monks to Coventry.^ 25. In the meantime, some high-handed proceedings were taking place in the diocese of York, which well illus- trate the rapid advance of that complete tyranny which the popes now began to exercise over the Church of England. Archbishop Geoffrey, whose arrival in England, after his consecration, had been greeted by an arrest by Longchamp, the justiciary, but who had contrived to escape from his enemies and establish himself in his diocese, had been signalising his presence there by a very unepiscopal career. If we are to lend any credence to his enemies, the arch- bishop gave himself up to sports and pleasure, never doing any episcopal act save to curse his opponents when any one resisted his will, indulging the most open simony and high- handed injustice.* Among other arbitrary acts, he had appointed a dean to the cathedral church, and the canons, resenting this invasion of their privileges, put the church under suspension, and left their places.^ At the beginning of January (1194), the archbishop appointed new canons in the place of those who had quitted their posts. This stirred up the superseded clerks to action, and they repaired to Rome, where they prayed for the confirmation of their right to elect their dean, while the clerks of the archbishop argued against them for the rights of their master. The Pope, 1 See Hoveden, iii. 149. 2 Stubbs, Introd. to R. de Hoveden, vol. iii. p. 54. 3 R, de Wendover, iii. 126 ; Annal. de OsenciO,, Ann. Monast,, iv. 49. * See Letter of Pope Celestine, Hoveden, iii. 312 5 R. de HovoAlen, iii. 222. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 285 declining to enter into the question of right, appointed a dean by his own plenary authority, thus taking upon him- self to dispose of an English benefice Avithout any regard to legal claims.^ Then the canons of York brought their heavy complaints against the archbishop for his misdeeds ; and the Pope issued a commission to Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, the archdeacon of Northampton, and the prior of Pontefract, to examine into the charges against the archbishop, and to report to him. The delegates went to York to hear the charges (January 15, 1195), and having reduced them to writing, forwarded them to the Pope, giving notice to Geoffrey that, within the space of four months and two Aveeks, he was to appear at Rome to answer them.^ The archbishop excused himself from appearing; and, being again cited and not appearing, the Pope issued a letter of suspen- sion against him, and appointed the new dean of York to superintend the diocese in spirituals.^ But, though the mandate for the archbishop's suspension was duly received by him, Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, utterly refused to give effect to it by pronouncing the sentence ; and when pressed earnestly by the canons to act, declared that he would "rather be suspended himself than suspend the archbishop."* Now, as the good Bishop of Lincoln was fully acquainted with the many unepiscopal acts of Archbishop Geoffrey, it would seem that his refusal to act must rather be attributed to his dislike of the Pope's high-handed interference in an English diocese, than to his approbation of Geoffrey's con- duct in his office. 26. If the saintly Hugh was of this mind, as much cannot be said of Archbishop Hubert Walter, with whom, indeed, Hugh of Lincoln was never on friendly terms. He readily accepted the office of Legate from the Pope, and by virtue of it proceeded to hold a council in the archdiocese of York (1195). The assembly should, perhaps, rather be styled a court than a council, as there was no other bishop present, and the Legate gave forth his decisions in the form of decrees rather than synodical resolutions. These decrees were on the following points : — The first three are provi- 1 R. de Hoveden, iii. 230, ^ 75^ i[i 282. 3 lb., iii. 309. ^ lb., iii. 305. 28G THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. sions for the decent and devout celebration of the mass ; the fourth forbids masses to be said for money payments ; the fifth orders three sponsors at baptism ; the sixth forbids deacons to baptize, or deliver the sacred elements, or impose penance, except in case of necessity ; the seventh regulates the repairs of churches ; the eighth orders the coronal ton- sure for clerks ; the ninth forbids the use of copes with sleeves ; the tenth orders that in Church suits justice should be administered gratis ; the eleventh enjoins the full pay- ment of tithes ; the twelfth forbids monks and nuns to leave their convents, or to use any secular employment ; the thirteenth orders perjurers to be excommunicated ; the four- teenth forbids priests to keep concubines ; the fifteenth regulates the process against clergy of bad morals.^ 27. The accession of Innocent III. to the popedom (1189) is an important event in the history of the Church. He exercised a vast influence over the whole Church, and not least over the Church of England. Under him the power of the Popes, which had been steadily growing during the twelfth century, reached its highest point. Gregory VII. had first devised the great scheme of making the Pope the feudal head of Christendom. Innocent perfected the idea, and carried it out in practice with the most signal success. By one exercise of Papal power after another, the Church of England liad been brought into a position, rela- tive to the Pope, altogether diff'erent from that which it occupied under the Conqueror. Then Papal decrees and Papal interference could only come through the chief of the State, and with his permission. Now, though the State struggled against it, the Pope governed the Church of Eng- land immediately, and almost irrespective of the State power. The State had lost the power of investing bishops, and almost that of nominating them. Appeals on every conceivable subject of internal Church matters were made to Eome. The King himself had appealed in the matter of an episcopal election. The Pope claimed the right not only of confirming the archbishops, but even the suff*ragan pre- lates. The Archbishop of Canterbury was his officer, and held councils by virtue of that authority. The attempt to ^ R. de Hovcden, iii. 294-297. 1171-1213.] rOWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 287 bring the clergy under the common law of the State had failed. The monastic order, which rested entirely on Eome, everywhere triumphed over the secular clergy. Owing in great measure to the fame which surrounded the memory of St. Thomas, the popular sentiment was completely with Rome, and in favour of the highest stretch of ecclesiastical self-assertion. It only needed a man of the commanding power and high character of Innocent III. to perfect the work, and to make the national Church of England, which in old times had been independent of external rule, a simple tributary dependency of the foreign Church of Rome. No doubt the deception wrought upon men's minds by the false decretals had done much, the Crusades probably more, in accustoming men's minds to contemplate with tolerance the vast fiction of a universal ecclesiastical empire ; but the genius and boldness of Innocent gave form and power to the prevailing sentiment, and made it dominant throughout Christendom. 28. The keen glance of the new Pope at once detected a weak spot in the ecclesiastical armour. So long as bishops and clergy were employed in secular matters, and were the ministers of the State, they must be more or less under State influence, and not alive to ecclesiastical im- pressions alone. Accordingly, the Pope at once discouraged this, which a man of less insight might have thought likely to add power to the Church. Archbishop Hubert AValter was ordered to resign the office of Chief Justiciary. This direction came upon him at about the same time as the first order to pull down his church at Lambeth. He obeyed the Pope in both matters. The King would prob- ably have supported him in his retention of the justiciar- ship^ as he showed himself ready to do in the other case. But the archbishop, conscious of the overmastering power of the Pope, yielded meekly. Indeed, he seems to have completely accepted the full extent of the Papal claims. In the two councils which he held at York and West- minster he inserted a clause into the decrees, " saving in ^ It is said by Hoveden tliat the Pope ordered tlie king to remove him (iv. 48), but it does not follow that Richard would have been ready to accept so unheard-of an interference. 288 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. all things the honour and privilege of the holy Church of Rome," and in holding these synods he acted as Legate rather than as archbishop. The council held at West- minster (a.d. 1200) was in fact held in defiance of the prohibition of the Chief Justiciary (Geoffrey Fitz Peter), who represented the king in his absence;^ so that the archbishop was brought to make common cause with the Pope^ as against the secular power. 29. In the council held by Archbishop Hubert at AVestminster most of the decrees resembled those of the York Synod, but there are some noteworthy points of difference. These are chiefly drawn from the decrees of the valuable Lateran Council of 1179; e.g., the retinues of the prelates are curtailed. An archbishop is not to exceed fifty men and horses, a bishop thirty, an archdeacon seven, a rural dean two. They are not to make their visitations accompanied by hounds and hawks, nor are they to exact procurations except where they actually visit churches. The object of the visitation is to see that every church has a silver chalice, proper vestments for the priest, necessary books and utensils for the sacrament of the Eucharist. A direction is given to include ill- doers under a general excommunication pronounced annually, which appears to have been a practice then growing, but which was of most evil consequence, as it tended to bring the sentence of excommunication into utter contempt.^ By a very salutary regulation — also taken from the Lateran Council — Templars, Hospitallers, and other religious orders are obliged to present priests to the bishops for the churches which they hold not by an absolute right, " that there may be some one answerable to the bishops for the care of the people, and to the parson for the temporals." This was, in fact, to decree the establishment of vicarages, an institution which owes its origin to the Lateran Council ^ Jolinson, Eng. Can., ii. 84. 2 Yet he accepted the chancellorship — a secular office, but not so purely secular as that of Chief Justiciary. 3 From this grew the device of ipso facto excommunications, an absurd attempt to manipulate solemn Church censures for politic pur- poses. See Johnson, Eng. Canons, ii. 88, note. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 289 of 1179, and which did something towards alleviating the mischiefs that came upon the Church from the practice of heaping the advowsons of churches upon the religious orders. ^ 30. It is one of the wonderful coincidences of history that the greatest and most vigorous of the Eoman pontiffs should have been contemporary with the worst and weakest of the English kings. Of this the immediate result was the utter prostration of the Church and realm of England before the footstool of Eome. But the ultimate result was far otherwise. Out of this very prostration and the yearning for liberty which it produced, sprang an ever- increasing movement towards national life and freedom in the Church of England, which continued to gather force until it was completely developed in the sixteenth century. Taking example from the great prelate through whom the Church received its most severe humiliation — but who, like Becket to King Henry, was " splendidly ungrateful " to the Pope — famous bishops, such as Edmund Rich, Robert Grosseteste, and others, preserved the tradition of nationality up to the vigorous days of Edward I. ; and the Popes found that in spite of the precedents of the days of Innocent, they had to deal in the English Church not with a mere tributary branch of the Roman See, but with a national Church hp.ving its own laws, customs, privileges, and powers. 31. It was the inordinate ambition of the Canterbury monks (which had assumed such a height in the last few elections to the primacy, and which Innocent III. had done very much to flatter^) that led immediately to the troubles which now fell upon the English Church. Hubert Walter died July 12, 1205, and immediately — without waiting for the king's license — secretly, by night, a party of the monks of Christ Church proceeded to elect Regi- nald, their sub-prior, to the primacy — to seat him upon the high altar and the archiepiscopal throne, and to despatch him in all haste to Rome, to surprise, if it were possible, ^ Wilkins, Concil., i. 505 ; Johnson's English Canons, ii. 84-94. 2 See his letter to the suffragan bisliops of Canterbury. Slatt. Paris, Cliron. Mag., ii. 490 (Eolls ed.) 290 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. the Pope's consent.^ The hasty and secret election was made probably rather to escape from the interference of the suffragan bishops, which the monks always so much re- sented, than to avoid that of the king ; and it might, per- haps, have been accepted by the Pope had the elected person been such as he would have desired to place in the primacy. But Reginald was a shallow and vain man, who spoiled his chance by parading his title and showing his letters of election on his journey to Rome ; consequently he was received coldly at Rome, and the Pope told him he would wait for more information in the matter.^ Mean- while, as soon as the Canterbury monks perceived that Reginald had forfeited his chance of the primacy by his weak behaviour in Flanders, ignoring their first choice, they applied to the king for license to choose a primate. John received their application readily, being bent upon obtaining the election of John de Gray, bishop of Norwich, his most trusted counsellor. The monks returned to Canterbury ; and as an opportunity was now open to them both of oblig- ing the king, whose anger they dreaded on account of the clandestine election of Reginald, and at the same time of forestalling their rivals, the suffragan bishops, they at once elected John de Gray. Upon his election the king Avent to Canterbury with the archbishop-elect and put him in pos- session of the temporalties.^ This took place towards the end of 1205, and at the beginning of 1206 the king de- spatched to Rome certain of the Canterbury monks, under the guidance of Elias de Brantefeld, to obtain the Pope's acceptance of the bishop of Norwich. This false move on the part of the king * Avas probably due to his anxiety to 1 R. de Wendover, iii. 183 ; Matt. Paris, Chron. Mag., ii. 492. It is said that it was a knot of the younger monks which did this ; but there is good reason to believe that had the sub-prior conducted him- self prudently, and not made ostentatious parade of his dignity, and had the Pope regarded the choice favourabl}'-, the other monks were prepared to acquiesce. " R. de Wendover, iii. 183 ; Matt. Paris, ii. 492. 5 R. de Wendover, iii. 184 ; Matt. Paris, ii. 493. * It is evident that if John had taken no notice of Rome, but simply left the archbishop to apply for the pall, he would have stood on much better ground. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN EXGLAXD. 201 overcome the resistance of the suffragan bisliops, who, not having been consulted in the election, and not liking the person elected, had also repaired to Kome to appeal against John de Gray. Tlius all the parties to the two elections had put themselves into the hands of the Pope, and Innocent had a grand opportunity of exhibiting his autocratical power. 32. He first disposed of the suffragan bishops, and having examined their claim to elect conjointly with the monks, summarily put it aside with the haughty ruling; " On you and your successors we impose a perpetual silence as to the right of electing the Archbishop of Canterbury. The monks of Canterbury we free by a definite sentence from all interference and molestation from you and your successors." ^ Having thus got rid of one appeal, Innocent proceeded at his leisure to examine the others. The few monks who supported Reginald had now been at Rome for more than a year, and had again and again prayed for a confirmation.^ The king's messengers had also been many months in attendance when the Pope (December 1206) condescended to give his sentence. Both elections were declared void — that of Reginald as hasty and clandestine, that of John de Gray as having been made before the prior election was disposed of.^ The ground being thus cleared, the Pope ordered the Canterbury monks then present to proceed to a fresh election. Up to this point his action had been justifiable. All parties having appealed to him, it was right that he should pronounce his sentence. But by wdiat right he could order a new election to be made, as if he were already King of England, does not appear. A still greater intrusion on the rights of the English Church was made when the Pope not only bade the monks elect then and there, but also told them who was to be elected • — namely, Cardinal Stephen Langton, his own friend and fellow-student, then present at Rome. This was completely to ignore the existence of the King of England and the ancient rights of the Crown. The Canterbury monks trembled, as well they might, for they were aware that in 1 R. de Wendover, iii. 188; Matt. Paris, ii. 496. 2 Prtesentavemnt Reginaklum, sicut multotiens fecerant. — R. de "Wendover. ^ R. de Wendover, iii. 212. 292 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvr. making this election they would be doing not only an act of treason, but also an act of perjury, as they had sworn to the king to elect no one else but Bishop Gray.^ They alleged, therefore, that they neither had the king's consent nor tliat of their own house to make the election. But the Pope, says the chronicler, " catching the word out of their mouths, ' Know,' saith he, ' that you have plenary power in the matter of the church of Canterbury, nor is it our custom at the Apostolic See to wait for the consent of princes in making elections. We bid you, therefore, make the election by virtue of your obedience and under the penalty of an anathema, and we bid you elect him whom we nominate as your father and pastor.' " ^ What could the frightened monks do except obey the imperious order 1 Only one of them, Elias de Brantefeld, their leader, was bold enough to resist, and Stephen Langton was elected by them. 33. It remained to be seen how King John would bear this grievous insult and summary overthrow of his plans for his friend Bishop Gray. He had been quietly super- seded in one of the undoubted prerogatives of his crown ; would his temper, naturally impatient, submit tamely to such an outrage 1 The Pope probably thought that he would do so. He sent home two of the Canterbury monks with directions to ask the king to send deputies to give his consent to Langton's election. When nothing came of this (for the monks were detained at Dover), he wrote a letter by his own messenger ^ containing a few formal commend- ations of Stephen Langton, and full of " bland and suasive words," and supposing that the matter was thus satisfac- torily ended, addressed another letter to the Canterbury monks, bidding them receive the archbishop obediently and give him possession of all the temporals of his See.^ John's reply to the Pope was couched in a threatening tone. He reproached him for quashing the election of the bishop of Norwich, and for causing the election of " one Stephen Langton, a man utterly unknown to him, and who had long lived in France among his enemies and those of the State." He reminded the Pope sarcastically, that he drew ^ Annal. de Burton, Ann. Monast., i. 207. 2 Ft. de Wendover, iii. 212. ^ Ih, iii. 213. ^ Matt. Paris, ii. 516. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 293 a larger revenue from England than from all the rest of the lands this side of the Alps ; and he swore that if right was not done him he would utterly close the way from England to Rome, which would prevent the robbing and impover- ishing of his country. " His prelates in England were suffi- ciently furnished with a full provision of all learning, and he had no need to go a begging to foreigners for justice and judg- ment." 1 The letter of John reached the Pope either just about the time that he was preparing to consecrate Stephen, or after his consecration. He replied to it in a calm tone, without, however, in the least receding from the position he had taken up. He first highly commends Stephen Langton for that very thing on which John had condemned him — namely, his sojourn in France, inasmuch as he had gained so great renown in the University of Paris, He reminds John that he is an Englishman born, and as to the king's not knowing him, he declares that he has three times written to him. Then he proceeds to touch upon the point of his having acted without the king's consent. He had, he declares, sent a message to the king by the Canterbury monks requesting that proctors might be sent by the king to give his assent to the election.- This message, it seems, had not been delivered, and the king had first been informed of the election by a special messenger from Rome. He had waited some time for the royal assent, though it was not absolutely necessary ; but as it did not come, he had pro- ceeded to do that which the canons ordained, and give a 1 R. de Wendover, iii. 215 ; Matt. Paris, ii. 517. Compare with this the preamble of the famous Statute for Restraint of Appeals (24 Henry VIIL, c. 12). " The realm of England is an empire governed by one supreme head and king, who has full power to give justice in all causes to all manner of folk, without restraint or appeal to any foreign prince or potentate, the body spiritual of the realm having power, so that when any cause of the law divine happeneth to come in question, or of spiritual learning, it was declared and interpreted by that part of the body politic called the spiritualty, now being usually called the Eng- lish Church, which hath always been, and is, for knowledge, integi'ity, and number, sufficient to declare and determine all doubts without the intermeddling of any exterior person, " 2 This, however, was after the election had taken place, so that it was a mere farce. 291 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. pastor to the Lord's flock by consecrating Stephen. For this the king ought to be grateful and not to set himself up against the vicegerent of the Most High ; remembering the cause for which the blessed Thomas shed his blood, and how his father and brother, kings of England, had renounced the evil custom of nominating the Primate.^ Stephen Langton had been already consecrated at Viterbo (June 17, 1207). 34. The king's fury now knew no bounds. The first to feel his vengeance were the unfortunate monks of Christ Church. They had sinned first of all in electing Eeginald without license, and then, having elected the bishop of Norwich by way of amends, and drawn money from the Treasury for their journey to Rome to obtam his confirm- ation, had basely turned round and, in place of him, had elected the king's "public enemy" Stephen de Langton. As punishment for this off'ence the king sent Fulk de Can- tilupe and William de Cornhill, " most cruel and barbarous knights," with an armed band, to drive the monks of Christ Church out of the land as guilty of treason, or, if they re- sisted, to slay them. The fierce soldiers entered the mon- astery with drawn swords, calling with furious words upon the prior and the monks that, as traitors, they should mstantly quit the land, or they and their monastery should be burned together. The frightened monks fled at once, and found a refuge in Flanders. Their old rivals from St. Augustine's were invited to perform the services of the Church. Their goods were plundered by Fulk, and their lands and those of the See remained uncultured (July 15).- At the same time the king swore mighty oaths that Stephen Langton should never set his foot on English ground. 1 R. de Wendover, iii. 216 ; Matt. Paris, ii. 517-520. Dr. Hook {Lives of the ArchhisJwps, ii. 670) puts this letter of the Pope's before the consecration. But this is not consistent Avith its contents. He also puts the letter of John too early. Dean Milman (Lat. Christ., iv. 85) supposes that John had received no letter from the Pope. But Inno- cent expressly says that he had written again after the letter which had been entrusted to the monks, and that this letter had been deli- vered to the king by his messenger : "Cursor noster apostolicas tibi literas prsesentavit." — E. de Wendover, iii. 218. 2 E. de Wendover, iii. 214; Matt, Paris, ii, 516; Ann. Monast., i. 28, 58 ; ii. 80, 259 ; iii. 450 ; iv. 52, 395, 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 295 35. The Pope's reply to these menaces and acts of rage was to direct three bishops — WiUiam of London, Eustace of Ely, and Manger of Worcester — to proceed to the king and to exhort him, with all pious persuasion, to yield to the Lord's will and accept the Primate. Then, if they found him contumacious, they were to threaten him, from the Pope, with an interdict for the whole land, and if this should fail, with still heavier punishment, inasmuch as it was necessary for Him to be victorious, who, for the salva- tion of His holy Church, spoiled the prison of hell.^ The bishops performed their dangerous duty, " humbly and with many tears " exhorting the king to yield. The king broke out into furious blasphemies, swearing " by the teeth of God " that if they or any others should put his land under an interdict he would send all the clergy packing to the Pope, and confiscate all their goods. And if he could catch any Komans in his land, he ^vould put out their eyes and cut off their noses, and send them in this plight to Eome. He bade the bishops hasten out of his presence if they valued their own safety, an advice which they thought it prudent to follow. 36. Having failed to find "the fruit of penitence" in the king, the prelates, in the following Lent, took courage to perform the task committed to them by the Pope. On the Monday after Passion Sunday, which fell that year (1 208) on the 24th March, ^ they put the whole of the land under an interdict, and having done this awful and sacrilegious deed, they succeeded in effecting their escape from the country.^ 37. What was the effect of this sentence, which a Christian bishop had pronounced on a Christian people in order to revenge himself on a king who had ventured to stand up for the immemorial rights of his crown '? The chronicler tells us — " Throughout the whole of the Church of England all divine offices ceased, except only the baptism of infants, and the confession and absolution of the dying."* 1 R. de Wendover, iii, 221 ; Matt. Raris, n. 521. ^ Ann. de Waverleid, Ann. MonoM., ii. 260. " In vigiha Annunti- ationis Dominican." ^ R. de Wendover, in. 222 ; Matt, Paris, ii. 522 ; Ann. MonasL, ii. 260, iii. 30, iv. 396. The interdict was published on Passion Sunday, to take effect upon the following day. * Ann. de Waverleid, Ann. MonasL, ii. 260. 296 THE GROWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. If this were all that was permitted, fearful indeed must have been the state of the land throughout those long years during which the curse was allowed to remain. But another annalist gives a somewhat less gloomy picture. The Dunstable chronicler says — "Marriage rites and churchings were done at the door of the church, and then the Gospel was read ; and on Sundays a sermon was made to the people outside the church, and there holy bread and water were given to them ; the priests baptized in the churches, and, lest the chrism should fail, they were allowed by the Pope to mix oil with it, and all who desired to offer were allowed to approach the altar." ^ But while it is highly probable that the occasional offices of the Church were performed, and that even the dead sometimes received a Christian burial, there yet remained this one undoubted fact, that wherever the interdict was observed there was no consecration of the Eucharist, which, with the views held as to the nature of that sacrament, was equiva- lent to a shutting-up of heaven. In many parts of England " the world seemed to be surrendered to the unrestrained power of the devil and evil spirits. The intercourse between man and God was utterly broken off, souls left to perish, or but reluctantly permitted absolution at the hour of death." ^ From the miseries of the interdict one order of " religious " was by special and peculiar privilege exempt. The Cister- cians, or White Monks, could celebrate their services in the midst of an interdict.^ They at first ventured to do this in 1208, but the Pope hearing of it ordered them imperatively to desist, so that they were obliged to abandon the privilege.* 38. It was John's determination to make the clergy and religious, as a body, feel to the utmost extent the bitter effects of the Pope's curse. Immediately on the publication of the interdict he took vigorous measures for 1 A7171. de Dunstaplid, Ann. MonasL, iii. 30. For the exact orders given by the Pope as to the interdict, see Notes and Hlustrations to this Chapter. 2 Milman, Latin Christianity, iv. 87. The Pope, in order to make tlie prohibition of the Eucharist more bearable, propounded the doctrine, "Crede et manducasti." See Notes and Hlustrations. 3 Vita S. Hugonis (ed. Dimock), 324 ; Dugdale, v. 2 S3. 4 K de Wendover, iii. 225. 3171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 297 the sequestration of all the estates of those who should obey the PojDe. He issued his letters -patent for the dioceses whose bishops had fled, appointing certain re- ceivers of the ecclesiastical property.^ At the same time he endeavoured to frighten the clergy out of the kingdom by terrible threats, the work of confiscation being more easily and efl'ectually carried on in their absence. For the most part, however, the chief clergy, aware of this, shut themselves up in monasteries, and refused to depart except they were violently expelled. No personal violence was used towards those who did this, but they had a small allowance for sustenance out of their confiscated goods. ^ Everywhere their barns were sealed up, and all their rents brought into the Exchequer. A more atrocious and un- feeling expedient was also adopted. Great numbers of the clergy were still married. Their wives were everywhere seized, and only allowed to be redeemed by a heavy ransom. If a clerk were met by the king's officers riding on a journey, he was dragged from his horse, robbed, and ill-treated, and there was no way by which he could obtain justice. When a robber was brought before the king, charged with killing a priest, the king ordered him to be released, for, said he, " he has only slain one of my enemies." The relatives of those bishops who had ven- tured to pronounce tlie interdict were seized, mulcted of ^ Rot. Lit. Pat, p. 80. The form of the letters for the diocese of Lincoln ran as follows : — ' ' The king to all clerks and laymen of the diocese of Lincoln, greeting. Know ye that from Monday next, before the feast of Easter, we have committed to William de Cornhill, Arch- deacon of Huntingdon, and to Gerard de Caville, all the lands and property of the abbots and priors, and of all religious, and also of all clerks in the diocese of Lincoln, who shall refuse from that date to celebrate the divine offices ; and we command you from that time for- ward to be obedient unto them as our bailiffs, and to give credit to them in those matters in which they shall advertise you in the mean- while as to our proper selves." 2 "Dr. Lingard, from the Close Rolls, has given what was the * rationale estuverium ' allowed, namely, two dishes a day (ad prandium) for a monk, and as much as should be judged necessary by four sworn men of the parish for a secular clergyman." — Mr. Coxe's Note, R. de Wendover, iii. 223. 298 THE GEOWTH OF THE [chap. xvi. all their goods, and thrown into prison.^ These violent measures of the king no doubt intimidated many of the clergy, and caused them to disregard the interdict, and still to continue the celebration of divine offices. They thus obtained protection. There vv'-ere three bishops at least — Winchester, Bath, and Norwich ^ — who remained faith- ful to the king, and in their dioceses the interdict was but little observed. The king was desirous to add another to their number by causing (in 1209) the election to the See of Lincoln of Archdeacon Hugh of Wells, brother to the bishop of Bath, who was serving the king; but the elect, who had been the king's vice-chancellor, and had acted for him against the Romanising clergy, being obliged to go abroad for consecration, was drawn over to the papal party, and remained in exile with the other bishops. 39. The Pope, furious at the partial fiiilure of his curse, and at the contumacious behaviour of John, prepared to take still more violent measures. Hitherto he had only punished the king's innocent subjects for a fault in their ruler which they had no means whatever of mending. Now he at last bethought him of punishing the offender himself. But John, anticipating his excommunication, and probably his deposition so far as the Pope could effect it, took pre- cautionary measures. He seized a number of hostages from the families of his chief nobles to secure their allegiance. He showed no relaxation of his ferocious temper towards the clergy, but rather increased it. At Oxford, where a woman had been murdered by a clerk, who had escaped, the king caused, without a shadow of justice, three clerks who belonged to the same hall as the criminal to be hanged in his stead. At this gross outrage the university was 1 Ann. de Waverleid, Ann. Monast, ii. 260 ; E,. de Wendover, iii. 223 ; Matt. Paris, ii, 523. The chronicler adds that "the bishops stayed comfortably beyond seas, living in every comfort, not putting themselves forward like a wall before the house of God." - See Political Songs (Camd. Soc. ), wdiere a violent attack is made upon these three bishops. Bath is satirised for his addiction to secular business, and called "Doctus in Decalogo, ccecus in forma canonis.'' Norwich is stigmatised as "Nor^ncensis bestia ;" and Winchester as "ad computandum impiger, piger in Evangelium." — Political Songs (AVright), pp. 10-12. 1171-1213.] POWER OF ROME IN ENGLAND. 299 broken up, and tlie students retired, some to Cambridge, some to Eeading, leaving Oxford deserted.^ The interdict had continued for the greater part of two years before the special excommunication of the King himself was spoken. It was signified by the Pope to the three bishops of London, Ely, and Worcester, and they were ordered to take measures for publishing it in England. The churches of the monasteries had now, by the intercession of Stephen Langton, been allowed by the Pope to have divine service, and the celebration of the Eucharist, once a week.^ It was ordered that the excommunication should be published in these churches during the time of mass. The three bishops entrusted with this difficult duty thought that they had discharged it by sending word to some of their brethren in England that it was to be done. But in England, so great was the terror of the king's vengeance, no one was found hardy enough thus to devote himself to certain destruction. The sentence therefore remained unpublished. But it was known that it had been spoken,^ and men began to talk secretly about it, one with another. An unfortunate clerk, Geoffrey, archdeacon of Norwich, thought himself obliged to leave his place in the king's Exchequer because of the sentence. He was seized and thrown into prison, tortured, and starved to death. '^ The Pope was as yet quite unable to tame this savage king, and it is probable that he would not have succeeded finally had it not been for the deep hatred which John's evil conduct had excited in his subjects. At the Christmas season of 1209-10, John was at Windsor, and all the magnates of the kingdom attended his council, and communicated with him in spite of the excommunica- tion, which was well known to have been spoken. Some abortive attempts had been made at reconciliation. Arch- bishop Langton had even crossed over to Dover under a safe-conduct, but he had not seen the king. The principal difficulty between the king and the bishops seemed to be one of money.^ John, on tlie failure of these negotiations, 1 R. de WeiKlover, iii. 227 ; Matt. Paris, ii. 526. 2 R. de Wendover. iii. 226. '-^ lb., iii. 229. s, iii. 3SG. » 16 Ric. II., c. 5, Statutes, ii. 84. ^ stubbs, u. s. 13S4-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 455 accepted endowments, faith, hope, and charity began to disappear, and pride and mortal sins to prevail. 11. That the office of priesthood, as conferred by the ritual used by the Church, is not a true priesthood, but a sham. III. That the vow of chastity enforced on the priesthood leads to divers abominable sins. IV. " That the pretended miracle of the sacrament of bread leads all men, save a few, into idolatry ; because they think that the body of Christ, which never is out of heaven, can by virtue of the words of a priest be essentially included in a little bit of bread which they show to the people." Y. That exorcisms and blessings of wine, bread, water, oil, salt, etc., the walls of the church, vestments, chalices, mitres, etc., are practices of necromancy rather than of sacred theology. VI. That the holding of temporal offices by prelates and clergy is altogether opposed to right principle. VII. That special prayers for particular dead persons, who are named, is a preferring of one before the other, and a false foundation for almsgiving ; and thus all the eleemosynary houses in England are on a wrong foundation. VIII. That pilgrim- ages, prayers, and offerings made to crosses and images are very near to idolatry, and that of all images that of the Trinity is most to be condemned. IX. That auricular confession and the pretended power of absolution exalt the pride of priests and produce many evil consequences. X. That homicide in war or " by the pretended law of justice" for temporal causes, without any spiritual revela- tion, is expressly contrary to the New Testament. XL That vows of chastity taken by women lead to horrible sins. XII. That the multitude of unnecessary arts prac- tised in the kingdom nourishes and produces much evil and sin. " We present to you these Conclusions, which are more fully explained in books in the English tongue, which we desire the people to read, and we pray you to lend your aid to the reform of the Church." ^ 13. This bold appeal to Parliament by the Lollards was not only presented in the Parliament House, but, effectually to ensure its publication, it was fastened upon the doors of St. Paul's and AYestminster Abbey. The 1 Fascic. Zizan., pp. 360-369; AVilkius, ConciL, iii. 221, sq. i56 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxi. Lollards seemed to invite and court the strife, and as some of their conclusions (such as those touching war and capital punishment) were entirely opposed to the temporal govern- ment, it was manifest that they could not be left unnoticed. The king, therefore, on his return from Ireland, called to- gether some of the chief supporters of the Lollards, and threatened them with the most terrible consequences if they ventured to persevere in supporting such views. These menaces had the effect of stopping for a time the rapid progress of these revolutionary opinions.^ The death of Archbishop Courtney, which followed in the next year (1396), may have again encouraged them, for soon after- wards the Pope despatched letters to the English King, requesting him to aid the bishops in their attempts to repress this growing heresy. ^ The new Primate, Arch- bishop Arundel, translated from York (1397), was as ready to use severe measures as his predecessor, perhaps even more so. But the great political convulsions which at- tended the latter years of the reign of Kichard IL stood in the way. The King procured the banishment of Arch- bishop Arundel by the Parliament. He betook himself to the Pope. The Pope, desiring neither to offend the King nor entirely to desert the archbishop, made a translation of Arundel to St. Andrews in Scotland, and then, the See of Canterbury being considered vacant, " provided for it " by a Bull, which appointed Eoger Walden, the King's trea- surer, to the post. The effect of this was to create a firm union between Archbishop Arundel and Henry Bolingbroke, who was also in exile — a union which quickly culminated in the triumphant return of Bolingbroke, the abdication of Richard, and the restoration of the Primate to all his rank and privileges. No notice was taken of the pseudo-primate Walden, nor was any resignation required of him. He was simply treated as never having legally occupied the post. 14. One of the conditions upon which the new king, Henry IV., had obtained the valuable aid of Arundel was a promise to enable him to act vigorously against the Lollards. It Avas held that nothing less than capital ^ Walsingham, Hist. Ang., ii. 217 ; Annal. Ric. II. Regis, p. 183. ^ Annal. Ricardi 11., p. 187. 1384-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 457 punishment would suffice to stop the rapid progress of the sect, and a new law was therefore required to enable the secular arm readily to support the bishops' censures. In January 1401 a Convocation was summoned and presided over by Archbishop Arundel. The Primate dwelt upon the dangerous opinions of the Lollards, and the need of some sharp legislation to repress them. The dignified clergy, who felt that their estates as well as their faith were at stake, through the revolutionary doctrines which were abroad, readily assented to these views. They drew uj:* a petition of a fierce and determined character, calling upon the Government to take proceedings against heretics, and stating that if they refused to recant, or after recanting relapsed to their old errors, the civil officers should do " what further is incumbent upon them in this matter." The petition was at once granted by the King, with the assent of the Lords, and the Commons at the same time petition- ing to the same effect, a statute was enacted and enrolled, which provided that those who were certified heretics by the bishops, if they refused to recant, or if they relapsed, should "be caused to be burnt in some conspicuous place,"^ Thus, for the first time in English history, the Statute law of the land formally took upon itself the odious task of being the executioner of those ecclesiastically condemned. 15. While Parliament was still sitting, probably before the new statute had been actually passed, proceedings were taken against AYilliam Sawtry, rector of St. Osith (St. Bennet Shere-hog), London. He was brought before the Convocation on February 12 (1401), and charged, that having held and taught certain false doctrines in the dio- cese of Norv/ich, he had, upon being brought before the bishop of that see, abjured such doctrines, but that since then in the diocese of London he had again held and taught the same doctrines. The doctrines objected against him were — (1.) That it was not lawful to adore the cross, but only Christ who hung upon the cross. (2.) That he would rather adore a temporal king than a wooden cross. (3.) That he would rather honour holy men than even the 1 2 Henry IV., c. 16; Wilkins, iii. 252; Annal. Hcnrici IF., p. 335. 458 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIAEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxr. actual cross upon which Christ suffered. (4.) That he would rather honour a man truly penitent than the material cross. ^ (5.) That a man predestined to glory is to be honoured above an angel. (6.) That if one has vowed a pilgrimage, he is not bound to perform his vow, but had better expend the money it would cost him upon the poor. (7.) That priests and deacons are more bound to preach than to say the canonical hours. ^ (8.) That after consecration in the Eucharist there remains bread of the same nature as before. Sawtry denied having taught these things, and then recanted them. He also desired that a copy of the articles might be given him, that he might make explanation. This was granted. In his de- fence he practically admits that he had taught as articled. He declared that the gross material cross was not a thing to be adored because of peril of idolatry ; that good men are above angels because they are of the same nature as Christ. Being questioned on the sacrament of the altar, he hesitated. He was pressed as to his belief w^hether there remained bread after consecration. He answered that he did not know. Being at length induced to declare his belief, he said that bread was there as before consecra- tion. Asked if he would stand by determination of Holy Church, said he was willing to do so " if it were not con- trary to the Divine will." Pronounced to be heretical. His former condemnation before the bishop of Norwich proved. This was on February 19. On February 24 he was again before the Convocation, and was formally degraded. On February 26 the royal writ for his execution was issued, and he was burned at Smithfield, suffering, it is said, with great ^ "Therefore, if ye will verily worship the image of Gotl, we open to you this that is veray, that ye do well to a man that is made the image of God, and give him honour and reverence ; give meat to the hungry, clothes to the naked, ministering to the sick, harbour to the stranger, necessaries to the prisoner." — Apology for Lollards, p. 89. '^ " One thing I wot well, that if priests are bound to their Hours by the law that themselves have made, they ought to be bound by the charge that Christ hath given them. And if they have strait con- science to fail in this that themselves have bound them to, they should have mickle more to fail in this that Christ hath bound them to." — Jpology, p. 45. 13S4-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 459 constancy. He was the first person burned in England for heresy.^ 16. Before the same Convocation John Purveye or Purneye, Avho had been WyclifFe's amanuensis and helper, and who had been previously tried for heresy, made a full recantation and retractation of his views on all the chief points of the Lollard teaching. He acknowledged his belief that in the Eucharist aficr consecration there re- mained not the substance of bread and wine ; that auricular confession was salutary ; that holy orders Avere necessary ; that civil ministers have the true power of the keys ; that no priest has a right to preach until sent by the bishop ; that persons should be compelled to keep religious vows which they have taken ; that the decisions of the Council of Lyons are to be accepted. In all these things he desired to submit himself to Holy Church, and to withdraw all private opinions.^ The recantation of Purveye was re- ceived and accepted, and the archbishop even promoted him afterwards to a benefice, where he does not seem to have borne a very good character.^ It is perhaps a little to his credit, as seeming to show that his earnestness was not quite gone, that he was again in trouble under Archbishop Chichele in 1421, and is thought to have died in prison.* 17. The archbishop had now provided himself with a sharp and efi'ective weapon for contending against Lollard opinions, but he seems to have shrunk from using it in a way to satisfy the more violent of the Church party. In 1406 a strong petition was addressed to the King by Par- liament for increased strictness against the Lollards, and a new statute w^as founded on it. This does not, however, appear to have been carried out,^ and the archbishop was left to those powers which he already possessed. Under these we find him employed in 1407 in conducting the 1 Wilkins, ConciL, iii. 252, sq.; Fascic. Zizan., 408-411, where the wrong date is given in the side note. ^ Pascic. Zizan., 383-407. 3 " I gave him," says Arundel, "a benefice a mile out of this castle, and 1 heard more complaints about his covetousness for tithes than I did of all men that were advanced in my diocese." — Thoiyes Exam.y AVordsworth, Eccl. Biorj., i. 278, -* Lewis's IVijckiiffc, p. 270. 5 Stubbs, Comt. IlisL, iii. 359. 460 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTIUNE : [chap. xxi. trial of William Thorpe. Thorpe's own account of his trial remains to us, and though doubtless it cannot be relied upon as altogether exact, having been written down after- wards from memory, yet, for the most part, it is probably to be trusted. The archbishop is represented in the account as very rough and rude, but as displaying con- siderable patience, and discussing at length with Thorpe all the points on wdiich information had been laid against him by the men of Shrewsbury, where he had preached. Tliorpe was peremptorily called upon to submit himself unreservedly to the Church, but this he refused to do, and was committed to prison, where he probably remained during his life, as there is no record that he was burned.^ 18. The archbishop, in his examination of Thorpe, seems to have discovered that something was needed to supple- ment the statute which he had obtained against heretics. The statute merely provided an extreme remedy. It did not supply any preventive or cautionary provisions which it was thought might be salutary. With a view, therefore, to remedy this, at a Convocation held at Oxford, October 1409, the Primate published certain Constitutions, designed, as he expressly says, " to strengthen the common law made in his behalf." 2 (1, 2, 3.) the first, second and third of these forbid any ordained person to preach without the express license of the ordinary, and enjoin preachers to confine themselves to certain topics, and not to presume to contradict any doctrine sanctioned by Holy Church. (4.) The fourth forbids schoolmasters to teach their scholars anything as to the sacraments, or on theological topics. (5.) The fifth forbids any to read a treatise of John Wycliflfe, unless it has been formally approved by the proper authority. (6.) The sixth condemns the translating of the Scriptures, and forbids any to read Wyclifi'e's trans- lation. (7.) Ordains that doctrines of the catholic faith be not called in question by way of scholastic disputation. (8.) That the old ceremonial sanctioned by the Church be respected. (9.) That no priest be admitted to celebrate without letters commendatory. (10.) "Considering and 1 See Wordsworth's Eccl. Blog., i. 261, sq. - Johnson, Eng. Canons, ii. 409. 1384-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 4G1 lamenting how our fair University of Oxford, which, like a thriving vine, used to spread her branches, to the honour of God and the advancement and protection of His Church, is in part degenerated, and brings forth sour grapes by eating whereof many of her sons, being too well conceited of their knowledge in the law of God, have set their teeth on edge, and our province is infected with new unprofitable doctrines, and blemished with the new damnable brand of Lollardy, to the great scandal of the University itself, reaching to remote foreign parts, and to the exceeding regret of those who study there : " We therefore enjoin all heads and governors of colleges and halls to make, every month, a strict inquiry into the opinions of those under them, and if any be found holding these false opinions, he shall be censured, and if he amend not, be expelled. But if the wardens and governors be themselves infected, then they shall be strictly incjuired after and censured by the ordinary.^ 19. While the archbishop was carefully building up the ecclesiastical edifice, and striving to establish an effectual discipline, the whole temporal status of the Church was subjected to a series of most dangerous attacks. In the Parliament held at Coventry in 1404,^ the proposition w^as boldly made by the Commons, that inasmuch as their funds were greatly exhausted by their contributions in the war, and inasmuch as the clergy had done but little, the king should take the whole of the clerical estates into his hands for a year. The archbishop vigorously opposed these suggestions of the knights. He pointed out that the alien priories which the king had lately seized, had, through the cupidity of the knights, failed to aid his revenue. Another bishop (Eochester) declared that the knights had incurred excommunication by proposing to abrogate Magna Charta.^ The representatives of the Commons were for the moment silenced, but they speedily returned to the attack. In the Parliament of 1410 the Commons sent a petition to the Crown in which a system- atic scheme for plundering the Church is put forward. 1 Johnson, Eng. Canons, ii. 457, 473. 2 Known as the Parliamentum indodum, because the sheriffs were directed to return no laA\yers. 3 j^nn. Hen., IF. p. 393. 4G2 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIiEYAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxi. This, according to Walsingham, ran as follows : — " To the most excellent Lord King and all the nobles in the present Parliament assembled, all the faithful Commons humbly represent and truly affirm that our Lord the King can have from the temporal goods held by bishops, abbots, and priors, and proudly wasted in the kingdom, sufficient to support 1500 knights, 6200 men-at-arms, and a hundred hospitals, more than now there are, well and faithfully sustained from the lands and tenements now uselessly and proudly wasted." ^ In addition to this hostile demonstra- tion against Church revenues, which the king was not inclined in any way to encourage, the Commons made several attempts to modify the Statute De Hcereticis combu- rendis. They desired that clergy convicted under the statute might not be imprisoned in the bishops' prisons, but in the secular prisons, and that it should not be competent to arrest persons suspected of heresy without the king's writ.^ In neither of these points, however, did they obtain their object. The king was resolutely set to uphold the Church, and to give every facility to the bishops for the suppression of heresy. 20. The reply to the attempts made to support the Lollards in Parliament was the burning of Thomas Badby, a poor tailor in Smithfield,^ for a want of theological exact- ness in his views on the sacrament of the altar, and the archbishop was soon engaged with a more illustrious ad- versary. John Oldcastle, a member of a knightly family in Wales, had married the granddaughter and heiress of that old Lord Cobham who had shown himself in Eichard's Parliaments on the side of the views of Wycliffe. Pro- bably his granddaughter shared his views, and Sir John Oldcastle (her third husband) certainly soon made himself conspicuous by advocating and upholding them. Connected 1 Walsingliam, Risi. Aug., ii. 280. In Fabyan's Chronicle (p. 57{>) the calculation is somewhat different, and more elaborately -vN^rked out. The value of the Church lands is put at 322,000 marks per annum. Out of this the king was to receive £20,000, 15 earls 3000 marks each, 1500 knights 100 marks each, 100 hospitals 100 marks each, 6200 srjuires and 15,000 priests 7 marks each. 2 Walsingham, Hist, Ang., ii. 283. ^ Wilkins, Concil, iii. 326. 1384-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 4G3 as he Avas by marriage with the De la Poles and Courtneys, and having the control of large estates, distinguished also for his skill in war,^ Sir John Oldcastle was a very dangerous patron of the Lollard views. The archbishop saw plainly that it was not safe to neglect him, and the young king was aroused to a suspicious watchfulness by the placard fastened in bravado on the doors of the London churches, which declared that the Lollards had 100,000 men ready to rise to assert their rights.^ Li the Convocation of 1413 the archbishop was required by the clergy to proceed against Oldcastle on the ground that he had encouraged unlicensed preachers to preach contrary to the archbishop's Constitutions, and had upheld them by force of arms ; and that his views on the sacrament of the altar, on penance, on pilgrimages, on the worship of images, and on the power of the keys, were different from those which the Roman Church held. Upon this representation it was determined to proceed against the knight, but as he was in the service of the king it was thought necessary to refer to him. The king desired that the matter might be a little delayed, and that he would himself speak with Oldcastle. Having done this, he was constrained after some time to report to the archbishop that he could in no way convince him.^ A citation was therefore issued to Oldcastle to appear before the Convocation at St. Paul's. He was in his castle at Cowling near Rochester, and the citation could not be served upon him. He however trusted himself to go to court, thinking that the king, if he would not receive his confession, would at least protect him. In this he was ^ He had been a leader of the expeditionary force of 1200 troops sent into France to aid the Duke of Burgundy. Walsingham calls him "fortis viribus, operi martio satis idoneus." 2 Walsingham, Hist. Ang., ii. 291. For the process against Old castle we have the archbishop's own letter in Fascic. Zizan., the careful account of Walsingham, and the account in the Archbishop's Register, Wilkins, Condi., iii. 353. 3 Walsingham, Hist. Ang., ii. 292. It is said that on the day when Oldcastle appeared before the king at Kennington a great burn- ing of Wycliffe's books was taking place, and one was found contain- ing several tracts which Oldcastle owned to be his property. — Wilkins, Concil., iii. 357. 464 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE: [chap. xxi. deceived. The king ordered him to be arrested and con- veyed to the Tower, and on the day appointed by the archbishop, to appear before the Convocation. Upon being brought before the bishops, he tendered a written paper containing his confession. In this he declares as follows : — " That it is his desire to believe faithfully as Holy Church teaches, but that he desires to declare his belief on four points — (1.) That the most Avorshipful sacrament of the altar is Christ's body in form of bread, the same body that was born of the blessed Virgin our Lady Saint Mary, done on the cross, dead and buried, the third day rose from death to life, the which body is now glorified in heaven. (2.) Also, as for the sacrament of penance, I believe that it is needful to every man that shall be saved to forsake sin, and to do penance for sin before done, with true con- fession, very contrition, and due satisfaction, as God's law limiteth and teacheth, or else may he not be saved. (3.) Images are not of belief, but are calendars to laymen to represent and bring to mind the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and martyrdom and good living of saints. And that whoso doth the Avorship to dead images that is due to God, or putteth faith, hope, or trust in help of them as he should do to God, or hath affection to one more than another, he doth in that the great sin of mammetry.^ (4.) He that knows the holy commandments of God and keepeth them to his end, he shall be saved, though he never in his life go on pilgrimage as men use now, to Canterbury or Eome or any other place." These state- ments having been considered bj^the archbishop, were held not to be sufficient. Oldcastle was asked the crucial ques- tion Avhich sent so many poor men to the stake, whether he believed that after consecration in the Eucharist there remained material bread or not. Also, whether, W'hen a priest might be had, it was necessary that confession of sins should be made to him. He declined to answer beyond what his written statement had put forth ; he declared himself desirous to believe as Holy Church taught, but expressed a doubt whether the Pope, cardinals, and bishops, had the powder of determining such things. 1 Idolatry, mammet = an image. 1384-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 465 The archbishop then gave him for his consideration what he declared Avas the judgment of Holy Church in the matter, written in English. " The faith and the determination of the Church touching the blessed sacrament of the altar is this — that after the sacramental words be said by a priest in his mass, the material bread that was before is turned into Christ's very body, and so there leaveth on the altar no material bread, nor material wine, the which were there before the saying of the sacramental words. Holy Church hath ordained that every Christian man, living here bodily on earth, ought to be shriven to a priest ordered by the Church if he may come to him. Christ ordained St. Peter His apostle to be His vicar here on earth, whose See is the Church of Rome, ordaining and granting the same power which He gave to Peter should succeed to all Peter's successors, the which we call now Popes of Rome. By whose power, in churches particular, special be ordained prelates as archbishops, bishops, curates, and other degrees, to whom Christian men ought to obey after the laAvs of the Church of Rome. This is the determination of Holy Church. Holy Church hath determined that it is needful to a Christian man to go a pilgrimage to holy places, and there specially to worship holy relics of saints, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and all saints approved by the Church of Rome." Oldcastle was required to give his opinions on these articles. When brought before the archbishop and his assessors for this purpose he first of all declined to accept the absolution which they offered him from the excommunication which he had incurred. As regards the articles, he said that in the Eucharist there was the true body of Christ, and also true bread. As to confession, it might be good and useful to confess to a priest, but it was not necessary. As to worshipping images, he held that it was only Christ who hung upon the cross, and not the material cross which was to be adored. As to the Pope's power, he said that the Pope was the head of Antichrist, and archbishops and bishops were his tail ; that no rever- ence was due to them save in proportion as they were the true imitators of Christ and Peter. He warned the by- standers against the seductions of false priests, and refused 2 II 466 KEYOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxi. to give any other answer. The archbishop then pronounced formal sentence against him as a heretic, and left him to the secular arm.^ Arundel, who no doubt honestly desired to bring this leading man to recant, obtained a respite for him of forty days from the king. Oldcastle was confined in the Tower, but he contrived to escape, and to rally round him some bands of Lollards, who seem to have entertained the project of dethroning the king. The rapid and vigorous measures taken by King Henry frustrated this design, and then followed a series of executions, both of priests and laymen, who were hanged and burned as traitors and heretics.^ 21. The rebellious movements of the Lollards, real or supposed, brought upon them another statute of greater strictness. This ordains that all king's officers, of what grade soever, are to aid the bishops in their search for heretics, and to apprehend them, and they themselves are to make inquisition for them, and arrest them, delivering them to the ordinaries within ten days^ (1414). This severe Act was perhaps compensated for in the opinion of some by the death of their great enemy. Archbishop Arundel, whose somewhat strange end, from a swelling of the tongue and throat, was held by the Lollards to be an appropriate judgment for having silenced so many of their voices.* But his successor Archbishop Chichele did not show himself in any way more favourable to the new opinions. Numerous cases of trials and punishments are to be found recorded during the next twenty years. 22. Of some of these victims no very definite records remain, but as to others particulars may be gleaned. John Clay don, burned in 1415, was a tanner or skin-dresser in London. He was accused of heresy, and, probably showing himself obstinate, was given over to the secular arm and burned.^ Against William Taylor, a priest of Oxford, we have the process remaining, and find that the principal 1 Fascic. Zizan., 433-450. Walsingliam, Hist. Aug., n. 291-296. 2 Walsingliam, Hist. Angl, ii. 299. The number of executions Avas tliirty-eiglit. — Stubbs, iii. 364, note. ^ Wilkins, ConciL, iii. 356. ^ The orthodox Gascoigne calls this a direct judgment of God on him, — Rogers's Gascoigne, p. 35. ^ Wilkins, ConciL, iii. 371-375. 1384-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 467 errors attributed to him were, " that prayer Avas to be directed to God alone;" "that clerks ought not to be lords nor holders of estates." He denied the divine right of kings, condemned religious mendicancy, the worship of the cross and the saints, refused to accept the decisions of the Council of Constance. Being unwilling to retract, he was burned at Smithfield, March 22, 1422.^ Eobert Hoke, a priest of Braybrooke in the diocese of Lincoln, suffered in 1425. His confession is printed in Wilkins, by which it appears that his chief offences were not having done worship to the cross on Good Friday, and having in his possession books and "treties" containing "many foul and horrible errors and heresies."^ It is probable that after confession Hoke relapsed; hence his fate. In 1428 was burned at Norwich William Whyte, a priest, of the process against whom we have copious details. His case was in many ways remarkable. He was condemned by a diocesan synod at Norwich, not by the provincial synod of Canterbury. He had indeed been previously tried before the archbishop, and had abjured the opinions with which he was charged, so that he was now treated as a relapsed person. He appears to have held the doctrine of Consubstantiation. As to the other points in which he was declared to be in error, the chief were, " the unlawfulness of Churchmen possessing property ; " " the condemnation of the mendicant orders ;" the " denial of the necessity of auricular confession and priestly absolution;" the assertion "that all good men have priestly powers;" that "a good layman might con- secrate the Eucharist;" that "after consecration bread still remained in the Eucharist ;" that priests might marry, and that he himself was married ; that the clergy had f^illen into grievous corruption through prohibition of matrimony ; that extreme unction and fasting at stated seasons were unneces- sary ; that it was lawful to work on holidays ; that the clergy had no claim for tithes ; that clergy might preach without license; that relics and images were not to be adored; that church property might be taken by laymen ; that capital punishment for theft and that war were unlawful.^ ^ Fascic. Zizan., p. 412. - Wilkins, iii. 437. 3 Fascic. Zizan., pp. 417-432. 4G8 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxf. At the same time that Whyte suffered, Abraham of Col- chester and John Wadden are said to have been also burned.^ In 1431 Thomas Bagley, a priest, vicar of Maunden in Essex, was burned in Smithfield. He is accused of having taught that "the consecrated host is true bread in its nature and the body of Christ in figure ; " and of having boldly protested before the Convocation, " I do not believe, and I will not believe, that the priest, by virtue of the sacramental words, makes Christ or God."^ These were some of the more conspicuous victims.^ But the most remarkable of all was Sir John Oldcastle, who, after four years of liberty, was again captured in Wales, and having now the charge of treason against him as well as that of heresy, was brought up for judgment.* The punishments for both these offences were combined in his execution (1417). He was hanged as for treason, and burned as for heresy. A formal recantation of his heretical errors has been sometimes attributed to him. But the document which purports to contain this recantation is from internal evidence so manifestly a forgery, that it seems useless to quote it.^ Besides those committed to the flames, there was a large number of Lollards sentenced to lighter but still most severe punishments. In 1428 the rector of Hegley was condemned to perpetual imprison- ment, and William Harvey of Tenterden to the same punishment.^ John Calle, a priest of London, and Ealph Mangym, priest, are also in the same year similarly sentenced.''' Lollards were also before the Northern Con- vocation. Thomas Richmond, a friar minor of York, was in 1427 condemned of heresy at York,^ but there does not appear to be any record of executions in the Northern Province. 1 Foxe, i. 753. ^ ^Yiikins, iii. 515. ^ There are other names mentioned as having suffered, e.g. Richard Turmyn (1415), Gregory, Richard Hnnden, John Gardiner (1438), Richard Wych and his servant (1440), William Balowe (1466), John Goose (1473), an old man burned in Smithfield (1499).— Stubbs, Const. Hist., iii. 364, note ; Foxe, i. 748-753. ^ Capgrave, De Illustrihus Henricis, p. 122. ^ Printed in Fascic. Zizan., p. 414. 6 AVilkins, iii. 496. ^ j^,.^ iii. 500. ^ jj.^ iii, 488. 1384-1431.] THE LOLLARDS. 469 23. There was much, doubtless, in the tenets of the Lollards which invited persecution, and which seemed to make some animadversion and restraint almost necessary to the very existence of the Church. They had adopted, and were prepared practically to carry out, some of the theoretical opinions of their master, Wycliffe, as to Church property and the disabilities of unworthy ministers. Many of them were clearly prepared to disparage orders altogether. They held that the virtuous layman was more competent to administer the sacraments than the evil-living priest — a specious doctrine, which nevertheless strikes at the very root of Church life. Such errors needed correction by authoritative statements ancl the exercise of discipline. But to treat them as the rulers of the Church in fact did, as soon as they had acquired the power to do so, was inex- cusable. Having settled that error on the doctrine of the Eucharist was to be accounted heresy, though the subject does not belong to either of the accepted creeds, they then threw the expression of the Eucharistic doctrine into the baldest and most repulsive form, and made the acceptance or rejection of this a matter of life and death. If the Lollard could not say that he believed that after consecration there remained no longer bread and wine, if he could not say that accidents might exist without a subject, he was straightway burned. The strongest possible expressions of his belief in the real presence in the Eucharist, such as Oldcastle and others were quite ready to make, counted for nothing. He must accept the bald formula or perish, and all the time this formula — that bread and wine no longer remain save in their accidents — was entirely a modern dogma, and was not to be found in any of the Fathers. The persecution of the Lollards on this ground — the driving many through fear of death to accept doctrines which in their hearts they did not believe, the sacrificing of many others who were more true to their convictions — is a grievous blot upon the mediaeval Church of England. The Church had no better way of dealing with poor ignorant men than to force them to accept a dogma practically use- less, utterly repulsive to reason and the evidence of the senses, without any sanction in Scripture or primitive 470 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxi. antiquity, or to cause them to perish in the agonies of the flames. 24. The bishops were no doubt encouraged in their severe action against the Lollards by the proceedings of the Council of Constance. This great Council, which was held (1414) to heal if possible the schism in the Papacy (there were now three Popes), and to reform the Church in its head and members, distinguished itself by condemning the doctrines of Wycliffe in most express terms,^ and in order- ing the disinterment of his bones, as well as in burning John Huss, the great assertor of his views in Bohemia,^ in spite of the distinct safe conduct given to him by the Emperor Sigismund. But whatever help this may have been to the dominant Churchmen, it is probable that the cause of Church authority lost more than it gained by the action of this Council, for it exposed pitilessly and in terrible detail the abuses of the Church and the vices and ignorance of the clergy, so that all the leading members of the Council concurred in denouncing them in terms as strong as could have been used by Wycliffe himself. And yet the matter ended with words. No action was taken to enforce refor- mation, and thus the Lollards as well as the bishops might find abundant justification in the proceedings of the Council. ^ Forty-five errors of "Wycliffe were condemned by tlie Council. — Labbe, Codicil., xii. 45, 2 They had found their way into Bohemia through the support and approbation of Anne, the Bohemian princess, wife of Richard II., and by the agency of Peter Payne, otherwise Gierke, a Frenchman, born in England, who (according to Gascoigne) being a master of arts at Oxford, had stolen the seal of the University, under which he wrote to the people of Prague that all England had accepted the "Wycliffe tenets^ except the mendicants. — Rogers's Gascoigne, pp. 20, 186. 1447-H59.] BISHOP PECOCK. 471 CHAPTER XXII. THE REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE : BISHOP PECOCK. 1447-1459. 1. Opponents of the Lollards. 2. Bishop Pecock's sermon. 3. Preva- lence of angry feeling against the bishops. 4. Pecock's " Repressor of over-mucb Blaming of the Clergy." 5. His Treatise on Faith. 6. Condemned as heretical. 7. His recantation. 8. His harsh treatment afterwards. 9. John Bury's Gladius Salomonis. 1. So bold, thoroughgoing, and uncompromising an attack as that made by the Lollards on the system and status of the Church, naturally called forth numerous literary de- fenders of the ecclesiastical position. Not all Churchmen were contented, as Courtney, Arundel, and Chichele were, to respond to the objections of the Lollards by the simple expedient of burning them. The Friars had obtained, and in many cases had well deserved, a considerable literary reputation. They would not at once abandon their posi- tions as untenable because a number of persons, many of whom were ignorant and untaught, violently inveighed against them. John Cunningham, a Carmelite friar, was a vigorous and able opponent of Wycliffe.^ Thomas Netter of Walden, also a Carmelite, took a share in all the contro- versies of the period, and drew up, or at least completed, the collection of tracts bearing on the strife, known by the name of Fasciculi Zizaniorum Magistri Joannis JFycliffe cum Tritico. William Wodeford, a brother of the Grey Friars, in Newgate, wrote against WyclifFe's doctrines.^ But by far the most remarkable literary opponent of the Lollards, ^ Some of his treatises are printed in the Fascic. Ztzan. ^ His treatise against Wycliffc's Trialogus is published in Brown's Fascic. Reriim. ExjJetend. 472 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIAEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap, xxil both from his treatise itself and from its consequences, was Eeginald Pecock, bishop of St. Asaph. 2. In a sermon delivered at Paul's Cross in the year 1447, Bishop Pecock set forth seven propositions. (1.) A bishop is not necessarily bound to preach to the common people of his diocese. (2.) He ought rather to hold him- self free from preaching, in order that he may attend to more important matters. (3.) A bishop ought to have greater knowledge in solving important questions than the inferior clergy are bound to have. (4.) Bishops are free to preach or not to preach, having regard to the more im- portant functions they are called to perform, and which cannot be done by the lower clergy. (5.) A more useful work may be done to the souls of men than by preaching. (6.) Bishops may and ought to be non-resident in their dioceses when weighty causes call them away. (7.) It is not simoniacal for bishops to obtain their sees from the Pope by provision, nor to pay him annates and first-fruits.^ The bishop expected that this bold line of defence would be received with applause by his brethren, and he boasted that no one hereafter would speak evil of the bishops nor murmur against them. But the bishops were not to be so easily set right in general estimation. The order was un- popular. Many were glad to get any handle of complaint against a bishop, and the prelates themselves were by no means pleased to have their defence based on such question- able ground. Many controversial antagonists at once appeared against Pecock,^ and an appeal was made to Archbishop Stafford to censure the sermon. Pecock, in his defence before the archbishop, declared that he desired to clear the bishops from the calumnies with which they had been attacked both in the pulpit and out of it, and to bring their assailants to a better mind. His intentions being held to be good, he seems to have escaped easily ; but he was a man of a temper that could not rest, and he quickly returned to the subject in a more elaborate form, from the consequences of which he did not escape so easily. 1 Gascoigne, Did. Theol. (ed. Rogers), p. 26, sq. 2 Babingtou's Introd. to Pecock's Repressor, p. xviii. 1447-1459.] BISHOP PECOCK. 473 3. As an acute and well-meaning man, Bishop Pecock could not but be painfully impressed with the intense feel- ing of dislike and suspicion with which the bishops and clergy were now everywhere regarded. It was not alone among the Lollards, or the " Bible-men " as they had come to be called, that this feeling prevailed. There was a school of more moderate reformers growing up in the Church, who were utterly shocked and scandalised by the miserable state of things which prevailed. These men had made their voices heard at Constance by the denunciations of Bishop Hallam, and of Gerson, the famous Chancellor of Paris. They were represented now in England by Thomas Gascoigne, the author of The Dictionary of Theology, who declares that the people openl}^ murmured against the bishops in the streets, crying " Woe " against them for their w^ealth and pomp ; that their negligence was bringing down divine judgments on the land. And that this popular hatred w^as not without good cause he shows by particular instances. Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury, by birth a bastard, was Chancellor of England ; Adam Moleyns, bishop of Chichester, was Keeper of the Privy Seal ; ^ the bishop of Norwich, Walter Lyard, was the Queen's confessor, residing at Court; the bishop of Carlisle, and afterwards of Lincoln, was Treasurer of England ; the bishop of Coventry, Buth, was Chancellor to Queen Mar- garet. John Kemp, Archbishop of York, scarcely entered his diocese for twenty -eight years during which he presided over it, and was twice Chancellor ; and when the mob set upon Ayscough, bishop of Salisbury, to murder him, they upbraided him with having always lived with the king, and never resided in his diocese — therefore he should die. All these courtier-bishops were " provided " by the Pope, in spite of the Statutes of Pro visors. The same authority " provided " George Nevil to the See of Exeter Mhen he was but twenty-three years of age ; and John Delabere to that of St. David's, where he signalised his episcopate by allow- ing his clergy to keep concubines at a tax of a noble a year. ' He was afterwards murdered (1450) at Portsmouth by tlie sailors, in revenge for the part he was supposed to have taken in the death of ^ the Duke of Gloucester. 474 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIAEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxii. Gascoigne asserts, with a sweeping censure, that from the year 1403 there were none preferred in the Church who knew how in a due manner to do good to souls, or who could or would do it ; that at that time in England the care of souls was destroyed by appropriations, the non-residence of curates and prelates, the promotion of worthless men, pluralities of benefices, and the very worst conferring of school degrees, and granting graces to the unworthy, wicked, and vicious persons in Oxford and other universi- ties.^ It must be confessed, therefore, that Avhen Bishop Pecock undertook to defend the Church system of his day in an elaborate treatise, he showed at least remarkable boldness. He had to oppose the whole body of the Lollards, who held all secular employments of the clergy in utter detestation, and the lar2;e and increasinaj mass of moderate reforming sentiment which saw clearly that the abuses tolerated were bringing ruin upon the Church. 4. The task of defence was undertaken by Bishop Pecock in a work published in 1449, called "The Eepres- sor of over much Blaming of the Clergy."^ In this he undertakes to defend eleven practices or " governances " of the clergy, but he afterwards restricts himself to the de- fence of six, viz. the use of images — the going on pilgrim- ages— the holding of landed possessions by the clergy — the various ranks of the hierarchy — the making laws by papal and episcopal authority — the institutions of the religious orders.^ All these were points specially assiiiled by the Lollards. Pecock begins his defence of the Church by saying'that three especially erroneous opinions had to be overthrown before the matter could be rightly discussed. The first of these was, " that no ordinance is to be esteemed a law of God unless it be grounded on Scripture." ^ The 1 Gascoigne, Diet. Theol. (ed. Rogers), pp. 16, 35, 37, 40, et p. 1. ^ Or rather " The Repressing of over miche A\yting the Clergie." 3 The five other points whicli he declares are defended in his other works are — (7.) The invocation of saints and priestly intercession. (8.) The costliness of ecclesiastical decorations. (9.) The ceremonies of the mass and the sacraments generally. (10.) The taking of oaths. (11.) The lawfulness of war and capital punishment. ^ The Lollards had remarkably anticix^ated the Puritans of the six- 1447-1459.] BISHOP PECOCK. 475 second, " That every humble Christian shall Avithont fail arrive at a true sense of Scripture." The third, "That when the true sense of Scripture has been thus discovered, no arguments of clerks to the contrary should be listened to." Having devoted twenty chapters to the refutation of these opinions, in which it may be said that he often takes a very similar line to that which was taken in the next century by Richard Hooker in arguing against the Puritans of his day, the bishop proceeds in the second part to defend the special points of Church practice selected by him for defence. And, first, of Images and Pilgrimages. He meets very ably the Scripture argument against images, and declares that reason favours the use of images as memorials, and boldly asserts that no man commits idolatry with any image now in Christendom.^ By ingeniously asserting that idolatry can only be committed by believing an image to be God, he thinks he gets oyer the difficulty raised by the fact that people worship certain images especially, and go pilgrimages to them, and believe that they see and move and hear. " No man," he says, " is by anything an idolater save he taketh and maketh a creature to be his God ; but so doth no man though he trow that images have such virtue, and though he trow that images do miracles in such wise as creatures — the Apostles and other saints — did miracles, and though he trow that images be quick, or that they see or speak, or hear, or sweat at some whiles." ^ In the third part he defends the right of the clergy to be possessors of estates, and to exercise territorial rights. In this occurs one of the few allusions to AYycliffe. " Furthermore it is to wit that one clerk (but verily to say one heretic) tempereth the first opinion rehearsed before, and saith on this manner that if the clerk misuse habitually or custom- ably his unmovable endowing, the clerk may lawfully and ought to be despoiled of that endowing by the temporal lords, and else not. But that this saying is unskilful may be showed thus. However habitually or customably I trespass against the king, what shall this hurt mine heir teenth century. Pecock says, when they heard of any rule or direction, they were in the habit of saying, " Where groundest thou tliat in Holy Scripture?" — Ecpressor, p. 6. ^ Reirressor, i. 148. ^ Ih., i. 154. 476 REVOLT AGAINST MEDIEVAL DOCTRINE : [chap. xxii. which nothing trespasseth to the king, but is a full loving and true servant to the king 1 ... If I be a bishop and misuse habitually mine unmovable possessions, and though an hundred of my predecessors have misused likewise, what right were this that an innocent, yea many innocents, coming after me, to whom these goods be owing as well as to me, and which should well use the same goods, should be deprived of the same goods 1" ^ The fourth book defends the government of the Church by archbishops and bishops, and the making of ecclesiastical laws. In this occurs the curious mistake of arguing for the headship of St. Peter, because he is called Cephas, i.e. the head (K€^ 57^^ 3 /?>., iii 619-20. The archbishop is speciiilly severe on the fashion of wearing cloaks open in front. Clerks are to wear their gar- ments "ab anteriori parte clausas," and not to wear a hood "penula- tnni ant dnplieatnni cum serieo, sen simplex cum eorneto vel liripipio breri vel shameleto circa collum suum publice ; sed ufeitur quilibet talis presbyter, nuUatenus gradualus, caputio cum liripipio longo suo ordini conveniente. " The liripipium Wiis a long peak or taiL The clergy were also forbidden to wear swords, daggers, or belts adorned with gold, and their tonsures were to show a clear corona, and their ears were to be seen. See Hook, Zjr« cfthe Archbishops, v. 450. CHAP. XXIV.] THE FIFTEENTH CEXTURY. 503 donations for religious purposes took during this perio. i 905 ... Benedict IV. . . 905 906 ... . ::. ! Leo V. . . . j Christopher . \ 906 907 ... Sergius III. . . 907 910 ... Anastatius III. . 910 912 ... ... Lando .... 912 913 JohnX. . . . 913 923 ... ^thelui 923 925 Atlielstan . . 925 928 Wulfelm ■*." LeoVL'". . . 928 929 ... Stephen VIII. . 929 931 ... John XL . . . 931 936 ... LeoVIL . . . 936 939 ... Stexihen IX. . . 939 940 Edmund . . ... 940 941 Odo . ... 941 943 Martin III. . . 943 946 ... Agapetus . . . 946 947 Edred".' . . 947 ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY, AND rOPES. 54.1 Kings op Archbishops of Date. England. Canterbury. PoPE.g. Date. 955 955 Edwig . . . John XII. . . . 958 Edgar . . . 958 959 Dunstan 959 963 ... LeoVIli.' . . . 963 964 ... Benedict V. . . 964 965 ... ... John XIII. . . 965 972 ... Domnus II. . ) Benedict VI. . j' 972 974 ... Boniface VII. . . 974 975 Edward the Martyr ... Benedict VII. . . 975 979 Ethelred the Unready ... 979 984 John XIV. . . . 984 985 ... John XV. . . . 985 988 ... Ethelgar . ... 988 990 Siric .... 990 995 ^Ifric. 995 996 ... Gregory V. . . 996 999 ... Silvester II. . . 999 1003 ... ... John XVI. . } John XVII. . ) 1003 1006 ... iElfeah (Elphege) 1006 1009 ... Sergius IV. . . 1009 1012 Benedict VIII. . 1012 1013 Lyfing '■; . . 1013 1016 Edmund Iron- side 1016 1017 Cnut . . . ... 1017 1020 Ethelnoth . ... 1020 1024 ... JohnXvill. . . 1024 1034 ... Benedict IX. . . 1034 1037 Harold". . . ... 1037 1038 Eadsige ... 1038 1040 Harthacnut . ... ... 1040 1042 Edward the Confessor ... ... 1042 1044 ... Gregory VI. . . 1044 1046 Clement . . . 1046 1048 Damasus II. . . 1048 1049 Leo IX. . . . 1049 1050 ... Robert of Jumieges 1050 1052 Stigand 1052 1054 Victor II." . . . 1054 1057 ... Stephen X. . . 1057 1059 ... Nicholas II. . . 1059 1061 Alexander II. . . 1061 1066 Harold". . . 1066 542 TABLE OF SUCCESSION OF ENGLISH KINGS, Kings of Archbishops of Popes. Date. Date. 1066 England. Canterbury. William I. . 1 1066 1070 Lanfranc 1070 1073 ... ... Gregory VII. . . 1073 1086 ... Victor III. . . 1086 1087 William IL . ... 1087 1088 Urban 11.' . . . 1088 1093 ... Anselm 1093 1099 Pascal li." . . . 1099 1100 Henry I. . . ... 1100 1114 Ralph (de Turbine) IIU 1118 ... Gelasus II. . . 1118 1119 ... Calixtus . . . 1119 1123 ... William (de Curbellio) 1123 1124 ... Honorius II. . . 1124 1130 Innocent II. . . 1130 1135 Stephen . . 1135 1139 ... Theobald . 1139 1143 ... Celestinell. . . 1143 1144 Lucius II. . . . 1144 1145 ... Eugenius III. . . 1145 ' 1153 ... Anastatius IV. . 1153 1154 Henry II. . . ... Adrian IV. . . 1154 1159 Alexander III. . 1159 1162 ... Thomas Becket . 1162 1174 Richard of Dover ... 1174 1181 ... Lucius IIL . . 1181 1184 Baldwin 1184 1185 ... ... Urban III. . . 1185 1187 ... Gregory VIIL . 1187 1188 ... ... Clement III. . . 1188 1189 Richard I. . . ... 1189 1191 ... Reginald Fitz-Joceline . Celestine III. . . 1191 1193 Hubert Walter . 1193 1198 Innocent III. . . 1198 1199 John . . . 1199 1207 Stephen Langton 1207 1216 Henry" IIL . ... Honorius III. 1216 1227 Gregory IX. . . 1227 1229 Richard Weathershed . ... 1229 1233 ... Edmund of Abingdon . 1233 1241 ... Celestine IV. . . 1241 1243 Innocent IV. . . 1243 1245 Boniface of Savoy 1245 1254 ... ... Alexander IV. . 1254 1261 ... Urban IV. . . . 1261 1265 Clement IV. . . 1265 1271 ... Gregory X. . . 1271 1272 EdwaidL . . Robert Kilwardby ... 1272 ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY AND POrES. 543 Date. Kings of England, 1276 1277 1279 1281 1285 1288 1291 1303 1305 1307 1314 1316 1327 1328 1333 1331 1342 1348 1349 1349 1352 1362 1366 1369 1370 1375 1377 1378 1381 1389 1397 1398 1399 1404 1406 1409 1410 1413 1414 1417 1422 1431 1443 1447 Edward II. Edwani'lII. Richard II. Henry IV. Henry V. Henry VI. Archbishops of Canterbury. Topes. Date, r Innocent V. ) :.: ^ Adrian V. > John XIX. ) 1276 Nicholas III. . . 1277 Jolin de Peccham 1279 ... Martin IV. . . 1281 Honorius IV. 1285 Nicholas IV. . . 1288 Robert Winclielsea J Celestine V. ) Boniface VIII. \ 1294 Benedict X. . . 1303 Clement V. . . 1305 1307 ^yalter Reynolds . 1314 John XX. . . 1316 1327 Simon de Mepliani 1328 John Stratford . ... 1333 Benedict XI. . . 1334 ... Clement VI. . . 1342 John de Ufford . ... 1348 Thomas Bradwardine . 1349 Simon Islip . ... 1349 Innocent VI. . . 1352 ... Urban V. . , . 1362 Simon Langham . ... 1366 William Wittlesey . ... 1369 Gregory XI. . . 1370 Simon Sudbury . 1375 1377 1378 Urban VI. . . William Courtney ... 1381 Boniface IX. . . 1389 Thomas Arundel . 1397 Roger Walden ... 1398 Thomas Arundel (re- ... 1399 stored) Innocent VII. . 1404 Gregory XII. . . 1406 Alexander V. . . 1409 '.'.'. JohnXXI.i . , 1410 1413 Henry Chichele . 1414 Martin V. . . . 1417 1422 Eugene IV. . . 1431 John Staflbrd 1443 Nicholas' V. . . 1447 1 Another method of calculation inserts two other early Popes of this name, thus advancing the number of the later Johns by two. , 544 TABLE OF SUCCESSION OF ENGLISH KINGS, ETC. Date. Kings of England. A.RCHBISHOPS OF Canterbury. Popes. Date. 1452 John Kemp 1452 1454 ... Thomas Bourchier 1454 1455 ... Calixtus III. . . 1455 1458 ... PiusIL . . . 1458 1461 EdwardlV. . ... 1461 1464 Paul n."" . . . 1464 1471 ... SixtusIV. . . 1471 1483 Edward V. . ... 1483 1483 Eichardlll. . 1483 1484 ... ... Innocent VIII. . 1484 1485 Henry'vil. . 1485 1486 John Morton 1486 1492 ... Alexander VI. . 1492 1501 Henry Deane 1501 1503 ... 1 Pius III'." . . Julius II. . . 1503 1504 "William "Warham 1504 1509 Henry VIII. . ... ... 1509 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 545 CHEONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. DATE 304. 314. 325. 347. 359. 409. 429. 447. 520. 564. 597. 601. 603. 604. 616. 625. 627. 634. 635. 642. 653. 654. 655. 656. 664. 668. MartjTdom of St. Alban Council of Aries Council of Nicsea Council of Sardica . Council of Eimiui . Pelagins publishes his tenets at Rome Mission of Germanus and Lupus — Hallelujah Battle Mission of Germanus and Severus — Overthrow of Pelagian Battle of Badon Hill .... Gildas writes De excidio Britannios . Mission of Augustine — Baptism of Ethelbert Mission of Mellitus, Justus, Panlinus, and Ruffinianus Conference with British Bishops at Augustine's Oak Sees of Ijondon and Rochester founded Death of Augustine — Succession of Laurentius Mellitus and Justus driven from their Sees . Paulinus accompanies Ethelburga to Northumbria Conference at York — Baptism of Eadwin . Honorius consecrated by Paulinus at Lincoln Battle of Hatfield— Death of Ead^vin Battle of Dilston or Heavenfield Birinus founds See of Dorchester — Felix that of Dunwich Battle of Maserfield — Death of Oswald Baptism of Peada— Mission to Mid-Angles Cedd, Bishop of Loudon (East Saxons) Battle of Wingfield — Christianity established in North umbria ...... Foundation of Medeshamstede (Peterborough) Conference at Whitby .... Wighard sent to Rome .... Consecration of Archbishop Theodore 2n PAGE 5 5 6 6 7 9 11 sm 12 14 14 22 26 31 32 32 35 37 39 41 41 42 '17-48 43 49 51 44 54 52 57 58 546 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 669. Wilfrid, Bishop of York— Chad at Lichfield 673. Council of Hertford .... 678. Division of Northumbrian Diocese — Appeal of Wilfrid 679. Division of Mercian Diocese 680. Council of Hatfield .... 681. Wilfrid converts the South Saxons 685. Synod of Twyford — Further division of Northumbrian Diocese ..... 690. Death of Archbishop Theodore „ Laws of King Ina ..... 691. Banishment of Wilfrid — He acts as Bishop of Leicester 692. Witan of Bapchild ..... 696. Witan of Basted ..... 702. Synod of Easterfield— Wilfrid's second appeal 705. Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne 706. Synod of the Nidd— Wilfrid submits 709. Death of Wilfrid ..... 734. Egbert first Archbishop of York 735. Death of the Venerable Bede 747. Council of Clovesho .... 787. Council of Chelsea — Bishop of Lichfield, Metropolitan 794. Council of Frankfort — Alcuin Education Minister to Charlemagne ..... 803. Council of Clovesho — Lichfield reduced to a Suffragan See 808. Quarrel of Kenulf and Wulfred — a six years' Interdict 816. Council of Chelsea — Consecration and Ornament of Churches 92 825. Council of Clovesho — Restoration of Archiejjiscopal Property 92 855. Regulation and Legalising of Tithes by King Ethelwulf . 94 „ Mart5rrdom of King Edmund . . . .95 87L Alfred succeeds to the Throne of Wessex . . .96 879. Ecclesiastical Laws of King Alfred . . .96 905. Consecration of Bishops by Archbishop Plegmund . 102 925. Ecclesiastical Laws of Athelstan .... 108 942. Archbishop Odo publishes his Constitutions . . 108 959. Dunstan, Archbishop — Contest between Seculars and Regulars ...... Ill 978. Council of Calne — Triumph of Dunstan's Policy . . 115 988. Death of Dunstan . . . . . .117 994. Canons of ^Ifric . . . . . .124 995. iElfric Archbishop of Canterbury .... 129 1007. Council of Eynsham . . . . .131 1011. Destruction of Canterbury by the Danes— Murder of Arcl bishop Elphege . . . . .132 1014. Council of Habara . . . . . .133 PAGE 50 59 61 61 62 65 62 62 69 66 69 69 67 70 67 67 75 72 77 80 84 87 91 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. Bi7 ^"'^ PAGE 1017. Cniit King of all England . .... 134 1020. Consecration of the Church of Assandun . . . 139 1027. Cnut's Visit to Eome . . . . .* 140 1043. Coronation of King Edward the Confessor . . . 145 1050. See of Devonshire removed from Crediton to Exeter , 146 „ Synod of Vercellaj— Bishop Ulf admitted through bribery 147 „ Robert of Jumieges, Archbishop of Canterbury . .148 1052. Stigaud appointed Archbishop by Witan . . .149 1060. Consecration of Earl Harold's Collegiate Church of Waltham 151 1061. Wulfstan consecrated Bishop of Worcester . . 153 1065. Consecration of "Westminster Abbey Church . . 154 1067. Remigius consecrated to Dorchester by Stigand . . 157 1070. Council of Winchester— Deposition of Stigand . . 159 ,, Council of Windsor — Deposition of English Bishops . 160 ,, Consecration of Lanfranc to Primacy of English Church . 162 1072. Council of Winchester (Easter)— York declared subject to Canterbury . . . . . .164 „ Synod of Windsor (Whitsuntide)— Precedence of Bishops 164 1075. Council of London — Sees to be removed to civitates . 166 1076. Council of Winchester — Celibacy of the Clergy . . 167 1085. St. Osmund draws up his Custom-Book . . . 173 1089. Death of Archbishop Lanfranc .... 177 1093. Consecration of Anselm to the Primacy . . . 180 1095. Council of Rockingham — Anselm outlawed . .183 1097. Anselm goes to Rome to lay his cause before the Pope . 185 1099. Council of the Lateran — Anselm present . . . 186 1100. Anselm returns to England ; Henry L . . .187 1102. Synod of Westminster — correction of morals . . 189 1103. Anselm sent to Rome by King — not allowed to return . 194 1106. Return of Anselm . . . . . .196 1107. Council of London — Settlement of the Investiture Dispute 196 1108. Council of London — Clerical Matrimony . . . 200 1109. Foundation of See of Ely — Hervey first Bishop . . 201 „ Death of Anselm ...... 203 1114. Council of Windsor — Ralph appointed Arclibishop . 204 1119. Thurstan consecrated Archbishop of York by the Pope — Subjection to Canterbury dispensed witli . . 206 1123. William of Corbeil elected Archbishop of Canterbury . 203 1125. Legatine Synod at Westminster .... 210 1126. Archbishop of Canterbury becomes Legate of the Pope, {Legatus natus) ..... 212 1127. Legatine Synod at Westminster under Archbishop . 213 1128. Cistercian i\Ionks established in England {JVaverley) . 214 1129. Synod to prohibit Clerical Matrimony . . . 214 548 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. DATE PAGE 1132. Foundation of Fountains Abbey .... 214 1133. Foundation of See of Carlisle. Austin Canons . . 215 1135. Death of King Henry 1 216 1135. Charter of King Stephen . . . . .219 1139. Seizure of the Bishops of Salisbury and Lincoln by the King 222 „ Henry Bishop of Winchester calls a Council as Legate of the Pope . . . . . .223 1143. Archbishop Theobald introduces the Canon Law into Eng- land ... .... 224 „ The Archbishop lays the land under interdict . . 229 1153. Death of St. WiUiam of York . . . .227 1161. Thomas Becket nominated to the Primacy . . 232 1162. Election and Consecration of Becket . . . 233 1163. First quarrel of Henry IL and Becket at Woodstock . 235 „ Council of Westminster — " The Ancient Customs " . 236 1164. Council of Clarendon (January) .... 238 „ Council of Northampton (October) — Flight of Becket . 241 1166. Becket pronounces excommunications at Vezelai . . 247 1170. Becket returns to England (December 1) . . . 249 „ Murder of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral (December 29) 251 1173. Canonisation of Becket ..... 264 1174. Archbishop Richard consecrated by Pope . . . 264 ,, Burning of the Cathedral of Canterbury . . . 266 1175. Synod of Westminster . . . . .267 1176. Synod of Westminster — Quarrel between Archbishops of Canterbury and York .... 270 „ Synod of Winchester ..... 271 1179. IL Lateran Council . . . . .273 1184. Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury . . . 274 1186. Hugh of Burgundy, Bishop of Lincoln . . .282 1187. Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin . . . .277 1189. Innocent III. Pope . . . . .286 „ Council of Pipewell Abbey . . . .279 1190. Archbishop Baldwin goes to the Crusade . . . 279 1193. Hubert Walter Archbishop of Canterbury . . 281 1195. Trial of Archbishop Geoffrey at York . . .285 ,, Hubert Walter holds Legatine Council at York . . 285 1200. Legatine Council at Westminster .... 288 1207. Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury . . 292 1208. England put under Interdict . . . .295 1209. King John excommunicated .... 299 1213. King John cedes his kingdom to the Pope . . . 302 ,, Return of the banished Bishops .... 303 ,, Stephen Langton promulgates Charter of Henry I. . 306 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. 549 DATE PAGE 1214. Removal of the Interdict ..... 310 1215. Great Charter signed ..... 310 ,, III. Lateran Council ..... 316 1216. Death of King John . . . . .313 1218. Translation of St. Wulfstan — Worcester Cathedral con- secrated . . . . . .314 1219. The Dominican Friars reach England . . .317 1220. Translation of St. Hugh . . . . .314 „ Translation of St. Thomas Becket . . . . 315 1222. Council of Oxford . . . . . .316 1224. The Franciscans reach England .... 317 1226. Pope Honorius III. makes a demand for English benefices 318 1231. The Lewythiel Riots in England . . . .322 1233. Edmund Rich Archbishop of Canterbury . . . 324 1235. Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln . , . 325 1237. Legatine Council of London .... 327 1240. Archbishop Edmund resigns his See . . . 332 1243. Boniface elected Archbishop .... 336 1245. Council of Lyons under Innocent IV. . . . 338 1247. Bishop Grosseteste opposes Papal exactions . . 341 1248. Parliament at Westminster refuses the King supplies . 342 1250. Bishop Grosse teste's sermon at Lyons . . . 342 1252. Bishop Grosseteste resists the King's demands . . 345 1253. Bishop Grosseteste refuses to institute the Pope's nephew 346 ,, Death of Bishop Grosseteste .... 350 1255. Proctors of the Clergy heard in Parliament . . 358 1257. Archbishop of Messina pleads before Parliament . . 360 „ A Convocation under Archbishop Boniface . . 361 1258. Convocation of Merton under Archbishop Boniface . 362 „ Parliament of Oxford . . . . .363 1259. Murder of a Roman Prebendary of St. Paul's . . 364 1264. Battle of Lewes . . . . . .365 1265. Battle of Evesham. . . . . .366 1266. Arrival of Cardinal Othobon as Legate . . . 366 1268. Legatine Council at St. Paul's . . . .367 1269. Completion of rebuilding of Westminster Abbey . . 368 1270. Burning of Monastery and Cathedral at Norwich . . 368 1272. Accession of Edward I. . . . • • 369 1274. Council of Lyons 374 1279. John de Peccham Archbishop .... 376 „ Council of Reading ...... 377 1280. Statute de viris religiosis (Statute of Mortmain) . . 378 1281. Convocation at Lambeth . . . . .379 1283. Provincial Councils of Clergy and Laity . . . 381 550 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS. DATE PAGE 1283. First Convocation with diocesan Proctors . . . 381 1285. Statute of circumspccte agatis .... 382 1291. New Valuation of Ecclesiastical Revenues . . . 383 1294. Clergy of both Provinces summoned by King . . 384 1295. Parliamentary Summons of Clergy by Procmunientes Clause 385 ■ 1296. Bull of Boniface VIII. ; Clericis laicos . . . 386 1297. Convocation of Canterbury outlawed . . . 387 „ Convocation agrees to grant subsidies without leave of the Pope . . . . . . .391 1301. Parliament of Lincoln ..... 392 1305. Archbishop Winchelsea condemned by Pope . . 393 1307. Statute of Carlisle . . . . . .394 1308. Process against the Templars in England . . . 395 1316. Statute of articuli cleri ..... 397 1324. Trial of Bishop Orlton by Lay Court . . .398 „ Birth of John Wycliffe . . . , .413 1327. Simon Mepliam Archbishop . . . .400 1328. Observance of Good Friday ordered .... 401 1333. John Stratford Archbishop . . . . .403 1343. Clement VI. " provides" for two Cardinals in England . 404 „ King's Letter in defence of the Church . . . 406 1344. Statute to regulate Prohibitions . * . . . 406 „ Petition of the Commons against Pope's action affirmed . 408 1351. First Statute of Provisors . . . . .408 1352. Ordinance to confirm Provisors Statute . . . 409 1353. First Statute of Praemunire .... 409 1363. Wycliffe proceeds Doctor in Divinity . . . 415 1366. Wycliffe defends refusal of subsidy to the Popo . . 416 1371. Anti-clerical feeling developed in Parliament . . 417 1376. Meeting of the "Good Parliament" . . .418 1376. Wycliffe's Propositions sent to the Pope . . . 421 1377. Pope Gregory issues Bulls against Wycliffe . . 422 1378. Wycliffe summoned to St. Paul's and Lambeth . . 425 „ Murder of Archbishop Sudbury .... 427 1381. Wycliffe publishes his Propositions on the Eucharist . 427 „ Wycliffe condemned at Oxford .... 430 1382. Meeting of the Convocation at Blackfriars . . 432 „ Meeting of the Convocation at St. Frideswide's . . 439 „ Bishop Spencer's Crusade ..... 448 1384. Death of John Wycliffe . . . . .444 1388. Parliament petitions against the Lollards . . . 450 1390. Re-enactment of the Provisors Statute . . . 453 1393. Re-enactment of the Praemunire Statute , . . 453 1394. Lollards Bill brought into Parliament . . . 454 CHRONOLOGICAL TALLE OF EVENTS. Sol DATE PAGE 1397. Archbishop Arundel translated to Canterbury . . 456 1401. Enactment of the Statute De Hoercticis comhurcndis . 457 „ Burning of William Sawtry .... 457 1404. Parliament at Coventry — Church property threatened . 461 1407. Trial of William Thorpe . . . . .460 1409. Constitutions of Archbishop Arundel . . . 460 „ Council of Pisa ...... 497 1410. Scheme brought into Parliament for seizing Church Lands 462 1413. Trial of Sir John Oldcastle .... 463 1414. Severe law against Lollards .... 466 „ Council of Constance ..... 470 1415. Burning of John Claydon ..... 470 1417. Execution of Sir John Oldcastle .... 468 1422. Burning of William Taylor . . . .467 1425. Burning of Robert Hoke . . . . .467 1427. Cardinal Beaufort appointed Legate by Martin V. . 490 1428. Burning of AVilliam White . . . .467 1431. Burning of Thomas Bagley . . . .468 „ Council of Basle ...... 497 1438. Pope Eugenius gives Bishopric of Ely in comincndam . 491 1447. Bishop Pecock's Sermon at Paul's Cross . . . 472 1449. Publication of " Repressor " by Bishop Pecock . . 474 1450. Murder of Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester . . 473 1452. Cardinal Kemp Archbishop of Canterbury . . 494 1454. Cardinal Bourchier Archbishop .... 494 1456. Publication of Treatise on Faith by Bishop Pecoik . 477 1457. Condemnation of Bishop Pecock .... 478 „ Bishop Pecock recants his opinions . . . 479 1486. Cardinal Morton Archbishop . . . .494 1501. Henry Deane Archbishop ..... 496 1503. William Warham Archbishop . . . .496 INDEX. Aaron, martjTed at Caerleon, 4 Abbots, deposition of, at Westminster, 1102, 192 Abercorn, See of, 61 Abraham of Colchester, burning of, 468 Adelfius, British bishop at Aries, 6 Adrian, Abbot, nominated Archbishop of Canterbury, 57 ; declines the office, ib. ; suggests lirst Andrew, then Theodore, ib. Adrian (I.), Pope, agrees to Lichfield's becoming a Metropolitan See, 80 Adrian (IV.), Pope, rise of to the papacy, 258 ; grants exemptions to St. Alban's, 259 Adulf, Bishop, first bishoj) of Carlisle, 215 ; settles Austin Canons as his chap- ter, 216 ^Ifric, Archbishop of Canterbury, early life and works of, 123 ; Bishop of Rams- bury, 124 ; Canons of addressed to Wuifsine, ib, ; teaching of on the Holy Eucharist, 128, and note ; learning of, 129, note ; succeeds to Canterbury, ib. ; honour paid to him at Rome, 130 ; re- moves secular clerks from Christ Church, ib. ; list of works of, 143 .Mfric, Archbishop of York, supports tyrannical proceedings of Harthacnut, 142 ; holds see of Worcester in plurality with York, ib. ; forced upon Worcester diocese, ib. ; causes city of Worcester to be burned and spoiled, ib. ; elected to succeed Eadsige, 147 .ffithelm^e^, Bishop, deposed at Winches- ter, 159 jEthelric, Bishop, deposed and imprisoned by Council of Windsor, 160 iEthelwine, Bishop, outlawed by Council of Winchester, 160 .filbert. Bishop, occupies see of Wessex, 48 ; retires in disgust, ib. ; declines to return to Wessex, 49 ; sends Leutherius (or Lothair), ib. ; at the Conference at Whitby, 52 Agricola, introduces Pelagianlsm into Britain, 10 Aidan, Saint, sent to Northumbria from lona, 43 ; founds a religious house at Lindisfarne, ib. ; zeal and devotion of, ib. ; death of, 43 Alban, Saint, martjTdom of, 45 Alban's, Saint, Monastery of, obtains exemption from Episcopal control, 258, 259 ; first mitred abbey in Eng- land, 259, note ; meeting at, on the ceasing of the interdict, 303, 307 ; scan- dalous immorality of, 503. Alchfrid, son of Oswy, instructed by Wil- frid, 52 ; at the Whitby Conference, ib. Alcuin, early life of, 82 ; educational minister to Charlemagne, ib. ; directed by Charlemagne to consult English Church on image worship, 83 ; letter of to monks at Wearmouth, ib. ; to bishop and clergy of Lindisfarne, 84 ; to Ethel- heard, Archbishop of Canterbury, 84, 85, 86 ; censures the English clergy, 86 ; offers horse to Ethelheard, 87 ; letter to Charlemagne in favour of Ethelheard, ib. Aldhelm, Bishop, Abbot of Malmsbury, 69 ; letter of to the British Churches, 70 ; first bishop of Sherborne, ib. ; founds abbey of Abingdon, ib. ; en- riches Glastonbury, 71 Alexander III., Pope, perplexity of in the Becket quarrel, 240, 248 ; hears the case against Becket at Sens, 245; re- stores the primacy to Becket, 246 ; checks the bitter temper of Becket, 247 ; issues commissions to legates in the quarrel, 249 ; grants letters of ex- communication of English bishops, ib. ; gives absolution to Henry II., 252 ; con- firms privileges of St. Albans, 259 ; con- secrates Ricliard to Canterbury, 264 ; claims right of confirming suffragan bishops, 265 Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, seized by King Stci)hen, 221 ; bad repute of, ib., note ; castles built by, 222 ; religious houses built by, ib., note Alfcre, Ealdorman of Mtrcia, opposes Dunstan, 11(> Alfred, King, translates Bede's Ecclesias- tical History, 33 ; crowned at Rome, 95 ; defeats Daiies at Ethandune, 96 ; publishes ecclesiastical laws, 96 : jtre- lace of, to the pastoral of St. Gregory, 99 ; 554 INDEX. ALHFLEDA, other translations made by, 101 ; schools established by, 101 Alhfleda, daughter of Oswy, marries Peada, 49 Alstan, Bishop, conspires against Ethel- wulf, 94 Amesbury Monastery, refounded by Henry 11. , 272 Anglia, East, conversion of, 47 ; received gospel from Northumbria, 51 Annates, beginning of tax of, 508 and note Anselm, St., Archbishop, early life of, 177 ; visits of to England, 178 ; draws up form of prayer for English Church, ib. ; ■ sent for to Eufus in his illness, %b. ; nominated to primacy, 179 ; reluctance of to undertake the post, i&. ; makes conditions with Rufus, %b. ; does hom- age to the king for temporalties, 180 ; consecration of, ib. ; refuses to give money to king, ib. ; leaves the Sjmod at Hastings, 181; desires leave to go to Rome for the Pall, 182; at the Council of Rockingham, ib. ; refuses to acknow- ledge the Antipope, 183 ; declared out- lawed, ib. ; refuses to receive the Pall from the king, 184 ; desires leave to go to Rome, 185 ; goes to Papal Court, 185; long absence of, abroad, i?;.; styled Alterius oi'bis Pcqm, 185, and note ; con- secrates first bishop of Waterford, ib.; at Council of the Lateran, 1099, ISG ; re- turn of to England, 187; first relations of -with Henry I., 188 ; refuses homage to the king, ib. ; refers to the Pope, 188, 189 ; holds a Synod at Westminster, ib. ; refuses to consecrate clerks ap- pointed by king, 192 ; refuses the paterme consuetudines, 193; sent to Rome, ib. ; long sojourn of at Lyons, 194 ; determines to excommunicate the king, ib. ; another reference to Rome, ib. ; letter to, describing sad state of English Church, 195 ; remonstrates with the king for oppressing the clergy, 195 ; agrees to compromise as to hom- age, 196 ; consecrates bishops, returns to his see (1106), 196 ; raises character of English Church, 199 ; instrumental in founding See of Ely, 201 ; dispute of, Avith Thomas II., Archbishop of York, 202 ; takes measures to ensi;re subjec- tion of York, 203 ; death and character of, ib. ; literary works of, 217 Anselm, nephew of Archbishop, induces Pope to send the Pall by him to Eng- land, 204 ; brings commission from the Pope to act as Legate, 205 ; not allowed to enter England as Legate, 205 Appeals to Rome, abuses produced by, 260 Arianism, not prevalent in Britain, 7 Aries, Council of, British bishops at, 5 ; decisions of the, 6 Arininius, British deacon at Aries, 6 Articull Cleri, statute of, 397, 39S Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, translated to Canterbury, 456 ; trans- lated by Pope against his will to St. Andrews, ib. ; restored to Canterbury, ib. ; presides in Convocation (1401), 457 ; gives benefice to Purveye, 459 ; conducts examination of William Thorpe, 459 ; publishes Constitutions (1409), 460; tries Sir John Oldcastle, 462, 463, 464, 465 ; death of, by swelling of tongue, 466 Assandun, Church of, founded by Cnut, 136, and note ; consecration of, 139 ; Stigand, first priest of, ib. Asser, Bishop, teacher of Alfred, 100, 101 Asterius, Bishop, consecrates Birinus, 47 Aston, John, supporter of Wyclifte at Ox- ford, 436 ; before Convocation of Canter- bury, 438; publishes a broad-sheet to the people, ib;. recants, 439 Athelstan, King, ecclesiastical laws of, 103, 104 Augustine, Saint, controversy of, with Pelagius, 8, 9, 10 Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury, starts on his mission to England, 21 ; sent back to Gregory, ib. ; again dis- patched by Gregory, ib. ; ordered to communicate with the French bishops, 22 ; arrives in England, ib. ; established at Canterbury, 23 ; consecrated at Aries by Vergilius, 24 ; reports progress to Gregory, 26 ; asks solutions of various difficulties, 24, 25 ; seeks additional clergy from Gregory, 26 ; receives the Pall, ib. ; made head of the English bishops, 27 ; cautioned by Gregory as to looking for miracles, 28 ; attempts to reduce the British clergy to obedience, 29, 30, 31 ; threatens the British bishops, 31 ; consecrates Laurentius as successor, 32 ; death and burial of, ib. ; epitaph of, 33 Augustine's, Saint, at Canterbury, be- ginning of, 29 Augustine's Oak, meeting at, 29 Badby, Thomas, burning of, 462 Badon Hill, battle of, 14 Bagley, Thomas, burning of in 1431, 468 Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, elec- tion of, 274 ; character of, 275, and note ; quarrel of with monastery of Christ Church, 275, 276, 277 ; preaches crusade, 278 ; joins crusading army, ib. ; 279 Balle, John, said to be a follower of Wycliff-e, 427 Bangor, monasteries so called, 16, 54 Bangor Monastery, monks of, 30 ; slaugh- ter of by Ethelfrid, 31, and note Baptism, use of chrism in, 53 ; regulations as to, 81, lis Bavdney Abbey, foundation of, 55 INDEX. 5.5.5 Basle, Council of, 4'.tl, 500 Batli becomes See of Somersetshire bishopric, lOG Beaufort, Cardinal, appointed Cardinal by Martin V., 490, and note; made Legate, but unable to act, ib. ; leader of tlie Bohemian war, ih. Beck, Anthony, Bishop, attempts to evade oath of allegiance, 404 Becket Thomas (8t.), Archbishop of Canterbury, a clerk of Archbishop Theobald's, 224 ; sent to Bologna to study Canon Law, ih. ; appointed Chan- cellor on recommendation of Archbisho}) Theobald, 229 ; woi'k of, as Chancellor, 230, 231 ; looked on -with suspicion by clergy, 232 ; nominated Archbisliop, ib. ; views of as to the appointment, ib.; op- position of Churchmen to, 232, 233 ; elected by Chapter, 233 ; consecration of, ib. ; resigns office of Chancellor, 234 ; first coldness of with king, 234 ; attends Council at Tours, ib. ; quarrel of with Henry II. at Woodstock, 235 ; resists the king's demands at West- minster, 237 ; partially reconciled to the king at Woodstock, 238 ; refuses to accept Constitutions of Clarendon, 239 ; persuaded into accepting the Constitu- tions, 240 ; refuses to put his seal to them, ih. , attemjits to go to the Pope, 241 ; brought back, ih. ; summoned to Northampton, 241 ; insult ottered to, 242 ; fined five hundred pounds, ib. ; called to account for moneys received •when Chancellor, ib. ; consults bishops of province, 242 ; refuses to exhibit his accounts at Northampton, 243 ; appeals to Rome, ib. ; says mass of St. Stephen, ih. ; goes to the Council with cross in hand, ib. ; bold demeanour of at the Council, 244 ; leaves the Council, ib. ; escapes to Lincoln, ib. ; reaches Grave- lines, ih. ; arrival of at Sens, 245 ; pro- duces copy of the Constitutions of Clarendon, 246 ; resigns his Arch- bishoi)ric to the Pope, ib. ; reinstated by Pope, ih. ; retires to Pontigny, ib. ; life of at Pontigny, 247 ; checked by Pope Alexander, ih. ; excommunications by, at Vezelai, ih. ; driven from Pontigny by Henry IL, 248 ; life of at Sens, 248 ; reconciliation of with Henry at Frete- val, 249 ; lands at Sandwich, 249 ; had sent letters of excommunication before him, 249, 250; demands made on his arrival, 250 ; goes to Canterbury and London, ih. ; sermon of at Canterbury, ih. ; angry colloquy of with the four knights, 251 ; goes into the cathedral, ib.; murder of in Canterbury Cathedral, 252 ; evil consequences of the crime to the Church, 253 ; murder of, not pro- perly a martyrdom, 254 ; early life of, ih. ; decree for canonisation of, 2(34 ; translation of (1220), 315 Bede, the Venerable, mention of King Lucius by, 3 ; account of the martyr- dom of St. Alban by, 5 ; sketch of his- tory of, 33 ; writings of, 33, 72 ; early life of, 72 ; letter of to Bishop Egbert on corruption of monasteries, 73 Benedict Biscop, Character and work of, 71 ; Abbot of Cantcrlniry, ib. ; builds monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, 72 Benedict, St., rule of, not prevailing in English monasteries, 55 ; introduced at Glastonbury and Abingdon, 111 ; at Worcester, 112 ; at Winchester, 113 Beornhelm, Bishop, advocate for secular clergy, 115 Beornwulf, King,sui)porterof the Church, 93 Bertha, Queen of Ethclbert, a Christian, 20 ; re])roved by Gregory for not having doiie more to spread Christianity, 22, note ; letter of Gregory to, 28 ; death of, 35 Bertwald, Archbishop, Council held by, at Easterfield, G7 ; present at the Witan at Bapchild, 69 ; at Barsted, ib. Beverley, I3ishop John of, ordainer of Bede, 33 ; account of, 74 Birinus, Bishop, sent lay Pope Honorius to Wessex, 47 ; converts large numbers, 48 ; builds a church at Dorchester, ih. ; death of, ih. Bishops, English, attend foreign councils, 147 ; order of precedence of, settled at Windsor, 165 : support Anselm as to investitures, 192 ; call ui^on Anselm to return 192 ; bad conduct of in Stephen's time, 220; seizure of l)y Stephen, 221 ; forbidden to attend Council at Kheims, 227 ; plead against Becket at Sens, 237 : inclined to yield to Henry II.'s demands at Westminster, 237 ; support Becket at Clarendon, 239 ; against Becket on the question of accounts, 242 ; opinions given by, at Northampton, 242-243 ; offer to appeal to Pope against Becket, 243 ; endeavour to induce Becket to yield, 243 ; send letter of remonstrance to Becket, 248 ; excomnmnications of, ])ro- cured by Becket, 249 ; appeal of to the king, 250 ; claim of, to select the Primate, 262-274 ; choose Roger, Abbot of Bee, ib. ; claim the right of proclaim- ing the election, 263 ; six apjiointotl at Council of London, ih, ; agree that the monks should select two persons for Primacy, 263 ; ojjposed to claims of Rome, 273 ; secular chai-acter of, under Richard I., 280 ; suffragan of Canterbury declared to have no right to elect Primate, 291 ; brought back from exile uniler King John, 303 ; money compen- sation promised to, 308 ; protoBt of, to Innocent IV. against exactions, 336 ; at Council of Lyons (1245), 338 ; involved in obligations by Bishop of Hereford, 556 INDEX. BONIFACE. 357 : send representatives to Legate at Boulofjne, 365 ; three of them afterwards go personally, 366 ; summoned before Cardinal Othobon, 366 ; three of them ordered to go to Eome, ib. ; of times of Edward II., bad character of, 399-400 ; jealousy of power of, 412 ; call on the Chancellor of Oxford to act against Wycliffe, 424; offended with Bishop Peeock, 472 ; great unpopularity of in fifteenth century, 473; comparative mo- rality of, 500 ; secular employments of in fifteenth century, 506 Boniface, Archbishop, joins Willibrord at Utrecht, 71 ; converts the Germans, ib.; Archbishop of Metz, ib. ; martyrdom of, ib. ; letter of to King Ethelbald on cor- rupt state of monasteries, 76 ; letter of to Archbishop Egbert to support his remonstrance, ib. ; letter of to Arch- bishop Cuthbert to recommend a council, 77 Boniface IV., Pope, letter of to Lauren- tius and Ethelbert, 35 Boniface VIII., Pope, Character of, 386; Bull of called Ckricis Laicos, ib. ; re- laxes the Bull Clericis Laicos, 390 Boniface, of Savoy, Archbishop of Canter- bury, election of procured by Pope, 335; character of, ib. ; election of confirmed by Innocent IV., 336 ; consecrated at Lyons, 338 ; demands first-fruits of all benefices in his proWnce, 341 ; suspends the whole of his suff"ragans, ib. ; Metro- political visitation of, 353, 354 ; violent proceedings of at St. Bartholomew's, 354 ; obliged to retire from England, ib. ; upholds national party, ib. ; claims government of sees during vacancy, ib. ; summons a bishop-elect abroad for consecration, ib. ; summons meeting of Convocation in London, 361 ; summons Convocation at Merton, 362 Bosa, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 61 ; removed from York to make room for Wilfrid, 66 Bourchier, Cardinal, institutes inquiry into Pecock's writings, 480 ; character of, 494 ; complaints of, against the irre- gularities of clergy, 502 Brantingham, Bishop, Treasurer in 1371, 417 ; ordinance of against Friars, 453, note Britain, Beginning of Christianity in, 1, 2, 3 Brune, Robert de, Handlyng Synne of, 511 Burghersh, Bishop, implicated in designs against king, 399 Bury, John, Gladius Salomonis of, 481, 482 Cadwallader, King, assists the heathen Penda against Eadwin, 41 ; carries on war in Northumbria, 42 ; defeated at Dilston, ib. Csedmon, monk, account of, 55 Caerleon, martyrs at, 4, 5 ; Adelfius (per- haps) bishop of, 6; the most ancient see in Wales, 16 Calixtus II., Pope, promises to do nothing prejudicial to Canterbury, 206 ; conse- crates Archbishop Thurstan, ib. ; ex- empts him from subjection to Canter- bmy, ib.; attempts to settle a permanent Legate in England, 207 Calle, John, sentenced to perpetual im- prisonment, 468 Cambridge, University of, representation as to olergy, 502 Canons (See also Constitutions) of Chelsea, 816, 92 ; of reign of Edgar, 117, 118, 119, 120 ; penitential, of reign of Edgar, 119 ; of Archbishop ^Ifric, 124, 125 ; of Win- chester, 1076, 107 ; of Westminster, 1102, 189 ; of Westminster, 1125, 210 ; of Westminster, 1127, 213; of Westmin- ster Synod, 1175, 267 Canons, Austin, characteristics of, 216 ; first houses of in England, ib. ; difl"er from canons secular living in rule, ib., note ; offshoots from, ib. , note Canterbury, See of, invasion of the IMetro- politan rights of, 80 ; restored to its full Metropolitan rights, 87 ; primacy of, determined at Winchester, 164; finally settled at Windsor, ib. Canterbury, Cathedral of, commencement of, 29 ; restoration of, by Archbishop Odo, 108 ; rebuilding of, by Lanfranc, 165 ; stripping of, after murder of Beck- et, 261 ; reopening of, ib. ; burning of, 266 Cantilupe, Walter de. Bishop, speech of, in London Council, 327. Carileph, William de St., Bishop, chief opponent of Anselm, 184 ; ill-usage of, by Rufus, ib. ; account of, 198 Carlisle, foundation of See of, 215 Cathedral churches, rebuilding of after Conquest, 165 Cathedrals, number of secular and mon- astic, 171, note Catterick, bapti-sms at, 40, and note Caursins, the, first heard of in England, 321 Cedd, Bishop, restores the church among East Saxons, 50 ; consecrated bishop by St. Finan, 51 ; second bishop of Lon- don, ib. ; at the Conference at Whitby, 52 ; acquiesces in Roman uses, 54 Celestine, Pope, said to have sent teachers to Britain against Pelagius, 11 Celestius, a Scotic monk, 8 ; account of, 8, 9, 10 Cellah, bishop of the Mid-Angles, 10 Ceolfrid, Abbot, instructor of Bede, 72 Ceolnoth, Archbishop, flies to Rome, 96 Ceolwulp, King, patron of Venerable Bede, 72 Chad (Ceadda), St., bishop of the Mid- Angles, 50 ; consecrated by Wini, ih. ; INDEX. 557 occupation of York, ib. ; reconsecrated by Theodore, ih.; settled at Liclifield, ih. Chalice not to be made of horn, 81 ; of pine wood, 126 Charter, the Great, signed by king and barons, 310 ; ecclesiastical provisions of, 311 Chaucer, Geoffrey, Parson's tale of, 512 Chelsea, Council of, 787, 80 ; accepts a bodytof Roman canons, ih. ; Council of, 816, 92 Chiehele, Archbishop, anger of Pope Mar- tin V. with, 486 ; defence of against Pope, 487 ; atteinpt of Pope to punish, 490 ; resists the appointment of a Le- gate, ib. ; api^lies to Convocation in matter of See of Ely, 491 Christ Church, Canterbury, beginning of, 29 ; nature of history of, 260 ; claims to elect the Primate without interference, 261, 262, 274 ; wealth and luxury of, 275 ; quarrel of with Archbishop Baldwin, 276, 277 ; quarrel of with Archbishop Hubert "Walter, 282, 283 ; proceedings of on death of Hubert Walter, 289 ; monks of sent to Rome by John, 290 ; compelled to elect Stephen Langton, 291, 292 ; violent proceedings against, by King John, 294 ; excommunication of monks of, 334 ; claims of to confirm suffragan bishops, 373 Chrodegand, rule of for canons secular, 81, note, 146, note ; not popular in Eng- land, ib. Chrysostom, St., speaks of the British Churches, 7 Church, the British, due to Eastern rather than "Western sources, 2 ; Eastern pecu- liarities of, 2 ; planted in second cen- tury, 3 ; architectural traces of, 12 ; driven into "Wales and the western coasts, 14, 18 ; improvement in at end of sixth century, 16 ; makes no effort to convert the heathen Teutons, 19 ; handed over to Augustine by Gregory, 25 ; dealings of with Augustine, 29, 30, 31 ; refuses to submit to Augustine, 30 ; holds off from Archbishop Laurentius, 35 ; adopts the Catholic Easter, 70 ; completely in communion with English in time of Alfred, 101, note Church, the English, planting of, in Kent, 18 ; among East Saxons, 31 ; in Nor- th umbria, 34 ; in East Anglia, 46 ; in Wessex, 47 ; in Mercia, 40, 49 ; among South Saxons, 65 ; in Isle of Wight, 66 Church and State, relations of, under King Ina, 69 Churches, building of at close of seventh century, 68 Church-rate, early provision for, 138 Circumspect^ Agatis, Statute of, 382 Cistercians, entrance of into England, 215 ; monasteries of founded, ib. ; ex- emptions of, 258 Clarendon, Constitutions of, 238, 254 ; par- tially abrogated at Avranches, 253; value of, ih. Claudia mentioned by St. Paul, 2 ; a Bri tish Claudia mentioned by Martial, 3 Claydon, John, burning of in 1415, 466 Clement V., Pope, trial of Archbishop Winchelsea by, 393 ; absolves Edward I. from engagements, ih. ; exactions of checked by Statute of Carlisle, 394; attempts of to seize patronage of Eng- lish benefices, 395, 396 Clement "VI., Pope, makes "provision "for two cardinals from English Church, 405 Clergy, secular, take the place of monks, 107 ; opi)ose Dunstan's policy, 114, 115, 116 ; English, Danish bishop- rics given to, 136; immorality of, at beginning of Henry II.'s reign, 235, 236 ; persecution of by King John dur- ing interdict, 297, 299; defrauded of compensation, 308 ; exposed to violence in latter days of John, 313 ; plunder of during war with French, 314 ; harsh taxations of under Henry III., 321 ; obliged to borrow of usurers, ib. ; pre- sent their gi'ievances to the king, 329 ; oppose the demands of Legate, ib. ; crushed by Roman exactions, 331 ; suc- cessful struggle of against Pope's de- mand, 333, 334; apjieal to Parliament against Rustand's exactions, 358 ; disci- pline of enforced by Cardinal Othobon, 367 ; representation of as to poverty, in 1283, 381 ; change of tone of, under Edward I., 382; valuation of income of, in 1291, 383; summoned to Parlia- ment by representatives, 385 ; refuse to contribute to the king, 386, 387 ; \iolent contest of with Edward I., 387 ; out- lawed, ib. ; constrained to yield, 388 ; refuse to pay taxes without leave of Pope, 389 ; agree to contribute to king without leave of Pope, 391 ; privileges conceded to by statute, 398 ; various forms of summons of, to convocation, 410 ; of fifteenth century, morality of, 498, 500, 501, 502, 505, 506 ; the chantry, character of, 505, 506 ; of fifteenth cen- tury, amount of learning of, 507 ; pre- valence of simony among, 507, 508 ; harassing discii)line by, 509 ; doiitrines forced on laity by, 516 ; amount of wealth of, ib. ; influence of begins to totter, 517 Clericis laicos, Bull of, 386 Clovesho, Council of, 747, 77 ; Canons of, 78, 79; Council of, 803, 87; restores the rights of Canterbury, ib. ; Council of, 825, 92 Cnut becomes King of all England, 134 ; shows friendly care for the Church, 135 ; rebuilds and endows monasteries, 136 ; makes ecclesiastical laws, 136 ; founds the Church of Assandun, 136> adorns Cathedral of Canterbury, 140; visits Rome, ih.; letter of to the English 558 INDEX. people, ib. ; angry with the Pope for extorting large sums for the Pall, ib. ; favours both seculars and regulars, 141 Colli, High Priest, declares against idol- atry, 38 ; attacks Temple of Godmun- digham, ib. Coinwalch or Kenwealh, King, takes steps for transferring See of West Saxons to Winchester, 48 ; weary of Bishop Agil- bert, ib. ; brings in Wini as bishop, ib. ; attributes his defeats to neglect of re- ligion, 49 Colet, Dean, patronised by Archbishop Warham, 496 ; character of work of, 517, 518 Colman succeeds Finan at Lindisfarne, 52 ; takes principal part in the Confer- ence at WTiitby, 52, 53 ; retires to Scot- land from Lindisfarne, 53 Columba, St., founds monastery at lona, 42 ; sketch of his life, 45 Columbanus, St., consulted by Lauren- tius as to British Church, 35 Compensation for sin — leading idea in Penitential Canons in Edgar's time, 119, 120 Constance, Council of, orders exhumation of Wycliffe's bones, 444, 470 ; condemns Lollard opinions, 470 ; condemns the immorality of the clergy, ib. ; Bishop Hallam at, 499 Constantine, Emperor, connected with Britain, 6 Constantius supports Christianity in Bri- tain, 4 Constitutions (See also Canons) of Arch- bishop Odo, 108, 109 ; of Cardinal Otho, 327, 352 ; of Cardinal Othobon, 371 ; of Archbishop Mepham, 401 ; of Peckham at Reading, 411 ; at Lambeth, ib., 412 ; of Arundel, 1409, 460; of Archbishop Winchelsea, 1305, 524; of Archbishop Reynolds, 1322, 525 ; of Archbishop Stratford, 1328, 526 ; of the same, 1343, 527 ; of Archbishop Islep, 1351, 528 ; of the same, 1359, 529 ; of the same, 1302, 530 ; of Archbishop Langham, 13G7, 531 ; of Archbishop Sudbury, 1378, ib. ; of Archbishop Courtnay, 1391, 532 ; of Archbishop Chichele, 1415, 532, 533, 534 ; of Archbishop Stafford, 1445, 534 ; of Archbishop Bourchier, 1454, ib. ; of Archbishop Zouche, 1347, 434 ; of Arch- bishop Thoresby, 1363, 535 ; of Arch- bishop Kemp, 1464, ib. ; of Archbishop Booth, 1462, 536 ; of Archbishop Nevil, 1466, ib. Consuehulines avitce discussed at West- minster, 237 ; drawn up at Clarendon, 239 Convocation of Canterbury summoned by Arclibishop Boniface, 361 ; offers Henry III. 52,000 marks, 361 ; summoned to meet at Merton, 362 ; determines to re- sist exactions, ib. ; meeting of at Lam- beth, 1281, 379 ; meetings of in 1283,381 ; violent contest of with Edward I., 387; outlawed, ib.; forced to yield to Edward L, 388 ; meeting of 1297, 389 ; renewed quarrel of with Edward I. , 389 ; grants a subsidy to king, 390 ; defends William of Wykeham, 420 ; meeting of at Black- friars' 1382, 432 ; condemns propositions attributed to Wycliffe, 433 ; meeting of at St. Frideswide's, Oxford, 439 ; of 1401 petitions for sharp legislation against Lollards, 457 ; at Oxford, 1409, 460 Convocation of York jields to demands of Edward L, 388 ; grants a subsidy to king, 391 Cornwall, See of, united to Devonshire by Lyflng, 144 Corsned, a species of clerical ordeal, 137 Council, Ecclesiastical (See also Synod and Convocation) — Ai'les, 314, 5 ; Nicsea, 325, 6 ; Sardica, 347, ib.; Rimini, 359, 7 ; Hertford, 673, 58; Hatfield, 680, 62; Twyford, 685, ib. ; Easterfield, 702, 67 ; the Nidd, 706, ib. ; Clovesho, 747, 77 ; Chelsea, 787, 80 ; second of Nicsea, 787, 83 ; Frankfort, 794, 81 ; Clovesho, 803, 87 ; London, 91 ; Chelsea, 816, 92 ; imder King Athelstan, 104 ; Winchester, 112, 114 ; Calne, 978, 11.'^ ; Eynsham, 1007, 131 ; Habam, 1014, 133 ; Windsor, 1070, 160 ; Windsor, 1072, 164 ; London, 1075, 166 ; Winchester, 1076, ib. ; Lateran, 1099, 186 ; London, 1107, 196 ; London, 1108, 200 ; Windsor, 1114, 204 ; Winches- ter, 1114, 205 ; London, 1129, 214 ; West- minster, 1163, 236, 237 ; Lateran, 1179, 273 ; Westminster, 1200, 288 ; Oxford, 1222, 316, 350, 351 ; London, 1237, 327, 352 ; Lyons, 1245, 338 ; Lambeth, 1261, 367 ; Legate Othobon, 1268, 367 ; Lyons, 1274, 374; Reading, 1279, 377; Nor- thampton, 1283, 381 ; Pisa, 499 ; Con- stance, 499 ; Basle, 491, 500 Courtney, Archbishop of Canterbury, Wycliffe before at St. Paul's, 421 ; Bulls directed to, against Wycliffe, 422 ; char- acter of, 321 ; strongly opposed to Wy- cliffe, ib. ; summons Convocation to Blackfriars, 1382, 432 ; orders the Chan- cellor of Oxford to publish censure of Wycliffe's propositions, 436 ; holds a meeting of Convocation at Oxford, 439 ; endeavours to procure sharper law against Lollards, 447 ; letter of to suffragans, ib. ; visitations of at Lei- cester, 450 ; death of, 456 Courts, Ecclesiastical, grievances from, 491 ; attempt to suppress by PrcewAinire Statute, 492 ; declared to be not affected by that statute, 493 ; vexatious pro- ceedings of, 509 ; reformed by Arch- bishop Warham, 509 Crediton, foundation of See of, 103 ; See of transferred to Exeter, 146 Croyland Abbey, fonndation of, 55 Crumpe, Henry, before the Convocation at Oxford, 452 INDEX. 559 Crusade, preparations for, after capture of Jerusalem, 277, 278 ; Bishop Spencer's, 448 Cunningham, John, opposes 'Wycliffe, 471 Cuthbert, St., made bishop of Lindis- farne, 02 ; holy life of, ib. ; dies at Fame, ib. Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, suc- cessor to Nothelm, 76 Cjniegilsus, King, disposed to receive Christianity, 47 ; baptism of, 48 Dagan, British bishop, refuses to com- municate with Laurentius, 35 Danelagh territory conceded to Danes, 96 Danes, effe(;ts of ravages of on Church in time of Ethelred, 134, 135 Daniel, Bishop, succeeds Heddi at Win- chester, 70 ; patron of Boniface, 71 David, St., the national Saint of Wales, 16 Deusdedit, Archbishop, death of, 57 Dilston, battle of, 42 Diuma, Bishop, missionary to Mid- Angles, 50 ; dies at Repton, ib. Dominicans, tlie, origin of, 317 Dorchester, See of, foundation of, 48 ; not in Mercia, 61, note Dubricius, founder of the Chui'ch of Llan- daff, 16 Dunstan, Archbishop, work of, 107 ; treatment of Edwy by, 109 ; compelled to fly, 110 ; return of, ib. ; responsible for the ecclesiastical policy of Edgar, ib. ; made Archbishop of Canterbury, 111 ; consecrates bishops, ib. ; attempts of to enforce celibacy of clergy, 113, 114 ; opposition to policy of, 114, 115 ; holds Council at Winchester, 114 ; at Calne, 115, 116; policy of triumphant, 116 ; withdraws from public affairs, 116 ; employment of at close of life, ib. ; early life of, 121 Dunstable Abbey, unpopularity of with townspeople, 368 Durham, commencement of See of, 146 Eadbald, King, refuses to adopt Christi- anity, 35 ; death of, 56 Eadbert Proen attempts to shake off Mercian rule, 85 Eadmer, character of history of, 208, note Eadnothus II., Bishop, builds the Church of Stow, 147 Eadred, Bishop, gains See of Durham by simony, 142 ; evil end of, 148 Eadsige, Archbishop, coadjutor-bishop of Ethelnoth, 142 ; character of, ib. ; hal- lows King Edward, 145 ; death of, 147 Eadwin, King, becomes Bretwalda, 37 ; marries Ethelburga, ib. ; hesitation of, about baptism, 37 ; character of, ib. ; early history of, 38 ; converted by Paulinus, ib. ; holds a conference at York, ib. ; ba]itism of, 39 ; assists in planting the Churcli in Lindsey, 40, 41 ; defeated and slain at Hatlield, 41 Ealdred, Archbishop, succeeds Lyfing at Worcester, 146 ; promoted to York, 152 ; holds Worcester in plurality, ib. ; ac- cused of simony, ib. ; journey of to Rome, ib. ; depos('eats his cession of the Crown, 308 ; promises compensation to clergy, 308, 309 ; sup- poi'ted by Pope against clergy, 309, 312 ; forced to sign the Great Charter, 310 ; obtains dispensations from his promises, 310, 311 ; violent proceedings of against clergy, 312, 313 ; death of, 313 John, precentor, brought over by Bene- dict to teach Church music, 72 John, presbyter, teacher of Alfred, 100, 101 John Scot (Erigena), not connected with Alfred, 101, 102 Joseph of Ai-imathea, legend of, 2 Julius, martjTcd at Caerleon, 4 Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury, sent by Gregory to England, 26 ; first bishop of Rochester, 32 ; retires to France, 35 ; succeeds Mellitus as archbishop, 36 ; consecrates Romanus to Rochester, 37 Kemp, Cardinal, anti-national policy of, 493 ; promotion of, 494 ; governs Church as Legate o latere, ib. Kenilworth, dictum of, declares Church free, 369 Kent, Christianity of, due to Roman sources, 81 Kenulf, King, restores Archbishop Ethel- heard, 85 ; letter of to the Pope as to restoring Canterbury, 86 ; quarrel of with Archbishop Wulfred, 91 ; brings aViout the laying of the laud under in- terdict, ib. Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury, consecration of, 373 ; character of, 374 ; attends Council of Lyons, ib. ; made a cardinal and Bishop of Porto, 376 Lactantius, passage of, relating to Christi- anity in Britain, 4, 5 Lambeth, college of, building of, 282 ; demolished, 283 Laufranc, Archbishop, chosen by King and Council for jirimate, 161 ; early life of, ib. ; informed liy Papal Legates of I)romotion, ib. ; unwillingness of to accept it, ib. ; elected and consecrated, ib. ; requires oath of subniission from Thomas of York, 162 ; consecrates him with an understanding, ib. ; goes to 564 INDEX. LANGLAND. Rome, ib. ; obtains dispensation for Thomas and Remigius, 163 ; honour paid to by Pope, ib. ; defends primacy of Canterbury, 164 ; rebuilds Canterbury Cathedral, 165 ; obtains canon as to clerical matrimony, 166 ; exhibits spirit of independence towards Rome, 170 ; threatened by Pope Gregory, ib. ; policy of in making cathedrals monastic, 171 Langland, William, Piers Plowman, visions of, by, 511, 512 Langton, Simon de, upholds his brother's cause at Rome, 309 ; elected to York, but not accepted by Pope, 312 Lkngton, Stephen, Cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, election of to Canter- bury ferced on by the Pope, 219 ; obtains privileges for monasteries during the interdict, 299 ; comes to England to negotiate, ib. ; comes to England as primate, 303 ; pronounces absolution of King John, ih. ; stops the vindictive proceedings of King John, 306 ; promul- gates the charter of Henry I., ib. ; good service of in the matter of Great Char- ter, 310 ; refuses to excomnuinicate the barons, 312 ; suspended by the Pope, ib. ; carries out translation of St. Thomas, 315 ; holds Council at Oxford, 316 ; baffles the demands of the Poj^e, 319 ; death of, 320 Laurentius, Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated by Augustine as successor, 32 ; attempts to bring Scotch and Irish bishops to conformity, 34 ; designs to retire to France, 35 ; vision, and alleged chastisement of, 36 ; interview of with Eadbald, 26 ; death of, ib. Law, canon, introduction of, into Eng- land, 224 ; text books of, ib. , note ; Gratian's compilation of, ib. Laws, ecclesiastical, of King Alfred, 96, 97, 98, 99 ; of King Athelstan, 103, 104 ; at Eynsham, 1007, 131 ; at Habam, 133 ; of King Cnut, 137, 138 ; of Edward the Confessor, 155 Legends as to commencement of Christi- anity in Britain, 2 Leicester, foundation of See of, 61 Leo III., Pope, letter of, to King Kenulf, 86 ; acquiesces in the restoration of the rights of Canterbury, 87 ; remonstrance of English clergy to., 90 ; sends Pall to Wulfred, ib. ; endeavours to compose the quarrel between king and primate, 91 ; inflicts, or permits, a six yeai's' in- terdict of England, ib. Leofric adorns church at Coventry, 140 Leofric, Bishoji, upholds seculars against regulars, 146 ; succeeds Lyflng at Credi- ton, ib. ; transfers the See to Exeter, ib. Lepers, hospital for, founded by Remi- gius, 173 Leutherius, Bishop, sent by Agilbert to Wessex, 49 ; consecrated by Theodore, ib. MARSHALL. Lewythiel, the, origin and proceedings of, 322 ; plead their cause at Rome, 330 Lichfield, See of, limitation of, 61 ; con- stituted a Metropolitan See, 80 ; reduced to the condition of a sufi'ragan, 87 ; transferred to Chester, 166 Lincoln, See of. See of Dorchester trans- ferred to, 165, 166 ; cathedral church built in, ib. ; Geoffrey nominated to, 269 ; long vacancy of, 270, note Lincoln, Chapter of, dispute of with Bishop Grosseteste, 338, 339 Lindisfarne, foundation of, 54 Lindsey, conversions in by Paulinus, 40 ; foundation of See of, 61, and note Liturgical uses, various in the early Church, 24 ; the Sarum, 173 Liturgy of ancient British Church, 17 Liuthard, Bishop, chaplain to Queen Ber- tha, 20 Lollards, immunity of at first, 446 ; new law projected against, 447 ; rapid in- crease of, ib. ; character of, 448 ; move- ment against in Parliament of 1388, 450 ; King's commands concerning, ib. ; at Leicester, opinions of, ib. ; penance inflicted on, 451 ; rapid increase of, 452 ; boldness of, in 1394, 454 ; twelve tenets of, 454, 455 ; menaces of king against, 456 ; letters of Pope against, ib. ; rebel- lious movements of, 466 ; stricter laws against, ib. ; executions of, 466, 467 ; tenets of in\ited animadversion, 469 ; harsh and unjust treatment of, ib. ; proceedings of Council of Constance against, 470 ; penetrated to Bohemia, ib., note ; literary opponents of, 471 London designated as the See of a Metro- politan, 27 ; foundation of the See of, 30 ; churches built in, 32 Longchamp, William, appointed bishop of Ely, 279 ; Chief Justiciary, 280 Losinga, Herbert de, Bishop, simony of, 182, and note Lotharingians promoted by King Edward, 145 Lucius, King, legend of, 3 Lupus, Bishop, accompanies Germanus to Britain, 11 Lyflng, Archbishop of Canterbury, flies fi-om England, 133 ; never receives Pall from Rome, 139 Lyflng, Bishop, made bisiiop of Worces- ter, 142 ; influence of, 144, 145 ; bishop of Crediton, 144 M Malmesbury, Abbey of, attempts on, by Hermann, 150 ; protected by Earl Ha- rold, ib. Mangym, Ralph, sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, 468 Marshall, Henry, appointed Dean of York when not in orders, 280 INDEX. 505 Martin, Papal Nuncio sent to England, 337 ; proceedings of, 338 Martin V., Pope, character of, 485 ; in- fringement of English liberties by, 480 ; checked by English law, il). ; anger of, against Archbishop Chichele, ib. ; calls upon Archbishops of Canterbury and York to disobey the law, 480 ; calls upon Chichele to get repeal of statutes, 487 ; letter of to King and Parliament against Premunire Statute, 488 ; reiter- ates demands to Archbisho}) Chichele, 489 ; appoints Henry Beaufort Legate, 490 Martin, 'St., Church of, at Canterbury, 20, 23 Masertield, battle of, 43 Mass Book, the Lay-folk's, 511 Matrimony, clerical, general in tenth cen- tury, 107, 113 ; discouraged at Eynsham, 131 ; diflerent rules as to, for secular and capitular clergy, 106 ; jirohibited by Synod of Westminster, 1102, 190, and note ; allowance of for money, 195 ; not diminished by canon of 1102, 200 ; coun- cil to put dovra, llOS, ib. ; forbidden by canons of 1127, 213 ; by Council of Lon- don, 1129, 214; permission for sold by the king, ib. Medeshampstede, Peterborough, first ab- bot of, 00 Mellitus, Archbishop of Canterbury, sent by Gregory to England, 26 ; charged with a special message by Gregory, 27 ; first bishop of London, 32 ; expelled from London, 35 ; retires to France, ib. ; attends synod at Rome as bishop of London, ib. ; succeeds Laurentius as Archbishop, 36 ; stoppage of a conflagra- tion by prayer of, ib. ; death of, ib. Mepham, Simon de, Archbishop of Canter- bury, character of, 400 ; holds provincial synod, 401; Constitutions of, ib., 402; visitation of, 402 ; checked at Exeter, 403 ; quarrel of with Canterbury monks, ib. Mercia, planting of Church in, 40 ; over- throw of Christianity in, 41, 42 ; re- establishment of Church in, 49 ; con- version of, due to British sources, 51 Merton, Convocation of, 302 Messina, Archbishop, in Parliament asks money for the Pope, 300 Michel, Dan, of Northgate, Remorse of Con- science of, 511 Monasteries, early foundation of, 60 ; cor- ruption of manners in, 73, 70, 77, 7S, 79, 89; destruction of by Danes, 95, 106; spared by Danes in later invasions, 122 ; rebuilt and endowed by Cnut, 136 ; plundered by William I., 158; rebuilt after Conquest, 174 ; of the Cistercians, 215 ; raind building of in Stephen's time, 225 ; exemptions granted to, 258 ; foundation of by Henry IL, 272 ; visitii- lion of ordered by Gregory IX., 324; lay attacks u].ion, 308 ; fall of into dis- repute, 502 ; bull of Pope Innocent on immorality of, 503 Monothelitism, rejected by Council of Hatfield, 62 Montfort, Simon de, leader of baronial party, 342 ; reverence of clergy for, 304, 305 ; summons a Parliament, 300 ; death of, ib. Mortmain, first statute of, 378 ; grievance of felt by clergy, 379 Morton, Cardinal, Archbishop of Canter- bury, character of, 495, and note ; Papalises Church of England, ib. ; com- plains of irregularity of elergy, 502 ; letter of, to abbot of St. Alban's, 503 Murdak, Henry, Archbishop, consecrated in place of St. William, 226 • N Netter, Thomas, opposes Wycliff'e's doc- trines, 471 NicEea, first Council of, British bishops probably present at, 6 ; second Council of, 83 Nicholas IV., Pope, grants of revenue by, to king, 383 ; valuation of clerical in- comes ordered by, ib. Nicholas V.., Pope, obtains an increase of authority in England, 493 Nidd, the Council of, 67 Nigel, Bishop of Ely, holds Castle of Devizes against Stephen, 222 ; forced to surrender, ib. Ninian, St., work of in Galloway, 13; converts Southern Picts, 13 ; visits St. Martin at Tours, ib. Nonant, Hugh, Bishop, character of, 280 ; quarrel of with monks of Coventry, 283 Northumbria, conversion of, due chiefly to Biitish sources, 51 Norwich, See of Tlietford transferred to, 106, 182 Norwich Abbey, attack on, by towns- people, 368, 369 Notlielm, Archbishop, a secular clerk be- fore consecration, 75 ; consecrates suf- fi-aj'ans, ib. : death of, ib. Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, early life of, 107, 108 ; made Archbisho]) of Canter- bury, 108 ; becomes a monk, ib. ; re- stores Canterbury Cathedral, ib. ; pub- lishes canons, ib. ; addresses synodical epistle to bisliops, 109 ; severity of, ib. ; dealings of witli Edwy and Elfgiva, 109, 110 ; great power of, ib. ; death of, ib. Odo, Prior of Christ Church, demands free election of archbishop, 261, 263 ; goes to the king in Normandy, 202 ; one of the pei-sons selecttcd for iirimaey, 203 011a, King, fricndsliip of, with Churlc- 566 INDEX. OLDCASTLE. inagne, 79 ; raises Lichfield to a Metro- politan See, 80 ; holds a council at Chel- sea, 787, ib. ; obtains the Pall for Bishop Highert, ib. Oldcastle, Sir John, trial of ordered by Convocation, 463 ; will not be con- vinced by king, ib. ; arrested and lodged in Tower, 464; confession of, ib., 465; pronounced heretical, 466; escape of from Tower, ih. ; capture and execution of, 1417, 468 ; forged recanta- tion of, ib. Origen, passages of relating to Christi- anity in Britain, 4 Orlton, Adam, bishop, trial of before ' Secular Court, 398, 399 ; probably im- plicated, in king's murder, 399, and note ; obtains See of Winchester, 403 Ornaments of Church and ministers, 125, 126 Osmund, St., Bishop, learning of, 172; Custom-boon of, 173 ; general adoption of book of, ib., note Oswald, King, defeats Cadwallader at Dilston, 42 ; sets up a cross on field of battle, ib. ; king of both Northumbrian provinces, ib. ; sends to lona for Chris- tian teachers, 43 ; supports the Church in Northumbria, ib. ; slain by Penda at Maserfield, ib. ; marries daughter of Cynegilsus, 48 Oswald, Archbishop, made Bishop of Wor- cester, 112 ; introduces Benedictine rule, ib. ; translated to York, 112 ; activity of ceases, ib. Oswin, humility and devotion of, 43 ; slain by Oswy, ib. Oswy, King, succession of to throne, 43 ; puts to death Oswin, ib. ; attacks King Penda, ib. ; defeats and slays him at Wingfield, 44, 49 ; gives Peada his daugh- ter in marriage, 49 ; uses his influence to restore Christianity among East Saxons, 50 ; holds Conference at Whitby, 52, 53 : joins with Egbercht in sending Wig- hard to Rome, 57 ; requests Pope Vi- talian to j^rovide an archbishop, ib. ; death of, 58 Otho, Cardinal, comes as Legate to demand benefices, 318 ; failure and recall of, 319 ; comes again as Legate, 326 ; holds Coun- cil of London, 327 ; i^roceedings at Oxford in connection with, 328 ; refuses to leave England, 330 ; departure of, from Eng- land, 334 ; Constitutions of, 352 Othobon, Cardinal, mission of to England to punish clergy, 366 ; Constitutions of, 367 Oxford, University of, outrage on, by King John, 298 ; desertion of by students, 299 ; students of defended by Grosse- teste, 328 ; Wycliffe's opinions popular at, 423, 435, 437 ; representation of as to clergy, 500, 501, 502 Oxford, Council of, 310 ; Parliament of, 363 Palladius attempts to convert the Irish, 13 Pandulf, interview of with King John, 300 ; sent to offer King Phillip the crown of England, 301 ; receives the submission of King John, ib. ; upholds John's cause with the Pope against Langton, 309 Paris, Matthew, dark pictures by of state of the Church, 313, 325, 334 Parliament, of Westminster, 1248, 341 ; of Oxford, resists King and Pope, 363 ; provisions of the Oxford, 304 ; of 1344, regulates proceedings against clergy, 406 ; checks Papal intrusions, 408 ; of 1351, passes .first Statute of Provisors, 408 ; of 1371, opposition to the Church in, 417 ; " Tlie Good" (1376), anti-papal feeling in, 418 ; petitions to, against Roman intrusions, ib. ; of Gloucester, rejects measures for Church spoliation, 426 ; of 1388, petitions against Lollards, 450 ; of 1394, Lollard opinions in, 454 ; of 1404, discusses forfeiture of Church Droperty, 461 ; of 1410, puts forth a scheme for confiscating Church revenues, 461, 462 ; declaration by, in 1399, against Pope's jm'isdiction, 484, and note Parochial System, introduced by Theodore, 63 ; operation of, after Theodore's death, 68 Paschal II., Pope, anger of, with English Church for its independent action, 204, 205 Patrick, St., converts the Irish, 13 Paul, St., the assertion that he preached Christianity in Britain, 2, 3 Paulinus, Archbishop of York, sent by Gregory to England, 26 ; accompanies Ethelburga to Northumbria, 37 ; con- verts King Eadwin, 38 ; first archbishop of York, 39 ; baptizes large numbers in Bernicia and Deii-a, 40 ; converts men of Lindsey, ib. ; baptizes many in the Trent, ib. ; builds a church at Lincoln, 41 ; consecrates Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury, ib. ; appearance of, de- scribed, 40, note ; escapes into Kent after battle of Hatfield, 42 ; becomes bishop of Rochester, ib. ; death of, ib. Peada, son of Penda, desires to marry Oswy's daughter, 49 ; is converted to Christianity, ib. ; baptized by St. Finan, 49 ; brings four priests with him into Mercia, ib. Peccham, John de. Archbishop of Canter- bury, promotion of to Primacy, 376 ; holds council at Reading (1279), 377 ; obliged to recall anathemas of Reading, 377 ; summons convocation of Lambeth, 379 ; bold measures of, 'ib. ; retracted, ib. ; violent letter of, against exempt orders, 380 ; ordered by king to call provincial council, ib. ; summons con- vocation (1283), 381 ; Constitutions of, INDEX. 567 PECOCK. ! at Reading, 411; at Lambeth, ib., 412 ; i orders preaching of sermons in English, 510 I Peeock, Reginald, Bishop, literary oppon- ent of Lollards, 471 ; sermon of at Taul's Cross, 472 ; ottence taken at, by bishojis, ib. ; trial of by Archbishop Statlbrd, 472 ; Repressor of over-much Blaming the Clergy of, 474 ; Treatise on Faith of, 475, 47(5 ; books of, given to a committee to examine, 47S ; declared heretical, ib. ; recantation of, 479, 480 ; ill-treat- ment and imprisonment of, 481 ; defence of pilgrimages by, 514 Pelagius, a British monk, 7 ; account of, 8, 9, 10 Pelagianism, in Britain, 10 ; introduced by Agi'icola, ih. ; Gallic bishops called in to opi^ose, 11 ; condemned at Verulam- ium, ih. ; revival of, 12, overthrown by Germanus and Severus, ih. Pelagianism, semi-, its nature, 11, note Pelagians, condemned by African Synod, 10 ; acquitted at Diospolis, ih. ; Pope Zosimus favours, ib. ; banished by Court of Ravenna, ib. Penda, King, defeats King Eadwin at Hat- field, 41 ; defeats Oswald at Maserfield, 43 ; defeated and slain at Wingfield, 44, 49 ; statements of Bede concerning, 46, note ; takes away territory from Wessex, 47 Peter, sent to England as Legate, 207 ; not allowed to remain, ib. Peter de Aqua Blanca, Bishop of Hereford, envoy of the king in Italy, 357 ; fraud- ulent transaction of, at Rome, ib. ; thrown into prison by barons, 365 Peter's Pence, amount of tax of, 513, and note Pilgrimages, enjoined as necessary for lay- men, 513, 514 ; the favourite in England, ih. ; defence of, by Bishop Peeock, ib. Pipewell Abbev, Council of, 279 Pisa, Council of, 499 Plegmund, Archbishop, teacher of Alfred, 100 ; made Archbishop of Canterbury, 101 ; consecration of seven bishops- by, 102, 103, note Poems, alliterative, 512 Poiset, Hugh de. Bishop of Durham, character of, 280 Pomponia Gnecina, mentioned by Tacitus, may liave been a dweller in Britain, 3 Poiies, the, of fifteenth century, bad character of, 499 Pra;munire, first Statute of (1353), 409, 410 ; Second Statute of 1393, 453, 454 Prcemnnienies, clause in bisho))s' writs, 3S5 Primer, the, contents and character of, 513 Proctors, of clergy, before Parliament, 358, 359 ; ordered by Council of Reading, 377, note ; first attend Convo- cati(m in 1283, 381 ; resist king's demand in 1249, 384 ; l:eavy demands made on, in 1294, 384 ; threatened with viiilence, ib. Prohibitions of ecclesiastical courts com- l)lained of, 381, 382 ; checked and regu- lated, 466 Provisors, first Statute of (1351), 408; Ordinance of (1352), 409 ; Act of, of 1390, 453 ; protest of archbishops against, ib. Pudens, mentioned by St. Paul, 2 ; a British name, 3, note Purveye, John, Recantation of, 459 ; indillerent character of, ib. Putta, Bislio]), transferred from Rochester to Hereford, 61 Raleigh, 'William, Bishop of Norwich, ob- tains See of Winchester, 335 Raliih, Archbishop of Canterbury, election of to Canterbury, 204 ; receives the Pall, 205 ; sent to the Pope to remonstrate against ajtpointment of Legate, 205 ; refuses to consecrate Thurstan without profession of obedience, 206 ; death and character of, 208 Ramsbury, foundation of See of, 103 Redwald, King, defeats Ethelfrid, 38 ; baptism of, 46 ; endeavours to unite heathen and Christian rites, ih. Remigius, made Bishop of Dorchester, 157, 158 ; charges of simony against, ib. ; consecrated by Stigand, 157 ; goes to Rome with Lanfranc, 162 ; ol)taiiis jiajial pardon for simony, 163 ; transfers the See to Lincoln, 165 ; date of the transfer, 166, and note ; builds cathedral at Lincoln, 165 ; vigorous administration of diocese by, 173 Repyngdon,'Cardinal,STipporterofWyclifre at Oxford, 435 ; sermon of on Corpus Christi day, 435, 436 ; suspended from scholastical acts, 437 ; ajijieals to John of Gaunt, ib. ; before the Convocation of Canterbury, 437 ; excommunicated, 439; recants, ih. ; after ])romotion of, ib. Reservation to ICnglish Sees commenced by the Po]ie, 395 Restitutus, British bishop at Aries, 6 Reynolds, Archbishop, jmivision of, by Pnpe, 3'J6 ; antecedents of, ih. ; rights ofi)atronage conferred on, 397; charac- ter and death of, 400 Rimini, Council of, British bishops at, 7 ; their povierty, ib. Richard of Dover, Archbishop of Canter- bury, elected to Primacy, 263 ; appealed against by younger Henry, 264 ; goes to the Poi)e at Anagni, 264; consecration of, by Po])e, ih. ; enthroned at Canter- burv when chun-h in ruins, 266 ; con- scci^tes four bisliojis, ih. ; liolds a synod at Westminster, 267 ; character of, 273 ; letter of on innnunities of clergy, ih. ; death of, 274 Richard (le Grand), Archbishop of Canter- bury, apiKjintmeut of by Pope, 320 .3G8 INDEX. Richard, St., Bishop of Chichester, appoint- ed Chancellor by Boniface, 335 ; Bishop of Chichester, 336 ; character of, 370 Richard I., King, succession of, 279; coronation of, ib. ; holds council at Pipewell, ih. ; nominates to Church appointments, 280 Richard."!!., threatens Lollards, 456 ; ban- ishes Archbishop Arundel, ih. ; charged with applying to Pope for confirmation of his Acts, 484 Bigge, Dr. , Chancellor of Oxford, supporter of Wyclitfe at Oxford, 431, 435 ; sum- moned before Convocation of Canterbury, ,436 ; yields to the archbishop, 437 ; suspends Herford and Repyngdon, ib. Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury, bishop of London, 145 ; director of King Ed- ward, ib. ; made Archbishop of Canter- bury, 148 ; unpopularity of, ib. ; refuses to consecrate Spearhafoc, ib. ; driven into exile, ib. ; appeals to the Pope, 149 Rochester, foundation of See of, 32 Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, consecration of, 197 ; Justiciary of England, 218 ; favours Stephen's claims, ib.; seized by King Stephen, 221 ; castles built by, ib. Roger, Archbishop of York, attempt of, to take precedence of Archbishop of Canterbury, 270, 271 Eomanus consecrated to Rochester, 37 Ruffinianus sent by Gregory to England, 26 Rustand sent by Pope to collect money for crusade, 358 ; exactions of, 359 Sacerdos, British Presbji;er at Aries, 6 Saints of English race despised by Nor- mans, 174 Salisbury, commencement of See of, 151, note Sanctuary, regulations of, 97 ; power of difi'erent churches as to, 137; disre- garded in Stephen's time, 225 Sardica, Council of, British bishops per- haps present at, 6 Sawtry, William, before convocation, 457 ; condemned as heretical, 458 ; burned at Smithfield, ib. Saxons, East, Church planted among, 31 ; Christianity re-introduced from British sources, 51 Saxons, South, conversion of, 65, 66 ; in diocese of Winchester, 66 Saxulf, Bishop, consecrated by Theodore, 59 ; first abbot of Medeshampstede, 60 ; bishop of Lichfield, 59, 61 Scripture, rhyming manuals of, 512 Scot, John (Erigena), account of, 105 Sebert, King of East Saxons, converted, 31 ; builds churches in London, 32 ; death of, 35 Sees, early, dates of foundation of, 74 ; consecration to seven, by Plegmund, 102 ; held in plurality in eleventh cen- STIGAND. tury, 141, 144 ; elections to be made to by chapters at Court, 197 Selsey, founded by Wilfrid, 54 ; founda- tion of monastery of, 66 ; See of, ib., note ; See of transferred to Chichester, 166 Sejiaration between secular and ecclesias- tical matters, 167 Sermons, provision for in Middle Ages, 510 Severus, Bishop, accompanies Germanus to Britain, 12 Sherborne, beginnings of See of, 48, 7C ; See of transferred to Salisbury, 166 Sigbercht, King, plants the Church in East Anglia, 47 ; sends for Felix, a Bur- gundian, ib. Sigebert, King, baptism of, 50 ; allows settlement of Church among East Sax- ons, ib. Siddena, Stow, See of Lindsey, 61, and note, 147 Simony, organised system of, under Ru- fus, 176 Siric, Archbishop of Canterbury, advises buying off" the Danes, 123, note Siward, Bishop, coadjutor-bishop of Ead- sige, 147 Spearhafoc, Bishop, refused consecration by Archbishop Robert, 148 Spencer, Bishop, "crusade" of, 448 ; igno- minious return of, 456 ; effect of crusade of, to advance Lollardism, ib. Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury, con- ducts trial of Bishop Pecock, 472 Stapleton, Walter, Bishop, character of, 399, 400 ; death of, ib. Statute, De viris religiosis, 378 ; Circum- spec.te Agatis, 382 ; of Carlisle, 394 ; of Articuli clcri, 397 ; first of Provisors, 408 ; first of Prcemunire, 409 ; confirm- ing Prccmunire, 410, note ; second of Provisors, 453 ; second of Prcemunire, 454 ; declaratory of royal supremacy, 484 ; De Hereticis Comburendis, 457 ; against Lollards, 466 ; of Henry IV. and Henry V. against Papal intrusions, 485 ; limiting the Prcemunire Statute, 493 '' Stephen, liing, accession of, due to Church influence, 218 ; pledges himself to alio v liberty to Church, ib. ; character cf, 219 ; keeps none of his promises, 220 ; seizure of bishops by, 221, 222 ; cited ' o council, 223 ; appears by represent^ .- tives, ib. ; obtains Airtual triumph, 224 ; forbids bishops to attend Council at Rheims, 227 ; banishes Archbishop The^j- bald, 228 ; is reconciled to him, 229 ; death of, ib. ; importance of his reign ecclesiastically, 230 Stigand, Ai-chbishop of Canterbury, first priest of Assandun, 139 ; made bisho]> of Elmham, 146 ; deprived of See, ih. ; bishop of Winchester, ih. ; made arch- bishop of Canterbury by Witan, 149 ; seizes Robert's Pall, ib. ; promotion of INDEX. 5G'J unfortunate, ib. ; not allowed to dedi- cate Waltham, 151 ; summons Witan at Westminster, 15-1 ; crowns Harold, 155 ; taken by William to Normandy, 157 ; consecrates Remigius, ib. ; deposed at Winchester, 159 ; imprisoned for life, ib. Stigand, Bishop, nominated to See of Selsey, 160 Stokes, Peter, employed by the Arch- bishop against Wycliffe's party at Ox- ford, 435, 436 ; summoned to Lambeth, ib. Stow, Siddena, ancient See of Lindsey Bishopric, 61, and note, 147 Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, quarrel of with Edward III., 403 ; character of, ib. Sudbury, Simon, Ai-chbishop of Canter- bury, tries Wyclitle at St. Paul's, 421 ; Bulls against Wyclifle directed to, 422 ; murder of in Wat Tyler Rebellion, 427 ; not unfavourable to Wycliffe's views, ib. Sunday, restraint of work on, 99, 104, 118, 138 Swinderby, William, opinions of, 445 ; process against, 446 ; after history of, ib. SjTiod (see Council Ecclesiastical, and Convocation). Taylor, William, burning of, in 1422, 467 Templars, suppression of in England, 395 TertuUian, passage of relating to Christi' anity in Britain, 4 Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, suc- ceeds to primacy, 223 ; introduces civil and canon law, 224 ; styled Legatus natus, ib. ; attends council in spite of king's prohibition, 227, 228 ; honour paid to, 228 ; banished, ib. ; lays land under in- terdict, ib.; reconciled to the king, 229 ; regent of the kingdom till coming of Henry, ib. T .eodore. Archbishop of Canterbury, a monk born at Tarsus, 57 ; selected by Pope Vitalian for Canterbury, ib. ; has .he Eastern tonsure, ib. ; consecrated and sent to England, 58 ; begins visita- tions, ib. ; appoints bishops, ib. ; re- onsecrates Chad for Lichfield, ib. ; in- structs people in learning, ib. ; accepted as archbishop of the whole land, 58 ; jummons council at Hertford, 59 ; de- poses Winfrid and consecrates Saxulf, f>9 ; consecrates Earconwald to London, ib. ; brings about general adoption of iloman uses, 60 ; introduces auricular confession, ib. ; divides the Northum- brian See, 60, 61 ; supersedes Wilfrid at York, 61 ; again divides the See, ib. ; divides the Mercian diocese into five, ib. ; holds council at Hatfield, 62 ; de- poses Trumbercht from Hexham, ib. ; 9 appoints Cuthbert to Lindisfarne, ib. ; translates Eata to Hexham, ib. ; recon- ciled to Wilfrid, ib. ; death and charac- ter of, 63 ; introducer of parochial sys- tem, ib. ; obtains right of patronage for those who built churches, 68, and note Thetford, See of, transferred to Norwich, 166 Thomas I., Archbishop of York, nomi- nated to See of York, 160 ; applies to Lanfranc for consecration, 162 ; obliged to promise obedience to Bee of Canter- bury, ib. ; goes to Rome, ib. ; obtains dispensation for illegitimacy, 163 ; claims independent Metropolitan dig- nity from Pope, ib. ; referred by the Pope to a council, 164 Thomas II., Archbishop of York, dispute of with Anselm as to primacy, 202 ; consecrated ^vith profession of subjec- tion to Canterbury, 203 Thoresby, Archbishop of York, orders use of Lay-folks' Catechism, 510 Thorpe, William, examination of before Arundel, 459, 460 Thurstan, Abbot, violent proceedings of at Glastonbury, 174 Thurstan, Archbishop of York, election of, to York, 206 ; a])plies for consecra- tion to Archbishop Raljjh, ib. ; conse- crated by Pope Calixtus, ib. ; obtains Papal exemption from subjection to Canterbury, ib. ; banished by the king^ ib. ; declines to consecrate William of Corbeil, 209 ; goes to Rome to guard pri\Tleges of York, ib. ; obliged to yield precedence to Canterbury, 213 ; avoids attending Westminster Synod, ib. Tithe, the Saladin, ordinance for, 278 Tithes ordered to be strictly paid, 787, 81 ; confirmation of, by King Ethel- wulf, 94 Tonsure, dispute as to form of, at Whit- by, 52 ; the Eastern method of, 57 Tostig, Earl, journey of to Rome, 152 ; upbraids the Pope, ib. Transubstantiation, doctrine of, opposed to .dElfric's teaching, 128 Trumbercht, Bishop of Hexham, 61 Trumhere, Bishop of the Mid-Angles, 10 Trumwine, Bishop of Southern Picts, 61 Tuda succeeds Colman at Lindisfarne, 63 ; supi)orts Roman uses, 54 Turold transferred to Peterborough to oppose Hereward, 174 Twenge, Sir Robert de, leader of the Lewj'thiel, 322 ; obtains redress at Rome, 323 Tynemouth, foundation of, 54 U Ulf, Bishop, made bishop of Dorchester, 147 ; found ignorant at Vercella-, j7*. ; obtains confirmation in Sec by bribery, ii I' 570 INDEX. URBAN. ib. ; driven into exile, 14S ; deposed by Witan, 149 Urban V., Pope, demands arrear of Eng- lish tribute, 415 Valuation of ecclesiastical revenues in 1291, 383 Veil, the Lenten, 98 Verulamium, j)lace of martrydoan of St. Alban, 4 Vicarages, foundation of by Council of Oxford, 316 Vital ian. Pope, addressed by King Oswy, 57 ; selects Theodore as archbishop, 57 Vivian, Cardinal, not allowed to act as Legate in England, 271 ■w Wadden, John, burning of, 468 Walkeline, Bishop, nominated to See of Winchester, 160 ; attempts to get rid of monks from Winchester, 171 ; foiled by Lanfranc, ih. Waltham, foundation of as a College by Harold, 151 ; dedicated by Archbishop Cynesige, ib. ; founded as an Abbey by Henry IL, 272 Warelwast, William, Bishop, sent to Eome to oppose Anselni, 193 ; informs Anselm that he must not return to England, 194 ; sent to Rome when blind, 205 Warham, Archbisliop, supporter of literary men, 496 ; value of primacy of, ib. Wells, foundation of See of, 103 Weseham, Roger de, promotion to Lich- field, 338 Wessex, conversion of, 47 ; Christianity of, due to Roman sources, 51 Westminster Abbey, built by Edward the Confessor, 154 ; dedication of, ih. ; Harold croAvned in, 155 ; completion of rebuilding of, 368 Whitby, Conference at, 52, 53, 54 Whithern, Church at, 13 Whyte, William, burning of, in 1428, 467 ; opinions of, ib. Wighard, sent to Rome for consecration, 57 ; carried off by pestilence, ib. Wight, Isle of, conversion of, Q6; in diocese of Winchester, 70 Wilfrid, Bishop, taught' at Lyons and Rome, 52 ; tutor of Alchfrid, ib. ; takes chief part in the Conference at '^litby, 52. 53 ; on division of his See appeals to Rome, 61 ; goes to France for consecra- tion, 63 ; obtains possession of York, ih.; work of in Mercia, ib.; beautifies York Cathedral, ib. ; builds churches at Ripon and Hexham, ih. ; active labours of in the north, 64 ; embroiled with King Ecfrid, ib. ; gives the veil to Queen Etheldreda, ib. ; banished from North- umbria, ib. ; diocese of divided, ib. ; WINCHELSEA. appeals to Rome, ib. ; work of in Fries- land, ib. ; decision on case of at Rome, ib. ; takes part in the Synod at Rome, 680, 65 ; returns to Northumbria, ib. ; is thrown into prison, ib.; released and goes to Mercia, ib. ; preaches the Gospel to South Saxons, ib. ; founds religious house at Selsey, 66 ; returns to the See of York, ih.; again banished, ib. ; ad- minsters See of Leicester, ib.; at the Council of Easterfleld, 67 ; again appeals to Rome, ib. ; allowed to retui-n to Northumbria on conditions, ib.; goes back to Mercia and dies at Oundle, ib. ; cliaracter of, %b. William of Corbeil, Archbishop of Canter- bury, cause of the election of, 208 ; de- clines to be consecrated by Aj-ehbishop Thurstan, 209 ; goes to Rome for Pall, ib. ; makes compact with Pope as to Roman Legate, ib.; goes to Rome with Legate, 212 ; accepts the office of Legate of the Pope, ib. ; repulses Archbishop of York, 213 ; swears allegiance to Matilda, ih.; holds Synod at Westminster as Legate, 1127, ib. ; favours accession of Stephen, 218 ; death of, 223 William^ St., Archbishop of York, account of, 226, 227 ; takes possession of his See, 227 ; poisoning of, ib., note William I. , King, ecclesiastical policy of, 156 ; crowned by Ai'chbishop Ealdred, 157 ; takes English prelates with him to Normandy, ib. ; charter of decreeing separations of civil and ecclesiastical causeSj 168 ; importance of this act, 169 ; vigorously asserts royal supremacy, 169, 170 ; practises investiture of spiritual persons, 170 ; refuses homage to the Pope, ib. ; requires submission of the clergy, ib. ; favours secular canons ratlier than monks, 171 William II., King, simony and profligacy of, 176, 186 ; refuses to fill up primacy, 178 ; illness and promises of, 179 ; nom- inates Anselm to primacy, ib. ; makes conditions with him, 179, 180 ; involved in quarrels with Anselm, 180, 181 ; pro- ceedings of, at Hastings, 181 ; renewed quarrel with Anselm, 182, 183 ; unable to carry his point about the Pall, 184 ; refuses Anselm leave to go abroad, 185 ; increased oppressions of on the Church, 186 ; death of, ib. William, Bishop, consecrated Bishop of London, 148 ; restored to See of London, 150 Willibrord, Archbishop, labours of, among the Frisians, 71 Winchelsea, Robert, Archbishop of Can- terbury, consecration and enthronement of, 385 ; calls convocation at Bury St. Edmunds, 1296, 386 ; in London, 1297, 387 ; refuses to yield to king's demands, 3SS ; reconciliation of, with Edward I., 389 ; summons Convocation 1397, ib. ; INDEX. 571 WINCHESTER. refuses to join in protest of barons, 392 ; implicated in plans for dethroning Edward, ib.; tried and jiunished by Poi>e, 393 ; return of from banishment, .^94 ; proceedings against Templars under, 305 Winchester, foundation of See of, 4S ; Wini, first bishop of, ib. ; division of See of, 70 Winchester, Council of, 1070, removes English prelates, 159; of 1072, deter- mines the primacy of Canterbury and bounds of pro\ince, 1C4 Winchester, SjTiod of, 107(5, enacts clerical celibacy, 16(3 ; other canons of, 107 Winchester Abbey, attack on by towns- people, 308 Windsor, Council of, bishops nominated at, 160 Windsor, SjTiod of, 1070, deposes English bishops, 160 ; of 1072, finally settles primacy of Canterbuiy and precedence of bishops, 164, 165 Wingfield, Battle of, 44 Wini, Bishop, brought into Wessex by king, 48 ; first bishop of Winchester, ib. ; expelled from his See, ih. Witham Priory founded by Henry ^I., 272 Withred, King, laws of, in support of the Church, 69 Wodeford, William, ■n-rites against Wy- clifJ'e's doctrines, 471 Worcester, foundation of See of, 61 ; long held in plurality with York, 142 Worcester Cathedi'al, consecration of, 1218, 314 Wulfelm, Archbishop, advises Athelstan in his laws, 103 Wulfred, Archbishop, consecration of, 90 ; the Pall sent to, from Rome, ih. ; quarrel of with King Kenulf, 91, 92 Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, consecrates Church of Assandun, 139 Wulfstan, St., Bishop, made Bishop of Worcester, 153 ; efforts of to suppress slave trade, 153, 172 ; makes a claim be- fore the Council of Winchester, 160 ; work of at Worcester, 172 ; translation of, 314 Wulfwig, Bishop, succeeds Ulf at Dor- chester, 150 Wycliffe, John, birth and early life of, 415, and notes ; opinions of, as to Church ZACHARIAS. property, 416 ; recommend him to John of Gaunt, 417, 420 ; commissioner to the Pope, 418 ; condemns wealth of the Church, 419 ; summoned to appear be- fore Convocation, 420 ; escapes censure by aid of John of Gaunt, 421 ; nineteen propositions of, sent to Pope, ib. ; Bulls against, issued by Pope, 432 ; defends himself against Pope's censures, 424 ; summoned a second time to St. Paul's, 425 ; before the bishops at Lambeth, ib. ; excuses the violence in Westminster Abbey, 425 ; opinions of on Church property merely theoretical, 426 ; causes which led him to turn his attention to theological topics, 426, 427 ; discredit throwTi on by Wat Tyler's rebellion, 427 ; theological propositions put out by, 1381, 427 ; called in question at Oxford, 429 ; defence of doctrine on the Euchar- ist by, ih. ; condenmed at Oxford, 430 ; abandoned by John of Gaimt, ih. ; " Con- fession " of, on the Eucharist, ih. ; cause of, espoused at Oxford, 431 ; " poor priests " organised by, 432 ; why not summoned in 1382, 439 ; translation of Bible by, 439, 442 ; English tracts of, 439, 440, 443 ; explanation of views of, 440, 441 ; summoned to Rome, 442 ; letter to the Pope of, 443 ; death of, 444 ; exhumation of bones of, ib. ; value of work of, ih. ; condemnation of tenets of at Constance, 450 ; literary oppon- ents of, 471 Wykeham, William of. Bishop of Winches- ter, chancellor, 417 ; defended by Cou- vocation, 420 Yevering, baptisms at, 40 and note York, designated as the See of a Metro- politan, 27 ; conference at, as to abandon- ing idolatry, 39 ; baptism of Eadwin and his family at, ib. ; first germ of Minster of, ib. ; burningof Minster of, 158 ; rebuild- ing of, 165 ; Council of, under Hubert Walter, 285 ; decrees of, ib., 286 Zachariaa, Pope, letter of, to Eugli;-.h clergy, 77 rrintedly R. ^^ R. Clark, Edinburgh. ■.„'>, BW5020.P46V.1 A history of the English church. Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00035 7196