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year, 1220, this permission was extended to all benefices in his diocese which were not impropriated to some conventual establishment.' And, by a second letter, two days later, he was permitted to reward his servants with English benefices in any diocese, since in his own there were few to be had and those of little value.2

On 17th May, 1220, Henry III was solemnly crowned at Westminster in the presence of Pandulph. Langton sang the Mass and preached to the people. Most of the bishops and prelates of England assisted at the function, with the exception of the archbishop of York, who, it is suggested, did not come because of the difficulties raised by the archbishop of Canterbury against his carrying the archiepiscopal cross in the southern province. In accordance with the express direction of the pope, the barons who were present took oaths to restore the royal castles to the king, and to render him an account of the revenues received since they had been in their keeping."

The legate does not appear to have been present at Canterbury, when on 7th July, the body of St. Thomas was translated with great ceremony. Extensive preparations had been made for this event, which, as it took place in the fiftieth year after the death of the martyr, was made a universal jubilee for the whole of England. The king attended the ceremony of transferring the body to the new shrine "made by the wonderful artist, Walter the sacrist of St. Alban's," and the festival was conducted by William de Joinville, archbishop of Rheims, in the presence of Langton and a great number of bishops. The cardinal entertained the company after the function in the new palace he had built, which to the eyes of contemporary 2 Ibid., f. 84.

Brit. Mus. Add. MS., 15,352, f. 81.
3 Ann. Monastici, iii. 57.

chroniclers could hardly have been surpassed by the glories of King Solomon's buildings, and the banquet was such as recalled the feastings of King Assuerus.1

When these festivities were over, Archbishop Langton set out for Rome in the autumn of 1220. He was away until the August of the following year, when he returned, writes the chronicler, "with glory and honour." How he managed to persuade the pope to grant him the important privileges with which he returned to this country, does not appear; but the result was a complete victory for his policy as regards the administration of the English Church. The three points named by the chroniclers as having been granted to him by Honorius III were the following: that the archbishop of York should carry his cross only in his own province; that the pope should not give away any English benefice to a foreigner in succession to a foreigner; and that no legate should ever again be sent into England during Langton's lifetime. The date of one of these privileges, 24th February, 1221, shows that the archbishop soon obtained from the pope what he went for to Rome. Although nothing is said about Pandulph, the triumph of Langton's diplomacy effectually put an end to his influence. The confirmation of Eustace of Falkenburg to the See of London on 25th February, 1221,2 appears to have been the last act of the legate in England. The pope must have written to him to resign his office; and on 19th July, 1221, before Langton had returned to England "by order of the pope," in the presence of the bishops of Salisbury, Winchester and London, he declared his resignation of his legateship and left England at the following Michaelmas.

1 Matthew Paris, iii. 59; cf. also Ann. Mon., ii. 293: Ann. Mon., iii. 58; Chron. de Melsa, i. 406; Wilkins, i. 572.

2 Radulphus de Coggeshall, 189.

3 Flores Historiarum, ii. 172-173.

His departure was rendered somewhat less unpleasant by his being sent to Poitou on a mission, and from thence he went on to Rome. As there was now no longer any reason why he should delay his consecration to the See of Norwich, · he was made bishop by Honorius III on 29th May, 1222. He remained attached to the interests of England, and especially to those of the king, till his death in 1226, when his body was brought from Rome to England and buried in the cathedral at Norwich.

CHAPTER IV

ECCLESIASTICAL REORGANISATION

THE promise of Pope Honorius on the departure of Pandulph, that during Langton's lifetime no further legate should be sent into England, was kept. The absence of any papal representative with unlimited legatine powers did not, however, in the least imply that the pope's power in England was in any way diminished, or that his personal interest in the country had at all slackened. Honorius III, during this period, merely acted directly through the archbishop of Canterbury and the English bishops, and the numerous letters written by him during the three years which followed the departure of Pandulph in 1222, in which he dealt with all manner of subjects, prove his continued hold over the English Church, and, as far as there was need or occasion, his watchful care, as supreme lord, also over the affairs of State.

In the early part of this period, the authorities of the English Church devoted much attention to ecclesiastical discipline. The pope, in several letters addressed to the bishops, urged them to put down abuses which had sprung up, or become more firmly established, during the long period of national disturbance. Amongst these, two in particular required immediate attention: the position of married clerics, and the practice, which had crept in, of the sons of clerics being allowed to succeed to benefices pre

viously held by their fathers.' At this time, several of the English bishops issued diocesan constitutions which manifest their strong desire for better discipline; and these regulations, which are still extant, enable us to form a fair notion of clerical life and practice. To take an example: the Synodical decrees of the diocese of Durham, issued by Bishop Richard Marsh, are embodied in a document of exceptional interest. The general tenor of this constitution, and in many parts its verbal expression, is copied by the bishop of Salisbury, Richard Poore, who was the friend, and afterwards the successor, of Bishop Marsh at Durham. The whole of this legislation, however, is, not improbably, attributed to Archbishop Langton.

Some few of the provisions of this constitution may be here noticed as of exceptional interest. The duty of priests, for example, to instruct the people in their religion, is insisted upon. Every parish priest is reminded that by virtue of his office, he is bound "often to teach" the flock committed to him, the articles of the creed and the Christian practices "without which faith is dead." In order to secure that this duty be faithfully and truly observed, the archdeacons are enjoined to see that the clergy of their various districts know, and, if necessary, rehearse before them, the exposition of Catholic faith enjoined by the late Council of the Lateran in 1215. They are further to warn them to explain the various points of the faith frequently to their people in the vulgar tongue (domestico idiomate). Besides this, they are to exhort the faithful to recite the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Hail Mary, and they are constantly to collect the children of their parish together for instruction, and to see that there are one or two of the more advanced capable of teaching their companions these prayers. 1 1 Brit. Mus. Add. MS., 15,352, ff. 132, 136. 2 Wilkins, i. 572.

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