// OJarneU Imuerattg ffiihrarg 3tl|ata, •Nem lork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 CORNELL UNIVEHSITY LIBRAHY 3 1924 092 363 914 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092363914 LIVES THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. LIVES THE ENGLISH CARDINALS; INCLUDIXG HISTOEICAL NOTICES OF THE PAPAL COUET, NICHOLAS BEEAXSPEAE (POPE ADEIAN IV.) TO THOMAS WOLSET, CAEDINAL LEGATE. BY FOLKESTONE WILLIAMS, AUTHOB OF "the COUET AND TIMES OF JAMES I.," "THE COUET AND TIMES OF CHASLES I.," "MEMOIES of SOPHIA DOEOTHEA," ETC. ETC. VOLUME THE FIEST. LONDON : Wm. H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. 1868. [All Eiahts reserved.^ O '3, '■>, € Zj ~J -^ '^ ''4,'-* THE TRUSTEES, THE LIBEAEIAN, AXD THE LITEEAEY STAFF OF THE BEITISH MUSEUM, IN- ACKNOWLEDGMENT OP ASSISTANCE APPOEDED DURING THE COMPILATION OF THIS AND OTHER LJTEEART PRODUCTIONS BY THE USE OP THE LIBRARY, i|ese DiJiumes iite |Ksaibtlr BY THEIR OBLIGED SERVANT, THE AUTHOR, Eeading Eooii, Seat M. 11, March, 1368. PEEFACE. THE accumulation of secular employments in talented and enterprising churclimen gives tlie Lives of tlie Cardinals an unusually large element of historical interest. They flourished not only as spiritual princes, but as leading statesmen, dis- tinguished diplomatists, dashing commanders, clever financiei'S, and pre-eminent judges. They took the lead in the field as well as in the cabi- net ; became envoys to the greatest potentates, composed treaties of peace, arranged confederacies for war ; fulminated excommunication against re- fractory emperors or obstinate schismatics, and set examples of ecclesiastical enjoyment in installation feasts and ambassadorial entertainments. In short, on some of these dignitaries fortune seems to have heaped favours. Theirs is a career that united the advantages of all professions, insured the most prized distinctions in Church and State, and ex- ercised an influence that could not be acquhed in any position of worldly dignity. Among more favoured nations, these Princes of the Church of Rome have contrived to fill the world with their fame. Ximenes, Richelieu, Till PHEFACE. Alberoni, Mazarin, Henry, Dubois, &c. &c. ; but thoug'li not possessing the immense advantage afforded by tlie active German, Frencli, or Spanish interest in the Papacy, some of the English cardinals will be found to have established higher claims to remembrance. He who led the barons to Runuy- mede, and prepared for his countrymen the great charter, which became not the corner-stone only but the solid foundation of English liberty, ought to be dearer to the student than any number of brilliant foreign diplomatists and politicians. Several of his successors exemplified a similar patriotism in the promotion of national objects. Even in that peculiar skill and intelhgence by which the mag- nificent prelates just named acquired their renown, there can be no difficulty in establishing a successful rivalry in our own countrymen raised to the same rank, two of whom enjoy the advantage of an imperishable monument in the poetry of Shakspeare. As members of the Pope's privy council, those who remained with the court shared in the ever- varying risks, troubles, and responsibilities of the Papacy ; in tracing their connection with which, it has been thought necessary to supply details of papal life as well as of papal administration ; while, in showing the action of the pontifical system on the AngKcan Church, it seemed equally essential to prove that the latter had a mission as well as a nationality. It may be said that we are dwelling upon what appears to be a dropped title in the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England ; but there can be little doubt of its early resumption. There has recently been a PREFACE. IX creation of cardinals, and ttougli some disappoint- ment may have been caused by the omission of an eminent English name from those so honoured, the extraordinary claims of one of the most active of Roman Catholic prelates are not likely to be over- looked by so discriminating a pontiff as Pio Nono, as soon as the obstacle has been removed that has delayed his elevation. If there be any truth in the reports on this subject, one of the individuals pro- moted suggests who is to be the pope of the future ; but the presentation of the golden rose to the queen of Spain has somewhat lessened the signi- ficance of that manifestation. There is of course sound policy in endeavoin-ing to conciliate the liberal and the legitimate monarchies of Europe when the papal temporalities are believed to be in no slight risk. Let us hope that as trust- worthy a principle will be shown in the appointment of the next English cardinal, and that he will be guided by the same moderation that actuated the proceedings of the last. While it is of the utmost importance to the Christian world that the Church of Rome should be wisely governed everywhere, all sensible Englishmen must desire that its interests in this country be entrusted only to an administrator capable of winning his way to general confidence by the exercise of a kindly, an enlightened, and a generous spirit. An attempt to fill an unoccupied niche in literature with so attractive a group of historical characters, it is anticipated, will not prove unaccept- able to many readers. The best sources of informa- tion have been consulted, and are generally indicated X PEEFACE. in the annotations ; but tliere are works to wliicli the author wishes to acknowledge a larger amount of obligation, — the invaluable series published under the auspices of the Master of the Rolls ; in particular those modestly called calendars, containing numerous important historical documents deciphered from the originals in extenso, prefaced by their several editors Avith highly illustrative introductions. Justice could not be done to any English history or biography of the periods to which they refer, Avithout their frequent assistance. The explorations of Messrs. Bergenroth, Rawdon Brown, Bruce, and Brewer, into the state papers of Spain, Venice, Mantua, and England, of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, have furnished much interesting material for the second volume of these Lives, while they haA^e greatly lessened the labour of its compilation. The author has given precedence to the pontifical dignity ; but the second in his series was in reality the first Englishman honoured by admission into the Sacred College — by a brief interval only. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. Introtiuctton. CHAPTER I. The Papacy Page 1 CHAPTEE II. The Axglo-Saxon Church 22 CHAPTER III. The Axglo-Xorjian Church 58 aaoofe tf)c jpi'rst. ENGLISH CARUINALS OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. CHAPTEE I. Nicholas Bbeakspear, Cardis^al Legate 81 CHAPTEE II. The English Pope, Adrian IV 108 CHAPTER III. Robert le Poule, Cardinal and Papal Chancellor 141 CHAPTEE IV. BozoN Breakspeae, Cardinal and Papal Secretary.— Herebert de Bosham, Cardinal and Archbishop. — Doubtful AND Obscure Cardinals 1G5 XU CONTENTS. a3oofe tf)e ^econU. ENGLISH CARDINALS OP THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES. CHAPTER I. Stephen Langton, Cardinal and Archbishop. — Robert CuRzoN, Cardinal Legate Page 205 CHAPTER II. Robert Sojieecote, Cardinal Deacon 252 chapter iii. John of Toledo, Cardinal Priest 28 1 CHAPTER 1\\ Robert Kilwardby, Cardinal Bishop 345 CHAPTER V. Thomas Joyce, Cardinal Legate 3C8 CHAPTER VI. Simon Langhaji, Cardinal Legate 384 CHAPTER VII. Ada5i Eston, Cardinal Priest. — Doubtful and Obscure Cardinals 422 CHAPTER VIII. Chaucer a promoter of the pee-Lutheran Reforma- tion 435 Appendix 473 INTEODUCTION. CHAPTER I. THE PAPACY. A Christian Martyr — Religion in the Catacombs at Rome — Apostolic Traditions — Title of Pope assumed by the Bishops of Rome — Gregory the Great — St. Augustine — Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons — The Roman Ritual — Development of the Papal System — The Successor of St. Peter — Rome the Me- tropolis of Christendom. THERE was general excitement within and without the walls of the city ; from all points crowds were proceeding, manifesting, as they passed along, signs of unusual interest. Yet to no victorious general had a triumph been decreed, nor was it a great festival. The multitude thronged the Flaminian Gate; they rushed hke a torrent through the Porta Salaria and the Porta Nomentana. "With equal eager- ness the people issued from the Tiburtina, Prsenes- tina, Latina, Appia, and other gates on that side the Tiber. On the summit of the Janiculum they were seen pushing through the Porta Aurelia ; in short, along the whole line of the walls, every gate was like the mouth of a hive during a time of swarming.* * W. A. Becker, "De Romse veteris Muris atque Portis," 21. liipsise, 1842, I. 1 2 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. The population of the entire city seemed to be astir. They flocked into the Via Flaminia, they wound round the Palatine Hill, they passed under the triumphal arches in the Campus Martius, and between the Forum Romanum and that of Julius CiBsar, and by the Forum Boarium — the tide swelled by the patricians who inhabited the resi- dences in the aristocratic quarter. They poured along the Yia Sacra, they blocked up the Yicus Jugarius, and the roguish shopkeepers of the Vicus Pascus swelled the tide of human life. Down came the stream along the Caringe, on that portion of the Bsquiline so familiar to the fashionables as the Oppius,* and along the Vicus Patricius in the valley between the Esquiline and Viminal hills, into the Subura. In addition, a dense mob pushed through the Argiletum.f From the Fora of the Emperors, from the mansions on the Palatine, came horsemen and cha- rioteers, the chief men of the State, bearing about them indisputable evidence of their rank, their wealth, and their power. And all were hurrying into the Amphitheatrum Flavianum, which lay in the valley between the Oaelian, the Bsquiline, and the Velia.J * Respecting the CariiiEe, Dionysius is suiEcient authority for its elevated position : — "Eori S' Iv rw (rrei'tuTrw rw (j)epoi'rL avu Kapit'r]Q KaTO) role eti ruy Kvirpioy kpyop.ivoiQ (TTErunrcv' eyda o'i re fi} FiOfiaiKy ^taXiKTO) SvXov alekipriQ. iii. 22. t " Bescln-eibung der Stadfc Rom." X W. A. Becker, " Handbuch der Romischen Althert£Umer " THE OOLOSSEUM. 3 It appeared that there was to be an exhibition of unwonted attraction — the popular entertainment known as the Venatio, in which wild beasts, in ex- traordinary number and variety, were to appear — and the Eomans turned out almost to a man, every one apparently qualified to wear the toga virilis having joined the crowd. As they proceeded onward, they talked excitedly of the great sights they had seen of this nature, including conflicts of athletse and gladiatores ; but seemed to prize most the achievements of the bestiarii, who entered into deadly conflict with the savage animals brought from the arid African deserts, or the interminable forests of Asia. The reader must imagine the Golosseum filled from the podium * to the topmosts seats of the colonnade set apart for females and pullati (the lower orders) — the equestrians and senators occupying the first fourteen rows of marble seats cushioned, of the first story, the equites distinguishable by the clavis an- gustus over the tunic — the equites splendidi sitting with the ambassadors in the first two or three rows : conspicuous above all was a prominent tribunal f for the presiding Csesar. This prodigious edifice covered five acres of ground, and was now thundering with the applause of 87,000 spectators. There had been a grand sensational scene, in which a professional gladiator had maintained a desperate conflict with a ferocious hyena. It had Leipzig, 1843, 1856. Bunsen, "Le Forum Romanum explique." Haenel, "Arcliiv fiir Philologie und Padagogik." . * The wall encircling tlie arena. t Cubioulum. 1 * 4 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. evidently given the greatest satisfaction to the Roman emperor and to the Roman people. The enormous audience now appeared engaged in an interchange of notes, and the union of their multitudinous voices sounded like the roar of a tempest. Some were commenting on the past performance, some anticipating the coming one; and the connoisseurs, whether wearing the pallium or the toga, expressed their opinions with an ear- nestness that showed how much they delighted in such spectacles. Citizens and senators wore golden signet-rings, the magistrates and other ofRcials being easily recognised by the greater size and number of such decorations ; the tribunes of the plebs rivalling all in this display. In his magnificent paludamentum and golden chlamys the emperor looked frowningly into the arena, as if anticipating the appearance of some object of particular aversion ; and the augurs, headed by the Pontifex Maximus, reflected in their faces the imperial scowl. Even the countenances of the consuls, praetors, and quaestors wore an expression of stern displeasure. It was rumoured that a conspiracy had been discovered, not only to overthrow the imperial authority, but to destroy the religion of the State. The deities that had been honoured from the foundation of the city had been denounced as im- postors, their temples declared unworthy of human regard, and their rites idolatrous; nor had that most sacred of institutes, the vestal virgins, escaped denunciation. Wlien the indignant worshippers demanded who were these audacious blasphemers A SCENE IN THE AEBNA. 5 they were assured that they were persons of no account whatever — a few obscure individuals, whom no patron would permit to be numbered among his clients, who skulked about in out-of-the-way places. Some said that they were Jews, others Greek; a few believed they were Eomans, who had been seduced into adopting a strange religion that had been brought from Judea. All agreed that they were a despicable set of wretches, whose outrages on the gods that had protected Eome, deserved death. It became apparent that one of these alleged conspirators had been condemned to be torn to pieces in the arena, and that the moment of his fate was approaching. The tumult of voices gra- dually hushed into a calm, under the influence of a general desire to see what manner of man it was who had entertained the idea of waging war against the immortal gods, of overthrowing the omnipotent C^sar, of destroying the priests, and of setting aside the magistrates and every kind of authority in the city. Eighty-seven thousand heads were bent forward in one direction, each pair of eyes glancing eagerly towards the compartment from which the wretched culprit and his savage executioner were expected to emerge. A tremendous roar resounded through the vast amphitheatre, and a colossal lion bounded into the arena. Every neck was strained in the direction of the victim. Instead of some daring Titan, or stalwart imitator of the heroic Hercules, they gazed upon the slight figure of a youth in the attitude of prayer, apparently absorbed in devotion, 6 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. and seeing nofcliing of the eager, contemptuous population, impatient for a sigtt of Ms blood — hearing nothing of the swelling murmur of their disappointment, that rolled over the immense struc- ture like the menace of an earthquake — knovsdng nothing of the scene in which he was the principal actor, and totally oblivious of the approach of the ravenous beast bounding towards his first meal since the preceding day. The plebs in the higher tiers* turned up their thumbs to signify that they desired no mercy for the condemned; the eques- trians regarded the coming event with supreme indifference ; the Imperator bent his head upon his hand, and looked scornfully and mercilessly down upon the scene. " Habet ! " shouted, shrieked, howled, yelled at least eighty thousand Roman citizens, till the volume of sound their famihar cry produced was like the bursting of an electric cloud immediately overhead ; so overwhelming was it, that not even the dignitaries sitting nearest the emperor could hear the crushing of bones, as the fangs of the powerful animal met in the flesh of his unresisting victim. A smile of derision passed over the featm'es of the Caesar as he threw himself back in the sella curulis; the high-pi-iest looked contented, the ma- gistrates satisfied, as the soul of the first Chiistian martyr in Rome fled to its divine source. After the show was over, and the multitudinous * Menianse, of wliioh there were tliree : the first for the eques- trians, the second (popularia) for the better class of the populace the third for the lowest class. THE CATACOMBS. 7 spectators had returned to their homes, the cri- minal's mutilated remains were sought after, and reverently carried to a place of interment among extensive excavations, in a remote part of the city. But the blood shed on that memorable day was taken into the soil as precious seed to bear fruit in due season. The Titans did not war against the o gods with a tithe of the power, nor Hercules perform any feat in the least resembUng the marvels effected by that contemptible conspirator, that despised " Christian." In a little while all that he had been accused of imagining was realized — the glorious Roman empire passed away like a dream, and the immortal gods vanished with it. It is true that Eome preserved a Pontifex Maximus, with a goodly retinue of priests and virgins ; in what these differed from their pagan prototypes will be shown in the ensuing pages. In the Catacombs at Rome are preserved the earliest pictorial records of Christianity, and they illustrate with marvellous force and suggestiveness the opening epoch of its history. To their dai-k recesses the first professors of the denounced religion fled as to a secure hiding-place, and there they improvised a chapel, in which their faith was expressed by prayers and thanksgivings. To exhortations to godly living, after certain imperish- able models, were added the reading of such passages from the Evangelists and Apostles as were accessible to their preachers. On the walls of this primitive oratory, as well as over the sarcophagi of those for whom it was a sepulchre, some of the Christians made designs symbolic of their faith and practice : § LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. among them the one most prominent is the figure of the Good Shepherd carrying on his shoulders a lamb or sheep.* The idea is of pagan origin, so also is the nimbus — in short, a large portion of symbolic representation; for the rude artist by whom these were repeated could have had no other models than such tombs and sepulchral urns as bore evidences of a classic taste. t The Good Shepherd was the recognized emblem of the Divine founder of their religion ; but as the community enlarged, it required a human director. He who, by his superior sanctity gained authority, as well as admiration, was invested with that character. His flock became a church, and he undertook its spiritual management in the capacity of presbyter. J In tracing the progress of the papal system, its most remarkable features are found to be a sacer- * Bosio, "Eoma Sotteranea," 351. Didron, "Icon. Christ.," torn. i. Griesinger, " Mysteries of the Vatican," L 8. t The religion, notwithstanding its Syriac derivation, was Greek, as well as the art. Its importers, leaders, writera, and language long remained so ; and even when Latin Christianity became a distinct institution, much the larger portion of the old world accepted the Hellenic ritual and form of church government. X We have no sufficient or trustworthy record of primitive Christianity out of the New Testament. Scarcely had the Divine founder fulfilled his mission than his exponents began to betray their human infirmities. The apostles differed, the fathers inter- preted independently, and many who taught, abandoned inspira- tion for conjecture. We are almost in the dark as regards the Judaic-Greek-Eoman culture of the germ ; all we know is, that it flourished the more it was disturbed, and took root despite the inost strenuous efibrts to check its growth. A remarkable glimpse into this historic gloom may be found in a work of fiction known as the Clementina, the production of a Romanized Greek Schlieman, "Die Clementine," St. PilTteE AT BOilE. 9 dotal corporation, and the concentration of eccle- siastical power in a supreme head. The clergy now assumed to be a privileged caste, and the simple organization hitherto accepted was abolished. The pastoral connection between the bishop who super- seded the presbyter, and the community over whose spiritual wants he presided, was symbolized by the crook or crosier he bore when officiating. Clerical offices multipHed ; so also did clerical titles ; so also did rehgious fraternities and sisterhoods. The rise of monastic establishments expanded the church organization, which soon possessed spiritual peers and commoners of several degrees : it only wanted a spiritual autocrat. The pretensions of Rome to be the metropolis of Christianity rested iipon higher grounds than its being the source of the greatest empire known, in the Western world. It was believed to have been consecrated for its purpose by the apostles Peter and John,* who laboured to establish a church among that portion of the Gentiles they had been taught to regard as the masters of Judea. It has ever been an article of the Roman Christian's faith that St. Peter was selected to be the head of the congregation which existed in the city at the period of his visit ; more- over, that he appointed his successor, and thus * Schweizer, "Das Evangelium Joliannis uacli seinem inuern Wertlie u. seiner Bedentung f. d. Leben Jesu." The visit of St. Peter to Rome rests on tlie authority of St. Jerome, who did not enter the city tUl three centuries after its assumed date. lie became secretary to Pope Damasus, then engaged in laying the foundation of the papal system. The ministry of St. Paul is historical. See also Oxenham's " First Age of Christianity in the Church," an able translation of one of Dr. DoUinger's learned works. 10 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CABDINALS. established the " canonical succession " to which the Church of Rome lays claim. Both the two apostles are said to have suffered martyrdom here ; and this honour — shared, too, as it has been by innumerable citizens of both sexes — has invested the soil, in the mind of all earnest professors of that faith, with unquestionable holiness. For a time the bishop of Eome was content to be considered like other bishops ; * but the as- sociations connected with the seat of his authority suggested supremacy. Rome had been the mistress of the heathen, there did not seem insuperable difficulties to her exercising the same influence over the Christian, world. The idea of an interminable line of sacerdotal Cassars ruling despotically the the thoughts and feelings of man in every state in which Christianity was professed, inflamed the ambition of the Romish prelate. The pastoral crook was laid aside, and he ceased to be a shep- herd of souls : the episcopal mitre was exchanged for a triple crown, and with the title of Pope the assumed successor of St. Peter became spiritual head of Italian Christians. Machiavelli, in the early chapters of his " History of Florence," refers to the first development of the pontifical power in anything but flattering terms. The popes had a long struggle before they acquired a position as temporal princes, not unfrequently suffering death from emperors or kings to whom they were content to be subordinate. They appear * Mosheim and, more recently, Neander have fully illustrated this first epoch of ecclesiastical history — their studious narratives must be familiar to every scholar. OHUEOH OF BOMB. 11 to have adopted tlie policy of warriors rather than of shepherds, and, with the help of the barbarians who overran the Roman empire, kept the states of Italy in a chronic condition of rapine and blood- shed.* Some idea of the progress making in the Church of Rome may be gathered from the reliable fact that, in the middle of the third century, the bishop f ruled over forty-six presbyters and seven deacons within the city ; without, there appear to have been about seven dioceses in the neighbouring towns, and their administrators assembled for the discus- sion of ecclesiastical affairs in the great city. It seems that the synod so formed still retained the Greek equality of these prelates. In Rome there had already been nineteen in succession, the last, Fabianus, having suffered martyrdom a.d. 249. His fate left the see vacant about a year and a half, till Cornelius accepted the dangerous honour. After three successors there was another martyrdom, Sixtus II., and another vacancy of about the same duration. Then five more popes were added to the list ; and though the last, Marcellinus, concluded his rule in a natural way, there ensued a vacancy that lasted four years. There was thus an acknowledged metropolitan; but not only did the bishops in the vicinity carry on * It is curious to trace tlie various nationalities that helped to establish this religious metropolitanism. Civilized Africa and Asia having borne a willing hand in the work, it was left to be completed by the heathen hordes who were making a southern exodus in Europe. t The title of Pope was assumed by Victor, A.D. 196. 12 LIVES OP The englisU caemnals. their functions, but those of the Eastern division of the Christian Church — Byzantium, Carthage, Antioch, Ephesus, &c. &c. — were enlarging their sphere of influence. The see of Rome had again been twice filled, when a short interregnum occurred, followed by a long succession of occu- pants, carrying the stream of time to nearly the conclusion of the sixth century — a period of many vicissitudes, of fierce discussions and formidable rivalries, of altei^nations of gloom and sunshine, of trouble and prosperity, but of uninterrupted de- velopment. The extra-mural bishops, who in their proximity secured an amount of consideration that was to give a vast increase of importance in due time, were largely increased, and the Pope of Rome became generally recognized as the Patriarch of the Western division of the Church. The seat of government of the emperors had been transferred to Constantinople, and Italy had sunk into a dis- tant province of their empire. We now arrive at a great epoch in the progress of the Papacy — the elevation to the Pontifical throne of Gregory I., known in history as Gregory the Great.* The discipline of an ascetic, added to * When Pope Pelagius was carried off by a raging pestilence, clergy and laity united their suffrages to secure Gregory as his successor, and on his exhibiting a becoming reticence, insisted on his at once submitting to the proper ceremonial. Moreoverj they would have him exert his sanctity to stay the fearful plague. He directed a compound procession starting from different points of the city in several distinct bodies — the regular clergy, the monks, the virgins, the matrons, the men, the children, and the poor — all chanting litanies in solemn and reverential state as they passed GEEQOBY THE GREAT. 13 the experience of an abbot, gave him a rigid sense of religious virtue totally independent of humanity. He had carried out the monastic system with unex- ampled severity ; and all the severe lessons he had taught the monks of St. Andrew he had deter- mined to teach the entire priesthood when he left that monastery to govern the Church. He invested the character of Pope with new attributes, and further enlarged and ennobled its vocation. In truth, he stands out from his predecessors in bold relief, as a prelate conscious of a mission as well as a dignity. It was before his elevation that his attention was attracted by the beauty of some Anglo-Saxon children exhibited for sale as slaves in the Eoman market. Whether he indulged on that occasion in the scholastic jokes attributed to him by the original narrator of the familiar anecdote, we are not quite certain; but there cannot be a question that the sight of these attractive little heathens suggested a great work to him, to which, when in a position of almost illimitable usefulness, he devoted all the energies of his mind.* The mission of St. Augus- tine was the result. slowly along the principal thoroughfares. The intention was good, but the result showed the folly of bringing together multitudes during the visitation of a highly infectious malady. Eighty individuals in the different processions fell down and died. — Baronius " Annali Ecclesiastici ; " Anastasius, " Storia dei Pontefici." * By the last quarter of the sixth century, Latin Christianity — imported by its Eoman visitors and colonists, of whom the some- what doubtful St. Alban may be regarded as one, and St. Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, another— must have had three 14 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. The mind of Gregory appears never to have travelled beyond a cu'cumscribed limit ; the element of monachism pervaded it. It had received but little support from scholarship, and knew nothing of the higher forms of philosophy ; but he was a clever controversialist, and held in great aiithority as a theologian. It seems that something of the specula- tive talent, in modern times so much moi'e largely drawn upon by Swedenborg, distinguished him. Probably some passages in the former's curious exposition of the book of Job,* suggested to the Swedish mystic his system of Scriptural interpreta- tion. As a literary production there is little to be said in its favour, but it betrays the papal purpose of endeavouring to invest the more accessible truths of Scripture in a garb of mystery. Its immediate and prodigious popularity with Churchmen shows how acceptable the experiment was to them, among whom his virtuous life and rectitude of principle had already found enthusiastic admirers. He declined the title of Papa Universalis, dis- claiming higher authority than that of Pontiff in the Roman Church ; but this limited government he proceeded to render honourable as a first step to its extension. Virtue, justice, truth, and piety, in a supreme degree, were its characteristics ; so, while cautiously withdrawing from dependence on the or four centuries of growth ; and tliough the Saxons may liave uprooted much of this, it flourished in the more remote districts. The British chronicles assert that three bishops from the island attended the council at Aries, a.d. 334, and that churches and monasteries were numerous in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. * " Magna Moralia." PATRIMONY OF ST. PETEB-. 15 tottering Eastern empire, lie prepared the way for a more secure ecclesiastical domination in tlie West. He did his best, by the excellence of his conduct, to render the papal ofl&ce respected, and the influence of his example invested the court of Rome with an honourable reputation throughout Europe. With G-regory all outward observances, all mere parade, all lip-professions, went for what they were worth : moreover, he repressed all arbi- trary assumptions and manifestations of an un- clerical spirit. Nevertheless, he was careful to consolidate his power, which he induced neigh- bouring nations to respect. Foreign prelates within the reach of his influence were made by conciliatory means to acknowledge their depend- ence ; and thus, about the commencement of the eighth century, he contrived to lay a sure founda- tion for the imposing superstructure erected by his successors. The Pope took his place among the recognized monarchs of the world ; the next step was to esta- blish a material kingdom, and gradually the small states nearest the city were secured and united into a government.* Rome was thus established as the seat and centre of the orthodox religion. It was now attempted to render a visit from the faithful of even distant * These possessions the enterprise of succeeding Pontiffs in- creased, and were known as "the Holy See." They were not administered as a diocese, but as a state, and were styled " the patrimony of St. Peter," though there would be much difficulty in proving a satisfactory conveyance from the apostle of any portion of the land. 16 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. countries an imperative necessity. The Roman churches were hallowed as the resting-places of the early martyrs ; but while the resources of archi- tecture, carving, and painting were largely drawn upon to increase their effect upon strangers, equal care was given to increase the impressiveness of the ritual. The officiating priests were arrayed in vestments remarkable for variety of colour and richness of material. The eye and the ear were regarded as the natural avenues to the soul ; therefore, s^Dlendid buildings, richly decorated, were rendered more impressive by the addition of music in its grandest and most solemn form. There were seven ecclesiastical districts in the city, having thirty parochial charges administered by sixty-six priests, one being chief or cardinal priest. Bach district possessed a hospice, presided over by a deacon ; one having the dignity of arch- deacon. All had to do clerical duty daily. On special festivals the Pope went in state, on horse- back, accompanied by bishops and clergy in their sacred vestments, from the Lateran Palace to the Basilica of St. Peter's, or other sacred structure of the first class, and addressed the rapt congregation from the pulpit, or assisted in the performance of divine worship with a combination of imposing accessories never before attempted. Citizens and strangers filled every church, gazing with as much as- tonishment as reverence on the edifying ceremonial, while thrilled by the dulcet modulations of the singing— a portion of the service to which Gregory had given a religious effectiveness music had never before aflforded. The Gregorian chant enables us GEEGOBT THE GEEAT. 17 to form an idea of the manner in wMcli the choir was made to illustrate and enrich the service ; but it is scarcely possible from that famihar composi- tion to conceive the increased spirit of devotion it produced. The Pope was as manifest in this as the musician ; and there can be little doubt that, as in everything connected with the institution under his guidance, he was affected by that presiding papal influence — a desire to glorify the Church. He strove to place it on a more elevated pedestal, and make a grander display of its form of worship. It thus began to assume the combined character of a spectacle and an entertainment. It was un- questionably attractive, and there is reason to believe that larger congregations and more frequent attendance satisfied the officiating priests that they were labouring to a good purpose. Gregory looked for a higher fame than the credit to be acquired by the introduction of showy cere- monies. He knew that there was much in the Church it was in vain attempting to conceal under splendid vestments and magnificent processions. The stern abbot was not less severe with his back- sliding monks than was the immaculate Pope with his dissolute priests. His correspondence displays the indefatigable reformer ; counselling, reproving, and punishing wherever culpable error or flagitious crime made itself manifest. Unfortunately, his own exemplary life in some quarters failed as a model ; bishops, priests, and deacons took to evil courses in spite of it. The bishops of Naples, of Cagliari, of Salona, Sepontum, and Tarentum, a Eoman archdeacon, as well as several presbyters I. 2 18 LIVES OK THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. and other dignitaries, lie visited with severe chas- tisement, but not more than their vices deserved. His wrath, however, kindled against the patriarch of Constantinople, who had assumed the title of Universal Bishop, and he denounced him as anti- christ — a name subsequently applied to Popes. Gregory the Great had his littlenesses, bred with him perhaps in the narrow walls of his cell. His pride was touched by the patriarch's assumption of superiority; and he betrayed a commonplace jealousy against a rival ; but "the offending Adam" became more pitiful at the downfall of the emperor of the East, when there was no depth of sycophancy into which he did not plunge to secure an interest with his successor, the base and brutal Phocas, the murderer of Maurice and all his family. The Pontiff was spared a prolonged degradation of this kind, for in the second year of the reign of the successful adventurer, a.d. 604, he died. We regard Gregory the Great as the founder of the Papacy in its modern sense. The institution owes almost everything to his fostering care, par- ticularly its enlarged organization and ambitious views ; and when we consider how nearly it was crushed by the Lombard irruption into Italy, how weak it was in the vicious predilections of many of its principal supporters, and how often menaced by formidable schisms, which he treated with con- summate skill (as the Arian heresy of Spain), it must be admitted that he possessed merits as a Pope that dwarf many of his predecessors and successors. The respect paid to his memory by historians of an antagonistic creed is incontestable PIOUS FBAUDS. 19 evidence of his being considered by tliem in advance of his age.* There is one charge to which Gregory the Great laid himself open. His heart was ex- clusively papal ; it had no sympathy with extraneous things, and was sternly set against the classic influence. It seems a contradiction that he should have made a compromise with Saxon heathenism, while against its Greek or Gr^co-Roman type he waged a destructive war. It was again the monastic contraction of sentiment that made him jealous of ideal merit the Church had not produced, and could not rival. He became a senseless iconoclast, decapitating unrivalled statues, and defacing and dilapidating wherever the genius of an unchristian age remained unmistakable. This destruction displeased the Eomans, who were justly proud of their ancient monuments, and at the decease of the Pope they evinced a disposition to retahate on his monuments. They were only to be restrained by one of those pious frauds with which mediaeval annals abound. A subordinate in his establishment, known as Peter the Deacon, made a pubhc avowal that he had seen the Third Person of the Trinity in the form of a dove, in constant communication with his deceased patron. The superstitious multitude, assured of the divine inspiration of the obnoxious pontiff, restrained their indignation ; but the mutilation of valuable works of art was one of the manifestations of the papal system the Roman people regarded as a grievance. Sabinianus was a bad specimen of an Itahan * See Milman, "Latin Christianity;" Neander, "GescMchte der Christlichen Religion," &c. 2 * 20 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. priest, apparently meanly jealous of tlie fame of Ins predecessor, to whose memory lie was bitterly hostile— a character that repeated itself to weariness in the papal succession. More than enough of legend had already swollen the current of eccle- siastical history ; but lienceforth it is not imagina- tion only that will be found diluting the truth. ^ Too many of the chroniclers of the Papacy seem intent on distinguishing themselves as partisans and opponents; therefore materials for a trustworthy narrative become more and more difficult of selec- tion.* In the biography of Sabinianus there occurs a legend which we shall meet again. He is said so to have disturbed the spirit of his predecessor by his mahcious defamation, that the latter appeared three times to remonstrate ; finding this ineffectual, he struck him a mortal blow on the head. He was succeeded, after a long vacancy, by Boniface III., who recommended himself to the Italians by successfully supporting the supremacy of the Pope of Rome against the Patriarch of Constan- tinople. The Imperial Court at last acknowledged the superior claims of the " Successor of St. Peter." Henceforth all branches of the Church were content to regard the Eternal City as the metropolis of Christianity. Thus the successor of the humble fisherman of Galilee found himself in the proud * Platina (Vite dei Romani Pontifici) enters into a specious defence of Gregory's vandalism, but is not quite successful. It is a monkish trait, like one or two other weaknesses to which we have referred, and must be accepted with those elements of a nobler nature that procured for him the affix Maximus. BONIFACH. 21 position of spiritual sovereign of the universe — at least sucli were liis pretensions, as confirmed by a synod held at Rome in the pontificate of Boniface.* Having thus lightly sketched the development of what must be considered the trunk institution, we proceed to trace the growth of one of its most im- portant branches. The tree spread like a banyan, throwing out roots that sunk deep into the soil. In due time each sapling rose and flourished in the various nations of the earth ; they then united their shade, their shelter, and their verdure, till a catholic oasis was produced that appeared to stretch over the entire habitable surface of the globe. Unfor- tunately, evil influences were permitted to affect the sap, the foliage beca,me blighted, some of the larger limbs fell off", and on lessening the distance that gives " enchantment to the view," the more alluring features of the landscape faded like a mirage. * Milman, "Latin Christianity," fourth edition, ii. 311, appears to doubt both the imperial donation and the synodical sanction. The temporal source of this great concession is remarkable. — Anastasius, " Bib. in Vit. Bonifac. IV. ; " Schroekh, " Ohristliche Kirchengeschiohte," xviL 73 : Leipzig. 22 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. CHAPTER II. THE ANGLO-SAXON CHUECH. Mission of St. Augustine— Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons- Establishment of an Anglican Hierarchy— Pelagius and his Schism— Wilfred— BenedictBiscoi3e— Improvement in Church Architecture and the Church Service— Aldhelm and Malmes- biuy Abbey— Anglo-Saxon Prelates in Rome— Anglican Missionaries— Wilbrord, Bishop of Utrecht— Boniface, Arch- bishop of Mentz— Willibald, Bishop of Eichstadt— Willihad, Bishop of Bremen— Alcuin, Secretary to Charlemagne- Alfred at Eome— Peter's Pence— The Normans in Eome— The Pope's Secret Alliance with William, Duke of Nor- mandy — Policy of Hildebrand — Invasion of England insti- gated by him — Pitiable state of the Anglo-Saxon Church. GREGORY THE GREAT found able assistants ; tlie most devoted he drew from the cloister. Sucli was Augustine, whom he despatched with a detachment of monks and choristers, and a grand array of ecclesiastical insignia, for the re-conversion of the island of Britain.* Though Saxon heathenism * Giraldus Cambrensis is of opinion that Christianity came to England from Asia ; it must not, however, be forgotten that the island was much visited by ships sailing from a portion of Africa, where a Church was early established. There cannot be a ques- tion that for a considerable period before the advent of Augustine, the Christian faith had taken root in England ; and at the period of his visit there wera among the Britons, in Wales and Scotland, native prelates, an ordained priesthood, and a ritual differing in essential features from the Pv-oman. The abbot of Bangor ex- plained to Augustine and his associates that an apostolic church COKVEESION OP BRITAIN. 23 had driven tlie Anglican Churcli into Wales, as Bertha, the queen of Kent, was a Frankish Christian, it is possible that some Christian influence existed in this province. Here the Eoman missionaries landed, and were received by Bthelbert and his people with much consideration ; the large silver cross, the sacred pictures, the holy relics, the strange habits of their peaceful visitors, and, more than all, the swelling tones of the Gregorian chant, sung by them as they advanced, produced a pro- found effect. Conversion was easy and rapid. The policy of the Papacy developed itself in the conciliatory adaptation of heathen temples and devotional usages to the new faith. In this, how- ever, Gregory was following, not originating — it had been adopted in its earliest demonstrations of progress. How the Saxon was able to understand the arguments, as well as the service, of his new friends, in a language with which he was totally unacquainted, has not been stated ; but there could be no difficulty in comprehending the familiar sacri- fice and the devotional assemblage in his customary place of worship. The idols, to be sure, were banished, but the symbolic decorations, to him of far more awful import, that supplied their place, rendered him insensible to their loss. The example of Kent acted upon the neighbouring kingdoms, Avhich also became Christian by the same easy change. If we could imagine the converts had existed in this part of the world without any subjection to the Father of Fathers, and, uotwithstandLng his mission from Pope Gregory, was likely to remain so. See also Twysden, " Historical Yindication of the Church of England in point of Schism," p. 7. 24 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. actuated by a conviction that they were preparing a new path to honour and influence for some of their posterity, the facility with which this important revolution was produced might be accounted for. Little more than a century had elapsed since the Romans had abandoned their colony, and Latin Christianity had been established at all their stations. The Saxon gods had hardly become naturalized when, at the suggestion of what must have appeared to them an insignificant group of strangers, they were displaced. Their names were retained in the days of the week ; * in other respects their places knew them no more ; unless, while permitted their temples and sacrifices, the people were left to the delusion that in the Virgin Mary they were adoring their goddess Friga ; in God the Father they were worshipping Thor ; in God the Son, Woden ; and that the rest of their divinities were still accessible to them under such new appellations as apostles, saints, and martyrs. The letter of Gregory the Great to Augustine respecting the arrangements for the Anglican hier- archy has been preserved by Bede. The Pope states that he forwards the pallf for his important " And there remain — as every one knows. It is singular that the monkish writers retained in Latin not only the old succession of months, but that of the days— still more suggestive of Eoman paganism. t The pallium or pall was originally a portion of the sacred vestments used by prelates of the Church of Rome. It is stated at first to have been merely a strip of woollen cloth for the shoulders, that had lain on the tomb of St. Peter to give it peculiar sanctity —it subsequently became a rich habit, such as was said to have been presented by the emperor Constantine to the bishop of ANGLICAN niEEAECHY. 25 services to the Church, and directs him to create twelve subordinate sees. He states that he will send investiture in the same form to the bishop of London and the archbishop of York ; the latter is to have twelve suffragans, but to be siibject to the see of Canterbury. The Pontiff also directs that at the demise of Augustine the archbishop of York is only to preside over his own bishops, but to be independent of the bishop of London ; precedency to be regulated by priority of consecration. The Pope adds advice which experience in ecclesiastical government had rendered necessary, to the effect that harmony should be maintained amongst the prelates, to advance the interests of Christianity. Their subsequent disputes prove how completely such good counsel was thrown away. When Gregory asked whence came the children whose personal appearance had excited his admi- ration, he was told from Deira. It was this northern province of Saxon-England that formed a portion of the second archbishopric he established there ; but the Roman missionaries had by this time learned to distrust rapid conversions. The suc- cessors of Ethelbert and Bertha were pagans ; their Eome, by him to be transferred, by way of investiture, when con- ferring the higher ecclesiastical dignities. It was made imperative on metropolitans to receive this vestment before entering upon their duties, when they had to take an oath of allegiance to the PontifiF. In the majority of cases a journey to Italy was indis^ pensable ; and as influence at the papal court was only to be secured by a large outlay, much treasure was consequently kept flowing from England into Eome. — Harpsfield, "Hist. Eccles. Angl.," c. vi. ; De la Marca, " De Concord. Sacer. et Imper.," lib. vi. c. 6. 20 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. subjects relapsed, and returned to idolatry: Essex followed the example of Kent, and in all the lately Christianized kingdoms, Thor, Woden, &c., were worshipped as before. It took some time, and much tact, to get quit of them ; and as the delay permitted the missionaries to acquire the language of the people, these good men were better prepared for their work. The heathens were only to be convinced by material advantages. Edwin, king of Northumberland, in- sisted on victory over his enemies as a condition. Paulinus, the new archbisho]o, promised ; the Wessex forces were overthrown ; still the king would not at once become a Christian. Paulinus was required to give other proofs of spiritual power. At last the king and court were prevailed on to accept baptism, and then a conversion commenced on a more solid basis. It was made clear to the understanding of the heathens that their idols were without power or qualification of any kind, and that there was some- thing to be secured by embracing Christianity, which their mythology could not afford. The royal con- vert triumphed over all his eneraies, and the fervour of the conqueror, as well as the devotion of his sub- jects, increased at each victory. In this way he raised himself to supreme sovereignty, and when he had no more kingdoms to conquer, established a wise and beneficent government for his subjects of every degree. Law and religion went hand in hand; every one not only travelled in security, but found at each convenient halting-place a fountain and cup placed for his refreshment. Very pleasant was the prospect to the Eoman SUPEBMAOY OP THE CfiOSS. 27 priest as well as to the Saxon Christian : the former might look for approval from the dispenser of ecclesiastical preferment ; the latter saw before him a Via Sacra, which might lead to honours and emoluments unknown in his native country. Un- happily, the brilliant prospect too quickly faded. The Christian king fell in battle against a more powerful enemy ;* and it was feared that ihe prestige of the new religion had perished with him. A strong- effort was made to save it ; but it survived chiefiy in the insular security of lona and the sanctity of distant Lindisfarne. Thence came missionaries, and for the third time the conversion of the ob- stinate pagans was commenced. A sanguinary battle, in which their most warlike king, Penda, shared the fate of Edwin, proved a complete overthrow tO the heathen gods.f A Christian king, Oswin, had been the conqueror, and the victors and the vanquished rivalled each other in giving their testimony to the supremacy of the cross. The missionaries from the northern monasteries were at work in one part of the island, while some sent fi'om Eome were as busy proselytizing in another. It so chanced that they taught differently the time of keeping Easter. The former, like their brethren in Wales, adhered to the practice of the Oriental Church ; the latter insisted on carrying out the practice at Rome. There ensued much dis- cussion. The British priests were devoted to their old customs ; the Eomish still more devoted to the * In tte battle of Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster, a.d. 633. + Winwed Field, near Leeds, a.d. Q5Q. 28 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. Pope. Thus while Christianity was at last firmly planted in the soil, a formidable schism seemed likely once more to throw it prostrate.* The metropolis of Christianity was absorbed in its local importance, and the papal court cared little for the interests of the far-off insular people, regarded by them only as being among the later converts to the faith ; but when a hierarchy had been established in the island, and prelates and priests speaking the Anglo-Saxon tongue found their way to the great capital, they began to appreciate their piety, their numbers, and their wealth. The strangers came to be edified by a sight of the many imposing memorials of the faith they professed ; and many stayed to improve themselves in sacred learning and literature. The priesthood had scarcely been established in Anglo-Saxon England, when the influence of the mother church began to act upon it. The clerical adventurer has always been as ardent in his as- pirations as the civilian, and his ambition quite as exalted. As monasteries multiplied and churches increased, the native priests had their imaginations excited equally with their zeal, by accounts of that great city in which everything great and holy in religion was to be found. The combination of wealth, of influence, of honour, exercised by the leading prelates at the court of Rome, was dwelt * The Roman ritual was established by Theodol-e, archbishop of Canterbury, about 670 ; and the Anglican Church, like the feider national institutions, became dependent on that of Rome, more or less, in accordance -with the patriotism or subserviency of the existing pi-imate or king. PELAGIUS. 29 upon by tlie travelled monk with intense exaggera- tion, till tlie humblest neophyte felt an inclination to seek after the same rich rewards of a rehgious life. His application to study, as well as his exercise of abstinence and of self-mortification, were prepara- tions for the difficult ascent he had determined to commence. Among those insular ecclesiastics whose intelli- gence left an impression on the religion of their age, was Pelagius, a British monk, who after a fervent study of theology travelled not merely to the capital of the Christianity of the Popes, but to the capital of the Christianity of Christ. He went to Rome, to Africa, to the Holy Land, trod in the footsteps of the Apostles and the Fathers, and throughout his course preached in all the communities with almost apostolic effect. He was an accomplished contro- versialist, erudite in the scholarship of the fourth century ; and possessed a subtle intellect and per- suasive elocution. It chanced, however, that the opinions he expressed differed from what at Rome was considered orthodox. They became a schism which spread far and wide, and gave the com^t of Rome enormous trouble to repress. Pelagius was brought before synods. Pelagius was accused by bishops ; he had Jerome as an oppo- nent, as well as Augustine, Orosius, and other pillars of orthodoxy. Nevertheless, Pelagianism flourished ; Rome became alarmed, and summoned the dangerous schismatic to make his defence. He had been con- demned and anathematized more than once, and called heresiarch, and many other ugly names ; but he came of a race, it was evident, not easily to be 30 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. talked down, and boldly met his accusers witii a detailed confession of faith. Just then a change occurred in the Papacy, and a Greek became Pope. Zosimus, bishop of Jerusalem, sent a letter testi- fying to the orthodoxy of Pelagius ; his principal associate — a countryman too, apparently — Celestius — was acquitted on a fair trial, and Pelagianism became popular in Rome. African synods and Roman councils had failed to put down the new theology ; but the Greek emperor considered himself a better authority on such pro- found subjects, and issued a decree condemning the heresiarch to banishment from Rome. Then the obsequious Pope found dangerous heresies, where the most innocent doctrines had previously existed, and all the prelates followed the Pope, excepting eighteen, who waited the decision of a general council. The Greek pontiff anathematized the bishops ; another imperial edict excommunicated them, as well as the original offenders ; and the orthodox party, so headed, hounded on each other to persecute to the death those who had ventured to differ with them in opinion. Both Pelagius and Celestius disappeared towards the conclusion of the first quarter of the fifth century — how or where has never been ascertained ; but their opinions were not so easily disposed of as their persons. In truth, they gave so much trouble to the orthodox church, as apparently to create a prejudice against British theologians.* The earhest of our Anglo-Saxon authors, Gildas, in the sixth century is said to have visited Rome, but it * Milman, "Hist. Latin Christianity," vol. i. p. Ul. WILPEED. 31 is not quite clear that he ought to be considered an historical personage.* Wilfred, of whom we have more trustworthy accounts, was of good birth and education, and visited the Eternal City with Benedict Biscope. As he had returned to England in 661, this must have occurred a year or two before. Three years later he was elevated to the see of York. He was again in Eome in Q'^^ , and on his return con- verted the last portion of the island that remained pagan. It is quite clear that he had been to Rome to some purpose, for he Avas a strong partisan of the Pope, and laboured earnestly to impress his country- men with the idea of papal infallibility. While at Rome, Wilfred had been caressed by the court ; and one of the papal council, the Arch- deacon Boniface, was commissioned to instruct him in ecclesiastical knowledge and discipline. He then received the blessing of the Pope, with the name of Clement, and went his way a zealous servant of the Papacy. In England he found a strong anti-Roman party intent on maintaining ecclesiastical indepen- dence. Inspired with the ideas he had imbibed of apostolic succession and papal infallibility, he rushed into the conflict without calculating the power of his opponents. He secured important aid ; but the Anglo-Saxon prelates and monks were not disposed to renounce time-honoured usages — and his advocacy of Rome cost him his bishopric. On his second voyage to Rome, his vessel was driven on the coast of Priesland, where he remained to attempt the con- version of the pagans of that country. He made another journey over the Alps, whence he came * Lappenberg, " Gescliiclite von Engl.," i. 38. 32 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. back to die, a.d. 709. He maintained a stately establishment, after the fashion of the continental prelates.* The spiritual power in Eome came into collision with the temporal power in England, when Pope John V. fulminated a decree against Aldfrid, king of Northumbria, in favour of Winfrid, bishop of York ; but the king, who treated the mandate with disrespect, soon afterwards died suddenly. His successor was too young to have any voice in the matter, and though the prelates and thanes seemed inclined to be contumacious, the Archbishop Bercht- wald supported Winfrid, who had stood out for un- conditional submission to the Chair of St. Peter ; and the point in dispute was conceded. This occurred in the year 711. Benedict Biscope visited the metropolis of Chris- tianity more than once, collecting books and rarities. It was the policy of Rome to make friends of leading members of the Anglican Church. Its allegiance to the mother church was far from being as perfect as ■was desired. t * "Wright, "Biog. Britannic Lit., Anglo-Saxon Period,"). 183. t It is difficult to detei-mine -wliether Britain first received its ecclesiastical rules from Carthage, Antioch, Jerusalem, or Byzan- tium. Unquestionably long before the advent of Augustine, it had imported Christianity from an eastern source — as was evident in the British mode of observing Easter, and in some ritualistic observances that differed from those of Rome; and in remote places in the island where Augustine had not penetrated, these ancient forms were maintained. Wilfred was completely won over, and lost favour with his countrymen by his papal zeal. Biscope, abbot of St. Peter, Canterbury, subsequently of Wearmouth, was equally earnest in the same cause.— Bede, "Vit. Abb. Wirimuth " Ware, 22. 8 •! ofG HENEY AND BEOaET. 189 quarrel. It was one of spiritual against temporal power, and the Papacy was bound to support it ; consequently tte clergy were presently made to understand that the English king was a Pharaoh and his laws arbitrary, while the archbishop was the champion of God and the Church.* Alexander must by this time have been getting tired of his protege. He was too prudent to create him a cardinal; Becket's infinitely papal spirit would never have tolerated a superior. The safest plan was to bring about a reconciliation between him and the king, so that he might go back to Canterbury and resume the duties of his diocese. A meeting took place between Henry and Becket at Mont- mirail, 6th January, 1169, where attempts at an adjustment of the quarrel were made. Herebert of Bosham accompanied his patron. According to his own statement, it was he who had kept up the papal spirit in the exile, as if he were really the medium of Adrian's influence; he asserts also that just before the interview, he whispered a caution to the primate not to repeat his false step in acceding to the Consti- tutions of Clarendon. The result was that the arch- bishop stood firm in " saving the honour of God," as a condition on which he would submit his case for judgment. This offered too wide an opening for evasion. The quarrel was as far from a settlement as ever. In truth, hostilities soon broke out afresh. The Pope again leaned towards the archbishop, and the English bishops began to waver. Two more papal legates were sent, and they met the king at Damport, and then at Bayeux. Their con- * "Aunales," A.D. 1170. 190 LIVES OE THE ENGLISH CABDINALS. ference was now so animated as to be near a quarrel, and now so calm as to approach, a recon- ciliation. Other conferences followed at Caen and at Rouen ; but when they were close upon an agreement, as each party insisted on a saving condition, one for his crown and the other for the Church, and as neither would give way, it ended without any result, except another appeal to Eome. Becket again began excommunicating and in- triguing with the English bishops to lay the entire country under an interdict ; then Henry, mistrusting his clergy and wearied out with the strife, entered into another negotiation, which was equally fruitless as the preceding. The king caused a stringent proclamation to be published, threatening the punishment due to high treason to any one im- porting letters from the Pope or the archbishop. Now the Pope thought proper to make another effort at a settlement. Two other diplomatists were named, — the archbishop of Rouen and the bishop of Nevers, and they were authorized to deal strictly with both parties, if they did not come to terms. Nevertheless there was an evident leaning on the part of the Pontiff to the king of England, whose adroit ambassador, John of Oxford, had spared no arguments that ought to induce the court of Rome to assist his master. The result was that he gave absolution to the excommunicated bishops of London and Salisbury, and authorized the arch- bishop of York to perform the coronation of Henry's eldest son. The rage of Becket at these obvious attacks on his power and prerogative was terrible. He wrote EEOONOILIATION. 191 to Eome in his most vituperative style, referring to himself as Christ crucified there, and to his oppo- nents as impenitent thieves. He vowed to appeal no more to such a tribunal, but to God ; and ex- pressed his readiness to die. It was evident that he abandoned all hopes of entering the Sacred College. His papal demonstrations had been pre- mature ; he should have waited, hke his illustrious countryman, till he had got firmly seated in the chair of St. Peter, before he had assumed papal authority. The cardinals were against him, and the Pope could no longer be relied upon. Nevertheless the indomitable resolution refused to give way. He might assert his readiness to die ; but he presently determined to let his enemies know that he intended to live, to their confusion. There seemed to be always De Bosham at his elbow to revive the Adrian spirit, when it sank, and it was with this spirit intensified he wrote to the English prelates most opposed to him, insisting on their publishing his interdict. The archbishop expected to weary out opposition ; indeed, the king was getting impatient of the contest, and was ready to seize on any expedient that promised to put an end to it. At last Henry caught at a hint from one of his counsellors that the troublesome primate might be more easily managed in England than on the continent ; an interview was at once arranged at Fretteville, and it was followed by a treaty and a reconciliation. The weathercock at Rome now veered to the opposite quarter of the ecclesiastical compass, and the Pope suspended or excommunicated 192 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH GAEDINALS. all the English, prelates who had shown fidelity to their king. A few months later the archbishop returned to his diocese, as elate as Adrian in his moment of greatest triumph. Overflowing with morbid pride, his actions proved that if he could not be a pope in Rome, he insisted on being one in England. He privately sent over his letters of excommunication against the ob- noxious bishops, whose faces he threatened to fill with ignominy ; and on his landing, commenced a systematic aggression upon all, clergy and laity, who had given him offence. This course he was encouraged to take by the popular demonstrations made in his favour, as he pursued his stately progress towards the metropolis, and thence to Canterbury, attended by an increasing retinue of zealous friends and admirers. Bitter comj^laints of his despotism, as well as hints of his doubtful loyalty, were carried to the king, who, exasperated beyond all control, broke out into a taunting reproach of his courtiers for not having preserved him from the insults of a low- born and turbident priest. Neither the suggestion, nor the stigma passed unheard or unfelt ; in truth, there was scarcely a layman present who was not quite as impatient of the troublesome primate as his sovereign ; but four of the king's chamberlains, Reginald Eitz-Urse, Hugh de Moreville, Reginald de Brito, and William de Tracey, considered them- selves to have been directly ajopealed to, and after a short conference among themselves, secretly left the court. The archbishop had arrived at Canterbury, had SIR EEGINALD EITZ-UESE. 193 dined in the hall of his palace, and thence retired to a private apartment, when strangers were an- nounced bearing a royal message. Orders were given for their admission, and the four knights entered. Sir Eeginald Fitz-Urse was spokesman, and his intention seems to have been to get Becket to alter his offensive proceedings, especially his opposition to the coronation of Prince Henry and excommunication of the king's friends. The prelate was obstinate, haughty, and fierce. No pope ever exhibited a more profound sense of his superiority, than did the archbishop, when face to face with the four resolute chamberlains. " The king commands you and your disloyal abettors to quit the kingdom," sternly cried Fitz- Urse. "It is not becoming of the king to give such commands," replied the primate, still more sternly; and then defiantly added, " No power on earth shall part me and my flock." An altercation ensued that momentarily grew more fierce. One of the knights warned him of his peril, but this only provoked the spirited churchman to more open defiance. John of Salisbury, who was present, seems to have felt a conviction that such intemperance would end ill. The exciting scene came to a climax when Sir Reginald Fitz-Urse called on all present to arrest the traitor. Of course none of his devoted friends ventured to lay hands on him, and the knights having come unarmed, did not attempt to use force. Seeing the archbishop standing undaunted among his friends and retainers, who had no doubt hastened to his assistance at the sound of I. 13 194 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. angry dispute, ttie confederates rushed out of the building calling for their arms. They had strong support in the city. Neigh- bouring laymen, who had a long-standing quarrel with the primate respecting their lands, accompa- nied by armed men, were presently seen thronging towards the building, shouting furiously. John of Salisbury, seeing his misgivings were Hkely to be verified, endeavoured to put in a word of caution while the gates were fastened ; but the papal spirit stood resolute. An assault was made upon the closed doors, and the din of hammers and the cries of the assailants could be plainly heard. Service was about to commence in the adjoining cathedral, to which he was conducted by his friends. But he in- sisted on having his crosier borne before him, and thus proceeded to the sacred edifice with the usual state. As he passed along the aisle, the tread of armed men was heard hurrying along the cloister : and all except three of his companions ran away in abject terror. These were Edward Grim, his stan- dard-bearer, Fitz-Stephen (both wrote his life), and Robert, a canon of Merton, where he received his schooling. These stood faithful, but in fear and trembling, between the altar of the Virgin and that dedicated to St. Benedict. " Where is the traitor ? " was heard, with other cries ; and figures of grim warriors bearing deadly weapons came rushing along the aisle. " Behold me ! " replied the undaunted churchman. " No traitor— but God's piiest." Even then he might have saved his Ufe. The errand of the chamberlains was to force the abso- BEOKET MUEDEEBD. 195 lution of the excommunicated prelates, to save the honour of the king. It was the first thing they demanded as they approached the primate. But his resolution did not falter. They then called upon him to surrender to the king. This he not only refused to do, but when they attempted liis arrest, he seized De Tracey, dashed him on the stone pave- ment, and stigmatized Fitz-Urse with the revolting epithet of pander, — in his passion dealing taunts and insults right and left. Flesh and blood could not endure further provocation. The insulted knight struck the first blow with his sword. The faithful standard-bearer, trying to ward it off, had his arm nearly cut iu two ; nevertheless the sharp blade fell on the prelate's head and drew blood. De Tracey was now on his feet, and, exasperated by his fall, struck fiercely. "Lord receive my spirit ! " exclaimed the martyr, as he fell with a mortal wound. His assailants struck other blows ; and one, who had been a priest, probably degraded by the primate, stamped out his brains. Then they disappeared, it has been alleged, to plunder the place. When all was quiet and safe, out from their hiding-places in the roof, in the crypt, in the dark nooks and secret corners of the cathedral, came the chapter, came the monks, came choristers, acolytes, crosier-bearer, and other functionaries, to behold a spectacle that appalled their souls, — the maimed official bleeding, the holy place reeking like a shamble, the archbishop crushed and dead. News of this outrage flashed through Europe, every priest denouncing the sacrilege, as well as the murder. It flashed through France, as though it 13 * 196 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. would bliglit tlie name of the monarcli in whose name the deed had been perpetrated. It flashed through Italy, and impelled the mind of the shifting Pope to instant reprisals. It is just possible that this abrupt conclusion of a dispute which had been exceedingly profitable to the court of Rome, and might have been more so, influenced Alexander in his first view of the dreadful incident. Probably, how- ever, the person most deeply affected by it was Henry, who saw and dreaded the load of oppro- brium it would draw down upon his head. The Pope, then at Tusculum, was proceeding to pronounce excommunication, as well as an interdict throughout the king's dominions, when ambassadors arrived, offering the royal submission, and doubtless substantial proofs of their master's sincerity and liberality. Negotiations were commenced and on May 22, 1172, the king, in the church of Avranches, publicly protested his innocence, and made proposals of service to the Church, which were accepted. Subsequently — 12th July, 1174 — he presented him- self as a penitent at the tomb of his opponent, in Canterbury Cathedral, and permitted himself to be scourged by the monks. Lord Lyttelton, in his life of Henry II., has left the following estimate of this distinguished AngHcan pre- late :— " A man of great talents, of elevated thoughts, and of invincible courage, but of a most violent and turbulent spirit, excessively passionate, haughty, and vain-glorious, in his resolutions inflexible, in his resentments implacable. It cannot be denied that he was guilty of a wilful and premeditated per- jmy, that he opposed the necessary course of pubhc CHABAOTBR OP BBCKET. 197 justice, and acted in defiance of the laws of his country, laws which he had most solemnly acknow- ledged and confirmed. Nor is it less evident that during the heat of this dispute, he was in the highest degree ungratefiil to a very kind master, whose confidence in him had been boundless, and who from a private condition had advanced him to be the second man in the kingdom." " On what motives he acted," adds the historian, " can be certainly judged of by Him alone ' to whom aU hearts are open.' " These motives are the same that have actuated all ultra-churchmen in aU ages ; the same that directed the conduct of his exemplar and compatriot, who had flourished during a portion of his brilliant career : they arose fi:'om a conviction of the supre- macy of the Church, and a consciousness of the necessity of maintaining it. That Becket aspired to hold the same authority, there can be as little doubt as that had he become Pope he would have proved worthy of the afl&x added to the names of the most distinguished pontiffs. Though he did not directly infuse his English energy into the Papacy, his fame gave it a powerful impulse, and strengthened the conviction left by the life and labours of Adrian IV., that the most ambitious policy was the safest and the best. Few ecclesiastics have been in such favour with biographers as Thomas Becket. Narratives of his personal history were compiled not only by three of his own personal attendants, Herebert de Bosham, William Fitz-Stephen, and Edward Grim ; by his friends, John of Salisbury and Roger of Pontigny ; 198 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. by Ms contemporaries, William of Canterbury and Gamier de Pont ; but by chroniclers wlio flourished shortly afterwards, and anonymous writers of the same century, — Ranulph de Diceto, John of Bromp- ton, Alan, abbot of Tewkesbury, Gervase of Tilbury. Hovedon, and Roger, prior of Freston, as well as the author of a MS. preserved in the Lambeth Library. Four of these are included in the " Quadrilogus," printed in Paris in the year 1495 ; but a much better collection has more recently been made by Dr. Giles. These, and several others, are written with so evident a partiality, by members of the same profession, that much of their eulogium must be taken cum grano. Should the reader require a work written in a totally different spirit, he may consult " De Canoni- zatione Thomae Cantuariensis et suorum," by a later writer, — Eichard James, preserved in MS. in the Bodleian Library. By this time the dead archbishop possessed more than papal veneration.* He had not only been canonized, but had become the most popular saint in the calendar. Even the fame of the English Pope had paled before that of this ecclesiastical luminaiy. Numberless miracles were said by the Canterbury priests to have taken place at his shrine, a pilgri- mage to which became as fashionable to the religious world as previously one had been to Rome. * The effect of fashion in such matters is shown in the account of the offerings of the pilgrims to the three principal shrines in Canterbury in one year: Becket, £832. 12s. 6d. ; the Virgin, £93. 5s. 6d. ; the Saviour, £3. 2s. 6d. In another year : Becket, £554, 6s. 3d. ; the Virgin, £4. Is. 8d. ; the Saviour, nothiug.— Somner, " Antiquities of Canterbury." OAEDINAL DB BOSHAM. 199 Indeed so profound was the impression created in Europe by this additional infusion of Anglican energy into the papal system, that Cathohc writers appear bound to express their gratitude in endless eulogiums on the hero and the martyr. Justice was done on Becket's murderers ; but here retributive vengeance stopped. The king's ecclesiastical friends not only remained unmo- lested, but John of Oxford five years later be- came bishop of Norwich, and Foliot, bishop of London, grew higher in the royal favour than ever. Nor were the archbishop's friends neglected : John of Sahsbury was elevated to the bishopric of Ohartres. Respecting his other secretary, to whose peculiar influence we attribute much of his ultra-papal zeal, Cardella refers to Bosham, otherwise Bossenhan, as celebrated for the progress he had made in scholastic study in the most celebrated schools of France and England, particularly in philosophy and theology, and gives authority for stating that after his patron's murder he was elevated to the rank of archbishop of Benevento and cardinal (in 1178), but allows that it has been asserted by an English writer that there was another Herebert Bosham.* * A volume of Ms letters is preserved among Archbishop Parker's MSS. in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, as well as an incomplete copy of his " Life of Becket;" and with these, aided by an imperfect MS. found at Arras, Dr. Giles has produced an excellent edition of his works and correspondence for the " Patres Eoclesias Anglicanse." In his preface to the second volume the learned editor denies that he was ever created a cardiual. This has been done before, but on no conclusive evidence. Pope Alexander unquestionably entertained a high opinion of De Bosham, and corresponded with him ; and the ex-secretary's well-known zeal for 200 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. He refers to different contradictory authorities o the subject. According to his account, Cardinj De Bosham died in 1186.* William Fitz-Stephen appears to have been bor in London, of which he has left the best conterc porary description extant. He vras a monk ( Canterbury, and fiUed many employments under tl archbishop : remembrancer in his exchequer, sul deacon in his chapel, clerk, reader, and advocate. He was also sent on a mission to the Pope. H survived his patron many years, and is believed t have died about 1191. Having pleased King Henr by presenting him with a Latin prayer in vers( preserved in his Life of Thomas, he was not mc lested when the royal anger was strongest agains the former favourite. He seems to have employe himself in literary composition after the primate' death, and, there is reason to believe, wrote at leas one work besides his biography. Li the " Quadri logus" there is a collection of miracles ascribed t "William of Canterbury," supposed to be Fit2 Stephen. the Church and devotion to his patron must have been powerfi recommendations to the Pontiff. This subject will be furthc illustrated in the Appendix to this volume. The reader is referre to Dr. Giles's " Life and Letters of Thomas Becket," 2 vols., 184:1 and his "Herberti de Boseham," 2 vols., 1845. Anthony "Wood, following Leland, states that Bossa was tl name of an apostle of the South Saxons, whence the place i Sussex derived its appellation, and that Herebert flourished : Oxford about 1168, where, according to Bale, "liberalium artiu: [as one hath] ac scholasticfe Theologire magisterium adeptus est. He also makes him archbishop of Benevento. * "Memorie Storiohe de' Cardinali," &c., ii. 121. + Proleg. in Vita Thomre. NEGLECT OF ENGLISH OABDINALS. 201 The papal annalists mention otter English car- dinals as belonging to this century ; but they are either of doubtful creation or too obscure for a detailed biography. It may as well here be re- marked, that accounts of them from such sources are rarely to be relied upon, though unsatisfactorily brief. Though traces of them must have been left in the pontifical archives, respecting their legations and correspondence, no research has been attempted in that direction, or in any other. Moreover, no slight amount of carelessness has been shown in compiling the BngHsh portion of the list : a fault equally apparent in some of our own early illustrators of ecclesiastical biography. We miist enumerate among these doubtful Princes of the Church, " Ulricus Odolricus," described as pontifical legate in England in the year 1109. He may have been legate ; it does not follow that he was cardinal. " Galfridus Monu- methensis," said to have flourished in the first quarter of the century. " Theobaldus Stampensis " was a distinguished teacher at Oxford. He became a master of the university and governor of one of the haUs, and had under his tuition from sixty to a hundred scholars. He wrote a book against the regular clergy, which he dedicated to the primate Thurstan.* He was nominated by King Stephen bishop of "Winchester, 2nd February, 1123, and three years later elected archbishop of Canterbury. Innocent II. is said to have created him a cardinal ;t * Wood, "Hist, and Antiq. of Oxford" (Gutch), i. 140. t Godwin, " De Praesulibus Anglise Commentarius" (Richard- son), Cantab. 1743, fol. See list at the end. 202 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. but there is reason to believe that he also was merely clothed with legatine powers. John Cummin is stated to have been elevated to the dignity of cardinal priest in 1183. He was ap- pointed archbishop of Dubhn, and enjoys the credit of having built the metropolitan church. The pride and opulence of English ecclesiastics are made sufficiently manifest by Roger of Wen- dover's description of William, bishop of Ely, the papal legate and justiciary of England towards the close of the twelfth century. The legateship he is accused of having secured by a bribe of a thou- sand pounds of silver, and his exactions became intolerable to the clergy. His state was supported by a travelling retinue of fifteen hundred attendants, exclusive of clerks and a military guard. At table he was served by sons of the nobility, and followed by music and singing, " as though a choir of angels accompanied the omnipotent God to Heaven." He possessed himselfof whatever towns, castles,churches, and lands lay in his way, and struck terror into the hearts of the people by his tyranny and extortion. At last the nobles entered into a combination against him. He endeavoured to escape out of the country in the disguise of a woman, but was discovered and maltreated ; nevertheless he sub- sequently contrived to cross the Channel. ENGLISH CAEDINALS OF THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTUEIES. BOOK THE SECOND. CHAPTEE I. STEPHEN LANGTONj CAEDINAL AND AEOHBISHOP. EGBERT CUEZON, CARDINAL LEGATE. Stephen Langton's Course of Study — a Love Song paraphrased — is appointed Chancellor of the TJniyersity of Paris — invited to Rome, and created Cardinal — Disputed Election to the See of Canterbury — Innocent III. appoints him Primate — King John enraged — England placed under Interdict — the Cardinal Archbishop's Mission to Philip Augustus — England threatened with Invasion — John surrenders his Kingdom to the Pope — the Cardinal returns to England — his Patriotism — is hated by King John — Religious Movement in Metz — Character of Innocent III. — England in Revolt — Runnymede . — Magna Charta drawn up by the Cardinal — the Pope pro- tects King John, and suspends the Archbishop — Accession of Henry III.— Pandulph — the Cardinal returns to his See — • Festival in honour of Becket — his Regulations for the Clergy — directs the Popular Party in England — Corruption at Rome — his Death — his Services — Cardinal Curzon. STEPHEN LANGTON'S course of study ap- O pears to have been tlie same as that previously followed by his countrymen, John of Salisbury, Robert le Poule, and "Walter Mapes, with such distinction.* Much of this was of a strictly anti- * " And without doubt all impartial men may receive it for an undeniable truth, that the most subtle arguing in school divinity 206 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. quarian, mucli of a purely scliolastic cliaracter. There was the quadrivium, — what was known of mathematics and physics ; in addition, rhetoric, to enable the scholar to carry on disputations on subtle points of philosophy and theology. The study of the Scriptures, and of the Fathers, was enforced on the divinity student, and several classical authors were mastered, as well as Aristotle, and the principal philosophers and historians. Lucan and Persius, Priscian and TuUy were eagerly perused. Not unfrequently love-songs and romances were quite as popular, and many clever students amused their leisure with the composition of both. These employments were varied by occasional fights be- tween " gown and town," in which the scholars of the Middle Ages were quite as active as under- graduates sometimes have been in the nineteenth century. Many of Langton's early productions have been lost, as well as a historical work known to have been written by him, a " Life of Richard Coeur de Lion." He was also a poet then, and subsequently. No trace has been left us of his Hexameron, written in hexameters, — the subject, the six days of the Creation. But there is a poem by him preserved in MS. in the Archiepiscopal did take its beginning iii England and from Englislimen, and also from thence it went to Paris, other parts of France, and at length into Italy, Spain, and other nations, as is by one observed [Alex. Minutianus in ' EpLstola quadam,' — vide Pitseum, set. 13, in Alex. Hales]. So that, though Italy boasteth that Britain had her Christianity first from Eome, England may truly maintain that from her (immediately by France) Italy first received her school divinity."— Anthony Wood, "Hist, and Antiq. Oxford" (Gutch), i. 160. DIVINITY MADE EASY. 207 library at Lambeth Palace, entitled Carmen de Gpntemjptu Mimdi. A more singular, but Mglily characteristic specimen of the author's style, is a short composition illustrating a chanso7i then popular among the students of Paris, which he turned to the honour of the Mother of God by a learned commentary on each phrase. The original verse ran thus : — Bele Aliz matin leva sun cors vesti e para enz un verger s'en entra cink flurettes y truva Un cliapelet fat en a de rose flurie ; Pur Deu trahez vus en la, vus ki ne amez mie. The pious remarks on these amorous sentences are too long for insertion entire ; but their character and spirit may be understood by those given to the last two hues : — " Sequitur — Pur Deu treez vus en la, vus he ne amez mie ! Quibus dictum est hoc, ' treez vus en la, vus Ice ne amez mie, hereticis, paganis, et falsis Christianis, qui non credunt Christi resurrectionem, et qui blas- phemant eum. Tahbus dictum est treez vus en la, vus lie ne amez mie, i.e., Ite maledicti in ignem seternum, qui prseparatus est diabolo et angehs ejus. Esurivi enim, et non dedistis mihi manducare ; sitivi, et non dedistis mihi bibere ; nudus fui, et non cooperuistis me ; hospes fui, et non suscepistis me ; infirmus fui, et non visitastis me ; in carcere fui, et non venistis ad me. Tahbus dictum est hoc, treez vus en la. Id ne amez mie, i.e., Ite maledicti in ignem 208 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAIJDINALS. sternum, qui prseparatus est diabolo et angelis ejus. Per prsedicta patet quod ista est tele Aliz, de qua prsediximus, est regina justitige, mater misericordi^, quae portavit regem coelorum et dominum, qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivit et regnat Deus, Amen ! " Sucli curious conjunctions of spiritual ■with very mundane matters — attempts at Divinity made easy — appear to have been popular with divinity students, and this example long afterwards was regarded as a model for similar productions. In Latin, in Norman-French, and in early English, there are specimens estant of a like theological embroidery on a profane ground. Stephen must have had a contemporary in his countryman Alexander Neckham, one of the ablest professors of the university from 1180 to about 1187 ; a scholar of very varied acquirements, who was abbot of Cirencester in 1213. His writings on many subjects, grammatical, philosophical, and poetical, are still in MS.* Enghsh students were still attracted to Paris by the high reputation of its professors ; and several who entered the school sub- sequently rose to eminence in the Anglican Church. Stephen gave all the powers of his mind up to the task of mastering dialectics and the ordinary scholastic course ; became a sound grammarian and logician ; then practised versification, especially hex- ameters, which he wrote fluently. He remained many years at the university — years of hard study and of honourable advancement. He so distinguished himself in classical as well as Biblical scholarship as * Interesting specimens have been iJuWislied in the " Biographia Britannica Litteraria " — Anglo-Norman Period. LANGTON IN PAEIS. 209 to obtain tlie title of Doctor, and having adopted the Church as a profession, was raised to the post of canon of the cathedral of Notre Dame. His repu- tation as a professor of humanity and theology largely increased the number of students; subse- quently his great merit was recognized by his appointment to the dignity of chancellor, or presi- dent. Among his biblical labours at this time was a division of the Scriptures into chapters and verses ; his claim to this novelty has been disputed by French scholars, in behalf of a certain Hugh de St. Cher, their countryman. He also wrote several commen- taries on various books of the Old Testament, dis- tinguished by the spirit of subtle criticism and laboured disquisition then in vogue : a few are preserved in MS. at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as some of his sermons. Stephen lived at Paris, surrounded by the enjoy- ments procurable by a good income. It has been stated that he possessed preferment in England as Tf ell as in France ; that he received the emoluments of a prebendary in York cathedral, in addition to his salary and other gains as head of the university, including another ecclesiastical appointment he held at Rheims.* There is no doubt that he mixed in the best society, and made friendship with the most distinguished students and professors. Among the former was Lothaire (a near relation of Pope Clement III.), who, after his return to Rome, was appointed a cardinal : he must have then been the junior member of the Sacred College. About eight or nine years later, Avhen in his thirty-seventh year, * Cave, "Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria." I. 14 210 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. Lothaire succeeded to the diair of St. Peter, and evinced tlie regard lie had cherished for his English friend, by cordially inviting him to the Holy City, and reserving for him an honourable post in his household. The prospect thus opening to Stephen's ambition was too enticing to be rejected. He might remain where he was, pleasantly occupied with inspiration from la belle Alice) to turn to divine profit ; but he knew well that he would be able to do better things for the Blessed Yirgin as well as for himself, under the auspices of his friend Lothaire, now bearing the title of Pope Innocent III. Nevertheless, many ties connected him with Paris, and he did not sever them without reluctance. Stephen possessed abihties of a high order, and as an administrator and advocate of the Church was likely to prove of special service to the new Pope. Soon after his arrival at the Holy See he gave a series of lectures : they attracted the Roman re- ligious community, including the Pontiff, and excited general admiration. Innocent, satisfied that no dignity could be too elevated for a mind with the qualities his college friend had displayed, in the year 120G — according to some authorities 1212 — elevated him to the dignity of cardinal priest of Chrysogonus.* About the commencement of the thirteenth century the condition of England was extremely unsatis- factory : the continental war produced the loss of Normandy; much distress existed among the labouring class ; the barons and knights were dis- satisfied, and the priesthood cared for their own * "Hiatoire Littiraire de France," xviii. 51. Oiaconius. Cai-flolln DISPUTED ELECTIOK. 211 interests rather than for the souls of their flocks* — as a quaint historian avers, " looking at London, but rowing to Rome, carrying Italian hearts in Enghsh bodies." t It was at this period that King John and the Pope strove to make a quarrel re- specting the election of a primate. The see of Canterbury had become vacant, and the monks of the cathedral city, either feeling a particular regard for the man, or hoping by his elevation to gain an indulgent friend, had secretly among themselves chosen their sub-prior. They hur- ried over his installation, and having gone through their processions, their chantings, and their prayers^ they had their sub-prior placed at the high altar of the cathedral, and then in the archiepiscopal throne ; finally believing that they had found a worthy suc- cessor to Lanfi-anc and Becket, they lost no time in sending a deputation to Rome to get the proper sanction to the election. King John, as soon as the demise of the primate became known to him, selected the bishop of Norwich as his successor, and in a large assembly of the chapter and inferior clergy he was elected arch- * One of tlie quarrels for precedence that occasionally disgraced churchmen in England is thus described as having occurred in the last quarter of the preceding century: — "A synod was called (1176) at Westminster, the Pope's legate being present thereat, on whose right hand sat Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, as in his proper place. When in springs Roger of York, and finding Canterbury so seated, fairly sits him down on Canterbury's lap (a baby too big to be danced thereon) ; yea, Canterbury hia servants dandled this lap-child with a witness, who plucked him thence, and buffeted him to purjMse." — Fuller, "Church History" (Brewer), book iii. p. 113. t Id. ibid., p. 140. 14 * 212 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. bishop. Then away went another deputation to secure the papal authority. A third party now came forward, — the prelates of the archiepiscopal see, who denounced the preceding elections as ir- regular, and sent messengers to Rome to maintain their right of assisting in the election.* A fruitful source of dispute were rival ecclesiastical privileges ; and they were constantly beifig con- tended for with the most unseemly virulence. The ultimate decision in this case, as usual, rested with the Pontiff or the Roman courts, and every possible influence was put in requisition to secure a favourable verdict — a bribe of 3,000 marks was now ofi'ered to the Pope, and refused. In this instance all parties — • king, bishops, and monks — were nonsuited. Innocent desired to place a person in his confidence at the head of the Anglican branch of the Catholic Church ; he also sawthe necessity of having in so responsible a post the ablest churchman he could select. The members of the different deputations were therefore directed to assemble, and in his presence elect the cardinal of Chrysogonus. It was in vain they tried evasion and betrayed disinclination ; they were mastered, and with one exception agreed to the election, which took place in December, f Having succeeded, Inno- cent condescended to write an apologetic letter to the Idng, accompanied with a valuable ring, dwelling on the fact of the great sacrifice he was making in parting with the wisest and most trustworthy of his counsellors ; he wrote also to the prior and chapter, * Matt. West., 1206. t Matthew of Westminster states tliat the Pope at first gave judgment in favour of the monks. ENGLAND UNDER AN INTERDICT. 213 as well as to the suffragans of Canterbmy, to recon- cile them to their disappointment. The Pope had mentioned his friend as a man of profound wisdom, elegant person, and faultless morals, but it was not till he had given him consecration at Viterbo. But the king, enraged with this summary disposal of the case, wrote to the Pontiff a very angry letter, dispossessed and banished the Canterbury monks, and confiscated their goods. He refused to sanction the jjapal ap- pointment ; and in reply to the eulogium on Langton as an incomparable master in learning and morals, and in every respect the fittest person to be pri- mate, affected to know nothing about him except that he had long lived in amity with his enemies in France. He expressed a determination to prevent his entering upon the office. From this time he com- menced an active warfare against all scholars and priests who in the slightest degTee opposed his will. The court of Rome had a full appreciation of the value of the precedents set them by the English Pope and an English archbishop. Langton, a pre- late of equal ability and spirit, was amongst them, possessed of their confidence ; and when the king of England raved with disappointment, and threatened to make his kingdom independent of the Papacy, he was replied to with the menace that if he persevered in his opposition his dominions would be placed under an interdict. John burst out into uncontrollable fury against Pope and cardinals, swearing "by the teeth of God" to drive every priest out of the country, and slit the noses of every Roman he could find in it. In March, 1208, the dreaded sentence was pubHshed, 214 LIVES 01? THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. and all religious worship ceased throughout the land. But the misery of his subjects did not affect their monarch ; it only increased his animosity against the clergy, A robber was brought before him charged with having killed a priest. The king caused him to be hberated, saying that the homicide had made him one enemy the less. The cardinal's brother, Simon, at this period held a minor ecclesiastical appointment ; and frequently through him the king attempted to come to a com- promise. John and his primate met in March, 1208 ; but the angry monarch would not submit to authority. Two days later he addressed a letter to the people of Kent, acquainting them that he had been insulted by the demands of the Pope and the archbishop. Cardinal Langton retired to Pontigny, where he gave himself up to literary occupations. While thus employed, he received information of the performance of the threatened judgment against King John. The interdict was being enforced. The most moving com- plaints reached the exiled pastor of the sufferings of his flock. Churches were closed, except in a few districts ; and the clergy were obliged to hide them- selves, to escape the king's anger and the importu- nities of those of their congregations who required spiritual consolation. Marriages and burials could only be accomplished by stealth, and at great incon- venience and risk, till dispensations were granted, which rarely came. A few prelates took the side of the king, and in their dioceses a better order of things prevailed. Enough, however, of misery ex- isted to soften a harder heart than that possessed by Stephen Lang-ton. To him now came severnJ nf KING JOHN AND CAEDINAL LANGTON. 215 tlie most distinguished of his countrymen, with whom he privately conferred as to the best means of remedying the evils that afflicted England. Langton, whatever favour he might have enjoyed at Rome, became unpopular in his own country. The author of some Latin rhymes anticipated his be- coming another Becket ; in other verses the bishops who supported the king were less favourably dealt with. A composition of an offensive tendency, in the same language, still more sharply assailed the Pope and his friends.* They probably emanated from opposite partisans in the universities, where the cardinal of Chrysogonus was roughly handled in discussions among the scholars, as the author of the mischief that afflicted their country. The king made another effort at compromise, still, however, striving to preserve his dignity. He would do everything except receive the ob- noxious Langton. The primate might have all the revenues of the see, but should not be permitted to enter England. Negotiations went on. John seemed at last reconciled to the archbishop, and sent him a safe-conduct ; but when this was examined, it was found to contain no recognition of his archi- episcopal title. He was designated in it only as " the Cardinal." The Pope now threatened excommunication ; this John met by menacing with death any one who should bring such a sentence into the country. Presently friendly communications were interchanged by the king an (J Langton, and it was arranged that the latter should return. On * Wright, " Political Songs," 216 LIVES OF THB ENGLISH CARDINALS. this understanding tlie cardinal commenced his long delayed journey, and arrived in safety at Dover in October, 1209. Before he would present himself to his sovereign, who reluctantly came to meet him, he required a guarantee that the property of the Church which had been seized should be restored. John re- fused, and the archbishop hastily returned to France. In the following year another meeting was ar- ranged to take place at Dover. The king went there, but the cardinal received a warning and stayed away. So intense was the former's hostility, that when messengers from the papal court were admitted to his presence in August, 1211, he is reported to have threatened to hang Langton if he caught him on English ground. "Wearied out, the cardinal archbishop went back to Rome ; and John, believing in his triumph, indulged unchecked in habits of violence and licentiousness. The cardinals were called upon to deliberate as to the next step to be taken. They counselled deposition ; and the king of England was formally deposed. To aid in enforcing this sentence, the chief military commanders in Europe were earnestly appealed to to join in an armed demonstration. Philip Augustus of France was selected to be their leader, and the island was to be the price of his services. Matthew of Westminster states that Car- dinal Langton was placed at the head of an embassy to the gallant crusader, and had the conduct of the negotiation for the conquest of his country. On the understanding that he should be well paid for his services, Philip organized a prodigious arma- ment that threatened a repetition of the duke of SURllENDEE OF ENGLAND TO THE POPE. 217 Normandy's achievement. Men, arms, and armour were collected, and ships were crowding the ports of France to transport them to the opposite coast. The English people were roused by their danger, and prepared for a stout resistance. The barons and the commonalty, however much they were dissatisfied with their sovereign, were not disposed to see their country become a French province. Stephen Langton had to carry out his instructions. This is not the only instance in which an English- man as an ambassador from the Holy See has lent himself to designs that threatened the subjugation of his country by a foreign power. Possibly the cardinal may have thought that more was threatened than intended, and therefore readily helped in co- ercing a tyrant to submit to the authority of the Church ; but there is reason to believe that he had come to an understanding with the barons. When a formidable armament was ready to take possession of the kingdom, Randulph, as legato of Innocent III., was sent to the king of England to warn him of the consequences of persisting in his contumacy. John was frightened. He was easily persuaded into a formal surrender of his domi- nions to the Pope, and then into as formal an acceptance of them as the Pope's vassal. In the words of the instrument of resignation, he said, wo " do offer and freely grant to God, and to his holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to the Holy Roman Church our mother, and to our lord the Pope Innocent III. and his successors, all the right of patronage Avhich we have iu the Anglican churches, and the whole kingdom of England and tJie Mngdo'in of 218 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Ireland, with all their rights and belongings, for tlie remission of our sins and those of oibr whole race, both living and dead." * The king of France had now to be cajoled into stopping armaments that had cost him immense smns ; but the cardinal archbishop was provided with arguments as convincing for peace as they had before been for war. The disaffected barons, with whom he had opened a correspondence while at the French court, had also to be reconciled to this change in the political programme. John had be- come a faithful son of the Church, and was in the enjoyment of the Pope's protection. He had at last submitted himself to the Holy See ; moreover, he had now entered into a solemn and binding engage- ment to accept the archbishop of Canterbury the Holy Father had selected for him. In the month of July, the necessary guarantees having been obtained from the king, the cardinal archbishop once more quitted the coast of France. He landed at Dover with a large retinue, but it was not till the 20th that he was able to obtain his first interview. Near the old cathedral city of Win- chester, on Magdalen Hill, he v/as met by the king. If Langton had entertained any misgivings as to his threatened suspension by the neck, they were speedily laid at rest. John appeared to be humbled into entire oblivion of his dignity ; for, having alighted, his first act was to throw himself at the primate's feet imploring his pity. The latter was attended by his suffragans, most of whom had suf- fered severely by their sovereign's injustice ; yet their * Matt. West., anno 1213, A SCENE IN WINCHESTER. 219 looks expressed profound commiseration. The king was at once raised from his humiUating position, with assurances of loyalty ; then, having been placed between the cardinal archbishop and the bishop of London, he was made to join in a procession formed of the two retinues. Chanting the fiftieth psalm, in this order king, prelates, and attendants entered the old Anglo-Saxon city, crowds of anxious spectators testifying their symjoathy and joy. It was a memorable scene, and on one of the principal actors in it, it appears to have made a lasting impression. The cardinal archbishop, not- withstanding the holiday garb of the spectators, could not help discerning traces of the suffering, upon the industrial classes in particular, that had been caused by the interdict. His English heart felt compassion as he observed the care-worn faces of fathers, mothers, and children ; their recent suffering could not be disguised by the intensity of their present jubilation when hailing, in his person, the herald of consolation and peace. There waited the sons of flourishing merchants, easily distinguishable by their decent tippets, bor- dered tunics, high boots, and close-fitting leggings ; and near them their seniors, dressed in the peak hood, long gowns, tunics, and mantles. Among the mem- bers of the cornet there was much finery. Cloth of gold and crimson embroidery, in mantle, tunic, and super- tunic, gave rich colour to the grouping ; there were also fine cloth mantles among the nobility, lined with black sables, and other beautiful fabrics decorated with gold and silver ornaments and prpcious stones. Here and there stood a soldier returned from the 220 LIVES OF THE EKGLISII OAEDINALS. Crusades — among the armed retainers of tlie barons in tlie king's suite, — Knights Hospitallers, Knights Templars, as well as other distinguished personages. The commonalty were distinguished by plain tunics, coarse hoods, and strong boots in tlie men, and long- gowns and falling hoods in the women. The quaint mediaeval city was astir with human life on that da}^ when King John, between the two prelates, entered it, and passed through its eager, anxious population to the chapter-house of the cathedral. The clergy of the chapter took up the chant as they joined in the procession ; notwith- standing that the land still lay under the interdict, and neither music nor any ecclesiastical display could be permitted, they thronged, in their sacred vestments, to do honour to their primate ; as much as they were able increasing the picturesqueness of the imposing spectacle. In the inidst, downcast and subdued, walked the royal Sans terre. His consolation, however, was not in the words of the psalm that came swelling louder and louder upon the air ; not in the presence of the archbishop and his suffragans ; not in the satisfaction of the barons and" the people ; it was in the knowledge that in surrendering himself to the Pope, he had purchased the right to do as he pleased with those he hated. The primate gazed into the faces of the over- tried barons and over-taxed people, and saw that they looked to him for help. He had been the Pope's ambassador in France, and had felt himself bound to maintain the Holy Father's interests. In England he felt himself head of the Anglican KINC! JOHN EEOEIVES ARSOT^UTION. 221 Church, and determined to maintain Enghsh in- terests. Such a man could not but have despised the character of the king, while he must have had penetration enough to discern his perfidy. A halt was called at the door of the chapter- house, whence one of the priests brought a manu- script copy of the Gospels. This was placed by the cardinal archbishop in the king's hand, and on it he was induced to swear that he would do all required of him as a good monarch and an obedient son of Holy Church, particularly in the restoration of property he had wrongfully seized from eccle- siastics and others ; next he again swore fealty to the Holy Father, and his successors in the Papacy. Theu as the king knelt before the primate, the latter, in the hearing of all around, gave him absolution for his sins. King John resumed his walk between the two prelates from the chapter-house to the cathedral. Through the aisle passed the procession, the solemn chant filling its area, till the cardinal was seen on the topmost step of the chancel, before the high altar ; and then the holiest of services was performed for the first time in that building for six years. Mass having concluded, the brilliant assembly retired. The king invited the archbishop and his suf- fragans to the royal palace, and entertained them at his own table. In the town public rejoicings continued for three days, with the primate's sanc- tion, which, as the interdict had not been with- drawn, was regarded at Eome as a grave offence. Stephen Langton, however, was beginning to feel himself an Englishman, and day after day entered 222 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. more deeply into tlie consideration of English, interests. In his see there was so much to be done to restore the order established by Lanfranc and Becket, that his time barely sufficed for the re- quired labour ; but the disorders in the kingdom forced themselves on his attention, and, after several conferences with the leading barons, he felt com- pelled to prove himself as good a patriot as he was an earnest churchman. King John went on his way, pretending to keep his promises, but striving to maintain so perfect an understanding at Rome as might enable him to evade them with impunity. In Michaelmas, 1213, a legate arrived in England from the Pope to relieve the country from the in- terdict, as well as to obtain from the king a thousand marks, as tribute to his Holiness. The money was paid, and the legate was content. But the cardinal archbishop and his clergy wanted the promised compensation and restoration.* Pandulph and the king presently came to be of one mind ; the Anglican Church and the Pope were as evidently about to differ. The tax on every house, known as Peter's * Roger of Wendover lias preserved tlic words of tlie agreemeut accepted by the king. "And immediately on the arrival of a tit person to absolve tis, we will, in jiart restoration of the contiscated property, deliver to messengers deputed by the said archbishop, bishops, and monks of Canterbury, the sum of eight tliousand pounds lawful sterling money, for discharging what is due, and for necessary expenses, to be carried to them without let or hindrance on our part, that they may be honourably recalled and returned to England as soon as possible." This sum was to be divided, the primate getting £2,500 ; the Canterbury monks, £1,000 ; and the bishops of London, Ely, Bath, and Lincoln, £760. PANDULPH AND THE ANGLICAN OLEBGY. 223 Pence, had hitherto been levied in England in the Pope's name ; of the sum collected, three thousand marks had been transmitted to the Holy See, and the rest expended for ecclesiastical requirements in the Anglican Church. The Pope, now sure of the royal concurrence, insisted on having the whole, and the removal of the interdict was delayed by the legate till the sum was paid. Pandulph enforced his authority over archbishop and clergy, calling the former sharply to account for opposing the Holy Father. King John, delighted with the quarrel, encouraged the Pope's officer, and in perfect security renewed his acts of tyranny and spoliation. The entire body of English clergy regarded the intolerant proceedings of the papal legate with so much indignation, that in January, 1214, the primate found himself forced to call a meeting of his suffragans at Duhstable, for most imfit men were constantly being placed in ecclesiastical offices, buying their preferment of the king and the legate. After much discussion, a prohibition was sent to Pandulph, in the name of the archbishop ; but the Pope's officer treated it with contempt. The primate of the Anglican Church, in his eyes, had no authority to fill up vacancies : all such privileges belonged to the Pontiff, and, as his representative, he insisted on doing with them as he pleased. Moreover he sent to Rome a confidential messenger to uphold his pretensions. Here Simon Langton was vainly endeavouring to support the cause of his brother ; but the Sacred College would not give him a hearing. The Holy Father^ with the money before him his agent had collected, and the 224 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. representations lie liad written, was easily persuaded that the king of England was a most admirable character, and his friend of the Paris university an avaricious old hunks. It was not till the month of June, 1214, that a settlement of the question was effected, and the interdict withdrawn — an arrangement perfectly satisfactory to the king, as it placed him beyond the influence of the priesthood and of the nobility ; and was quite as distasteful to the English clergy, who were reduced to a state of vassalao-e to the legate. They did not accept this settlement so humbly as the court of Rome had expected ; all classes and members of the different rehgious orders, who had been plundered during the interdict, ])urBned Pandulph with claims for compensation. He gave them only an insulting answer. Then the public indignation against' him took so menacing a shape that he consulted his own safety by quitting the country. The cardinal archbishop entered more and more into the cause of the barons, and of his other oppressed countrymen, and on the 25th of August, in St. Paul's Church* in London, he assembled the lay and spiritual peers then in England. Eoger of Wendover says he took some of them aside and re- minded them of a charter of Henry I., which secured them their liberties ; and that then he had it read * It had been rebuilt, the original structure having been con- sumed in a conflagration that took place in the year 1087. "A ■work that many of that time judged would never have been finished, it was to them so wonderful for length and breadth."— Stow, "Surveyor London," 1G03. INNOCENT III. 225 aloud to the assembly. It produced a great sensa- tion. According to this chronicler, directly its purport was understood, all present swore that when an opportunity presented itself they would stand up for their rights, and, if necessary, die in upholding them. The Primate promised his assistance, and the mutual understanding having thus been completed, the assembly dispersed. The king was abroad, but doubtless was made acquainted with these proceedings. According to Matthew Paris, he detested every one who dared to oppose his wiU ; in the historian's words, he hated as he hated the poison of vipers, all the men of noble rank in the kingdom, especially Sayer de Quency, Robert Fitz-Walter, and Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury. They were leaders in the movement that had commenced against him, and he breathed vengeance against them all. He forwarded fresh bribes to Rome for tlie purpose of getting them excommunicated, and meanwhile collected a pow- erful army of foreign mercenaries with the object of pursuing them with fire and sword. It must be admitted in behalf of Innocent III., that in many important things he showed himself worthy of his exalted vocation. The affairs of the Holy See, the administration of the Church of the Christian world, demanded excessive application ; nevertheless he found time to fulfil his duty as a preacher at festivals. His sermons are eminently practical, and are distinguished by a protest against image-worship, as well as opposition to other forms of superstition. Much to his credit, when the bishop of Metz made him acquainted with an ambiguous I. U 226 LIVES or the English caedinals. religious movement tlien spreading in liis diocese, he cautioned that prelate against having recourse to violent measures of repression, desiring that no harm should be done to pious simpHcity. More- over, he wrote a letter to the sectarians, as they were considered, half of advice, half of remon- strance against their indiscretion — the reading of the Scriptures, and taking upon themselves the priestly office. The good people of Metz preferred their pious simplicity ; they had set their diocesan at defiance, and now would not be persuaded or threatened by the Holy Father into an abandonment of their intention to seek a Christianity of readier access. Then Innocent, with apparent moderation, sent a commission to inquire into the practices of these enthusiasts, excluding their bishop. Unfor- tunately the report of the commissioners made out a connection between them and the condemned Waldenses. They were at once denounced as he- retics, their assemblies were forcibly dispersed, and their translation of the Bible publicly burnt. This desire for a purer faith was not confined to the bishopric of Metz. In England there were signs and tokens of a like impatience of papal direction ; and the growing sense of injustice the people felt at the reckless exercise of the Pope's authority made some of the more enterprising think of the possi- bility of religious independence. Innocent III. did not content himself with the subjection of so feeble-minded a monarch as the king of England. The cardinals saw the papal authority developed throughout Europe. JSTot only did this pontiff, following the policy of Adrian IV., firmly EXPANSION OP THE PAPACY. 227 establish the domination of the Papacy in Italy, but France, under the rule of Philip Augustus, was humbled by the same severe discipline that had humiliated John. Germany, Spain, and the more remote powers of Norway, Hungary, Poland, Dal- matia, and Bulgaria, were also forced to regard themselves as vassals of the Holy See. The rule of Innocent was indeed particularly glorious in the eyes of zealous churchmen, and the cardinals were universally recognized as moving in the front rank of the great ones of the earth. In a most able manner the Pope took advantage of the existing feuds among monarchs and princes to insist that he was master of the universe ; and emperors as well as kings acknowledged his superiority. In an impartial estimate of this pontificate, the historian ought not to shut his eyes to the fact that, however greatly it may have tended to the glory of the Church of Rome, it was an excessive development of authority, the maintenance of which must always be attended with difliculty and sometimes with danger. It fostered an aggressive spirit, that sooner or later was sure to excite opposition. The success which had attended the English pope's dealings with popular opinion in the case of Arnold, and with im- perial antagonism in the case of Barbarossa, could not always be counted upon. The multiplicity in Europe of forms of religious dissent was a warning that ought not to have been neglected ; equally suggestive of the necessity of caution was the con- temporary expansion of the human intellect, and its visible action upon public opinion. It declared that all mediaeval institutions would soon be on their trial. 15 * 228 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Early in the year 1215 tlie Englisli confederate nobles assembled their forces at Stamford, in the north. The cardinal archbishop, then at the head of two thousand knights, was sent for by King John, who was alarmed at the hostile power he had raised. The former was persuaded to become a mediator, associated with the earl of Pembroke and other prudent men. The barons sent their intract- able sovereign a series of articles complaining of injustice and requiring redress. These, on his return, the primate read to him, one by one. John was again in a perverse spirit, and declared that he would make no concession. The messengers came back to their camp, and the barons learning the result of their negotiation, at once appointed Robert Fitz-Walter to be their general, with the title of " Marshal of the Army of God and the Holy Church." One spirit pervaded the host — a determination to overthrow the tyi'ant if he could not be made to respect the laws and charters granted by his pre- decessors. They marched to Northampton, and laid siege to the castle ; but having no military , engines, they in a few days departed for Bedford, then went on to London, where they were joined by the principal barons who had remained with the king. Finding himself almost completely deserted, and a complete stop put to all government or proceed- ings in his name. King John once again was obliged to have recourse to the services of the man he hated. The archbishop was fully cognizant of the proceedings of the confederates, had assisted in their deliberations, — in truth, was the guiding spirit EUNNniEDE, 229 of the revolt. His object was to coerce the despot into good government; and as the latter was now helpless, he facilitated to the utmost the wish expressed by the king to fulfil every obligation required of him. Associated with the earl of Pembroke and other commissioners, he presently arranged a meeting between King John and the chiefs of the confederacy. It took place on the 16th of June, 1216, a day ever worthy of remem- brance in English history. Early in the morning of a glorious English summer, nobles and knights on their chargers (destriers), distinguished by their pennons and splendid super-tunics sometimes worn over their suits of chain armour, with here and there the cross denoting the brothers in arms of the heroic Richard, might have been noticed by the country people, coming in groups along the roads, as they were then considered, that lay between Staines and "Windsor. Egham was presently filled with the flower of English chivalry. Amongst them, with Anglo- Normans and Anglo-Saxons of the best blood, were numberless noble specimens of a fusion of the two races, their steeds gaily caparisoned, their cogni- zances conspicuous, each at the head of his following of horse and foot. Adam, abbot of Chertsey, and his monks, beheld many pass the abbey gates on their way to the rendezvous, and doubtless wished them God speed.* - Adam was a spiritual peer and military tenant * The king seized two of their manors for the payment of a fine of five hundred marks, because of a homicide committed by one of the abbot's domestics. 230 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. of tHe king. In another direction, tlie Augustine brotlierhood of Newark Priory, their house only lately endowed, had a like opportunity of witnessing the martial display. They were well informed of the great work in which their primate was engaged, and were equally ready with their benedictions. On the silvery river flowing brightly in the summer sunshine, the men of the neighbom'ing fishery stood in their boats, wondering at the cause of the unwonted spectacle. In martial panoply came De Vesci, De Percy, De Roos, De Bruis, De Stuteville, De Mowbray, De Cresie, De Vere, De Montacute, and scores of other names equally known to fame ; — came Pitz-Walter, Fitz-Eobert, Pitz-Gerald, Fitz-Waring, Fitz-Herbert, Fitz-Alan, Fitz-John, and a multitude with the like distinguishing prefix ; — came the earls of Albemarle, Winchester, Clare, Chester, Cornwall (Roger Bigod), Salisbury, Essex, and numerous lay peers of equal distinction ; — there came also the Pope's legate, Pandulph, and Almeric, Master of the Knights Templars ; — there came the prelates of Dublin, London, Winchester, Lincoln, Bath, Worcester, Coventry, and Rochester, all making the grandest or most warlike display Egham and its quiet neigh- bourhood had ever seen. Lastly, there came the two prominent actors in the national drama then about to . be enacted, — John, king of England, conspicuous in the brilliant array by his magnificent dalmatica ; Pandulph, the papal envoy, his legatine authority displayed with almost pontifical state; with Stephen Langton, in his robe. hat. nnri inoifYniQ rliofiT-i^vmic-l^nUI^ MAGNA OHAETA. 231 primate of the Anglican and prince of the Eomari Church; and in a pleasant meadow on the banks of the silvery Thames, near Egham, bearing the since household name Runnymede, they presently assembled. After a short conference, a parchment roll, clerkly engrossed in Latin, was read over and explained to the king by the cardinal archbishop, by whom it had doubtless been prepared. This document had been carefully drawn up, and wa^ intended to put an effectual check on monarchical encroach- ments. It was, and has ever since been styled. Magna Ohaeta.* The charter having been submitted to the sove- reign, was signed by him, as well as by the archbishop and barons present. Then another parchment was unroUed, and another Latin memorial of rights and privileges read and explained. This is known as the Gharta de Foresta, a safeguard against royal tyranny equally needed. When made acquainted with the provisions of the second document, this King John also signed, — the papal legate looking on, unable or afraid to attempt any protest on behalf of the Pontiff. The restraint the king put upon himself whilst giving his consent to these proceedings, may be imagined fi^om the rage he exhibited as soon as his triumphant subjects had departed. He is said by Matthew Paris to have cursed the day he was born, rolled his eyes, ground his teeth, and gnawed sticks * It has been frequently printed entire, and more than once engraved in fac-simile. See Eoger of Wendover, a.d. 1215, and Rj'mer, " Fcedera," torn. i. 232 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. and straws.* He blamed the mother who had nursed him, and wished that he had been killed in his youth. In short he was in a royal passion. He vowed revenge against each and all who had been concerned in his humiliation, and as a means of securing it, sent the legate to Eome, well loaded with presents, to assure his friend the Pontiff that he intended joining the Crusaders. The primate had scarcely had time to exchange congratulations with his friends on the perfect suc- cess that had crowned their patriotic movement, when he learnt that King John, notwithstanding his oaths and signatures, had been incessantly engaged in recruiting from every accessible part of the continent an army of freebooters, while he had despatched to his powerful supporter at Rome a moving appeal for assistance. He saw that the work would have to be done over again, with the con- viction, too, that no confidence could be placed on any promise that might be exacted from the king. He had also cause to entertain serious mis- givings as to the policy of the Holy See. A council had been summoned to meet at Rome in this year ; and while preparations were making for the archbishop of Canterbury's departure from Eng- land to join it, there arrived commissioners from the Pope, bringing bulls annulling the charters the king of England had granted his subjects. The primate was commanded to have them read every Sunday and feast-day throughout the year. The churchman had by this time become so completely a patriot that he promptly refused to permit such a pubhcation * " Historia Maior." ■ KING JOHN IN PAVOUK AT EOME. 233 of the papal bulls. Then the commissioners pro- nounced him contumacious, and suspended him from his archiepiscopal functions. Innocent III. sent letters scolding the prelates and the barons for offending so good a monarch, who had taken upon himself the cross of an adven- turer in the Holy Land, and cited them to appear before his council at Rome to answer for their misdeeds. Presently came other letters from the Pontiff announcing their excommunication ; but, as Roger of Wendover states, as no one of the con- federates had been mentioned by name, no notice was taken of the sentence. Cardinal Langton proceeded to Rome, doubtful of the reception he should meet from his former patron. Innocent carried on the pontifical government with a very high hand indeed ; he was trying to crush the Albigenses, and was ready to punish with severity even the slightest offence against the Church. The cardinal's brother Simon had lately been elected to the archbishopric of York; the king had opposed the election, and as this pretended crusader was in extraordinary favour with the Pope, the primate must have anticipated meeting as little justice in one case as in the other. So it happened. The Holy Father proved implacable, he declared the suspension of the elder, and annulled the election of the younger brother. The cardinal submitted, and remained at Rome a state prisoner, devoting himself to studious occu- pations. "While so occupied. King John continued his bad rule, committing all sorts of enormities — of course never attempting to fulfil his promise of 234 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. becoming a crusader. In the autumn of 1216 he died, but not till two years later did the arch- bishop return to his see. The death of Pope Innocent had occurred the previous year. Prince Louis, in May of the year 1216, landed at Sandwich, and proceeded to London, where he re- ceived a cordial welcome, and having sworn to respect the laws of the country, was acknowledged king. One of his first acts was to appoint Simon Langton his chancellor. He was, however, shortly afterwards followed by the new papal legate, who excommunicated the French prince and his English supporters. The cardinal legate Grualo exercised in the Pope's name sovereign sway over England, which, in fact, was treated as a dependency of the see of Rome. The party in favour of Prince Louis were drawn away, and Philip Augustus made to oppose the designs of his son. Honorius had resolved that England should not be French, only the more com- pletely to secure the island being Roman. But there was a national spirit still left in the land, that was biding its time for a successful demonstration. It permitted the papal to destroy the French influence, and reap a harvest of forfeiture among those who had supported it ; it endured the tax of Peter's Pence, the annual tribute of a thousand marks, and the lavish disposal of English benefices for the Pope's relations or dependents, assured that the hour and the man were approaching that should help them to their emancipation from this tyranny. We have seen the Anglican Church generally a satellite, content to borrow light from, while mo- THE ANGLICAN OHUEOH. 235 destly radiating in, the system of tlie Roman lumi- nary ; but the time had arrived for its exerting a planetary influence of its own. The sphere had become so troubled by the fitfulness of its borrowed radiance— the action of which more resembled the eccentric influence of a comet than natural solar efiiilgency — that the atmosphere betrayed those signs of disturbance which indicate the advent of some great cataclasm. This exhibited political rather than physical phenomena. An important change was being effected in the moral government of the country, during which the religious government de- veloped a successful approach towards independence. It could easily be shown that it was a reaction of patriotic feeling, caused by the intolerable oppres- sion of the court of Rome, — a reawakening of public spirit to a sense of degradation and a purpose of enfranchisement. It ought never to be forgotten by Englishmen, that such reaction and such reawakening were the work of the Anglican Church through the sagacious and spirited interposition of its now popu- lar primate, Stephen Langton. Though it is impos- sible to forget the obligations the country owed in this crisis to the principal barons, these laymen were so constantly directed and supported by their zealous coadjutor, that to him, in the first place, must be attributed the merit due to the mover of this memorable revolution. The barons have generally been considered cen- surable for their apparently unpatriotic intention of causing England to become a French province ; but while regarding their invitation to the son of the king of France, several extenuating circumstances of 236 LIVES 01'' THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. unusual force ought to be considered. Thougli a century and a half had passed since the Conquest, there was still a large Norman element in the English nobility and knighthood ; and the extent to which the kingdom was overrun by foreign merce- naries under papal and royal patronage, justified the appeal for continental help to a nearer and more reliable source. Moreover, Prince Louis was the near kinsman of the king of England, and therefore possessed claims to the succession. His having the command of a large body of troops might also have been a recommendation. The course of action of the patriotic churchman who guided the movement leaves no doubt that the coercion of his worthless sovereign was his chief object, and that, this realized, the king of France would have had no better chance of dominating the State than the Pope of Rome had of oppressing the Church. The seasonable death of John put an end to all speculations on the subject, and the reign of Henry III. commenced with the evils his prede- cessors had created, in full activity. Aliens were in nearly all the strong and in many of the high places, and a papal legate ruled paramount. Over the minority of their child king the cardinal arch- bishop kept guard with a thorough English spirit against foreign interference ; and associated with him were the veteran Marshal, earl of Pembroke, and the brave yet prudent Hubert de Burgh. Pope Honorius regarded with profound interest the state of England. The legate Gualo, in his name, had been carrying on a system of plunder and per- secution that made the Papacy odious throughout PANDULPH. 237 the land. He was superseded by the more experieBced Pandulph. The regent died in May, 1219, when Des Eoches, bishop of Winchester, became chancellor and subsequently justiciary, and held the post of instruc- tor to the yoxithful king. Pandulph soon contrived to grasp the reins of power, transmitting his com- mands to the great officers of state as though they had been his vassals. A letter had been written in the name of the sovereign to the Pope, excusing a delay in the pay- ment of the annual tribute of a thousand marks, and averring an improvement in the condition of the country ; to this the Pontifi" replied. * Honorius wrote to Pandulph, November 4th, 1218, in which year he had been reappointed, directing him to examine the convention between the late king of England and the king of Scotland (William), and giving him per- mission to confirm it or not, at his discretion. The legate was also bishop-elect of ISTorwich. In the following year two of his mandates, addressed to the bishop of Winchester and the justiciary Hubert de Burgh, to claim redress for his servant, and to delay proceedings against Isaac of Norwich, show how high-handed he intended to exercise his mission. f In January, 1220, he addresses the king to introduce the abbot of Fountains as bishop-designate of Ely. His subsequent communications were terse and mandatory. He remained in the west, avoiding the metropolis, not liking the expense of the journey; * "Eoyal and other Historical Letters illustrative of the Reign of Henry III.," edited by the Rev. Walter Wallington Shirley, i. G — Rolls Publications. t Rymeri " Fcedera," i. 149. 238 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. but in April lie announced his intention of coming to Windsor. Honorius directs him, on the 20fch of May, not to permit any one to hold more than two royal castles. His legatine authority was brought to a sudden conclusion in the following year.* In the month of May Cardinal Langton again landed at Dover, the clergy and laity rivalling each other in testifjring their gratification at his return. There was much in his own neglected diocese, as well as in the Anglican Church, that demanded his correcting judgment ; but there was a youthful sovereign and a disordered kingdom, still more urgently calling for his wise inter- position. His first care was the great charter, and he in Michaelmas of the same year convened an assembly in London to legislate respecting it. The royal consent was given to this document ; the primate's seal affixed to it, and by general consent it was accepted as the law of the land. The primate then addressed himself to remedying the many grave evils that existed in his diocese, and to the performance of his archiepiscopal duties, till the 1 7th of May, 1220, when he crowned King Henry III. in "Westminster Abbey, a former coronation having been considered informal. It was on the 7th of July, 1220, that the cardinal archbishop connected his name with another great event, one that long remained prominent in ec- clesiastical annals. This was the translation of the remains of his illustrious predecessor, Thomas Becket. His corpse had been consigned for half * Shirley's "Royal and otlier Historical Letters," i. IG, 34, 35, 167 — Rolls Publications. TEANSLATION OF THOMAS BBCKET. 239 a century to the cathedral crypt; but a chapel of great architectural beauty, containing a shrine, that in magnificence was intended to rival everything of the kind which had hitherto been seen in the country, was prepared to receive the martyr, and good Catholics from all parts of Christendom were invited to assemble at Canterbury to witness the ceremony. The invitation was responded to, and on the day named, the narrow thoroughfares of the old city were choked, the quaint timber houses over- flowed with guests, while house-tops, windows, and doorways were crammed with spectators. From all the rehgious houses flocked priests of many orders and degrees, foreign and English ; prelates and nobles joined in the throng ; the archbishop of Rheims and Pandulph, the late legate, soon to be bishop of Norwich, conspicuous amongst them. Moreover there was the king with the justiciary, Hubert de Burgh, and his principal nobility, present, some of whom thought it an honour to bear on their shoulders an iron chest containing the bones of the English saint, amid a crowd of banners and crosses, and the most gorgeous array of eccle- siastical paraphernalia. The grand procession filed through the cathedral with every accessory that could make the scene impressive, till the new chapel was entered, where, behind the altar, stood a shrine of gold and silver, gorgeously decorated with precious stones, which received these honoured memorials. It was a great demonstration for all engaged in it — a very great day for the chapter and monks of Canterbury, a day of special glorification for their munificent archbishop, who had been forced to beg 240 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAE.DINALS. and borrow to a prodigious extent, to meet tlie enormous cost of the pageant. It was long re- membered in England and France ; and tbat it should not be forgotten, the primate, on the first anniversary, preached a commemoration sermon in the cathedral. It was not forgotten, nor were his exertions to render it memorable, for all the monkish chroniclers have recorded the event with marked commendation of his name. Cardinal Langton continued to labour diligently in his vocation. He was particularly active in endeavouring to bring his clergy to respect the claims of the poor, and to correct the abuses in religious establishments which the evil rule of King John had fostered. On the lltli of June, 1222, he presided at a council that met at Osney, near Oxford, to consider what remedies would be effectual for repressing the most grievous of social crimes among the laity, and for the correction of excesses among the clergy. Robbers of all de- scriptions, and their patrons, were to be denounced, and directions were given for insisting on decent manners and decent apparel among all who professed a holy life ; the concubines of priests were not to receive church burial, neither were they to partake of the Communion, nor, if they brought forth illegitimate children, were they to be purified ; while their clerical paramours were to be sus- pended, and subjected to a sharp penance previously to absolution. These provisions display a frightful amount of social disorganization. Freebooters and rogues of all kinds appear to have flourished with the con- CLBKICAL ABUSE. 241 nivance of persons in autliority ; and the state in which a large number of beneficed clergymen lived, had become a monstrous scandal. The cardinal archbishop employed all his influence to remove these abuses, and in one or two instances severely punished ofienders. A general reformation was needed ; nearly all Europe suffering more or less under the same evils. There are two remarkable instances of severity recorded by Copgrave, as having occurred at Osney under the primate's authority. One was in the person of a priest in deacon's orders, who being in love with a beautiful Jewess, allowed himself to be circumcised, denied his Saviour, and became a Jew — a romantic incident that has been well used in fic- tion. The other was a layman, who caused himself to be nailed to a cross, and then declared that this was done for the salvation of mankind. The apo- state Christian was burnt at the stake ; the sham Christ imprisoned for life. As a further measure of reform, the archbishop encouraged the settlement in England of friars of a severe rule — Franciscans, or Minorites — principally for the edification of the lower classes of the people. He hoped their example would correct the evils of indulgence which the monasteries were prodigally displaying. But these mendicants, though they contrived to make themselves popular, did not reform the richer brotherhoods. The experience, the judgment and wisdom of the primate must have pointed him out as, above all men, the best fitted to be the chief counsellor of his youthful sovereign ; but he does not appear from I. 16 242 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. this time to have played a very prominent part in public affairs. His great anxiety was the security of the safeguard to English liberty he had created. He wished in 1223 the young king in council to confirm his acceptance of the Charter. One of the members present ventured to affirm that its concessions had been extorted by force. The archbishop abjured him, if he loved the king, not to disturb the minds of his people by counselling opposition on a matter of such vital interest. Then Henry III. spiritedly said that he felt bound to adhere to what he had already sworn. On another occasion, a few years later, Cardinal Langton made a stand against an attempt on the part of the Pope to "squeeze" the Anglican Church. He was supported by King Henry and the peers, spiritual and temporal. He did not approve of the legate ; but the latter had sufficient influence to procure a bull fi^om Honorius, stating that as Pan- dulph was only bishop of Norwich elect, he owed no obedience to the primate. After the Cardinal had concluded the grand ecclesiastical pageant at Canter- bury, he started for Rome, — a hazardous mission, when his opposition to papal supremacy is re- membered ; but he knew how to smooth little difficulties at the Roman court, and did this with such success that he returned with an important concession from the Pope, that no papal legate should henceforth be resident in England. This tied the hands of Pandulph ; at least it assured him that his mission was drawing to a close, and indig- nantly he hastened his departure. In April, 1221, Honorius writes, directing the archbishop of York and his suffi-agans to use their SIMON DE LANGTON. 243 best exertions to repress the warfare in England.* In October, 1223, he addressed a more important communication to the entire Anglican hierarchy, stating that the wrongs complained of by the Templaro must be redressed. About the same time he directed the archbishop to place an interdict on the lands of Llewellyn, prince of Wales. On the 14th of January, he wrote to the king, expressing his concern at the treatment of the bishop of Winchester. The king stated, in reply, that the bishop's ease had been misrepresented. t After Pope Innocent III. had annulled the election of Simon de Langton to the archbishopric of York, the latter entered the service of the king of France, and became his chancellor. On the accession of Henry III. to the English throne, and the return of the cardinal archbishop, he sought and obtained a permission in 1223 to return also. He was then appointed archdeacon of Canterbury, and reheved his brother of a considerable amount of adminis- trative labour. After this the primate lived gene- rally in one of his manors in Sussex, where he built a residence, in which he passed much of the remainder of his honourable life. This was at Slindon, about seven miles from Chichester. From this retirement he was called to settle disputes between different orders of the clergy, as well as quarrels between the king and some of his turbulent nobles. In one instance he and his suffragans in white robes at North amp ton, in 1224, excommunicated the offenders, the earl of Chester and his adherents. It is impos- * " Royal and other Historical Letters," i. 174. t Ibid., 211—213, 218—224. 16 * 244 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. sible to overrate tlie importance of the cardinal's conduct when he made his noble stand against the foreign coadjutor of De Burgh in the government — Bishop Des Roches — and the Roman party. Having cleverly contrived to obtain a bull from Honorius, declaring the young king of age, and directing the surrender of the royal castles in the hands of their leaders, the earl of Chester chose to raise a rebellion with their help. The latter made an unsuccessful attempt to get possession of the seat of government, then marched with all their force to Leicester, where they kept their Christmas with prodigious display of enjoyment. The national party in greater strength proceeded to Northampton with their youthful sovereign, and celebrated their Christmas with festivities that threw those of the Leicester revellers into the shade.* The closing ceremonial of the festive display struck terror into the hearts of the malcontents. The cardinal archbishop, assisted by his prelates, Avith no less ecclesiastical solemnity than pomp, excommunicated all who were in armed opposition to the government. The effect this produced was soon evident. The cheerful carol ceased in Leicester, and the sumptuous feast was at an end. One by one the conspirators left the confederacy, hastening to purchase their own safety by a surrender of the castles they had defiantly retained. The policy of the cardinal was tritimphant, and the authority of De Burgh unquestioned. Another spirited effort to maintain a national character for the government was the cardinal's [_;j ■•■ "Chron. Duns.," 136-8. PROCTORS AT ROME. 245 opposition to tlie greatest of the aliens, De Breaute, who since his first employment as a military adven- turer under King John, had contrived to monopolize castles, dignities, power, and wealth to a formidable extent. His influence in England extended over seven counties, of which he was sheriff; over the domains of several of the royal castles, of which he was governor ; he was moreover a baron of the Exchequer, as well as a baron of the realm ; he had contrived also to secure a commanding influence in the court of Eome, and, thus supported, held out in defiance of the government and the cardinal. De Burgh be- sieged his stronghold, and, despite of his patron the Pope, forced him into submission and exile. The agency flourishing at the papal court in the first quarter of the thirteenth century is amu- singly iQustrated by the correspondence of the proctors engaged to look after English interests there. They describe a singular state of confusion among Pope and cardinals. Egidius, the Pope's chaplain, privately sent an assurance to the king by messengers who were to be trusted ; and the king, in 1224, sends his agents full instructions. In a subsequent letter (Feb., 1225) they inform him that the Cardinal Romano betrays an influence in favour of French interests. In August of the same year they announce the arrival of the king's am- bassadors, with a variety of valuable property, probably intended for jjresents. In another com- munication of the same month, written when re- turning home, they describe their interview with the papal legate, Romano, at St. Omer, and then give notice of a change in his arrangements. The 246 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. cardinal legate himself writes in March, 1226, to the king and the justiciary, expressing a desire for peace.* In August, 1224, Honorius III. wrote to the cardinal archbishop, directing him to prevent the attack which the king was about to make on Fulcke De Breaute, and recall his excommunications against him. It is clear, therefore, that this adventurer — one of the aliens who proved a social curse to England — had thus eai-ly contrived to obtain the Pontiff's protection. About the same date the Pope wrote to the king, disapproving of his proceedings against Pulcke. A still greater stretch of authority was his writing in April, 1228, to the king of England, forbidding him to assist Raymond of Toulouse in making war against the king of France. In July, 1226, he directed the archbishop to see that his letters to Henry in favour of Fulcke's wife were carried into effect, f In the next year the royal necessities requ.iring assistance, a fifteenth of all property belonging to clergy and laity was asked for. Archbishop Langton imiDroved the occasion, and, backed by his suffragans and aU the Parliament assembled, insisted that the two great charters already mentioned should be ratified in the most solemn and binding manner before such aid were granted. The king, therefore, had them again drawn up, passed under his seal, and a copy sent to all the counties, with the royal command that their provisions should be strictly observed.:]: Nevertheless, in the year 1227 he called a council at Oxford, and publicly annulled the * " Royal and Historical Letters," vol. i. t Id. ib., Appendix V. X Roger of Wendover, a.d. 1225. AN ANGLICAN CHURCHMAN. 247 charters, as having been granted when he was under age. It appears to have been a ruse to get money ; for, on the payment of certain sums by clergy and laity, they were renewed in proper form. In the year 1228 the cardinal archbishop received the commands of Pope Gregory to excommunicate the Emperor, with whom the PontiiST was at feud ; but he was then suffering from a mortal illness at his manor-house at Slindon, where he died on the 9 th of July. He was buried in the cathedral at Canterbury, in the chapel of St. Michael, where a monument was erected to his memory. His great memorial, however, is unquestionably Magna Ohaeta, which will endure to keep his name in remembrance among Englishmen, when his scarcophagus shall have crumbled to dust. In Stephen Langton we meet with a noble ex- ample of the Anglican churchman; he understood his position as the primate of the English Church, and by his patriotic exertions, amid tremendous difficulties, established a precedent of incalculable value when the nationality of that noble institution was at stake. It is quite true that a whisper of doctrinal dissent from him was never heard ; never- theless, it is more than probable that the trium- phant result of his struggle with the social and political oppression of papal government encouraged in another genei'ation the stand made by English intelligence against its mental tyranny. If we look carefully to the progress of opinion in this country, we can scarcely fail of doing justice to the memory of this illustrious ecclesiastic as one of the first and best of our religious reformers. 248 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Well aware of the excessive expansion of the papal system beyond the scheme of policy carried out successfully by his countryman while at the head of the Church of Rome, and having acquired a practical knowledge of the mischievous effects of such exaggeration in England, he resolutely made a stand against the intolerable despotism it created, opposing the autocrat Pope as boldly as he contended with his royal vassal. He established the liberties of his country on a solid foundation by his exertions to secure King Henry's, as well as Eang John's, acknowledgment of the two important char- ters accepted at Runnymede ; and with the same well-directed energy raised the prostrate Anglican Church to a position more worthy of a great na- tional institution. Moreover he endeavoured by his moderation to correct the evil influence of Becket's intense Romanism. Among the distinguished clerical compatriots and contemporaries of the excellent primate was Robert Curzon, who, like most of the ornaments of the Anglican Church of that and succeeding ages, re- ceived his education at Oxford,* whence, with a Doctor of Divinity degree, he proceeded to Paris in the usual course. Here he attained to such honour in the university as to gain the favour of the king of France. It has been stated that he not only obtained several honourable appointments in Paris, but was held in such esteem by the French king for his rare qualifications, that he warmly re- * Wood, "Hist, and Antiq. of Oxford" (Gutcli), i. 181. He places him under the year 1205. Cardella, "Memorie Storiche, etc.," malces him a student at Oxford in 1180. CAEDINAL OUEZON. 249 commended him to the Pope. In the same creation that included Stephen Langton, Innocent III. promoted him to the Sacred College as Cardinal Priest of St. Stephen on Mount Cselius, anno Domini 1212. The active development of the papal power, then directed by this enterprising Pontiff", required skilful agents devoted to the interests of the Holy See. Cardinal Curzon's ability was as obvious to the clear- sighted head of the Church as his fidelity, and em- ployment was soon found for him. Although the archbishop of Canterbury was placed in the position of legate, as certain of his predecessors had been, to secure the subserviency of the Anglican priesthood, his proceedings, after he had obtained investiture, did not satisfy the papal court. Innocent III. had determined on a policy that should place all the European powers at his feet; and John, king of England, was made the first example of the extravagance of its pretensions. The spirit with which these were combated by the English clergy aristocracy, and people, rendered another mission to England necessary in the succeeding reign. The papal annalists send Curzon as legate to England, in the ^ year in which he was created cardinal ; * but from that period to the time of his death, Gualo, and subsequently Pandulph, held this post. Innocent III. died in 1216. By Honorius III. he was appointed Legate a latere in France,! * Ciaconius, i. 650. + Cardella. Of tlie two legates, the Chronicle of Mailros says, — " Missa sunt a latere domini Pap^ multa ct magna luminaria. Doc- tores scilicet sanctissimse conversationis et excellentissimfe dootrinre in omnem circa regionem ; quorum duo missi sunt, unus in Angliam 250 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. to excite the Ckurch and chivalry of that country to a crusade against the Albigenses ; for the policy of papal expansion was soon to be supplemented by a policy of heretical extermination. The success he met with does not seem to have been very great. Happily the cardinal was not responsible for the atrocities that were subsequently committed. The English cardinal was shortly afterwards employed to advance another crusade. This was against the infidels in the Holy Land, which Hono- rius and the Roman court pressed with vigour. The great powers of Christendom were appealed to ; but the king of Hungary, and some German princes and prelates, were all who answered the call ; and to the force they contrived to raise. Cardinal Curzon was attached as pontifical legate. In the year 1218 they laid siege to and captured Damietta ; but here the cardinal legate's career concluded : he died in the suburbs, and the campaign was nearly coming to an end soon afterwards ; for Cardinal Pelagius was elected commander-in-chief of the expedition, which met with severe reverses through et reliquns in Franoiam. In Angliam Magister Stephanus de Langetun, arcliiepisoopus Cautuarias consecratus : in Gallias Ma- gister Robertus de Curznn sedis apostolicfe presbyter et cardinalis, et totius Franciaj legatus et arbiter constitntus, nt Sanctis conver- sationis exemplo et Catliolicfe prajdicationis ministerio iitramque regionem illustrarent. Item omnes Cliristianos publioos usurarios, et publicas meretrices, et ceteros sanctte religionis derisores, ad admonitionem prredicti Magistri Koberti abstulit Rex Francia k civitatibus suis nniversis." — (T. Gale, " Eenim Anglicarum Scrip- torum Veterum," i. 185.) According to the Clironicle of Mailros, at tlie council at Paris, lield in 1210, Robert Cnrzon distinguished himself greatly by his prosecution of those heretics known as Almedcans. His death is recorded in the year 1220. OABDINAL CURZON. 251 his inexperience as a general. Cardinal Ourzon made some contributions to the theological and scholastic literature of his age, which have been favourably noticed by Alonzo Chacon and other biographers.* * " Robertiis Carson, Anglus, tlieologisB scriptor uiemoratissimus, Oxonii Uteris incubuit, amplioraque deinde meditatus, Lutetiam atque Romam ipsam petiit, illio tlieologus doctor, hie verb cardinalis effectus scripsit — ' Summum Tlieologise,' ' De Salvatione Origenis,' 'Lecturas Sollenanes,' et alia non pauca. Claruit anno 1212." — (Ciaconius, 650.) " Eobertus Curson ex nobili quodam Anglorum ortus genera, disciplinis turn prophanis turn sacris studiosus incu- buit, idque (quantum ex conjecturis colligo) in celebratissima Oxonii academia. Prsestantissimis illic institutoribus usus, ex sura ma circa ingenuas artes industria, et assiduo literarum labore, famam sibi inter suos celeberrimam comparavit. Ampliora deinde meditatus, Parisiorum Lutetiam atque Romam ipsam petiit ; illic theologus doctor, hie vero cardinalis effectus." — Bale, " Scriptorum Ulnstrium Majoris Brytannise Catalogus," Basil, 1557-9. 252 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. CHAPTER II. KOBEET SOMEECOTE, CAKDINAL DEACON. His Preparation for the Priesthood — the Church — Giraldus Cam- brensis at Rome — Martial Prelates — Masses — Crusades — Church Abuses — ^Benefit of Clergy — University Plots — Monastic Art and Literature — Somercote takes Holy Orders — Conflict of Pope Gregory and the Emperor Frederick — • Eeligious Dissent — Disputes — Papal Extortion — Disturb- ances at Cambridge and Oxford — Aliens — Somercote the Kiag's Chaplain — Quarrel between the Pope and the Em- peror — Somercote created a Cardinal — his Fidelity to the Pope — Papal Exactions in England — Death of Pope Gregory ■ — Desire in the Conclave to elect Somercote — he is poisoned. OF Robert Somercote, notwithstanding the high position he attained in the Church, and the confidential duties he performed wlien its excessive pretensions were undergoing a hostile scrutiny, historical traces are few and wide apart. He was educated in England in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, following the usual course of study, as a preparation for the priesthood, the profession that continued to hold out the most powerful inducement to students. The Church of Rome had entered upon a far more ambitious policy than that which Adrian IV. had bequeathed to his successors, and was going through a dangerous crisis, in the desperate quarrel, then at its height, between the Pope and Frederick II. It was also undergoing GIEALDUS CAMBKENSTS. 253 a trial of public opinion, as was evinced by tlie spread of religious bodies professing a faith distinct from tbat taught by her priests, as well as by the de- nunciations of orthodox Catholics, anxious for a reform of its abuses. At the commencement of the thirteenth century, the cardinals learnt that an English ecclesiastic famed for his scholarship and eloquence had come to Rome, to press a suit in which he was deeply interested. This was Giraldus Cambrensis, whose reputation as a preacher of the crusades, as an author, and as a divine, had already made a favourable impression among the pontifical ofl&cials. He had been elected by the chapter to the bishopric of St. David's, in 1199 ; but the archbishop of Canterbury had refused consecration ; and King- John supported the objections of the primate. The chapter, knowing that the objection was merely a prejudice, because he was a "Welshman, elected him a second time. He then sought the interposition of Rome. The Pope received his visitor with marks of con- sideration, and permitted him to return to England and exercise the administration of the see till the dispute should be settled. Giraldus Cambrensis paid three visits to Rome, in each of which he had no reason to complain of the reception given him by the papal court ; but the prejudice which had proved so injurious to him in England, made him so popular in "Wales, that the entire principality threatened revolt. This exasperated the king and the archbishop, whose complaints at last com- pelled the Pontiff to annul his election. He 264 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CABDINALS. survived this injustice upwards of twenty years, devoting himself to literary pursuits ; but during his visits he had been able to see the mode of living of the Princes of the Church, and was unsparing in his censures of their pride and luxury ; he was equally severe upon the monks, especially the Cistercians.* As we have already intimated, the higher officers of the Church not unfrequently commanded military detachments. As warriors, the English prelates were in no respect inferior to their right reverend brethren on the continent. Indeed, Roger of Wen- dover states that a bishop of Winchester was sent for to Rome to direct the military proceedings. Pope Gregory was then organizing a force to act against his subjects. The bishop had learned experience in war under Richard I., and could arrange an army in order of battle before he was able to preach. Mat- thew Paris relates that the chapter of Beauvais indited a most pitiful appeal to the Pope, respecting the capture of their bishop by the king of England. The Pontiff" wrote Richard I. a remonstrance, claim- ing his dear son. The king respectfully forwarded the suit of mail worn by the prelate when he was captured, asking if that was the coat of his dear son. The Pope promptly replied that the wearer must be a son of Mars, not of Christ, and left him to his fate. Wager of battle was not denied to prelates, women, maimed persons, nor to men who were sixty years old : they might appear by their champions. Somewhat later, in the reign of Edward III., the * Preface to liis works edited by Mr. Brewer— Rolls Publica- tions. " Speculum Ecclesise," lib. iv. MS. Cotton., Tiber. B. xiii. MASSES. 255 bishop of the diocese brought an action against the earl of Salisbury, for possession of the castle. The fight was permitted ; but on previous examination by the appointed judges, the prelate's champion was discovered to be wearing concealed prayers and charms ; it was therefore deferred. This gave the disputants time to effect a compromise ; the bishop paying a thousand marks to the earl, who allowed judgment in the case to go by default.* One of the great abuses practised by the priest- hood, but disapproved of by intelligent and honest- minded Catholics, was the sale of masses for the salvation of the dead or dying. This was de- nounced by Abelard, and condemned by the council of Paris (1212), but has never been abolished. Sin- ners were frightened into surrendering dishonest gains, and sometimes honourable accumulations, to the Church, as the only means of escaping everlast- ing torture, and the wealthy pious were induced to make extravagant donations to rescue their relatives from purgatory. Even large annual incomes were bequeathed or bestowed for masses to be performed till the imperilled soul was safe in Paradise. It was alleged that the damned testified their appreciation of the efiicacy of this rite by the most lively demon- strations immediately it commenced. Rome was constantly in the possession of a German army ; nevertheless the Emperor invariably received investiture on conditions that recognized the Pope's supremacy. The Pontiff in 1211 secured the elec- * Horwood, " Year book of the Reign of Edward I.," years xxii. xxiii., Preface. — Rolls Publications. There are several cases of ecclesiastics wagering battle cited here. 256 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. tion of the youthful Frederick of Palermo to the empire, because he had thus humbled himself. As a promoter of crusades, few of his predecessors had been so successful, and the cardinals were constantly employed in exciting the military ardour as well as the religious zeal of the representatives of the royal and noble families of Europe. When an immense army had been organized for this purpose, and the Doge Dandolo had induced its leaders to change their project for an attack on the Greek empire, the rage of the Pope displayed itself in a general ex- communication. The passion for crusading excited in Germany and France spread to children, and armies of boys left their homes, never to return. Some found honourable asylums in Italy, but the majority were either sold as slaves to the Turks, or were shipwrecked and drowned. The crusades against the infidel having generally proved disastrous, one had been preached against heretics in 1209 ; and as these were nearer at hand, and far less formidable than the Saracens, plenty of volunteers presented themselves to share the honour and the plunder expected from the en- terprise. Among their leaders was the Cardinal Conrad von Urich, one of those German ecclesias- tical commanders who distinguished themselves by the ferocity of their zeal for the Church. Innocent III. was not unmindful of the abuses that existed among churchmen, and convoked a general council at Eome in 1215 to remedy them. There cardinals and prelates inveighed against the immo- rality of the inferior clergy, who might with eqtial truth have retorted on their superiors. The priests INFLUMNOE OP THE PEIESTHOOD. 257 of lA6ge were conspicuous for their licentiousness ; but, only a little less openly, similar profligacy existed almost everywhere. It was in vain that pure and earnest-minded Catholics denounced these abuses, — a reformation was required at Rome in the first place. If the divine command had been made to the council, " Let him who is without sin fling the first stone," the punishers must have been so few, that the oSienders need not have feared de- lapidation. Little was done except in establishing the mendicant orders known as the Minorites and Dominicans, and the institution known and dreaded as "the Inquisition." Innocent continued to favour the emperor Frede- rick, and his court maintained its splendour and its power. His death occurred in 1216, but his pohcy survived during the pontificate of his successor, Honorius III., by whom the cardinals were quite as much occupied in organizing crusades and leagues, as a means of securing or expanding the institution at Rome. The influence of the priesthood in England is thus illustrated: — "A certain clerk," says Anthony Wood, " as he was recreating himself, killed by chance a woman," — rather an ambiguous way of describing so serious an accident. " But the mayor and townsmen of Oxford, where it occurred, made search for the culprit, who had fled and concealed himself" — an unwise proceeding if he had not been to blame, — " and having seized him and one or two of his associates, who were con- sidered his accomplices, sent word to King John, I. 17 258 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. then staying at "Woodstock, wlio ordered them to be hanged forthwith." * This contempt of benefit of clergy so displeased the clerical scholars, that they are said to have quitted the university to the number of 3,000. The Pope was induced to place the town under an iaterdict, which was only taken off when, at the instigation of the papal legate, the authorities had performed a most humiliating penance, and entered into arrangements beneficial to poor clerks. The place was again put under interdict shortly afterwards (1228) for a gown and town row; when the laymen were again punished. Next year a like disturbance occurred at Paris, and the students, dis- satisfied with their treatment at the hands of the authorities, accepted the invitation of Henry III., and crossed the Channel to the number of one thou- sand. Riots at Oxford were of frequent occurrence, as testified by the following verse : — " Chronica si penses, Cum pugnant Oxonienses, Post paucos menses, Volat via per Angligenenses." In Paris the disturbances were as formidable as those that took place at Oxford. According to Roger Hovedon, there was a tremendous uproar in the former university, caused by the servant of an unpopular German dignitary getting maltreated, and his vessel broken, when sent to a tavern for wine. The German scholars turned out at the insult, and nearly killed the tavern-keeper. Then the authorities mustered their strength, and at- * " Hist, and Antiq. Oxford" (Gutcli), i. 183. ■ EOOLESIAOTICAL ART. 259 tacked the hall in which the Germans lodged: many were killed, including the ecclesiastic whose servant had been beaten.* In the reign of Henry III., his quarrels with his more powerful subjects, as well as wars at home and abroad, would have prevented any development of intelhgence in the country either in art or litera- ture, had it not been for the peaceful but earnest students in the principal religious houses. Within those quiet retreats the manufacture of MSS. pro- ceeded uninterrupted by the din that frequently raged without ; the scribe being still constantly em- ployed copying the most approved works of classic and mediasval authors. To these industrious monks do we owe not only what remains to us of artistic design at this epoch, displayed in the decorations of their MSS., but nearly all that we possess of the history of the time. Art was not inactive in France at the same period, though it had a purely decorative character. It was pressed into the service of the Apostolic Church for every purpose to which it could be ap- plied; and the wealthier ecclesiastics employed it largely, not only in religious objects, but for per- sonal and domestic luxury. Glass-painting and enamelling flourished at Aries and Limoges, and fictile manufactures in other districts equally cele- brated in medigeval history. 'Goldsmiths' work, too, was much employed on ecclesiastical furniture, not merely in the production of reliquaries and shrines, but occasionally in mitres, crosses, crosiers, and similar ornaments. Embroidery in rich designs * Hovedon, " Annalium," 457. 17* 260 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. adorned tlie prelate as well as tlie altar, and metal- work of an equally decorative character was in fre- quent requisition ; the cardinals and higher officers of the Church being among the best patrons of the skilful workman. It was not till the latter half of the thirteenth century that painting in Italy began to approach a national character. The Byzantine splendours had been in great request for church decoration, and the cardinals had employed it wherever their influence extended. Cimabue, and a little later Giotto, afforded evidence that a less mechanical style of art was attainable, and the pontifical court eagerly seized upon its professors for illus- trating the sacred lessons they taught and the holy services in which they assisted. The ecclesias- tical palaces, quite as much as the ecclesiastical churches and chapels, were adorned with these novel attractions ; and pictures of human life in contemporary costume were attainable at a moderate outlay. The Princes of the Church, while employing the artist to delineate the most suggestive incidents of their religion for the edification of the multitude, did not disdain to have recourse to his talent for purposes purely secular. The result has been the creation of valuable illustrations of social life. They are not valuable solely for the light they throw on the progress of Italian painting ; they are not less rehable as works of historical re- ference, on the manners, dress, and history of the Italian people. Among these signs of increasing intelligence Robert Somercote pursued his clerical career. ABBOT JOAOHIM. 261 Whatever did honour to the Church in the seat of its empire was in due course felt to the limits of its government. The student at the university- was sure to have his attention directed to the eleva- tion that filled the background of his landscape. It was still the clerical gate that led to the great high- way of advancement ; it was still in the sacerdotal ranks that the scholar looked to attain command. The licentiousness and disorder among the priest- hood had been proclaimed by many reliable au- thorities besides the famous abbess Hildegarda, including the celebrated abbot Joachim, — models of zealous Catholicism. The boldness with which the latter denounced the abuses of the Church system, and held up particular popes to infamy, must have startled some of the cardinals, particu- larly when the abbot accused the Pope of acting as though he wanted to appear a god in the temple devoted to his worship. He represented that the Princes of the Holy See by their inordinate ac- quisitiveness with respect to church property, were suggesting to laymen how to profit by their example. Both these once celebrated writers appear to have been gifted with a prophetic spirit, and fore- told troubles to the Church through the influence of its secular spirit. Nevertheless, as the young priest could scarcely have failed to observe, the system went on ; the Pope continued the source of sacerdotal emolument and honour, and the papal court remained the focus of European intrigue. Magnificent establishments and a sumptuous style of living more than ever characterized the position 262 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. of the cardinals. They spent munificently, and such expenditure required large revenues. The extent to which the Anglican Church was taxed for this may be imagined from the regular contributions forwarded to Rome. The two archbishops were obliged to pay for annates (first-fruits) ten thousand florins each, and five thousand more on receiving the pallium. There was a descending scale for the bishops ; Winchester paying twelve thousand ducats, Durham nine thou- sand ; while Bangor and Asaph were let off with a reduced payment of a hundred and twenty-six florins. The irregular contributions appear to have had no limit.* Other supplies continued to be drawn less fi^om the liberality of the pious than the necessities of the rich ; but the old taxes on human wickedness and credulity scarcely sufiiced to satisfy tlie wants of the Papacy, and all kinds of expedients were practised to increase its resources. In the first stage of his clerical career, Somercote was not likely to heed complaints against this system, if they reached him. An aspiring church- man was sure to see nothing but perfection in the institution in which he was desirous of rising. His behef in its infallibihty was a matter of course. Every new member of the enormous caste that had spread over Christendom was expected to accept the ecclesiastical stakis quo as a condition of pre-eminent advantage, and he who desired to secure elevation in it, could only hope to do so by prominently becoming its eulogist and defender. There does not publicly appear any evidence of Somercote' s distinguishing himself as a pontifical * Godwin, "De Prassulibus Anglite." HONORIUS III. 263 champion in the fierce contest then being carried on between the imperial and the papal power. He became eminent for superior scholarship, and may have been entrusted with an agency that brought his talents under the observation of one eager to profit by them. The Pontiff wanted some one who could keep him well informed on English afiairs. There was a great deal of business of the kind going on at Rome, and he was anxious that there should be quite as much transacted in England for the profit of the Church. To the manner in which such afiairs were managed there, we have already referred; but it is scarcely possible to convey a clearer idea of the absence of principles of justice or dignity than appears in the advocacy by Hono- rius III. of the cause of that notorious Fulcke de Breaute, who had been driven out of England by its wise and energetic chancellor De Burgh. The Pontifi" had previously to this endeavoured to stop the course of justice in a manner that neither the English sense nor the English patriotism of Adrian IV. could have sanctioned. In the year 1227 Henry III. put forward a claim to 11,000 marks deposited in the Temple by I>e Breaute ; but this does not appear to have disturbed the relations between the king and the Pontifi" at Rome, for the following year the former wrote to the emperor Frederick II., urging his reconciliation with the Church, and the next day to Gregory IX., who had succeeded Honorius, req\Testing him to sanction the union of the sees of Waterford and Lismore. His agent at Rome was employed in negotiating with the papal court respecting the sue- 264 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. cession to the see of Canterbury, and wrote to the chancellor announcing the arrival of the archbishop elect. The letter is a remarkable one, and states that' the writer has obtained a bull for authori^iing a loan, — evidently a secret transaction.* The disastrous result of the Crusades was a source of much mortification at the court of Rome. It lessened the influence of the Pope, while the imperial power was gaining ground. The succes- sor of Honorius would not acknowledge this, and Frederick, having shown some reluctance in ful- filUng a vow he had taken to lead an army into the Holy Land, was excommunicated. This elicited a stinging declaration from the Emperor, who denounced Gregory as a bloodsucker, the legates as wolves in sheep's clothing, and asserted that the object of both was to fetter hberty, to disturb peace, and extort gold. He did not confine his opposition to words ; his army presently drove the Pontiff out of Eome. In the year 1228 he ful- filled his vow ; but not in a spirit likely to satisfy the wishes of either cardinal or Pope. The papal wrath followed him to Jerusalem, where the Patriarch, the Knights Hospitallers, and the Tem- plars, avoided him. A little later he was warned, by the Saracen leader, while pursuing a career of conquest, that a plot existed among these chivalrous knights for his assassination. An instance of the reference to Rome to sanction illegal acts, occurred in the early part of the reign of Henry III., when the young king was still a minor. Pope Honorius was induced to give a dis- * " Royal and Historical Letters," vol. i. KEY SOLDIBES. 265 pensation to permit him to act as ttough. lie were of full age, " because, as we rejoice to learn, he has shown a manly mind, and progresses in prudence." Moreover, the Pontiff issued his commands to the persons who had hitherto carried on the govern- ment, to surrender to the youthful sovereign the free and peaceable management of his kingdom. In the answer to the charges made against Hubert de Burgh, there exists abundant evidence of the interposition of the papal authority in the affairs of England ; * but the fact was notorious then and afterwards that Rome was a court of appeal, and that disputants of all kinds were encouraged to bring their causes there for settlement by the Pontiff and cardinals. Gregory continued to pursue the same course, endeavouring to overthrow the imperial power both in Germany and Italy. He established an army of mercenaries, distinguished by the papal cogni- zance of the crossed keys, and the cardinals were occupied in endeavouring to turn these " key sol- diers," as they were called, to profitable account. While busy with intrigues in the Holy Land and in Germany, they were startled by the announce- ment that the detested Emperor, backed by an immense army, was descending the Alps. Con- sternation reigned in every face in the consistory. The Emperor must be aware, they concluded, of the treachery from which he had escaped by the Sultan's chivalrous warning. The key soldiers could not stand a moment against the host about to invade Italy. The great spirit of Gregory succumbed ; the * Matthew Paris, " Additamenta." 266 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. interdict was removed, and Frederick, unques- tionably a heretic, was recognized as a faithful son of the Apostohc Church.* When Gregory IX. had deposed and excommuni- cated the Emperor, the latter, after his return from Palestine, wrote letters to the senators as well as to the cardinals of Rome, exculpating himself and accusing the Pontiff. On the Sacred College the imperial epistles produced no visible effect, except to increase their labours ; for the Pope was also a great letter- writer, and addressed everybody in Europe he hoped to prejudice against his opponent. In particular, very moving communications were forwarded to the archbishops of Canterbury and York, denouncing Frederick. At the same time he commissioned a legate to levy contributions on the faithful in Eng- land in his name, although it was scarcely a year since another had passed through the kingdom and extorted an enormous amount of treasure on the same pretence ; while in the year 1229 a tenth of all ecclesiastical property had been taken to Rome. Under such circumstances the diffusion of reli- gious dissent was inevitable. Anthony Wood is ex- tremely severe when obliged to note the appear- ance in England of persons professing heterodox opinions. He falls foul of "the Gerardins," who, he says, came like wolves from Gascony and Ger- many, rendering England a common prostitute, using the coarsest epithet he could employ ; then * Nevertheless, the Pontiff was not quite subdued ; for wlien Frederick published a code of laws which derived all earthly power from the emperors, he, in 1234, put forward an opposition code, in which all such influence was sho-\vn to have its source in the popes. STEIKING ARGUMENTS. 267 came the Waldenses or Publicani, who, he states, "taught vehemently against monks, masses, pur- gatory, dedication of churches, veneration given to saints, suffrages for the dead, and such like." There is a contradiction in his assertion that few would admit such novelties, to his statement that some persons endeavoured to introduce them with a strong hand. The strong hand was employed by the clergy, who caused the reformers to be burnt in the forehead and banished the country.* Disputation was a favourite scholastic exercise, but was sometimes carried on by arguments for which the opponent was totally unprepared. Join- ville, in his Memoir of St. Louis, describes one which took place in the monastery of Clugny, — the monks against certain learned Jews. An ancient knight, resting on a crutch because of his infirmities, re- quested permission to put a question to the chief Rabbi. This being allowed, he asked the Hebrew if he believed in the immaculate nature of the Virgin Mary. An answer in the negative was followed by a heavy blow on the head with the crutch, that felled the Jew to the ground. The abbot was disj)leased with this way of closing an argument, but the knight insisted that it was the proper method of disputation with heretics,! — a method much in favour with the court of Rome. The cardinals had for a time a respite from their labours of trying to move earth and heaven against the Emperor ; for the representations of influential friends and the presence in Italy of an enormous * "Hist, and Antiq. Oxford" (Gutch), i. 158. t JoinYille. 268 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. army reconciled tlie distinguished opponents. Then Frederick went to Rome, and by means of a lavish outlay secured absolution from the Pope and support from the Sacred College. The Eoman court put on a new aspect ; there seemed to be no such friend to the Church as the once hated Emperor ; and in mutual jollity and feasting Pope and Kayser passed the happy hours.* Unfortunately, this good under- standing did not last long. In a few years the feud between them broke out more violently than ever. Notwithstanding the extent of Roman exactions, there was still at Rome a morbid hungering after Enghsh wealth. On the 13th of April, 1231, Henry III. had to write to Gregory IX. to excuse himself from granting a pension that had been required of him. The king was then asking his clergy for pecuniary aid. f In the following year there ensued a difference between the king and the Pontiff respecting the election of the archbishop of Canterbury, when the former vsTote to the prior and convent of Christ Church, forbidding them to fulfil the papal mandate respecting it. J The dispute became more serious ; the wife of Hubert de Burgh got into trouble for holding secret communications with the court of Rome, and in April, 1233, the king had to forbid the primate of York receiving papal excommunications contrary to the royal prerogative. § Serious disorders broke out in the university of Cambridge in the spring of 1231, which the king * Matt. West., 1230. f "Royal Letters," i. 393-4-5. t Ibid., 400. § Ibid. 412-13. ALIENS. 269 tried to put down by mandates to tlie sheriff, direct- ing tliat no scholar was to remain in any college who had not a master of the schools for his tutor, and insisting that the rents for lodgings should be diminished.* The state of things at this university, however objectionable, was thrown into the shade by the chronic turbulence of the students at Oxford. If they were not fighting against the townsmen, they got up a little war among them- selves, the northern scholars against the southern, or the English against the Irish. Occasionally they would join in an onslaught upon the monks, when they made an attack upon one of the houses of some neighbom'ing fraternity, and plundered it of everything worth carrying away.f The commotions against the aliens attracted the attention of their patron in Rome, and Gregory IX. in March, 1234, addressed the bishops of Durham and Rochester, requiring the archbishop of Canter- bury and his sufiragans to excommunicate those who assisted in producing them. The Pontiff wrote also to the primate and the bishop of Ely, insisting on this extreme measure being carried out against all who were discontented with the promotion of foreigners. J The explanation of this extraordinary interpo- sition is that these strangers had been sent from Rome, and regularly transmitted to the Holy See too large a portion of their incomes to be lost to the pontifical exchequer without remonstrance. In * "Eoyal and Historical Letters," i. 396-7-8. t Wood, " Hist, and Antiq. of Oxford " (Gutch). i " Eoyal and Historical Letters," i. Appendix V. 270 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. these transactions there is still no sign of Somercote. At last we come upon his track. In a letter from Henry III. to Simon Langton, archdeacon of Canterbury, dated April 6, 1235, mention is made of Robert de Somercote, our priest.* He was probably at this time the king's chaplain or confessor, a post that must have given him considerable influence over the weak-minded king, while it was sure to render him an object of interest to the papal court. Gregory IX. could not be insensible to the advantage of having a trustworthy agent close to the royal ear; nor was he likely to neglect any opportunity of profiting by it. The king, as he grew old, fell more completely into clerical leading-strings ; one grand point with the clergy was to keep him from joining Frederick, whose quarrel with the Pope was becoming daily embittered by the intemperance of the disputants. G-regory organized an Italian coalition against the Emperor, and attacked him quite as relentlessly by means of epistles ; but Frederick was as able as a scholar as he was as a general, and the Pontiff lost by both contests. Accusations of heresy and blasphemy were heaped upon the imperial head. The Emperor retorted by contrasting the papal professions with the j)apal practice. " What said the teacher of all teachers ? " he demanded. "Peace be with you ! What mission did he entrust to his disciples ? That of love. Why then do you, Christ's nominal vicar on earth, act in so contrary a spirit ? " * " Eoyal and Historical Letters," i. 463. OHARGES AGAINST THE EMPEROE. 271 The question provoked an accession of wrath. " A beast," wrote the Pontiff, " hath risen ffom the sea, and opened its mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven," To this Frederick retorted : " Thou art thyself the beast of which it is written, ' And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth.' Thou art the dragon which deceived the whole world — the antichrist." These amenities did not improve the feelings of the pontifical and imperial courts. The Teutonic nobles were enraged against Rome, while all the cardinals were busy in endeavouring to destroy the Emperor's character as well as his influence. Not- withstanding that he had distinguished himself as a crusader, it was alleged that he had taken a force of Moorish soldiery into his pay. Moreover, it was charged against him, he had afiirmed that he knew of three men who had deceived the world, — Moses the Jews, Christ the Christians, and Mahomet the Heathens. The first accusation appears to have been true ; the latter rests entirely upon a personal enemy, the landgrave of Thuringia, who seems to have hastened to play the spy,* for the purpose * "Lon Frangforfc sprach Keyser Frederick. " Er synt dry gewest dy alle werlt betrogin ban. Moises der had dy Juden betrogia, vnde Jbesus dy Christin, vnde Mahomet dy Heiden. De sprach Langrafe Henrich, desse rede togin uns nicht zou ver- swigin, wir mussin sy an vnsern geLstlichen vatir den habist bringen. Vnde schreib das kegin Rome." — Rohte, "Chron. Thuringia." 272 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. of gaining the Pope's support to his own designs on the empire. Nor was the Emperor inactive. In Germany so hostile a feeling to the Papacy had been created by the exactions of the papal agents, that when a legate was taken prisoner in the castle of Orth, he was put to a cruel death. The event that most startled the cardinals was the secession of the eastern portion of the Romish Church. The Greek prelates had been forced to make journeys to Rome, and had suffered severely from the simony there openly encouraged. Great dissatisfaction had for some time prevailed ; and in the year 1237 they refused to submit to Roman domination and extortion. The dispute ended by the estabhshment of a second Apostolic Church, subsequently known in history as the Greek Church, which still exists in complete independence of Rome. It was a formidable schism, and deprived the Pontiff of a large portion of his revenues. This he en- deavoured to supply by sending persons into Eng- land, armed with the most arbitrary powers, with which they could wander from city to city, and from monastery to monastery, exacting heavy contribu- tions. The Cardinal Ottoboni, sent as legate to England, held a council at St. Paul's, London, in the year 1237, in which having cleverly settled the dispute between the archbishops of Canterbury and York as to their several dignities, by a reference to the rela- tive positions of St. Peter and St. Paul, introduced a new series of regulations for the management of the Anghcan Church. A reformation of several abuses SECRET POISONING. 273 was attempted, especially with regard to finery in dress, and the caparisons of saddle-horses. Clerical concubines were to be dismissed within a month, under the penalty of deprivation, and hereditary succession to benefices forbidden. Scarcely had these important matters been satisfactorily ar- ranged, when the legate received a communica- tion from the Cardinal Colonna in figurative language, apprising him of the perilous position of the Church of Rome, and desiring his return.* The prevalence of the crime of secret poisoning in Italy, more particularly among ecclesiastics, is not only a proof of the decadence of ordinary religious, but of ordinary social influences. It was regarded as an Italian practice; but in the year 1239 the court of Rome were startled by the announcement of the sudden death of an eminent prelate, a foreigner, whose relationship to the queen of jEngland, and patronage by the Pope, had secured for him the English bishopric of Winchester. He had also been elected to the see of Liege. He died suddenly at Yiterbo, and an Englishman named Lawrence was accused of having poisoned him. Fortunately the latter was able to prove his innocence, for the Pontiff had looked to make the deceased bishop very useful in advancing his schemes against the Emperor, and was greatly disappointed by his death, f The king's chaplain had by this time found his way to Rome, where he quickly made influential friends. Somercote is mentioned by Cardella$ as " Roberto Ummarcote." He was created cardinal * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1237. t Ibid. 256. 18 J " Memorie Storiche de' Cardinali," &c., ii. 256. 274 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. deacon de S. Adriano in tlie year 1234,* and was higUy appreciated for his erudition by tlie pon- tifical court. He now took up his residence at Rome, and formed one of the papal council. The strife be- tween the spiritual and the temporal power became more and more fierce ; and however the court of Eome may have fared while it continued, the rancour displayed there created an unfavourable impression on Christian Europe. The good Catholics were far from edified by the many displays of feeling, anything but apostolic, made by the head of the Apostolic Church. But the temper of Gregory IX. was not to be restrained by the opinions of any one. Somercote remained attached to the Pontifi", ap- parently sharing in the responsibility of his violent measures against the Emperor. When Frederick had been excommunicated, he remonstrated with the king of England for sanctioning such arbitrary proceedings. Henry sent a communication to Eome suggesting milder measures. This put the Holy Father into an ungovernable rage, and in the midst of his counsellors he declared that not one faithful man could be found in England. A cardinal averred that the king employed foreigners because he could put no trust in his subjects. Matthew Paris says that Robert de Somercote, who was present, prudently held his tongue, though very angry at the accusation. In a subsequent passage he states that Somercote interrupted the slanderer with severe reproaches. The falsehood of the charge was manifested when the Emperor, having had recourse * Ciaconius says of St. Eustaotius. CARDINAL SOMEEOOTE. 275 to arms, was marcliing triumphantly upon the city. The danger of the Pope caused his desertion by all his cardinals, except the Englishman, who, remem- bering by whom he had been elevated to his present dignity, would not abandon him, though he dis- approved of his measures. Soon afterwards a general councU was summoned to take into consideration the perilous position of the Church. Though his cardinals were against him, Gregory continued to exhibit his customary spirit. On one occasion this produced a scene : the Holy Father required Cardinal John of Colonna, who directed a negotiation with Frederick, to com- mit what he considered to be a breach of good faith : this was declined. The Pope then angrily exclaimed, "You are no longer my cardinal." To this the latter promptly replied, " I will no longer regard you as my Pope."* In an account of a disputation between the Franciscans in the presence of Gregory IX., Friar Haymo is stated to have been encouraged to speak against Friar Helias by Cardinal Somercote.f Pope Gregory made an arrangement with the Roman nobles in the year 1240 to the effect that, if they would assist him with their military forces to carry on the war against the emperor Frederick, whatever rich benefices in England fell vacant should be bestowed on their relations. It is impossible to * Matthew Paris, 1240. t " Monumenta Franciscana," Brewer, 46. " Et cum vellet ei respondere Frater Haymo, non concessit papa, donee dominus Pbobertus de Somercote, cardinalis, dixit ei, ' Domine, iste senex vir bonus est; bonum est ut audiatis eum, quia brevUoquus est.'" — Thomas de Eccleston, " De Adventu Miaorum." 18 * 276 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. ^onvey a clearer idea of the helpless condition of the Anglican Churcli ; in this way foreigners were thrust into preferments for which they were totally incompetent, and monks and chapters obliged to elect superiors of whom they had no knowledge whatever. Cardinal Somercote must have felt humi- liated by this degradation of the English clergy ; but the Pope was not in the habit of regarding anything but expediency ; he wished to destroy the obnoxious Emperor ; a Roman army could not be recruited without a sufiicient prospect of profit, and he claimed to do as he liked with all ecclesiastical property. Under the authority of Gregory papal exactions in England were increased by his agents to an ex- tent that threatened to deprive the country of its coinage, while rich benefices were filled with his creatures without the slightest respect to the claims of qualified Englishmen. The indignation of Matthew Paris often breaks out into very strong language while chronicling these abuses ; but his country was not exclusively favoured in that way — the domination of the Pope was carried on with the same unscru- pulousness in other Catholic countries, and the successes of the Emperor were watched by many of the clergy and laity, in the hope that they might put an end to such abuses. The cupidity of the Roman court is described as having far exceeded its previous bad eminence. In the last years of the pontificate of Gregory, un- heard-of schemes of extortion were put in force to obtain money from English religious houses reported to be wealthy. There was only one cardinal of that SUCCESSES OP THE EMPEEOE. 277 nation in the consistory, and were lie disposed s-^i interfere in betalf of his brethren in the face of their insatiate desire to appropriate BngHsh trea- sure, any remonstrance must have been fruitless. Cardinal Somercote, therefore, was obliged to share the odium which the Sacred College merited by their schemes to get annual supplies from Peter- borough and other rich abbeys on conditions apparently favourable. The transaction was con- ducted with secrecy ; but the king having been informed of it, forbade the arrangement.* The papal agents were more successful in other directions, and returned to Rome laden with English money. Frederick carried on the war in Italy with in- creased vigour. From Apulia he marched upon and captured Faenza, and menaced the States of the Church. As he had married a daughter of the king of England, he had found no difficulty in gaining friends there ; for with many of the nobles the oppressive conduct of the papal agent had become quite as odious as it was in Germany. The cardinals saw with alarm the successes of the enemy of the Holy Father ; but the Pontiff did not relax his efforts. As a last resource, he called a general council at Eome to meet during Easter of the year 1241 ; and to all parts of the Christian world the pontifical court sent out summonses to the chief prelates to assemble for the despatch of urgent business profoundly affecting the interests of the Holy Apostolic Church. In the mean time castle after castle in the Papal States fell, and Rome was threatened with a siege. * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1241. 278 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. Pope Gregory died apparently of extreme old age, as his life had been prolonged far beyond the natural term ; but it has been stated that he died of grief because the Emperor had surprised one of his castles in the Campagna, built by money drawn fi'om the Crusaders for the protection of his kins- men, and had hanged all whom he had found there. It was nearly a century since an Englishman had been selected to govern the papal see ; and again there was a cardinal of that nation well qualified in every respect to fill the chair of the Apostle ; but the Itahans were covetous of the distinction. Though jealous of each other's pretensions, they united in hatred of their brethren from beyond the Alps, against whom they had cultivated an inveterate prejudice. The Englishman, however, had friends in the conclave, although they were not in sufficient number to secure his election. The Emperor was not insensible to the interests involved in the election ; but he had taken, as he considered, the most effectual means of turning it to the advancement of his own objects. He had op- posed the idea of a general council, and, to prevent its assembling, had intercepted the vessels at sea that were conveying the cardinals and other prelates to Eome, among whom was the legate, who had in charge a large sum of money collected in England to aid the Pope in carrying on the war. It became the prize of the Emperor, and was doubtless em- ployed to pay the troops who were invading the Pontifical States. The prelates also became his captives, and were carried ashore and placed in safe custody. DEATH OF SOMEECOTB. 279 There appear to have been ten cardinals at Rome when Gregory's dissolution took place, and they discreetly sent a message to the Emperor requesting him to liberate and forward the two members of their college whom he had captured at sea with other prelates, as the welfare of the Church depended on their election of a pope. The request was complied with, on the condition that they should return to the prison when the election was decided, unless this was in favour of his own nominee. Cardinal Ottoboni. But according to Matthew Paris, there were two popes chosen, — one Godfrey of Milan, by six cardinals, of whom Robert Somercote was one ; the other Romanus, who had the suffrages of the three others. There was, as usual on such occasions, a dispute ; but the Emperor favoured Godfrey. There seems to have been a disposition to have a new election, and the English cardinal was thought the most worthy of the distinction ; but to prevent this his Italian rivals are stated to have poisoned him.* This infamous charge, unfortunately, is likely to have been true, the crime having lately become very common in Rome : several English priests had been got rid of in the same way ; another cardinal died by similar means ; and though Godfrey was elected Pope, in sixteen days he too was carried off, * Matthew Paris, 1241. " Unde defuncto Gregorio prffidioto, omnium cardinalium dignissimws existimatus est qui illi in Pon- tificato sucoederet : et successisset sine dubio, nisi ex tarn sacro- sancto coetu nonnulli, invidia tacti, et nuUo modo patiendum rati, ut Petri cathedram aliquis conscenderet, nisi generis Italici ; veneno ipsum tollendum curassent in ipso conclavi, ubi electio erat celebranda." — Godwin, 787. 280 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. as well as the cardinal bishop of Ostia. Terror took possession of otter members of tlie Sacred College ; they fled and concealed themselves, leaving the Papal See without a head. Of " Robertus Yiimercote " the pontifical annalists add little to what is stated in his epitaph. He was created a cardinal deacon of St. Eustachius, was a learned and prudent man, much appreciated by several popes, and died in 1241.* His English biographers are not much more communicative. The cardinal was not the only one of his name who attained distinction in the Church. There was a Lawrence Somercote, who, in March, 1256, was resident at Rome. He wrote to England to the Chancellor "Wingham, informing him that Sir William Brandon had, in Apuha, be- come aware of a plot against the king, and had desired him to testify to his credibility. The same person, by another letter written in the month of May, appears to have been subsequently in Dublin collecting money. He requests to be employed in any country except Ireland, f * Ciaconiiis, 663, 683. Cardella, ii. 256. Godwin, 787. t " Royal and Historical Letters," Henry III., Dr. Shirley, ii. 116-17. ( 281 ) CHAPTER III. JOHN OF TOLEDO, CARDINAL PEIBST. Oriental Scholarship and Science — John a Cistercian Monk — ' Arabian Scholars in the Anglican Church — Bishop Grosstete — Delay in Electing a Pope — Innocent IV. offers to visit England — elevates John of Toledo to be a Cardinal — Flight of the Pope — Cardinal John with the Papal Court — the Council of Lyons — the Pope's Charge — Defence of the Em- peror — his Condemnation — Impoverishing of England through Papal Exactions — Cardinal John remonstrates with the Pope — New Sects — Death of the Emperor — the Lady of Lyons — Bishop Grosstete a Reformer — his Interview with Pope Inno- cent — Richard of Cornwall — Archbishop Boniface — Sewal, Archbishop of York — the Ribalds — the English Cardinal — Death of Pope Innocent — the Sicilian Swindle — Alexan- der I.Y. — Dispute in Paris — Revolt La Rome — Begging Friars — UrbEin IV. creates John a Cardinal Priest — Pro- visions of Oxford — another Legate in England — the Inqui- sition — Gregory X. — Death of John of Toledo. TOLEDO was in the fourtli quarter of tlie twelfth, century in great repute as the centre of oriental scholarship. The cultivation by the Spanish Arabs of literature and science had made it eminent in Europe as a university, and several Englishmen were attracted there by the facilities the city afforded for study. Among others was Daniel de Merlai, the author of the once cele- brated treatise " De Naturis Inferiorum et Supe- riorum," who took back to England not only 282 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. considerable erudition, but a vast supply of MSS. Previously to this, however. Oriental literature had attracted the attention of English scholars who studied in Spain. Such was Robert de Retines, archdeacon of Pampeluna, who assisted in trans- lating the Koran, Athelard of Bath, " Philosophus Anglorum," was also profoundly learned in Arabian science. He was the author of " Qusestiones Naturales," and several translations from Arabic, and edited the Elements of Euclid. Among the English churchmen who were fa- voured at the court of Rome was Alfred, usually designated the philosopher, he being, hke many of his countrymen, an ardent student of Arabian science. He subsequently became chaplain to Cardinal Ottoboni, and is stated to have been in his suite when Urban lY. sent him to England as legate. John, with the affix that denotes the same source of study, was a Cistercian monk, and though not so celebrated as some other scholars who had acquired fame in the cloister, attained so much reputation as to bring him under the favourable notice of his ecclesiastical superiors. He made himself ser- viceable to the papal officials, and in time gained a position amongst them that kept him a close observer of the occurrences which affected the Papacy during a memorable period in its annals. The court of Rome in the pontificate of In- nocent III. showed favour to an Englishman, Geoffirey de Vinsauf, called also Galfridus de Vinsalvo, and Galfridus Anglicus. The papal patronage he acknowledged by dedicating to his BISHOP GEOSST^TE. 283 patron a metrical treatise, bearing the title " Nova Poetria," whicli was extremely popular in tlie tLirteenth century. It was a new Art of Poetry, but in no way resembled that of Ovid. The nature and source of its inspiration may be seen in its extravagant praises of Pope Innocent.* • Among the hierarchy of the English Church, there was a bishop singularly in advance of his age. He presided over the diocese of Lincoln, and was indefatigable in the discharge of his duties. He was pious as well as learned, honest as well as bold, set an excellent example of what a prelate ought to be, and reproved sinners, lay and eccle- siastical, no matter what their rank or position. No one had a better knowledge of the abuses of the Church, and no one was more earnest in desiring to see them reformed. The examples of such eminent churchmen as Robert Grosstete, bishop of Lincoln, and Sewal, archbishop of York, shows the decadence of the papal system in the Anglican Church as early as the thirteenth century. The former was contem- porary with Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, and Roger Bacon ; moreover, was scarcely less distinguished for his acquirements. He was praised by writers in * "Jam mare transcurri, Gades in littore fixi, Et miM te portum statuo, qui, m.axima rerum IsTec Deus es, nee homo, quasi neuter es inter utrumque. Quem Deus elegit socium. Socialiter egit Tecum partitus muudum. Sibi noluit unus Omnia, sed voluit tibi terras, et sibi coelum. Quid potuit melius 1 quid majus ? cui meliori ? Yel cui majori? Dico minus. Imo vel seque Magno vel simili." 284 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. verse and prose ; indeed, some of the marvels with whicli Friar Bacon was credited, were produced by this accomplished prelate. He is, moreover, to be regarded as a precursor of the Reformation; for though, like other eminent churchmen, he had no intention of sej)arating from the Church of Rome, his denunciation of its abuses formed a foundation for those protests against her authority, which public opinion put forth in every subsequent age, till a complete independence of the Anglican Church was effected. He was an earnest partisan of the Pope against the Emperor, under the impression apparently that the latter was an infidel. The regular clergy were generally opposed to the monks, especially those of the mendicant orders ; but Bishop Grosstete was in favour of the Francis- cans* and Dominicans, and expressed a very high opinion of them to Grregory IX. The fact is that the parish clergy were quite as negligent and immo- ral as the worst examples of the monastic orders, while the begging friars at this period generally led exemplary lives. Having been educated at Oxford, Grosstete always evinced a warm interest in the uni- versity when its diocesan; nevertheless no more earnest reformer of clerical abuses ever wore a mitre. It must not, however, be forgotten that he exhibited a peculiar interest in the papal court, where he maintained a proctor to acquaint him with the proceedings of those who had complained against him at Rome. His quarrels were long and severe ; but he contrived to have his own way. Grosstcte's business at the council became * He was their vector at Oxford. A EEFOEMING BISHOP. 285 known on his return to England wlien he assisted in securing for the Pope the revenue for seven years of all the benefices in the see of Oantei-bury, till the sum of seven thousand marks should be raised. It was clear that the satisfactory settlement of his long quarrel with his chapter had thus been ar- ranged. The Pontiff made further exactions, and though the king resisted, the bishop acquiesced. Grosstete's devotion to the Pope was further shown by his vindication of the genuineness of the blood of our Saviour, which the master of the Templars and Hospitallers had sent to the king of England, in a crystal vase, and the king had presented to the church at Westminster. But his complaisance did not pre- vent Gregory from taking the side of the king when he sent a complaint against the bishop. Grosstete, it may. be presumed, did not at this time cultivate quite such cordial relations with the papal court (now at Perugia) as he had done, but carried on the work of reformation with increased spirit. All priests who did not act up to their professions were treated with the same severity ; backsliding monks and nuns were punished, and persons irregularly dealing with benefices excommunicated with re- lentless severity. The king presently was in a rage with him. He secured from the Pontiff the grant of a tenth of the ecclesiastical revenues of the kingdom, and the bishop of Lincoln having opposed " the cursed contribution," his anger increased. To show his feeling against the Pope (Innocent IV.) Grosstete caused a calculation to be made, by which it was proved that he drew from the country three times the income of the king, and when — January 26, 286 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. 1253 — the Pontiff sent a request for a canonry at Lincoln for his nephew, he replied with a civil refusal. This communication enraged Innocent into excla- mations that threatened a speedy and ignominious conclusion to the career of the bold prelate ; but a friendly cardinal interposed, and spoke in such eloquent terms of his learning, his piety, and his zeal, as well as his popularity, that the Pontiff thought it prudent to say no more on the subject. Though the infirmities of age were increasing upon him. Bishop Grosstete continued to inveigh against the corruptions of the Papacy and the Pope with a freedom that entitles him to the highest praise as a reformer. No such spirited language had been heard or read in England, as he expressed in conversation and correspondence. Whatever may be said to the contrary,* to the close of his valuable life this bold prelate was a direct and intense opponent of the papal system. The English spirit of resistance to tyranny had lost its Langton ; his successor, Edmund Rich, was too timid for the emergency, and Boniface was rapacious and despotic — a creature of the English and Roman court, and a relentless enemy to all who betrayed a patriotic feeling; but in Robert Grosstete they found a zealous reformer of church abuses. No class of persons were more severe in their reflections on the Princes of the Church than some of their own body. Cardinal Damiani, in one of his * Rev. H. E. Luard, "Robert! Grosseteste" (Rolls Publica- tions), preface. ENGLISH MONASTBEIES. 287 epistles, describes the higher ecclesiastics during the pontificate of Gregory VII. as " slaves to voluptuous living, while the poor were left to die of famine," and the Cardinal St. George, in the thirteenth century, in one of his satires, avers that the order had sunk to the lowest level, nepotism being the one object of their existence. " L'ordme Oardinalato Porto ha in basso stato, Chi suo parentado D'arrica ha intentione." Nevertheless there were instances in which the dignity was worthily maintained. The prevalence of abuses in the English monasteries through the connivance of the court of Rome, is estabhshed by the complaints of the prelates, who were anxious for their return to proper discipline. It was well known that by paying an ounce of gold annually into the papal exchequer, they could be relieved from episcopal supervision. This not only permitted these fraternities to indulge in eveiy kind of excess, but openly to defy their ecclesiastical superiors, occasioning the most scandalous distm-b- ances. The primate * had addressed a letter to Innocent III., forcibly pointing out the evils this bad system produced ; but the dogma that the Pope was infallible, and that what he permitted was not to be questioned, proved an effectual bar to every suggestion for reform. The more observant Enghsh chm-chmen who visited Rome came away with the conviction that the Church was being undermined by its manifold corruptions. * Richard, Archbishop of Canterbury. 288 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. The papal legate at last excited revolt. Sir Robert Tvrenge, a Yorkshire knight, boldly pro- ceeded to Rome, bearing a spirited protest from the patriotic nobles. The Anglican prelates held counsel together in London, when they turned upon Cardinal Ottoboni so determinedly, that he was obliged to confine his supervision to the monasteries, from which he extorted considerable sums. The Pope then demanded a fifth of the revenues of the Anglican Church to assist him in his war against the Emperor. Archbishop Rich surrendered the primacy to escape from the impending conflict, and retired to the abbey of Pontigny ; and the papal agents, supported by the feeble-minded Henry III., persisted in their exactions, and secured a large sum.* The few cardinals who could be got to lay aside their disputes and animosities succeeded, in Sep- tember, 1241, in electing as pope, Godfrey, a Milanese (Celestine IV.). They were led to this, apparently, more because of his advanced age than from his moral or intellectual fitness for the office ; but de- crepit as he was, and short as must have been the natural remnant of his life, his pontificate was not permitted to endure beyond sixteen days. Other members of the college dying about the same time, a panic, as we have already intimated, seized the ma- jority, and there were only left in Rome half a dozen of the more enterprising, who took upon themselves the government of the Church, and in their own names issued decrees whenever they deemed papal intervention necessary. The Church of England * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1240. None of it reached the papal treasury. See ante, p. 278. THE PAPACY VAOANT. 289 was greatly dissatisfied witli this arrangement, and made urgent appeals to the Emperor to expedite the election of a pope. He laid the blame upon the court of Rome. The choice of a pontiff was not much facilitated by the emperor Frederick allowing his captives to proceed to take part in the election ; for when they had assembled, the cardinals could not agree. Find- ing this. Cardinal Ottoboni proposed to return to his imprisonment. The Emperor, pleased with his good faith, treated him as a friend ; but he threatened the Sacred College to level the cities of the Holy See to the ground if they did not presently come to a decision. Moreover he caused a guard to be placed round their residence to prevent any from escaping. They were also menaced from other quarters, if they did not at once make up their minds. The conclave apparently sat, and the conclave apparently deliberated ; but month after month went by without any result. In this way more than a year was wasted. They were much troubled with contending claims, and it has been stated that the members broke out into acts of violence against each other. The account given by Matthew Paris of this pro- longed vacancy in the Papacy is disparaging to the cardinals. Still not more than six remained in Rome ; the rest were in hiding, far apart ; the com- munity existing, according to the chronicler, "like sand without lime." They continued obstinate, living in constant dissension, and only agreeing to cajole the Emperor. It is clear that they were in I. 19 290 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. no hurry to elect a master. They exercised the sovereignty, and enjoyed its revenues without any . apprehension of being called to account. Long after Frederick had granted their request, spared the cities of the Holy See and liberated his eccle- siastical captives, they maintained the same inde- cision. They could not, or would not, agree. A communication from the court of France, threatening to choose a pope for them, if they did not do it at once, at last roused them into action. The papal authority had been carried on in the names of three cardinal priests and as many dea- cons ; but the Sacred College now put a stop to this arrangement, and assembled to form a conclave. Matthew Paris states that the election took place at Anagni, after a delay of a year and nine months. The cardinals were abused by the Emperor for keeping the Papacy vacant. They were called sons of Belial, and sons of Ephraim, while he averred that the Prince of Darkness presided at their councils, and inflamed their minds with discord and jealousy.* His patience being exhausted, to expedite their decision, he now ravaged their estates and plundered their churches. In 1243 they came to an agreement, and Inno- cent IV. ascended the papal chair. John of Toledo, hke every good monk, received with gratification the intelligence of this arrangement. The Papacy * " Ad vos est hoc verbum filii Effrem, male tendentes arcum et pennis emittentes sagittas turpiter in die belli quasi retrorsum. Ad vos est hoc verbam filii Belial, dispersionis oves" i&c "An nales Ecclesiastici," Baronius, torn. ii. f. 280. Lucje 1747 JOHN OP TOLEDO A CARDINAL. 291 had at last a head, which it was hoped would be raised to an eminence that might enable it to look down upon its enemies. "With his countrymen, however, the Church of Rome was certainly not gaining popularity. Another outburst of patriotic spirit had occurred in England after the departure of the cardinal legate. The papal nuncio, Martin, was proceeding in the same course when his privacy at his lodgings with the Templars was disturbed by the sudden appear- ance of Fulke Fitzwarren, as a messenger from the barons to bid him begone. Having ascertained his authority, Martin sought the king ; but Henry III. plucked up a little spirit when he heard his haughty questions, and plainly told him that his iniquitous oppressions had excited a degree of hatred which was likely to end in his being torn to pieces. The agent, frightened at this prospect, begged for a safe-conduct, when the king replied intemperately, "The devil carry thee to hell." So enraged were the people of all degrees against him, that it was with difficulty he escaped to report to the Pon- tiff, then in France, the unwelcome news of his expulsion.* Matthew of Westminster mentions John of Toledo as a monk remarkable for his accomplish- ments and scholarship. His elevation to the Sacred College by Innocent TV"., in 1244, with the title of St. Lorenzo in Lucina, may have been a great ad- vance in dignity, but could have added little to his comfort, for the Pope, dreading the anger of * Matthew Paris. 19 * • 292 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. the emperor Frederick, was even then making preparations for flight. His intention was kept secret from the cardinals ; he departed secretly, alone, and at night, and mounting a swift horse, rode thirty-four miles without any one being aware of his absence. When this was discovered, the commotion in the palace was that of a hive conscious of the disap- pearance of the queen bee. The Pope reached Civita Yecchia in safety, where he was joined by seven of the cardinals, with whom he embarked on board a galley that conveyed him to Genoa. It has been stated he had received intelligence that large supplies for him were stopped, in conse- quence of the bearers not liking to risk themselves in countries under the dominion of the Emperor, and that he had determined to venture a long journey to secure them. A fleet of Grenoese galleys had protected him during the voyage, and the people of Genoa gave him an ovation ; but the city was shortly so en- compassed by sea and land by the armaments of the Emperor that Innocent found himself a prisoner. Despite, however, of his armed bands, some of the cardinals contrived to join him at Genoa, where the Pope's kindred and friends resided ; but finding himself not quite secure in that city, he proceeded towards the French frontier to Asti, where he had been assured he would receive pecu- niary assistance from France and England. In a short time he left this refuge, and by travelling day and night with great secrecy eluded the imperial troops sent to intercept him, and reached PAPAL EXACTIONS IN ENGLAND. 293 Lyons, wliere himself and tlie cardinals were in comparative safety. He intended to go on to Rheims, but ttis the king of France forbade. The Pontiff had recourse to excommunication, and his opponent endeavoured to persuade the king of England to put a stop to papal exactions in his dominions. This induced the king to make an inquiry, and it was found that the Pope's agent, nicknamed " Mastiff," in consequence of his greediness, collected a revenue equal to that of the king ; so he had been directed to leave the country with all convenient speed ; and finding that his life was not worth an hour's pur- chase, he had not waited for a second bidding. Innocent lY. and his court made such enormous gains in England, that they must have regarded the "country as an ecclesiastical Land of Promise, — a land not only overflowing with milk and honey, but with treasure of every description ; and now that they were fugitives £fom Rome, they entertained the idea of coming in person to gather in the rich harvest then apparently ripe for the pontifical sickle. The nuncio, whilst greedily filling his coffers, had suggested to Henry III. the immortal glory, the unprecedented honour that might be conferred on his reign by a personal visit of " the Father of Fathers ;" but the royal counsellors peremptorily declined both the glory and the distinction, bluntly averring that the kingdom had already suffered too much from Roman usury and simony, to endure pillage fi:'om the Pope.* Pope Innocent IV. oppressed the Church with * Matthew Paris, sub anno 1245. 294 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. intolerable exactions, and obtained large sums througli the Preaching Brothers and Minorites, who were his collectors. Prelates he suspended till thej chose to come to terms with him ; in short, was a shepherd who cared more for a heavy fleece than a numerous flock. Cardinal John attended the Pope in all his wan- derings, and assisted in the administration of his government. The papal court had been forced to continue migratory, through the influence of the Emperor. They now began to realize the position of the Church, and had many earnest and serious consultations as to the best means of securing the help she so greatly needed. There appeared to be no better resource than a general council. The conflict between the Emperor and the Pope disturbed not only the peace of the Sacred College, but that of all Europe. One authority compares the two to a good husband and a bad wife, for whenever the former sought to establish his authority, the latter called in her friends — alluding to the support given by Prance. The Pontifi" at least outvied any wife in the power of scolding, exceeding Gregory in the fierceness of his denunciations. He accused Frederick of intending to extirpate the Chm-ch that he might remain the sole object of human worship, — an extravagant idea, that shows how completely his detestation of his opponent had got the better of his reason. The Emperor wanted to confine the Papacy to its original functions, but the ambition of succeeding pontifi"s had rendered this impossible. Innocent trod closely in the steps of his pre- THE PAPAL COUET AT LYONS. 295 decessor in animosity to the Emperor, and in oppressing the Cliurcli of England. Tke first was a renewal of the struggle to over-ride the temporal power ; by the other he maintained the idea that everything in the country was at the disposal of the Pope. On his confirming Gregory's sentence of excommunication, Conrad, Frederick's son, inter- cepted remittances proceeding to Rome, and the treasury in consequence falling low, an agent was sent to England with power to appropriate what- ever he could lay his hands upon. Though the Pontiff this year lost one of his ablest supporters in his antagonism to the Emperor, Cardinal John Colonna, this did not lessen its severity, nor could apparently any state of affairs diminish the incli- nation of the papal court for English money. Papal intolerance was not more acceptable at Lyons than it was in England, and both churchmen and laymen made resistance. A fire broke out in the Pope's chamber, which destroyed many things of value. The rage of the Pontiff reached its climax, when Martin presented himself before him with a pitiful tale of having been driven out of England. He did as he liked with the English, appointing Boniface, a Provengal, uncle of the queen of England, to be primate, and two bishops, Chichester and Chester, without the shghtest refer- ence to the king. He then called a general council to be held at Lyons, making it known that the Church was in so impoverished a state, that pecu- niary assistance would be very desirable. He hoped to receive handsome contributions from zealous and ambitious churchmen. 296 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. Frederick made another effort at reconciliation ; but Ms overtures were rejected. In the ancient city of Lyons, in the year 1245, the Pope collected a servUe council. The EngHsh representatives found an opportunity for protesting against the outrageous tyranny which oppressed their country ; but Boniface, the primate, was brother of the duke of Savoy, the most zealous of papal partisans ; was moreover a foreigner, and almost as rapacious as the worst of the Pope's legates. The assembly did not meet to reform spiritual abuses, but to consummate a signal triumph over temporal authority. The subservient prelates, as will be seen, kept that purpose steadily in view, and left the crying grievances of England unredressed. Innocent, with all the cardinals, officiated in the church of St. John, before the commencement of proceedings, and preached a sermon on the text, " 0, all ye who pass by the way, attend, and see if there is any grief like my grief." He then in the same spirit identified five of his grievances with the five griefs of the Redeemer. The former were the progress of the Tartars, the Greek schism in the Church, the spread of heresies, the state of the Holy Land, and his quarrel with the Emperor. What these had to do with the sorrows of his divine prototype could not have been very clearly seen, yet the Pontiff contrived to produce a most moving address, in which he appealed to the clerical sympathies of the more intensely ecclesi- astical portion of his audience by an exaggerated THE empeeoe's advooate. 297 representation of tlie evils inflicted on the spiritual by the temporal power. The defence made by Thaddeus of Suessa, the Emperor's advocate, might have proved satisfactory in a less prejudiced court, for in reply to the Pope's charge of perjury, he showed papal and imperial documents by which it was proved that the Pontiff had neglected his engagements, which led the Emperor to neglect his ; while he confuted the accusation of heresy, by the fact that Frederick had only employed Saracen soldiers to restrain unruly subjects, and had dismissed his Saracen women, who had merely amused him as drolls. The Emperor could also boast that he never per- mitted usurers in his dominions — a reflection on their encouragement by the Princes of the Church. Thaddeus asked that the accused should be heard in his own defence ; but this Innocent opposed, threatening to leave the assembly if the Emperor was permitted to enter. On the representations, however, of the proxies of the Enghsh and French kings, the council allowed him a fortnight to prepare his answer. Unfortunately for Frederick, he was impatient of such jurisdiction, and spoke disparaging words of the council, which exasperated the feeling that had been excited against him. The representatives of England, who had sup- ported Thaddeus, were censured for befriending a notorious enemy to the Church, and were obliged to succumb to the clamour raised by the Pope and cardinals. The imperial advocate would not permit himself 298 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. to be browbeaten. He openly declared his client's accuser tlie son of a pirate who had been hanged by the Emperor for his crimes, and that he was ambitious of treading in the steps of his parent. Prodigious was the excitement that now prevailed, for presently one after another of the cardinals and prelates who had suffered, or whose friends had suffered, by their seizure when at sea, rose and denounced the Emperor. It was in vain that Thaddeus explained that their captivity was accidental ; moreover that they had previously been warned : the assembly had made up their minds. The English am- bassadors, foreseeing how the affair would termi- nate, contented themselves with an effort to preserve the rights of Frederick's children. It was during one of the sittings of the council that the leader of the English embassy, "William de Pomeric, brought under its attention the abuses practised in England, in the name and with the authority of the Pope. The exposure would have been a startling one in any other court ; but by a very large majority, mere creatures of the Papacy, such abuses were regarded as matters of course. The Pontiff heard all in silence, and no one venturing to say a word, he contemptuously deferred his consideration sine die. He saw that the council were ripe for judgment on the great cause he had so dexterously managed ; and though Thaddeus exhausted his eloquence and his ability in his client's defence, nothing could divert the Pope from the object he had in view in summoning that assembly. The great council at Lyons was regarded with COUNCIL OP LYONS. 299 anxiety by many influential laymen. Innocent had taken care to impress upon those who held authority in the Church, that it was a life-and-death struggle of the spiritual against the temporal power, and had laboured incessantly in co-operation with his cardinals in appealing to the interests of the prelates. Thaddeus having eloquently defended the Emperor from the charges brought against him, protested against the authority of the council, and demanded a more impartial court and a more Christian pontiff". "Dies ir£e ! dies doloris ! " he exclaimed, when judgment was pronounced, as the members of the tribunal, sinking the lighted tapers they held, ex- tinguished them against the ground. " So vanish for ever the Emperor's glory and prosperity !" exclaimed the exultant Pope ; and the assembled cardinals cried " Amen !" The Enghsh deputation did not receive any answer to their complaints either from the Pope or the cardinals. In truth, the latter were so elated by their complete success in overthrovring " the great dragon," as they styled the Emperor, that " the little dragons," the kings of France and England, were almost overlooked. At last, finding that no satisfaction was forthcoming, they left Lyons in anger, and on their return home did not fan to give their countrymen a proper report of their failure. About the same time the deposed Emperor addressed a letter to his kinsman, the king of England, giving a moving account of the wrongs he and the king had sustained at the hands of the Pontiff", counselling resistance, and assuring 300 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. him of the nullity of the sentence of deposition. As may readily be imagined, Frederick had many friends in England ; Innocent very few. The Emperor was not dismayed by his condemna- tion. He published a defence, which stated that the restoration of the Church to its ajDOstolic purity and simplicity had been the sole object of his pro- ceedings, but that his great obstacle had been the worldly lusts of the clergy. He accused the tem- poral princes of neglecting their duty, and permitting the Pope to exercise an unlimited and crushing power. In reply. Innocent asserted that Christ had founded a temporal as well as a spiritual supremacy, which he conferred on St. Peter, and his successors the popes. These pretensions he maintained by a successful exercise of the pontifical influence, and his cardinals had the satisfaction of seeing his power extended in every direction. Money flowed into the papal exchequer, the collectors almost levied what they pleased, and the Sacred College gave themselves up to a life of enjoyment. It was before this council that Robert Grosstete bishop of Lincoln, ventured on the bold exposure of the vices of the court of Rome, that rendered him subsequently obnoxious to the Pope. If anything could have induced that assembly to take a real interest in the welfare of the common faith, this eloquent discourse ought to have done it. He spoke directly to the point, and without any reser- vation traced the source of the great evils that afflicted the Church. He denounced the secular characteristics of the Papacy ; and, in particular, threatened the belligerent Pontiff with the Scrip- CONDEMNATION OF CEUSADBS. 301 tural declaration, tliat lie who lias recourse to tlie sword shall perish, by the sword ; but most remark- able was his distinct intimation that the papal proceedings were likely to produce contention and schism.* During the discussions which took place at the council, it was not the BngHsh bishop only who demonstrated the anti-scriptural use of the sword as a papal influence. Humbert de Romanis, general of the Dominicans, attacked the principle of the Crusades, and declared that it was unlawful as well as impolitic to assail infidels in their own country with the object of maintaining Christianity. He stated that though in the first instance this warfare had been recommended as a means of securing pardon for great sinners, the class of adventurers by whom it was carried on had brought failure and reproach on the cause. These arguments, hke those of the bishop of Lincoln, were not to be confuted ; but the Pontiff and his government knew to what pecuniary profit the Crusades had been turned, and were too deeply impressed with the secular spirit to abandon the sword whenever an appeal to arms became neces- sary in the papal quarrels. The Pope had declared the necessities of the Church, and many wealthy churchmen came for- ward with Hberal contributions. Among others an Englishman, then abbot of St. Denis, who produced so large an amount of coin as to astonish the * Brown, "fasciculus rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum, prout ab Orthuino Gratio editus," App., fol. 251. Londini, 1690. 302 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. members of ttie assembly. He was at once created archbishop of Rouen. The deposition of the Emperor was carried out. The document in which this sentence is expressed heaps all kinds of charges against him ; but far from overwhelming the offender, he chose to ag- gravate his crime by striving to effect a coalition between himself and the kings of England and France, to put a stop to this summary way of dis- posing of an empire. His opponent succeeded in raising money to support the landgrave of Thuringia, whom he had appointed emjDeror in his place. Moreover, Innocent was striving to crush England after the same fashion, for having complained to the council. The king and pai-liament remonstrated against the continuance of the pillage of their country, which had recommenced with greater vigour ; but the Pope answered them in very sharp terms. It was then decreed that no papal mandates should be obeyed. Unfortunately the king was not equal to the emergency, and succumbed to the pontifical threats, and the plunder went on. Appeals were once more made to the papal court, and the Holy See, being threatened by Frederick, who had disposed of his rival, thought it prudent to give way and reduce its exorbitant demands. But a certain Brother John of the Minorites, an English- man, was sent to England, and levied imposts as relentlessly as his predecessors. The abbot of St. Alban's sent an agent to complain of him to the papal court ; and again there was an abatement of the oppression, and again there was more extor- PAPAL MISEULE. 303 tioQ. Then a parliament was summoned at Oxford to avert the impoverishment of the kingdom ; but Boniface, archbishop of Canterbury, and many of the AngHcan prelates, were content with being the submissive agents of the Pope, and the evil continued unabated. At last, in the year 1246, a general movement manifested itself in England to get rid of the Pontiff's burthensome rule. The grievances of the kingdom were laid before Parliament, and from them it was scarcely possible to discover that any power existed in the country capable of preserving its institutions, wealth, or lands, from papal covet- ousness. Letters of complaint were therefore for- warded from the king, the Parliament, and the abbots, to the Pope, and from the king to the cardinals, dwelling on the oppressions endured by both clergy and laity. There was nothing too small or too great to escape papal cupidity. An English ecclesiastic had decorated his robe with gold fringe, and when the Pope ascertained that it had been made in England, he sent out letters to each of the prelates, to obtain him a supply for the decoration of his own garments. He also issued a decree claiming the property of all churchmen dying intestate. About the same time the emperor Frederick pub- lished a powerful appeal to the English nobles, successfully defending himself from the charge of heresy, and turning the tables upon their mutual oppressor. The king of France requested to be- come a mediator between them ; but the Pontiff rejected all terms of peace, and affronted the peace- maker. 304 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Innocent seemed to surrender timself to two influences, — the one, an intense hatred against the Emperor, the other, an insatiable covetousness of English treasvu'e. Frederick contrived to hold his own, both in Italy and Germany. The opposition to papal extortions in England assumed such an aspect, that one of the cardinals, who must have been John of Toledo, described as of English race, and as having been a Cistercian monk, personally remonstrated with the Pope, and reminded him that in the present condition of the Church, with the Supreme Pontiff and the cardinals in exile, and with ill-feeling manifesting itself in Hungary, Ger- many, Spain, and France, it was not a time to drive the English into a revolt. But the Pope would not listen to reason; and Master John's counsel effected nothing for his compatriots.* The king of England at one time resisted the papal demands, but his weakness was taken advan- tage of, and they became more intolerable. In the year 1247 this tyi^anny had reached such a height, that a formidable conspiracy was entered into to take the Pope's life, as was alleged, at the insti- gation of his imperial opponent. The Pontiff caused himself to be guarded night and day, and apparently was so alarmed that he would not quit his chamber to perform mass. He published new buUs against the Emperor, accusing him of enormous crimes ; and sent legates to the principal courts of Europe to defame him as much as possible. The Pope had caused first the landgrave of Thuringia, then the count of Holland, to be elected Emperor, and excom- * Mattliew Paris, a.d. 1246. NEW SECTS. 305 municated Frederick and all Ms followers ; but the spiritual weapons were found to be weaker than the temporal. The Emperor's son Conrad completely defeated the forces of the landgrave before he could be crowned, and he never recovei'ed from the blow. At last the complaints of English churchmen against papal extortion were so far successful that his Holiness foimd himself obliged to promise the king, that when provision was made in England for the Pope's relatives or the cardinals, they should ask the royal permission before entering upon pos- session. This concession, however, as the chronicler states, was merely a hook with a bait upon it.* As may well be imagined, the evils produced by the pontifical system fostered the growth of religious opinions more or less heterodox. In various parts of Europe a community would constantly come into notice, for professing a mode of life sanctioned neither by the practice nor precepts of the papal coiirt. The most important of these sects were called Paterines or Bulgarians, who in time spread over Flanders and France, to an extent that greatly vexed the College of Cardinals, as well as the Pontiff. Matthew of Westminster, notwithstanding his free expressions against both, could not tolerate heresy in any shape, and with much complacency mentions the proceedings that were taken against the Paterines by a brother of the order of Preachers, by whom those who refused to be converted were made to breathe forth their miserable souls in the fire. Other sects, called the Catheri and the Flagellants, * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1247. I. 20 306 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CABDINALS. who had flourislied in Grermany, Italy, and France, were destroyed by tlie sword. Tlie Sacred College were mucli troubled for several years with heretical notions respecting the Trinity, circulated principally by Peter Lombard, a French ecclesiastic. Pope Alexander had written letters to the archbishop of Sens to put down the heresy ; Abbot Joachim had composed a volume abusing Peter as a heretic and a madman ; and during the pontificates of Alexander, Lucius, Urban, Gregory, Clement, and Celestine, there continued to be dis- cussions among the cardinals respecting the opinions of the bishop and the abbot. In the pontificate of Innocent III. a general council had been called at Rouen, that condemned Joachim's book. The cardinals were also greatly troubled by the increase of a new sect in France and England, com- monly called " Ribalds," but by themselves styled " Pastoureaux," who marched in great numbers strongly armed, not only preaching strange doc- trines, but abusing the principal religious orders, and denouncing the papal court as heretics and schismatics. The Princes of the Church might have endured these poor creatures calling the bishops prodigals and money-hunters ; they would not have interfered when the Black monks were stigmatized for their pride and gluttony ; they were indifferent about the reproaches of such persons against the Cistercians for their acquisitiveness in the way of land; and did not care when the Minorites and Preachers were alluded to as vagrants and hypo- crites ; but a charge of heresy against cardinals was a serious matter, particularly when it was PEESECUTION. 307 known that a dissentient had got his head clove in two. The Pastors were excommunicated, an overwhelming force brought against them, and in a short time were dispersed or cut to pieces. The merciless persecution of the Albigenses ex- cited the indignation of many good Catholics, who blamed the papal court for exciting the war against them. William the Clerk, a Norman contemporary poet, in a poem entitled " Le Besant de Dieu," is very severe in his comments upon the ambition of the Pope and the oppression of his legates ; nor does he affect any reserve in expressing his opinion of the authors of the persecution.* The conduct of the higher ecclesiastical authorities in England became so flagrant in the disposal of benefices, that Innocent wrote to his nuncio, di- recting him to inquire into and put an end to alienations, sales, or purchases of church patronage, and to cause offenders in this direction to restore what they had irregularly obtained. A report was to be made to him in case they became contuma- cious. Brother John, of the Minorite order, was legate in England at this period, and full powers had been given him by the Pontiff, in the fourth year of his pontificate, not only to compel the prelates to respect this monition, but to cause them to compel the people as well as the clergy to contribute to the papal exchequer. They were also, on pain of excommunication, to treat * " Quant Franoeis vont sor Tolosains, Qn'il tieniaent a Publioains, Et la legacie Romaine Les i conduit et les i maine, 20 * 308 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Brother John and his agents with due respect and liberality. The Emperor was not crushed so completely as his enemy desired. With the assistance of his faithful adherents he contrived to make a stout resistance to the armies sent against him. The Pope's emperor was killed in 1247, and his suc- cessor did not gain much favour with any one. Still the papal court persevered in their efforts to destroy the house of Hohenstaufen, by exciting revolts and conspiracies against Frederick both in Germany and Italy, and by heaping on his head the most terrible accusations. He wrote in his defence to his relative, the king of England, asserting his innocence, and accusing his priestly persecutors of having been led from their proper vocation by wantonness and a cove- tous spirit. He fought whenever his enemies would meet him, till the loss of his gallant and accomplished son Enzio, and increasing infir- mities, destroyed his health. He died Dec. 13th, 1250.* N'est mie bien, ce m'est avis ; Bons et mals sont en toz pais ; Et por 960 velt Deus qu'on atende, Car mult li plaist que home amende." * He had in the course of his career secured seven crowns — of the Koman Empire, Germany, Lombardy, Burgundy, Sicily, Sar- dinia, and Jerusalem. A short time before his death he had them placed before him. " I still posssess them all !" cried the hero, exultantly. "No pope shall deprive me of one of them !" He kept his word. His memory was cherished by the German race of subsequent generations ; and his body seems to have been as tenderly cared for as his name, for on opening his tomb in the year 1781, the Emperor was found in his embroidered robes, THE LADT OP LYONS. 309 It has been stated that the cardinals had recom- mended to the Pope the pohcy of conciHation, especially with the emperor Frederick and his son Conrad, as the Church of Rome was on the eve of ruin. Conrad, however, was recovering from the effects of poison administei-ed to him, as he alleged, by the Pope's connivance ; and a similar attempt having once been made upon the life of his father, he was not inclined to listen to a proposal of marriage with one of the Pontiff's nieces. So strong was the feeling against the papal court among the partisans of the Emperor and his son, that travellers proceeding to it were stopped, plundered, and their papers torn. This had exasperated Inno- cent IV., who even thus early entertained the idea of depriving Conrad of his Italian possessions, — Apulia, Sicily, and Calabria, and selling them to the best bidder. Owing to the hostility of the emperor Frederick, the Pope and his cardinals, including Cardinal John, led a wandering life, sometimes the court remaining at one city, sometimes in another. On the eve of their departure from Lyons, Cardinal Hugo, who had great influence with the Sacred College, at the Pontiff's request addressed a valedictory sermon to the inhabitants, in the course of which he stated that he had one subject of congratulation, in quit- ting a place where the pontifical court had effected much good, and bestowed large alms. There were some four or five brothels on their arrival; now booted, spurred, and crowned, with a costly emerald on his finger, and the ball and sceptre in his hand. — Wolfgang Menzel. 310 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. tliere was only one; but tliat extended from tte eastern to the western gate.* The Lyonnese were notorious for licentiousness ; but this reproach on the chastity of the women was doubtless an exagge- ration. Be this as it may, the cardinal's ironical congratulation passed into a proverb ; and " the Lady of Lyons " of that generation remained under a cloud. Bishop Grosstete continued his couree as a prac- tical reformer, with a rare spirit of independence. In his own diocese his discipline was carried out without fear or favour. He obtained lay assistance for the superintendence of the secular business, that he might devote himself to his spiritual duties. He visited and explored all the remote nooks of monastic life, exposed every irregularity, and punished each offender ; wherever he went declaring his opinion of the danger to which the Church was exposed by jiapal misgovernment. The commands he re- ceived to dispose of preferments in favour of un- qualified persons, he refused to obey, giving reasons for so doing, and expostulating with the Pontiff for requiring him to do what was plainly detrimental to the true interests of the Apostolic Church, t The vices of the j^apal court became so notorious in the middle of the thirteenth century, that many persons of influence had joined the Emperor in his opposition. The greatest complaints arose from their treatment of the Crusaders ; for, having stirred up the devotion of much of the martial population * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1251. t Neander does justice to tlie merits of this rare example of ecclesiastical virtue. VICES OF THE PAPAL COURT. 311 of Europe, including the king and people of England, the Pope and cardinals appeared to think only of turning it to profitable account for purely papal objects. Much odium was incurred by the Pope employing the Minorites and Preachers to collect money from all who desired to go to the Holy Land. Throughout Germany the Pontiff was ex- tremely unpopular through the accusations of the late Emperor, while in England his reputation for greediness and tyranny made him as much detested as feared. Pope Innocent did not exhibit his mercenary policy without remonstrance. The reforming bishop of Norwich, finding that a higher bidder for justice had been among the Princes of the Church, again crossed the Channel, and in an interview in open con- sistory, boldly declaimed against the deceit of which he had been made the victim. The Pontiff is reported to have defended himself with professions of in- tegrity; then, with a severe countenance, he ventured to demand : " Is thine eye evil because I am good ? " The assembled cardinals appeared to regard the English prelate as guilty of great presumption. Seeing the hopelessness of the case, he turned away with a sigh, murmuring, " money, money ! how prodigious is your influence ! especially at the pontifical court ! " The Pope overheard him, and retorted, " ye English, worst of wretches, each would devour his neighbour and impoverish his companion ! " The cardinals laughed, and the in- sulted bishop prudently said no more.* * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1250. 312 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. While Innocent was at Lyons, news arrived that the brother of the king of England, Eichard, earl of Cornwall, was approaching on a visit to his Holiness. Immediately all the cardinals but one hurried out of the city to do him honour, for the fame of his wealth had spread far and wide. They found the English prince surrounded by a magnificent retinue, and accompanied him in a grand procession. His recejDtion by the Pontiff was singularly cordial, and they were presently sitting together at table heartily enjoying a papal banquet ; after which they con- ferred in private several times. Great secrecy was maintained — not the most attentive eavesdropper in the court being able to learn the subject of their conversation. It seems to have been a proposal from the Pope to secure for Earl Richard a certain government,* and he was feasted and flattered, in the expectation of his giving important pecuniary assistance in return. Innocent IV. had endeavoured to check some of the most glaring of ecclesiastical abuses in Rome and elsewhere, by issuing a decree against the vexa- tions inflicted by the prelates during visitations, and strove to enforce the canonical institutions regarding excess in the number of their carriages and attendants, the immoderateness of their repasts and other superfluities. He had also ordained that all archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, and other dignitaries should be content with a supply of ne- cessaries from each place visited, that should not exceed in value four marks in silver, if the allow- ance provided by the Lateran Council for saddle- * The kingdom of Sicily. THE POPE AT MILAN. 313 horses and attendants could be made up by sucli sum. He decided that where there existed great fertility and abundance, there might be an increased charge ; but should any excess be attempted, he threatened the prelate with having to refund.* Cardinal John and the papal court, not without meeting with considerable difficulties on the way, reached Milan. The people received the Pope with every mark of respect and honour, but after a month the government brought him a claim to a large amount for expenses incurred in aid of the Church against the Emperor. Innocent did not appear to be taken by surprise or displeased ; he praised the Milanese, and gave them many fair promises ; dwelt pathetically on his losses, and made the principal citizens handsome presents ; finally so won the good- will of the people, that they furnished him with a suflBcient guard to enable him to reach Perugia, where he was welcomed with similar cordiality; not so much, the chronicler intimates, from devo- tion to his person, as from a knowledge that his presence would bring to the city a crowd of the religious of all nations, whose money would do good to trade. Pope Innocent took up his abode in Perugia, and was so well pleased with the reception he met with from its citizens, that he elevated seven of their priests to the dignity of cardinal. No small share of the duty of these counsellors must have been directed to English affairs, and as it was a source of prodigious profit, this was not neglected. Henry III. was recommended to undertake a pilgrimage to the * Matthew Paris, " Additamenta." 314 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Holy Land, and tte idea affording liim a pretext for laying frest exactions upon his subjects, it was readily adopted. This accord established, pontiff and king recommenced their extortions. It is impossible to describe adequately the shameful system of robbery that now prevailed in England ; the papal agents thrust themselves into valuable preferments, and asked for and obtained everything that took their fancy. The court at Perugia secured a large por- tion of the spoil, but the most enriched were the persons entrusted with its collection. In the summer of 1251, while the papal court was residing at Genoa, it was rendered more than usually gay by the efforts of the Pontiff to dispose of some of his nearest female relatives. He not only gave large sums of money with them, but pre- ■ sented them as peace offerings to powerful nobles, who had hitherto been excommunicated as enemies of the Church. The Count Tour du Pin and the Count Theobald of Savoy accepted these attractive terms of reconciliation, and there was in consequence much feasting and rejoicing among the cardinals ; but Conrad had powerful supporters in Italy. Though Innocent had made his name unpopular in England by bestowing English benefices on foreigners far in excess of the average, he was in special favour with the cardinals, having permitted them the privilege of wearing the scarlet hat, which has ever since been as well recognized a distinction as the dogeal cap or the pontifical tiara. With the Romans, or with Rome, the Po]3e was not on such good terms ; for he maintained his court at Perugia, and though urgently entreated to return, did not SALE OF A KINGDOM. 315 comply. At last a significant message tliat lie must come now or never, produced the proper effect. Pope Innocent lost no time in taking up his old quarters. He was soon busy with a new scheme for raising money : he issued a mandate to the prelates to visit all monasteries, for the purpose of making them maintain their rules. Those who desired to be exempt from the visitation hastened to Eome, and by paying a good round sum secured what they wanted. It was reputed among the cardinals that the kingdom of England was extremely rich, and that the king was singularly credulous. Innocent IV. had offered to obtain for him the provinces of Sicily and Apulia, on a large sum being sent to Rome. He was promised the aid of the Crusaders in gaining these valuable possessions ; and the story was made so plausible that Henry III. could not help considering it a desirable government for his younger son, Edmund. The prospect at last be- came so alluring tkat the king collected all the funds he could, and begged and borrowed a great deal more to make up the price. This having been paid into the papal treasury, it was employed in recruiting soldiers.* Presently it was said to be * A curious instance of the manner in whicli soldiers ■were enlisted and armed is given in a brief from King Henry to the sheriff. " The same sheriffs and knights shall cause them all to be sv7orn to arms, according to the quantity of their lands, and of their goods and chattels : to wit, men possessed of fifteen yard lands, shall have a suit of armour, an iroa cap, a sword, a knife, and a horse ; holders of ten yards of land, an habergeon, an iron cap, a sword, and a knife; of a hundred shillings' worth of land, a pourpoint, an iron cap, a sword, a lance, and a knife ; of forty 316 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. exhausted, and more funds being demanded for defraying tlie expense of securing the promised Italian kingdom, Henry sent wiitten authority to borrow what was needed. Conrad, the reigning king of Sicily, had no in- tention of parting with any of his ]30ssessions ; but Rome sought to overwhelm him with accusations and anathemas, and he died mysteriously in the midst of his preparations for resistance. The Pope seized Apulia, but the nobles of the country did not permit him to have peaceable possession. Though the cardinals had enticed nearly all the idle and dissolute in Italy to take service under the Pope by the most liberal offers, the enterprise they had undertaken became daily more difficult. The Cru- saders would have nothing to do with it, and the king of England, who had permitted his son to be invested with a ring sent by the Pontiff, and declared him king of Apulia, had reason for doubting the- good faith of the Roman court. Innocent went further than merely censuring the worldly - minded churchmen who preferred the shortest road to Avealth and influence ; he decreed that no professor of secular law should have eccle- siastical preferment, unless versed in the liberal arts and meriting commendation for his moral habits. Moreover, as if to mark his repugnance to such up to a liundred shillings' worth, a sword, a bow and arrows, and a knife ; those who had less were to be sworn with scythes, axes with long handles, knives, and other rustic arms. Those possessed of chattels of sixty marks' value, of forty, of nine marks, or of forty shillings and upwards, were to be armed in the same manner." —Matthew Paris, " Additamenta." SECULAR PURSUITS. 317 pursuits in cliurclimen, he not only tlireatened the prelates if they disregarded this injunction, but absolutely forbade the study of secular law, at least in France, Spain, Hungary, England, Scotland, and Wales.* This document was issued at Rome in the year 1254, but evidently overlooked the necessity of a similar decree against secular employments and worldly desires nearer home. The unsoundness of the heart was more dangerous than the disease of the extremities. A sense of the peril was betrayed in a prophecy then current of the advent of anti- christ full of the devil, t Innocent IV. was much disturbed by the reform- * Pope Innocent TV. did not mince the matter with, ecclesias- tical offenders in England ; for his letter to the prelates commences with — " We observe with grief how much the formerly pious and holy seminary of clerks, forgetful of its original well doing, has fallen from the highest sanctity to the lowest depths of vice." This he attributes to their eagerness to devote themselves to the study of the law, instead of the Gospel. The Pontiif appears to have a poor opinion of these legal churchmen. " Most of all we grieve," he wrote, " that the students of philosophy, educated so tenderly in the bosom of the Church, dUigently taught, and excel- lently trained, are obliged, through want of food and clothing, to avoid the presence of men, hiding here and there like owls ; while these lawyers, or rather devils, clothed in purple and mounted on richly caparisoned horses, reflecting the dazzle of the sun in the glare of gold, the brilliancy of silver, and the sparkle of gems, and with their silken garments showing themselves not the servants of the Crucified, but heirs of Lucifer, make themselves a spec- tacle wherever they go, stirring up and incurring the indigna- tion and odium of the laity against them, and, what is infinitely worse, against the Church." — Matthew Paris, " Additamenta." t " Quum fuerint anni transacti mille ducenti, Et quinquaginta, post partum Virginis Almse, Tunc Antichristus nasoetur dEsmone plenus." 318 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. ing spirit of Bishop Grosstete : lie had even ventured on admonition. At last news arrived of his death. The Pope's excitement was now so great that it was said to have caused a dream, in which the threatened bishop, canonically robed and bearing his pastoral staff, appeared, and, not content with the expression of his indignation, poked the Pontiff in the side with his crosier so sharply that he woke half dead with fright and pain. Shortly afterwards he received a still more severe blow, in the total defeat of his army, commanded by the Cardinal William, who was so badly wounded that he died, despite the surgical skill of Cardinal Albo. From this period, we are assured that the Pope continued to have disturbed nights and days of ill health.* The cardinals had again been forced to become birds of passage ; for when the Pope had found a residence in his capital uncomfortable, through the disaffection of his subjects, he went from city to city, carrying his court with him. This by no means suited the Romans, who had profited by the resort of strangers to the Holy Pather ; and while he was at Assissi,t they sent a deputation bearing a remonstrance against his absenting himself from his post, plainly telling those who harboured him, that they would ruin them and their place, were he not speedily sent back. The people of Assissi were now so eager to get rid of their exalted guest, that the Pope was obliged to return. He was received honourably ; but scarcely had he got to his palace, * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1254. t It is stated by Matthew Paris that the same circumstance had occurred at Perugia. AEOHBISHOP BONIFACE. 319 wten sucli a number of demands were made upon him, that the Pontiff, with the impression of having been caught in a trap, requested the interposition of the popular senator Brancaleone,* who contrived to stop the annoyance. The condition of the Church of England under the rule of Archbishop Boniface was pitiable. Conscious of his high birth and influence over the king, his pride was only exceeded by his brutality. During a dispute with the canons of St. Bartholomew, he visited the priory in a violent rage, and having been remonstrated with by one of the elder brethren, he struck the old man on the face, head, and breast with his clenched fist, in the middle of the church ; tore his rich mantle off his back, trampled it in the dust ; and then crushed his body agaiust the stalls with all his force. The canon was dreadfully hurt, and would have been killed, but for the interposition of some persons present. At the same time, the followers of the archbishop — like himself, clad in * The civil autliority of the city of Rome was vested in a Senator, who, when elected into that office, exei-cised an authority more popular and occasionally more powerful than that of the Pope. He was often a thorn in the side of the cardinals, as well as a restraint upon the inclination of the nobles to oppress the weak. There was a citizen of high character, who, Matthew Paris says, was a native of Boulogne, probably Bologna, named Brancaleone. He was requested to permit his nomination ; but, knowing the intractable character of the E-omans, declined, except on conditions that would secure the maintenance of his authority. They were accepted, and he in turn swore to rule the city justly. ISTo sooner was he elected than he ordered some of the noblemen notorious for acts of violence to be hanged at the windows of their own castles, and consigned to the public gallows evil-doers who resisted his authority. — Matthew Paris, a.d. 1253. 320 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. armour — attacked the members of tlie unarmed com- munity, and inflicted on them terrible injuries. The king, when appealed to, refused redress ; all he cared about the Church was to get the richer bishoprics for his brothers, and plunder the revenues of others whenever he could find an opportunity. While Boniface was archbishop of Canterbury, the Church of England was at the mercy of three rapa- cious plunderers, — himself, the king, and the Pope. He was constantly quarrelling with his suffragans, and causing them enormous expense in deputations to Rome. Henry. III. allowed the country to be overrun with foreigners, from whose greediness the clergy suffered equally with the laity ; indeed the Pontiff, it was computed, derived a revenue from England three times the amount of the royal income. Notwithstanding this, the papal court were con- stantly devising some new scheme for gaining more.* Earl Richard, the king's brother, was re- puted to be immensely rich, therefore he had been flattered by papal attentions of every kind, and enticed to place his wealth at the disposition of the Pope, with the object of securing the provinces of Apulia, Sicily, and Calabria as a kingdom for himself.t Richard, however, did not suffer himself to be cajoled. * That honest Benedictine Matthew Paris describes, in his Chronicle for the year 1252, the Pope and the king rivalling each other in fleecing the clergy and the people, till the country became impatient of both. The feeling against the CJmrch of Eome grew more and more exasperated, anything like real devotion being out of the question. + Matthew Paris states that this information came to him from the earl. SEWAL, AECHBISHOP OF YORK. 321 While tlie Pope and cardinals were in exile, they were invariably followed by Bnglisb cliurclimen eagerly pressing some suit of their own. Bishops and abbots, who were at variance witli their su- periors or subordinates, came before them, and entreated their assistance. By judicious gifts they made friends, and hung about the court tUl they had obtained what they required. Disputes between prelates, brotherhoods, chapters, between priests and their diocesan, jfraternities and their superior, and bishops and the king, seem to have been incessant. They were never discouraged by the papal court, because they evinced the dependence of the English Church upon the Pontiff, and because such disputes benefited the pontifical treasury. He who could pay most invariably got most. One of the most patriotic of English prelates was Sewal, archbishop of York ; and therefore specially singled out as a victim to papal oppression. A horde of Italian churchmen had by this time got possession of desirable benefices in the Anglican Church; and Eustand, the papal legate, exceeded his predecessors in insolence and rapacity. Alex- ander lY. inherited the extreme views of Innocent lY., and the plunder of England went on with increased activity. Archbishop Sewal strove to protect the fleeces of- his flock, and got closely shorn for his pains. Papal vindictiveness was not satisfied with a money penalty ; the worst pu- nishment that could be inflicted on a churchman was accorded. Though a prelate of most meri- torious life, he was excommunicated, as if he had been one of the worst of heresiarchs ; the I. 21 322 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. natural result of wHcli was tliat lie was extremely popular among his countrymen.* John of Toledo was created cardinal priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina by Innocent IV. in the year 1244. It has been stated that a John of Toledo was appointed to the dignity of archbishop, but was not the same person. t It is singular that there should be two churchmen bearing this title ; but the pontifical annalists are constantly recording such elevations to persons of the same name. The long services of the English cardinal, and the many proofs he gave of zeal in the papal service, entitled him to such a recompense. There is in this instance the same confusion that exists in notices of most other English cardinals. Another authority includes him in another creation, as already stated. Per- haps he was appointed cardinal deacon by one pope, and cardinal priest by another. It is certain that he attached himself to the Papacy, and must have witnessed the operation of those influences which afiected it during twenty years. The papal court had set no bounds to the ex- pression of their gratification when intelligence reached them of the death of the Emperor. Every cardinal regarded the event as a dispensation of Providence, and the Pope had said publicly, " Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad." A. career of territorial appropriation now opened upon the Church, and a pontifical decree was forwarded to Naples to intimate that the entire territory was incorporated with the Holy See. A declaration was * Matthew Paris. f Ciaconius, I. 707. DEATH OP IJS'NOOBNT IV. 323 also made public tliat the imperial family had forfeited their claims upon Apuha and Sicily; i^i short the Hohenstaufen were a proscribed race, against whose sovereignty every one was invited to rebel who was in any way subject to it. The Pope treated disdainfully an offer of Conrad IV., Frederick's eldest son, to submit to his authority. Conrad proceeded to Italy to maintain his rights, and shortly afterwards he and a younger brother died suddenly. On the anniversary of Frederick's death the Pope also died, December 7th, 1254. The death of Innocent lY. took place at Naples. His relatives surrounded his couch, making dreadful demonstrations of their grief. The dying man, either impatient of the noise, or doubting the sincerity of their sorrow, exclaimed testily, — " "What are you crying for, you wretches ? Don't I leave you all rich ? What more do you want ? " Among those who were best acquainted with him, grave doubts appear to have been entertained of his claim to realize a state of blessedness. Not only were some of the cardinals uncertain on this point, but one is said to have had a vision of his Holiness as a dreadful sinner prostrate before the Virgin at the judgment-seat, and the Madonna having testified against him as an enemy of the Church, who had turned an institution established for the salvation of souls into a money-changer's table, he was con- demned and hurried to his punishment. The sleeper awoke in a fright so terrible as to suggest the apprehension of a like fate for himself; for if popes could not escape damnation, there could be little se- curity, he concluded, for cardinals. He went about 21 * 324 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALP. declaring His dream in a state of frenzy.* All the Princes of tte Ohurct were shocked, and the im- pression everywhere was unusually serious, but it does not appear to have produced any moral effect. The nephew of Pope Gregory succeeded to the vacancy, and commenced his pontificate with the humblest professions. In his earliest communica- tions to the princes of Christendom he strove hard to convince them that he was "the servant of the servants of God," the ordinary papal address. As Matthew Paris af&rms, his simplicity was taken advantage of by the cardinals ; he was induced to lend himself to the fraud which his predecessor had practised upon the king of England, and to carry on the war against the heir of the emperor Frederick. The belligerent conclave with English money assisted him in organizing an army of sixty thousand men, for whom a general was found in the person of Cardinal Octavian ; and this force marched out of Rome to retrieve the disaster occasioned by the military incapacity of Cardinal William (Fiesco). The new Pope, Alexander IV., soon showed him- self quite as eager in the pursuit of money as any of his predecessors, and commenced operations in England on a most formidable scale. From the bishop of Winchester, for supporting him against the king, he obtained more than six thousand marks. Matthew of Westminster states with covert satire that the Holy Father, that he might not be accused of being disdainful, is said not to have refused one penny of the money. Cardinal John ought to have been extremely * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1254. POPE ALEXANDER IV. 325 edified by the glaring evidences of corruption tliat came under his observation during his close con- nection with the Papacy; but he must have been powerless to eflFect any improvement in its adminis- tration. His associates in the Sacred College were the passive instruments of the Pontiff, whose first care seemed always to be to increase his worldly power. The cardinals did not prosper as military com- mandants. Cardinal William had led a papal army, and suffered a complete defeat, and Cardinal Octa- vian laid siege to the city of Nocera, when his forces were cut to pieces, and he only escaped by a hasty flight. Pope Alexander was sinking in public estima- tion, while his enemy, Manfred, a younger son of the Emperor, gained ground in Italy. He was growing daily more unpopular in Rome, and in England was thoroughly detested. Nevertheless he went on maintaining the same pretensions, thrusting foreigners into English benefices, and alternately deluding the king with promises of the kingdom of Apulia for his son, and threatening the country with an interdict unless his constant demands for money were satisfied. The king was no less un- popular with his subjects than the Pontiff, parti- cularly for his lavish liberality to foreigners, and increasing exactions to satisfy them and the in- satiate court of Eome. The diplomatic correspondence between Rome and England at this period is singularly sugges- tive ; the English proctors were kept in a state of constant activity, and the Roman advocates in a state of constant pay, the cardinals participating largely in the business, and of course in its emolu- 326 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. ments. Henry III. seems to liave employed various persons to deal witli tliem, wlio acted independently of, and sometimes in opposition to, eacti other. His excuse, perhaps, was the variety of subjects he was desirous of brino'ino' before the Curia. O o The cardinals appear to have been at feud with the senators. Brancaleone they seized and threw into prison. The aristocracy of Rome generally were thoroughly lawless and unprincipled, living in mansions that had the character of fortresses, and, believing in their security, committed every kind of outrage. Brancaleone had endeavoru'ed to protect the people from the tyranny of the patri- cians, spiritual and temporal, and had won their hearts. Such conduct rendered him obnoxious to the Eoman Princes of the Church and their kins- men, and they had resolved on his destruction. This, however, they did not effect quite so easily as some of them had anticipated. The old spirit was not quite extinguished, the people were still Roman, and the oligarchy that oppressed them were presently to be taught a severe lesson. An edifying illustration of the course of justice in Rome was a contest between two English eccle- siastics. An expelled prior of Winchester made his way to the Pope, and having settled on him an income of 365 marks of silver, went his way rejoicing. The bishop elect of the diocese was even more prodigal, and as a matter of course, much more fortunate ; for he gained his cause, while the poor prior got httle but the derision of the Romans.* The adage that allows mirth to * Matttew Paris, a.d. 1256. The prior received a manor. THE PEIAES PEEAOHEES. 327 those wto -win, seems to have been popular witli the cardinals ; but if they laughed in proportion to their gains, their hilarity ought to have been inde- coroiTS, frequent, and in excess. The adroit manner in which the king of England, as well as his sub- jects, were plundered in the great Apulian delusion, during the gravest professions of pontifical service, must have been highly diverting to the members of the Sacred College by whom the negotiation was conducted. Cardinal John was disturbed in the performance of his ordinary ecclesiastical functions by the arrival in Rome of two deputations, — one from the university of Paris, consisting of its most accomplished scholars, one of whom was an Englishman, John de Gectaville, rhetorician of the university, and the other from the brethren of the Friars Preachers, a new mendicant order, as remarkable for their turbulence as for the extravagance of some of the doctrines they preached. Their conduct in Paris had become intolerable, and to save this pre-eminent school of philosophy from ruin, the professors had resolved on an appeal to the Pope. They met with more support in Rome than they had expected, as they were enabled to prove that these troublesome mendicants were in the habit of disturbing the faithful with opinions taken from a work condemned by a former pope. Notwithstanding the influence of their brother Cardinal Hugo de St. Cher, the writings of these friars were ordered to be burnt, and they were admonished to conduct themselves with more clerical decorum. Some of the religious houses resisted papal extortion, and were excommunicated. 328 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. The arbitrary proceedings of tlie court of Rome about the middle of the thirteenth century were made manifest by the deprivation of an Englishman, Stephen of Lexington, abbot of Chairvaux, who had founded a school in Paris, and was not less eminent for his virtue than for his ability ; — by its support of the bishops of Rochester and Ely, in opposition to the king and the archbishop of Canterbury, in conse- quence, it was believed, of the bishops' enormous bribes ; — by its decree that every bishop and abbot elect should make a journey to Rome ; by the ex- communication of the archbishop of York ; and by scores of similar acts equally indefensible. Matthew Paris, in chronicling the events connected with the Church, strongly expresses his indignation at the cupidity that prevailed amongst the higher officials. At Rome a lavish expenditure could effect any object, however unjust ; and in a large majority of cases wealthy ecclesiastics and civilians were obliged to travel there only to be pillaged. As the king was equally grasping, the Church of England fared badly between them. It is evident that grievous complaints were made to the pontifical court of the operation of the civil power in matters ecclesiastical. In a long list of them, called " Articles, for which the bishops of England have been on the point of contending,"* it seems that the tribunals sometimes made short work of clerical offenders. " Clerks thus detected and taken, sometimes in their clerical robes, are hanged before they are or can be claimed by their ecclesiastical ordinaries." Suck was the case at * Matthew Paris, " Additamenta." ENOEOAOHMENTS OF THE TBMPOUAL POWEE. 329 Oxford already cited, in wtich a priest killed a woman, when tlie course of justice was expedited by tlie knowledge that otherwise the criminal would escape punishment. It is clear from these articles that Henry III. and his officers were not disposed to allow churchmen to exercise their claim of being above the law. The cardinals were moved by the pitiful repre- sentation of the English prelates touching the en- croachments of the temporal power, and the Pope was induced to interpose his authority, which he did with true pontifical energy. " Whereas," he decreed, "the Bnghsh Church, contrary not only to the laws of God and the canonical institutes, but also to the liberties granted to it by the kings, princes, and nobles of the kingdom, is wholly crushed by sacrilegious experiments, new invasions, odious concessions, and accursed acts of oppression, which cannot any longer be passed over in silence without the risk of destruction to the souls of the prelates, the king, and the peers, it has therefore been determined that the walls of the Church so shaken down shall be built up again." After this preamble it is commanded that there shall be no interference of the temporal with the spiritual power, under the penalty of excommu- nication and interdict. There is a letter extant from Pope Alexander that must have cost the cardinals entrusted with its com- position no slight amount of labour and ingenuity. There are passages in it unrivalled as an appeal to patriotism : for instance, of England the writer says, — " From that kingdom have always come forth 330 LI"VES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Catholic kings, distinguislied by bright titles of faith and devotion, who have at all times, and in many ways, shown themselves beloved by God on account of the merits of their holy life, and accept- able to the aforesaid Church by acts of humility and obedience. For the same Church has invariably received from it sons of blessedness and joy, some powerful in deeds and in reputation — sons tvho also afford reasonahle aid and favour. This is that gracious, beautiful, and precious kingdom which the Lord hath blessed in all things. This kingdom is the pleasant and fertile field of devotion, by the protection and defence of which the aforesaid Church may meditate more attentively, and give its most zealous care, that the kingdom by sincere devotion may breathe forth the customary odours of purity, and by sound faith yield due frivits of its constancy.*^' This is introductory to a still more clever and ingenious denial of the Pope and the cardinals of any responsibility in the failure of the negotiation respecting the Italian kingdom promised to the king's son, and the writer lays the blame on the king him- self, but promises, if the debts of the Pontiff are paid in fuU, and he thereby relieved of the burdensome load that oppresses the Church, that the claims of Henry and his son in the matter shall be preferred to those of any one. He then agrees to suspend the interdict that had been laid upon this exemplary kingdom, and send a cardinal legate, should circum- stances permit ; that is, should the best of such exemplary kings satisfy these pecuniary claims. * Matthew Paris, " Additamenta." COKEBSPONDBNCE WITH ROME. 331 The king maintained his communications with the court, having, as was asserted, all the cardinals in his pay. In or about the year 1257 he directs Cardinal Romanus,* formerly legate in England, to support his applications to the Pontiff, — in the following year he writes to Cardinal Octavian, of Santa Maria in Yia Lata, to assure him that the proposal respecting the Sicilies is likely to be carried out by him, notwithstanding the opposition of his barons. t To Alexander lY. he appealed, 25tli of September, 1259, against the proceedings of the nuncio, and on the 28th of December of the same year, announces his peace with France. J In this year also he directed Cardinal John, of St. Lorenzo in Lucina, to pay one of his advocates the arrears of his pension, and present him with a benefice. § The following year he seems to awaken to a sense of his own privileges ; for he tells the Pope not to encroach on his ecclesi- astical preferments ; and in another letter declines to receive his brother Ademar. || The disturbed state of Eome, in consequence of the impoverishment and oppression of the citizens, reached its climax in the year 1258. They rose in open revolt, headed by Matthew of Belvoir, an Englishman, broke open the prison in which the popular senator, Brancaleone, was confined, and having sworn allegiance to him, proceeded to attack their tyrants. The Pope finding resistance as well as excommunication in vain, fled in a panic to Yiterbo, and Cardinal John and his associates, who * "Eoyal and Historical Letters," ii. 122. f Ibid., 126. + Ibid., 138, 143. § Ibid., 144. || Ibid., 145, 150. 832 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. were equally objects of popular hostility, also con- sulted their safety by flight. It was time they quitted the city ; for the stalwart Englishman and the now irresistible Brancaleone threatened death to both Pope and the Sacred College ; and as evi- dence of their being in earnest, hanged two of the Annibaldi, kinsmen of one of the cardinals. The Eternal City was then left for a time to govern itself.* The influence of England ought to have been great on the continent in the third quarter of the thirteenth century; for, in addition to the king's French dominions, his second son was, with the papal sanction, king of the two Sicilies ; while his brother, Richard of Cornwall, in March, 1257, was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, emperor of Germany ; but the country profited little by these honours. Henry III. found he could not raise the whole of the purchase-money for the Italian kingdom, and it was again in the market ; while the English emperor cared for nothing, except the application of bis enormous wealth to his own advantage. The civil wars in England also weakened her foreign influence, and in the latter years of the king's pro- tracted reign. Church and State seemed equally enfeebled by misgovernment. English intelligence, however, was conspicuous in the polemical warfare that raged at this epoch, carried on by Alexander Hales, and later by Duns Scotus, who deserve to be classed among the most eminent scholars of their age. Innumerable traces occur of English energy in foreign countries ; no great political or religious * Matthew Paris, a.d. 1258. BEGGING PEIAES. 333 movement apparently could take place on tke con- tinent without an Englishman to help it forward. English ecclesiastics still occasionally contrived to find their way to the highest preferment in foreign countries. Sometimes this must have been due to their intelligence ; not unfrequently to merit of a different nature. John of Canterbury was elevated to the archbishopric of Eheims ; but 10,000 livres Tournois distributed among the cardinals, were confidently stated to have been his recommendations.* The multiplicity of the begging friars in England created as much inconvenience by their audacity as by their numbers, particularly the Preaching Friars and the Friars Minors. They collected large sums of money, a considerable portion of which they trans- mitted to Rome, where they made such powerful friends that they expected impunity for the greatest outrages. Some of the former order took forcible possession of a house in Dunstable ; the Minorites about the same time seized another place at Bury St. Edmund's, and began making extensive alterations, to render it an imposing residence. They were protected by Cardinal Hugo, who was a brother of their order, and the owners of the property had no redress. Their conduct in several places excited discontent, which in Oxford more than once broke out into desperate conflicts. The Eoman court, Matthew Paris assures his readers, fell into disrepute in consequence of the nobles of Apulia having chosen for their king the Emperor's son Manfred, in defiance of the Pope, who * TUlemont, iv. 410. 334 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. tad promised it for Edmund, the son of tlie king of England. Henry III. made earnest complaints at Ms disappointment, and loss of money in paying the papal agents. The Pontiff and the cardinals were equally blamed for obtaining such large sums from England for a service they had no power to perform. It does not appear, however, that the king got back any of his money. Rome still continued in a dreadful state, owing to the number of lawless people who had found refuge there. The conduct of the nobles at last be- came so intolerable, that in the movement recorded in a preceding page more than a hundred of their strongholds were forced and destroyed. On the return of the pontifical court the state of social dis- order returned also. The customary payments from England to the court of Rome had fallen into arrear, and an inter- dict, as well as a sentence of excommunication, was threatened ; a general collection was therefore made, and the Pope's agents carried off a large sum. The Pontiff seemed now disposed to remedy a great abuse that existed in the Anglican Church ; he com- manded the archbishops and their suffragans to direct the removal from their preferments of every priest who maintained a concubine or othermse dis- graced his clerical character, and to put worthy persons in their places. The papal pretensions came into antagonism with the royal prerogative in 1260, when the Pope be- stowed a prebend, which the king gave to another. The dispute came before Boniface, archbishop of Canterbury, who decided in favour of the Holy See. APULIA. 33 5 The judgment was unpopular, and created a com- motion ; when the papal nominee attempted to take possession of his appointment, a riot ensued, in which he and one of his followers were killed. The act shows the feelings excited in the public mind, exas- perated by Romish exactions, by the constant ap- pointment of foreigners to English benefices ; for the guilty persons were never discovered. England continued to be the great resource of the court of Rome when the pontifical exchequer was getting low, and on some pretence or other, demands • were constantly made upon the clergy. In 1263, the difBculties of the expatriated emperor of Con- stantinople formed the plea, and two nuncios were sent to enforce a contribution ; but they went back empty-handed, the necessities of their own sovereign being the excuse for non-compliance. The troubles into which the country was plunged by the civil war, that arrayed the whole kingdom in hostile armaments, ought to have secured both clergy and laity from such exactions ; nevertheless the yoke was made to press heavily, the Pope now demanding money for the service of the promised kingdom, and insisting on other imposts to an extent that created the most bitter complaints against the oppression. The acceptance by Henry III. of the crown of Sicily for his second son Edmund had become a source of profound dissatisfaction to the majority of his subjects ; for the enormous cost of the empty title had to be defrayed by borrowing, by taxes, and by plunder. The country was now overwhelmed with debt, and the imposts were resisted by clergy and laity; but the greatest sufferers appear to have 336 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. been the ricli Jews. Tliey were liimted up in every considerable town in England tbat bad afforded tbem a fair field for tbeir enterprise, and by argu- ments as little creditable as tbose employed in tbe time of John, were forced to contribute to satisfy tbe demands of tbe Pope to belp bim to wage war against Conrad and Manfred. Having got a moiety of tbe purcbase-money, tbe vendor now offered tbe kingdom to Cbarles of Anjou, brotber of tbe king of France. " Tbe Provisions of Oxford " were wrung from Henry III. by parliamentary pressure, and be was very desirous of getting rid of bis obligations to respect tbem, wbicb could only be accomplisbed by tbe intervention of a papal bull. Tbis, bowever, was not fortbcoming till sufficiently solid reasons for its being granted bad been given by tbe proctors of tbe king of England. It was at last conceded by tbe Pope, by a bull dated at Viterbo, 7tb of May, 1261. It not only absolved Henry from bis oatb to observe tbe Provisions, but directed tbe arcbbisbop of Canterbury to place tbe estates of tbe barons wbo endeavoured to maintain tbem, under interdict. Tbis unsatisfactory instrument gave a new impulse to tbe national feeling, and rendered tbe papal as well as tbe regal autbority unpopular in tbe country. The Angbcan Church had already taken its line, for tbe prelates had pronounced sentence of excom- munication against all wbo should infringe tbe Ox- ford statutes ; tbe laity were, as during tbe tyranny of Innocent III., directed by tbe clergy, and were equally determined in their opposition ; and a serious conflict seemed inevitable. Presently, arbitration UEBAN IV. 337 was suggested ; it met with no result, till Richard, king of the Romans, was appealed to, who decided in favour of the king. The principal point at issue appears to have been the choice of sheriffs, which now became the exclusive prerogative of the Crown. In the year 1261 Alexander IV. died, and the conclave assembled to elect his successor. At the elevation of Urban IV. (James Pantaloon, patriarch of Jerusalem, son of a shoemaker), there were but eight cardinals in the college ; one was an English- man, — " John of Toledo ; " but the small community was soon increased, and the ex-patriarch, who was as much of a Greek in his nature as in his title, exercised much policy, more subtle than honest, in endeavouring to maintain the unimpaired action of the Papacy against the formidable evils with which it was threatened. War seemed the chronic state of Italy, and the Pontiff was almost sure to be involved in it ; but the strife probably had never been hotter or more general than at present — Guelphs against Ghibellines, city against city, and nobles against the people ; but the Sicilies, in con- sequence of papal intrigues, rarely enjoyed the blessings of peace. During the pontificate of Urban IV., Cardinal John was much occupied with the appeals made to Rome by Henry III. and his discontented barons. When the former had signed a treaty, the provisions of which he desired to evade, he despatched a mes- senger to Rome, to get a release from his obligation. The nobles then sent a deputation complaining of the multitude of foreigners who were permitted to impoverish the kingdom, and made out an equally I. 22 338 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. strong case of grievance. The court of Eome, apparently, took large retainers from bott parties, and gave judgment, striving to satisfy eacli. The king got his request complied with; while the barons carried matters with so high a hand, that their expulsion of the intruding Piotevins was not in the slightest degree interfered with.* According to Cardella,t it was in the year 1261 that Urban created John of Toledo cardinal priest of St. Lorenzo in Lucina, and, like his predeces- sors, this pontiff furnished him with ample em- ployment. One of the most illustrative communications from Rome to England is that of John of Hemingford to the king, written in September, 1261, in which he announces the election of the patriarch of Jeru- salem as pope ; describes the favourable impression created by their first interview, and how it faded on a second and third. He informs Henry that the new pope had made him aware that the king of England had another proctor at Rome, who was requiring things totally different to those for which he was soliciting ; and he wants a royal letter revoking all other agencies, urging despatch, as Enghsh magnates were actively employed against him in the court at Viterbo.| Roger Lovel, a royal proctor, writes to the king in February, 1262, announcing a creation of cardi- * Matthew Paris, "Continuation," 1261. t " Memorie Storiche de' Cardinali." At the election of Urban there were but eight cardinals, John of Toledo being one. The new pontifl' increased their number by fourteen. X "Royal and Historical Letters," ii. 188. HENET III. AND THE OAEDINAIS. 339 nals by tlie Pope ; tliat Ricliard, bishop of Chicbes- ter, bad been canonized ; that Manfred bad sent envoys ; and that Jobn Mansel, tbe cbancellor in England, bas secured for bim a full release from bis obligations.* Roger Lovel wrote again to bis royal master in May of tbe same year, announcing tbe successful result of bis agency. Urban IV. bad been persuaded to support tbe king of England against tbe national party, by annulbng bis solemn engagements witb tbem. It is evident from tbese communications tbat tbis pontiff was as ready as bis predecessor bad been to assist in quelling tbe patriotic spirit against wbicb Henry III. bad been so long contending, — a spirit wbicb was as manifest in clergy as in laity, notwithstanding papal endeavours to extinguish it. The conflict could not go on long without exciting some action at the universities. An irritation be- came manifest at tbese unjust papal interferences, and discussions respecting tbem not unfrequently led to other inquiries more deeply affecting tbe papal system. At tbe papal court the conflict of English interests continued to proceed witb increased ardour. Tbe royal proctors were directed to ask for more favour- able concessions to the king, and in 1262 a bull was obtained to annul all tbe acts of the patriotic council of four-and-twenty barons that had for a time, under the earl of Gloucester, directed the policy of tbe nation. It is clear tbat Henry bad not always bad it all his own way witb tbe cardinals, for he wrote to bis agent, Eoger Lovel, f to prevent any opposition there, * "Eoyal and Historical Letters," ii. 204. t Ibid., 207. 22 * 340 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CABDHSTALS. the patriotic party having friends amongst them, as well as himself. The bull did not prevent another civil conflict in England in the following year. In March, 12G2, Henry III. wrote to Urban lY. a letter of congratulation on his accession to the chair of St. Peter ; in May, to Hemingford and Lovel, urging them to prevent any hostile action against him in the papal court by his discontented subjects.* This court evidently continued open to all suitors ; and the king, aware of the venality of the tribunal, as well as of the weakness of his own cause, seemed always in a state of apprehension that justice might triumph. In the following year there was another papal legate sent to England, — Ugo Falcodi, cardinal of St. Sabina, to coerce the patriots, lay and clerical, as well as to annul the Oxford Provisions, and oppress their supporters ; but such a commotion was raised against the approaching legate, that he was obliged to halt at Boulogne, and there fulminate his inter- dicts and excommunications. The pontificate of Urban ceased in October, 1264, and the rejected cardinal legate was elected pope as Clement IV. He entered upon his duties with a strong prejudice against the party in England who had rendered his legatine authority inoperative. Cardinal Ottoboni was now sent as legate, with in- structions to deal in the harshest manner with the malcontents, particularly the ecclesiastics. A crusade was to be preached against the leaders, and every efibrt made to crush them as rebels. At this crisis the popular leader Simon de Montford fell at the * "Royal and Historical Letters," ii. 206-9. CARDINAL OTTOBONI. 341 battle of Evesliam, and his countrymen mourned him as a hero who had died in a struggle for their liberties. Subsequently they mourned him as a martyr and a saint. It was on the 20th of October, 1265, the new cardinal legate made his public appearance in West- minster, and in his robes pronounced in the abbey church the papal doom against the survivors of Simon de Montford's party; after which, with the assistance of those in power, be resumed the old system of papal aggression and extortion. Aliens were again thrust into English benefices, and the work of plunder went merrily on — for the papal party. Presently, as usual, the English spirit re- asserted itself; there was a patriotic reaction of so formidable a nature, that at one time the cardinal legate desired to be recalled ; but the movement was circumscribed, and wanted a De Montford. Cardinal Ottoboni took heart, and, assisted by a subservient king and a servile court, at an assembly held at St. Paul's, April 21st, 1268, passed con- stitutions for the government of Church and State, that should supersede all authority whatever. They were to establish the subordination of the laity to the clergy, and the exemption of the latter from taxation by the State. Priests, however, were not to bear arms, nor to hold pluralities without dispensation, nor to marry. The assassinations, the poisonings, the butche- ries that disgraced the merciless conflict of op- posing factions, produced at last a reactionary feeling in some communities, under the influence of which many made a pubhc profession of penitence. 342 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. The new sect, called Flagellants, appeared in robes of tlie coarsest sackcloth, inflicting on them- selves the most cruel discipline, and making doleful lamentations as they passed through the streets, wounding themselves at every blow of a heavy scourge. Fortunately for the Enghsh members of the Sacred College, the cardinals were not expected to join in the edifying spectacle ; and neither Alex- ander rV., Urban IV., nor Clement Y. appeared to have any ambition for distinction in this direction. Italy was doomed to remain a battlefield, for the French were called in to oppose the imperial pre- tensions of Manfred, till that heroic prince fell at the decisive battle of Benevento, 25th of February, 1266, and by the execution of his kinsman Conradin, two years later, the Hohenstaufens were crushed. It was whUe the clergy were notoriously guilty of all kinds of irregularity that the Papacy put in force a restrictive system — not against these outrages on their holy profession, but against re- ligious opinion at variance with what was taught at Rome. An institution called " The Inquisition " was established in the thirteenth century, by which persecution was carried on upon a plan that seemed to have originated among brutalized savages rather than with professors of Christianity. The idea was to force, by means of the most acute physical suffering, confessions from persons suspected of entertaining heterodox opinions, and on such tes- timony to condemn the sufferer by a secret tribunal to perish in the flames. The atrocities committed in this way, in the name of the tenderly loving Jesus, in several places raised THE INQUISITION. 343 a spirit of resistance that was fatal to some of the inquisitors ; but the diffusion of convictions opposed to the tenets of the Church of Rome appears to have filled the hearts of the more bigoted church- men "with a frantic cruelty, that would stop at no outrage upon humanity in their efforts to crush them. In France and Spain the Inquisition flou- rished, contemporaneously with dreadful massacres of entire populations, whose only crime was the profession of a purer faith than that the dominant Church had taught them. We shudder at the ferocious frenzy that produced such acts, and the good Catholic now is convinced that such means of repression were a wretched mistake. There is little doubt that instead of creating unity of opinion, it produced in many parts of Europe a settled con- viction of the anti-Christian character of the papal system. Clement IV. died in 1268, and the chair of St. Peter remained vacant for two years. An English- man was present ; but Italian jealousy ignored his merit, and an Italian was preferred. The conflict appears to have been between the Frenchmen and Italians, of which the first were in the majority : they could only be brought to agree to the exclusion of the Englishman. The choice at last fell upon a person who was not a cardinal ; but he united the interests of both nationalities ; for though Italian by birth, he was a French priest. He had been a canon at Lyons, and archdeacon of Liege; but was absent on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The pilgrim was elected pope. Gregory X., the title he assumed at the council of 344 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Lyons, May, 1274, made fresli regulations respecting the duty of the cardinals on the demise of a pontiff. The election was to be esclu.sively in their hands, and ten days after the vacancy had occurred they were to be kept in one chamber of the palace, without waiting the arrival of absent members of the college, and there they were to Kve together, re- fraining from communication of any kind with any one, with only one domestic each ; and their meals were to be given them through a narrow window. After an interval of three days, their decision was to be stimulated by lessening their provisions ; in five days they were to be reduced to a single meal a day ; after that they must live upon wine and Avater. All who infringed these statutes were to be excommunicated, as well as deprived of their benefices and possessions, and of every chance of promotion.* Cardinal John continued to give active assistance in the administration of the Papacy, and devoted himself to good works. He founded a monastery at Viterbo.t He survived till 1274, dying during the second council at Lyons, having lived through the pontificates of Alexander, Urban, Clement IV., to that of Gregory X. Ciaconius quotes the fol- lowing : — " Totq. sacerdotes genuisti Sabaudia, primum Dicitur Hugonem, qui Jacobita fuit, Alter, quern fouvit Cistercius ordo, Joannes JSToniine, natalis Anglite terra sibi." * Tamagna, " Origins e Prerogative dei Cardinali." t Cardella, " Memorie Storiche de' Cardiuali." ( 345 ) CHAPTER IV. EGBERT KILWARDBT, CARDINAL BISHOP. A Dominican Provincial — Dispute at Canterbury — Gregory X. nomitiates Kilwardby Archbisliop — Second Council of Lyons — tlie Pope's Emperor — Papal Extortion — Franciscans and Dominicans — the Primate and the Black Friars — Kilwardby created a Cardinal Bishop — is summoned to Kome — his Mysterious Death — Rival Intrigues iu the College of Car- dinals — Election of the Hermit Pedro Morrone — a Saint makes a bad Pope — his Resignation — Exactions of PojJe Boniface in England — Doubtful Cardinals. THE surname of one English cardinal, as already shown, created many forms of spelling it ; but tliat of another Eobert has at least equalled its varied orthography. This is Robert Kilwardby, whom the scribes have made Kildewardely, Kigl- wardby, Kildwardby, Kilwarby, de Kilwardby, and Ohiluuardebeies. How he came by the original appellation is not known ; of his birth and paren- tage there is as little information. The first trace of him appears at Oxford, where he commenced his studies, somewhere about the termination of the second quarter of the thirteenth century. Thence, in the usual course, he proceeded to Paris, where he fraternized with the Dominicans, an order of Black Friars, established there as well as in diflferept parts of England. They had been encouraged by Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, on their first 346 LIVES OV THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. landing in this country, and had since then greatly multiplied. They had an establishment at Oxford, to which Kilwardby repaired at the suggestion of some of the brothers in Paris, and pursued his theological studies with the intention of entering the order, and dedicating himself to a holy life. He studied the Scriptures, he studied the Fathers, and having, from other theological sources, made himself sufficiently advanced in such learning, was able to obtain a doctor's degree, and then to devote himself to the profession of a teacher. He had several pupils, — among them Thomas de Can- telupe, who enjoys the distinction of having been the last Englishman admitted into the calendar of saints.* If he got on well with his pupils, he got on better with the brotherhood ; for they so highly appreciated his learning and his piety that they elected him their provincial. Kilwardby was not, however, to remain a Black Friar, or a servant of Black Friars. They had contrived to make themselves popular in England, while the papal influence was declining ; their modest way of life and sympathy with the poorer classes of the people contrasting favourably with the luxury and pride of the richer religious com- munities. But having accepted his vocation, Robert soon saw where he was to look for further ad- *■ He was the son of William Lord Cantelupe, and not only procured for himself many valuable preferments in the Church, culminating in the bishopric of Hereford, but became the king's chancellor, as well as chancellor of the university of Oxford. — (Anthony Wood, " Hist, and Antiq. Oxford" (Gutch), i. 221.) In compliment to him, it is said that his coat of arms was adopted by succeeding bishops. CONTESTED ELECTION. 347 vancement, and his devotion to the interests of the Holy See was rewarded with the post of collector of the papal impositions. His prudent conduct procured him influential friends, and an opportunity presented itself in which their good oflBces were of extraordinary service to him. Boniface, archbishop of Canter- bury, died on the 18th of June, 1270, and the monks of Canterbury, who seemed to be always in a hurry to exercise what they considered to be their privileges, selected their prior, Adam de Chillendene. The young king, Edward I., how- ever, determined on filling the vacancy with that able scholar and statesman, Robert Burnell, here- tofore his chancellor. The monks insisting on their rights, proceeded to carry out the election in the legal form, but were interrupted by the king, who forced his way through all obstructions and com- manded them to elect Burnell. They excusing themselves on the plea that their choice had been inspired by the Holy Ghost, he quitted them in anger. They then formally elected their prior. As had often been the case before, the dispute between the ecclesiastical and monarchical power was carried to Rome for adjustment. Adam de Chillendene paid the sum of three thousand marks, and thought himself safe. The king of England was a personal friend of the Pontiff, and there- fore felt certain that his chancellor was safe. Gregory X. was desirous of conferring particular favour on the Dominican order ; and as his col- lector in England had given evidence of zeal in the service of the Holy See, he was considered the 348 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. most reliable person to liave at tlie liead of tte Anglican Cliurcb.. This policy was carried out ; tlie prior liad to witlidraw liis pretensions, but met with the very greatest difficulty in withdrawing his marks ; indeed, he was obhged to be content with thirteen hundred, and these had to be paid by his successful rival. On the 26th of February, 1273, Robert Kil- wardby was consecrated by the bishop of Bath, and the suffragans of the see, archbishop of Canterbury. Under every distinguishing black frock of the mendicant friars a human heart bounded with pride at this compliment to their order. Hence- forth the Dominicans were, they thought, to be the most favoured fraternity in England, and naturally they looked for sujDport to the possessor of extra- ordinary influence in the Eoman as well as in the Anglican Church. They thronged to do honour to their brother, exalted over them to so high an elevation, and mutual congratulations were ex- changed, with mutual assurances of goodwill. In August of the following year the archbishop was called to London to crown the king and queen, and very grand was their coronation. There was a magnificent spectacle ; there was a prodigal feast ; the festivities lasted a fortnight ; the citizens enter- taining all comers, and the conduits flowing with wine. As the primate passed through the joyous populatioH, his chaplains scattered a liberal largess, which did not lessen his claims to popularity. The mendicant orders that had been introduced or encouraged in England by at least two English cardinals, in a short time acquired extraordinary MENDICANT ORDERS. 349 social influence wherever tliey penetrated. Nothing could exceed their religious zeal except the spirit of enterprise by which it was directed. They multi- plied to such an extent, and were so active in their calling, as to interfere greatly with the operations of the regular clergy. They also thrust themselves into prominent positions as teachers as well as preachers, till the university professor found them as troublesome as they were to the parish priest. They were therefore more than once complained of by both, and occasionally denounced as hypocrites as well as meddlers. Nevertheless they contrived to make themselves so useful in the papal cause, and acquired such influence at Rome, that in England, as weU as elsewhere, they flourished more and more. They were defended by eloquent preachers and writers, — by Bonaventura, by Thomas Aquinas, and Albertus Magnus ; one of the arguments employed in their favour being the vice and incompetence of the parochial clergy. A great doctor of theology in Paris, caUed WiUiam of St. Amour, attacked them in uncompromising language, denouncing them as the precursors of anti-Christ ; and a fierce dispute soon raged in the religious world as to their cha- racter and value. The power of these mendicants continued on the increase ; indeed so prodigious was their influence that the great doctor who had ventured to attack them was forced to leave the university. In the words of the famous " Roman de la Rose," — " Ou estre banny du royaume A tort, comme fut Maitre Guillaume De St. Amour, que ypocrisie Fist exilier par grant envie." 350 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. The mendicant friars entered houses, and soon made themselves at home. They exercised as much domestic as spiritual influence, and became guardians of the property of the inmates — not unfrequently heirs. They dictated wills ; they of&ciated at marriages and funerals ; they baptized the infants, and taught the children. They found begging, under such circumstances, a thriving trade. Pretending to have special qualifications for leading the way to Paradise, no professing Christian would dare to refuse a contribution to the fund his guide was coUecting for the wants ot his monastery. This close connection with the affairs of the world produced evils that caused occasional scandal. The friars contrived, however, to find countenance in quarters where it was expected that they would meet punishment. In a confer- ence respecting them, in which the primate and his suffragans took part, it was asked if, after so much preaching to the people, the world was so little improved, what could be the good of them ? The archbishop is said to have replied to the effect that the world would have been a great deal worse than it was, but for their sermons.* The writer who states this, does not, however, fail to caution his clients against preaching at markets and fairs, and other places devoted to worldly occupations. He tells them not to affect to be philosophers ; to eschew prolixity and repetitions, and especially to avoid a display of fine words. The latter abuse he * Humbert de Romanis, " De Eruditione Pi-tedioatorum " — " Bibliotlieca Patrum," xxv. DOMINICANS AND FEANOISCANS. 351 likens to a desire of making at a feast a show of splendid dishes, containing little worth eating. If these were the worst faults of the mendicant friars, they might have been tolerated. It must, in justice to them, be allowed that in their orders were found gifted preachers, and scholars of extensive learning ; and that Robert Kilwardby had several contemporaries among the followers of Dominic and Francis, equally worthy of the high station to which he was promoted. Notwithstanding their vow of poverty, and the general severity of their rules, it was not long before signs of indulgence began to manifest themselves in their houses and way of living. Even Bonaventura, president of one of these orders, though he had eloquently defended his brethren when attacked, was aware that at least some of the charges brought against them were not groundless ; for in a subsequent circular letter addressed to the principal officers of the Fran- ciscans, he refers to the existence amongst the fraternity of cupidity and greed, and of there being one state of things inside the monastery and a very different one outside. The publicity given to the quarrel produced re- markable effects upon the laity. In many quarters it awakened a spirit of inquiry, and imder favour- able circumstances, a desire to study the Scriptures. This created sects in Germany and France. The antipapal feeling in England, increased by the conduct of the successor to Archbishop Kilwardby, shortly afterwards took a similar shape. The monks of Canterbury did not regard the Black Friars with very amiable feelings, and could 352 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. not readily reconcile themselves to one of those mendicants becoming primate of all England. In tlie year 1276 they came into collision. The citizens of Canterbury had been taxed to provide twelve horsemen, and required that the wealthy chapter and the well-to-do monks of Christchurch should contribute liberally. They, however, re- fused, declaring that they were exempt. An in- dignation meeting was held close to the Dominican church, where resolutions were passed of a very menacing character. The archbishop interposed, and brought the belligerents to an amicable settlement. In the same year the ]3rimate, accompanied by all his prelates, crossed the Channel to attend a grand council, convened by Gregory X. to meet at Lyons. In this assembly were fourteen cardinals, with ambassadors from all the Christian states, including Michael Palgeologus, then emperor at Constantinople ; but his representatives appeared later. There were also present the king of Arragon and the most distinguished scholars and divines in Europe — among them the famous Bonaventura, general of the Franciscans and bishop of Albano. " The Seraphic Doctor," as he was styled, died in harness ; for his death took place this year, while engaged in forwarding the Pope's interests at the council. The archbishop of Canterbury could not lie an unconcerned spectator of the proceedings of so remarkable an ecclesiastical assembly, particularly in the attempt then made for a coahtion of the Greek and Roman Churches ; but greatly was he concerned when the news reached him that Thomas THE EMPEEOE EODOLPH. 353 Aquinas, the glory of the Dominicans, had been seized with a fatal fever, while on his way to join the council. In the autumn of the same year the primate held a visitation in his diocese at Winchester, at the priory of St. Swithin, then in the abbey of the nuns of the Blessed Yirgin, and in the monastery at Hyde ; subsequently he kept his Christmas at one of the manors of Nicholas, bishop of Winchester, a prelate of almost boundless hospitality. The cardinals were summoned to assemble at Lausanne for a grand and jubilant ceremonial. Pope Gregory X. had contrived to make the minor German potentates unite with him in the election of an emperor, and in consequence Rodolph of Haps- burg had been crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1273. He was a mere mihtary adventurer, and promised to be the Pope's vassal. The Sacred College appear to have had more than enough of German emperors, and instead of inviting Rodolph to come to Italy for investiture, it was judged most expedient to have the ceremony performed at a safe distance. The Emperor attended, very humbly went through the customary ceremonies, and edified the cardinals by the intensity of his respect. The Pope detested the Germans.* The papal rule appeared to have reached its culminating point when the larger elements of the imperial power had been divided and conquered. The great vassals of the empire had easily been * His sentiments were shared by his successor Martin IV., who delared that he wished Germany were a fishpond, and he a pike to swallow the fish. I. 23 354 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. made subordinate, and all princes were warned that St. Peter had left two swords, — one to maintain the spiritual, the other the temporal rights of the Church. The reigning Pope was master of every- thing, and in ecclesiastical affairs was exclusive judge and ruler. He had been satisfied with claim- ing the right of inducting to bishoprics when- ever a prelate died within two days' journey of Rome, — a frequent occurrence ; now he asserted the right of nomination in all cases, and created bishops who had no sees, merely nominal ones, in partibus infidelium. Moreover, he levied taxes wherever he chose, and to any amount he thought he could obtain. He caused the property of deceased bishops dying without wiUs to be seized for his use, and sold their dignities to the highest bidder, or gave them to the most servile of his dependents. In addition, he ex- ercised at his own pleasure such spiritual weapons as excommunication, or exclusion from the Apostoho Church ; the ban, outlawry, and death ; and the interdict, the deprivation of the country of an offender of the consolations of religion. The superiority of the clergy over the laity was established by giving the former the exclusive use of the chalice in the administration of the most sacred of religious rites, whilst the dependence of the laity on the clergy was maintained by the necessity of the first securing ceremonies that commenced at birth, and did not end in the grave. Festivals multi- plied, pilgrimages became a more frequent duty, the adoration of saints, and the veneration due to their relics, were insisted on, and penances were made more stringent and imperative. The rosary was PAPAL EEVENUES. 365 introduced to assist tte sinner in the repetition of prayers, and tlie efficacy of gifts to the Churcli to se- cure eternal salvation became a fixed article of faith. Religious orders were constantly on the increase; every one being expected to exist in strict subordi- nation to the Roman court, and wherever they were established, to form fortresses for the maintenance of the pontifical authority. It not unfrequently happened that large religious establishments, when unduly taxed or arbitrarily interfered with, became contumacious ; but a summons to appear at Rome, and a heavy pecuniary penalty on the abbot, gene- rally produced obedience. The Pope and cardinals were supported by a revenue to which foreign prelates were invited to contribute largely. The expenses of the state machinery of the Church often necessi- tated much personal sacrifice on all who helped to maintain it; and this outlay becoming more and more extravagant, the papal officials became more and more exacting. The court of Rome was much disturbed, near the middle of the thirteenth century, by a dispute be- tween two influential brotherhoods, — the Franciscans and Dominicans. Many members of the former order inveighed against the luxury prevailing amongst the hierarchy, which had excited Innocent IV. to declare against them. The monks would not be put down, and increased in the severity of their de- nunciations of prelatical pride and extravagance. Several were punished with death ; but their opinions were caught up by scholars and philosophers, long after their ashes had been scattered to the winds. On the other hand, the subserviency of the Domini- 23 * 356 LIVES OE THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. cans was recognized by the Pontiflf, and they were entrusted with the direction of the Inquisition, which permitted them the satisfaction of burning the troublesome members of the rival fraternity. In the year 1276, the primate was busily engaged in an important service to his order, which has since given a name to a very populous portion of the city of London. Stow says that " Grregory Eoksley, mayor, and the barons of this city, granted and gave to Robert Kilwarby, archbishop of Canterbury, two lanes or ways next the street of Baynard's Castle, and also the tower of Mountfitchit, to be destroyed ; in place of which the said Robert built the late new church of the Black Friars, and planted them there. King Edward I. and Eleanor his wife were great benefactors thereunto. This was a large church, and richly furnished with ornaments, wherein divers parliaments and other great meetings hath been holden." * The structure was a magnificent one for the time, and a great contrast to the brotherhood's previous lodging in Holborn. The archbishop, assisted by the young king and queen, endowed it so liberally, that the mendicants found themselves quite as handsomely provided for as some of the elder monasteries, the in- mates of which had hitherto looked down upon them. In the month of March, 1276, he visited the university of Oxford, where he preached a public sermon ; then entering the schools, carried on con- troversies in theology, philosojohy, and logic, 'to the great admiration of the scholars. He condemned certain unsound opinions, and promulgated a reso- * "Survey of London," 1603. DEATH OF KILWAUDBY. 357 lution, that whoever defended any of them should, if a master, be depriyed of his degree ; if a bachelor, be expelled the university. On the 16th of June the primate visited Chichester, with all his clergy, for the purpose of making as impressive as possible the translation of Eichard de la Wych, a former bishop of "Winchester, so renowned for his virtues and his hospitahty, that he had been canonized by the Pope, with the title of St. Richard of Chichester. This was almost as grand as the ceremonial of the same kind in honour of Thomas Becket; the shrine, however, here was silver-gilt. There was an altar erected for the devotions hkely to be offered to the new saint. The king was a visitor; he presented four large gold brooches to the shrine, and directed a payment of £200 to the bishop's executors. The archbishop's services were again recognized at Rome. Nicholas III. succeeded Gregory X., and in 1278 created Robert Kilwardby cardinal bishop of Portus. This elevation induced him to resign his archiepiscopate and betake himself to the Holy See. He did not go empty-handed; he took with him the sum of five thousand marks — for what purpose does not appear ; all that is known is, that within a few months of his quitting England he died sud- denly at Yiterbo, under suspicious circumstances. In Italy such deaths had become common ; and the popes had lately been following each other to the tomb with singular rapidity. The five thousand marks disappeared in the insatiable maelstrom that had swallowed an incalculable amount of good English coin. 368 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Matthew of Westminster contents liimself witli stating ttat tlie arclibishop was summoned to Rome to become a cardinal. It looks as if lie had been enticed to give up his position as head of the Anglican Church in favour of a person who held the office of Auditor Causarum at Rome — John Peckham, who proved himself in all things a mere servant of the Pope. He was a Franciscan, and the order had an establishment at Oxford, opposite that of the Domi- nicans, where Kilwardby had resided after quitting Paris. This brotherhood regarded the Black Friars with hostility, which displayed itself in bitter feuds. The removal of a monk of one order to make way for a monk of another looks like the result of an intrigue. Kilwardby's mysterious death was a natural conclusion to it, among men notoriously the most reckless in pursuit of gain to be found in Christendom. The funds said to have been collected for carrying on the buildings for the Dominicans in London, which the archbishop carried with him to Rome, of course never reached them. Whether the Fran- ciscans had any part of them is not known. In this year, according to the Chronicle of Thomas Wikes, the archbishop was created a car- dinal bishop ; in the following year the same chro- nicler records his death.* Roberto Kilvarbio, according to Cardellaf — cog- nomento Biliberi, according to Ciaconius — is said to have received several employments from Nicholas III. The warmest eulogiums are passed on him by the pontifical writers for his attainments in philosophy * "Historise Anglioanse Scriptores," ii. 106-9. t "Memorie Storiche de' Cardinali," ii. 13. MINOEITES. 369 and theology. A list of Ms works is given in Ciaconius, who, in reference to their author, merely states that he died in 1280, at Viterbo. They consist of Latin dissertations on dialectics, on some branches of natural philosophy, as well as commentaries on certain books of the Old and New Testament, and on some of the earlier writers of the Church.* The condition of Eome continued to become more unsatisfactory every year. In February, 1288, Brother Jerome, a Minor Friar, who had been made a cardinal, was elected pope, and assumed the title of Nicholas ly. He is reputed to have been a good Greek and Latin scholar. The order to which he belonged had originally come forward with the humblest pretensions. They were content with the title of "Lesser Friars" — inferior to other monks ; but now, having one of their brethren pope of Rome, and having had another archbishop of Can- terbury, whom they regarded as the sun and moon of their planetary system, they assumed airs of importance, and considered themselves superior to all other denominations, conventual or otherwise. Matthew of Westminster, as a Benedictine, looked on them as upstarts, and in no measured terms censures them for their audacity and pride. This, however, was not of long continuance, for the Pope and primate died within a short interval. Towards the close of the century the Sacred Col- lege was again disturbed by rival intrigues. When Nicholas IV. died, on the 4th of April, 1292, there * Ttomas Tanner, bishop of St. Asaph, has preserved a list of them. See his " Bibliotheca Britannica-Hibernica." 360 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. appears to have been no Englishman in the conclave. There were but twelve cardinals — all Italians, ex- cept two, who were Frenchmen : of this majority, six were Romans ; and so completely had the Papacy become a local institution, that the six were divided into two factions, one supporting an Orsini, of whom there were two ; the other a Colonna, of whom there were the same number in the college.* Of the many instances afforded in the history of the popes of their degradation of the Apostolic dignity to an object of worldly ambition, no one of them proves this so lamentably as the long struggle of these partisans to obtain the election. They maintained the contest for a year and eight months. Neither by acclamation nor inspiration could the competitors secure a majority of votes. One of the Frenchmen, Cardinal Cholet, died of fever, in August ; but among the eleven survivors, the operations of the Orsini were invariably thwarted by the influence of the Colonnas, and the Colonnas found all their exertions neutralized by the intrigues of their fellow- citizens. It was a grand illustration of a familiar quotation, for the Gruelphs and Ghibellines gave up to party what was meant for mankind. The conclave removed to Perugia, and continued the contest. At last, one of the Roman cardinals (Malebranca) thought of an expedient to end the strife. It was impossible to get the factions to agree to either of the candidates, but they might feel no hostility to a stranger. He cominended a popular hermit, Pedro Morrone, for his austerities and for his sanctity. The cardinals appear to have elected him by acclamation. One was so tired of * Ciaconius. A HEEMIT POPE. 361 the profitless and unseemly conflict, he declared that he had had a vision, threatening them all with divine chastisement if they did not at once put an end to their indecision. The solitary Frenchman was the first to give in his adhesion ; the rest made it an afiair of nationality, and eagerly agreed to an Italian pope. But the Hermit preferred his sackcloth to the pontifical robes, his bread and water to pontifical fare, and his narrow cell in the Abruzzi to a mag- nificent palace in Rome. A depiitation from the cardinals toiled up the mountain, and with great difl&culty obtained access to the local saint, — an aged recluse, gaunt, hirsute, and nearly exhausted by constant prayer and fasting. He declined the overwhelming honour. The population of the vicinity, flattered by such an elevation of their favourite, in vain joined in pressing it on his accept- ance. The king of Naples came to his subject, and added his persuasions with little more success. Then the venerable Cardinal Malebranca, the senior of the Sacred College, who had proposed his election, called into exercise his eloquence and his dignity on the reluctant recluse. At last, Pedro Morrone con- sented to enter Naples riding on an ass, and attended by the entire population; but he would not go to Rome. There were other things in the hermit's conduct that dissatisfied the Romans. He selected the French cardinal Billion as his chief counsellor, and lavished the pontifical favours on the humble friends of his cell. Hardly had ten of the conclave hailed him as Celestine V. than they felt convinced of 362 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. tte folly of tlieir choice. Irreverently they came to the conclusioiij that although acknowledged sin- ners had filled the chair of St. Peter but indifferently well, a saint would not do at all. Every one took advantage of his simplicity ; all were anxious to profit by his ignorance. He became the tool of the king of Naples, and the dupe of the French cardinal. He was so ignorant, that a few words of monkish Latin appeared to be the extent of his acquirements ; and so averse to pontifical state, that he hid himself in the church when he ought to have been presiding at the consistory. The Romans were annoyed by his insisting on remaining at Naples ; and the foreign influence was made more evident to them by his creation of no less than thirteen cardinals, of whom the majority were French; and, though six were Italians, there was not one Roman in the list. The Colonna and Orsini families were disgusted with the hermit-pope. No Englishman had been included in the creation ; therefore the prelates of the Anglican Church had equal right to be dissatisfied. Some of the cardinals appear to have played tricks upon the unwilling Pontiff. He was constantly hearing a voice commanding his return to the vocation for which he was fitted. At last, his life was rendered so thoroughly uncomfortable by the intrigues of those around him, that, in the year 1294, he summoned a conclave, and after confessing to them his incapacity and utter unfitness for his responsible position, voluntarily resigned its dignities and emoluments. Before the cardinals had re- covered from their astonishment, he had retired ; he PJIIAE BACON. 363 stripped off his papal robes, and donning his old suit of sackcloth, returned to his lonely cell in the Abruzzi. Benedetto Graetani, of Anagni, was elected his successor, as Boniface VIII. ; and as to him was attributed the annoyances that had induced Celes- tine to determine on the unprecedented step of abandoning the Papacy, those who had profited most, and hoped to profit more, by the hermit's incompe- tency, became his vindictive opponents. There were many distinguished scholars in the Anglican Church in the thirteenth century. In addition to those named, were Kich, archbishop of Canterbury ; Eichard Fishacre, a professor at Oxford and Paris ; William Sherwood, chancellor of Lincoln ; but in philosophical study, particularly, the greatest of all was Roger Bacon, the renowned Fran- ciscan monk. Of his attainments his contemporaries were justly proud ; the bishop of Lincoln, who was his patron and friend, absolutely censuring Pope Innocent lY. for encouraging the clergy in per- secuting him. The friar became obnoxious, not only on account of his superior intelligence, which, as usual, procured him an evil reputation, but for certain strictures which he passed upon indolent and ignorant priests. Clement IV. entertained a very high opinion of him, and to this pontiff he dedicated his " Opus Majus." His successors took no notice of him, except Nicholas IV., to whom he addressed his treatise " On the means of avoid- ing the Infirmities of Age," but without avail. He was kept a close prisoner by the superior of his order, till powerful interest was made for him, when he was permitted to return to Oxford. He 364 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. subsequently produced liis " Compendium of Theology," by the way, probably, of asserting bis orthodoxy, and died 11th of June, 1292. The monks having, by their persecutions, nearly driven him into the grave, after his death appeared as if they could not praise him sufficiently. He received the appellation " Doctor Mirabilis," as St. Thomas Aquinas got that of " Doctor Angelicus," Duns Scotus, "Doctor Subtilis," and "William Ockham, "Doctor Singularis." He was far in advance of his age in scientific knowledge ; and Gregory XIII. 's improvement in the calendar was founded on his study of astronomy.* Balsham, bishop of Ely, finding himself aggrieved by the spoliation of the lands of his see by King Henry III., who desired that his chancellor, Henry de Wingham, should have the bishopric, went to Eome, to ajopeal to the Pope. Boniface, archbishop of Canterbury, had recommended a Minorite Friar. The suit was permitted to drag on for more than ten years, when Balsham's election by the monks was confirmed. He was a munificent benefactor to Ely and Cambridge, founding in the latter St. Peter's College, and bequeathing his hbrary to the scholars, and three hundred mai-ks annually for the erection of new buildings. As a grateful memorial of these obligations, the university authorities bound themselves, in the year 1291, to celebrate annually a solemn commemoration of his decease. * Bale, " Comment, de Scrip. Britann.," 359. Pits, " De Illust. Ang. Scrip.," 3G7. Plot, "Natural Hist, of Oxfordshire," 215. Wood, "Hist, et Antiq. Oxon.," 158. Pleury, "Histoire Ecclesiastique," liv. 33. LEGATES IN ENGLAND. 365 In tlie year 1294, the hermit, Pope Celestine Y., sent Bertrand Delgot on a mission to the Bnghsh clergy ; by another bull he gave the first-fruits of benefices in the province of Canterbury to Cardinal Jacopo Colonna. Boniface VIII. annulled many of Celestine's grants.* One of his first acts was to send a couple of Italian cardinals as legates, ostensibly to negotiate a peace between France and England. They do not seem to have efi'ected much in this direction ; but in the way of accomphshing their real errand, they extorted a double tax from the members of the religious orders. t Another cardinal made his appearance in London a little later ; but while he was being entertained by the Templars, his re- tainers and those of his host contrived to faU out ; weapons were drawn, and a desperate " fight ensued, in which a nephew of the cardinal was slain. The archbishop of Canterbury and his clergy were much pressed by Edward in 1296 for pecuniary as- sistance. After convoking a synod, the primate had an interview with the king on the subject ; but this does not appear to have mitigated the severity of the squeezing the Anglican priesthood underwent. It seems that for the war in Gascony Edward not only wanted money but steeds ; and having appropriated the estates of the Church, he now seized the horses. The primate gave permission to the clergy to follow their own consciences as to redeeming them by a money payment. Nearly all followed the suggestion ; * Bartholomei de Cotton, "Historia Anglicana" (Luard) — Rolls Publications, 198, 282, 287. t Matt. West., 1295. 366 LIVES OE THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. but the arclibishop allowed Ms property to remain in the king's hands. In the following year he held a convocation, which resulted in a message from the clergy to the king, and in their excom- munication of all offenders against the bull of Boniface YIII. This does not appear to have produced much effect.* The cardinals amassed riches, but were surrounded by perils, through the antagonism of the two domi- nant Eoman families, — the Orsini and the Colonnesi. Boniface VIII. was at violent feud with the latter ; he deposed two cardinals of this family, and excom- municated them and their adherents, against whom he commenced a warfare of extermination. Sciazza, the head of the house, escaped to France, but after being captured by corsairs, returned to Italy. He surprised the Pope at Anagni, and took him prisoner. It had so serious an effect upon his Holiness, though he was shortly afterwards released, that he became insane, and so died. Among other memorable things in his pontificate, he founded the jubilee of 1300, and decided that it should be repeated at the completion of every century. It brought innumerable visitors to the Holy City, and large contributions to the papal treasury. Of doubtful English cardinals or churchmen elevated to that dignity in the course of this cen- tury, there are several. Such was "Ancherus," said to have been included in the creation of 1261, and who died at Eome in the year 1286. A more familiar name is that of William Bray, who attained * Cotton, "Historia Anglicana" (Liiard), 32. DOUBTFUL CAEDINALS. 367 a great reputation as a tteologian. It has been stated that lie was elevated at Viterbo to a place in the Sacred College, in the year 1262, and floa- rished during seven pontificates, — Clement IV. to Martin IV.* Urban IV. died in 1264 ; therefore, if Bray died in 1282, he must have lived under eight popes. He was archdeacon of Eheims.f Hugo de Evesham appears to have acquired a great name, not only as a scholar, but as a physician, and was created cardinal priest of Lorenzo in Lucina, by Martin IV., in 1281, and died at Rome six years after, when Honorius IV. caused a noble monument to be erected to his memory. J " Bernard de Anguescelle," archbishop of Rheims, is stated to have been made a cardinal bishop in 1281, and died in 1290. He most probably was a Frenchman. " Berardus " is also included among the English Princes of the Church in a creation of 1288, and his career closed in 1291. § Nothing seems to be known about him. There were many contemporary English church- men in high favour at the papal court. Among the most distinguished was Walter GifFard, who held the confidential oQice of chaplain to the Pope, through whose influence he was consecrated arch- bishop of York, in opposition to the dean, who was the jchoice of the chapter. * Cardella, "Memorie Storiclie de' Cardinali." t Godwin, "De Prsesulibus Anglise." J Oiaconius, i. 774. § Godwin, " De PrEesulibus, &c." 368 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. OHAPTBH V. THOMAS JOTCE, CARDINAL LEGATE. A Jubilee pvoclaimed at Rome — Pilgrimages to tlie Holy City — Outrage on Boniface VIII. — liis Death — Clement V. and Edward II. — Joyce, the King of England's Confessor, ap- pointed a Cardinal — goes to Rome — Papal Exactions in England — Burning a Heretic — Exodus of the Cardinals — the English Cardinal accompanies the Poj^e to France — appointed Legate in Germany — Papal Court at Avignon — Death of Cardinal Joyce — the Italian Cardinals desire to return to Rome — Ravages of the Black Plague — the Flagellants, Beg- hards, and Lollards — an Anti-Pope — Cola di Rienzi — an Anti-Emperor — the Cardinals return to Rome — Robert Eaglesfield. 1^0 wliat extent tlie pretensions of tlie Pontiffs had arrived may be learnt from tlie conduct of Boniface YIII. wlien lie discovered that Albert of Thuringia had permitted himself to be elected to the imperial dignity without having asked his concur- rence, and had not subsequently paid him homage. He addressed to him a letter, in which he asserted that he was the Emperor. Albert chose to be of a different opinion, and allied himself with Philip, king of France. At Rome this step was met by the customary precursors of hostilities, and a por- tion of Germany was presently the seat of a san- guinary war against the allies. But the French proving treacherous, the Emperor found it neces- A JUBILEE AT BOMB. 369 sary to endeavour to make his peace with the Pontiff. Rome was at this time thronged with pilgrims. Boniface having proclaimed a jubilee, the churches were filled with the devout and the altars piled with their offerings. The papal power was evinced by the liberality as well as the number of the pil- grims, and the cardinals participated in the gains as well as in the glories of the festival. The jubilee was a source of great gratification to the papal court, and Boniface was not indisposed to accept an additional evidence of his supremacy. The Emperor was sufficently submissive, agreed to assist the views of the Pope, and to make war only at his suggestion. The imperial • arms, how- ever, did not ultimately profit by these concessions, and the Emperor was assassinated in 1308. The Papacy was at the height of its splendour and its omnipotence. The grand ideas of Boniface were shared by the magnificent Princes of the Church. Everything in the Eternal City promised an eternity of affluence and adoration. A cloud no bigger than a man's hand was in the bright horizon ; but it was the iron hand of Philip le Bel, king of France, and it presently cast so dark a shadow over the pontificate as to threaten an eclipse. The Pope thundered a bull, in which he announced himself as sovereign over the wide earth and every living thing it contained. The French monarch would not regard him as a Jupiter Tonans, and as the Roman people were weary of his power, Philip found no difficulty in teaching the papal court a severe lesson as to the instability of ecclesiastical I. 24 370 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. omnipotence. A band of French, knights succeeded in surprising the Pontiff and the College of Cardinals in the seat of their authority; the Romans simul- taneously broke out into revolt, and the lords of beaven and earth were at once the most helpless of human creatures. Boniface was eighty years old, but his venerable appearance did not shield him from the wrath of his captors. The indignities they inflicted upon him affected his brain, and he died miserably in the year 1303. The bribery and extortion that prevailed in the Roman courts had long become an intolerable abuse. Every one who bad a cause there rehed more for success on the amount of his bribes than on the justice of his case ; and there was no crime, however frightful, for which money could not pro- cure a pardon. The officers of the Curia used their influence with the Holy Father for a price ; and few pontifi's of the period were inaccessible to suitors who came with a sufficiently liberal retainer. Peter of Blois mentions the case of a man, thoroughly unqualified morally and intellectually, who was at Rome purchasing the dignity of abbot of Canter- bury, while a prelate suspected of murder by similar means was permitted to go unpunished. Even when the Papal See was blessed vrith an honour- able and incorruptible head, he was powerless to control the cupidity of the members of his govern- ment.* The eagerness of the papal court to get money was not always successful. The cardinals generally * Neander gives copious illustrations of the coiTupt practices existing in the curia liomana. THE FEIAES MINOES. 371 supported the Pope in his exactions, however ia- tolerable they might be; but Matthew of West- minster records one instance in which widows and orphans as well as noble knights were plundered, and some of the cardinals were opposed to the scheme. The same chronicler records another proceeding of a similar nature which was cleverly frustrated. It. seems that the order of Friars Minors in England had offered the Pope four hundred thousand gold florins for permission to hold estates and maintain revenues, hke other wealthy brotherhoods who had commenced their career with the same professions of humility and poverty. Having ascertained that the money would be forthcoming, the Holy Father consented ; but King Edward haAong been informed of the proceeding, seized the entire sum, then in the hands of merchants, and apphed it to his own use, answering all complaints by asserting the necessity of the friars maintaining the rule of their founder. Such rule had received the pontifical sanction, and, of course, he could not allow it to be violated. The Minorites did not readily reconcile themselves to this heavy blow and great discouragement ; nevertheless, the order contrived to flourish. Boniface seems to have been still more mortified, and retaliated by prohibiting the king's waging further war against the king of Scotland, and by claiming authority in the disposal of that country, of which Edward desired to possess himself. By way of recompense, the Pope shortly afterwards appointed one of the friars to the vacant bishopric of Worcester. The king of England, however, was quite able to hold his own against even so influential an opponent, and would not, nor would 24 * 372 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. his nobles, acknowledge the Pontiff's pretensions.* In tlie year 1301 the Pope had extorted a tenth part of the ecclesiastical revenues of England. Boniface was unquestionably extremely unpopular in Italy ; for when he died, his end apparently has- tened by the indignity with which his person had been treated, the epitaph written for him stated that he had begun his career like a fox, had roared like a lion, but had died like a dog, while as poor as a beggar. The cardinals elected as his successor Benedict XI. Warned by the fate of his predecessor, he affected moderation, and was at first inclined to make himself a mere tool of the king of France. No more tremendous decrees were issued by the papal court ; the cardinals had been forced into the employment of a less aggressive policy, and showed themselves willing to enjoy their own dignity without striving to diminish that of secular princes. But the great spirit of Boniface still seemed to hover about the chair of St. Peter, and occasionally to influence the counsels of the Sacred College. As soon as they could recover sufBciently jfrom their fears, the cardinals began to assume their old pre- tensions, and the Pope to exercise his old authority. The whole machinery would perhaps have gone on as before, had not it again been thrown out of gear by the loss of its directing influence. It was clear, however, that the Papacy lacked the judgment that had directed it during the reign of the Bnghsh pope. Benedict's pontificate lasted but eight months and The letter Edward wrote to Pope Boniface claiming Ms right to the whole island as a descendant of Brutus, the conqueror, is a very curious historical document. THOMAS JOYCE. 373 fifteen days, when, according to Matthew of West- minster, he was poisoned by the cardinals. A dispute arosein the Sacred College as to the appointment of a successor, that continued for nine months, when they elected Clement V. Bernard de Goth, who succeeded Benedict, was a Frenchman, and at once placed himself entirely at the service of the king of France As the Pontiff had reason to distrust his Eoman, subjects, and desired to show his subservience to the French monarch, he determined to turn his back upon the Eternal City. Its claims as the capital of the Christian world could not be permitted to weigh against considerations of personal security, or of pontifical policy. The cardinals therefore had to prepare for an exodus ; but, to reconcile them to the journey, were assured that their enjoyments would be greatly increased by their change of resi- dences. So the entire court presently packed up their personalty, ready for a start when the turbu- lent Romans should render a longer residence amongst them unsafe. This pontiff appears to have been in high favour with Edward II., king of England, who forwarded to him, by the bishops of Lichfield and "Worcester and the earl of Lincoln, a complete set of gold vessels for his chamber and kitchen. Clement expressed his ac- knowledgments. Out of ten cardinals created by him in 1305, one was an Englishman, — Thomas Joyce, a brother of the order of Preaching Friars,* who filled the post of confessor and confidential counsellor to King Edward, and was held in great esteem for the * Matt, of West, 1305. 374 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. purity of his life. He had greatly distinguished him- self in a controversy at Cambridge, as well as by his profound wisdom. He bore the title of cardinal of St. Sabina. He was an Oxford doctor of theology, and had obtained much repute at the sister univer- sity. After his elevation he left the court of England for that of Rome, where he was confidentially em- ployed by the Pontiff. There does not seem to have been much Christian feeling cultivated among the retainers of the Princes of the Church and their sovereign, for a quarrel between them broke out into a fight, in which one of the Pope's brothers was killed. It was this outrage that had made him dissatisfied both with Rome and with the Romans. In the year 1305, he removed his court to Bordeaux (of which he had previously been archbishop), — a city of so much importance as to have been regarded as a second Rome. The senators did not approve of this, and sent a message to the Pontifi" requesting his return ; but, having the fate of his predecessors before his eyes, he chose to remain. While here, he suspended Robert, archbishop of Canterbury, for oifences against the king, with whom he maintained so good an under- standing, that he permitted a grant of the revenues of the Anglican Church, to be applied in defraying the expenses of an expedition against the infidels ; but the money was spent in a very different manner. It was then that Clement, in reply to the demands of some of the English prelates, claimed, as Matthew of Westminster asserts, all the first-fruits of bishop- rics, abbacies, priories, prebends, rectories, and vicarages, as well as smaller benefices, for two PAPAL LEGATES IN ENGLAND. 375 years. On tliis tte Holy Father insisted, seeing, as the chronicler asserts, perhaps satirically, the insa- tiable avarice of certain English ecclesiastics. Some of the clergy were accused of graver offences. When the king's treasury was plundered, the monks of Westminster were committed to prison on suspicion. They were subsequently liberated. The accusation of avarice was replied to by a decree emanating from a parliament held at Carlisle in 1307, intended to check papal extortions. The exactions of the papal legates in England form the subject of constant animadversion by our chroniclers. Matthew of Westminster records how a certain cardinal. Master Peter the Spaniard, sent by the Pope into England to perform the marriage ceremony between Prince Edward and the Princess Isabella of France, came to London with the object of plundering the churches, on the authority of a buU ; from each cathedral or convent, and from all regular and irregular churches and priories, demand- ing twelve marks sterhng ; but the clergy appealed a2"ainst the extortion, and the council decided that the Pope must be content with half the sum, the same that Cardinal Ottoboni had received when legate.* In the previous year a heretic had been consigned to the flames, for not only preaching strange doc- trines, but for prophesying the destruction of the Pope and the cardinals. The state of the Church of England near the commencement of the fourteenth century was de- plorable. It was subject to heavy and constant * Matt. West., anno 1307. 376 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAfiDINALS. exactions from the Pontiff, to meet whicli it taxed its members, and apparently taxed tlie laity as grievously. The king, pressed by the necessity of providing for his wars, claimed large contribu- tions, so large, indeed, that the prelates in a body declared their inability to comply. The king would not be denied. Those who delayed their payments were plundered, and the property of the archbishop of Canterbury was seized for the king's use. Sub- sequently Edward relented, expressed his regret, promised to respect the charters, and persuaded the clergy to grant a subsidy. In the year 1301 Walter de Langton, bishop of Chester and treasurer of England, had been cited to appear before the Pope to answer grave charges brought against him. Matthew of "Westminster states that he lavished no small sum on the Roman court; for they, knowing that he was a fatter ox than the generality, made the most of their opportunity. His suit did not seem to prosper at first, and he was sent back to England ; but he re- turned to Rome in a fatter condition than before, and when his friends there had feasted sufficiently at his expense, they restored him to his diocese with a more elevated character and greater authority than he had ever previously possessed, while his accuser, as a natural sequence, very shortly after- wards came to a bad end. " And from him," says the chronicler, " let the wicked laity take warning, and learn what it is to accuse ecclesiastics."* Subsequently, the Papacy was removed to Avig- non, and the Pope sought to govern Italy by means * Matt. West., 1301. CARDINAL JOYCE. 377 of legates ; but these oflficials were detested for their arbitrary proceedings and greediness of gain. They commenced wars, which were carried on in a spirit highly injurious to the reputation of the papal gOA^ernment. Cardinal Joyce continued with the papal court, occasionally employed on missions of importance ; he died while acting as legate to the Empire in 1311. Anthony Wood mentions him as the last of eight Dominicans, who were men of great fame (1309), according to the learning then most appre- ciated.* Of " Tommaso Joice " there is a long account in Cardella. He is said to have been as famous in learning as in sanctity, and to have studied with St. Thomas Aquinas. According to this authority, he terminated his career at Grenoble, in the year 1310. His remains were transferred to Oxford.! Ciaconius mentions a great number of his writings. J Safe in pleasant Avignon, the cardinals heard of the progress of the imperial arms in Italy, and the emperor Henry's unsuccessfal assault upon the * It was soon after this that a dispute occurred between the friars and the university. King Edward II. wrote to the Pope and cardinals four letters, in 1313, advocating the cause of the former. Reynolds, archbishop of Canterbury, befriended them. The bishop of Lincoln appears to have favoured the same side. It was at last settled by arbitration, delegates having been ap- pointed by both parties, and a composition effected ; which, how- ever, dissatisfied the friars, and they presently (1316) carried their grievances to Avignon. The king again, and many of the nobUity, were impressed into their service, and some satisfaction seems to have been given them ; but the quarrel was not made up till 1320. f Cardella, ii. 79. f Ciaconius, i. 835, 843. 378 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. city tliey had abandoned. Possibly they were gratified by his retreat ; it is to be hoped that they heard of his death in 1313 with diiFerent feehngs, for he was poisoned by a monk who had handed him a cup of wine. Their notorious hostility, how- ever, and readiness to take advantage of the in- cident, suggest a different conclusion. The war of the Gruelphs and Grhibellines was raging with greater fury than ever, and the best blood of Italy and Germany mingled in the mer- ciless quarrel ; but it was one that had peculiar interest for the Pope, and Prench assistance was always at hand to increase its violence whenever the Emperor's arms ajopeared about to insure the success of the Ghibellines. When Clement died, his successor, John XXII. , was quite as completely in the Prench service. Louis of Bavaria was summoned to Avignon, and as he did not appear, in 1324 the Empire was placed under an interdict. The Franciscans now, who had not ceased to denounce the vices of the luxurious prelates, came forward and officiated in the chiu-ches of Germany, and delivered sermons in defence of the Emperor. Occam, an Englishman, said to be the most learned scholar of his age, distinguished himself as one of the imperial advo- cates. The rage of the Pontiff manifested itself by inciting animosities, and arranging combinations against Louis, who retaliated by causing the election of another pope, Martin Y., in the person of one of the Franciscans who had defied the authority of the court of Avignon. This event took place at Rome, where John XXII. was burnt in efiigy. The Em- THE EMPEROR LOUIS. 379 peror went there to be crowned by Martin ; but again the Germans made themselves obnoxious throughout Italy, and Louis was compelled to retreat. The consternation with which the cardinals had received the intelligence of the appointment of an anti-pope was only allayed when the penitent Fran- ciscan was brought prisoner to Avignon. Apparently the Pontiff was desirous of conciliating the bold monks who had given him so much trouble, as well as to give a public proof of his superiority over the Emperor, by pardoning his agent, for Martin was per- mitted to lay down the tiara and return to the cowl. Shortly afterwards Louis was also forced into sub- mission. On the removal of the interdict, he offered to surrender the Franciscans, and even to abdicate ; but John XXII. replied by stirring up the electoral princes against him with increased activity, and declared Italy emancipated from imperial authority. At this crisis the Pope died (1334), leaving immense wealth. Benedict XII. continued the policy of his prede- cessor in servility to the French king and antagonism to the Emperor. The latter he pressed so hard, that a popular reaction in the imperial favour arose throughout Germany, the interdict was disregarded, the priests who respected it expelled, and the Pope generally set at defiance; but Benedict, and after him Clement YL, persevered in the pontifical course of action, and such a combination was arrayed against Louis, and such a dreadful anathema hurled at him, that unqualified submission became his only resource. 380 LIVES Of THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. The cardinals at Avignon received their reward for their devotion to French interests, the Papacy had proved a most valuable weapon in French hands ; and the imperial power being at last subjected to the last act of humiliation, Louis laid his crown and empire at the feet of the Pontiff. Shortly after- wards (1344) a new emperor, Charles lY., was elected under the auspices of Clement. He was a mere creature of the Papacy ; but to the mortifica- tion of Pope and cardinals, a power began to develop itself that threatened destruction to both their accommodating friends. The king of England, Edward ITL, triumphed over their emperor in Flanders, and with the assistance of his heroic son, the Black Prince, won at Crecy and Poitiers the fairest jDortion of France. The life of luxurious enjoyment which the court at Avignon had so long enjoyed, was now threatened with a disastrous conclusion. The cardinals were at a loss what to do to stop the career of conquest that was rapidly diminishing the power and the resources of their liberal protector. Edward, Prince of Wales, was establishing an English kingdom in France, and though Burgundy was not a French province, there was nothing to prevent English chivalry from uniting it with Guienne, Aquitaine, and Normandy. Heaven also appeared to declare against them, for a luminous pillar shone above the pontifical palace, — a warning which the conduct of its occupant, according to some autho- rities,* had provoked. They had more than suffi- * Wolfgang Menzel declares that Clement lived among his mistresses like the Grand Turk in his harem. PAPAL COURT AT AVIGNON. 381 cient cause for alarm; for in addition to earth- quakes and other physical disturbances, a fearful pestilence swept over Europe, that spared neither priest nor layman. The Sacred College vfere frightened by the accounts they received of the ravages of the black plague among the religious orders ; but in their eyes the worst visitation was the existence of a sect of religious enthusiasts an- nouncing the end of the world, preaching penitence, and exhibiting the severe discipline of the Fla- gellants. They wore white hats marked with red crosses, and went in bodies singing penitential psalms : many were pilgrims from the Holy Land. Besides these, other sects began to multiply, known as Beghards and Lollards. As soon as the pesti- lence abated, the papal court exerted themselves zealously to put down these heresies, and the Lollards being regarded as the most formidable, from the purity of their lives, received the greatest amount of persecution. Notwithstanding the pleasures of existence at Avignon, some of the cardinals longed to return to Rome. Their vassalage to the king of France had become irksome, especially as he had now more Hmited means of recompense. Besides, they need have no fear of German hostility ; Charles IV. had been educated amongst them, and was completely under their guidance. The society at Avignon was very charming, the climate delightful, the scenery exquisite ; but then it was always Avignon. They had become satiated with its gratifications; they required a change ; they reproached themselves for having abandoned the last resting-place of the pri- 382 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. mitive saints and martyrs, and were continually refreshing eacli other's piety witli references to the incomparable relics and astounding miracles of tlie deserted city. Unquestionably it was the capital of tlie Christian world, and there his Holiness ought to return. Unfortunately for the realization of their desires, the Eternal City was just then in its chronic state of repubhcanism under Cola di Kienzi, and was far from a safe retreat for cardinals. Charles IV. having gone there to be crowned, sent Rienzi in chains to Avignon, where the patriot was talked into thorough subserviency to the policy of the Pontiff, Inno- cent YL, which he returned to Rome to carry out. Every one knows his fate. The court again were absorbed in the formation of alliances and the fostering of feuds. Guelphs and Ghibellines were set in hostile array against each other, and Petrarch in vain implored the Emperor to restore peace and happiness to Italy. Charles obediently presented himself at Avignon on his return, and by his repre- sentations so assured the reigning pontiff, Urban V., that he began to listen to the arguments of his counsellors in favour of a restoration of the Papacy to its proper residence, as well as to their com- plaints of the intolerable subjection of the conclave to the king of France. Among contemporary English ecclesiastics must be mentioned Robert Eaglesfield, a churchman of great talent and high principles in the reign of Edward III., to whose queen he was chaplain, and was much esteemed by both. His exertions for the advancement of rehgion and learning caused him EOBEET EAGLESHELD. 383 to be generally appreciated at court ; but lie does not appear to have held higher preferment than the rectory of Burgh, in Westmoreland. He was, how- ever, not content with exemplifying the nobler virtues of a Cathohc priest. At considerable ex- pense he founded Queen's College, Oxford, so named in honour of his royal patroness, who subsequently, as well as the king, contributed liberally to its sup- port. He died in June, 1349. 384 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. CHAPTER YI. SIMON LANGHAM, CAEDTNAL-LEGATE. MonacMsm in England— Prices of Provisions — Plunder from a Religious House — Simon Langham a Benedictine at St. Peter's, Westminster — becomes Prior and Abbot — Abbot Langbam's Generosity — Monastic Art — English Prelates at Avignon — Richard de Bury — his Work on the Advantages of Study — Bishop Bateman — Ecclesiastical Life at the Papal Court — Petrarch and Laura — the Abbot appointed Treasurer to Edward III. — becomes Bishop of Ely — a Jubilee in England — Statute of Provisors — National Opposition to Papal Ex- actions — Increasing Desire for a Reformation of the Church — Langham appointed Archbishop of Canterbury — a Princely Churchman — William of Wykeham — the Primate's "Con- stitutions" — he is elevated to the Dignity of Cardinal — Cola di Rienzi — Cardinal Langham at Avignon — Infirmities of Edward III. — the Cardinal appointed Legate to France and England — prepares to leave Avignon — his Death — the Pajjal Court returns to Rome. MONACHISM in the fourteentli century had spread in England almost as much as in other portions of Christendom. From the fourth century about seventy distinct orders of monks and nuns had been established, and houses of many of them were to be found in all parts of the king- dom. An inclination for a religious life led both sexes to swell their numbers : to these other induce- ments not so creditable made considerable additions. Adopting the cowl was an easy way of beginning a MONASTIC LIFE. 385 profession, tlie honours and emoluments of wliicli were greatly in excess of all others. Many a youth- ful scholar, too, was aware of the advantages that might be derived from such a life in the pursuit of knowledge, and accepted the solitary cell as a study, and the solemn cloisters as an aid to memory and reflection. Several were distinguished as university pro- fessors. Speaking of Oxford, " the three schoolmen of the most profound and original genius," says Brewer, " Eoger Bacon, Duns Scotus, and Occam, were trained within its walls. No other nations of Christendom can show a succession of names at all comparable to the English schoolmen in originality and subtilty, in the breadth and variety of their attainments." * In the universities the presence of vast numbers of monks continued to be a source of ill-feeling that frequently occasioned fearful disturbances. Having acquired great influence, some of the fraternities chose to exercise it in an arbitrary manner that made them obnoxious to the scholars, who at very slight provocation made jests of their assumption of humility and self-denial. They thought it hard to have to * Preface to " Monumenta Franoiscana," Ixxxi. " Italy pro- duced its Aquinas," continues the editor, " a great organiser, like the Roman himself; its Bonaventure, in whom St. Francis re- appears ia a shape more learned, if not more spiritual ; Germany its laborious Albertus Magnus ; Spain its Raymond Sully, the representative of Spanish adventure and Spanish genius. But no nation can show three schoolmen like the English, each unrivalled in his way, and each working with equal ability in opposite directions. The influence of the English school was consequently more profound, more brilliant the reputation of its teachers." I. 25 386 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. endure piivations tlirougli inability to pay the cost of their own maintenance, -whilst scores of idle friars were, as was reported, living on the fat of the land without study or labour. "We cannot better give an idea of the difference of prices in the first quarter of the fourteenth cen- tury, compared with those of the third quarter of the nineteenth, than by inserting the values of the principal articles of consumption in the former period. While the scholars were complaining of the dearness of living, it will be seen by what follows how fared some of the religious orders in their vicinity, who professed poverty and privation. Provisions being dear in the Oxford market, the students complained, when the king sent out his breve fixing the prices. "A good living ox that is stalled or corn-fed, to be sold at the price of 16s., and no higher ; if fatted with grass, then at 14s. A fat cow, 12s. ; a fat hog of two years old, 3s. 4d. ; a fat mutton corn-fed, or whose wool is not grown, Is. 8d. ; a fat mutton shorn, Is. 2d. ; a fat goose, 2d. ; a fat capon, 2d. ; a fat hen, Id. ; two chickens, Id. ; four pigeons. Id. ; twenty-four eggs. Id." It was sent not only to Oxford, but to all the large towns.* The monks of the abbey of Abingdon must have suffered severely by the plunder of their house by Oxford men ; they return their loss at a hundred Psalters, forty Missals, a hundi^ed Graduals, twelve Codes, ten Decretals, from the library ; ten chalices, twenty white vestments called surplices, sixty copes, forty casulse or sacred garments, a censer and candlestick of silver, sixty little cups or goblets of * Antliony Wood, "Hist, and Antiq. Oxford" (Gutch), i. 388. ST. PETER Sj WESTMINSTER. 387 gold, forty silver cups, a hundred silver pieces of plate, forty silver spoons, and two hundred dishes or platters, from their treasury ; and a hundred car- cases of beef, a thousand carcases of mutton, three hundred hogs, from their larder ; besides goods and chattels of the house, church, and abbey, valued at £1,000. One estimate makes the entire loss £10,000, another doubles it.* The Benedictine community appears to have been the most favoured by scholars ambitious of distinction, and probably their reputation for learn- ing and piety induced Simon Langham to join the fraternity of St. Peter's, "Westminster, about the year 1335. It is not known whether he had been educated at the ancient school attached to the monastery, where Ingulphus, abbot of Croyland, and subsequently other learned ecclesiastics, received the foundation of their scholarship. It is certain that he entertained through life a warm affection for the establishment. A recent authority considers that he was possessed of considerable wealth when he entered upon the monastic life.f It was a rule of these Benedictines that no member of their order could possess property of his own ; nevertheless, it is well known that he accumulated a large fortune while a monk. J The things he had in daily use belonged to the fraternity ; yet it was not unusual for him to have furniture, books, and other goods for his exclusive enjoyment. That he had funds at his own disposal is proved by the fact that he paid * Wood, "Hist, and Antiq. Oxford," i. 417. t Hook, " Archbishops of Canterbury," iv. 164. Dugdale, " Monasticon." 25 388 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. the legal expenses of a suit against tlie abbot, whicli thougli at first decided in his favour, the judgment was afterwards reversed at a new trial. Brother Simon won by his liberality the aflFections of the community, who, in the year 1346, sent him as their representative to the triennial general chapter of the order held at Korthampton. There he assisted in the ordinary business of these meet- ings, for regulating the various Benedictine houses in England and raising funds for their maintenance. Three years later, a pestilence, known as the Black Death, carried off twenty of the monks. Brother Simon had been elected prior ; and when the abbot died of the plague, he succeeded to the vacancy. This necessitated confirmation at the hands of the Pope, then at Avignon; and there the new abbot went, obtained the proper authority, returned to England, and in due form having secured the benediction of the bishop of London, was admitted into ofl&ce. In the vestry he put on mitre, dalmatica, ring, gloves, and sandals, then was received by the fraternity, at the head of which, pastoral staff in hand, he passed along the nave to the choir. At the top step he knelt in prayer, the monks behind him doing the same. He was admitted into the choir by his diocesan, where he occupied his proper stall. Here, the seniors of the brotherhood taking precedence, saluted their superior with the kiss of peace ; first on the ringed hand, then on the mouth. He un- robed on returning to the vestry, held a chapter and delivered a discourse, after which all proceeded to the installation feast, where each monk was re- ABBOT OF WESTMINSTER. 389 galed vfith three dishes of fish, a loaf, and a gallon of wine. It is to be hoped that the brethren, however much they may have rejoiced at the elevation of their friend, took this indulgence in moderation. It has been stated that, like other recluses, the "Black Monks" hked good living, and enjoyed weU-cooked meat as well as fish whenever placed before them. Nor were they indifi'erent to good wine ; but that each man consumed his gallon at a sitting has not been asserted. They adopted some- times, it must be confessed, queer names for their indulgences in living ; accepting them under the title of MisericorcUa without probably intending any reference to the penalties that often follow excess. Abbot Langham seems to have gratified them in this direction with unprecedented gene- rosity, while he would not permit any presents to be offered to himself. He was now one of the peers of the realm, and conducted himself like a prince. There was a debt left by his predecessor, that amounted to two thousand four hundred marks ; he paid it, as he had defrayed the law costs, out of his private fortune. He did a great deal more in the same munificent spirit. The state of the abbey buildings betrayed shameful neglect, and a thorough renova- tion had become necessary. It happened that the monk who had succeeded him as prior, Nicholas Lillington, possessed much architectural knowledge, and with his assistance the work was commenced. For centuries each abbey had contained a school of design, in which the art of the builder, as well 390 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. as tliat of the limner, was tauglit : these produced works of utility, as well as of decoration ; and fish- ponds, orchards, and gardens increased the enjoy- ments of the community, equally with illuminated MSS. and transcripts of esteemed works. The monastery of St. Peter at this period seems to have taken an important step in the advancement of art, and instituted a school of mural painting, while the improvements in the building were in progress. The monks became painters, as they had elsewhere become gardeners, architects, and engineers, and in the decorations of their churches displayed the pro- gress they were making in the new accomplishment.* It is difiicult to trace their labour ; but there can be little doubt that from this time scriptural and his- torical subjects began to appear on every ecclesiastical building of importance, and priests either directed or performed the work. The German monks have hitherto obtained the credit of being the pioneers of art. The palace of the emperor Arnulph at Eegensburg was decorated by a couple of Bavarian recluses towards the end of the ninth century ; near the termination of the tenth, the brothers Tutelo and Notker cultivated the same talent in the convent of St. Gall, in Switzer- land. About the middle of the eleventh, Ellinger, abbot of the monastery of Tegernsee, obtained con- siderable celebrity by his artistic labours ; and a century later flourished another ecclesiastical artist, Conrad, a monk of the convent of Scheyern. These are earlier examples than can be produced from the * See Sir Charles Eastlake, " Materials for a History of Oil- paiating." THE BENEDICTINES OP WESTMINSTER. 391 Benedictines of St. Peter's, nevertheless we doubt whether their influence was felt so far as that of the monks of Westminster ; for it is on record that the English style of painting was in repute in the Netherlands, and there is reason for believing that Yan Eyck learnt it in this country before he made it famous in his own. The eastern portion of the cloister is believed to have been completed at the expense and under the superintendence of Abbot Langham. It was com- menced by him in 1350, and as one of our earhest examples of the Perpendicular, deservedly excites unusual interest. Later he was responsible for other important improvements. In the domestic management of the brotherhood he maintained his popularity, though he insisted that the Benedictines should always dress in their habit. They were not permitted to wear any orna- ment or garment used by laymen, or possess furni- ture or any other article of luxury. Moreover, they were prohibited from making bargains in church, except in fair time,* — a regulation that suggests that the Black Monks did not respect the sacred character of their abbey when attempting a little business on their own account. As we have related, in the year 1309 Clement V. removed the pontifical court from Rome, and the ancient city of Avignon had since become the head- quarters of the Papacy. The cardinals had enjoyed even a more sunny life on the banks of the Rhone, than they had found on those of the Tiber ; indeed * Stevens, "Monastioon Hibernicum," 187 — a translation of Alemand's " Histoire Monastique d'Irelande," with additions. 392 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. a more luxurious style of living than was there within their reach, could not have been secured any- where in the fourteenth century. The place was full of churches and conventual buildings ; it pos- sessed a magnij¢ cathedral and a grand palace. The climate was delicious, the scenery beautiful.* Among the most distinguished English prelates who visited the Pope, was the ambassador, treasurer, and chancellor of Edward III., Richard Aungerville, "Richard de Bury," the munificent bishop of Durham. As a statesman, as a scholar, as a philanthropist, his eminence was unquestionable ; as a lover of books and patron of learned men, he had no equal. His correspondence was very extensive, including Petrarch and other distinguished foreigners. He collected the finest library in England, which afi'orded constant employment to scribes, illuminators, and binders. Moreover, he wrote a Latin treatise in twenty chapters respecting the advantages of study. The subjects run consecutively ; thus : In praise of wisdom, — showing the works in which it is to be found. Books are to be preferred to afiluence and pleasure. They ought always to be bought. An account of the benefits derived from them — they are misused only by the ignorant. The author says that good monks write good books, while bad ones are less worthily employed — he praises the ancient friars, re- proves the modern ones — laments the loss of Hbraries by wars and fire— dwells on the opportunities he had * In the year 1348 Clement VI. bought this fair city and the lands around it of Joan, countess of Provence and queen of Sicily ; and it remained a portion of the Papal States till 1791, when it was absorbed into Republican France. PHILOBIBLOS. 393 for forming a collection during his various employ- ments — shows the superiority of the ancients in learning — considers that the age had now arrived at perfection, and boasts of having procured a Hebrew and Greek grammar. He speaks slightly of law and law books, but dilates on the utihty of grammar — makes an apology for poetry, and indicates its use — shows who ought to love books — enumerates the advantages of learning — instructs his readers how to write new books, and mend old — dwells on the proper use of books, and describes in what way they should be replaced if lost or worn out — defends himself from calumniators, and enumerates the con- ditions upon which books should be lent to strangers. Such is the " Philobiblos," which has been several times printed, though written in a style scarcely worthy of such a subject. The author was remark- able also for his charities, distributing large bounties to the poor. This princely prelate died April 24, 1345, and was entombed in his cathedral, which he had greatly improved.* It was at Avignon, in the year 1354, that "William Bateman, bishop of Norwich, died, when on a mission to the Pope, associated with the duke of Lancaster. He was buried in the cathedral with extraordinary magnificence, all the cardinals and prelates assisting in the solemnity, and the patriarch of Jerusalem performing the funeral service, t As a churchman his * Godwin, "De Prsesulibus." Bale, "De Script." Pits, "De lUust. Angl. Scriptor." Leland, " Itin." Camden, " Britann." Wharton's " Anglia Sacra" (William de Ohambre), i. 765 ; Warton, "Hist, of Poetry," i. 120. t Peck, "Desiderata Curiosa." 394 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. character may be sufficiently understood from tlie fact that Robert, Lord Morley, for killing deer in his park, was made to do public penance, by walking barefoooted and bareheaded through the town of Norwich, carrying a lighted taper.* This humilia- tion the bishop insisted on notwithstanding its prohibition by the king. Such an ecclesiastic was thought at Avignon worthy of the highest honours after death. Bishop Bateman is more to be remem- bered as the founder of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, though with but a slender provision. While enjoying his first preferment in the society of his studious and industrious Benedictines, Abbot Langham's thoughts occasionally were directed to- wards the Catholic fountain of honour, — the papal court. Doubtless intelligence came to him of the pleasant life enjoyed by the brilliant circle of pre- lates who formed the council of Clement VI., and of the fascinations of the earthty Paradise they had created in their new quarters in sunny Avignon. The abbot could scarcely have failed to gain some knowledge of the remarkable picture of high church life exhibited there, in which his metropolitan had, nolens volens, sat for his portrait. To afford even a faint approach to an idea of this memorable illustration, we must transport the reader to a suite of magnificent apartments in the palace of the most luxurious of pontiffs, where all that was deemed pre-eminent in medigeval splendour, in the way of furniture and decorations, had been collected, either for display or use. The apartments were crowded with a brilliant * "Aiiglia Sacra," 415. FASFIONARLE APPAEBL. 396 company, the rank and fashion of the ancient city ; ladies and cavaliers in their costly yet quaint costume. The colours of the fabrics, the richness of the materials, the profusion of the jewellery, could only be done justice to by a romance poet of the time ; such for instance as the author of " Sir Degrevant," who describes an earl's daughter as the Avignon beauties were dressed on this oc- casion. " She came in velvet, With white pearl over fret, And sapphires therein set On every side. All of pall-work fine, With miche and nevyn, Overlaid with ermine, And overt for pride. " Her hair was highted on hold With a coronal of gold. Was never made upon mould A worthier wight." The remaining description is equally suggestive of the elaborate extravagance of the toilette of the belles of the fourteenth century ; that of the beaux was quite as studiously fine. We learn from a contemporary poem — " Ipomedon and Tholomew Eobes had on and mantles new ; Of the richest that might be, There was none such ia that countrie : For many was the rich stoue That the mantles was upon." The Ipomedons and Bartholomews of the papal court would have taxed the descriptive powers 396 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. of a greater poet to do justice to tteir apparel; nevertheless a very large majority were priests, — priests of the highest rank, however, such as cardinals, abbots, and priors, for the most part French, who cultivated a taste for refinement in living. They were in groups, some reclining on couches and chairs ; some standing about ; the two sexes profoundly engaged in enjoying the worldly felicity of the moment, while the open windows letting in the golden sunshine of a summer's day in Provence, permitted the eye to rest on a vista of terrace- walks, mulberry-trees, flowering roses, with a glorious landscape in the background, that came refreshicLgly in contrast with the glare of colour within. It was the 11th of July, in the year 1349. Here there was much artistic talk, for a gay young canon, fresh from Italy, was enlightening a circle of Parisian and Lyonnese prebendaries, with an account of the progress of painting in the cities he had visited ; and the names of Taddeo Graddi, Duccio da Siena, and Simone Memmi, were dwelt upon with patriotic enthusiasm. In quiet corners were the loveliest of the fair townswomen of the in- comparable Laura, listening to the passionate canzoni of her lover, which seemingly lost nothing of their fervour when breathed from the lips of a Prince of the Church; or a group of literary enthusiasts of both sexes were comparing notes on the " Divina Commedia" of the sublime Dante, or with southern vivacity canvassing the merits of Giovanni Boc- caccio's romance "II Filocopo." In one place a portly Provencal bishop was reciting one of Marie's THOMAS BEADWAEDINE. 397 lays to a circle of fair girls, — a tale of love and enchantment that, judging by their eloquent faces, produced the deepest impression on his audience. But the centre of attraction and interest was a handsome dignified man, seated in a chair of state, in magnificent robes. This was Clement VI., and he was engaged in animated conversation with an English prelate, the learned Thomas Bradwardine,* in whose honour his Holiness had thrown open the state apartments of the pontifical palace, the Pontifi" having just consecrated him archbishop of Canter- bury. Grouped around were the most distinguished members of the Sacred College, who, however, appeared to regard the " Doctor Profundus," as he had been styled, with more curiosity than respect. A little in the background, one of the Pope's kinsmen, Hugo, cardinal of Tudela, moved about, whispering and laughing to his colleagues, as if they shared some important secret. Suddenly the doors were thrown open, and there was a movement of intense surprise among the entire company. There entered a rustic on a donkey, who at once rode up to the Pontiff to * Of the learned churclimen in the reign of Edward III., Eoger Bacon was styled " Dr. MirabUis ; " Richard Middleton, " Dr. Fundatissimus ; " John Duns Scotus, " Dr. Subtilis ; " Walter Burley, "Dr. Approbatus;" John Baconthorpe, "Dr. Eesolutus;" Thomas Bradwardine, " Dr. Profundus ; " and William Occam, " Dr. Singularis." Nearly all had studied at Oxford. Of one of these Chaucer wrote — " But I ne cannot boult it to the bren As can the holy Doctor S. Austin, Doctor Boece, or the Bishop Bradwardine." 398 LIVES 01' THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. present a petition. Its prayer was tliat the donkey might be made a bishop. There was, of course, immense jocularity through- out the assembly, for every one present must have been aware that the Holy Father, on being urged by the king of England to sanction the elevation of Bradwardine, had rephed that if his good friend desired him to make a bishop of a jackass he could not refuse. Clement also remembered it ; he re- membered too, perhaps, that by so indecorous a performance, his guest, the learned author of " De Causa Dei," was being insulted; moreover, that it might be regarded as an outrage on good sense, as well as on good feeling. 'The pei'formers were therefore summarily dismissed, and Cardinal Hugo reprimanded for having employed them. Order having been restored, the company re- turned to their recreations, and the French car- dinals assisted the Holy Father, by their courteous attentions to his guests, to remove any unpleasant impression that might have been left on his mind by the ill-timed, ill-placed jolce of the cardinal of Tudela. The archbishop, if he thought the matter worthy a remark, might have asked if the applicant for a bishopric was Brunellus, the asinine hero of the Speculum Stultorum, come to give as good an ac- count of the cardinals as he had written of the monastic orders ; or the hero of the " Metamor- phosis " of Apuleius, an earlier satire of a some- what similar nature. He prudently took no notice of the intended affront to the Anghcan Church ; but among his suffragans the story circulated on PETEAECH AND LAUEA. 399 his return, and was considered characteristic of the feeUng with which the French cardinals regarded the English prelates. About the time that Langham reached the capital of sunny Provence the population were full of the renown of a country man who had given a thoroughly Provencal fame to their picturesque city. Church- men and laymen were busy with his name ; and in the charming mulberry gardens the youth of both sexes murmured the passionate stanzas he had com- posed in honour of their townswoman. In 1348 the dreaded plague found in her one of the most illustrious of its victims ; but her beauty had been rendered immortal, and even the Avignon monks in their hours of recreation could derive a delicious gratification from repeating the melodious verse with which it had been embalmed. Laura de Sade, though a wife and a mother, during the period in which she had inspired the most eloquent of amorous poetry, was a blameless woman, and a true Christian — a worthy Provenpal heroine — and the cloister was quite as open to the sweet influence of her name as the blossoming orchards or the flowery meadows of the Rhone, the favourite pro- menade of the lovers of the city and neighbourhood. Petrarch was stiU in the flesh, but his health was impaired, and in a village in the Buganean hills he was seeking the restorative benefit of pure air and quiet. No one knew better the nature of popes and cardinals, for no one had associated more freely with both ; no one had written more unreservedly of the pajoal court. The English abbot could not have failed to hear of his intimacy with the families 400 LIVES Oi' THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. of Colonna, Oorregio,Visconti, Carrara, and Gonzaga; and his Latin and Italian works must liave been of easy access. Those which most powerfully recom- mended themselves to the notice of Abbot Langham were his Epistles to the Popes at Avignon, urging their return to Rome, and the Eclogues — concealed satires on members of the papal court. His " Rebus Senilibus" were only just completed, and were doubtless in request with Gregory and his principal counsellors. Possibly the English abbot had higher sources of interest than the lover of Laura. Nearly a quarter of a century later, when residing in the same pleasant city, he could not have escaped sharing in the regret universally experienced in that neigh- bourhood at the announcement of Petrarch's death. Ten years were passed by the abbot in honourable service to the Church ; but his ability and high character were not to be monopolized by the Bene- dictines. King Edward III. was just the monarch to appreciate such a subject, and on the 21st of November, 1360, raised him to the dignity of treasurer of the kingdom, which apparently was like the modern ofl&ce of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The direction of the finances of the State just at that time was a post of as much difficulty as respon- sibility. The French wars of the king and his son, the heroic Black Prince, had entailed heavy debts, and much money had been borrowed from foreign capitalists. The new treasurer looked his difficulties in the face, and soon set earnestly about their amelioration. He satisfied his aged sovereign of his skill as well as of his integrity; for in the following year, the see of Ely becoming vacant, and EOVAL VISITORS. 401 a few montlis later ttat of London being also with- out a bishop, both were offered to the abbot of West- minster ; but as the chapter of the former were his Benedictine brethren, he accepted Ely in preference, and on the 30th of March, 1362, received consecra- tion from the bishop of Winchester at St. Paul's. His administrative qualifications recommended him more and more to the discernment of Edward III., and in February, 1363, he was appointed chancellor, equivalent to the modern post of premier. In the government of King Edward, churchmen mono- pohzed the offices of most importance ; parsons, archdeacons, and bishops filling what we have long regarded as secular appointments. It is to be presumed that laymen were rarely sufiiciently qua- lified for the efficient performance of such duties, or the sagacious monarch would have appointed some of his chivalrous comrades. This was the year of the jubilee, when Edward had reached the fiftieth year of his reign, and three kings were then in England to do honour to the occasion, — the captive king of France, the liberated king of Scotland, and the mendicant king of Cyprus. The latter wanted a new crusade against the infidel ; the Scottish king sued for a diminution of his ransom, but John of France quietly submitted himself to his destiny, and asked for nothing but the gratification of enjoying the courtesy of the father of his captor. There were great rejoicings in London, and hospitality distinguished both court and people. The bishop- chancellor exhibited his share, and was recognized dm-ing the festivities as the most popular of the king's ministers. I. 26 402 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. He had to open Parliament on tlie 13tli of October, for the treasury was low, and dissatisfaction general. He addressed the two houses, promising redress of wrongs and reformation of abuses. It is evident that he desired to make the king's government popular ; and his exertions were rewarded with a fair measure of success. The faithful Commons desired that the prelates and clergy should be made to oflFer up prayers for their excellent monarch. The legislative proceedings were carried on in the same spirit. Before the meeting of the next Parliament the influence of France on the Pope necessitated the giving Urban V. a hint that England was not to be neglected ; the Statute of Provisors was therefore to be enforced against papal pretensions and encroach- ments. In any opposition to the Pope a prelate was forced to act with caution; therefore in the proceedings that were had recourse to, the bishop of Ely kept as much as possible in the background. He preached at the opening of Parhament a satis- factory sermon, and then appealed to both houses to support the king in measures that had been rendered imperative for the protection of the realm. He ended with promising attention to all petitions. The Lords then retired to their chamber, where they were addressed by the king. Edward, with charac- teristic boldness, spoke out against the insulting exactions of the Pope that were impoverishing the country, preventing not only the course of proper hospitality but the due performance of divine wor- ^^T^.^""^ ^^t^^ *^^^ ^"^ effectual stop should be put to such abuses. STATUTE OF PEOVISOBS. 403 The Commons were then summoned, and the chancellor made them acquainted with the royal speech. The effect was general, the victors of Crecy and Agincourt were not the men to suffer themselves to be plundered and treated with injus- tice ; so Lords and Commons hastened to pass an act for enforcing the Statute of Provisors and Pr^munire. The Holy Father at Avignon would no doubt have been edified, could he have heard some of the speeches delivered on this occasion. The bill was passed unanimously, as well as another act for the protection of the lords spiritual, who had voted with the lords temporal. Urban V. appears to have taken this measure as a slap in the face. He was surrounded by French- men, who smarted under the humiliations that had been inflicted iipon them in the field. At their sug- gestion he wrote to the king of England insultingly, reminding him of the degradation of his ancestor, and claiming thirty years' arrears of the tribute he had agreed to pay for his crown. King Edward, however, soon proved that he was not King John, and found clergy and laity ready with their support. It was presently seen that the spirit of the nation had been roused as much by the reminder as by the preposterous demand. The houses were again sum- moned, and met on the 30th of March, 1366. The chancellor found them of one mind when he made them acquainted with the business in hand. The Lords retired to their own chamber, and very quickly decided on repudiating the tribute. The Commons did the same with equal promptness. Then an enactment was passed without a dissentient voice, 26 * 404 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. that if the Pope ventured to maintain any such claim in England, he should be resisted by the whole power of the kingdom.* As a further challenge to the court at Avignon, the king prohibited the collection of Peter's Pence. There was also an enactment passed restraining to some extent the mendicant orders, at the petition of the two universities. The supremacy that had been assumed at Rome, or wherever the papal court happened to be, was never legally acknowledged in England. There are several statutes distinctly opposed to it, and it only obtained currency when the king and his prelates had become sufficiently denationalized to submit to papal en- croachments. The patriotic Bishop Langham mate- rially assisted in causing the stand that was made against them in this vigorous reign, and in inducing a parhament of spiritual and lay peers to bind them- selves to resistance.! In one of the works of Sir Thomas More, as good * The papal encroachments had roused both the clergy and laity of England. In the reign of Edward I. the legislature passed a statute, the source of all succeeding enactments against " pro- visors" in the court of Rome. This was followed up, in the 25th, 27th, and 38th years of Edward III., by more stringent regula- tions against the same abuse; and when Urban V. injudiciously fancied he could restore the subjection secured in the reign of John, the law passed in the 40th year of the same sovereign must have convinced him that the spirit of both king and people had altered very much since then. It was, however, the more famous prcemu7iire statute (16 Richard II. c. 5), threatening outlawry, forfeiture of lands, goods, and liberty, to whoever should procure at Rome, or elsewhere, translations, processes, excommunications, bulls, instruments, or other things affecting the king or his crown, that put a stop to provisors. — Blaokstone, " Commentaries," i. 140. t "Parliamentary History of England," i. 130. EVILS OP THE PAPACY. 405 a Catliolic as ever professed allegiance to tlie Pope, he stoutly denies any real acknowledgment of ttie country being tributary to the papal see.* The time seemed favourable for a great religious revolution in England. The Papacy was never in so feeble a state, and was almost entirely dependent on the king of France, whilst its flagrant corrup- tion and tyranny were notorious all over Europe. Honest-hearted Catholics lamented or denounced these glaring evils, and bolder spirits again sought to establish a purer faith, undeterred by the ruin and destruction that had fallen on their predecessors in the same good work. In the first quarter of the fourteenth century, a monk of Cologne gained numerous followers by preaching doctrines mate- rially difiFering from those taught at Rome. He was burnt at the stake, and his name became a term of reproach not only for those who had adopted his sentiments, but for all who dared to deviate from the orthodox teaching. The " Lollards" were therefore shortly afterwards heard of out of Germany. About this time a priest put himself prominently forward in exposing the practices of the mendicant friars, of which Parliament, as we have shown, were forced to take cognizance. They had become a social nuisance, and Cambridge and Oxford united in an effort to pu.t them down.f The conduct of the Pope went far to ahenate the * "Supplication of Souls," Works of Sir Thomas More, 296. Strype, " Ecclesiastical Memorials," iv. t The Wickliffe movement will be fully described in another chapter. 406 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. entire kingdom, and his opponents in England did not confine their eloquence to the friars ; the mis- government at Rome, and the no less discreditable state of things at Avignon, were attacked with a like freedom. This appears to have attracted the attention of some one, probably a mendicant friar, who circulated a defence of the papal claim, and advocated the prodigious pretensions the Popes had been endeavouring to establish throughout the Catholic world. The cause was so unpopular, that the champion thought it prudent to conceal his name. He boldly stated that England had become forfeited to the Holy See, in consequence of failure in paying the tribute, and challenged the principal reformer by name to disprove this if he could. The bishop of Ely had been among the first to recognize the ability the advocate of the universities had displayed. As a Dominican he regarded the men- dicant orders as interlopers, and showed his feeling in the quarrel by exercising his influence as chan- cellor to secure for the bold priest the post of chaplain to the king. There cannot therefore be a doubt that he approved of the opinions the reformer was incul- cating. It is not improbable that he was consulted respecting the answer the latter prepared for the Pope's anonjrmous champion.* This was moderate in tone but convincing in argument, and bears trace of having been over-looked by a prudent combined with an eminently sagacious judgment. It settled the question, at least to the satisfaction of the anti- papal party in England. The anonymous ultra- * See his " Determinatio qufedam Magistri Jobannis Wjclyff de Dominicis contra unum Monachum." A PRINCELY OHUBCHMAN. 407 montane did not venture to renew the contest. The popularity of his opponent increased with the com- monalty, and John of Gaunt was among the most cordial of his numerous friends at court. The chancellor continued to rise in favour with the king, who, in November, 1366, on the death of Archbishop Islip, nominated him to the vacancy. The Pope did not attempt any opposition ; the king required that the archbishop-elect should renounce the papal pretensions that had been set aside by Parliament. This having publicly been done, he was, on the 25th of March following, enthroned at Canterbury with extraordinary splendour, more than four months after he had received the pall from the bishop of Bath. The new primate's ample resources were shown on this occasion, and the display made was considered far in advance of what had been attempted by the last two of his predecessors. The installation banquets of the chief prelates of England were still marvellous for their prodigality : the hos- pitable board must HteraUy have groaned under the weight with which they were loaded. As archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Langham increased the popularity he had acquired as abbot of Westminster and bishop of Ely. He was the most princely churchman of his time, and evidently de- lighted in acts of munificence. He took special care, too, to associate with him in the government, as well as in the prelacy, churchmen of a Hke spirit. This was never shown more signally than when, on the 10th of October, 1367, he consecrated WiQiam of Wykeham as bishop of Winchester, giving a banquet at his hall in the Lambeth manor-house in 408 LIVES OE THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. honour of his friend, who, in the same year, suc- ceeded him as chancellor. These distinguished men had similar tastes ; and prominent among them was a love of architecture and the arts of design. In the improvements still proceeding at "Westminster they were frequently associated, and the primate must have felt great interest in the various impor- tant works the bishop superintended at Winchester and elsewhere. Archbishop Langham, notwithstanding his libe- rality, appears to have excited a considerable amount of ill-vdll in some of his clergy. It is probable that his predilection for the Dominicans gave offence. There was still much hostility between the wealthy old monastic orders and their begging brethren of recent origin ; there was quite as much between the monks and the regular clergy ; and it was a common prac- tice of both to write scurrilous verses and circulate malicious stories at the expense of their opponents. In this way the archbishop was libelled in Latin hexameters ;* but except in the circle for which they were written, their falsehood must have checked their circulation. Where Chaucer, Gower, and Minot flourished, a better production could have served the purpose, had there been a sufficient cause of attack. An ominous accident is said to have occurred to the primate soon after entering upon his new duties, — the horse of his cross-bearer stumbled as he and his retinue were proceeding to visit one of the archiepiscopal manor-houses, when the cross was * " Lfetantur coeli, quia Simon transit ab Ely. Cujus in adventum flent, in Kent, millia centum." SCOTALES. 409 tbrown to the ground and broken. As it was sliortly made almost as perfect as ever, and the bearer escaped with still less damage, the circum- stance need not have been considered of much mo- ment; but in after-years, in a community where signs and omens were seen in the most trifling incidents, it was doubtless often referred to as a special warning. It did not make any impression on the archbishop, who commenced a visitation of his see, arranged the payment of tithes, diminished pluralities, and settled disputes wherever he went. The pluralities must have given him most trouble, for many of his clergy evidently had insatiable appetites for preferment, holding twenty or more benefices at one time. WiLkins has printed a series of articles, said to have been drawn up by the primate for the benefit of both clergy and laity.* They expresed certain rather speculative religious opinions, and included a few social regulations, one of which denounced topers' challenges. Priests not unfre- quently entered into such contests, and, either in consequence of a stronger head or a stronger stomach, succeeded in drinking their opponents under the table. Many a Latin verse has been written by them in a bibulous spirit, and tales had long been current among the profane that testified to their prowess at these prohibited Scotales. The jolly friar had been a familiar character before the age of Friar Tuck ; and fabliaux, legends, and poems have preserved the traces of many a clerical worthy with similar attributes. * "Concilia." 410 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. Witli regard to tliese " Constitutions," there seems to be a doubt of their having proceeded from Simon Langham. In three of the articles it is affirmed that the Virgin Mary and the saints are still subject to the penalty of sin ; that punishment in hell is not eternal ; that God could not create a faultless person ; and that sinners, as well as devils, may repent and enjoy a state of future felicity. Such ideas are not to be found in the vrorks of WickliflFe ; that they were not adopted by his friend is clear from a letter addressed by the archbishop to the university of Oxford, desiring that such propo- sitions should not be defended in the schools. The mendicant friars, to whom both were strongly op- posed, were said to have adopted them. Another priestly oflTender was John BaU, who seems to have established a reputation as a dema- gogue, and made use of the pulpit for political rather than religious purposes. The begging friars were also admonished for their meddlesomeness, and were told that they would not be permitted to preach vsdthout a proper license. About the same time the primate composed a hymn to St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, which has been much admired. The business of the archiepiscopate, however, could not have allowed him much leisure for poetry. This attempt was probably made at Avignon; while he sought to please the king by insisting that all his suffragans and priests should arm their retainers, that they might be ready for the defence of the country. That he felt a profound interest in the new opinions that were either professed or discussed in almost all COLA DI EIENZI. 411 religious or educational communities in England, there can be very little doubt. Of his orthodoxy, however, there could be quite as little question : like other enlightened churchmen. Archbishop Langham desired to see an end put to flagrant abuses in the Church. The cardinals, whatever may have been the extent of their prosperity, seemed to enjoy it only by snatches. They were clad in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day ; nevertheless, they seemed to live on the brink of a volcano. The republicanism of the Roman people was constantly rising in opposition to the priestly oligarchy ; and, however effectually it was suppressed, was certain to make itself unpleasantly felt and seen on the first favourable opportunity. For nearlyseventy years the capital of Christianity had continued to exist without a resident pontiff; but its last dream of a revival of republican greatness had come to an end— a miser- able end — when we recall the magnificent vision created by the first patriotic efforts of Cola di Rienzi. It is impossible not to join in the indignation of Petrarch when he refers to the terrible disappoint- ment created by Rienzi' s inability to play out the responsible part he had attempted. The archbishop had contrived to maintain friendly relations with the court of Urban V., doubtless by means the efl&cacy of which was well known. Possibly the Pontiff was not acquainted with his share in the legislative proceedings that had so promptly disposed of the claims of the papal see. Perhaps he thought advantage might be gained by detaching from the king's service a statesman of 412 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. sucli ability. Whatever were his motives, it is certain that on the 27th of September, 1368, Simon Langham was appointed by his Hohness a cardinal priest of St. Sixtus.* The primate hastened to the king with the intelligence, but met a recep- tion very different from the one he had anticipated. Edward III. bore in remembrance his quarrel with the Pope, and his chivalrous mind could not ap- preciate this apparent going over to his enemy, of his chief adviser. He was enraged too that any one should have taken the liberty to withdraw from his service one of his subjects without first asking his consent, and showed his displeasure by appropriating the revenue of the now vacant see. The king did not stand alone in this disappro- bation ; the new-made cardinal not only lost his archbishopric, but his popularity. Every one left him, and his resources presently disappeared with his friends. The anti-papal feeling must have been strong indeed to have produced the isolation in which Simon Langham was forced to exist till he could obtain permission to leave the country. He did not depart till the end of February, 1369. If the cardinal had calculated on gaining sub- stantial support from Urban V., he must have been disappointed ; for only a few days after his arrival at Avignon, the Pontiff died. His successor was a much younger man, a nephew of Clement VI., and assumed the pontifical name of Gregory XI. He appears to have been early impressed with a sense of the English cardinal's ability, and honoured him * Cardella. Ciaconius. DANCE OF DEATH. 413 witli special marks of confidence and considera- tion.* Cardinal Langham, liowever, had powerful attrac- tions in Ms native land, that threw all the charms of Avignon into the shade. His friend William of "Wykeham had been founding two colleges — one at "Winchester, the other at Oxford, — and was acquiring deserved renown by the noble edifices he had con- structed. Still more interesting to him were the important improvements going on at Westminster, in the place where he had passed the most pleasant season of his life. .The monks were raising a sub- scription for a thorough renovation of the building, * The Cardinal was not popular in England. In the " Daunce of Machabree," by Lydgate, the first person coupled with Death is the Pope, the second the Emperor, the third the Cardinal. To this couple the monk of St. Edmundsbury has given the following dialogue : — "Death speaheth to the Cardinal. Ye have been abashed it seemeth and in drede, Syr Cardinal it sheweth by your chore ; But yet foreby ye follow shall in deed. With other folke my daunce for to lere. Your great aray all shall leaven here. Your hat of red, your vesture of great cost, All these thinges reckoned well in fear. In great honour good advice is lost. The Ga/rdinal maheth answer. I have great cause, certes, this is no faile. To be abashed and greatly dread me. Still, Death is come me sodaiuly to assaile, What I hall never hereafter clothed be, In grise nor ermine like unto my degree ; Mine hat of red lever eke in distresse. By which I have learned well and see How that all joy endeth in heavinesse." 414 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. to wliicli lie at once contributed six hundred marks ; moreover, he expressed a wish to establish chantries, as well as to rebuild the western end of the abbey at his own cost. With such claims on his consideration, the sen- timental attractions of the land of Petrarch could not hold him long. He appears to have entertained no particular regard for the Pope, nor for the per- sons most in his confidence. If he ever had any influence with either, it had now totally disappeared. Strong, however, as his desire was to get back to his own friends and his own land, as soon as he could obtain permission from Edward III. and Pope Gregory (for which he had apphed), it in- creased a thousand fold when he learned that the papal court were anxious for a removal to Eome. If his distance from England had been felt before, the idea of greatly increasing it became insupportable. He more urgently than ever prayed for permission to return. Edward III. was not only succumbing to the in- firmities of age, but was almost overwhelmed with difficulties, partly of a pecuniary, partly of a political nature. The aged king of England, as soon as his trusty counsellor was beyond his reach, began to realize his loss. He wrote to him in the kindest terms, styling him " our dear and faithful friend the cardinal of Canterbury;" moreover, he permitted him to hold pluralities, such as the deanery of Lincoln, the treasurership and archdeaconry of Wells, and a prebend in York. This indulgence, however, was not approved of by the House of Commons. CARDINAL LANGHAM. 415 They evidently were not so easily reconciled to tlie unpatriotic service Langtam had now adopted. The cardinal in 1372 was sent on a mission to the court of France, associated with Cardinal de Beauvais. Thence they proceeded to England with particular powers provided for them by a bull of Gregory XI. Ostensibly they came on a mission of peace ; but much ecclesiastical business was to be accomphshed under cover of the political. They found such a spirit awakened throughout the land that they prudently forbore carrying out the pro- visions of the bull they had brought with them. When the cardinal entered the presence of his sovereign, he uncovered, while his coadjutor kept *on his hood. The mark of respect was not lost upon the king, but it excited the censure of the Pope. The mission was not a quite fruitless one, as the cardinals were able to efiect a reconciha- tion between the king of England and the court of Elanders. Cardinal Langham was not cordially received anywhere in England, except by the good Benedic- tines at St. Peter's, Westminster, to whom he pro- mised assistance in carrying on the improvements in the abbey ; and by another brotherhood in Canter- bury, to every member of which he presented a gold piece. He probably began to doubt the wisdom of abandoning his position in his own country. On his return to Avignon, he was called to task for forgetting his own dignity as a Prince of the Church when in the presence of the king of England. He contrived to excuse himself; but the ultra-montane spirit was as powerful at Avignon as 416 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. it had been at Rome, and fhe Englisli cardinal was regarded by the other members of the Sacred College as having disgraced his order. The Pope was evidently less hostile ; for he elevated Langham to the dignity of cardinal-bishop of Prsenesto, with the privilege of holding as many benefices as he could obtain.* This favour, however, did not reconcile him to expatriation. The pontifical com't appears to have become estranged from him. The French influence that reigned there supreme could never have met with his approval, and all the charms of the locality faded before the ever-recurring home prospect. He maintained a constant correspondence with his friends at Westminster and at Canter- bury, and, there is no doubt, experienced a great deal more interest in the least important of their proceedings than he could feel in the jealousies, intrigues, and rivalries of his brother cardinals. A great council was held at Westminster, 1374, to consider a claim put forward by the Pope, Gregory XL, to a subsidy, as lord spiritual and paramount. The Black Prince was present, the archbishop ot Canterbury (William Whittlesey), and the lords spi- ritual and temporal, as well as several friars. At first the former declared that the Pontiff was " dominus omnium;" and the day was passed in a discussion respecting the power of the two swords.. The second day the primate acknowledged his inabihty to express an opinion. " Answer, you ass ! " cried the prince angrily ; " it is your duty to inform us all "— (" Cui dixit Princeps, ' Asine, responde ; tu deberes nos omnes informare.' ") Thus pressed, he acknow- * Fuller, "Churoh History" (Brewer), book ii. 307. JOHN Of GAUNT. 417 ledged that he did not desire the Pope to be lord there. Other ecclesiastics expressed similar opinions. The laity had previously made up their minds on the subject.* The object of his ambition was the tiara ; but he presently discovered that as he was not a French- man, he had scarcely the most remote chance of success. He seemed then to have but one wish — to return to England. The duke of Lancaster had taken the direction of public affairs, and his management created great dis- content. In the year 1376 Parliament had refused to grant a subsidy, unless certain of the barons and of the prelates, in whom they had confidence, assisted in their deliberations. This was conceded ; but then came the prosecution of some of the creatures of John of Gaunt, who had amassed fortunes dis- honestly. At last attention was paid to the prayer of the king's former counsellor, and he received a gracious permission to return. With the king's letter, he sought the Pope, and, greatly to his grati- fication, found that no obstacle would be placed in the way of his departure. He was impatient to be gone ; the fair objects in the Avignon prospect, — the bright Rhone, and the smihng valley through which it flowed, the brilliant group of palaces, churches, orchards, and gardens, which he had at first gazed on with intense admiration, grew thoroughly distasteful to him ; he was eager to be back amongst the Dominicans, with whom he had entered upon his ecclesiastical career, and wrote - to the abbot to prepare a lodging. His heart * " Eulogium Historiarum sui Temporis," Haydon, iii. 336. I, 27 418 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. seemed enerossecT with the idea of making the dear old place a model of architectural beauty ; and with that object he consulted the most skilful artificers to be found in the city, several of whom he pressed into the service. While absorbed in these pursuits, and anticipating the happiness in store for him, the cardinal was suddenly struck with paralysis, and died two days later, on the 22nd of July, 1376. With his accustomed liberality he had largely con- tributed to the erection of a church at Avignon for the Carthusians, and there he was buried; but all his remaining property he left for carrying out his improvements in Westminster Abbey, where, three years later, a fitting tomb having been erected in St. Beuet's Chapel, he was reinterred with impres- sive solemnity. Towards the close of the reign of Edward III. the English clergy addressed to Parliament a joint remonstrance on the intolerable exactions of the See of Eome. In stating their grievances, they do not appear to have minced matters ; indeed no assem- blage of laymen could have mentioned such things with less reserve. They said, "God hath given his sheep to the Pope to be pastured, and not shorn or shaven ; that lay patrons perceiving this simony and covetousness of the Pope, do thereby learn to sell their benefices to beasts, no otherwise than as Christ was sold to the Jews. That there is none so rich a prince in Christendom who hath the fourth part of so much treasure as the Pope hath out of this reahn, for churches, most sinfully." Further on it is stated "that cardinals and other ahens remaining at the court of Rome, whereof one JUBILEES AT EOME. 419 cardinal is a dean of York, another of Salisbury, another of Lincoln, another archdeacon of Canter- bury, another archdeacon of Durham, another arch- deacon of Suffolk, another archdeacon of York, another prebendary of Thame and Kassington, another prebendary of York, in the diocese of York, have divers others, the best dignities in England, and have sent over yearly unto them twenty thou- sand marks over and above that which English brokers lying here have." After an enumeration of the various ways in which the English Church is plundered, the petitioners assert that the Pope this year had created twelve new cardinals, making thirty in all, though twelve was the original number; and all the thirty, they complained, except two or three, were the king's enemies. At the end the petitioners prayed that no Englishman should be employed by the Pope as collector, or reside at Rome in any capacity.* The jubilee of the year 1300 had proved so profitable to the court of Rome, that they could not think of waiting the interval fixed for its re- currence. Another was declared to take place in half that time, and the year 1350' was rendered memorable by the crowd of pilgrims who visited the Holy City for the purpose of securing the advantages. The Pope had been permitted to send four cardiaals to reform the government of the city, and appoint his own senators. The Pontiff and the remainder of the cardinals continued at Avignon. Innocent YI. sent into Italy Cardinal Egidio, an able administrator, negotiator, and * Cotton's " Exact Abridgment of the Records." 27 * 420 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. general, wlio restored tte influence of the Pope to so great an extent that shortly afterwards Urban V. visited Rome vdth the Emperor. The stay of both was short. Cardinal Egidio died, and the Itahan states soon broke out again into open warfare. It was a grand day for the Italian cardinals when Urban V., in 1367, turned his back upon the plea- sures of Avignon, and commenced his journey to Rome. The French cardinals, however, did not accompany his Holiness : they were, or thought them- selves, good Catholics at heart, but were French to the backbone. They had been taught that the Papacy was a French fief, and the Pope a French vassal, and they displayed their patriotism a few years later by electing an anti-Pope, under whom they proposed continuing with increased enjoyment their prized indulgences at Avignon. In a short time there was a papal court flourishing at the same time in two places, — the one at Rome under the protection of the Emperor, who rejoiced at the clever way in which he had contrived to sever the papal and French union, and another at Avig- non, directed by the king of France, who equally rejoiced at the success of his scheme to annoy his revolted ally. The conflicts of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions raged during a considerable portion of the four- teenth century, and Pope and cardinals suffered as the balance of victory turned against them; not only states were set against states, but leagues against leagues ; and it was no unusual thing, in the intensity of the antagonism thus created, for a cardinal to turn his hat into a helmet, and a THE OHTJECH MILITANT. 421 bishop Ms pastoral staff into a spear. The dmrcli had long been as much a military as a religious power, and its princes were now forced to wear armour and command contingents. It was not easy to recognize the priest when performing the duties of a commander, and his actions, in many instances, were more unclerical than his garments. It so chanced that these soldiers did the Pope but indifferent service, and much of the pontifical possessions fell one by one into the hands of suc- cessful military adventurers. It was at this period that the inevitable English- man, in the person of that brilliant soldier of fortune John Hawkwood, made his name renowned through- out Italy as a commander of a dreaded band of "free companies." He was in the service of any one who could pay him sufficiently; and when no paymaster could be found, proceeded to wage war on his own account. After having been employed by the Pope, he made an attack upon Paenza when he found the Church imable to reward his services, and plundered that city without mercy. Gregory XI. was now hard pressed, so hard pressed, indeed, that he was forced to appeal for pecuniary assistance to the prelates of the Anglican Church. He had not long taken up his residence in Rome when be felt extremely desirous of returning to Avignon. He died, however, with his wish ungratified. 422 LIVES 01' THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. CHAPTER VII. ADAM ESTON, CAEDINAL PRIEST. A Benedictine at Norwioli — Bishop of London — is created a Cardinal Priest — Borne and Avignon — Conspiracy of the Cardinals against Urban VI. — Cardinal Eston implicated— is saved by the Interposition of Edward III. — Another Jubilee and Pilgrimage — Archbishop Arundel — Death of Cardinal Eston — Rise of Archbishop Courtney — his Court at St. Paul's — Wickliffe supported by the Duke of Lancaster and Lord Percy — Courtney made Chancellor — is supposed to have been created a Cardinal — Doubtful Cardinals of the Fourteenth Century. THE origin of Adam Eston was humble. He entered the Benedictine monastery at Nor- wicli, where lie was celebrated for Ms piety and love of scientific study. The profession of a recluse was still not only honourable but profitable. In due time Brother Adam became known at court as well as at Oxford, and was presently promoted to be chan- cellor of the university and bishop of London. He enjoyed the favour of Edward III., and appears to have distinguished himself as a prelate. Being constantly at court, he possessed opportunities of cultivating a good understanding with the dispensers of patronage, nor did he fail to evince his zeal for furthering the policy of the court of Rome. The Pope and cardinals soon showed that they were well disposed towards him, and at the application CONSPIEACY OF THE CAEDINALS. 423 of the king, Urban YI., in September, 1878, created Hm cardinal priest of St. Cecilia. Urban YI. was acknowledged everywhere except in France, where Clement YII. exercised papal authority. A contested pontificate was a scandal to all Christendom ; but the sovereigns who desired to make either of the rivals useful in working out their designs against each other, cared nothing for the Church — whether the Pontiffs cared very much more, is an open question. The system that coiild produce such results, found able challengers of its divine origin ; nevertheless the cardinals at Rome were kept constantly employed heaping anathemas upon those at Avignon, while the latter exercised the same industry in execrating their Roman brethren. The mischief caused by conflicting interests in the College of Cardinals may be well illustrated by a reference to the intriguing and plotting carried on by them when opposition popes have been elected. This seems to have reached its climax when, under the names of Urban YI. and Clement YII., Italian and French pontiflFs divided the suffrages of much- scandalized Christendom. The former remained at Rome, and displayed so despotic a temper, that the members of the college who had carried his election determined to get rid of him. The scruples which ordinary Catholics might entertain respecting the sacredness of the person of the head of the Aposto- lic Church, did not, it is clear, affect them in the slightest degree. They regarded the successor of St Peter as dangerous, and, like common-place conspi- rators, entered into a league to effect his destruction. It is charity to believe that Urban YI. was insane. 424 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. SO stern was Ms severity, so savage his cruelty. The cardinals who remained with him, having in vain advised him to adopt moderate measures, at last consulted an eminent lawyer as to the possibility of restraining him by the appointment of one or more directing counsellors. Cardinal Orsini be- trayed his associates, Di Sangro, San Sabina, Donati, San Ceciha (Adam Bston), and Bleazar, bishop of Rieti. One confessed, while under torture, that they had intended to seize the Pontiff, pronounce him a heretic, and condemn him to the stake. The others denied this, but were also put to the rack, and treated with monstrous barbarity. Urban fled from Nocera, where he was besieged, to Genoa, carrying his prisoners with him. Some accounts state that, with one exception, they were murdered in prison ; others aver that they were confined in sacks and thrown into the sea. The English car- dinal alone escaped.* Adam Bston was one of the tortured cardinals, and Bdward III. becoming acquainted with his perilous position, sent in 1 386 a communication to Urban requesting his release. The king of England had been his most zealous supporter, and he could not afford to quarrel with him. The English car- dinal therefore was released. Urban' s ferocity drove from him some of the Italian Princes of the Chiirch,t and the English car- * Muratori, sub anno 1385. t The Cardinal de Prato, in an access of ecclesiastical indigna- tion, publicly burned the red hat bestowed on him by Urban VI., and received another from the anti-pope ; but subsequently quitted -Avignon for Rome, apparently disposing of his stately head-cover- OPPOSITION POPE. 425 dinal had at least equal provocation to abandon him. It may, however, be inferred from a bull of Boni- face IX., that he did not go to Avignon ; but at the death of Urban, October 13, 1389, joined the court of his successor, who wrote, March 15, 1891, an urgent appeal to the English government in his behalf, against certain intruders into benefices held by Cardinal Bston in York. The papal influence happened to be very weak just then, — all that could be got from the country for the Pope's exchequer for this year amounting only to between two and three hundred pounds. The prohibitory statutes, and the progress of the new opinions of religion, account for so great a diminution of Catholic zeal. Notwithstanding that a pope stiU survived, ac- knowledged by France and Spain, as well as by Scotland, Sicily, and Cyprus, the cardinals in Italy elected another, a young Neapolitan, who assumed the appellation of Boniface IX. In his election Cardinal Eston assisted, in the year 1389.* This pontiflF proved less cruel than his predecessor, but was ignorant and avaricious. He did not venture to torture his cardinals ; he contented himself with fleecing the Catholic world as thoroughly as the Italian papal influence would permit ; where the French influence extended, his shears had no effect. The pontifical exchequer continued empty, and throughout Rome all seemed ruin and destitution ; but faith was an inexhaustible resource, and the most ex- travagant demand upon it was sure to be honoured. ing by the way, and acquired another at the hands of Boniface IX. He obtained the nickname of "the triple-hatted." — Ciaconius, i. 637 * Ciaconius, i. 1032. 426 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAUDINALS. To proclaim a jubilee was to fill the Pope's cofi'ers to overflowins:. PiWimag-e to Kome had. been a perennial Pactolus, but there were occasions when the spring became an ocean. Every hundred years the jubilee had been repeated, and then European Christianity flocked into the city of the Seven Hills, till thousands were obliged to be content with lodging among the ancient tombs and monuments. Urban VI. was not content to wait the appointed term ; when half of it had passed, he proclaimed another jubilee, and was well content with the result. Boniface IX. discovered that thirty-three years was the j)roper interval, and the good Catholics responded to the appeal with their customary gene- rosity. England, to show contempt for the French pope, produced troops of pilgrims, and Cardinal Eston had no reason to be ashamed of his country- men's deficiency of zeal or of liberality. In every church, abbey, or sacred building of any kind, with special attractions for the devoiit, a table was invariably prepared near the altar, covered, with scarlet cloth, where the offerings of the faithful were received. Here, too, might be had indulgences and pardons, and privileges of innumerable kinds, to meet the wants of all classes of sinners, and of every degree of sin. In and out flowed a con- tinuous current of sinful humanity, male and female, young and old, and their knees wore dents in the hard stone on which they knelt before images of peculiar sanctity, and their lips would have been eqiially destructive on relics of still greater holiness had they been permitted to kiss them without the intervention of a protective covering. SIMONY. 427 It was while the English cardinal was attached to the court of Rome that the grand event, the glo- rious financial resource, the jubilee of 1390 (this was, if not the last, the newest abbreviation) occurred, when the ancient city was thronged with worshippers ft"om Poland, from Hungary, from the German empire, and from England, — all of whom contributed, as far as their means permitted, to replenish the exhausted treasury of the Pope. The supply, however, was soon absorbed, and Boniface IX. had recourse to a system of simoniaoal abuse that threw the worst operations of his predecessors in this direction into the shade. He tripled the annates, sold every clerical post that had a value, and fleeced the wealthy prelates of a considerable portion of their acquisitions. When money could not be obtained for a benefice, this rapacious trader would accept live stock, agricultural produce, or anything for which a market could be found. His greediness was only exceeded by his dishonesty, for he was not to be bound by any arrangement, reselling what he had already sold, and revoking grants for which he had exacted a liberal payment.* It was to Boniface that, towards the close of the century, Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, pro- ceeded when exiled by Richard II., and Eston was probably among the cardinals whose cordiality he mentions in a letter to his chapter at Canterbury. * " Of whicli rose mucli slander and obloquy against the Church , for they said plainly that it was no more ti-ust to the Pope's writing than to a dog's tail ; for as oft as he would gather money, so often would he annul old graces and grant new." — Copgrave, " Chronicle of England," 281. 428 LIVES Of THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. Respecting tlie coming revolution, in wticli he was prominently to figure, it is not likely that he sought counsel in that quarter, though the young king had fewer friends in Rome even than he had in England ; his French consort and French predilections were not more favourably considered by English eccle- siastics than by Italians ; but Boniface and his government thought it prudent to temporize, and at the king's instigation the primate was obliged to leave Rome. Cardinal Eston remained, fulfilling various duties confided to him by Boniface IX., — an observer of the memorable events of his pontificate that occurred in the greater portion of the last decade of the fourteenth century. There were at this time two English cardinals in the college, but he had by far the larger share in the administration of the Papacy. His treatment at Nocera must have proved to him that his position was as full of peril as of honour ; but during his subsequent career he evidently kept clear of conspiracies. He survived till 1398, when he died at Rome. Cardinal Eston was the author of numerous works.* Ciaconius has preserved a long list, averring that he expired on the 13th of October, 1397 ; and he gives his epitaph, t An ecclesiastical contemporary claims a particular notice. William was the fourth son of Hugh Court- ney, earl of Devonshire, who married Margaret, granddaughter of Edward I. ; her mother being the * P. Tregelbauer, " Delia Storia Letteraria Benedettina," iii. 187. Cardella, ii. 283. + Ciaoonms, i. 982. BISHOP COUETNEY. 429 king's daughter Elizabeth, wife of Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex. A younger son, bom in the year 1341, of so exalted a family, in the last half of the fourteenth century was certain of a hand- some provision. Oxford, as usual, had the charge of his pupilage ; and when he had passed the ordi- nary course, he was ordained a priest ; soon after which, to prove that his lines were laid in pleasant ecclesiastical places, he was appointed to prebends in the cathedrals of Bath, Exeter, and York. He is supposed to have made considerable advance in scholarship, for, in 1369, when only twenty-eight years old, he was elevated to the bishopric of Here- ford, and six years later to the more important see of London. But merit had less to do with such elevations than influence at the courts of Edward III. and the Pope. That he had already come to an understanding with Rome is evident from the decided line he took to support the papal authority in England. Only a year after ha.ving secured this rank in the Church, at a synod held in London, he ventured openly to oppose the king's demand for a subsidy. This was not likely to pass unnoticed with such a sovereign. The bishop shortly afterwards betrayed his predi- lections by publishing a bull of Pope Gregory ; and the lawyers were immediately set to work to call him to account for the breach of the law. He was summoned into the court of Chancery for doing this without asking the king's consent, and only escaped forfeiture of all his goods by sending one of his officials to Paul's Cross, where the document had been read, to disclaim having had anything to do 430 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. with. it. The people had been excited by its pub- lication to acts of plunder and violence against certain foreign merchants whom the Pope had put imder ban. The bishop's officer now mounted the cross, and thus addressed the citizens : — " My lord said nothing about the interdict. It is strange you should misunderstand, who hear so many sermons from this place."* The congregation must have been not a little mystified by this singular disclaimer ; but the pru- dent bishop saved his forfeited temporalities. His zeal for the Papacy was siibseqtiently mani- fested by the prominent part he played against Wickliffe, whose growing popularity was regarded by the orthodox prelates with as much alarm as annoyance. The reformer was favoured by several persons of high influence ; and when he was cited to the bishop's court at St. Paul's, they accompanied him, apparently in somewhat boisterous fashion. As one was the king's son and another the Earl Marshal, their appearance in court was particularly unwelcome to the presiding judge. The following animated interpellation is said, to have occurred : — Bislw'p Courtney. — Lord Percy ! If I had known beforehand what masteries you would have kept, I would have stopped you out fi'om coming hither. Duke of Lancaster. — He shall keep such masteries here, though you say nay. Lord Percy.- — ^ Wickliffe, sit down ; for you have many things to answer to, and therefore have need of a soft seat. Bishop Oourtney. — It is unreasonable that one * Wharton, "Historia de Episcopis et Decanis, kc, Londinensibus." SCENE IN THE BISHOP's COUBT. 431 cited before his ordinary should sit down during his answer. He shall stand ! Biblce of Lancaster.- — -The Lord Percy's motion for Wickliffe is but reasonable. And as for you, my lord bishop, who are grown so proud and arrogant, I will bring down the pride, not of you only, but of all the prelacy in England. Thou bearest thyself so brag upon thy parents, which shall not be able to help thee ; they shall have enough to do to help themselves. Bishop Courtney. — My confidence is not in my parents, but only in Grod, in whom I trust ; by whose assistance I will be bold to speak the truth. Bulce of Lancaster. — -Rather than take these words at the bishop's hands, I'll pluck him by the hair of the head out of the church !* The threat was muttered, but was overheard, and caused a riot in favour of the prelate. It would have ended in the destruction of the duke's palace in the Savoy, had not the former hastened to the spot, and calmed the tumult by his exhortations. t The diffusion of the new opinions alarmed the Pope, and Bishop Courtney was directed to em- ploy every means at his disposal for their suppres- sion. About two years afterwards, according to certain authorities, t his zeal was stimulated by the offer of the dignity of cardinal. There is some doubt about his acceptance ; probably he thought it prudent to decline, as it must have increased his unpopu- * Fox, "Acts and Monuments." t Harpsfield, "Hist. Wickliff," "Hist. Eocles. Angl." Wal- singliam, " Hist. Angl." X Godwin, " De Prsesulibus Anglife." " Biograpliia Britanuica." 432 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH OAEDINALS. larity. He contrived to regain the king' s confidence, for lie was promoted to tlie important post ot chancellor in tlie year 1381, in wliicli year lie was permitted to succeed Arctbishop Sudbury in tlie metropolitan see of Canterbury. It demanded no slight degree of tact to steer a course between tlie Pope and tlie king at tins juncture, and Courtney certainly exliibited mucli judgment in endeavouring to maintain friendly relations witli botli to tlie close of tlie long reign of Edward III., and during tlie inglorious career of his successor. That he was desirous of displaying moderation in dealing with such conflictiag interests, is clear from the command he issued to his officers to leave adultery and other crimes to be dealt with by the king's courts ; while to conciliate the papal court, he assembled a synod at Oxford that condemned the opinions of Wickliffe as heretical. For several years he alternately threw his influence into the scale for the Crown and the Papacy. His real sentiments, however, were more than suspected, which caused the Parliament in 1392 to pass the statute known as Prcpinunire. He survived this but four years. There were several other churchmen, by some writers included in the creations of this century. Of these, Arnold de Cantelupe, whom we find difficult to identify. Of this family, Thomas was bishop of Hereford, and "Walter bishop of Worcester. Leo- nardus Guercinus and WiUiam Macclesfield are equally unknown to fame. Of his reputed successor, Walter Winterton, we learn that he was born at fealisbury, and having devoted himself to study, obtamed great repute as a poet,^ philosopher, and WALTER WINTEKBUE-N. 433 theologian.* One authority states William Maccles- field to have belonged to the order of Dominicans, and that he was a celebrated professor at Oxford ; moreover, that in December, 1303, he was created by Benedict XI., in Rome, cardinal priest. " GualteroWinterburn o Winktemburn," according to Moroni, was a member of the Preaching Friars, a doctor of philosophy, a profound theologian, and counsellor as well as confessor to Edward I. His high reputation induced Benedict XI. (February 11, 1301) to create him cardinal di San Sabina. In the article " Cardinali di Santa Romana Chiesa," occurs the following reference to him: — "Prima della con- stituzione di Eugenio IV. sussistendo, come accen- nammo 1' esclusione de' cardinali coUa bocca chiusa di concurrere co' loro suffragi alia elezione del Papa, si ha che nel 1304, in morte di Benedetto XL rimase di cardinal d' Inghilterra Winterburn colla bocca chiusa, e gli fu aperta dal Cardinal Decano auto- rizzato in un col voto di tutto di Sagro Collegio." He wrote much on theology, and was selected by Clement Y. to go as legate to Prance to examine into the doctrines of a brother of the Minorites that had created much excitement amongst the Francis- cans. He appears to have died at Geneva, while proceeding on his mission, in the year 1306, and was there buried, in the church of the Dominicans, whence his corpse was forwarded to England for re-interment, t Of " Sartorius Wallensis," who flourished later, very little information is to be obtained, beyond the * Cardella, torn. ii. 74. Ciaoonius, i. 827. t " Dizionario di Erudizione Storico-Ecclesiastica," c. iii. 247. I. 28 434< LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAKDINALS. statement that lie was made a cardinal in 1361 at Avignon. Gremoaldus de Gresant, oi" Gremoardi, is de- scribed as being a deacon of tlie metropolitan cliurcli of York ; subsequently to have obtained preferment in Gascony, and to have become a monk of the monastery of St. Rufo. He was in 1366 created cardinal priest by Urban V., who gave him several appointments, took him to Italy the following year, and employed him to carry the pallium to the archbishop of Magdeburg. Cardella mentions his princely liberality in the foundation of religious houses. The emperor Charles IV. is said to have honoured the cardinal with a particular mark of dis- tinction. He returned to Avignon, and there died in 1378. There is also a John Thoresby included by Godwin in his list of English cardinals.* * Fantoni, "DelF Storia di Avignone," i. 2. Cardella, ii. 210. Godwin, " De Priesulibns Anglipe, &c." ( 435 ) CHAPTER VIII. CHAUCEE A PEOMOTER OP THE PEE-LUTHEEAN EEFOEMATION. Niggardly Disposal of Pontifical Offices to EngKslimen — Undue Influence of Italian Families — Unpopularity of the Papal System in England — Idealized Christianity — Yearnings after a Eeligious Life — Respect shown to Hermits — Popularity of Pilgrimages to their Cells — English Impatience of Pioman Domination — Geoffrey Chaucer — His Presumed Object in Writing the " Canterbury Tales " — Clerical Portraits — The Monk — The Friar— The Sumpnour— The Pardoner — The Canon — The Prioress — The Priest — Suggestions as to the Source of the Priest's Tale — Anti-Papal Feeling abroad — State of Rome — The Bird of Ill-omen — Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris — His Views of Church Reform — Oxford — Chaucer's Poprilarity after his Death favours the Reform Movement. NEARLY two centuries and a Lalf liad elapsed since an English pope was elected to fill the chair of St. Peter. His pontificate had been in every way honourable, and if he had not thoroughly realized the assumption of being "Vicar of Christ," it was solely because this "was scarcely to be ex- pected from any combination of human virtue and intelligence. ISTevertheless a similar compliment to his nation was never repeated. There were Spanish, German, French, and Italian pontiffs in more or less abundance — a very large majority of the latter ; but of English one only. More than one hundred 28 * 436 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDIKALS. successors of the Apostle, of different nationalities, had flourished before the land blessed with the mission of St. Augustine was acknowledged to have produced a priest worthy of being placed at the head of the Church for which he had laboured with such signal success. Since his death about as many popes have ruled the Christian Avorld, but not one of them came from the birthplace of Adrian IV. This exclusion was carried out in other papal dignities ; for instance in the Sacred College there never was an Ene-lish interest that could be com- pared with the German, the French, or the Italian interest. The dignity had become more prized ; it was eagerly sought ; but of late years it had with rare exceptions been shared by ecclesiastics of the Gallican and Roman Churches. During the seventy years' transportation of the pontifical court to Avignon the former were preferred ; but while the Papacy remained at home, to a much larger extent the latter were favoured. So miich was this the case that the principal Roman families enjoyed some- thing very like a monopoly of the higher dignities. Thoy appear to have furnished poj)es ad libitum, and have become cardinals without end. Whilst the entire English nation were obliged to be content with one pontiff and a dozen or so of Princes of the Church, the Orsini and Colonnesi could boast of seven popes and cardinals by scores. The latter dignity had come to be looked upon as peculiarly Italian, and the patrician houses rivalled each other in the number of their members by whom it had been secured. This has made it of profound interest in the literature of the country, where PONTIFICAL OFFICES. 437 everything in the shghtest degree connected with it. will be found elaborately detailed.* The other pontifical ofiices were as grudgingly bestowed on Anglican candidates. Eobert le Poule was the only English chancellor till the year 1763 ; and Bosio Breakspear never had a successor of his own nation, either as Camerlengo Prefect or Cus- todian of Castello San Angelo. We have looked in vain for an Englishman in any other of the principal posts in the papal court. Under such circumstances, it is not a matter of surprise if English ecclesiastics, knowing the prodigious expense the institution had for ages been to their country, should have become dissatisfied with the infinitesimal share of its ad- vantages they were permitted to receive, notwith- standing the free use of English benefices and dignities by the court of Rome. The feeling against the pontifical system in England had other and deeper sources. The * Sucli information ■will be found in Moroni, " Dizionario di Erudizione Storico-Ecclesiastica," articles " Berretta Cardiualizia," " Cardinal! di Santa Romana Chiesa," " Camera," " Cancellari- nano," " Cappa," " Capella," " Capello Cardinalizio," " Porpora," &c. ifcc. They contain a liistory of the origin of cardinals, dis- sertations on their number, residences, quality, and state ; descrip- tions of the ceremonies employed in their creation, with their cos- tume, prerogatives, pre-eminence, and jprivileges ; an account of their qualifications and duties, their precedence in the Sacred Col- lege, insignia, decorations, income, and their duties during the election of a pontiff. The writer, who was a member of the esta- blishment of Gregory XVI., and therefore likely to be familiar with all the pontifical arrangements, then enumerates the more cele- brated cardinals (not an Englishman in the list), and concludes with a list of works (all Italian) that have been published on the subject. 438 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. intelligence of tlie age was so strongly opposed to its continuance ttat cliurclimen holding tlie liigliest ecclesiastical appointments liad one after another protested against its evils. To all able to take an unprejudiced view of the subject, no contrast could appear more glaring than the original intentions of the Papacy and its later administration. The head of the Christian Church frequently did not possess a single Christian attribute ; his characteristics were notoriously the reverse of apostolic, his policy was often denounced as that of Antichrist. His select council maintained notions of government re- markable only for their intense worldliness. The preservation or expansion of the temporal power of the Pope seemed their first consideration ; and in their efforts to effect this, all that assumed to be spiritual, and ought to have been sacred in the pontifical office, was dragged through the mire of the most selfish of human quarrels. The educated classes of the Christian community had been taught that there were three conditions of life after death. The first was that of eternal happiness. It was to be realized in the kingdom of heaven, where existed a spiritual aristocracy, divided into seraphim, cherubim, and thrones ; dominations, virtues, powers; principalities, archangels, angels. These triads were presided over by the Virgin Mary, not only as queen, but as intercessor between Christians and her Divine Son. The First Person of the Trinity was shrouded in sublime obscurity, and the Third present only as a pervading influence. Such was the celestial host. Next came the beatified — patriarchs, prophets, saints, and martyrs, riNAL KEWAEDS AND PUNISHMENTS. 439 as well as all good Catliolics to wliom tlie founder of tlie Apostolic Cliurcli, and his papal successors as inheritors of tlie keys, had afforded the privilege of admission. The second state of life after death was that of " purgatory," a condition of endurance for sinners not sufficiently vile for eternal punishment ; whence escape to bliss was always possible by the inter- position of the Church. Here those who when in the flesh were rich and powerful, were forced to remain till their relatives could procure such a number of masses or other sacred services as were considered to be sufficient for the redemption of their souls. The third and last state was that of everlasting damnation, as existing in the region of intolerable torture, the abode of devils, the unquenchable fire of hell. But even in this terrible position the miserable soiil was not absolutely deprived of hope. The power of the keys to loose and bind was in the successor of St. Peter, and a sufficient repre- sentation at Eome might in due course lead to its transmission to a secondary state of punishment, there to receive divine absolution ; and thence eventually to be called to partake of eternal bliss. It is not necessary to point out how much of this arrangement of final rewards and punishments is ideal — the creation of ecstatics and mystics ; let it suffice that it had become the belief of Christendom, and that the more religious-minded were constantly occupied with the consideration of the best means of avoiding the penalty of sin and insuring the recom- pense of virtue. The town populations of England were differently circumstanced to those of rural 440 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. districts. In the former tlierewere either cathedrals or churches ministered to by clerical communities more or less active, and imposing processions, solemn services, and impressive ceremonies were constantly reminding them of their spiritual obliga- tions. In the quiet and scattered hamlets — unless a monastery existed in the immediate neighbour- hood — the action of the Church was much less direct, and the religious wants of the people were left to the parish priest, an intrusive mendicant friar, or a resident hermit. The yearnings after a religious life frequently led the rural Christian to invest with superhuman virtues any recluse who had found a cell in an adjoining forest, and confined his diet to the herbs which grew around him and the spring that flowed at his feet. He was accredited with angelic powers, his counsel was considered to have a divine in- spiration, and his prayers to bring the benediction of Heaven. Matron and maid threaded the winding path that led to the embowered hermitage and regarded its frieze-clad inmate with more vene- ration than they had ever experienced in the presence of their feudal lord. In truth, the per- sonal appearance of the shaggy, hirsute, cowled figure in the coarse gown corded with the instru- ment of terrible discipline, with gaunt cheeks and simken eyes, betraying the rigour of self-mortifi- cation, was far more impressive than that of priest or layman, however exalted or formidable. The simplicity of his teaching was in character with that of his hfe, and to this he owed much of his popularity. Indeed it is this confidence in HEEMITS. 441 truths easy to be understood tliat established the great religious movements of the illiterate ; such as "the poor men of Lyons," &c. The uneducated mind might be dazzled by the glories of the celestial hierarchy, and terrified by the horrors of devil- torture; but it surrendered its faith, its worship, and its affections to matters of religious belief it could most readily appreciate. Nothing, therefore, was easier than that the anchorite should be vene- rated as a saint, and that in due course his purity of life, his piety and self-denial, added to a fair amount of kindliness of nature, should invest his retreat with a sacredness that would attract many a succeeding generation to make a visit to it a religious obligation. Pilgrimages to the shrines of local saints had for centuries been the most attractive of observances — the middle and higher classes joining in them with as much zest as the commonalty. They were a favourite resource for the remission of sins ; but there is reason for believing that they rather favoured the progress of good-fellowship, while carried out as holiday enjoyments for both sexes. The unrivalled picture transmitted to us of the goodly company that started from the Tabard Inn at South- wark has left us no room to mistake the nature and tendency of these popular journeys. Pleasant they were, out of doubt ; but the pilgrims who cultivated a genuine sense of religion must have longed for an incentive to holy living of less ques- tionable sanctity. About the middle of the fourteenth century the Norman and the Saxon element in the population 442 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. of England, had amalgamated into a nationality- possessed of no less enterprise than intelligence. The former had been displayed in many a glorious field in France ; the latter was being developed in the creation of a literature that had the recom- mendation of being thoroughly Anglican. There was decidedly an English tone of thought in its poetry and in its prose ; equally decided was the English tone of thought expressed in the spirit of the people. It is not therefore a matter of surprise that the religion of the nation betrayed indications of desiring to become equally English. Here and there in the heart of this chivalrous England, that had added almost an entire conti- nental kingdom to its insular territory, were heard questionings as to the spiritual authority exercised by the city of the dead Caesars over a country in- creasing in greatness under the rule of living Plantagenets. Schoolmen looked into the literature of the Church without discovering any warrant for a Roman domination of intellect or faith ; and stalwart knights, who had won many fair provinces defended by the bravest soldiers of a French sovereign, began to speculate on the possibility of overthrowing a French pope. Nevertheless the Roman influence pervaded Church and State to so prodigious an extent as apparently to defy this impatience of restraint. Over the entire surface of the country, zealous members of the priesthood were to be found in such numbers, and with so perfect an organization, as apparently to render a conflict hopeless. The hierarchy were possessed of extraordinary wealth OHA.UCEE. 443 and influence, and tlie lower ranks of the clergy were equally zealous supporters of tlie Papacy. They laughed at the idea of opposition to the Pope, were ready to threaten a repetition of the interdict that had proved so disastrous in the reign of John, or another such invasion as had given over the non- payers of Peter's pence to the tender mercy of William of Normandy. The prelates and the secular clergy, the great monasteries, the innu- merable fraternities of mendicant friars, were never so convinced of the perfection of the papal system. They would not entertain any notion of change. They ridiculed the idea of a reformation. Nevertheless it became clear that the abuses of the system were being moi-e and more brought under popular observation. It was the national literature which produced their exposure in a form that gradually created a very powerful feeling against them. Geoffrey Chaucer, who held em- ployment in the royal household, was a poet possessed of quahties hitherto unknown in English composition ; prominent among which was a talent for humorous description, that could not fail to amuse every class of readers. He had seen society in all its phases, and was well read in ancient and modem literature. Having composed many poems of great merit, apparently impressed with the spirit then developing itself in the country, he entertained the idea of representing one of those remarkable social gatherings, known as pilgrim- ages, for the purpose of giving his countrymen a group of portraits of the jorincipal religious per- sonages who flourished in middle-class life. They 444 , LIVES OP THE ENGLISH GAEDINALS. illustrated tlie evils of a bad system with singular felicity. The first in the clerical gallery is " The Monk," who is, as the representative of the elder monastic orders, as truthfully as he is genially portrayed. The reader beholds his prepossessing appearance, and becomes acquainted with those tendencies to secular foppery and worldly enjoyments that had constantly provoked repressive "constitutions," after an episcopal visitation. He is introduced as a good horseman, and lover of field sports, keeping a superior stud, and delighting in riding a steed handsomely caparisoned : — "A monk there was, a fair for the masterie, An out-rider that loved venerie, A manly man to be an abbot able. Full many a dainty hoi-se had he in stable, And when he rode, men might his bridle hear, Gingle in a whistling wind so clear. And eke as loud as doth the chapel bell, Thereas the lord was keeper of the selle." iD This priestly custom of riding with bells hung about the trappings, had excited the indignation of the poet's contemporary, the great religious re- former, who denounces the " fair horse, and jolly and gay saddles, and bridles ringing by the way; " but they had been condemned by ecclesiastical legislation years before. The gay recluse, however, evidently set that and all other rules at defiance : — " The rule of St. Maure and of St. Benet, Because that it was old and sounded strait, Tliis ilke monk let old things pass. And held after the new world the space. THE MONK. 445 He gave not of that text a pulled hen, That said that hunters been none holy men ; Nor that a monk when he is cloisterless, Is likened to a fish that is waterless. That is to say, a monk out of his cloister ; But this text held to be not worth an oyster ! " The more ancient religious liouses were esta- blished under the rigid religious rule of the sainted founders, named by the poet; but these he de- clares were disdained by modern recluses, who, moreover, treated with contempt the passage in " Gratian's Decretal : " " Sicut piscis sine aqua caret vita, ita sine monasterio monachus." Such ecclesiastical fish out of water could apparently float in wine ; and as to labouring, there was much more agreeable work for them to do out of the monastery than in it. The secret reformer slily adds :— " And I said his opinion was good, "Why should he study and make himself wood, Upon a book in cloister always to pour, Or swink with his hands and labour. As Austin bids ? How shall the world be served 1 Let Austin have his swink to him reserved. Therefore he was a pricasour* aright. Greyhounds he had as swift as fowls in flight : Of pricking and of hunting for the hare, Was all his lust, for no cost would he spare." It should be remembered that this description comes from one who enjoyed during a long and active life, the best opportunities for observation. Chaucer was no doubt equally accurate in his costume. * A hard rider. 446 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDmALS. " I saw his sleeve purfled at tlie hand With gris, and that the finest in the land ; And for to fasten Ms hood under his chin, He had of gold y- wrought a curioiis pin. A love-knot in the greater end there was. His head v/as bald, and shone as any glass, And eke his face, as he had been anoint. He was a lord full fat and in good point ; His eyes steep, and rolling, in his head, That seemed as a furnace of lead ; His boots souple, his horse in great estate — 'Now, certainly, he was a fair prelate. He was not pale as a for-pined* ghost ; A fat swan loved he best of any roast." In short, the supposed ascetic, professing to hve a life of meditation, of fasting and prayer, was intensely a man of the world, devoted to the pleasures of the table and the chase. There is evidently no mistake in the good father's cha- racteristics, for he is subsequently addressed by a brother pUgrim : — " By my troth, I cannot your name. Whether shall I call you my lord Dan Johan, Or Dan Thomas, or else Dan Albon ? Of what house be ye by your fader kin 1 I vow to God thou hast a full fair skin, It is a gentle pasture there thou goest, Thou art not like a penauntt or a ghost. Upon my faith thou art an officer, Some worthy Sexton, or some Cellarer ; For by my father's soul, as to my doom, Thou art a maltster when thou art at home ; No poor cloisterer, nor no novice. But a governor both wily and wise, And therewithal of brawn and of bones, A well-faring person for the nones." Much more "chaffing" not quite so decorous * Wasted away. f A sinner undergoing penance. THE PRIAE. 447 follows, which "this worthy monk took all in patience," and presently narrates a tale founded on a work of Boccaccio,* relating the fate of certain worthies of ancient and modern history, beginning with Lucifer and Adam, and including Samson and Hercules, Alexander the Great, Julius Csesar, and Crcesus. The poet had the good taste to make this contribution to the general entertainment unobjec- tionable. The next clerical portrait is equally graphic ; it is that of the Friar, a representative of the later mendicant orders, the members, of which, in con- sequence of their multitude, activity, and alleged irregularities, had, as we have already shown, be- come obnoxious to both churchmen and school- men : — " A Frere there was, a •wanton and a merry, A limitour,t a full solemn man, In all the orders four is none that can So much of dalliance and fair language. He had i-made many a fair marriage Of young ■women, at his own cost. Unto his order he was a noble post, Full well beloved and familiar was he With frankleyns over all in his country. And eke with worthy women of the town, For he had power of confession. As said himself, more than a curate. For of his order he was licentiate. Full weekly heard he confession, And pleasant was his absolution : He was an easy man to give penance, There as he wist to have a good pittance." There was much scandal afloat respecting the * " De Casibus Virorum Illustrium." t One licensed to beg in a certain district. 448 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. facility with whicli fair penitents received pardon for serious transgressions. The action of "the limitour " was quite as severely reprobated : — " For unto a poor order for to give, Is sign that a man is well i-solireve ; For if he give, he durst make avaunt, He wist that a man was repentant. Por many a man so hard is of his heart, He may not weep though him sore smart ; Therefore instead of weeping and pi-ayers, Men mostly give silver to the poor freres." Mendicancy was not their only resource; they came provided with useful articles, and made their company acceptable by the display of certain favourite accomplishments. " His tippet was aye farsed full of knives, And pins for to give fair wives, And certain he had a merry note, "Well could he sing and play on the rote. Of yeddings* he bare vitterly the price. His neck white was as the fleur-de-lys ; Thereto he strong was as a champion. He knew well the taverns in every town, And every ostler or gay tapster. But then a lazar or a beggar. For unto such a worthy man as he, Accorded not, as by his faculty, To have with such lazars acquaintance, It is not honest, it may not avaunce, For to deal with such poraile. But all with rich and sellers of victual." This is, of course, an intimation that the profes- sional mendicant scorned the genuine poor and sick, and cared only to associate with people who had something to give. The satirist adds : — • ■"' Gossipings on festival occasions. THE SUMPNOUE. 449 " And over all, ther any profit should arise, Courteous he was, and low of service. There was no man no where so virtuous, He was the best beggar in all his house. For, though a widow had but one shoe, So pleasant was his In principio, Yet would he have a farthing ere he went. His purchase was better than his rent. And rage he could and play as a whelp, In love days there could he much help. For there was he not like a cloisterer. With a threadbare cope, or a poor scholar. But he was like a master or a pope. Of double worsted was his semi-cope, That rounded was, as a bell out of press, Somewhat he lisped for wantonness, To make his English sweet upon his tongue. And in his harping, when that he had sung. His eyes twinkled in his head aright, As do the stars in the frosty night." Such was the priest of the humbler orders of English society, and such the arts by which he made himself popular in their households. The narrative contributed by the Friar is exactly what might be anticipated from so doubtful a character, and is founded on a story familiar in the cloister.* "We are able to add other agents employed in working out the objectionable system. The first had to summon delinquents to the ecclesiastical courts, and is thus portrayed : — " A sumpnour was there with us in that place, That had a fire-red cherubimic face, * " De Advocato et Diabolo," to be found in the " Promptuarium Exemplorum." Wright, " Selection of Latin Stories." I. 29 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. For sawceflem* he was, with eyes narrow, As hot he was and lecherous as a sparrow. With skulled-brows black and piled beard, Of his visage children were sore afeard." His countenance is further described as covered ith unseemly disfigurements that no medicine could imove. " Well loved he garlick, onions, and eke leeks, And for to drink, strong wine red as blood, Then would he speak and ciy as he were wood. And when that he well drunken had the wine. Then would he speak no word but Latin ; A few terms had he — two or three That he had learnt out of some decree. No wonder is, he heard it all the day. And eke ye know well how that a jay. Can chepe ' Watt ' as well as can the pope." He possesses other characteristics — is a good show of an extremely bad sort, and in the employ of le Church helped materially to bring that institution ito odium. Between him and the Friar there is luch ill-feeling, which they betray not only in their onversation but in the tales they narrate. That of tie " Friar " having been greatly at the expense of tie Sumpnour, the latter follows with one that pays ack his obligations with interest. It is an extra- rdinary illustration of the feeling excited against h.e mendicant orders, but is too coarse to be de- cribed. Some passages, showing how the members f his order gained influence, deserve transcription. " And when this frere had said all his intent. With qui cwn patre forth his way he went. * Pimpled. BEGGING FRIAES. 451 When folk in churct had given him what them lest, He went his way, no longer would he rest ; "With scrip and spiked staff, y-tookes high, In every house he gan to pore and pry, And begged meat and cheese, or else corn. His fellow had a staff tipped with horn, A pair of tables all of ivory. And a pointed and polished fetisly. And wrote the names always as he stood, Of all folk that gave him any good, Ascance that he would for him pray. ' Give us a bushel wheat, or malt, or rye, A God's kichil,* or a trip of cheese, A God's halfpenny, or a mass penny, Or give us some of your brawn, if ye have any, A dagoun t of your blanket, leave dame. Our sister dear — ^lo ! here I write your name — Bacon or beef, or such things as we find.' " The skilful mendicant presently addresses himself to the master of the house, who is supposed to be dying.! " ' O, dear master !' quoth the sick man, How have ye fared since March began, I saw you not this fortnight or more.' ' God wot ! ' quoth he, ' laboured I have full sore, And specially for thy salvation Have I said many a pi'ecious orison, And for my other friends, God them bless ! I have to-day been to your church at mass. And said a sermon after my simple wit, Nought all after the text of holy writ. For it is hard for you, as I suppose. And therefore wUl I teach you aye the glose. * A small cake. t A strip. t The eagerness with which some overzealous members of religious houses sought the deathbeds of penitents produced, in the reign of Richard II., the statute of Mortmain. 29 * )2 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. Glosing is a full glorious thing certain, For letter sleth* so as we clerks sayn.' " Presently tlie dame enters, tlien tlie holy man's illantry is displayed after this fashion : — " ' Eh, master, welcome by St. Johan,' Saith the wife, ' how fare ye heartily ? ' The frere ariseth up full courteously. And her embraceth in his arms narrow. And kissed her sweet, and chirpeth as a sparrow With his lips. ' Dame,' quoth he, 'right well, As he that is your servant every del, Thanked be God that you gave soul and Ufe, Yet saw I not this day so fair a wife. In all the church, God so save me.' " But the crying evil of the papal system was the scupation of another of the pilgrims, which is thus itroduced : — " With him there rode a gentle Pardoner, That straight was come from the Court of Rome. Full loud he sung ' Come hither love to me.' This Pardoner had hair as yellow as wax, But smooth it hung as doth a strike of flax." He is further described as wearing an abundance f these flaxen locks ; and as possessing eyes that lared like a hare. " A vemiclef had he sown in his cap, His wallet lay before him in his lap. Brought full of pardons come from Rome all hot. A voice he had as small as any goat, No heard he * * But of his craft from Berwick unto Ware." * Skill in literature. t A miniature of the miraculous handkerchief of Veronica, lowing that he had been on a pilgrimage to Borne. THE PAEDONEE. 453 Nor was there sucli anotter Pardoner, For in his mail he had a pilwebeen,* Which that he said was Our Lady's veil. He said he had a gobbet of the sail, That St. Peter had when that he went, Upon the sea till Jesus Christ him hent. He had a cross of latten full of stones, -And in a glass he had pig's bones. But with these relics when that he found A poor Pai'son dwelling upon land. Upon a day he got him more money. Than that the Parson got in months tweye. And thus with feigned flattery and gapes, He made the Parson and the people his apes." Nevertheless lie was not witliout some creditable recommendations . " But truly to tell at the last, He was in church a noble ecclesiast. Well could he read a lesson or a story. But altherbest he sung an offertory ; Por well wist he when that song was sung. He must preach and well afiile his tongue. To win silver as he right well could, Therefore he sung full merrily and loud." There is more than usual care displayed by the incomparable artist in this particular portrait, un- doubtedly with an object. In the Prologue to " The Pardoner's Tale," that worthy is found thus de- scribing his modus operandi : — " First I pronounce whence that I come. And then my bulls show all and some. Our liege lord's seal upon my patent, That shew I first my body to warrant. That no man be so hardy, priest nor clerk, Me to disturb of Christ's holy work. * Pillowcase. 454 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. Bulls of Popes and of Cardinals, Of patriarchs and of bishops I show, And in Latin speak I words few, To savour with my predication, And for to steer men to devotion." He dwells on the miraculous virtues of certain relics in his possession, averring that by the autho- rity he possesses from the Pope, he is able with them to absolve any sinner. Then he adds : — " By this gaud have I won every year, A hundred marks since I was Pardoaer. I stand like a clerk in my pulpit. And when the lewd people is down inset, I preach as ye have heard before, And tell them a hundred jupes more. Then pain I me to stretch forth my neck, And east and west upon the people I beck, As doth a dove sitting on a barn ; My hands and my tongue go so yerne,* That it is joy to see my business. Of avarice and of such cursedness. Is all my preaching, for to make them free. To give their panst and namely unto me. For mine intent is nought but for to win. And nothing for correction of sin." The hypocrite is eloquent on the arts he uses to enrich himself, especially on the coveteousness and avarice he fosters in his own nature, while ostensibly correcting those vices in others. He declares his disgust of honest industry. " What trow ye, whilst I may preach, And win gold and silver for I teach. That I will live in poverty wilfully? Nay — nay — I thought it never truly. * Eapidly. f Herds. CANONS. 455 For I will preacli and beg in sundry lands. I will do no labour with my bands. Nor make baskets and live thereby, Because I will not beg idly. I will no one of the Apostles counterfeit, I will have money, wool, cheese, and wheat. And were it given of the priest's page. Or of the poorest widow in a village, And should her children starve for famine. Nay, I will drink liquor of the vine." The Pardoner was of papal agents the most unpopular with sincere Christians whether clerical or lay ; he was notoriously a rollicking, licentious, free-and-easy impostor, whose vocation was more injurious to the Papacy it supported, than all the schisms that had ever existed; in truth, it was before very long to be the provocation of the two religious revolutions that proved most formidable to the Church of Rome. We can see an object in the poet's displaying this odious character in its proper light. It is, however, singular that such a pilgrim should have related what deserves to be considered the most moral tale in the series. It is worthy of observation that Chaucer confines his hostility to those features in the papal system that were denounced by the churchmen and scholars of his time. He mentions kindly, " That sweet priest, that goodly man. Sir Johan," who narrates " The Nonne Prestes Tale ;" and when describing the shortcomings of a particular canon, the hero of " The Chanounes Temannes Tale," he takes care to preface it with an apology. " But worshipful canons religious. He deemeth not that I slander your house. 456 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. Although my tale of a Canon be, Of every order some schrewe it — Pardie ! And God forbid that all a company, Should rue a single man's folly. To slander you is nothing mine intent, But to correction that is amiss — i-ment. Probably this was introduced out of respect to a certain canon, who, as we shall presently show, obtained great celebrity as a preacher of the reform doctrines ; but the poet must have been acquainted with others of the same fraternity, for he refers to more than one as being beyond all similar recluses subtle and false. " His sleight and his infinite falseness, There could no man write as I guess." To render the canon's treachery more conspi- cuous, his victim is represented to be a clerical brother. In the tale it is asked : — "What wist this priest with whom that he dwelt ! He of his harm coming he nothing felt. O silly priest — O silly innocent ! With covetise anon thou shalt be blent. O graceless, full blind is thy conceit. Nothing art thou aware of the deceit. Which that this fox, ischapen hath to thee. His wily wrenches y-wis thou must not flee." This canon is a pretender to alchemy, which, like necromancy, was much practised by members of religious fraternities ; or rather they professed to be adepts, with the object of deluding the credulous, as was the case with the victim in " The Chanounes Yemannes Tale." The poet is not too severe upon these swindlers, whose tricks were notorious in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. A PARISH PRIEST. - 457 Nothing proves Chaucer's desire to confine him- self to the assailable parts of a bad system than his genial treatment of the religious women who had joined the pilgrimage. Exquisite is his portrait of " The Prioress." Another nun is mentioned, but there is not a word of scandal introduced respecting either. Still more profoundly does he show his reverence for true religion, in his admirable picture of a parish priest. " A good man was there of religion, And was a poor parson of a town. But ricli he was of holy thought and work, He was also a learned man — a clerk, That Christ's gospel truly would preach, His parishioners devoutly would he teach. Benign he was and wondrous diligent, And in adversity full patient. And such he was approved oft sithes.* Full loth was he to curse for his tithes, But rather would he give out of doubt, Unto his poor parishioners about. Of his offering, and eke of his substance. He could in little thing have sufficience. Wide was his parish and houses far asunder, But he no lafte, not for rain nor thunder, In sickness nor in mischief to visit. The poorest in his parish much and late. Upon his feet, and in his hand a staff, This noble example unto his sheep he gave, That first he wrought, and after that he taught, Out of the Gospel he the words caught, And this figure he added it thereto. That if gold rust, what should iron do t " The poet in his avocations about the court had witnessed the carelessness of the clergy in their conduct. He adds : — * Times. )8 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. " For if a priest be foul on whom we trust, No wonder is a lewd man to rust. And shame it is, if that a priest take keep, A filthy shepherd and a clean sheep. Well ought a priest ensample for to give. By his cleanness how that his sheep should live. He sets not his benefice to hire. And leaves bis sheep encumbered in the mire. And run to London and St. Paul's, To seeken him a chantry for souls. Or with a brotherhood he withhold. But dwells at home and keeps well his fold. So that the wolf nor made it not miscarry — He was a shepherd and no mercenary." The hunters after preferment, who abandoned leir parishes to throng the halls of the great, and asted their means in the dissipations of the court, re here referred to. A few more touches and the ortrait will be complete. " And though he holy were and virtuous. He was to sinful man nought despitous. Nor of his speech dangerous nor digne,* But in his teaching discreet and benign. To draw folk to Heaven by fairness, By good example, was his business ; But it were any person obstinate, What so he were of high or low estate. Him would be snib sharply for the nones. A better priest I trow there nowhere none is, He waited after no pomp nor reverence. Nor maked him a spiced conscience, But Christ's love and his Apostles twelve He taught— and first he followed it himself." A beau-ideal of a parish priest, and apparently rawn from life. But who was the original ? An iswer to this inquiry may be suggested by a * Proud. ECCLESTASTICAL LUXUET. 459 careful perusal of " The Personne's Tale," the last in the series, — it is written in prose. Though the source of every preceding narrative has been accurately traced, the most laborious of the poet's commentators has not succeeded in this instance. In some MSS. it has been entitled " Tractatus de Pgenitentia, pro fabula, ut dicitur Rectoris ;" conse- quently Tyrwhitt and others suspect it to be a translation. No one has hazarded a guess about the author. It is scarcely possible to peruse it with- out coming to the conclusion that it was written by a priest — apparently the good man of religion, of holy thought and work, who was a learned man and a clerk that truly preached Christ's Gospel; as Chaucer describes the imaginary narrator. It is unquestionably a treatise on penitence, each section having Latin headings ; and the arguments proceed seriatim, as in ordinary theological disqui- sitions. After describing the nature of contrition, the writer indicates the sources of the seven deadly sins, commencing with pride. He denounces luxury of apparel ; here, after dwelling on feminine finery, he cautiously refers to the equestrian display of ecclesiastics, reminding the reader of the humility of the Saviour of the world. Then he attacks the excesses of the table, a notorious prelatical vice. " Pride of the table appeareth full oft, for certes rich men be cleped to feast, and poor folk be put away and rebuked. Also in excess of divers meats and drinks ; and namely of such manner of baked meats and dished meats, burning of wild fire, and painted and castled with paper, and semblable waste, so that it is abusion for to think. And eke in great 30 LIVES OP THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. feciousness of vessel, and in curiousness of vessel, id of minstrelsy, by the whicli a man is stirred the lore to delights of luxury." No doubt this is directed at the installation ban- nets. The author proceeds to state that a justi- able pride might proceed from the goods of nature, F fortune and of grace, which he thus defines : — Cartes, the goods of the body be health of the 3dy, strength, deliverance, beauty, gentry, fran- lise ; the goods of nature and of soul be good wit, larp understanding, subtle energy, natural virtue, ood memory; the goods of fortune, riches, high egree of lordship, and praising of the people ; the oods of grace be science, power to suffer spiritual •avail, benignity, virtuous contemplation, with- ianding of temptation, and similar things." He who prides himself on their possession is 3scribed as an outrageous fool, for no dependence m be placed upon them ; and the least reliable of .1 is popularity. Tlie remedy for pride is stated ) be humility — of the heart, of the mouth, and of orks — each of whicli is scholastically subdivided, he author next inveighs against the sin of envy, hich he pronounces to be in opposition to all virtue id goodness, and as inducing to every kind of back- iting and social malignity — the only remedy for hich, he says, is the love of God. The next sin is wrath, which produces blood- lirstiness and homicide, false swearing, and the use i" profane oaths, as well as recourse to the black :"t, to falsehood, flattery, cursing, chiding, wicked )unsel, sowing of discord, and double-facedness. f wrath the proper remedies are represented to be WAS 'WICKLIFFE CHAUOBR's " POOR PAESOn"? 461 patience and good-nature. In the same manner the author treats of other sins and their remedies — such as discontent, covetousness, gluttony, drunkenness, and adultery. Throughout this essay there is no reference to the Pope or the cardinals, nor to any of the salient features of the papal system, unless we accept as such the denunciation of luxury already noticed. Had this been the composition of any zealous Roman Catholic, references to Rome would be matters of course. We therefore suggest that it is the production of a religious reformer, advocating the new opinions that aimed at simplicity of worship and independence of papal rule. During the third quarter of the fourteenth century, Chaucer was actively employed by Ed- ward III. at home and abroad ; and a sister of the lady he married, who was Philippa, the queen's namesake, became the wife of the queen's son, John of Graunt, duke of Lancaster. A religious move- ment was then spreading from the universities to the court, and the duke was one of the most active of its supporters. It has been said that the poet had been a pupil of Wickliflfe. "Was the latter, while in- cumbent of Lutterworth, the original of the masterly portrait of the " poor parson of a town "? The great reformer was a model of vu'tue as well as of learning ; moreover was remarkable for the humble Christian characteristics on which the poet dwells with such affectionate earnestness. If Chaucer began the " Canterbury Tales " at any part of this period, there is no obstacle in the way of believing that WickUffe sat for "the Personne's " portrait. The next question for consideration is, was he the 32 LIVES 0¥ THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. itHor of the anonymous Latin treatise on penitence ith wliicli the pilgrimage concludes. The ideas ^pressed there are similar to those attributed to Im and his coadjutors ; moreover, there is the larked absence in it of dependence on Kome. The alj objection to this conjecture is the prayer with hich " The Personne's Tale" terminates; but this le clerical copyist may have added as a proper inclusion of a work that contained many excep- onable passages. It is true that in the " Canterbury Tales" there :-e references to events that occurred in 1386, and lat Wickliffe died two years before this ; but the )mposition of the several narratives is evidently of [fferent dates, and there is every reason for be- sving that the work had a much earlier commence- lent. The poet had been employed on foreign 5rvice from 1370 to 1374, and again in 1377-8, 9 ; L the autumn of the year 1386 he was elected knight of the shire ; and in the December illowing received his first dismissal from his em- ioyments — in which he was reinstated three years 'terwards. His was a busy life, and he could only 3Vote himself to poetry when he could find leisure, nder such circumstances it is not improbable that 3 wrote the several tales at distant intervals, sub- iquently connecting them together. But we wish to suggest the probability of a )mmon action on the part of Wickliflfe and Chaucer . antagonism to Roman abuses ; that while the irson of Lutterworth should preach and write in vour of a reformation, the court poet should hold 3 to ridicule and execration the more odious FfilAR BACON. 463 features of the Papacy requiring reform. Hence the offensive portraits of the friar, the pardoner, the sumpnour, and the canon ; hence also the well- marked contrast in the parish priest. During the last quarter of the fourteenth century, and the first quarter of its successor, these attacks on the obnoxious system obtained wide circulation. Chaucer's MS. of the " Canterbury Tales " was multiplied, and his admirers largely increased. The impression his pictures of clerical life created could not but have materially strengthened the movement in favour of a reformation. There were other influences at work, both at home and abroad, that increased this anti-papal feeling. Ever since Eoger Bacon in his great work * had advocated free inquiry in the investigation of sacred truths, and affirmed that all the knowledge necessary for the right apprehension of the relations of life and of science might be found in the Scriptures, enterprising religious students had been searching with more or less freedom into the known sources of truth, and the New Testament was becoming more and more a resource, a consolation, and an authority. The illustrious Franciscan was a re- former, like his patron Bishop Grosstete. He had desired a revival of primitive Christianity; he had advocated a return to the government of the saints ; moreover, he had insisted that all existing social evils could fairly be traced to ignorance of the word of God. Alexander Hales, " the Irrefragable Doctor," * " Opus Majus," ad Clementem Quartum, Pontif. Eom. Pri- mum edidit S, Jebb, M.D., 1733. 464 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. another great tliinker of extraordinary scholastic influence, was a reformer in a different direction. He caused the theological student to look into the inner nature of man. He defined the operations of divine grace as coming direct from God, and the relation of the creature and the Creator, as having existed from the commencement of being — a love of God having been planted in human nature as a natural instinct, to be perfected into a love of God that shall be superior to every consideration of self.* In this reasoning there is no indication of Church principles. Such an example was not likely to pass unnoticed in the schools, where a disposition to question the philosophy as well as the theology of Rome had long existed. The universities of Paris and of Oxford grew bolder in their investigations of spiritual things, and the authority of the Church of Rome became weaker and weaker, as the defects of the papal system were made more glaring. At last the existence of three rival pontiffs having no special qualification for the exalted office, and the notorious venality of the pon- tifical government, brought schoolmen to the adoption of views that favoured a thorough reformation. The force of public opinion expressed in such important channels reached churchmen, and they, recognizing the idea that something must be done in the way of church reform, called a general council at Pisa; which did nothing except making it more clear that such reformation had become imperative. Gerson, the able chancellor of the university of Paris, at this council denounced the condition of the * "Summa Theologire quadripartite," 1481. A BIRD 0¥ ILL OMEN. 466 great ecclesiastical institution, including popes, pre- lates, and monks, as intolerably immoral and corrupt. The desired reformation was left to be arranged by another general council. All that the council of Pisa did was, at the instigation of one of the worst members of the Sacred College, Cardinal Balthasa Cossa, papal legate at Bologna, to elect a new pope ; and he was Peter Philargi, archbishop of Milan (Alexander Y.). His pontificate was very brief, and his unworthy friend then contrived to fill the vacancy with the title of John XXIII. This pope, who wanted reformation more than anything at Eome, absolutely called a council to assemble in the Holy City, with the avowed object of reforming the Church. It never was intended to do anything. A few prelates met in the year 1412, and followed the precedent of the council of Pisa, in separating without the slightest result. An event happened at this period which created much comment in the court of Rome. The Pontifi" was officiating in the basilica of St. Peter, when an owl flew into the chapel while the choir were chanting " Veni Creator Spiritus." Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, and deacons were alike alarmed by the unwelcome visitor. It was divested of its classic character ; the influence of Minerva was not expected where so infamous a man flourished as the existing visible head of apostolic Christianity, and the symbol of wisdom was regarded as the bird of iU omen — the emblem of darkness, ruin, and desolation. And so Pope John left the profaned chapel with an impression that something decidedly unpleasant to him was looming in the distance. i. 30 4Q6 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. This pontiff could not fail to recognize tlie signs of tlie times as being antagonistic to tlie Papacy, especially tlie declarations of public opinion espressed at tlie principal seats of learning in Europe. He professed himself in favour of a reform of the Church ; but his reform council at Rome was a de- lusion, if not a snare.* His policy was shown in detaching Pierre d'Ailly, archbishop of Cambray, the friend and instructor of Chancellor Gerson, from the reform party, by making him a cardinal; a policy tried with success when the same movement displayed itself in England's great school of learning. Gerson, however, was not won over, nor was his master ; and, before the king of France and a dis- tinguished audience at Paris, he developed his ideas for a complete ecclesiastical reformation. The pro- minent feature in it appears to have been the union of the Greek and Latin churches. Hitherto, Parisian theology had kept much nearer the Eoman model than the English, and had sanctioned no funda- mental change in the existing institution. But it was soon to adopt a bolder line. It was now that Cardinal d'Ailly addressed a letter to his former pupil on the diflBculties that lay in the way of a reformation of the Church by the agency of a general council, in which he pointed out the Sacred College as the real obstruction to the desired change, the cardinals having the election of the Pope entirely in Not more so than were subsequent general councils assembled with the same avowed object — to wit, Constance and Basle — where many sessions were passed in proving that the great officers of the Church of Eome were determined to maintain the status qua. OHANCELLOB QEESON. 407 tteir hands.* He evidently had no opinion of such interposition. Probably the communication was written at the suggestion of the alarmed Pontiff, to discourage any further attempt at ecclesiastical legislation. The chancellor replied with an elaborate disserta- tion, describing a method by which the unity of the Church might be restored, and a reformation pro- duced by a general council. He disposes one by one of the difficulties suggested by his old teacher ; and even ventures to suggest a summary mode of dealing with an unsatisfactory pontiff, with, it must be ad- mitted, not an atom of respect for the presumed sanctity of the pontifical office. " WiU it be asserted," he inquires, " that a pope whose father and grandfather could scarcely obtain beans sufficient to satisfy their hunger, and was merely the offspring of some Venetian fisherman, ought to be permitted to maintain the pontifical dignity, to the injury of the entire ecclesiastical com- munity, including numerous princes and prelates ?"t Having asked this pregnant question, he boldly proceeds : " Behold, the Pope is a man, the son of a man — earth from earth — a sinner, and liable to sin ; the offspring of a poor peasant a short time before he was elevated to the pontifical chair. Does he, in consequence, become sinless as a saint, without re- pentance, without confession, without contrition ? Who made him a saint ? Not the Holy Ghost ; for it is not attracted by social elevation, but by the * " De Difficultate Eeformationis in Concilio TJniversali," 0pp. Gerson, ii. 867. t "De Modis Uniendi ac Eeformandi Ecclesiam," 162. 30 * 468 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. presence of God's love and His grace : nor is lie made so by virtue of his office ; for it may be exer- cised by bad men as well as good."* He wrote much, more to the same purpose ; par- ticularly declaring that the Pontiff was as liable to sin as ordinary men, as well as that the conduct of the prelates and priests of his day was notoriously secular and carnal. He suggested the surrender of the pontifical dignity by the Roman Pope and the disposal of his rivals, and asserted that obedience to such disturbers of the Church was grievous sin. Then he proceeded to advise their expulsion, either by force, by persuasion, by bribery, or by craft. There was a marked advance made in religious opinion when the strong-minded chancellor avowed that the faith of Christians did not rest upon a pope, who was merely an individual, liable to error; and referred to the numerous pontiffs who had robbed the Church, plundered the monasteries, and invented a thousand plans of bestowing benefices for money ; drawing the inevitable conclusion from such pre- mises that it would be difficult to find any one capable of giving up so prodigious a source of profit for the benefit of the community. Gerson then suggested that the proposed reforma- tion council should be convoked by the Emperor, to avoid the dreaded papal influence, and dilated on the arbitrary deviations from the enactments of former councils, and on the evils produced during the papal rule at Avignon by the extortions of the cardinals to maintain the regal state in which they lived — a mode of supply which he avows they had had * " De Modis Uniendi ac Eeformandi Ecclesiam," 167. REFORM OF POPE AND CARDINALS. 4G9 recourse to, even to a greater extent, at tlie council of Pisa. He adds, in tlie same uncompromising spirit : " Because our prelates are dumb dogs, such, constitutions have been permitted to exercise tlie authority of laws, to the production of frightful evils, especially through the dependants of Princes of the Church, who, if they were not assassins, were illiterate cooks, mule-drivers, and grooms, who could secure canonries denied to qualified persons." Moreover, he replied to the question of Cardinal d'Ailly as to what could be done with the Pope and cardinals if they set the council at defiance : "As those priests of Baal who devoured the ofi'erings, while assuring their worshippers that the god had consumed them, and were destroyed when the cheat came to be discovered, so ought," he declares, " it to be with those priests who equally lied to God in profiting by fallacious indulgences, dispensations, and blessings." He expresses his conviction that if,^by their extir- pation, such a reform were not effected in the head and members of the Church, the Pope and car- dinals would accumulate all the property held by Christians. Then he denounces the rob)beries of the papal chancery, where thousands of oflBcials flourished for the increase of gain, but not one for the promo- tion of virtue. " There," he adds, " the daily conversation is of castles, of territory, of warlike weapons, and of gold — rarely, if ever, of chastity, charity, righteousness, faith, or holy behaviour; so that the original spiritual court has become secular, demoniacal, and despotic beyond all example." He next attacks 470 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. "the pride that apes humility" of the pontifical profession, of being " servant of the servants of God," as well as calls in question the assumed spiritual privileges of the Pope ; in short, it was scarcely possible for any sectarian to have shown himself more in earnest in his advocacy of a thorough reformation. Nevertheless, the chancellor was a pillar of Gallican orthodoxy. He desired the reconstruction of the Papacy, in which neither of the existing popes nor the existing cardinals should find a place, because they were too familiar with the old abuses of the system to abandon them.* He was not a schismatic, he was not a heretic, he was not an enemy to the Church : he professed to be a zealous Roman Catholic, desirous of finding a remedy for the notorious evils which a bad system of ecclesiastical government had created throughout Christendom. Gerson's views of church reform stirred Paris, and, as a natural consequence, agitated Oxford. Here, however, more advanced notions had been entertained for a considerable time ; nevertheless, the treatise of the chancellor of the continental university did not pass unnoticed. It was something to know that the reformation of the Church had secured so distinguished an advocate ; and among the divinity students with whom it circulated, its bold exposure of abuses made a lasting impression. The papal influence was generally unpopular ; and, notwithstanding the claims to respect of the few EngUshmen who had become Princes of the Church, the cardinals were not held in much higher respect. * Gerson, " De Modis Uniendi," &c., 189. CONDEMNATION OF THE PAPACY. 471 The memory of Langton and of Langliam remained the most precious connection of the Anglican Church with Rome ; but a sense of the shght put upon the nation by the papal court's niggard disposal of its highest honours, and of the wrong done by their intolerable acquisitiveness, combated whatever re- gard for the institution the conduct of the English cardinals had created. The more observant could not fail to see that the Papacy had become local while stiU assuming to be universal ; and that its action as well as its history were opposed to those pre- tensions to an apostolic and divine origin with which it continued to claim the devotion of Christendom. This misgovernment had long been sufficiently plain to the great body of thinkers as well as of students in England ; and we shall now proceed to show the decided line of action they adopted in the schools and in the pulpit. Chaucer's inimitable exposures did more than yeoman's service in the cause of reform, and long after his death his illus- trations of the evils of the Roman institution continued to promote it. APPENDIX. POPE ADRIAN IV.— CARDINAL LE POULE.— BOSON BREAKSPEAR.— HERBBERT DE BOSHAM.— CON- DITION OF ENGLAND.— CARDINAL LANGTON.— ANTI-POPES. APPENDIX. POPE ADRIAN IV. MORONI'S estimate of the English Pope is thus expressed : — "L' esemplare contegno della sua vita non. andava disgiunto da un sottile intendimento ; era fermo dell' animo, tardo ad accen- dersi, facile al perdono, ma la virtu che piu in lui resplendeva era al certo la beneficenza e il totale disinteresse co' suoi." — " Dizionario di Erudizione Storico-Ecclesiastica," i. 103. There are several of John of Salisbury's letters addressed to Adrian IV. Dr. Giles has printed twenty-two, with which he commences his excellent edition of the works of this celebrated English scholar and divine. He proceeds with the same corre- spondence, after five communications to other persons, and prints four more, the XXXVIII. being the last. (See vol. i. "Epistolse Joannis Saresberiensis.") Among the letters of Peter of Blois there is the one from Adrian to Henry II., respecting the donation of Ireland. — "Petri Blesensis Epistolie " (Giles), ii. 201. Hubs, the Bohemian reformer, refers to the English pope as the originator of the interdict. He certainly employed this papal weapon, and with marked success, upon the Romans ; and it was one of the features in his government imitated by Becket. CARDINAL LE POULE. John of Salisbury mentions " Robert le Poule" as one of the professors at Paris under whom he studied, and as a teacher to be admired as much for his rectitude as for his attainments. " Suc- cessit Robertus Pullus, quem vita pariter et scientia commenda- bant." — Metalogicus, "Joannes Saresberiensis," lib. ii. cap. xi. 476 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. We add another attempt to do honour to this distinguished A-nglo-Norman scholar. " Le Pape Eugene III. avait pour chancelier le Cardinal Robert Pullus,* le premier cardinal anglais que Ton connaisse. Le chan- celier de I'Eglise Romaine etait comme le principal ministre du Pape. Robert Pullus s'appliqua de bonne heure K I'ltude des belles-lettres et des beaux arts, puis a la th6ologie et ^ I'intelligence des livres saints. L'academie d'Oxford, auparavant si celebre dans toute I'Europe, etait k la veille de sa ruine. Robert entreprit de la remettre en vigueur. II y ouvrit des ecoles publiques, en- seigna lui-meme les sciences gratuitement, fit venir des provinces voisines des professeurs et des disciples, en defraya une partie & ses depens, rendit aux autres tous les services possibles, et se declara hautement le protecteur des gens de lettres. Par sa candeur, par la beaute de son esprit, par la probite de ses moeurs, et par son savoir, U gagna I'estime et I'amitie de Henri I*'', roi d'Angleterre. L'amour des sciences et des lettres le fit passer en France. II 6tait h, Paris en 1140, et y enseignait publiquement la theologie. Sa doctrine 6tait saine. Saint Bernard en fut tellement satisfait, qu'il pria Feveque de Rochester de ne plus insister sur le rappel de Pullus en Angleterre. Le Pape Innocent II. ayant connu son merite, I'appela h Rome vers Fan 1142. Lucius II. le fit cardinal du titre de Saint EusSbe en 1144, et chancelier de I'Eglise Romaine." After quoting from a letter addressed to the English cardinal by Saint Bernard, on the election of Eugenius III., the -writer adds : — " Le Cardinal Robei-t Pullus mourut vers I'an 1150. Excellent interprete, bon theologien, 61oquent orateur, il laissa quantite de monuments de son esprit et de son savoir. On connait de lui un ouvrage intitule ' Des Sentences,' divisi en huit parties ; quatre livres sur les paroles remarquables des docteurs, un du m6pris du monde, un de ses legons, un de ses sermons et un des commentaires sur quelques Psaumes et sur 1' Apocalypse ; mais de tous ces ecrits, le seul qui ait vu le jour est celui ' Des Sentences.' C'est un corps entier de theologie divisS en' huit parties, oh. le savant cardinal * In the list of chanoellora given in the " Dizionario di Erudizione," &o., he ia named, under the date 1145, " Eoberto Bnlleno Inglese, fatto oardinale da Innooenzo II. e oauoelliere du Luoio II." No Englishman filled this post subsequently tUl the year 1763. An elaborate account of this dignity, as well as of other administrative offices in the oonrt of Eome, may be found in Moroni. — See article " CanceUeria della S. Eomana Chiesa," &0. &c. APPENDIX. 477 traite solidement les principales questions qui ^taierit agitees £t son 6poque, tant sur les mysteres que sur les sacraments, et il les resout par rautoritfi de I'Ecriture Sainte et des Peres de TBglise. L'universitl d'Oxford, dit-on, celebre tous les ans un panegyrique en rhonneur du Cardinal Robert PuUus, son fondateur et son restaurateur, ferait bien de procurer una bonne edition de toutes ses oeuvres." — Kohrbaclier, " Histoire XJniverselle de I'Eglise Ca- tholique," tome quinzieme, p. 429. BOSON BREAKSPEAR There is a letter from John of Salisbury to Cardinal Boso, wbile the latter was papal secretary, preserved in Dr. Giles's careful edition of his works — Epistola CV., i. 155, " Joannis Saresberiensis Epistolse ; " another is CCCXXI. of the same edition, i. 287, written about 1173. Moroni, " Dizionario di Erudizione Storico-Ecclesiastica," vi. 69, describes Boso as created Cardinal Deacon "da S. Angelo," by Lucius III. in 1183, and by Urban III. elevated to the higher dignity of Cardinal Priest "di S. Anastasia." He gives another biographical notice to "Brekspear Bosone," who, he states, died in 1181. HEREBERT DE BOSHAM. There can be no doubt that Herebert de Bosham lived on very confidential terms with Archbishop Becket, particularly after the latter's flight from England. His Life of the Primate not only gives remarkable evidence of this, but shows that the Pope and the king of France regarded him with favour for the proofs he had displayed of fidelity to his master. A volume of his letters is preserved in Corpus ChrLsti College, Oxford, as well as an imperfect copy of his " De Vita S. Thomse ;" a complete one remains in the Bodleian, and, aided by an imperfect MS. at Arras, Dr. Giles produced the excellent edition of his works for the " Patres Ecclesise Anglicanse." In his preface to the second volume, the learned editor denies that he was ever created a cardinal. Nevertheless, Cardella records his promotion in the year 1178.* * GUes, "Life and Letters of Thomas Becket," 2 vols., 1846. "Herberti de Boseham," 2 vols., 1845. "Memorie Storiche," ii. 121. 478 LIVJBS OP THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. De Bosham's Life of Becket is mucli more theological than biographical. Though eulogistic to the verge of idolatry, it is laboured throughout, and appears not to have been completed till fourteen years after the martyrdom. Of this he was not an eye-witness, as the archbishop, knowing that his zeal had rendered him obnoxious to the king's friends, had prudently sent him out of the kingdom a few days before. Dr. Giles con- siders that he returned and remained in England ; but there is nothing in his writings that disproves the statements of other authors that he went to Home and was rewarded in the manner related in the text. The existence of a contemporary namesake who received such distinctions, rests on as little authority. Moroni, " Dizionario di Erudizione Storico-Ecclesiastica," vi. 64, commences his biography — "Boshan Ereberto, cardinale." There is a letter from John of Salisbiu-y, apparently written about 1170, to Master Herbert. Epistola CCXCVIII. in Dr. Giles's collected edition. We insert an interchange of communications between the martyr's ex-secretary and the Pontiff. Epistola Herberti exulantis post Sancti Th. Martyrium, ad Alexandrum Papam, conquerens quod Domino suo in Gloria et Sociis in pacis solius esset in certamine. " Quod tantfe majestatis oculis parvitas meanon minus impudenter quam irreverenter se ingeret, qua;so pater, ne causemini prsesump- tionem quia urget pressura. Pudor sane reclamat et reverentia, sed dolor superat, cujus plerumque vis nee prsestolari judicium nee temperare consilio, nee pudore frenari, neo ration! subjici solet. Vim ergo patiens, domine, ad te vocifero. Ecce enim Eobertus ille in conspectu Domini venator, qui proprium patrem suum in mortem venatus est, et ipsius sanguine incrassatus, extendit adhuc rete suum ut reliquias etiam imperfecti patris congreget, et incor- poretur sibi. Illos siquidem qui tam fortis athletse prius exulis, nunc vero marlyris in exilio onera tam fortiter quidem sicut mundus novit comportarunt, nunc quserit in spiritu interficere forte postea in came jierempturus. Nam qui hostes reputari noluerint, compellit ad juramenta, si licita, nos videritis. Jura- menti vero forma hsec est. ' Ego enim juro domino regi Anglorum tam patri quam filio quod pacem ipsius servabo, et quod nullum detrimentum suorum regalium per me sustinebit, et quod non egrediar de terra ipsius absque ipsius licentia, neque literas ultra mare mittam,' et ut csetera taceam, quid in hoc juramento re- galium nomine intelligere velit etiam tardioribus manifestum. Ad tale juramentum plerosque jam de nostris compulit : magistrum APPENDIX. 479 videlicet Joannem de Saresberia, dominum Gunterium et alios. Terum si ita jurantes celsitudini vestrse in aliquo videntur excessisse, profecto non modicam habent excusationem de peccato, qui inter crudelissimas manus et in corde maris sunt inclusi. At certe longe aHud esset de parvitate mea judicium si, quod absit, proprio ductus arbitrio ita juraturus accederem ; prsesertim quum proxima ante excessum martyria die nobis nihil tarn horrendum suspicari audentibus, volente ipso martyro Dei et jubente, una cum dilecto socio nostro magistro Alexandro, terram egressus sim et ita favens Dominus, cujus oculi semper prospiciunt super fidem, me incontaminatum huic negotio per gratiam suam reservavit, nee exilii mei gloriam ignominisB infici nsevo sustinuit. " Sed quid nomino exilii gloriam qui martyrii palmam videre non merui. Quin potius torcular calcavit solus et de gentibus non erat nisi cum eo. Hinc est quod quoties ipsius ante mentis mess oculos exilium pono, meum toties exUium plango. Vereor nempe cum forti illo atbleta frustra me in tentationibus suis laborasse, perseverasse non dico, quam consummationi interesse fuerit dene- gatum. TJnde et mihi nunc est duplex inoendium tribulationis. Me quippe lugeo discessisse, decessisse ilium. Verum in disoessu meo video infirmitati mese Domino miserante prospectum, qui in tanto malorum metu fugissem forsitan et absoondissem me ab eo. Sed nee etiam sic consolationem reoipio, quin potius ingemisco, sicut bomo sine adjutorio. En enim imbecUUtatis mese innixus baculo currebam ut potui, cum Isachar illo forti pro viribus portabam onera et cum altero Jeroboal communia Israelis pericula prout datum erat propulsabam. Sed prsecessit velocior et fortior jam bravium apprebendit : ego vero jam sensim in cursu deficio utpote imbecillitatis meee baculo destitutus. Gemo nunc sub sarcina illius humeris subductis, qui totus totum portabat, et qui mihi totum erat. Queeso, pater sancte, ne indignetur majestas tanta, et paululum ante ipsam tribulationem meam pronuncio. Pudet certe prsesumptionis quam altum sapere videor et audere plus forte quam expediat. Audeo sane pietatis mem or, immemor majestatis. Preeterea doloris vis educit spiritum meum et alter- natim nunc verborum nunc lacrimarum fila extrahit ab invito. Exeat enim foras necesse est ignis flamma quo nitus triste pectus adurit et interiora depascitur. Exeat sane necesse est ad oculos, tam pii patris qui sciens quam injustus sit dolor meus plauctum bumanius sestimet, dulcius consoletur. Eecordabitur forte filii sui domini mei et mihi multus erit ad miserandum nunc prsesertim cum ipso vero Christi martyre post pugnam tam gloriose trium- LSO LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CARDINALS. phante, in me, adhuc ipsum afiBigeant in me, &c., &c. Oro igitur :lementissime pater, oro tam Uteris quam lacrimis et a tanta na,)estate non quidem tam temere, quam timide supplico, quid iceat expediatve parvitati mese significari non indignemini, ne si brte diutius exulare contigerit errori id verius quam prudentise, it superbise potius quam justitise imputetur, &c. Super hoc ipso :tiam adjectis si placet gi-atiarum actionibus domini Senonensi cribatis necesse est ; ipsius enim caritatis viscera mihi per filii restri vulnera patuerunt, &c. * * * Juxta quod uni ex fra- ribus de Pontiuiaco, sicut pro certo creditur tam affectu quam labitu monaclio, rubris indutus et crucem suam bajulans, sciscitanti j^uomodo se baberet respondit : Die fratribus meis quod ego vici nundum, et deinde Yulnerum ei monstravit cicatrices, (fee. \_Sequuntur pauca de virtute miraculosa S. Thomce, inutilia.~\ Epistola Alexandri Papse consolatoria ad Herbertum., post Domini sui sancti Thomse Martyrium exulantem. " Alexander episcopus, servus servorum Dei, dilecto filio ma- gistro Herberto salutem, et apostolicam. benedictionem. " Devotionis tuse literas paterna benignitate recepimus, et intel- lectis anxietatibus et angustiis molestiis et pressuris, qiias sequo animo toleras, tibi tanquam devoto et speciali Ecclesise tilio sincera mentis aflfectione compatimur et libenter in quibus possumus gratse consolationis solatium impertimur. Sane quod sanctse recordationis Thomse quondam Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo ita constant! animo adhsesisti, ut eum in exilio suse persequutionis nolueris dimittere, et nunc tenaciter verbo et opere memoriam ejus observes, gratum gerimus et aoceptum, et devotionis tuie constantiam in hac parte prout convenit dignis in Domino laudibus commendamus, firmum gerentes propositum et voluntatem te sicut honestum et literatum virum arctiori caritate diligere ; et de incremento et utilitate tua vigili studio et sollicitudine cogitare. Unde pro statu tuo vigiles admodum et solliciti existentes, dilectis filiis nostris Alberto titulo sancti Laurentii in Lucina, et Theodwino titulo sancti Vitalis, in presbyteris cardinalibus apo- 3tolic:e sedis legatis, firmiter dedimus in mandatis, ut tibi et aliis dericis ac laicis prsefati archiepiscopi gratiam et pacem regis Anglorum acquirant, et nos in terra faciaut reduci et ibidem secure manere. Si autem forte secundum desiderium nostrum non aotuerint apud praifatum proficere regem et tibi ejus pacem et jratiam invenii-e, tua intererit nobis significare, qualiter tuae possimus provisioni commodius intendere et in quo tibi honeste APPENDIX. 481 Yaleamus et utiliter providere. Nos enim necessitatibus tuis libenti animo intendere cupimus, et tibi tanquam speoiali et devoto Ecclesise filio efficaciter in eo quod nos decuerit et expedire viderimus, auctore Domino, cui-abimns providere. Tu ergo com- fortare in Domino et in eo spem tuam et fiduciam ponas, qui non derelinquit sperantes in se, sed et post nubilum faciat tranquillum et cum tentatione proventum. Datum Tusculani, VIII. alb. Julii.— Herberti de Boseham Epistolre XXXIV. et XLI. " Patres Ecclesise Anglicanse." CONDITION OF ENGLAND. The spiritual condition of the country to'^ards tlie conclusion of tlie tweltli century is grapbioally described by Peter of Blois •while archdeacon of Bath, at the beginning of his letter to the' Cardinal-Legate Octavian, written in the year 1187 : — "Argumentum. Dolenter queritur passim indignos, sive scien- tiam, sive vii-tutem, sive fetatem spectes, per summam ambitionem in episcopatus, aliasque dignitates irruere : obtestaturque Octa- vianum Apostolicse sedis Legatum, et sua auctoritate interposita ambitiosos et simoniacos omnes ab Ecclesise gvibernaculis arceat. " Carissimo domino et amico Oct. S. Romanse ecclesise cardinali presbytero, apostolicse sedLs legato, magister P. B. Bath. Archid. salutem. " ' O curas hominum ! O quantum est in rebus inane.' inanis gloria ! O ambitio cteca ! O terreni honoris inexplebilis fames ! O tinese cordium, animarum subversio, ci\piditas dignitatum ! Unde obrepsit hsec pestis ? Unde invaluit hsec execranda prre- sumptio, ut indigni dignitates ambiant ; et qnanto minus meruerunt ascendere ad honores, tanto importunius honoribus se importent ] Hodie, per fas et nefas, hodie in animaj corporisque discrimine currunt Lnfelices ad cathedram pasto- ralem, nee attendunt, quod sit eis cathedra pestilentite, dum sibi et aliis sit occasio ruinse. In gregibus et armentis, teste Hieronymo, aries et taurus corpore et animositate prtestantior alios antecedit ; homo vero bestiis omnibus bestialioi-, tanto indiscretius et audacius melioribus anteesse prsesumit, quanto minus de virtutum titulis, aut conscientite sinceiitate confidit. Utinam saperent, et intelligerent, ac novissima proAdderent, nee populi iniquitates suis excessibus aggregarent. Verba sunt 32 LIVES OF THE ENGLISH CAEDINALS. :clesiastici : Noli quterere ab homine ducatum, neque a rege .thedram honoris. Noli quajrere fieri judex, nisi valeas virtute rumpere iniquitates populi. Non te immittas in populum, nee liges tibi peccata duplicia. Qui nihil didicit, aliorum doctor Ecitur, et quasi ses sonans aut cymbalum tinniens visurpat ■Eedicantis ofiicium, quum sit truuous inutilis et idolum mutum. pud veteres erat conditio sapientum insestimabiliter venerabilis, )dieque pnidentia tanquam vilis et abjecta calcatur : quadam ;ro abominabili mutatione stultitia ponitur in sublirni," &c. He concludes : — ■ "Tuigitur, amantissime pater, qui a latere summi j)ontificis issus es, ut legatione fungaris pro Christo, surge in extirpationeni cecratissimEe pestis hujus. Ecce constituit te Dominum super intes et regna, ut evellas et destruas, ut disperdas et dissipes, ut Jifices et plantes. Accendatur et ignesoat zelus tuse auctoritatis Iversus ambitionis malum, dissipa et evelle plantationes iniquas. Mifica, et planta in ecclesia Dei tales, quos humilitas, quos nocentia, quos vita probatior et litteratura commendet ; qui ibjectos doceant ; qui divites non palpent ; pauperes non gravent ; li minas potentum non timeant ; qui crimina corrigant, et arsupia non emungant ; quorum sermo sit doctrina ; quorum inversatio sit justitia ; quorum auctoritas sit, non in habitu, non fastu, sed in eruditione et defensione fidei ; quorum vita sit iblicEB commendabilis ; quorum memoria in benedictione. Ad Lum, et collegse tui ingressum quseso Isetetur Ecclesia Christi, ut a moniacis et ambitiosis oppressa, sub vestra consolatione respiret. ongaudeant clerici, et exultent populi, se hodLe invobis suscepisse ves apostolorum, et domesticos Dei : portantes pacem, et il- .minantes patriam, nobis et aliis vitfe teterna; poscentes prsemia, ut ; labore et solicitudine vestrse legationis immaroessibilis justitise anipulos reportetis." — " Petri Bleseusis Epistolse," i. 84. CARDINAL LANGTON. Stephen Langton took a profound interest in his sainted pre- jcessor. He not only impoverished himself by the grand cere- onial to his honour described in the text, but wrote an essay ispecting it, which Dr. Giles has included in his valuable collection ■ biographies — " Stephani Langton, Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, ractatus de Translatione Beati Thoiua;" — " Patres Ecclesiee Angli- APPENDIX. 483 canse," ii. 269. A knowledge of this devotion seems to have induced the abbot of Croyland to dedicate to the cardinal his life of Beckefc. ANTIPOPES. The existence of sects endeavouring to be independent of Rome never was half so injurious to the Papacy as the quarrels of rival popes. The strong language some pontiffs had lavished on con- tumacious emperors was mild in comparison with the abuse they directed against each other. It had consequences they never anticipated. It was clear that they intended to fling dirt enough ; bu.t instead of sticking to their antagonists, it stuck to the Papacy. Christendom was invited to look on while two or more pretenders to apostolic dignity engaged in a scolding-match in which each strove to make out the other to be pre-eminently vile and criminal. Unfortunately, more than one holder of the papal ofiice disgraced it by his mode of life, and a conflict of pontifical denunciations could scarcely fail to leave on the lookers- on an impression anything but favourable to the combatants. It chanced that when the minds of zealous Christians had become sensible of the evils of the existing Church government, these melancholy evidences of the viciousness of the system were most prominent. This was peculiarly the case during the progress of the pre-Lutheran reformation. There were again two " vicars of Christ," two "vicegerents of God," two "fathers of fathers" — both venerable, upwards of seventy, and unquestionably, according to their own evidence, both unrivalled impostors. At last a sense of the injury they were doing the Church by their unworthiness, so profoundly impressed the College of Cardinals and other ecclesiastical dignitaries, that they had recourse to the extreme measure of calling a general council for the purpose of insuring their deposition — thus raising a power superior to that of the Pope. In the course of this procedure, two significant facts are made manifest — I. ' The necessity of a reformation of the papal ofiice, proved by the misconduct of its chief administrator. II. The lioUowness of paj)al infallibility, declai'ed by the electoral body with whom the pontifical election resided. Nothing can be clearer than the deduction that under divine direction the pre- siding head of the Church, and those next to him in dignity and 484 LIVES OF THK ENGLISH CAEDINALS. influence, were helping, if not inaugurating, a reformatory move- ment. Tlie reader in the course of the ensuing narratives will see how this movement progressed in England ; but though it is antici- pating to enter upon those great ecclesiastical efforts at legislation that distinguished the first decade of the fifteenth centuiy, we cannot help referring to them here as the effect of causes noticed in the preceding pages. The cardinals (who appear to have been nearly all Italians) published their opinions of Gregory XIIT. and Benedict XIII. in very plain language as perjurers, heretics, drunkards, madmen — everything that was false and depi'aved ; and sum- moned them to appear for judgment before a general council. It met at Pisa, and consisted of four patriarchs, fourteen arch- bishops, and a hundred and two bishops or their procurators, eighty-seven abbots, forty-one priors ; besides delegates from all the principal universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, a hundred chapters, three hundred doctors, as well as ambassadors from several of the principal sovereigns in Euroj^e. There was a noble embassy from England, representing the two jjrimates, and several bishops, one of whom bore the honoured name of Hallam. Their first meeting was on Lady-day, 1409, and on the 5tli of June their judgment was pronounced against pope and antipope for enormous iniquities and crimes. They were deposed, and the Papacy declared vacant. Twenty-six cardinals were occupied eleven days in the election of a successor, and it fell upon a cardinal who was a member of the Friars Minors — the mendi- cants that had excited so large an amount of ill-feeling in France and England. JSTevertheless the great object of the^new pontiff^ was to aggrandise the order ; and of course his favour increased the detestation in which they were held by the regular clergy. — L'Enfant, " Concile de Pisa," i. 239. END OF VOLUME I. ■WTMAN AND SONS, PKINTKKg, GREAT QUEEN" STREET, LOIfEON, W.C. EIij Diocesan douiiGil of dhurch Wju^ic. /7 November^ l8gi. Dear Sir, It is proposed, with the permission of the Dean and Chapter, to hold a Diocesan Festival of Parochial Choirs in Ely Cathedral, in the course of next year, most likely in June. The selection of music includes : — MAGNIFICAT, (and Nunc Dim. not to be used at Ely) in C Steggall. ANTHEM I - - - - " O clap your hands." - - - - Stainer. ANTHEM II - " Lord for thy tender mercies' sake." - Farrant. OVERTURE for Band and Organ " The Occasional." - - Handel. CHORUS I - - " How lovely are the messengers." - - Mendelssohn. CHORUS II - - - - - " Hallelujah." ----- Handel. It is requested that if there is any probability of your Choir taking part in the Festival you will notify this to one of the undersigned before ist January, stating the approximate number of voices in your Choir. A reply will in any case oblige, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully, (Rev.) F. W. HUDSON, Fulbourn, F. W. M0RLEY,4, The Causeway, Cambridge, Hon. Sees. N.B.— The Music is now ready for distribution. Appli- cation should be made to the Hon. Sec. for your Arch- deaconry. The Archidiaconal Secretaries are : — Ely — Rev. f. F. E. Faning, King's College, Cambridge. Bedford — F. A. Blaydes, Esq., Shenstone Lodge, Bedford. Huntingdon — Rev. G. E. Sharland, Stow Longa, Kim- bolton. Sudbury — Rev. Leslie Mercer, Hawsted, Bury St. Edmunds. There will be a meeting of Choirmasters at the Church of England Young Men's Rooms, St. Edward's Passage, Cambridge, on Saturday the 28th inst. at 2 p.m., to go through the music with the Conductor.