Vindication of Ecclesiastical Volume 3, Volume 2 · Book · Chapter 1 · Document 111
VEnit hoc tempore ad Curiam Romanam Richardus Cantuarienſis Archiepiſcopus,Mat. Paris Hiſt. Angl. p. 356, 357. & in praeſentia Domini Papae propoſuit haec quae ſequuntur. Conqueſtus eſt in primis de Rege Anglorum, quod ſolummodo omnia Regni; negotia per conſilium Huberti Juſticiarii, aliis ſpretis Magnatibus, diſponebat. Item, de Juſticiario propoſuit, quod habeat uxorem, cujus conſanguineam prius habuerat ſibi matrimonio copulatam: et quod jura Eccleſiae Cantuarienſis invaſerat, et injuſte detinebat. Propoſuit etiam, quod Epiſcopi quidam ejus Suffraganei, neglecta Paſtorali cura, ſedebant ad Scaccarium Regis, Laicas cauſas ventilantes, (and was not the Kings cauſe of Wardſhip ſuch, for which he appealed to the Pope?) & judicia ſanguinis exercentes. Item, conqueſtus eſt, quod Clerici beneficiati, & infra ſacros ordines conſtituti, plures habebant Eccleſias, quibus adnexa fuerat cura animarum: & quod inſuper, ſicut Epiſcopi, ab ipſis trahentes exemplum, curis ſaecularibus, & Laicorum ſe judiciis immiſcebant. His au: tem & conſimilibus, coram Papa propoſitis, petiit, ut talibus limam correctionis exceſſibus adhiberet. (The later being worthy redreſſe, were annexed only to countenance the former complaints againſt the King and Hubert, which elſe would have ſeemed harſh.) Cumque haec omnia Dominus Papa diligenti ſtudio intellexiſſet, & vidiſſet, quod univerſa quae propoſuerat Archiepiſcopus, juſtitia fuerant & ratione ſubnixa: juſſit incontinenti, quatenus Archiepiſcopi negotia, ſive petitiones, expedirentur, juſtitia mediante. Propoſuerunt autem in contrarium Clerici Regis, pro ipſo Rege et Juſticiario multa inaniter allegantes: ſed parum vel nihil profecerunt, Quia, ut breviter dicatur, favor Archiepiſcopi quicquid petiit, impetravit. (Such was the Popes partiality, that this Prelate in a bad cauſe, could over-ballance his own King in a juſt one, that concerned his Royalties.) Erat namque ſtaturae elegantiſſimae, facundiae, admirabilis, ſcientia, & moribus incomparabilis; & allegavit pro eo, cauſa juſta & favorabilis. (But obſerve Gods juſtice on this ungratefull, treacherous, uſurping Prelate, when he had accompliſhed his deſigns againſt the King, he was preſently taken away by ſudden death, before his return to reap the fruits of his conqueſt.) Archiepiſcopus igitur Cantuarienſis Richardus, cum expletis negotiis ſuis omnibus pro voluntate ſua, repatriare maturavit, apud S. Gemmam, in domo fratrum minorum, tertia dieta citra Romam, diem clauſit obiter ſupremum, iij. Nonas Auguſti. Et ſic ipſo expirante, expirabant cum eo negotia impetrata. De quo hoc mirabile accidit, quia cum Pontificalibus, ſicut moris eſt, corpus defuncti ſepeliendum inſigniretur; de nocte venerunt homines illius Patriae, qui haec omnia oculo faſcinante inſpexerant, aperuerunt de nocte ſepulchrum, cupientes ut annulum & alia inſignia Epiſcopalia fruerentur, nulla vi vel ingenio id potuerunt. De quo, non tamen ſignato, propoſitum conſummare nequiverunt, receſſerunt confuſi, & pectora ſua, in quibus ſcelerata corda latitabant, percuſſerunt. It had been well this Archbiſhop too had repented him of his oppoſitions againſt his Soveraigns Prerogative before his death, whoſe Crown, or chief flower of it (Wardſhips) he endeavoured to pull off whiles alive.
The Pope upon the death of this Archbiſhop (having deprived the King and Monks of their rights in the election of two Archbiſhops before, by the Kings and their mutual differences) endeavoured now to wreſt the power out of both their hands in the election of a third, in whoſe election they both concurred to prevent his feared Uſurpation, as this Hiſtory will demonſtrate.