Hen. II., Pope Urban to stop the completion of the edifice. Arch- CHAP. XXIX. bishop Baldwin was residing at his Manor-house at Wingham at this time, and two of the monks were sent from Canterbury to serve the process; the Primate received it, but to punish the monks for what he considered an act of insolent insubordination, he dismounted them, and sent them home on foot. Urban then appointed the Abbots of Battle, Faversham, and St. Augustine to enforce its execution, which they prepared to do, when Glanville, Lyttleton's the Grand Justiciary, forbad them to proceed. Henry Vol. VI., on this occasion supported the Archbishop against the p. 311. Pope, and Baldwin not only would not allow the monks. to hold their usual manor courts, but seized their possessions. The Pope on this wrote to the King, but dying soon after, was succeeded by Gregory VIII., who was a friend of the Primate. This encouraged Baldwin to proceed with so much rigour against the monks that their revenues were all impounded, and they were compelled to live on alms. Gregory, however, also soon died, when his successor, Clement III., befriended the monks, and commanded the Prior of Faversham to excommunicate those who had been guilty of violence against them. This mandate the Prior obeyed, but the secular clergy in Canterbury slighted it. In the name of the King and Archbishop they forbad their parishioners to avoid the society of the excommunicated persons, and went so far as to say in their sermons, "the Pope's sentence had no force in the Archbishop's diocese." Some citizens of Canterbury, including a nephew of Becket, supported the Pope, and they were committed by an order from the King to prison in Canterbury; but Henry's death put a stop to the controversy. By the favour of the Cardinal the monks were at last triumphant, and the Pope's Bull was enforced for pulling down such portions of the building as had been erected. A small chapel was built at the foot of St. Thomas' Hill, Canterbury, which took its name from the martyr; but the chief part of the materials was employed in building a church at Lambeth, a place that had just CHAP. XXIX. come into Baldwin's possession by exchange with the On his return from the north the King held a great "Robert of Turnham with his fauchion Gan to cracke many a croun." Rob. Glouc.t and Hugh Nevill, the chief Forester of England-all great 'The strength of Hugh a lion slew."+ Richard placed Longchamp (a Norman of obscure birth, who was his Chancellor and Bishop of Ely) regent over the south, and the Bishop of Durham over the north, and amply provided for his brother John, whose fidelity he doubted. The Regents soon quarrelled, and Longchamp, who had a retinue of 1,000 horsemen, assumed the government of the whole kingdom. Pope Clement, whose Legate he was, took part with him. A report from his mother, of Longchamp's proceedings, reached Richard, and he sent Walter, Archbishop of Rouen, to England, to be joined with Longchamp in * His father, also named Robert, founded the priory of Combwell, in Goudhurst, about 1160. + Robert of Gloucester makes King Richard mourn his loss, while Hasted says he lived to serve under King John, and was present with him at Lincoln when the King of Scots did homage to John. We shall meet with Robert of Thurnham in the next reign. Tradition says that Hugh Nevill killed a lion, though the King has he credit of it; only based on an idle fancy as to the origin of the appelation "Cœur de Lion." the regency. The Chancellor would not consent to a CHAP. XXIX. division of his power, and Richard's brother John then took up arms against him; but as each was bent on his own personal advancement, to the prejudice of the sovereign and the nation, they soon settled their differences. The See of York was at this time vacant (1192), and Longchamp, who had wasted its revenues, opposed the election of an Archbishop; but Geoffrey, the King's natural brother, was at last consecrated by the Archbishop of Tours. He was on the point of returning to England to be installed, to the annoyance of Longchamp, who wrote the following letter to Matthew de Clare, the Constable of Dover Castle, which is very significant of the power he had acquired: "We command you that if the elect of York shall arrive at any port or haven within your bailiwick, or any messenger of his, that you cause them to be arrested and kept, till you have commandment from us therein. And we command you likewise to stay, attach, and keep, all letters that come from the Pope, or any other great man. Holinshed, Vol. II., When Geoffrey arrived at Dover, he was accordingly detained by Matthew de Clare. This kindled a flame in the nation, which was fanned for his own purposes by Earl John, and the Archbishop was soon set at liberty. The Londoners took part against Longchamp, and his Rapin, fall was rapid. He hastened to Canterbury, where he Vol. I., p. 249. was compelled to lay down his legate's cross in the Cathedral, and he was then cast into prison. Having promised to become a pilgrim and visit the Holy Land, he was released, and proceeded from Canterbury to Dover, intending to pass over to France; but he was so hated, that having to wait for a passage he walked along the shore, disguised in female attire, and holding a web of cloth on his arm. This, however, did not save him, for he was Harris, p. 102. detected and roughly handled by the Dover fisherwomen; * Some writers say that Geoffrey landed in a layman's dress, mounted a swift horse and reached the Monastery of St. Martin, in Dover, while others say it was St. Martin, Canterbury, where he took sanctuary. At whichever place it was, he was speedily dragged from the altar in his vestments through the dirty streets and delivered to de Clare. - Hoveden, p. 701; Gervas, p. 1576. CHAP. XXIX. he was rescued and permitted to return to Normandy, the place of his birth. 1 Ric. I. Richard's heroic actions in the East, his detention as a prisoner in Germany, the sending of the Abbots of Boxley and Robertsbridge in quest of him, John's usurpation, the raising and payment of the King's ransom, his return to England and landing at Sandwich (20th March, 1194) after an absence of four years, his walking from Sandwich to Canterbury to return thanks in the Cathedral for his deliverance, the warm reception he met with from his subjects, and the war which followed between France and England, must all be passed over. Richard received a mortal wound from an arrow before Chaluz, the castle of a rebellious vassal in the province of Limousin, and died April 6th, 1199. His body, according to his order, was buried at the feet of his father, at Fontevraud, but his heart he bequeathed to the city of Rouen. In this reign, Allan de Valeines was Sheriff of Kent, and resided at Ripton, in Ashford. The following entries on the Pipe Roll, which form part of his account "of the farm of Kent," are interesting from their great antiquity, and as serving to identify places : * "And in lands given to the Knights Templars, 67. in wheat, in Dele [Deal]. * And to Christ Church, Canterbury, 257. complete the 407. of land which the King And in lands given in money, in Middeltone, to * to Hamon de Tikesy, 6l. 98. 9d. in Middelton hundred. * Concerning the pleas of William de Ver and his associates, Hubert de Rulvinden owes half a mark, because he had no one to become pledge [surety]. "The same Sheriff renders an account of 10s. from Rulvindon hundred for murder. * "The same Sheriff renders an account of 47. 13s. 4d. of the farm of Aldinton, the heir of which is in the King's custody. He delivered it in treasure, and is acquitted." CHAPTER XXX. KING JOHN. ICHARD I., we have seen, died 6th April, 1199, and CHAP. XXX, he left no legitimate issue. Again there were two competitors for the throne, John and his nephew Arthur, Duke of Britanny. John was nearest in blood to the late King, and was with him at his death, when Richard, it is said, declared him his successor to all his dominions. Arthur was, however, the son of Geoffrey, the elder brother of John. Normandy and Guienne acknowledged John, while the remainder of the French dominions of England declared for Arthur. Allen calls John "an Royal usurper," and in the present strict order of our hereditary succession this is no doubt correct, but the matter was not so regarded in those days. It was the practice in Saxon times, we have seen, to bestow the crown on the most suitable person of the Royal Family, without much regard to the absolute nearness of his relationship to the deceased. Thus the great Alfred became King, to the prejudice of his nephews. Prerogative, Wishing to secure the Continental territories of his late brother, John remained in France,t and despatched some A.D. 1199. * John was surnamed Sansterre or Lackland, an appellation common to younger sons. Bromton says his father gave him the nickname, because he left him to be provided for by his elder brother. + John succeeded in inducing Robert of Thurnham to surrender to him the cities of Saumur and Chinon and all the other castles in his custody as Governor, as well as all the treasure of the late King, together with Angers, which was held by Thomas de Furnes, the nephew of Robert of Thurnham.-Rapin, Vol. I., p. 216. A A |