69. The Pope deposes the King

A. 1212. About this time Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops William of London, and Eustace of Ely, went to Rome and informed the pope of the divers rebellions and enormities perpetrated by the king of England from the time of the interdict up to the present time, by unceasingly laying the hands of rage and cruelty on the holy church in opposition to the Lord; and they therefore humbly supplicated the pope in his pious compassion to assist the church of England, now labouring as it were in its last extremities. The pope then being deeply grieved for the desolation of the kingdom of England, by the advice of his cardinals, bishops, and other wise men, definitively decreed that John king of England should be deposed from the throne of that kingdom, and that another, more worthy than he, to be chosen by the pope, should succeed him. In pursuance of this his decree, our lord the pope wrote to the most potent Philip, king of the French, ordering him, in remission of all his faults, to undertake this business, and declaring that, after he had expelled the English king from the throne of that kingdom, he and his successors should hold possession of the kingdom of England for ever. Besides this, he wrote to all the nobles, knights, and other warlike men throughout the different countries, ordering them to assume the sign of the cross, and to follow the king of the French as their leader, to dethrone the English king, and thus to revenge the insult which had been cast on the universal church: he also ordered that all those who afforded money or personal assistance in overthrowing that contumacious king, should, like those who went to visit the Lord's sepulchre, remain secure under the protection of the church, as regarded their property, persons, and spiritual interests. After this the pope, on his part, sent Pandulph, a sub-deacon, with the archbishop and bishops above-named, into the French provinces, that in his own presence all his commands above related might be fulfilled; Pandulph, however, on leaving the pope when all others were away from him, secretly inquired of his holiness what it was his pleasure should be done, if by chance he should find any of the fruits of repentance in John, so that he would give satisfaction to the Lord and the church of Rome for all matters in regard of this business. The pope then dictated a simple form of peace, and said that if John determined to agree to it, he might find favour with the apostolic see.

70. The Papal Legate in England

A. 1213. Whilst the English king was with his army waiting the approach of the king of the French near the seacoast, two of the brothers of the Temple arrived at Dover, and coming to the king in a friendly manner said to him: "We have been sent to you, most potent king, for the benefit of yourself and your kingdom, by Pandulph the sub-deacon and familiar of our lord the pope, who desires to have an interview with you; and he will propose to you a form of peace, by which you can be reconciled to God and to the church, although you have by the court of Rome been deposed from your right to the sovereignty of England, and been condemned by decree of that court." The king then, on hearing the speech of the Templars, ordered them immediately to cross the sea and fetch Pandulph to him. Pandulph therefore, on this invitation of the king came to him at Dover, and spoke to him in these words: "Behold, the most potent king of the French is at the mouth of the Seine with a countless fleet, and a large army of horse and foot, waiting till he is strengthened with a larger force, to come upon you and your kingdom, and to expel you from it by force, as an enemy to the Lord and the supreme pontiff, and afterwards, by authority of the apostolic see to take possession of the kingdom of England for ever. There are also coming with him all the bishops who have for a long while been banished from England, with the exiled clergy and laity, by his assistance, to recover by force their episcopal sees and other property, and to fulfil to him for the future the obedience formerly shown to you and your ancestors. The said king moreover says that he holds papers of fealty and subjection from almost all the nobles of England, on which account he feels secure of bringing the business he has undertaken to a most successful termination. Consult therefore your own advantage, and become penitent as if you were in your last moments, and delay not to appease that God whom you have provoked to a heavy vengeance. If you are willing to give sufficient security that you will submit to the judgment of the church, and to humble yourself before Him who humbled himself for you, you may, through the compassion of the apostolic see, recover the sovereignty, from which you have been abjudicated at Rome on account of your contumacy. Now therefore reflect, lest your enemies shall have cause to rejoice over you, and bring not yourself into difficulties,

from which, however you may wish to do so, you will not be able to extricate yourself."

71. The Repentance of the King

[A.D. 1213.] King John, hearing and seeing the truth of all this, was much annoyed and alarmed, seeing how imminent the danger was on every side. There were four principal reasons, which urged him to repentance and atonement; the first was that he had been now for five years lying under excommunication, and had so offended God and the holy church, that he gave up all hopes of saving his soul; the second was, that he dreaded the arrival of the French king, who was waiting near the sea-coast with a countless army, and planning his downfall; the third was, he feared, should he give battle to his approaching enemies, lest he should be abandoned to himself in the field by the nobles of England and his own people, or be given up to his enemies for destruction; but his fourth reason alarmed him more than all the rest, for the day of our Lord's ascension was drawing near, when he feared that, according to the prophecy of Peter the hermit mentioned above, he should with his life lose the temporal as well as the eternal kingdom. Being therefore driven to despair by these and the like reasons he yielded to the persuasions of Pandulph, and, although not without pain, he granted the underwritten form of peace; he also swore by the holy gospels in the presence of Pandulph, that he would be obedient to the church's sentence, and sixteen of the most powerful nobles of the kingdom swore on the soul of the king himself, that, should he repent of his promise, they would, to the utmost of their power, compel him to fulfil it.

72. John resigns Crown and Kingdom to the Pope

[A.D. 1213.] Matters having been thus arranged on the fifteenth of May, which was the eve of Ascension-day, the English king and Pandulph, with the nobles of the kingdom, met at the house of the Knights Templars near Dover, and there the said king, according to a decree pronounced at Rome, resigned his crown with the kingdoms of England and Ireland into the hands of our lord the pope, whose functions the said Pandulph was then performing. After having resigned them then he gave the aforesaid kingdoms to the pope and his successors, and confirmed them to the latter by the underwritten charter:

"John, by the grace of God, king of England, &c. to all the faithful servants of Christ who shall behold this charter, health in the Lord. We wish it, by this our charter signed with our seal, to be known to you, that we, having in many things offended God and our mother the holy church, and being in great need of the divine mercy for our sins, and not having wherewithal to make a worthy offering as an atonement to God, and to pay the just demands of the church, unless we humiliate ourselves before Him who humiliated himself for us even to death; we, impelled by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and not by force or from fear of the interdict, but of our own free will and consent, and by the general advice of our barons, assign and grant to God, and his holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to the holy church of Rome our mother, and to our lord pope Innocent and his catholic successors, the whole kingdom of England and the whole kingdom of Ireland, with all their rights and appurtenances, in remission of the sins of us and our whole race, as well for those living as for the dead; and henceforth we retain and hold those countries from him and the church of Rome as vicegerent, and this we declare in the presence of this learned man Pandulph, subdeacon and familiar of our lord the pope. And we have made our homage and sworn allegance to our lord the pope and his catholic successors, and the church of Rome in manner hereunder written; and we will make our homage and allegiance for the same in presence of our lord the pope himself, if we are able to go before him; and we bind our successors and heirs by our wife for ever, in like manner, to do homage and render allegiance, without opposition, to the supreme pontiff for the time being, and the church of Rome. And in token of this lasting bond and grant, we will and determine that, from our own income and from our special revenues arising from the aforesaid kingdoms, the church of Rome shall, for all service and custom which we owe to them, saving always the St. Peter's pence, receive annually a thousand marks sterling money; that is to say, five hundred marks at Michaelmas, and five hundred at Easter; that is, seven hundred for the kingdom of England, and three hundred for Ireland; saving to us and our heirs all our rights, privileges, and royal customs. And as we wish to ratify and confirm all that has been above written, we bind ourselves and our successors not to contravene it; and if we, or any one of our successors, shall dare to oppose this, let him, whoever he be, be deprived

of his right in the kingdom. And let this charter of our bond and grant remain confirmed for ever. Witness myself at the house of the knights of the Temple near Dover, in the presence of Henry archbishop of Dublin, John bishop of Norwich, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Pembroke, Reginald count of Boulogne, William earl Warenne, Sayer earl Winton, William earl of Arundel, William earl of Ferrars, William Briuere, Peter Fitz-Herebert, and Warin Fitz-Gerald, this fifteenth day of May, in the fourteenth year of our reign."

73. John does Homage to the Pope

[A.D. 1213.] This charter of the king's, as above-mentioned, having been reduced to writing, he delivered it to Pandulph to be taken to pope Innocent, and immediately afterwards in the sight of all, he made the underwritten homage: “I, John, by the grace of God, king of England and lord of Ireland, will, from this time as formerly, be faithful to God, St. Peter, the church of Rome, and to my liege lord pope Innocent and his catholic successors; I will not act, speak, consent to, or advise, anything by which they may lose life or limb, or be exposed to caption by treachery; I will prevent damage to them if I am aware of it; and, if in my power, will repair it; or else I will inform them as soon as in my power so to do, or will tell it to such a person as I believe will be sure to inform them of it; any purpose which they may entrust to me themselves, or by their messengers or letters, I will keep secret, and, if I know of it, will not disclose it to any one to their injury; I will assist in holding and defending the inheritance of St. Peter, and particularly the kingdoms of England and Ireland, against all men, to the utmost of my power. So may God and the holy gospel help me, Amen."

-

[A.D. 1214.] By the advice of Pandulph, ... Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops William of London, Eustace of Ely, Hubert of Lincoln, and Giles of Hereford, embarked in company with others of the clergy and laity who were in exile on account of the interdict, and, landing at Dover on the 16th of July, they set out to see the king, and came to him at Winchester on St. Margaret the virgin's day. The king, when he heard of their approach, went out to meet them, and when he saw the archbishop and bishops, he prostrated himself at their feet, and besought them in tears to