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and for the Holy Roman See should move you; for it is to be feared that if all are made to feel the universal oppression, there will be a universal defection, which God forbid!" After such plain speaking there was nothing for the legate to do but to draw back as gracefully as he might. He stated that this demand which he had put forward had been decided upon after he had left the Curia, and that personally he would not have consented to it, and indeed was very sorry that it had ever been made. He added also that he believed that it was made on the understanding that it should not be enforced in France, unless other Christian countries, the Empire, England and Spain were willing to accept it. He finally pledged himself that no further attempt should be made in this direction until the prelates of other countries had given their assent to the proposed taxation, "which," he added, "I do not think will be the case."

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This exposition of what had happened in France left a profound impression on the English assembly. This is evidenced not only by the record in the English chronicles of the period, but also by the full entry of Langton's account in the episcopal register of Salisbury. The result of the English meeting, in view of what had happened in France, was a foregone conclusion. When the archbishop finally proposed the question to the assembled prelates, as he had been instructed to do by the pope's letters, "all," says the chronicler," burst out into laughter at the covetousness of the Romans who did not understand the force of the moral:

'Quod virtus reddit, non copia, sufficientem

Et non paupertas, sed mentis hiatus, egentem.'

To dispose finally of the matter, however, King Henry 1 Reg. S. Osmundi, ii. 54.

called the prelates and some of the chief nobles apart; and having talked over the whole business, they gave the following reply to the request Archbishop Langton had made in the name of Pope Honorius:

"What the lord pope asks us to do is a matter which affects the whole Christian world. We are placed, as it were, on the very confines of the world, and consequently desire to see how other kingdoms will act in regard to these proposed exactions. When we shall have the example of what others do before our eyes, the lord pope will not find us more backward in obedience."

With this reply given to the demands of the Curia on behalf of the king and the prelates, the assembly was dismissed.1

Matthew Paris, iii. 109.

CHAPTER VI

ENGLISH ECCLESIASTICAL POLITICS FROM THE DEPARTURE OF THE NUNCIO OTHO TO THE DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP LANGTON

WHEN the papal proposals had been disposed of in the great meeting at St. Paul's, in the May of 1226, the Church in England once more returned to its normal state of government. The continued action of the pope on both ecclesiastical and lay affairs is still, however, manifested in the documents of the period. Thus, to take one or two examples of his direction in matters of state during the year 1226. Early in the year, Honorius III writes to Guy of Lusignan blaming him for his opposition to Henry. He reminds him that the oath of fidelity, by which he, as a vassal, was bound to the English king, was held everywhere as a sacred obligation. History will teach him how much men who understood their duty in this matter had suffered rather than be false, whilst, "as we have learnt," he says, "from the complaints of our beloved son in Christ, Henry, the illustrious king of the English," you have not hesitated without cause to break your fealty to him. He warns him of his sin in thus going back upon his solemn word, and declares that he is bound to warn him to return to his duty to his king, and being reconciled to his earthly lord, he may know that he has made his peace with his heavenly king. If, within a month, Guy de Lusignan has

not done what the pope commands in this matter, he is to be formally excommunicated.'

In the same way, at this time, Pope Honorius interested himself in obtaining the pecuniary assistance, of which, as had been represented to him, the English king stood so much in need. Thus he writes to the archbishops and other prelates in Ireland, asking them to contribute liberally to their sovereign, out of their ecclesiastical revenues. "The liberties of the Church," he says, "are not injured but rather strengthened, if, according as times and circumstances demand, their defender is helped liberally." Now the English sovereign stands in great need of money, and “as we have ordered an aid to be given to him by the clergy of England, we have determined to exhort, ask, and by our Apostolic letters order all of you" to do the same," since the kingdom of Ireland is recognised as belonging to him.”

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The pope's fatherly care of the young king was manifested in many other ways. His legate in France, Romanus, was directed to induce Louis, whilst attacking the Albigenses, to abstain from interfering in any way with the dominions of King Henry in France. At the same time Honorius writes to the English king warning him not to help Raymund of Toulouse against Louis. The latter, at the request of the pope, had undertaken to repress the heresy that was rife in the dominions of the former. In making this demand on the French king for this service to the Church, the pope had acted upon the order of the General Council, that where any temporal ruler either could not or would not extirpate heretical opinions in his territory, it was the duty of the pope to invite someone else to undertake the work. This being so, Honorius warns Henry, whom he "loves with greater affection than other princes," 3 Bouquet, xix. 771.

1 Rymer, i. 181.

2 Ibid.

not to assist Count Raymund in any way, "for since he is excommunicate, with all his abettors," he says, "besides the stain it will be upon the purity of your faith (if you do so), it will involve you in the same sentence of excommunication."'

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On the other hand, the pope exerted himself, by all means in his power, to preserve the peace, which was at best of a very precarious nature, between this country and France. His legate in the latter country was constantly warned to do all in his power to avert the outbreak of active hostilities between the two countries, and to secure a safe conduct and a proper treatment for Henry's messengers to the Curia, whenever they were passing through the French king's dominions.' Henry on his part, who was on the point of invading France when he received the pope's prohibition, read the letter to his counsellors, asked their advice, and, in accordance with it, put off his proposed expedition." The king's brother, Richard of Cornwall, was also forbidden by Honorius to take any part against Louis during his crusade against the Albigenses of Toulouse.

As might be expected, the pope was not always well informed, in individual cases, about the facts. As a rule, however, his decisions were protected from error and his judgements rendered sound, by the employment of commissioners in the country to try the issues. Occasionally this useful and necessary precaution appears to have been neglected, with corresponding evil results. One such case happened at this time in regard to the wife of Falkes de Breauté, whose case had been, for some not quite obvious reason, warmly espoused by the pope. On the submission of de Breauté, after the fall of Bedford Castle, the wife of

1 Royal Letters, i. 545. 2 Brit. Mus. Add. MS., 15,352, ff. 325, 335. 3 Roger de Wendover, ii. 544.

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