Vindication of Ecclesiastical Volume 3, Volume 2 · Book 3 · Chapter 2 · Document 21 – Document 25
DUm haec agerentur, interfuerint Conſilio apud Sanctum Albanum, Galfridus filius Mat. Paris, p. 230.Petri, & Epiſcopus Wintoniae, cum Archiepiſcopo, & Epiſcopis, & Magnatibus Regni: ubi cunctis pace Regis denunciata, ex ejuſdem Regis parte firmiter praeceptum eſt, quatenus leges Henrici avi ſui ab omnibus in Regno cuſtodirentur, & omnes leges iniquae poenitus enervarentur. Denunciatum eſt praeterea, Vicecomitibus, foreſtariis, aliiſque Miniſtris Regis ſicut vitam & membra ſua diligunt, ne a quoquam aliquid violenter extorqueant vel alicui injuriam irrogare praeſumant, aut ſcotalla alicubi in Regno faciant, ſicut facere conſueverunt. Rex vero Johannes cum ſe a quibuſdam Magnatibus quaſi derelictum cognoviſſet, (by reaſon of ſome new Treaſons then hatching againſt him by the Archbiſhop) magnum congregavit exercitum, ut rebelles ad conſuetum obſequium revocaret. Cumque arma movere incoepiſſet, venit ad eum Archiepiſcopus apud Northamptonam dicens, plurimum in injuriam ſui Sacramenti, quod in abſolutione ſua praeſtiterat, redundare, ſi abſque judicio Curiae ſuae contra quempiam bellum mov…ret. Quod audiens Rex cum ingenti ſtrepitu, dixit, ſe Regni negotia propter Archiepiſcopum non differre, cum Laica …udicia ad ipſum non pertineant. In craſtino autem ſummo diluculo iter furibundus arripiens, verſus Nottingham properavit: Sequutus eſt quoque Regem Archiepiſcopus memoratus conſtanter affirmans, (like another Pope Innocent, in a preſumptuous daring manner) quod niſi ab inceptis celerius deſiſteret, omnes qui verſus quempiam ante relaxationem Interdicti hoſtiliter arma geſtarent, praeter ipſum ſolum anathematis vinculo innodaret. Sicque ab incaeptis Regem revocans Archiepiſcopus, non prius ab eo receſſit, donec diem competentem ad Curiam Regis veniendi, & ibidem juri parendi Baronibus impetraſſet.
This Engliſh Pope and Arch-traytor in purſuance of his implacable malice and revenge againſt the King, (notwithſtanding his extraordinary favours and ſubmiſſions to him) ſoon after cauſed all the Biſhops, Abbots, Priors, Deans, and Nobles of the Realm to meet together at London upon pretext of ſatisfying his and the exiled Biſhops damages, but in verity to engage them in a New Rebellion againſt the King to deprive him of his Crown, and conferre it on Lewis the French Kings ſon, as they did in the concluſion, under pretext of demanding the confirmation of the Charter and Liberties granted by King Henry the firſt, there produced by the Archbiſhop, which the King had but newly ratified at St. Albans; thus ſtoried by Matthew Paris.
EOdem Anno octavo Calendas Septembris, convenerunt in civitate Londoniarum Hiſt. Angliae. p. 230. 231. Rog Wendover. n. ſ. Speeds. Hiſt. p. 579.apud Sanctum Paulum, Stephanus Cantuarienſis Archiepiſcopus, cum Epiſcopis, Abbatibus, Prioribus, Decanis et Baronibus regni, (to promote a New Rebellion under a pretext of Religion, even whiles the Interdict was contrived by him, as a curb upon the King) ubi Archiepiſcopus indulſit tam Eccleſiis Conventualibus quam Preſbyteris ſecularibus ut hor as canonicas in Eccleſiis ſuis audientibus Parochianis ſuppreſſa Voce cantar…nt (before the Interdict was releaſed.)
IN hoc Colloquio (ut fama refert) Archiepiſcopus memoratus convocatis ſeorſim quibusdam regni proceribus coepit affari eos ſecretius in hunc modum; Audiſtis, inquit, quomodo ipſe apud Winton. Regem abſolvi et ipſum jurare compulerim, quod Leges iniquas deſtrueret, et leges bonas, videlicet leges Edwardi revocaret, et in regnofaceret ab omnibus obſervari. Inventa eſt quoque nunc Carta quaedam Henrici primi Regis Angliae, per quam ſi volueritis, Libertates diu amiſſas, poteritis ad ſtatum priſtinum revocare, which *Mat. Paris. p. 230.charter he recites at large, then read unto them by the Archbiſhop.
CUm autem haec Charta perlecta, & Baronibus audientibus intellecta fuiſſet, gaviſi ſunt gaudio magno valde, & iuraverunt omnes in praeſentia Archiepiſcopi ſaepe dicti, quod viſo tempore congruo, pro hiis libertatibus ſi neceſſe fuerit, decertabunt uſque ad mortem. Archiepiſcopus vero promiſit eis fideliſſimum aurilium ſuum pro poſſe ſuo, et ſic confederatione facta inter eos, Colloquium ſolutum eſt. This being the real deſign of this Aſſembly.
As the King was thus ridden, trampled upon, and intollerably abuſed, betrayed by the Archbiſhop, Biſhops and Barons inveagled by them on the one hand, ſo was he by the Popes Agents on the other. Pandulphus, beſides his formentiond inſolencies, endeavouring to wreſt out of his hands the power of impriſoning Clerks for Felonyes, that ſo they might be at his own diſpoſal, and act any villanies with impunity, as theſe two Patents evidence.
REX dilecto & fideli ſuo Brieno de Inſula, &c. Sciatis quod ad petitionemPat. 15. Johan. Regis part 1. m. 11. 12. intus. Magiſtri Pandulphi Domini Papae Nuncii, conceſſimus quod Robertus Doſſet, Ran Bullock, Galfridus de Stanford, & Willielmus de Welmsford, qui capti fuerunt propter rectum furti facti in vivario noſtro de Cliva; & aliis vivariis; & quos habetis in cuſtodia veſtra Deliberentur. Et ideo vobis mandamus, quod eos ſine delatione deliberari faciatis, & in hujus rei teſtimonium has literas noſtras patentes vobis inde mittimus, Teſte Domino P. Wintonienſi Epiſcopo apud Wingham, primo die Jun. Anno regni noſtri Decimo quinto.