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CHRONICLE OF ROGER OF HOVEDEN
1173 A.D.
Anno gratiae M°C°LXX°III°, qui est
annus decimus nonus regni regis Henrici filii Matildis imperatricis,
idem rex fuit die Natalis Domini apud Chinonem in Andegavia, et uxor
ejus regina Alienor fuit ibi cum illo, et rex filius et uxor ejus fuerunt
in Normannia. Et post Natale misit rex pater pro rege filio, et profecti
sunt in Alverniam usque ad montem Ferrath; et illuc venit ad eos
Hubertus comes de Mauriana, et adduxit secum Aalays filiara suam primogenitam.
Quam rex pater comparavit ...
In the year of grace 1173, being the nineteenth year of
the reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said king was, on the day
of the Nativity of our Lord, at Chinon, in Anjou, and queen Eleanor
was there with him, while the king, his son, and his wife were in
Normandy. After the Nativity, the king, the father, sent for the
king, the son, and they proceeded to Montferrat, in Auvergne, where
they were met by Hubert, earl of Maurienne, who brought with him
Alice, his eldest daughter. The king, the father, obtained her for
the sum of four thousand marks of silver, as a wife for his son John,
together with the whole of the earldom of Maurienne, in case the
above-named earl should not have a son by his wife. But, in case he
should have a son, lawfully begotten, then the
above-named earl granted to them and to their heirs for ever
Rousillon, with all his jurisdiction therein, and with all its
appurtenances, and the whole of the county of Le Belay, as he then
held the same; likewise, Pierrecastel, with all its appurtenances,
and the whole of the valley of Novalese, and Chambery, with all its
appurtenances, and Aix, and Aspermont, and Rochet, and Montemayor,
and Chambres, with the borough and the whole jurisdiction thereof.
All these lying on this side of the mountains, with all their
appurtenances, he granted to them immediately for ever. Beyond the
mountains, also, he gave and granted to them and to their heirs for
ever, the whole of Turin, with all its appurtenances, the college of
Canorech, with all its appurtenances, and all the fees which the
earls of Cannes held of him, and their services and fealties. Also,
in the earldom of Castro, he granted similar fees, fealties, and
services. In the Val D’Aosta he granted to them Castiglione,
which the viscount D’Aosta held of him, to hold the same for
ever against all men. All these the above-named earl granted to the
said son of the king of England for ever, together with his daughter
before-mentioned, as freely, fully, and quietly, in men and cities,
castles, and other places of defence, meadows, leasowes, mills,
woods, plains, waters, valleys, mountains, customs, and all other
tilings, as ever he or his father had held or enjoyed all the same as
underwritten therein, or even more fully and freely. Furthermore, the
said earl was willing immediately, or whenever it should please our
lord the king of England, that homage and fealty should be done by
all his people throughout the whole of his lands, saving always their
fealty to himself so long as he should hold the same. Moreover, he
granted to them and to their heirs for ever, all the right that he
had in the county of Grenoble, and whatsoever he might acquire
therein. But in case his eldest daughter above-named should happen to
die, whatever he had granted with the eldest, he did thereby grant
the whole of the same, as therein written, together with his second
daughter, to the son of the illustrious king of England.
That the covenants above-written should he kept between our
lord the king of England and the earl of Maurienne, both the earl of Maurienne
himself, and the count de Cevennes, and nearly all the other nobles
of his territory, made oath; to the effect that the earl of Maurienne
would inviolably observe the said covenants; and if he should in any
way depart therefrom, they made oath that, on the summons of our lord
the king of England, or of his messenger, and even without any such
summons, so soon as they should happen to know that the earl had so
departed, they would, from the time of knowing thereof, surrender
themselves as hostages to our lord the king of England, in his own
realm, wherever he should think fit, and would remain in his custody
until such time as they should have prevailed upon the earl to
perform the king’s pleasure, or have made an arrangement with
the king, to his satisfaction.
Furthermore,
Peter, the venerable archbishop of Tarentaise, Ardune, bishop of
Cevennes, William, bishop of Maurienne, and the abbot of Saint
Michael, the Holy Evangelists being placed before them, at the
command of the earl, steadfastly promised that, at the will and
pleasure of the king, and at such time as he should think fit, they
would excommunicate the person of the earl, and place his lands under
interdict, if the earl should not observe the agreement so made
between them; that they would also do the same as to the persons of
the earl’s liegemen, and as to the lands of those through whom
it should be caused, that the agreement so made between the king and
the earl was not observed, and would hold those who should refuse to
keep the peace and their lands under interdict, until satisfaction
should have been made to our lord the king.
Our lord the king made these covenants and the grants above-written,
with and to the earl of Maurienne, and by his command the following made
oath that by him the same should be observed: William, earl of
Mandevule, William, earl of Arundel, Ralph de Fay, William de Courcy,
William de Hinnez, Fulk Paynel, Robert de Briencourt, William
Mainegot, Theobald Chabot, William de Munlufzun, Peter de Montesson,
and Geoffrey Forrester.
In addition thereto, it was to be understood that the earl
might give his second daughter in marriage to whomsoever he would, without too
greatly diminishing the earldom, after his eldest daughter should
have been married to the king’s son, either her lawful age
allowing thereof, or through the dispensation of the Church of Rome;
and that it should be lawful for her parents or for other persons to
give from the lands, for the safety
of her soul, without too greatly diminishing the earldom. Also, that
the king should make payment immediately to the earl of one thousand
marks of silver; and that as soon as he should receive the earl’s
daughter, the latter should have at least another thousand marks of
silver; and that whatever should remain unpaid of the five thousand
marks, the earl should receive the same when the marriage should have
taken place between the king’s son and the earl’s
daughter, either by reason of lawful age or through the dispensation
of the Church of Rome. But, if our lord the king, which God forbid,
should chance to die first, or should depart from his territories,
then, neither he nor they who, at his command had made oath and had
given any security to the earl, should be bound by the covenants
above-written, but only our lord the king, the king’s son and
his people.
Accordingly, a few days having elapsed, there came into the
territories of the king of England, on behalf of the earl of Maurienne, the
marquis of Montferrat, Geoffrey de Plozac, and Merlo, his son, the chancellor of
earl Richard, and Berlo de Cambot, and Peter de Bouet, his
castellans, together with Peter de Saint Genese, and Peter de Turin,
knights, and Geoffrey de Aquabella, and Ralph de Varci, burgesses.
Touching the Holy Evangelists, these persons made oath that they
would strictly cause the earl to observe the covenants made between
the king and the earl, as to the son of the king and the daughter of
the earl, in such manner as they had been lawfully entered into,
written, and understood. And, if he should not observe the same, they
made oath that, on the summons of the king or of his messenger, or
even without any such summons, if they should happen to know that the
earl had departed therefrom, they would, from the time of knowing
thereof, surrender themselves as hostages to the king in his own
realm, and would remain in his custody until such time as they should
have prevailed upon the earl to perform the king’s pleasure, or
have made an arrangement with our lord the king to his satisfaction.
The before-named envoys also made oath that the earl should not give
his second daughter in marriage until his eldest daughter should have
been united in marriage with the king’s son, either by reason
of being of lawful age, or through the dispensation of the Church of
Rome ; unless by the consent and desire of our lord
the king he should in the meantime have given her in marriage to some
other person. They also made oath that, if the earl’s daughter,
or, which God forbid, the king’s son, should chance to die
before a marriage should have taken place between them, then the earl
should repay to the king the whole of the money, or act according to
the king’s will and pleasure relative thereto, or pay it over
to him to whom the king should assign the same ; and that they, the
parties making the said oath, would, if the king should so wish, and
at such time as he should so wish, surrender themselves as hostages
in his realm and into his power until such time as the same should be
paid. They likewise made oath that they would use their best
endeavours to obtain the grant of Umbert the Younger, in order that
thereby the king’s son might have Rousillon and Pierrecastel,
and whatever had been granted to him by the earl in the county of Le
Belay. But if Umbert should happen to refuse to grant the same, then
they made oath that the earl should give him lands in lawful exchange
thereof, according to the arbitration of the abbot of Cluse, and of
Reginald, archdeacon of Salisbury, or of other lawful persons thereto
appointed by the king, if they should not be able to be present.
After this, the king of England, the father, and the king,
the son, came together to Limoges; and thither Raymond, earl of Saint Gilles,
came, and there did homage to both the kings of England, and to Richard,
earl of Poitou, for Toulouse, to hold the same of them by hereditary
right, by the service of appearing before them at their summons, and
staying with them and serving for forty days, without any cost on
their part; but if they should wish to have him longer in their
service, then they were to pay his reasonable expenses. And further,
the said earl of Saint Gilles was to give them from Toulouse and its
appurtenances one hundred marks of silver, or else ten chargers worth
ten marks a-piece.
There also came to Limoges the earl of Maurienne, and desired
to know how much of his own territory the king of England intended to grant to
his son John; and on the king expressing an intention to give him the
castle of Chinon, the castle of Lodun, and the castle of Mirabel, the
king, his son, would in nowise agree thereto, nor allow it to be
done. For he was already greatly offended that his father was
unwilling to assign to him some portion of his territories, where he,
with his wife, might take up their residence. Indeed, he had
requested his father to give him either Normandy, or Anjou, or
England, which request he had made at the suggestion of the king of
France, and of those of the earls and barons of England and Normandy
who disliked his father: and from this time it was that the king, the
son, had been seeking pretexts and an opportunity for withdrawing
from his father. And he had now so entirely revolted in feeling from
obeying his wishes, that he could not even converse with him on any
subject in a peaceable manner.
Having now gained his opportunity, both as to place and occasion,
the king, the son, left his father, and proceeded to the king of France.
However, Richard Barre, his chancellor, Walter, his chaplain,
Ailward, his chamberlain, and William Blund, his apparitor, left him,
and returned to the king, his father. Thus did the king’s son
lose both his feelings and his senses; he repulsed the innocent,
persecuted a father, usurped authority, seized upon a kingdom; he
alone was the guilty one, and yet a whole army conspired against his
father; “so does the madness of one make many mad.” For
he it was who thirsted for the blood of a father, the gore of a
parent!
In the meantime, Louis, king of the Franks, held a great council
at Paris, at which he and all the principal men of France made oath to
the son of the king of England that they would assist him in every
way in expelling his father from the kingdom, if he should not accede
to his wishes : on which he swore to them that he would not make
peace with his father, except with their sanction and consent. After
this, he swore that he would give to Philip, earl of Flanders, for
his homage, a thousand pounds of yearly revenues in England, and the
whole of Kent, together with Dover castle, and Rochester castle; to
Matthew, earl of Boulogne, for his homage, the Soke of Kirketon in
Lindsey, and the earldom of Mortaigne, with the honor of Hay; and to
Theobald, earl of Blois, for his homage, two hundred pounds of yearly
revenues in Anjou, and the castle of Amboise, with all the
jurisdiction which he had claimed to hold in Touraine; and he also
quitted claim to him of all right that the king his father and
himself had claimed in Chateau Regnaud. All these gifts, and many
besides that he made to other persons, he confirmed under his new
seal, which the king of France had ordered to be made for him.
Besides these, he made other gifts, which, under
the same seal, he confirmed; namely, to William, king of Scotland, for
his assistance, the whole of Northumberland as far as the river Tyne. To
the brother of the same king he gave for his services the earldom of
Huntingdon and of Cambridgeshire, and to earl Hugh Bigot, for his
services, the castle of Norwich.
Immediately after Easter, in this year, [1173] the whole
of the kingdom of France, and the king, the son of the king of England, Richard
his brother, earl of Poitou, and Geoffrey, earl of Bretagne, and nearly
all the earls and barons of England, Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou, and
Brittany, arose against the king of England the father, and laid
waste his lands on every side with fire, sword, and rapine: they also
laid siege to his castles, and took them by storm, and there was no
one to relieve them. Still, he made all the resistance against them
that he possibly could: for he had with him twenty thousand
Brabanters, who served him faithfully, but not without large pay
which he gave them.
Then seems to have been fulfilled this prophecy of Merlin, which says:
“The cubs shall awake and shall roar aloud, and, leaving the
woods, shall seek their prey within the walls of the cities; among
those who shall be in their way they shall make great carnage, and
shall tear out the tongues of bulls. The necks of them as they roar
aloud they shall load with chains, and shall thus renew the times of
their forefathers.”
Upon this, the king wrote letters of complaint to all the emperors and
kings whom he thought to be friendly to him, relative to the
misfortunes which had befallen him through the exalted position which
he had given to his sons, strongly advising them not to exalt their
own sons beyond what it was their duty to do. On receiving his
letter, William king of Sicily wrote to him to the following effect:
“To Henry, by the grace of God the illustrious king of the English, duke
of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, William, by the same
grace, king of Sicily, the dukedom of Apulia, and the principality of
Capua, the enjoyment of health, and the wished-for triumph in victory over his enemies. On
the receipt of your letter, we learned a thing of which indeed we
cannot without the greatest astonishment make mention, how that,
forgetting the ordinary usages of humanity and violating the law of
nature, the son has risen in rebellion against the father, the
begotten against the begetter, the bowels have been moved to
intestine war, the entrails have had recourse to arms, and, a new
miracle taking place, quite unheard of in our times, the flesh has
waged war against the blood, and the blood has sought means how to
shed itself. And, although for the purpose of checking the violence
of such extreme madness, the inconvenience of the distance does not
allow of our power affording any assistance, still, with all the
loving-kindness we possibly can, the expression of which, distance of
place does not prevent, sincerely embracing your person and honor, we
sympathize with your sorrow, and are indignant at your persecution,
which we regard as though it were our own. However, we do hope and
trust in the Lord, by whose judgment the judgments of kings are
directed, that He will no longer allow your sons to be tempted beyond
what they are able or ought to endure; and that He who became
obedient to the Father even unto death, will inspire them with the
light of filial obedience, whereby they shall be brought to recollect
that they are your flesh and blood, and, leaving the errors of their
hostility, shall acknowledge themselves to be your sons, and return
to their father, and thereby heal the disruption of nature, and that
the former union, being restored, will cement the bonds of natural
affection.”
Accordingly, immediately after Easter, as previously mentioned, the wicked fury of
the traitors burst forth. For, raving with diabolical frenzy, they
laid waste the territories of the king of England on both sides of
the sea with fire and sword in every direction. Philip, earl of
Flanders, with a large army, entered Normandy, and laid siege to
Aumarle, and took it. Proceeding thence, he laid siege to the castle
of Drincourt, which was surrendered to him; here his brother Matthew,
earl of Boulogne, died of a wound which he received from an arrow
when off his guard. On his decease, his brother Peter, the bishop
elect of Cambray, succeeded him in the earldom of Boulogne, and
renouncing his election, was made a knight, but died shortly after
without issue.
In the meantime, Louis, king of the Franks, and the king of England, the
son, laid siege to Verneuil; but Hugh de Lacy and Hugh de Beauchamp,
who were the constables thereof, defended the town of Verneuil boldly
and with resolute spirit. In consequence of this, the king of France,
after remaining there a whole month, with difficulty took a small
portion of the town on the side where his engines of war had been
planted. There were in Verneuil, besides the castle, three burghs;
each of which was separated from the other, and enclosed with a
strong wall and a foss filled with water. One of these was called the
Great Burgh, beyond the walls of which were pitched the tents of the
king of France and his engines of war. At the end of this month, when
the burghers in the Great Burgh saw that food and necessaries were
failing them, and that they should have nothing to eat, being
compelled by hunger and want, they made a truce for three days with
the king of France, for the purpose of going to their lord the king
of England, in order to obtain succour of him; and they made an
agreement that if they should not have succour within the next three
days, they would surrender to him that burgh. The peremptory day for
so doing was appointed on the vigil of Saint Laurence.
They
then gave hostages to the king of France to the above effect, and the
king of France, the king of England, the son, and earl Robert, the
brother of the king of France, earl Henry de Trois, Theobald, earl of
Blois, and William, archbishop of Sens, made oath to them, that if
they should surrender the burgh to the king of France at the period
named, the king of France would restore to them their hostages free
and unmolested, and would do no injury to them, nor allow it to be
done by others. This composition having been made to the above
effect, the burgesses before mentioned came to their lord the king of
England, and announced to him the agreement which they had made with
the king of France and the king his son.
On hearing of this, the king of England collected as large an army as he
possibly could from Normandy and the rest of his dominions, and came
to Breteuil, a castle belonging to Robert, earl of Leicester, which
the earl himself, taking to flight on his approach, left without any
protection. This the king entirely reduced to ashes, and the next
day, for the purpose of engaging with the king of France, proceeded
to a high hill, near Verneuil, with the whole of his army, and drew up his
troops in order of battle. This too was the peremptory day upon which
that portion of Verneuil was to be surrendered if it did not obtain
succour.
Upon this, Louis, king of the Franks, sent William, archbishop of Sens,
earl Henry, and earl Theobald, to the king of England, the father,
who appointed an interview to be held between them on the morrow; and
the king of England, to his misfortune, placed confidence in them;
for he was deceived. For on the morrow the king of France neither
came to the interview, nor yet sent any messenger. On this, the king
of England sent out spies to observe the position of the king of
France and his army; but while the spies were delaying their return,
that portion of Verneuil was surrendered to the king of France to
which he had laid siege. However, he did not dare retain it in his
hands, having transgressed the oath which he had made to the
burghers. For he neither restored to them their hostages, nor
preserved the peace as he had promised; but, entering the town, made
the burghers prisoners, carried off their property, set fire to the
Burgh, and then, taking to flight, carried away with him the burghers
before-mentioned into France.
When word was brought of this to the king of England, he pursued them with
the edge of the sword, slew many of them, and took considerable
numbers, and at nightfall arrived at Verneuil, where he remained one
night, and ordered the walls which had been levelled to be rebuilt.
But, in order that these events may be kept in memory, it is as well
to know that this flight of the king of France took place on the
fifth day before the ides of August, being the fifth day of the week,
upon the vigil of Saint Laurence, to the praise and glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who by punishing the crime of perfidy, so speedily
avenged the indignity done to his Martyr.
On the following day, the king of England, the father,
left Verneuil, and took the castle of Damville, which belonged to Gilbert de
Tilieres, and captured with it a great number of knights and
men-at-arms. After this, the king came to Rouen, and thence
dispatched his Brabanters, in whom he placed more confidence than the
rest, into Brittany, against Hugh, earl of Chester, and Ralph de
Fougeres, who had now gained possession of nearly the whole of it.
When these troops approached, the earl of Chester and Ralph de
Fougeres went forth to meet them. In consequence of this,
preparations were made for battle; the troops were drawn out in
battle array, and everything put in readiness for the combat.
Accordingly, the engagement having commenced, the enemies of the king
of England were routed, and the men of Brittany were laid prostrate
and utterly defeated. The earl, however, and Ralph de Fougeres, with
many of the most powerful men of Brittany, shut themselves up in the
fort of Dol, which they had taken by stratagem; on which, the
Brabanters besieged them on every side, on the thirteenth day before
the calends of September, being the second day of the week. In this
battle there were taken by the Brabanters seventeen knights
remarkable for their valour, whose names were as follows: Hascuil de
Saint Hilaire, William Patrick, Patrick de la Laude, Haimer de
Falaise, Geoffrey Farcy, William de Rulent, Ralph de Sens, John
Boteler, Vicaire de Dol, William des Loges, William de la Motte,
Robert de Treham, Payen Cornute, Reginald Pincun, Reginald de Champ
Lambert, and Eudo Bastard. Besides these, many others were captured,
both horse and foot, and more than fifteen hundred of the Bretons
were slain.
Now, on the day after this capture and slaughter, “Rumour,
than which nothing in speed more swift exists,” reached the ears of
the king of England, who, immediately setting out on his march
towards Dol, arrived there on the fifth day of the week, and
immediately ordered his stone-engines, and other engines of war, to
be got in readiness. The earl of Chester, however, and those who were
with him in the fort, being unable to defend it, surrendered it to
the king, on the seventeenth day before the calends of September,
being the Lord’s Day; and, in like manner, the whole of
Brittany, with all its fortresses, was restored to him, and its chief
men were carried into captivity. In the fortress of Dol many knights
and yeomen were taken prisoners, whose names were as follow: Hugh,
earl of Chester, Ralph de Fougeres, William de Fougeres, Hamo L’Espine,
Robert Patrick, Ingelram Patrick, Richard de Lovecot, Gwigain Guiun,
Oliver de Roche, Alan de Tintimac, Ivel, son of Ralph de Fougeres,
Gilo de Castel Girun, Philip de Landewi, William de Gorham, Ivel de
Mayne, Geoffrey de Buissiers, Reginald de Marche Lemarchis, Hervey de
Nitri, Hamelin de Eni, William de Saint Brice, William de Chastelar,
William de Orange, Ralph Waintras, Robert Boteler, Henry de Grey,
Grimbald Fitz-Haket, Geoffrey Abbat, John Guarein, John de Breerec,
Hugh Avenel, Hamelin de Pratelles, Swalo de la Bosothe, Secard
Burdin, Walter Bruno, John Ramart, Hugh de Bussay, Jerdan de Masrue,
Henry de Saint Hilaire, the brothers Hascuil, Bartholomew de
Busserie, Herbert de Buillon, Bauran de Tanet, Roland Fitz-Ralph,
Roellin Fitz-Ralph, Geoffrey de Minihac, Guido Butefact, Celdewin
Guiun, Ivel de Pont, Hamelin Abbat, Robert de Baioches, Elias
d’Aubigny, Reginald Cactus, John de Curtis, Philip de Luvenni,
Henry de Wastines, Henry de Saint Stephen, William Deschapelles,
Roger deB Loges, Bencellard de Serland, William de Bois Berenger,
John de Ruel, Oliver de MontBorel, Hamund de Rochefort, Robert de
Lespiney, John des Loges, Geoffrey Carlisle, Ralph de Tomal, Ralph le
Poters, Gilbert de Croi, Ralph Pucin, Matthew de Praels, Richard de
Cambrai, William le Francais, Oliver Rande, Ralph Ruffin,—Springard,
Roger de Chevereul, William des Loges, and many others, the names of
whom are not written in this book.
After these victories which God granted to the king of England,
the son of the empress Matilda, the king of France and his supporters fell into
despondency, and used all possible endeavours, that peace might be
made between the king of England and his sons. In consequence of
this, there was at length a meeting between Gisors and Trie, at which
Louis, king of the Franks, attended, accompanied by the archbishops,
bishops, earls, and barons of his realm, and bringing with him Henry,
Richard, and Geoffrey, the sons of the king of England. Henry, king
of England, the father, attended, with the archbishops, bishops,
earls, and barons of his dominions.
A conference was accordingly held between him and his sons,
for the purpose of establishing peace, on the seventh day before the calends
of October, being the third day of the week. At this conference, the
king, the father, offered to the king, his son, a moiety of the revenues of
his demesnes in England, and four fitting castles in the same territory; or,
if his son should prefer to remain in Normandy, the king, the father, offered
a moiety of the revenues of Normandy, and all the revenues of the lands that
were his father’s, the earl of Anjou, and three convenient castles in
Normandy, and one fitting castle, in Anjou, one fitting castle in
Maine, and one fitting castle in Touraine. To his son Richard, also,
he offered a moiety of the revenues of Aquitaine, and four fitting
castles in the same territory. And to his son Geoffrey he offered all
the lands that belonged, by right of inheritance, to the daughter of
duke Conan, if he should, with the sanction of our lord the pope, be
allowed to marry the above-named lady. The king, the father, also
submitted himself entirely to the arbitration of the archbishop of
Tarento and the legates of our lord the pope, as to adding to the
above as much more of his revenues, and giving the same to his sons,
as they should pronounce to be reasonable, reserving to himself the
administration of justice and the royal authority.
But it did not suit the purpose of the king of France that
the king’s sons should at present make peace with their father: in addition to
which, at the same conference, Robert, earl of Leicester, uttered
much opprobrious and abusive language to the king of England, the
father, and laid his hand on his sword for the purpose of striking
the king; but he was hindered by the byestanders from so doing, and
the conference was immediately brought to a close.
On the day after the conference, the knights of the king
of France had a skirmish with the knights of the king of England, between Curteles
and Gisors; in which fight Ingelram, castellan of Trie, was made
prisoner by earl William de Mandeville, and presented to the king,
the father. In the meantime, Robert, earl of Leicester, having raised
a large army, crossed over into England, and was received by earl
Hugh Bigot in the castle of Fremingham,* where he supplied him with
all necessaries. After this, the said Robert, earl of Leicester, laid
siege to Hakeneck, the castle of Ranulph de Broc, and took it; for,
at this period, Richard de Lucy, justiciary of England, and Humphrey
de Bohun, the king’s constable, had marched with a large army
into Lothian, the territory of the king of Scotland, for the purpose
of ravaging it.
* Framlingham, in Suffolk.
When, however, they heard of the arrival of the earl of
Leicester in England, they were greatly alarmed, and laying all other matters
aside, gave and received a truce from the king of Scotland, and,
after hostages were delivered on both sides for the preservation of
peace until the feast of Saint Hilary, hastened with all possible
speed to Saint Edmund’s. Thither also came to them Reginald,
earl of Cornwall, the king’s uncle, Robert, earl of Gloucester,
and William, earl of Arundel, On the approach of the festival of All
Saints, the above-named earl of Leicester withdrew from Fremingham
for the purpose of marching to Leicester, and came with his army to a
place near St. Edmund’s, which is known as Fornham, situate on
a piece of marshy ground, not far from the church of Saint Genevieve.
On his arrival being known, the earls, with a considerable force, and
Humphrey de Bohun with three hundred knights, soldiers of the king,
went forth armed for battle to meet the earl of Leicester, carrying
before them the banner of Saint Edmund the king and Martyr as their
standard. The ranks being drawn up in battle array, by virtue of the
aid of God and of his most glorious Martyr Saint Edmund, they
attacked the line in which the earl of Leicester had taken his
position, and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the earl of
Leicester was vanquished and taken prisoner, as also his wife and
Hugh des Chateaux, a nobleman of the kingdom of France, and all their
might was utterly crushed.
There fell in this battle more than ten thousand Flemings,
while all the rest were taken prisoners, and being thrown into prison in irons,
were there starved to death. As for the earl of Leicester and his
wife and Hugh des Chateaux, and the rest of the more wealthy men who
were captured with them, they were sent into Normandy to the king the
father; on which the king placed them in confinement at Falaise, and
Hugh, earl of Chester, with them.
On the feast of Saint Martin, king Henry, the father, entered
Anjou with his army, and shortly after Geoffrey, lord of Hay, surrendered to
him the castle of Hay. After this there were surrendered to him the
castle of Pruilly and the castle of Campigny, which Robert de Ble had
held against him. In this castle there were many knights and
men-at-arms taken prisoners, whose names were as follow: Haimeric de
Ble, Baldwin de Brisehaie, Hugh de Laloc, Hugh de Danars,
HughDelamotte, William de Rivan, Simon de Beniezai, John Maumonie, Hubert
Ruscevals, William Maingot, Saer de Terreis, John de Champigny, Walter de
Powis, Brice de Ceaux, Haimeric Bipant, Robert L’Anglais, Grossin
Champemain, Isambert Wellun, Geoffrey Carre, Payen Juge, William
Bugun, Castey, vassal of Saer de Terreis, Guiard, vassal of John
Maumonie, Roger, vassal of William Rivan, Peter, vassal of John de
Champigny, Philip, vassal of Hugh le Davis, Russell, vassal of Hubert
Ruscevals, Vulgier and Haimeric, vassals of Peter de Posey, Osmund,
Everard, and Geoffrey, vassals of Haimeric de Ble, Gilbert and
Albinus, vassals of Hugh de Laloc, Brito and Geoffrey, vassals of
Walter Powis, Haimeric and Peter, vassals of Hugh Delamotte, and
Brito and Sunennes, vassals of Simon de Bernezai.
In the same year, Louis, king of the Franks, knighted
Richard, the son of king Henry. In this year, also, Robert the prior of Dare, who was
bishop elect of the church of Arras, renounced that election, and was
elected bishop of the diocese of Cambrai, but before he was
consecrated was slain by his enemies.
In the same year, Henry, king of England, contrary to the
prohibition of his son, king Henry, and after appeal made to our lord the pope,
gave the archbishopric of Canterbury, to Richard prior of Dover, the bishopric
of Bath to Reginald, son of Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury, the
bishopric of Winchester to Richard de Ivechester, archdeacon of
Poitou, the bishopric of Hereford to Robert Folliot, the bishopric of
Ely to Geoffrey Riddel, archdeacon of Canterbury, and the bishopric
of Chichester to John de Greneford. After this, at the time of the
feast of Saint Andrew, the king of England, the father, took Vendime
by storm, which was held against him by Bucard de Lavardin, who had
expelled therefrom his father, the earl of Vendime.
1174 A.D.
In the year of grace 1174, being the twentieth year of the reign
of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said Henry spent the festival
of the Nativity of our Lord at Caen in Normandy, and a truce was made
between him and Louis, king of the Franks, from the feast of Saint
Hilary until the end of Easter. In the same year, and at the time
abovenamed, Hugh, bishop of Durham, at an interview held between
himself and William, king of the Scots, on the confines of the
kingdoms of England and Scotland, namely at Revedeur, gave to the
above-named king of the Scots three hundred marks of silver from the
lands of the barons of Northumberland, for granting a truce from the
feast of Saint Hilary until the end of Easter.
In the meantime, Roger de Mowbray fortified his castle at
Kinardeferie, in Axholme; and Hugh, bishop of Durham, fortified the castle of
Alverton. After Easter, breaking the truce, Henry, the son of the
king of England, and Philip, earl of Flanders, having raised a large
army, determined to come over to England.
In the meantime, William, king of the Scots, came into
Northumberland with a large force, and there with his Scotch and Galloway men
committed execrable deeds. For his men ripped asunder pregnant women,
and, dragging forth the embryos, tossed them upon the points of
lances. Infants, children, youths, aged men, all of both sexes, from
the highest to the lowest, they slew alike without mercy or ransom.
The priests and clergy they murdered in the very churches upon the
altars. Consequently, wherever the Scots and the Galloway men came,
horror and carnage prevailed. Shortly after, the king of the Scots
sent his brother David to Leicester, in order to assist the troops of
the earl of Leicester; but before he arrived there, Reginald, earl of
Cornwall, and Richard de Lacy, justiciary of England, had burned the
city of Leicester to the ground, together with its churches and
buildings, with the exception of the castle.
After Pentecost, Anketill Mallory, the constable of Leicester,
fought a battle with the burgesses of Northampton, and defeated them, taking
more than two hundred prisoners, and slaying a considerable number.
Shortly after, Robert, earl of Ferrers, together with the knights of
Leicester, came at daybreak to Nottingham, a royal town, which
Reginald de Lucy had in his charge; and having taken it, sacked it,
and then set it on fire, carrying away with him the burgesses
thereof.
At this period, Geoffrey, bishop elect of Lincoln, son of
king Henry, took the castle of Kinardeferie, and levelled it with the ground.
Also, Robert de Mowbray, the constable of the same castle, while
going towards Leicester to obtain assistance, was taken prisoner on
the road, by the people of Clay, and detained. Earl Hugh Bigot also
took the city of Norwich by storm, and burned it. In addition, to
this, the bishop elect of Lincoln, with Roger, the archbishop of
York, laid siege to Malasert, a castle belonging to Roger de Mowbray,
and took it, with many knights and men-at-arms therein, and gave it
into the charge of the archbishop of York. Before he departed, he
also fortified the castle of Topcliffe, which he delivered into the
charge of William de Stuteville.
* Called above, Roger: which is the name given by the other chroniclers
In the meantime, Richard, the archbishop elect of Canterbury,
and Reginald, the bishop elect of Bath, set out for Rome, for the purpose
of confirming their own elections and those of the other bishops
elect of England. To oppose them, king Henry, the son, sent to Rome
Master Berter, a native of Orleans. When the said parties had come
into the presence of pope Alexander, and the cardinals, and our lord
the pope had greatly censured the absence of the other bishops elect
of England, and the archbishop elect of Canterbury had done all in
his power to exculpate them, our lord the pope asked, with still
greater earnestness, why the bishop elect of Ely had not come; on
which Berter of Orleans made answer: “My lord, he has a
Scriptural excuse;"* to whom the pope made answer: “Brother,
what is the excuse?” on which the other replied: “He has
married a wife, and therefore cannot come.”
* Alluding to St. Luke xiv. 20.
In the end, however, although there was a great altercation
and considerable bandying of hard language on both sides before our lord
the pope and the cardinals, our lord the pope confirmed the election
of the archbishop of Canterbury: on which, Reginald, the bishop elect
of Bath, wrote to his master the king of England to the following
effect:
“To Henry, the illustrious king of England, duke of
Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, his most dearly beloved lord, Reginald,
by the grace of God, bishop elect of Bath, health in Him who gives
health to kings. Be it known to the prudence of your majesty, that,
at the court of our lord the pope, we found determined opponents from
the kingdom of France, and others still more determined from your own
territories. In consequence of this, we were obliged to submit to
many hardships there, and to make a tedious stay, till at last, at
our repeated entreaties, by the co-operation of the Divine grace, the
obduracy of our lord the pope was so far softened, that, in the
presence of all, he solemnly confirmed the election of the lord
archbishop elect of Canterbury; and after having so confirmed his
election, consecrated him on the Lord’s day following. On the
third day after his consecration, he gave him the pall, and a short
period of time having intervened, conferred on him the dignity of the
primacy. In addition to this, it being our desire that he should have
full power of inflicting ecclesiastical vengeance upon those men of
your realms who have iniquitously and in the treachery of their
wickedness, raised their heel against your innocence, we did, after
much solicitation, obtain the favour of the bestowal by our lord the
pope of the legateship on the same province. As for my own election,
and those of the others, they are matters still in suspense ; and our
lord the pope has determined to settle and determine nothing with
regard to us, until such time as your son shall have been brought to
a reconciliation. However, we put our trust in the Lord that the
interests of myself, and of all the other bishops elect, may be
safely entrusted to the prudent care of my lord the archbishop of
Canterbury."
In the same year, at the feast of the Nativity of Saint
John the Baptist, Richard de Lucy laid siege to the castle of Huntingdon, on
which the knights of that castle burned the town to the ground.
Richard de Lucy then erected a new castle before the gates of the
said castle of Huntingdon, and gave it in charge to earl Simon.
In the meanwhile, William, king of the Scots, laid siege to
Carlisle, of which Robert de Vals had the safe keeping; and, leaving a portion of
his army to continue the siege, with the remainder of it he passed
through Northumberland, ravaging the lands of the king and his
barons. He took the castle of Liddel, the castle of Burgh, the castle
of Appleby, the castle of Mercwrede, and the castle of Irebothe,
which was held by Odonel de Umfraville, after which he returned to
the siege of Carlisle. Here he continued the siege, until Robert de
Vals, in consequence of provisions failing him and the other persons
there, made a treaty with him on the following terms, namely, that,
at the feast of Saint Michael next ensuing, he would surrender to him
the castle and town of Carlisle, unless, in the meantime, he should
obtain succour from his master the king of England.
On this, the king of the Scots, departing thence, laid siege
to the castle of Prudhoe, which belonged to Odonel de Umfraville, but was
unable to take it. For Robert de Stuteville, sheriff of York, William
de Vesci, Ranulph de Glanville, Ralph de Tilly, constable of the
household of the archbishop of York, Bernard de Baliol, and Odonel de
Umfraville, having assembled a large force, hastened to its succour.
On learning their approach, the king of Scotland retreated
thence, and laid siege to the castle of Alnwick, which belonged to William de
Vesci, and then, dividing his army into three divisions, kept one
with himself, and gave the command of the other two to earl Dunecan
and the earl of Angus, and Richard de Morville, giving them orders to
lay waste the neighbouring provinces in all directions, slaughter the
people, and carry off the spoil. Oh, shocking times! then might you
have heard the shrieks of women, the cries of the aged, the groans of
the dying, and the exclamations of despair of the youthful!
In the meantime, the king of England, the son, and
Philip, earl of Flanders, came with a large army to Gravelines, for the
purpose of crossing over to England. On hearing of this, the king of England,
the father, who had marched with his army into Poitou, and had taken
many fortified places and castles, together with the city of Saintes,
and two fortresses there, one of which was called Fort Maror, as also
the cathedral church of Saintes, which the knights and men-at-arms
had strengthened against him with arms and a supply of provisions,
returned into Anjou, and took the town of Ancenis, which belonged to
Guion de Ancenis, near Saint Florence. On taking it, he strengthened
it with very strong fortifications, and retained it in his own hands,
and then laid waste the adjoining parts of the province with fire and
sword; he also rooted up the vines and fruit-bearing trees, after
which he returned into Normandy, while the king, his son, and Philip,
earl of Flanders, were still detained at Gravelines, as the wind was
contrary, and they were unable to cross over. On this, the king of
England, the father, came to Barbeflet,* where a considerable number
of ships had been assembled against his arrival, and, praised be the
name of the Lord! as it pleased the Lord, so did it come to pass;
who, by His powerful might, changed the wind to a favourable quarter,
and thus suddenly granted him a passage over to England. Immediately
on this, he embarked, and, on the following day, landed at
Southampton, in England, on the eight day before the ides of July,
being the second day of the week, bringing with him his wife, queen
Eleanor, and queen Margaret, daughter of Louis, king of the Franks,
and wife of his son Henry, with Robert, earl of Leicester, and Hugh,
earl of Chester, whom he immediately placed in confinement.
* Harfleur.
On the day after this, he set out on a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Saint Thomas the Martyr, archbishop of Canterbury. On his approach, as soon
as he was in sight of the church, in which the body of the blessed
martyr lay buried, he dismounted from the horse on which he rode,
took off his shoes, and, barefoot, and clad in woollen garments,
walked three miles to the tomb of the martyr, with such humility and
compunction of heart, that it may be believed beyond a doubt to have
been the work of Him who looketh down on the earth, and maketh it to
tremble. To those who beheld them, his footsteps, along the road on
which he walked, seemed to be covered with blood, and really were so;
for his tender feet being cut by the hard stones, a great quantity of
blood flowed from them on to the ground. When he had arrived at the
tomb, it was a holy thing to see the affliction which he suffered,
with sobs and tears, and the discipline to which he submitted from
the hands of the bishops and a great number of priests and monks.
Here, also, aided by the prayers of many holy men, he passed the
night, before the sepulchre of the blessed Martyr, in prayer,
fasting, and lamentations. As for the gifts and revenues which, for
the remission of his sins, he bestowed on this church, they can never
under any circumstance be obliterated from the remembrance thereof.
In the morning of the following day, after hearing mass, he departed
thence, on the third day before the ides of July, being Saturday,
with the intention of proceeding to London. And, inasmuch as he was
mindful of the Lord in his entire heart, the Lord granted unto him
the victory over his enemies, and delivered them captive into his
hands.
For, on the very same Saturday on which the king left Canterbury,
William, king of the Scots, was taken prisoner at Alnwick by the above-named
knights of Yorkshire, who had pursued him after his retreat from
Prudhoe. Thus, even thus; "How rarely is it that vengeance with
halting step forsakes the pursuit of the wicked!" Together with
him, there were taken prisoners Richard Cumin, William de Mortimer,
William de l’lsle, Henry Revel, Ralph de Ver, Jordan le
Fleming, Waltheof Fitz-Baldwin de Bicre, Richard Maluvel, and many
others, who voluntarily allowed themselves to be made prisoners, lest
they might appear to have sanctioned the capture of their lord.
On the same day, Hugh, count de Bar sur Seine, nephew of Hugh,
bishop of Durham, effected a landing at Herterpol* with forty knights and five
hundred Flemings, for whom the beforenamed bishop had sent; but in
consequence of the capture of the king of Scotland, the bishop
immediately allowed the said Flemings to return home, having first
given them allowance and pay for forty days. Count Hugh, however,
together with the knights who had come with him, he made to stay, and
gave the castle of Alverton** into their safe keeping.
*
Hartlepool. ** North Allerton.
These
things having taken place, Uctred, the son of Fergus, and Gilbert his
brother, the leaders of the men of Galloway, immediately upon the
capture of their lord the king of the Scots, returned to their
country, expelled the king’s thanes from their territories, and
slew without mercy those of English or French origin whom they found
therein. The fortresses and castles which the king of the Scots had
fortified in their territories they laid siege to, and, capturing
them, levelled them with the ground. They also earnestly entreated
the king of England, the father, at the same time presenting him many
gifts, to rescue them from the rule of the king of Scotland, and
render them subject to his own sway.
In the meantime, Louis, king of the Franks, hearing that the king of
England, the father, had crossed over, and that the king of Scots was
taken prisoner, with whose misfortunes he greatly condoled, recalled
the king of England the son, and Philip, earl of Flanders, who were
still staying at Gravelines; and after they had returned to him, laid
siege to Rouen on all sides, except that on which the river Seine
flows.
The king, the father, on hearing of the capture of the king of the Scots,
rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and after a thanksgiving to
Almighty God and the blessed martyr Thomas, set out for Huntingdon,
and laid siege to the castle, which was surrendered to him on the
Lord’s day following, being the twelfth day before the calends
of August. The knights and men-at-arms who were in the castle threw
themselves on the king’s mercy, safety being granted to life
and limb. Immediately upon this, the king departed thence with his
army towards Fremingham, the castle of earl Hugh Bigot; where the
earl himself was, with a large body of Flemings. The king, on drawing
nigh to Fremingham, encamped at a place which is called Seleham, and
remained there that night. On the following day, earl Hugh Bigot came
to him, and, making a treaty of peace with him, surrendered to him
the castle of Fremingham, and the castle of Bungay, and with
considerable difficulty obtained the king’s permission that the
Flemings who were with him. might without molestation return home. At
this place, the horse of Tostes de Saint Omer, a knight of the
Temple, struck the king on the leg, and injured him considerably. On
the following day, namely, on the seventh day before the calends of
August, the king departed from Seleham, and proceeded to Northampton;
on his arrival at which place William, king of the Scots, was brought
to him, with his feet fastened beneath a horse’s belly. There
also came to him Hugh, bishop of Durham, who delivered to him
possession of the castle of Durham, the castle of Norham, and the new
castle of Alverton, which he had fortified, and, after considerable
difficulty, obtained permission that his nephew, the count de Bar,
and the knights who had come with him, might return to their own
country. Roger de Mowbray also came thither to him, and surrendered
to him the castle of Tresk,* and the earl of Ferrers delivered up to
him the castles of Tutesbury,** and of Duffield; Anketill Mallory
also and William de Dive, constables of the earl of Leicester,
surrendered to him the castles of Leicester, of Mountsorrel, and of
Groby.
*
Thirsk ** Tutbury
Thus
then, within the space of three weeks, was the whole of England
restored to tranquillity, and all its fortified places delivered into
the king’s hands. These matters being arranged to his
satisfaction, he speedily crossed over from England to Normandy, and
landed at Barbeflet on the sixth day before the ides of August, being
the fifth day of the week, taking with him his Brabanters and a
thousand Welshmen, together with William, king of the Scots, Robert,
earl of Leicester, and Hugh, earl of Chester, whom he placed in
confinement, first at Caen, and afterwards at Falaise.
On the same day on which the king landed at Barbeflet, he met on the
sea-shore Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, on his return from
Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, with the pall and legateship and
primacy of the whole of England, together with Reginald, bishop of
Bath, whom the said archbishop had consecrated at Saint John de
Maurienne, on their return from Rome. The king, however, did not wish
to detain them with him, but sent them on to England. After this, on
the Lord’s day next ensuing, the king, the father, arrived with
his Brabanters and Welchmen at Rouen, which the king of France and
the king of England, the son, were besieging on one side, while on
the other there was free egress and ingress. On the following
morning, the king sent his Welchmen beyond the river Seine; who,
making way by main force, broke through the midst of the camp of the
king of France, and arrived unhurt at the great forest, and on the
same day slew more than a hundred of the men of the king of France.
Now,
the king of France had been staying there hardly a month, when, lo!
the king of England, the father, coming from England, opened the
gates of the city, which the burgesses had blocked up, and sallying
forth with his knights and men-at-arms, caused the fosses which had
been made between the army of the king of France and the city, to be
filled up with logs of timber, stones, and earth, and to be thus made
level. As for the king of France, he and his men remained in their
tents, and were not inclined to come forth. The rest of the people of
the king of England took up their positions for the defence of the
walls, but no one attacked them; however, a part of the army of the
king of France made an attempt to destroy their own engines of war.
On
the following day, early in the morning, the king of France sent the
weaker portion of his army into his own territories; and, with the
permission of the king of England, followed them on the same day to a
place which is called Malaunay, and lies between Rouen and the town
called Tostes; having first given security by the hand of ‘William,
archbishop of Sens, and of earl Theobald, that on the following day
he would return to confer with the king of England on making peace
between him and his sons. The king of France, however, did not keep
his engagement and his oath, and did not come on the following day to
the conference, but departed into his own territories.
However,
after the expiration of a few days, he again sent the above-named
archbishop of Sens and earl Theobald to the king of England,
appointing a day for the conference, to be held at Gisors, on the
Nativity of Saint Mary. When they met there they could not come to an
agreement, on account of Richard, earl of Poitou, who was at this
time in Poitou, besieging the castles and subjects of his father. In
consequence of this, they again held another conference between them,
upon the festival of Saint Michael, between. Tours and Amboise, on
which occasion they agreed to a truce on these terms: that the said
Richard, earl of Poitou, should be excluded from all benefit of the
truce, and that the king of France and the king of England, the son,
should give him no succour whatever. Upon these arrangements being
made on either side, the king of England, the father, moved on his
army into Poitou; on which, Richard, earl of Poitou, his son, not
daring to await his approach, fled from place to place. When he
afterwards came to understand that the king of France, and the king,
his brother, had excluded him from the benefit of the truce, he was
greatly indignant thereat; and, coming with tears, he fell on his
face upon the ground at the feet of his father, and imploring pardon,
was received into his father’s bosom. These events took place
at Poitou, on the eleventh day before the calends of October, being
the second day of the week; and thus, the king and his son Richard
becoming reconciled, they entered the city of Poitou.
After
this, they both set out together for a conference held between Tours
and Amboise, on the day before the calends of October, being the
second day of the week and the day after the feast of Saint Michael.
Here the king, the son, and Richard and Geoffrey, his brothers, by
the advice and consent of the king and barons of France, made the
treaty of peace underwritten with the king their father:
“Be
it known unto all present as well as to come, that, by the will of
God, peace has been made between our lord the king and his sons,
Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey, on the following terms:—Henry,
the king, the son of the king, and his brothers aforesaid, have
returned unto their father and to his service us their liege lord,
free and absolved from all oaths whatsoever which they have made
between themselves, or with any other persons, against him, or
against his subjects. All liegemen and barons who, for their sake,
have abandoned their fealty to their father, they have released from
all oaths whatsoever which they have made to themselves; and, freely
acquitted from all oaths and absolved from all covenants which they
had made to them, the same have returned to their homage and
allegiance to our lord the king. Also, our lord the king, and all his
liegemen and barons, are to receive possession of all their lands and
castles which they held fifteen days before his sons withdrew from
him. So, in like manner, his liegemen and barons who withdrew from
him and followed his sons, are to receive possession of their lands
which they had fifteen days before they withdrew from him. Also, our
lord the king has laid aside all displeasure against his barons and
liegemen who withdrew from him, so that by reason thereof he will do
no evil to them, so long as they shall faithfully serve him as their
liege lord. And, in like manner, the king, his son, has pardoned all,
both clerks as well as laymen, who took part with his father, and has
remitted all displeasure against them, and has given security into
the hand of our lord the king, his father, that he will not do, or
seek to do, in all his life any evil or harm to those who obeyed him,
by reason of their so doing.
“Also,
upon these conditions, the king gives to the king, his son, two
suitable castles in Normandy, at the option of his father, and
fifteen thousand pounds, Anjouin, yearly revenue. Also, to his son
Richard he gives two suitable mansions in Poitou, whence evil cannot
ensue to the king, and a moiety of the revenues of Poitou in ready
money. To his son Geoffrey he gives, in ready money, the moiety of
what he would receive in Brittany on his marriage with the daughter
of earl Conan, whom he is to take to wife; and after, by the license
of the Roman Church, he shall have taken her to wife, then he shall
have the whole of the revenues accruing by that marriage, in such
manner as is set forth in the deed executed by earl Conan. But, as to
the prisoners who have made a composition with our lord the king
before this treaty was made with our lord the king, namely, the king
of Scotland, the earl of Leicester, the earl of Chester, and Ralph de
Fourgeres, and their pledges, and the pledges of the other prisoners
whom he had before that time, they are to be excepted out of this
treaty. The other prisoners are, however, to be set at liberty on
both sides; but upon the understanding that our lord the king shall
take hostages as pledges from such of his prisoners as he shall think
fit, and shall be able to give the same; and from the rest he shall
take security by the assurance and oaths of themselves and of their
friends. As for the castles which have been built or fortified in the
territories of our lord the king since the war began, they are,
subject to the king’s wishes thereon, to be reduced to the same
state in which they were fifteen days before the war began. Further,
be it known, that king Henry, the son, has covenanted with our lord
the king, his father, that he will strictly observe all gifts in
almoign which he has given, or shall give, to his liegemen for their
services. He has also covenanted that he will strictly and inviolably
confirm the gifts which the king, his father, has made to his brother
John; namely, a thousand pounds of yearly revenues out of his demesne
lands and echeats in England at his own option, together with their
appurtenences; also a castle of Nottingham with the county thereof,
and the castle of Marlborough with its appurtenences; also in
Normandy, one thousand pounds, Anjouin, of yearly revenue and two
castles in Normandy at the option of his father; and in Anjou and the
lands which belonged to the earl of Anjou, one thousand pounds,
Anjouin, of revenue, as also one castle in Anjou, one castle in
Touraine, and one castle in Maine. It has also been covenanted by our
lord the king, in the love which he bears to his son, that all those
who withdrew from him after his son, and offended him by such
withdrawal, may return into the territories of our lord the king
under his protection. Also, for the chattels which on such withdrawal
they carried away, they shall not be answerable: as to murder, or
treason, or the maiming or any limb, they are to be answerable
according to the laws and customs of the land. Also, as to those who
before the war took to flight for any cause, and then entered the
service of his son, the same may, from the love he bears to his son,
return in peace, if they give pledge and surety that they will abide
their trial for those offences of which, before the war, they have
been guilty. Those, also, who were awaiting trial at the time when
they withdrew to his son, are to return in peace, upon condition that
their trials are to be in the same state as when they withdrew.
Henry, the king, the son of our lord the king, has given security
into the hands of his father that this agreement shall on his part be
strictly observed. And, further, Henry, the king’s son, and his
brothers, have given security that they will never demand of our lord
the king, contrary to the will and good pleasure of our lord the
king, their father, anything whatever beyond the gifts above-written
and agreed upon, and that they will withdraw neither themselves nor
their services from their father. Also, Richard, and Geoffrey, his
brother, have done homage to their father for those things which he
has given and granted unto them : and, whereas his son, Henry, was
ready and willing to do homage to him, our lord the king was
unwilling to receive the same of him, because he was a king; but he
has received security from him for the same.”
In
the same year, a dissension arose between Uctred and Gilbert, the
sons of Fergus, and chieftains of the men of Galloway, on which
Malcolm, the son of Gilbert, took Uctred by treachery, and, after
depriving him of his virility and putting out his eyes, caused him to
be put to death.
In this year, [1174] also, Richard, archbishop of Canterbury,
consecrated, in England, at Canterbury, Richard, bishop of
Winchester, Robert Folliot, bishop of Hereford, Geoffrey Riddel,
bishop of Ely, and John, bishop of Chichester. In the same year,
nearly the whole of the city of Canterbury was burned to the ground,
together with the metropolitan church of the Holy Trinity. In this
year, also, died William Turbe, bishop of Norwich.
In
the same year, peace and final reconciliation were established
between Roger, archbishop of York, and Hugh, bishop of Durham, upon
the following terms: “The chapel and burial ground of Alverton
shall remain in the hands of the prior of Hexham, on condition that
the archbishop shall not insist on any person being buried there, nor
shall the bishop hinder it. The church of Hexham shall receive the
chrism and oil from the bishop of Durham, according to its present
usage : the prior of Hexham shall also attend the synod of Durham..
The
clerks and canons of Hexham shall receive ordination from the bishop
of Durham. The parishioners of Hexham, at the time of Pentecost, if
they shall think fit, shall visit the church of Durham without any
compulsion on the part of the bishop or of his people, and without
any prohibition on the part of the archbishop or of his people. Also,
if their people shall presume to act contrary to this, their masters
themselves shall correct them. The prior of Hexham shall try all
ecclesiastical causes of that parish, without power to inflict fines,
though with liberty to impose penance. On the decease of the present
prior, Richard, the bishop of Durham, shall have the same authority
in the appointing of another prior, which the said prior, Richard,
and the prior of Gisburne, and Peter, brother of the prior of
Bridlington, have sworn that the church of Durham had in the
appointing of the said prior, Richard, if indeed they shall have
sworn that it had any. The archbishop shall not demand synodal fees
of the churches of Saint Cuthbert, the names of which, in the
archdeaconry of Cleveland, are as follow: the church of Hemmingburgh,
the church of Schepwick, the church of Alverton, the church of
Bretteby, the church of Osmunderley, the church of Seigestun, the
church of Lee, the church of Oterington, the church of Crake, and the
church of Holteby; in the archdeaconry of York; the church of All
Saints in Ousegate, the church of Saint Peter the Little, and half of
the church of the Holy Trinity, in Sudersgate; and, in the
archdeaconry of the treasurer; the church of Hoveden, *
the church of Welleton, the church of Brentington, and the church of
Walkinton. But if the clergy of the said churches, or the laity of
the demesne manors of Saint Cuthbert, situate in Yorkshire, shall be
guilty of anything that deserves ecclesiastical correction, the same
shall be amended by the archbishop, such a summons being first
issued, that the bishop or his officer shall he able to be present
thereat.” The above articles were confirmed by the archbishop
and the bishop, who mutually gave their word that they would, without
fraud or deceit, observe the same so long as they two should live,
and without prejudice to the church of either after the decease of
the other. In addition to which, the archbishop similarly gave his
word to the bishop that he would in no matter
annoy him or his church, or any one in his bishopric, until the cause
should have been first taken open cognizance of in due course of
judgment.
* Howden, in Yorkshire, the native place of our author.
1175 A.D.
In the year of grace 1175, being the twenty-first year of the
reign of king Henry the Second, son of the empress Matilda, the said king was
at Argenton, in Normandy, during the festival of the Nativity of our
Lord. At the Purification of Saint Mary, he and the king, his son,
were at Le Mans, whence they returned into Normandy, and held a
conference with Louis, king of the Franks, at Gisors. Having come
thence to Bure in Normandy, the king, the son, in order that he might
remove all mistrust from his father’s mind, did homage to him
as his liegeman, and swore fealty to him against all men, in the
presence of Rotrod, archbishop of Rouen, Henry, bishop of Bayeux,
William, earl of Mandeville, and Richard de Humez, his constable, and
many other persons of the household of both kings.
At
the festival of Easter, the two kings were at Caesar’s Burgh,*
and, after Easter, they proceeded to Caen to meet Philip, earl of
Flanders, who shortly before had assumed the cross of the pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. The king, the father, prevailed upon him to release the
king, the son, from all covenants which he had made with him during
the period of the hostilities ; and the earl of Flanders delivered
into the king’s hands the documents of the king, the son, which
he had relative to the above-named covenants. On this, they confirmed
to the earl the yearly revenues which he had been in the habit of
receiving in England before the war.
*
Cherbourg.
The king, the father, also sent his son Richard into Poitou, and his son
Geoffrey into Brittany, with orders that the castles which had been
built or fortified during the time of the war, should be reduced to
the same state in which they were fifteen days before the war began.
After this, the king, the father, and the king, the son, crossed
over, and landed in England, at Portsmouth, on the seventh day before
the ides of May, being the sixth day of the week. On coming to
London, they found Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, about to hold a
synod at Westminster on the Lord’s day before the Ascension of
our Lord ; to which synod came nearly all the bishops and abbats of
the province of Canterbury. Before the kings above-named, and the
bishops and abbots, Richard, the archbishop of Canterbury, standing
on an elevated place, published the decrees underwritten:
“Synods are called together in the Church of God, in conformity with the
ancient usage of the fathers, in order that those who are appointed
to the higher office of the pastoral charge, may, by institutions
based upon rules subjected to their common consideration, reform the
lives of those submitted to their care, and, with a judgment better
informed, be able to check those enormities which are incessantly
springing up. We therefore, rather adhering to the rules of our
forefathers who adhered to the true faith, than devising anything
new, have thought it advisable that certain definite heads should be
published by us; which by all of our province we do enjoin to be
strictly and inviolably observed. For all those who shall presume to
contravene the enactments of this holy synod, we deem to be
transgressors of the sacred canons.
“If any priest or clerk in holy orders, having a church or ecclesiastical
benefice, shall publicly keep a harlot, and after being warned
thereon a first, second, and third time, shall not put away his
harlot, and entirely separate himself from her, but shall rather
think fit to persist in his uncleanness, he shall be deprived of all
ecclesiastical offices and benefices. But if any persons below the
rank of sub-deacons shall have contracted marriage, let them not by
any means be separated from their wives, except with their common
consent that they shall do so and enter a religious order, and there
let them with constancy remain in the service of God. But if any
persons of the rank of sub-deacon or above the same, shall have
contracted marriage, let them leave their wives, even though they
should be unwilling and reluctant. Also, on the authority of the same
epistle we have decreed, that the sons of priests are not,
henceforth, to be instituted as clergymen in the churches of their
fathers; nor are they, under any circumstances whatsoever, to hold
the same without the intervention of some third person.*
* Taken from the decretal epistle of pope Alexander III to Roger,
bishop of Worcester.
“Clerks in holy orders are not to enter taverns for the purpose of eating and
drinking, nor to be present at public drinkings, unless when
travelling, and compelled by necessity. And if any one shall be
guilty of so doing, either let him put an end to the practice, or
suffer deprivation.*
* From the decrees of the council of Carthage.
“Those who are in holy orders are not allowed to give judgment on matters of
life and death. Wherefore, we do forbid them either themselves to
take part in dismemberment, or to order it to be done by others. And
if any one shall be guilty of doing such a thing, let him be deprived
of the office and position of the orders that have been granted to
him. We do also forbid, under penalty of excommunication, any priest
to hold the office of sheriff, or that of any secular public officer.*
* From the decrees of the council of Toledo.
“Clerks who allow their hair to grow, are, though against their will, to be
shorn by the archdeacon. They are also not to be allowed to wear any
garments or shoes, but such as are consistent with propriety and
religion. And if any one shall presume to act contrary hereto, and on
being warned shall not be willing to reform, let him be subject to
excommunication.*
* From the decrees of the council of Agatha
“Inasmuch as certain clerks, despairing of obtaining ordination from their own
bishops, either on account of ignorance, or irregularity of life, or
the circumstances of their birth, or a defect in their title, or
youthful age, are ordained out of their own province, and sometimes
even by bishops beyond sea, or else falsely assert that they have
been so ordained, producing unknown seals to their own bishops; we do
enact that the ordination of such shall be deemed null and void, and,
under pain of excommunication, we do forbid that they shall be
employed by any one in the performance of his duties. The bishop
also, within our jurisdiction, who knowingly and wilfully shall
ordain any such person or employ him after the conferring of such
orders, for so ordaining or employing him, let him know that he is suspended
from his office until he shall have made due satisfaction. Likewise,
inasmuch as the Church of God, according to the verity of the Gospel,
ought to be the house of prayer, and not a den of thieves, and market
for blood; under pain of excommunication we do forbid secular causes,
in which the shedding of blood or bodily punishment is likely to be
the result, to be tried in churches or in churchyards. For it is
absurd and cruel for judgment of bloodshed to be discussed in the
place which has also been appointed a place of refuge for the
guilty.*
* From various decrees of popes Urban and Innocent, and of
the councils of Chalcedon and Carthage.
“It has been told us, that it is the custom in some places for money to
be given for receiving the chrism, as also for baptism and the
communion. This as a simoniacal heresy a holy council held in
detestation, and visited with excommunication. We do therefore enact,
that in future nothing shall be demanded either for ordination, or
for the chrism, or for baptism, or for extreme unction, or for
burial, or for the communion, or for dedication; but the gifts of
Christ are to be bestowed freely with a gratuitous dispensation. If
any person shall presume to act in defiance hereof, let him be
excommunicated.*
* From the decrees of the council of Trebour.
“Let no prelate, on receiving a monk, or canon, or nun, presume
to take or demand money from those who come to adopt the monastic life, under
pretence of any agreement whatsoever.*
* From the decrees of pope Urban.
“Let it be allowable for no one under the name of a dowry to
transfer a benefice to any person, or to exact money or any emolument on the
pretext of an agreement for the presentation of any person thereto.
If he shall do so, and upon trial shall confess or be convicted of
the same, relying both on our own and on the royal authority, we do
enact that he shall be for ever deprived of the patronage of the said
church.
“According to the decrees of the fathers, we do, under penalty of
excommunication, forbid that monks or clerks shall carry on business
for the sake of profit, and that monks shall hold farms of the clergy
or of the laity, or that the laity shall hold the benefices of the
Church to farm.
“Whoever would appear to belong to the clergy, let them not take up arms, nor
yet go about in armour ; but by their religious habits, let them
reconcile the name of their profession to the religious character of
their manners. If they despise this injunction, then, as contemners
of the holy canons and profaners of the ecclesiastical authority, let
them be mulcted with the loss of their proper rank: inasmuch as they
cannot serve both God and the world.*
* By decree of the council of Meaux.
“Also,
with regard to vicars, who on their promise and oath are bound to
their parsons, we have thought proper to enact, that if, despising
their promise or the obligation of their oath, they shall falsely
take upon themselves the character of parson, and set themselves up
against their parsons, and if they shall upon trial confess thereto
or be convicted thereof, then for the future they are not to be
admitted in the same bishopric to the discharge of the duties of
their office.*
*
From a decree of pope Alexander the Third, addressed to the bishop of
Norwich
“All
tithes of the land, whether of corn or of fruit, are the Lord’s,
and are sanctified unto Him. But, inasmuch as many are found
unwilling to give tithes, we do enact, that according to the commands
of our lord the pope, they shall be admonished a first, second, and
third time, to give tithes in full of corn, wine, fruits of trees,
young of animals, wool, lambs, butter, cheese, flax, hemp, and other
things which are renewed yearly; and if, upon being admonished, they
do not make amends, let them understand that they are subject to
excommunication.*
* From the decrees of the council of Rouen.
“And further, let the imperial sanction put a check upon litigation, and
the audacity of those who inconsiderately appeal to law, by
condemning them to pay the costs, and various other remedies. And
inasmuch as this is known to be in unison with the holy institutions,
we do order, that for the future, in such actions for the recovery of
money as shall be tried among clerks, the party who is the loser
shall be condemned to pay costs to his opponent. As for him who shall
not be able to make such payment, I leave him to be punished at the
discretion of his bishop.
“We do find in the holy list only ten prefaces that
are to be received: the first on the first Sunday after Easter,
‘Et te quidem omni tempore.’
The second on Ascension Day,
‘Qui post resurrectionem.’ *
The third at Pentecost,
‘Qui ascendens super omnes cælos.’ **
The fourth upon the nativity,
‘Quia per incarnati Verbi mysterium.’ ***
The fifth upon the Epiphany of our Lord,
‘Quia cum renigenitus tuus’****
The sixth upon the festivals of the Apostles,
‘Et te Domine supplicitur exorare.’
The seventh on the Holy Trinity,
‘Qui cum renigenito tuo.’ *****
The eighth upon the Cross,
‘Qui salutem humani generis.’
The ninth is only to be repeated during the fast of Lent,
‘Qui corporali jejunio.’
The tenth upon the blessed Virgin,
‘Et te in veneratione beatæ Mariæ.’
Upon the authority therefore of this decree, and of our lord,
the pope Alexander, we do strictly enjoin, that no person shall, under any
circumstances whatever, presume to add anything to the prefaces above-mentioned.
* This preface is read from Ascension Day till Whitsun Eve.
** This is read from Whitsun Eve till Trinity Sunday; and in
votive masses of the Holy Ghost.
*** This is read from Christmas day till the Epiphany; on Corpus
Christi and during its octave; and on our Lord’s transfiguration.
**** This is read on the Epiphany and during its octave.
***** This is read on Trinity Sunday, and every other Sunday in
the year that has no proper preface.
“We do forbid any one to give the Eucharist to any
person dipped into the chalice as being a requisite part of the communion. For
we do not read that Christ gave the bread to the others, having first dipped
it, but only to that one of the disciples, whom the sop, when dipped,
was to show to be his betrayer, and not that it formed any
characteristic of the institution of this Sacrament.*
* From a decree of pope Julius.
“We do command that the Eucharist shall not be consecrated
in any other than a chalice of gold or silver, and from henceforth we do forbid
any bishop to bless a chalice of pewter.*
* From a decree of the council of Rheims.
“Let no one of the faithful, of what rank soever,
be married in secret, but, receiving the benediction from the priest, let
him be publicly married in the Lord. Therefore, if any priest shall be found
to have united any persons in secret, let him be suspended from the duties of
his office for the space of three years.
“Where there is not the consent of both parties, it is
not a marriage; therefore, those who give female children in the cradle to male
infants effect nothing thereby, unless both of the children shall
agree thereto after they have arrived at the years of discretion. On
the authority therefore of this decree, we do forbid that in future
any persons shall be united in marriage, of whom either the one or
the other shall not have arrived at the age appointed by the laws,
and set forth by the canons, unless it shall at any time chance to
happen that by reason of some urgent necessity, a union of such a
nature ought to be tolerated for the sake of peace.”
In this synod, also the clerks of Roger, archbishop of York, asserted
the right of the church of York to carry the cross in the province of
Canterbury. They also asserted, on the same occasion, on behalf of
the archbishop of York, that the bishopric of Lincoln, the bishopric
of Chester, the bishopric of Worcester, and the bishopric of
Hereford, ought by right to belong to the metropolitan church of
York; and they summoned the said archbishop of Canterbury on this
question to the presence of the Roman Pontiff. They also summoned the
archbishop of Canterbury before the Roman Pontiff, for the alleged
injustice of the sentence of excommunication which he had pronounced
against the clergy of the archbishop of York, who, with his sanction,
officiated in the church of Saint Oswald, at Gloucester, because they
had refused to come to him upon his summons in the same manner as the
clergy of his own province did.
At
this synod also, the clergy of the church of Saint Asaph requested
the archbishop of Canterbury, that by virtue of the obedience due to
him, he would order Godfrey, bishop of the church of Saint Asaph, to
return to that see, with the pontifical dignity of which he was
invested, or else that the abovenamed archbishop would appoint
another bishop in his place. For this Godfrey had left his bishopric,
being compelled so to do by poverty, and the hostile invasions of the
Welch; and coming into England, had been kindly and honorably
received by the most Christian king Henry; who also gave the vacant
abbacy of Abingdon into his charge, until such time as he should be
at liberty to return to his own see.
In
consequence of this application, the said archbishop of Canterbury,
at the instance of the before-named clergy, and by the advice of
Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, as also by the counsel of his
venerable brother bishops, at this synod, called upon the said
Godfrey, in virtue of his obedience, either to return to his own see,
or else freely and absolutely to deliver up the pastoral care which
had been placed in his hands.
Upon
this, Godfrey, being in hopes that the abbacy of Abingdon, which had
been delivered into his charge, would remain in his hands, no one
compelling him so to do, resigned his bishopric into the hands of the
archbishop of Canterbury, freely and absolutely delivering up to him
the ring and pastoral staff. And so, being deceived, he lost them
both; for the king gave the bishopric of Saint Asaph to Master Ada, a
Welchman, and the abbacy of Abingdon to a certain monk.
Robert,
earl of Gloucester, at this period surrendered to the king of England
the castle of Bristol, of which the king had never before been able
to gain possession. In the same year, on the octave of the Nativity
of Saint John the Baptist, both the kings came to Woodstock, and were
met there by Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, Richard, bishop of
Winchester, Reginald, bishop of Bath, Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury,
Roger, bishop of Worcester, Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, John, bishop of
Chichester, Walter, bishop of Rochester, Bartholomew, bishop of
Exeter, and Hugh, bishop of Durham, who had come thither on business
of their own. There also came thither all
the abbats of the province of Canterbury; and they held a great synod
on the election of a pastor to the pontifical see of the church of
Norwich, and on the election of pastors to the abbeys which were then
vacant throughout England; namely, the abbey of Grimsby, the abbey of
Croyland, the abbey of Thorney, the abbey of Westminster, the abbey
of Saint Augustine, at Canterbury, the abbey of Battle, the abbey of
Hyde at Winchester, the abbey of Abingdon, the abbey of Abbotsbury,
and the abbey of Michelney. John of Oxford, the king’s clerk,
was elected to the bishopric of Norwich, and was consecrated by
Richard, archbishop of Canterbury. The abbeys before-mentioned were
also distributed among religious men, as seemed good to our lord the
king and the above-named archbishop.
In
the same year, pope Alexander confirmed the election of Geoffrey,
bishop elect of Lincoln. In this year, also, the king, the father,
impleaded all the clergy and laity of his kingdom who, in the time of
the wars, had committed offences against him in his forests, and as
to the taking of venison, and exacted fines of them all, although
Richard de Lucy gave a warranty that all this was done with his
sanction, and by command of the king, sent from beyond sea.
After this, the two kings proceeded to York, where they were met by
William, king of the Scots, and his brother David, together with
nearly the whole of the bishops and abbats, and other principal men
of his dominions. And at this place was renewed the treaty and final
reconciliation which the said king of Scotland had made with his lord
the king of England, the father, at Falaise, while he was his
prisoner, in presence of the king, his son, Roger, archbishop of
York, Hugh, bishop of Durham, and the earls and barons of England, as
also of the bishops and abbats, earls and barons of the kingdom of
Scotland. This charter of confirmation thereof was read to the
following effect in the church of Saint Peter, at York :—
“William, king of Scotland, becomes the liegeman of our lord the king, against
all the men of Scotland and for all the rest of his dominions; and
has done fealty to him as his liege lord, in the same manner in which
other men, his own liegemen, are wont to do unto himself. In like
manner he has done homage in Somersetshire to king Henry, his son,
saving always his fealty to our lord the king, his father.
“All the bishops, abbats, and clergy of the king’s territory of
Scotland, as also their successors, shall do fealty to our lord the
king as their liege lord, according to his pleasure, and to his son,
king Henry, and their heirs, in such manner as his other bishops are
wont to do unto him.
“Also, the king of Scotland, and David, his brother, and the barons and the
rest of his subjects, have agreed that the Church of Scotland shall
from henceforth pay such obedience to the Church of England as it
ought in duty to pay, and was wont to pay in the times of the kings
of England, his predecessors.
“In like manner Richard, bishop of Saint Andrews, Richard, bishop of
Dunkeld, Geoffrey, abbot of Dunfermline, and Herbert, prior of
Coldingham, have agreed that the Church of England shall again have
that authority over the Church of Scotland which of right it ought to
have, and that they will not oppose the rights of the Church of
England. And they have given security as to this agreement, in that
they have as lieges done fealty to our lord the king and to his son
Henry.
“The same shall be done by the rest of the bishops and the clergy of
Scotland, according to the covenants made between our lord the king
and the king of Scotland, and his brother David and his barons. The
earls also, and barons and other subjects of the kingdom of the king
of Scotland, from whom our lord the king shall wish to receive the
same, shall do homage to him against all men and fealty as their
liege lord, in such manner as his other subjects are wont to do, as
also to his son king Henry and his heirs, saving always their fealty
to our lord the king, his father. In like manner the heirs of the
king of Scotland and of his barons and of his subjects shall do
homage and allegiance to the heirs of our lord the king against all
men.
“Further,
from henceforth the king of Scotland and his subjects shall harbour
no fugitive from the territories of our lord the king by reason of
felony, either in Scotland or in any other of his territories, unless
he shall be willing forthwith to take his trial in the court of our
lord the king and to abide by the judgment of the court. But the king
of Scotland and his men shall arrest him with all possible speed, and
shall deliver him up to our lord the king, or to his justiciaries or
bailiffs in England.
“And
if any fugitive from the territories of the king of Scotland, by
reason of felony, shall be in England, unless he shall be willing to
take his trial in the court of the king of Scotland, and abide by the
judgment of the court, he shall not be harboured in the lands of the
king, but shall be delivered unto the men of the king of Scotland,
when he shall have been found by the bailiffs of our lord the king.
“Further,
the men of our lord the king shall hold their lands which they have
held and ought to hold, against our lord the king and his men, and
against the king of Scotland and his men. And the men of the king of
Scotland shall hold their lands which they have held and ought to
hold, against our lord the king and his men.
“By
way of security for the strict observance of the said covenants and
final agreement so made with our lord the king and his son Henry and
their heirs, on part of the king of Scotland and his heirs, the king
of Scotland has delivered unto our lord the king the castle of
Roxburgh, the castle of Berwick, the castle of Geddewerde, [Jedburgh]
the castle of the Maidens, [“castellum puellarum”–
Edinburgh] and the castle of Striveline, [Stirling] unto the mercy of
our lord the king. In addition to which, for the purpose of ensuring
the performance of the said covenants and final agreement, the king
of Scotland has delivered unto our lord the king his brother David as
a hostage, as also earl Dunecan, earl Waltheof, earl Gilbert, the
earl of Angus, Richard de Morville, his constable, Nes Fitzwilliam,
Richard Cumin, Walter Corbet, Walter Olifard, John de Vals, William
de Lindesey, Philip de Colville, Philip de Baluines, Robert Frenbert,
Bobert de Burneville, Hugh Giffard, Hugh Riddel, Walter de Berkeley,
William de la Haie, and William de Mortimer. But when the castles
shall have been delivered up, William, king of Scotland, and his
brother David shall be set at liberty. The earls and barons
above-named shall, after each of them shall have delivered up his
hostage, namely, a lawful son, those who have one, and the rest their
nephews or next heirs, and after the castles, as above-mentioned,
shall have been surrendered, be set at liberty.
“Further,
the king of Scotland and his before-named barons have pledged their
word that with good faith and without evil intent, and with no excuse
whatever, they will cause the bishops and barons and other men of
their land who were not present when the king of Scotland made this
treaty with our lord the king, to make the same allegiance and fealty
to our lord the king and to his son Henry, which they themselves have
made, and, like the barons and men who were here present, to deliver
as hostages to our lord the king whomsoever he shall think fit.
“Further,
the bishops, earls, and barons have agreed with our lord the king and
his son Henry, that if the king of Scotland, by any chance, shall
withdraw from his fealty to our lord the king and to his son, and
from the aforesaid covenants, in such case they will hold with our
lord the king, as with their liege lord, against the king of
Scotland, and against all men at enmity with the king; and they will
place the dominions of the king of Scotland under interdict, until he
shall return to his fealty to our lord the king.
"That
the covenants aforesaid shall be strictly observed, and in good
faith, and without evil intent, by William, king of Scotland and
David his brother, and by his barons abovenamed, and their heirs, the
king of Scotland himself, and David his brother, and all his said
barons, have pledged themselves as liegemen of our lord the king
against all men, as also of his son Henry, saving their fealty to his
father; the following being witnesses hereto : Richard, bishop of
Avranches, John, dean of Salisbury, Robert, abbot of Malmesbury,
Ralph, abbot of Mundeburg, Herbert, archdeacon of Northampton,
Walter’ de Coutances, Roger, the king’s chaplain, Osbert,
clerk of the chamber, Richard, son of our lord the king, earl of
Poitou, Geoffrey, son of our lord the king, earl of Brittany,
William, earl of Essex, Hugh, earl of Chester, Richard de Humezt,
constable and earl of Mellent, Jordan Thessun, Humphrey de Bohun,
William de Courcy, seneschal, and Gilbert Malet, seneschal of
Falaise.”
The
aforesaid having been recited in the church of Saint Peter, at York,
in the presence of the before-named kings of England [and Scotland],
and of David, brother of the king of Scotland, and of the whole of
the people, the bishops, earls, barons, and knights of the
territories of the king of Scotland, swore fealty to our lord, the
king of England, and to his son Henry and his heirs, as their liege
lords against all men.
In
the meantime, Philip, earl of Flanders, took prisoner a knight named
Walter de Fontaines, one sprung of a noble family, and conspicuous
before all his compeers in feats of arms; making a charge against him
that he had unlawfully known the countess of Flanders. On this, the
said Walter, intending to make denial thereof, offered to prove his
innocence in any way whatever, affirming that he had never known the
countess, nor had ever had it in his thoughts to know her. The earl,
however, would not allow him so to clear himself; but in the fury of
his wrath gave orders that he should be put to death by being beaten
with clubs. Accordingly, the executioners seized him, and, binding
him hand and foot, beat him with clubs, and hung him up half dead by
the feet, with his head hanging downwards in a filthy sewer, and
thus, being suffocated by the stench from the sewer, he ended his
life most shockingly.
Upon
this, Ælismus and the other sons of the before-named Walter de
Fontaines, and Jacques de Avennes, and the rest of their relations,
fortifying their castles, rose in rebellion against the earl, and
laid waste his lands with fire and sword; and thus at length
compelled him to give them satisfaction for the death of the said
Walter de Fontaines.
In the same year, Richard, earl of Poitou, son of Henry, king of
England, laid siege to Chatillon, beyond Agens, which Arnold de
Boiville had fortified against him, and refused to surrender.
Accordingly, having arranged there his engines of war, within two
months he took it, together with thirty knights, and retained it in
his own hands.
In
the same year [1175] king Henry, the father, held a great council at
Windsor, on the octave of the feast of Saint Michael, the king, his
son, Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops of England
being present, and in presence of Laurence, archbishop of Dublin, and
the earls and barons of England. At this council the Catholic
archbishop of Tuam, Cantordis, abbot of Saint Brandan, and master
Laurence, chancellor of Roderic, king of Connaught, made the
underwritten final treaty and agreement with our lord the king, the
father, on behalf of Roderic, king of Connaught:
“This is the final treaty and agreement made at Windsor on
the octave of Saint Michael, in the year of grace one thousand one
hundred and seventy-five, between our lord the king of England,
Henry, son of the empress Matilda, and Roderic, king of Connaught, by
the Catholic archbishop of Tuam, Cantordis, abbot of Saint Brandan,
and master Laurence, chancellor of the king of Connaught; that is to
say—
“The
king of England grants to the above-named Roderic, his liegeman, the
kingdom of Connaught, so long as he shall faithfully serve him, so as
to be king thereof under him and ready to do him service as his
liegeman, that he shall hold his lands as well and as peaceably as he
held the same before our lord the king of England entered Ireland,
always paying him tribute, and that he shall hold all the rest of
that land and the inhabitants of that land in subjection to himself,
and shall exercise justice over them in such way that they shall pay
full tribute to the king of England, and by his hand preserve their
rights. And those who now hold lands, are to hold the same in peace
so long as they shall observe their fealty to the king of England,
and fully and faithfully render tribute and his other rights which
they owe to him by the hand of the king of Connaught, saving in all
things the rights and honor of our lord the king of England and of
himself.
“And
if any of them shall become rebels against the king of England and
himself, and shall be unwilling by his hand to render tribute and his
other rights unto the king of England, and shall withdraw from their
fealty to the king ; he shall take judicial cognizance of them, and
remove them therefrom. And if of himself he shall not be able to
carry out his sentence upon them, the constable of the king of
England and his household in that land shall aid him in so doing,
when they shall have been called upon by him, and shall themselves
see that it is necessary so to do. And by reason of this treaty, the
aforesaid king of Connaught shall render tribute each year to our
lord the king, that is to say, for every ten animals one skin, such
as may be approved by dealers, both from the whole of his own lands,
as also from those of others.
“Except
that, as to those lands which our lord the king has retained as of
his own demesne and as of the demesne of his barons, he shall not
make entry thereupon, that is to say, Dublin with its appurtenances,
and Meath with all its appurtenances, as wholly and fully as ever the
Marchat Vamaileth
Lachlin, or any who held it of him, held the same. Also, with the
further exception of Wexford, with all its appurtenances, that is to
say, with the whole of Leighlin: and with the exception of Waterford,
with the whole of the land that lies between Waterford and Dungarvan,
so that Dungarvan with all its appurtenances be included in the said
land.
“And
if the Irish who have taken to flight shall wish to return to the
lands of the barons of the king of England, they are to return in
peace on paying the above-named tribute which others pay, or doing
the ancient services which they were in the habit of doing for their
lands; this latter to be at the will and option of the lords. And if
any of them shall refuse to return to their lord the king of
Connaught, he is to compel them to return to their lands, that they
may remain there under his protection, and the king of Connaught is
to receive hostages from all whom our lord the king of England has
entrusted to him, at the will of our lord the king and of himself. He
himself also shall give hostages at the will of our lord the king of
England, of one sort or another, and they shall do service unto our
lord the king each year with their dogs and birds, by way of making
payment. And nothing whatever, on any land whatsoever belonging to
our lord the king shall they withhold against the will and command of
our lord the king. Witnesses hereto : Richard, bishop of Winchester,
Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, Laurence, archbishop of Dublin, Geoffrey,
Nicholas, and Roger, the king’s chaplains, William, earl of
Essex, Richard de Lucy, Geoffrey de Perche, Reginald de Cortinea, and
many others.
At
the same council the king of England gave the bishopric of Waterford
to Master Augustin, a native of Ireland, that see being then vacant
there, and he sent him into Ireland with Laurence, archbishop of
Dublin, to be consecrated by Donatus, archbishop of Cashel. In the
same year, there was in England, and in the countries adjoining, a
deadly mortality among mankind, so much so, that on most days seven
or eight bodies of the dead were carried out to burial. And
immediately after this deadly mortality, a dreadful famine ensued.
In the same year, [1175] a short time before the feast of All Saints,
there came to England a cardinal, whose name was Hugezun, [Hugo de
Petra Leonis, see 1176 below] a legate from the Apostolic See, for
whom our lord the king had sent to Rome. He found our lord, the king,
staying at Winchester, on which, the king went forth to meet him, his
son Henry being with him, and they received him with all becoming
honor. Our lord, the king, prolonging his stay for some days at
Winchester, treated, at very great length, on the restoration of
peace between Roger, the archbishop of York, and Richard, the
archbishop of Canterbury, the chapel of Saint Oswald at Gloucester,
and the carrying of the cross of the archbishop of York.
At
length, by the management of the king, an arrangement was made
between the above-named archbishops to the following effect. The
archbishop of Canterbury released and acquitted to the archbishop of
York the chapel of Saint Oswald, at Gloucester, from all jurisdiction
on his part, as though it were a private chapel belonging to our lord
the king. He also absolved the clerks of the archbishop of York,
whom he had excommunicated; and as to the carrying of the cross, and
the other disputes which existed between their churches, they agreed
to abide by the decision of the archbishop of Rouen and other
neighbouring bishops of the kingdom of France. And upon this, they
were to keep the peace between them for the space of five years; upon
condition that neither of them should seek to do any harm or injury
to the other until the said controversy should have been settled, and
brought to a due conclusion by the above-named archbishop and the
other bishops. Also, the above-named cardinal, Hugezun, gave to our
lord, the king, permission to implead the clergy of his kingdom for
offences against his forests and taking venison therein.
In the same year, Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, deprived William de
Walterville, abbot of Saint Peter de Burgh,[Peterborough] because he
had broken into the cloisters of his abbey, and attempted to carry
off with a violent and armed band of men the relics of the Saints,
together with an arm of Saint Oswald, the king and Martyr; in the
defence of which, some of the monks and servants of the church were
wounded, and others slain. However, the chief and especial cause of
this deprivation was, that our lord the king hated him on account of
his brother Walter de Walterville, whom, together with other enemies
of the king, he had harboured during the time of the hostilities. In
the same year, died Reginald, earl of Cornwall, the king’s
uncle, at Certeseie, [Chertsey] and was buried at Reading.
1176 A.D.
In the year of grace 1176, being the twenty-second year of the reign of
king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said king and king Henry,
his son, were at Windsor during the festival of the Nativity of our
Lord. On the same day, the before-named cardinal deacon, Hugezun,
titular of Saint Michael de Petra Leonis, and legate of the Apostolic
See, was at York with Roger, archbishop of York. After the Nativity
of our Lord, at the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, our lord
the king, the father, came to Nottingham,[the council was held in
Northampton] and, there held a great council, on the statutes of his
realm, and in the presence of the king, his son, and of the
archbishops, bishops, earls, and barons of his realm, by the common
consent of all, divided his kingdom into six parts, to each of which
he appointed three justices itinerant, whose names are as follow:
1 HUGH DE CRESSY
WALTER FITZ_ROBERT
ROBERT MANTEL
Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire,
Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire
2 HUGH DE GUNDEVILLE
WILLIAM FITZ-RALPH
WILLIAM BASSET
Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire,
Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire
Leicestershire.
3 ROBERT FITZ-BERNARD
RICHARD GIFFARD
ROGER FITZ-REMFRAY
Kent, Surrey, Southamptonshire [Hampshire],
Sussex, Berkshire, Oxfordshire.
4 WILLIAM FITZ-STEPHEN
BERTRAM DE VERDUN
TURSTON FITZ-SIMON
Herefordshire, Gloucestershire,
Worcestershire, Salopeshire [Shropshire].
5 RALPH FITZ-STEPHEN
WILLIAM RUFFE
GILBERT PIPARD
Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset,
Devonshire, Cornwall.
6 ROBERT DE WALS
RALPH [RANULPH] DE GLANVILLE
ROBERT PIKENOT
Euerwikeshire [Yorkshire], Richmondshire.
Lancaster, Coupland [now in Northumberland],
Westmoreland, Northumberland, Cumberland.
After which, the king caused all the above-named justices to
swear upon the Holy Evangelists, that they would with good faith, and without evil
intent, observe these assizes underwritten, and cause them to be
inviolably observed by the people of his realm.
THE ASSIZES OF KING HENRY.
First ordained at Clarendon, and re-enacted at Northampton.
“If any person shall be charged before the justices of our lord the king,
with murder, or larceny, or robbery, or the harbouring of men guilty
of the same, or coining, [debasing currency] or arson, then upon the
oath of twelve knights of the hundred, and, if there shall be no such
knights, upon the oath of twelve free and lawful men, and upon the
oath of four men of each vill of the hundred, he is to be tried by
judgment of water,* and if he is cast, he is to lose one foot. At
Northampton it has been added, to vindicate the rigour of justice,
that in like manner he is to lose his right hand, together with his
foot, and to abjure the realm, and be banished therefrom within the
space of forty days. But if he shall be acquitted on trial by water,
then let him find sureties and remain in the realm, unless he shall
again be charged with murder, or any base felony, by the commons of
the county and of the lawful knights of the country : on which, if he
shall be charged in manner aforesaid, even though upon judgment by
water he shall be acquitted, nevertheless, within forty days, he is
to depart from the realm, and carry with him his chattels, saving
always the right of his superior lord, and, being at the mercy of our
lord the king, he is to abjure the realm. This assize shall hold good
from the time that the assize was made at Clarendon up to the present
time, and from henceforth, so long as it shall seem good to our lord
the king, in cases of murder, treason, and arson, and in all the
matters aforesaid, with the exception of trifling thefts and
robberies, which took place in the time of the war, such as of
horses, cattle, and things of less consequence.
“It shall be lawful for no one, either in a borough
or vill, to entertain in his house for more than one night any stranger for
whose forthcoming he shall be unwilling to give security, unless he who is
so entertained shall have some reasonable essoign, [excuse] which the
landlord of the house is to shew to his neighbours, and when he
departs he is to depart before the neighbours, and in the daytime.
* ‘Judicium aquae’ The party thus tried was
thrown into cold water; if he swam, he was considered guilty; but if he sank,
he was pronounced innocent.
“If any person shall be arrested for murder, or for
larceny, or for robbery, or for coining, and shall make confession of the same
before the chief of the hundred or borough, and before lawful men, or of any
other felony which he has committed, he shall not be allowed
afterwards before the justices to make denial of the same. And if,
without arrest, he shall make confession before them of anything of
this nature, of this also he shall not be allowed before the justices
to make denial.
“If any freeholder shall die, his heirs are to remain
in such seisin as their father had on the day on which he was living and dead,
both as to his fee and his chattels; of which they are to make division
according to the devise of the deceased, and then to seek his lord
and to pay him his relief and other things which they are bound to
pay him out of their fee. And if the heir shall happen to be under
age, the lord of the fee is to receive his homage and to keep him in
his charge so long as he is entitled; and, if there are several
lords, then let them receive his homage, and let him do unto them
what he is bound to do. The wife also of the deceased is to have her
dower and the part of his chattels which belongs to her. And if the.
lord of the fee shall refuse to give seisin of the fee to the heirs
of the deceased at their demand, then the justices of our lord the
king are to cause a jury of twelve lawful men to be impannelled, to
enquire what seisin the deceased had in the same on the day on which
he was living and dead. And, according as they shall find, so are
they to make restitution to the heirs. And if any person shall do the
contrary of this, and be attainted thereof, let him be amerced.
“The king’s justices are to cause view to
be made, by a jury, of disseisins sur-assize that have been made since
the period when our lord the king came to England, shortly after peace
had been made between him and the king his son.
“The justices are to receive the oaths of fealty
to our lord the king before the close of Easter, and at the latest before
the close of Pentecost, from all earls, barons, knights, and freeholders,
and from the serfs as well who shall wish to remain in the realm; and he who
shall refuse to do fealty, is to be taken as an enemy to our lord the
king. Also, the justices are to command all persons who have not yet
done homage and allegiance to our lord the king, to come to them at a
time which they shall appoint, and do homage to the king and allegiance
to him as their liege lord.
“The justices are to exercise all rights and jurisdictions
that belong to our lord the king and to his crown, by writ of our lord the king, or
of those who shall be in his place, as to fees held by half-knight’s
services and below it; unless the question be of such importance that
it cannot be settled without the presence of our lord the king, or of
such a nature that the justices shall refer it to him, or to those
who shall be in his place, in consequence of their doubts. Still, to
the best of their ability, they are to exert themselves to consult
the con
“Throughout those counties through which they are to go,
they are to hold assizes for the trial of wicked thieves and evil-doers to the
land; the samebeing held by consent of the king, and of his son, and of his
subjects.
“Also, the justices are to take precaution that the
castles already dismantled are quite dismantled, and that those which are to
be dismantled are utterly razed to the ground. And, if they do not, our
lord the king will desire to have the judgment of his court on them as
contemners of his commands.
“The justices are to make enquiry as to escheats, and
churches, and lands, and female wards, [the king had the right of giving in marriage]
that are at the disposal of our lord the king.
“The bailiffs of our lord the king are to be answerable
in the exchequer both for the rents of assize, and their other levies which they
make in their bailiwicks; with the exception of those which relate to the
shrievalty.
“The justices are to make enquiry as to the keepers
of the [royal] castles, both who they are, and how much they owe, and where;
and, after that, they are to report thereon to our lord the king.
“A robber, immediately he is taken, is to be given into
the custody of the sheriff; and, if the sheriff is absent, then he is to be taken
to the nearest castellan, and let him take charge of him until such time
as he shall deliver him over to the sheriff.
“The justices are to cause, according to the custom of
the country, enquiry to be made for those who have withdrawn from the kingdom;
and, unless they are ready to return within a time named, and to take
their trial in the court of our lord the king, they are to be
outlawed; and the names of those outlawed are to be brought at Easter
and at the feast of Saint Michael to the exchequer, and are to be
sent immediately to our lord the king.”
To the aforesaid council held at Northampton, came William,
king of the Scots, in obedience to the command of our lord the king, bringing
with him Richard, bishop of Saint Andrews, Jocelyn, bishop of
Glasgow, Richard, bishop of Dunkeld, Christian, bishop of Whitherne,
Andrew, bishop of Caithness, and Simon de Touy, bishop of Moray,
together with the other bishops, abbats, and priors of his kingdom.
When they had come before our lord the king of England, our lord the
king commanded, by the fealty which they owed him, and the oath of
fealty which they had made to him, that they should show the same
obedience to the Church of England which they were in duty bound, and
used to show, in the times of the kings of England, his predecessors.
On this, they made answer to him that they never had paid
obedience to the Church of England, nor was it their duty so to do; to which,
Roger, archbishop of York, made reply, and alleged that the bishops
of Glasgow and the bishops of Whitherne had been subject to the
church of York in the time of the archbishops, his predecessors; and,
relative thereto, he satisfactorily pointed out the privileges
granted by the Roman Pontiffs. Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, made reply
to these assertions to the following effect: “The church of
Glasgow is in especial the daughter of the Church of Rome, and is
exempt from all subjection to either archbishops or bishops; and, if
the church of York has at any time had authority over the church of
Glasgow, it is clear that, in future, she deserves to hold no
dominion whatsoever over her.”
As Richard the archbishop of Canterbury was using his best
endeavours that the Church of Scotland might be rendered subject to the church
of Canterbury, he prevailed upon the king of England to allow the
bishops of Scotland to return to their own country without yielding
any subjection to the Church of England.
In the same year, at mid-Lent, the above-named Hugezun,
cardinal, titular of Saint Michael de Petra Leonis, and legate of the Apostolic
See, came to London to hold a council there. Here he was met by the
archbishops of Canterbury and York, and all the bishops and abbats of
England, with great numbers of the clergy. The said cardinal took his
seat at Westminster, in the chapel of the Infirm Monks, and the
bishops and abbots with him, each in his place, according to his rank
and dignity. But a dispute arose between the archbishops of
Canterbury and York, which of them ought to sit on the right hand of
the cardinal; and on the archbishop of York attempting to seat
himself there, the servants of the lord archbishop of Canterbury
rushed upon him and threw him to the ground, kicked him with their
feet, and tore his hood. Upon this, the people there assembled
dispersed, and the cardinal took to flight and hid himself from
before their faces, and thus was the council prevented from being
held. But, after both sides had made appeal to the Supreme Pontiff,
each of them complained to the king of the wrongs which he had
suffered.
In this year, the king, the father, was at Winchester during
the festival of Easter, and Richard, earl of Poitou, and Geoffrey, earl
of Brittany, with the permission of the king, their father, crossed
over from England to Normandy. Immediately Richard, earl of Poitou,
arrived in Poitou, he assembled a large army, and fought a battle
with the Brabanters, between Saint Megrin and Buteville, and routed
them.
After this, he waged war against Aimeric, viscount de Limoges,
because he had broken the peace with him. He then laid siege to a castle which
is called Aesse, and took it, together with forty knights who formed
its garrison. After this, he laid siege to the city of Limoges, and
took it, and then proceeded to Poitou to meet the king, his brother,
who had come thither to aid him ; after which they laid siege to
Neufchatel,* and took it. After its capture, the king, his brother,
was unwilling to prolong his stay with him, but, listening to bad
advice, took his departure. Richard, earl of Poitou, however, now
laid siege to Molineux, a castle of the viscount of Angouleme, and
took it, and in it William Taillefer, count of Angouleme, Buger, his
son, and Aimeric, viscount of Limoges, the viscount of Ventadour, and
the viscount of Cambanais. The count of Angouleme also delivered up
to the earl of Poitou the castle of Buteville, the castle of Archiac,
the castle of Montimac, the castle of Lachese, and the castle of
Melpis.
* In Normandy, about twenty miles from Dieppe.
The king, the son, on his return, upon coming to Poitiers,
took Adam de Chirchedowne, his vice-chancellor, who was a clerk of Geoffrey,
the prior of Beverley, chancellor of the king, the son, and caused him to
be beaten with sticks, charging him with having disclosed his secret
counsels to the king, his father; and after being thus beaten, he had
him led naked through the streets of the city of Poitiers, while,
being still whipped, proclamation was made by the voice of a herald,
“Thus does he deserve to be disgraced who reveals the secrets
of his master.”
In the same year, there came to England, from William,
king of Sicily, the bishop of Troia, the archbishop elect of Capua, and
count Florio, as envoys to Henry, king of England, the father, and asked
of him his daughter Joanna in marriage for William, king of Sicily, their
master. A council upon the matter being accordingly held in London,
the king, the father, with the consent of all the bishops, earls, and
barons of the kingdom, gave his daughter to the king of Sicily. And
with this assent, the king first sent to the king of Sicily the
bishop of Troia, John, bishop of Norwich, Paris, archdeacon of
Rochester, Baldwin Bulot, and Richard de Camville; and in the
meantime prepared for his daughter, Joanna, the things necessary for
her equipment and journey. After these were all completed in a
becoming manner, the king sent his daughter, Joanna, to be married to
William, the king of Sicily. When she had arrived at Palermo, in
Sicily, together with Gilles, bishop of Evreux, and the other envoys
of our lord, the king, the whole city welcomed them, and lamps, so
many and so large, were lighted up, that the city almost seemed to be
on fire, and the rays of the stars could in no way bear comparison
with the brilliancy of such a light: for it was by night that they
entered the city of Palermo. The said daughter of the king of England
was then escorted, mounted on one of the king’s horses, and
resplendent with regal garments, to a certain palace, that there she
might in becoming state await the day of her marriage and coronation.
After the expiration of a few days from this time, the
before-named daughter of the king of England was married to William, king
of Sicily, and solemnly crowned at Palermo, in the royal chapel there,
in presence of Gilles, bishop of Evreux, and the envoys of the king
of England, who had been Bent for that purpose. She was married and
crowned on the Lord’s day before the beginning of Septuagesima,
being the ides of February; and was with due honor endowed with the
county of Saint Angelo, the city of Siponto, the city of Vesta, and
many other castles and places. Whereupon, the king of Sicily executed
in her favour his charter, as follows:
The Charter of William, king of Sicily, which he executed
in favour of Joanna, daughter of Henry, king of England, as to her dowry.
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. Amid the other blessings of peace, the nuptial
tie binds and fastens the most strongly the unison and the concord of human
affairs; a rite, both venerable from the weightiness of its obligations,
remarkable in the circumstances of its institution, and sanctioned by
universal usage, from the beginning of the world and of time; of
which the virtues and the comeliness, inasmuch as it has derived its
origin from Divine institution, have neither contracted blemish from
sin, nor have been sensible of any diminution by desuetude, through
the lengthened ages of past time. Moreover, to this venerable and
mysterious institution this honor is added, that the consent of the
man and of the woman to enter matrimony, typifies the sacramental
bond of Christ and His Church. Being therefore led by the nature of
this great and mysterious institution, and by veneration for the
same, we, William, by the favour of the Divine grace, king of Sicily,
and of the dukedom of Apulia, and of the principality of Capua, do
unite unto ourselves by the laws of matrimony and the bond of
wedlock, with the Divine sanction and under happy auspices, the
maiden Joanna, of royal blood, and the most illustrious daughter of
Henry, the mighty king of the English; to the end, that her fidelity
and chaste affection may produce the blessings of the married state,
and that by her a royal offspring may, by the gift of God, hereafter
succeed us in the kingdom, which, both by reason of its endowment
with all virtues, and of its title by birth, by the Divine grace,
both may and ought to be raised to the throne of this realm. But,
inasmuch as it is befitting our exalted position that so noble and
illustrious an alliance should be honored with a becoming dowry, by
this present writing we do give, and as a dowry, do grant to the
before-named queen, our most dearly beloved wife, the county of Mont
Saint Angelo, the city of Siponto, and the city of Vesta, with all
the rightful tenements and appurtenances thereof. We do also grant
for her service, out of the tenements of count Godfrey, Alesina,
Peschiza, Bicum, Caprile, Barano, and Filizi, and all other places
which the said count is known to possess as of the honor of the said
county of Mont Saint Angelo. In like manner, we do also grant for her
service, Candelari, Saint Clair, Castel Pagano, Bersenza, and
Cagnano. We do also grant, that there shall he as of the honor of the
said dowry, the monastery of Saint Mary de Pulsano, and the monastery
of Saint John de Lama, with all the tenements which those monasteries
hold of the honor of the aforesaid county of Saint Angelo—upon
condition that the queen, our aforesaid wife, shall always recognize
all the rights of our heirs, who by our ordinance shall succeed us in
the kingdom, and shall do unto our said heirs, fully and
unreservedly, all services for the tenements above-written, according
as the tenure in fee thereof shall require, and shall always observe
her fealty to them. Wherefore, in remembrance of the said gift and
grant, and for the inviolable establishment thereof, we have
commanded this present charter to be written by the hand of
Alexander, our notary, and, the golden bulla, our seal, being
impressed thereon, to be confirmed with our said seal, and graced
therewith. Unto which, by our command, the personages of our
household and others have subscribed their names in manner following:
I WALTER, archbishop of Palermo.
I ALFANUS, archbishop of Capua.
I RICHARD, bishop of Syracuse.
I BARTHOLOMEW, bishop of Agrigento.
I REGINALD, archbishop of Bari.
I NICHOLAS, first archbishop of Messina.
I RUFFUS, archbishop of Cosenza.
I THEOBALD, bishop and abbot of the royal monastery of Saint Mary Nuova.
I ROBERT, bishop of Catana.
I GUIDO, bishop of Cephalea.
I EBIAS, bishop elect of Troia.
I JUSTUS, bishop of Massa.
I ROBERT, bishop of Tricarico.
I PETER, bishop of Caiazzo.
I JOHN, bishop of Potenza.
I ROBERT DE BIZINO.
I ROBERT MALCUVENANZ.
I ALEXANDER GUPILLENZI.
I MATTHEW, vice-chancellor of our lord the king.
I ROBERT, count of Caserta.
I AMPHUSUS, count of Scrulac.
I JOCELYN, count of Loret.
I HUGH, count of Cattazaro.
I RICHARD, count of Fundano, admiral.
I WALTER DE MOAC, admiral of the king’s ship Fortunatus.
I ALDEWIN DE CANDIDA, seneschal of our lord the king.
I BERARDUS GENTILI, constable of the private palace of Maisnede.
I RICHARD SACRI, keeper of the records in the royal palace.
I BAMALIS DE MONTEFORT, chief justiciary.
I PERSICUS, chief justiciary of the royal court.
I FREDERIC, justiciary of the royal court.
Given at the flourishing city of Palermo by the hands of
Walter, the venerable archbishop of Palermo, Matthew, vice-chancellor of
the king, and Richard, the venerable bishop of Syracuse, members of the
household of our lord the king, in the year from the incarnation of
our Lord one thousand one hundred and seventy-seven, in the month of
February, being the tenth year of the indiction; and in the eleventh
year of the happy reign of our lord William, by the grace of God, the
mighty and most glorious king of Sicily, of the dukedom of Apulia,
and of the principality of Capua, Amen.
[Sealed with the seal of William, king of Sicily.]
[Here follows in the original, the form of the bulla or seal,
which contains around the margin the words “Dextera
Domini fecit virtutem. Dextera Domini exaltavit me. Dextera Domini
fecit virtutem.” “The right hand of the Lord hath created my might.
The right hand of the Lord hath exalted me. The right hand of the Lord hath created my
might.” In the central portion is a cross surmounted by the words “Divina
favente dementia Willielmus rex Sicilias et ducatus Apulise et principatus Capuse.”
“By the favour of the Divine mercy, William, king of Sicily, of the
dukedom of Apulia, and of the principality of Capua.”
The cross is supported by the following words. “Hoc
signum sibi praeferri a vexillifero facit cum ad bellum aliquod
procedit.” “This sign he causes to be borne before him by
his standard-bearer when he goes forth to battle.”]
In the same year pope Alexander sent Vivianus, cardinal priest, as
legate from the Apostolic See to Scotland and the adjoining islands,
and Ireland and Norway, to hear causes ecclesiastical, and to
determine the same according as God should assist him therein.
When he arrived in England, our lord the king sent to him Richard,
bishop of Winchester, and Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, to ask him by
whose authority he had presumed to enter his kingdom without his
permission. Upon this question being put to him, the above-named
cardinal was greatly alarmed, and, to give satisfaction to the king,
made oath that he would do nothing connected with his legateship
against his wishes; upon which, liberty was given him to pass
through the kingdom into Scotland, and our lord the king found his
escort and expenses until he arrived in the dominions of the king of
Scotland.
In the same year, Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, was charged
before the king by Roger, archbishop of York, with having laid violent hands
upon him at the before-mentioned synod, which Hugezun was to have held at
London; however, he proved his innocence, by declaring on his word of
truth that he had not laid violent hands on him, and the same was
attested by the above-named archbishop of Canterbury, on the Word of
our Lord; whereupon Roger, archbishop of York, and Geoffrey, bishop
of Ely, were reconciled.
In addition to this, at the urgent request of our lord
the king, the archbishops of Canterbury and York agreed to terms between
them for the space of live years, both as to the dispute which existed between
them relative to the blows inflicted on the archbishop of York, as
well as the other questions which were the causes of contention
between them and their churches, submitting themselves entirely to
the arbitration and decision of the archbishop of Rouen and of the
bishops of the kingdom of France; and they made oath that they would
abide by their decision, and that neither of them would in the
meantime seek to do any harm or injury to the other.
In the same year [1176], William, earl of Gloucester, son of
earl Robert, brother of the empress, gave his daughter in marriage to John,
the son of the king of England, together with the earldom of Gloucester,
in case he should be able to marry the said damsel with the sanction
of our lord the pope. In return for this grant, the king of England,
the father, gave to the elder daughters of the said earl two hundred
pounds of yearly revenues in England, namely, to the wife of Amaurus,
earl of Evreux, one hundred pounds, and to the wife of Richard, earl
of Clare, one hundred pounds.
In the same year died Philip, brother of Louis, king of
the Franks, and archbishop of Rheims, and was succeeded by William, archbishop
of Sens, he making this exchange of archbishoprics with the permission
of Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff. In this year also, master John of
Salisbury*, formerly a clerk, and attached to the household of Saint
Thomas of Canterbury, the martyr, was made bishop of Chartres. In
this year also, our lord the king of England, the father, gave
Ireland to his son John. In the same year died Richard, earl of
Striguil, whom our lord the king had made justiciary of Ireland; upon
which our lord the king appointed in his room William Fitz-Aldelm,
who took possession for the king of all the fortified places which
the aforesaid earl had possessed in Ireland.
* The most learned scholar of his age, and author of the
treatise “De nugis curialium, et de vestigiis Philosophorum,”
and other works.
In the same year, William, earl of Arundel, departed this
life, and was succeeded by his son William. In this year also died William de
Courcy, justiciary of Normandy, and was succeeded by William
Fitz-Ralph. In this year also, Frederic, emperor of the Romans,
assembled a large army of Germans and Alemannians, and fought a
battle near Securo, between Cuinse and Milan, with the Lombards,
which lasting from morning until the evening, the emperor, having
lost the greater part of his army, was put to flight; and among the
others whom he lost, his standard-bearer was taken prisoner, and,
with many others, was placed by the Lombards in confinement.
In this year also the king, the father, caused the castle
and fortifications of Leicester to be destroyed, as also the castle of
Groby, the castle of Tresk, [Thirsk] the castle of Malesart, the new
castle of Alverton, [North Allerton] the castle of Fremingham, the castle
of Bungay, and nearly all the castles of England and Normandy which had
taken part against him in the time of the war. But the castle of Pasci and
the castle of Mountsorrel he retained in his own hands, the latter having
been awarded to him on the oaths of a jury of lawful men of Ursuet. In the
same year died Ralph de Dotis, in Berry, whose daughter and heir our
lord the king of England, the father, gave in marriage to Baldwin de
Rivers, together with the honor of the castle of the said Ralph. In
the same year, on the sixteenth day before the calends of November,
being the Lord’s day, the church of the canons regular at
Cirencester, in honor of Mary, the blessed Mother of God, was
dedicated by Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, in presence of our lord
the king of England, the father, who, at its dedication, bestowed
large revenues on the said church.
In the same year [1176] Manuel, emperor of Constantinople, having
fought a pitched battle with the sultan of Iconium and defeated him, wrote to
the king of England to the following effect:—
The Letter of Manuel, emperor of Constantinople, to the king of England,
the father.
“Manuel Porphyrogenitus Comnemis, the emperor, ever
faithful in Christ, crowned by the will of heaven, the sublime, potent, exalted,
ever august, and ruler of the Romans, to Henry, the most noble king of
England, his most dearly-beloved friend, health and every blessing.
Inasmuch as our imperial office deems it necessary to notify to you,
as being its beloved friend, all things which befall it, it has
therefore considered it proper to inform you upon the events which
have lately taken place. Now, from the very earliest period of our
coronation, our imperial office nourished hatred in our heart against
the Persians, the enemies of God, when it beheld them vaunting over
the Christians, triumphing over the name of God, and holding sway
over the lands of the Christians. Wherefore, on another occasion,
without delay, it made an attack upon them, and, as God granted it to
do, even so it did do. As to the exploits which were frequently
performed by it, to their humiliation and loss, our imperial office
entertains a belief that the same have not escaped the notice of your
highness. However, we did more recently determine also to lead a most
numerous army against them, and to wage war against the whole of
Persia, inasmuch as by circumstances we were compelled so to do.
Still, much of our preparations were made not according as we should
have wished, or as appeared best suited to our object. However, in
such way as occasion allowed us, and the state of events, means were
taken to ensure a powerful attack upon them. Accordingly, for this
purpose our imperial office collected around it all its resources:
but, inasmuch as it had to take with it waggons carrying vast weights
of arms and implements, both mangonels and other engines applicable
to the storming of cities, it was consequently far from able to
proceed with expedition on the march. Still further, while the army
was passing on through its own country, and before any of our
barbarian foes had engaged us in war, a most intractable malady,
namely, a flux of the bowels, attacked us; which, spreading among the
troops of our empire, made its way among them all, and, a more
dangerous antagonist than any warriors could be, slew and destroyed
vast numbers. This malady, waxing more and more formidable, greatly
weakened our forces. As soon as we had entered the territories of the
Turks, that instant was heard the din of numerous battles, and the
troops of the Turks engaged in combat with the armies of our empire
on every side. However, through the grace of God, the barbarians were
entirely put to flight by our men. But, after this, when we drew near
to the narrow passes of an adjacent spot which the Persians call
Cibrilcima, so many hordes of foot and horse, most of which had come
from the interior of Persia, came up to the support of their
fellow-countrymen, that, on meeting our army, they almost exceeded
the numbers of our men. In consequence of the narrowness of the road
and the difficulties of the passage, the army of our empire was
extended in a line fully ten miles in length; and, inasmuch as who
went first were unable to support those who came last, and again, on
the other hand, those who came last were unable to aid those who went
before, it was no common misfortune that this distance lay between
them. Indeed, the troops that formed the van were divided by a very
considerable interval from the main body of our army, having at last
forgotten it altogether, and not waiting for its coming up. In
consequence of this, as the troops of the Turks, from the battles
that had already taken place, knew that it was not for their
advantage to attack us in front, finding that the narrowness of the
passage was likely to serve them in great stead, they determined upon
attacking the rear, which they accordingly did. Now the passage all
along consisting of a very narrow defile, the barbarians rushed upon
us, attacking us on the right hand and on the left, and in all
possible quarters, and their darts, falling upon us like a shower,
slew a vast number of men and horses. Upon this, finding that
disasters were there thickening apace, on taking due consideration,
our imperial office thought proper to await those who were in the
rear, for the purpose of supporting them, which it did accordingly,
and, in so waiting, had to support itself against the infinite
numbers of the Persians. What exploits it performed while thus hemmed
in by them it is not necessary upon the present occasion to state;
perhaps your highness will learn more on that subject from those who
were present on the occasion. While our imperial office was doing its
duty amid these dangers, and bearing the entire brunt of the
conflict, the entire rear-guard, formed of Greeks, Latins, and all
other varieties of nations, being wedged into a mass, and not being
able to bear up against the darts thrown by the enemy, pushed onward
with the most vigorous efforts, and was borne along with the greatest
violence while making all haste to gain an adjoining hill, that might
serve as a sort of fortress; those rushing on carrying on the others,
whether they would or no. The consequence was, that, a vast cloud of
dust being raised which quite overpowered the eyesight and allowed no
one to see what lay at his feet, men and horses, thus rushing on
without restraint, were borne over a precipice close at hand and
overhanging a very deep valley. Thus, falling one upon another, they
trod each other to death, and killed not only numbers of the common
soldiers, but even some of the most illustrious and most nearly
related of our kinsmen.
For, indeed, who could possibly make head against the
insupportable onset of so vast a multitude? However, as to our imperial office,
hedged in on every side by such vast bodies of the barbarians, inflicting
wounds and receiving wounds in return, we still used efforts that
excited in them no small alarm, in consequence of their surprise at
our perseverance, and which we did not relax until by the benign aid
of God we had reached the open country. Nor did it allow the enemy to
scale the position which it took up, from which to carry on the
battle with the barbarians, nor yet through fear of it did it spur on
its horse, for the purpose of effecting a more speedy retreat. On the
contrary, our imperial office, rallying all its body guard, and
rescuing them from destruction, ranged them around itself; and thus
it reached the vanguard, and then going on through the ranks in
order, came to the main body of the army. Upon this, the sultan
seeing that in spite of such great disasters as had befallen our
army, our imperial office was, as became it, arranging matters for
the purpose of again attacking him, sent word to us, and suppliantly
begged our imperial office, and employed the language of entreaty,
suing for peace, and promising to fulfil every wish of our imperial
office, to give us his services against all men, to release all the
prisoners who were detained in his kingdom, and in every way to
conform to our desires. Wherefore, having then stayed there for two
whole days with all our forces, we became sensible that nothing could
be effected against the city of Iconium, having lost our besieging
sheds [‘testudinibus’] and engines of war, in consequence
of the oxen which drew them being slain by the darts that had been
hurled upon us like a shower. Another reason was, the fact that all
our animals were afflicted by this most intractable malady which had
now attacked them. We therefore listened to the supplications of the
sultan, and a treaty, confirmed by oath, having been made beneath our
standards, peace was granted to him. Upon this, departing thence, our
imperial office returned to its own country, entertaining no small
sorrow for those kinsmen whom it had lost, but still returning
especial thanks to God, who has, in His kindness, and still does,
honor it. We have also felt it a pleasure that it so happened that
some of the chief men of your nobility were with us, who will, at
your desire, inform you on all the circumstances in the order in
which they happened. However, although we have been afflicted with
deep regret for those who have fallen, we have still deemed it
advisable to inform you upon all the events that have happened, as
being our dearly-beloved friend, and as being closely united with our
imperial office, by the ties of blood that exist between our
children. Farewell. Given in the month of November, in the tenth year
of the induction.”
In the same year, [1176] Henry, king of England, son of
the empress Matilda, gave Eleanor, his daughter, in marriage to Alphonso,
king of Castille. In this year also, Gilbert, the son of Fergus, chief of the
men of Galloway, who had caused his brother, Ucthred, a kinsman of
Henry, king of England, to be slain, came into England, with the safe
conduct of William, king of the Scots, and did homage to king Henry,
the father, and swore fealty to him against all men; and, to obtain
his favour, he gave him a thousand marks of silver and his son
Dunecan as a hostage, by way of pledge that he would keep the peace.
In the same year, Henry, king of England, the father, laid hands upon
all the castles of England and Normandy, both of the bishops as well
as of the earls and barons, and placed his custodians therein. In
this year, also, Peter, the prior of Wenlock, was made bishop of
Saint David’s, in Wales.
The Arian Heresy and its Condemnation.
In the same year the Arian heresy, which had corrupted
nearly the whole of the province of Toulouse, was condemned in the presence
of the archbishops, bishops, and other pious men, whose names are
underwritten.
For there were in the province of Toulouse, certain heretics,
who would have themselves called good men, and were upheld by certain knights
of the town of Lombez, who propounded things, and taught the people
the same, contrary to the Christian faith; they said also that they
did not receive the law of Moses, nor the Prophets, nor the Psalms,
neither the Old Testament, nor yet the doctors of the New Testament;
but only the Gospels, the Epistles of Saint Paul, the seven Canonical
Epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Book of Revelations. On
being interrogated as to their faith, and as to the baptism of
infants, and whether they were saved by baptism, and as to the body
and blood of our Lord, where they were consecrated, and by whom, and
who partook thereof, and if the same was more efficaciously or better
consecrated by a good man than by a bad one ; also as to marriage,
whether they could possibly be saved, if a man and woman were
carnally united: they made answer that as to their faith and as to
the baptism of infants they would not say, nor were they obliged to
say. As to the body and blood of the Lord, they said that he who
partook thereof worthily was saved, and he who did so unworthily
ensured his own damnation thereby. As to marriages, they said that
man and woman were joined together for the avoiding of sensuality and
fornication, as Saint Paul says. They also said many things upon
which they were not questioned, as, that they ought not to swear by
any oath whatsoever, in conformity with what Saint John says in his
Gospel, and Saint James in his Epistle.
They
also said that Saint Paul preached that bishops and priests were to
be ordained in the church, and that, if such were not ordained as he
directed, they would not be bishops or priests, but ravening wolves,
hypocrites and seducers, lovers of salutations in the market-place,
and of the chief seats and higher places at feasts, and desirous to
be called “Rabbi,” contrary to the commands of Christ;
wearers of albs and white garments, and of rings of gold and gems on
their fingers, which their master did not command them to do. That
consequently, because the bishops and priests were just such men as
the priests were who delivered up Jesus, it was their duty not to
obey them, because they were evil.
Accordingly,
the allegations having been heard on both sides before Gerard, bishop
of Alby, and judges having been chosen and appointed by either side,
and the aforesaid Gerard, bishop of Alby, Roger, abbot of Castres,
Peter, abbot of Aire, the abbot of Candiel, and Arnold of Narbonne,
presiding and assenting thereto, the said matters were discussed in
the presence of worthy men, both of the prelacy and clergy, as also
of the laity, that is to say, of Peter, the lord archbishop of
Narbonne, and other bishops, abbats, archdeacons, counts, and
influential men of that province to the number of twenty, and of
nearly the whole population of Alby and Lombez. Against the things
that had been propounded by the said heretics, many authorities were
quoted from the New Testament by Peter, the lord archbishop of
Narbonne, the bishop of Nismes, the abbot of Cahors, and the abbot of
Fontfroid; for the said heretic refused to receive judgment, except
on the New Testament. The following definite sentence, upon the
authority of the New Testament, was accordingly pronounced by the
bishop of Lyons, all observing strict silence in the presence of all
the persons above-mentioned:
“I
Gilbert, bishop of Lyons, by command of the bishop of Alby and of his
assessors, do adjudge these persons to be heretics, and do condemn
the opinions of Oliverius and of his associates, wheresoever they may
be ; and the following judgment, based on the New Testament, we do
pronounce—
“On
the first head we do pronounce and adjudge them to be heretics. For
the law is to be received through the Gospel, and he who receives not
the law believes not our Lord Jesus Christ; for in the Gospel he
says, ‘ For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me:
for he wrote of me.’ And again, ‘ I am not come to
destroy the law, but to fulfil it.’ And again, ‘All
things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and
in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me.’ Also, ‘And
beginning at Moses he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning himself.’ 1
But why did he expound the Scriptures, and why did he teach
concerning the Law and the Prophets, except that he wished them to
receive the Law and the Prophets, and that by the Law and the
Prophets they might be confirmed in their belief ? Many things also
did the Lord Jesus quote from the Law and the Prophets and the
Psalms, which indeed a good teacher certainly would not have done if
the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms were not to be received. In
deed also he showed that the law was good, inasmuch as he was
circumcised, and presented in the Temple, and sacrifice was offered
for him according to the law of Moses. Also, we find it written that
he went up on the day of the feast. In the Transfiguration also,
where Moses and the prophet Elias appeared unto him, they bore
testimony unto him. By the Epistles also we do convict them; for
Saint Paul says, ‘Whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning ;’ and again, ‘All Scripture is
given by the inspiration of God;’ and ‘I say none other
things than those which the prophets have said should come.’
And again, Saint Peter says ‘We have a more sure word of
prophecy.’ And that the doctors are to be received, Saint Paul
bears witness, ‘God hath set some in the Church as teachers.’
Saint Paul also quotes the example of the law, saying, ‘Cursed
is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in
the book of the law to do them.’ And both he himself as well as
the other Apostles give many testimonies in favour of the Law and the
Prophets and the Psalms; a thing which they would not have done if
their words were not to be received. These heretics therefore are
bound by their own admission to receive Moses and the Prophets and
the Psalms, if only upon the testimonies which are borne by Jesus and
the Apostles, and no others. For do we not say that if an instrument
or written testimonial is believed in any part thereof, it ought to
be entirely believed, or else to be received in no part thereof?
“On
the second head we do convict and adjudge them to be heretics, upon
the authority of the New Testament. For we say that he holds not the
Catholic faith, who does not confess it when he is asked thereon, or
when his faith is made trial of. For this reason the Lord says, in
the Acts of the Apostles, to Ananias, relative to Saint Paul, ‘For
he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and
kings and the children of Israel.’ Also, the Lord says of the
centurion; ‘I have not found so great faith in Israel.’
When the Apostles were forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus
Christ, Peter boldly said, ’We ought to obey God rather than
men.’ A person on being asked as to his faith in Jesus Christ,
ought to answer as Peter answered; for on being asked by the Lord,
whom do men say that the Son of Man is ? he made answer, ‘Thou
art Christ, the Son of the living God.’ The blind man also, on
being asked, after receiving his sight from the Lord, if he believed
in the Son of God, answered, ‘I believe, Lord.’ So
Martha, on being asked by the Lord, ‘Believest thou this?’
made answer, ‘Yea, Lord; I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God, which hast come into this world.’ So
also the Apostle says; ‘With the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’
Also, at the end of his Epistle Saint Peter says (we are better
able to commit to memory what we find said at the conclusion of a
discourse); ‘But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be
ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason
of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.’ And whereas
these heretics boasted that they do not lie, we affirm that clearly
they do lie. For there is falsehood in being silent as well as in
speaking. It was for this that Saint Paul boldly withstood Saint
Peter to the face, because he practised circumcision. For it seemed
to Saint Paul that he could not reveal the truths of the Gospel,
because he preached one thing and believed another. For truth
consists in three things, in the heart, in the words, and in the
works. He speaks the truth who expresses in the articulation of his
voice what are his feelings, and who holds the same in his heart,
confesses it with his lips, and performs it in his works.
“On
the third head, we do also convict and adjudge them to be heretics,
upon the authority of the New Testament. For we say, that it is the
wish of God that every man should be saved. Nor, indeed, would Christ
have been crucified for all, if only the older ones were to be saved,
who to original sin have added actual sin, and if infants were not to
be saved, whom God has created and formed in His own image and
likeness, and who have probably never committed any sin, but have
only contracted original sin. For baptism was generally given unto
all, both old and young, as the Lord says to his disciples, ‘Go
ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’ And ‘Except a man be
born again of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God.’ And again, the Lord says, ‘Suffer little children
to come unto me, and forbid them not.’ This indeed he said for two reasons.
For one, because those who wish to be saved must become as little
children, with reference to wickedness and guile, and simple like
them, in such manner as He himself says: ‘Unless ye become as
this little child ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.’ He
also says so, in order that the Apostles and their followers may
never be in doubt as to the baptism of little children, for baptism
succeeded in the place of circumcision, which had been enjoined both
for those grown up and for infants. Baptism too is a more general and
extensive ordinance, inasmuch as both males and females are baptized,
and grace is thereby secured. But, if through faith children are
saved, as they themselves cannot have faith, without which it is
impossible to please God, we say that it is through the faith of the
Church, or through the faith of the sponsors, just as the man sick of
the palsy was cured through the faith of those who carried him and
let him down through the tiles. The son also of the nobleman, and the
daughter of the woman of Canaan, were healed at that same hour at
which the nobleman and the woman of Canaan believed. We do also say,
that baptism ought to be celebrated in the Church, and by the
ministers of the Church, unless necessity compels otherwise.
Wherefore Saint Paul uses these words, ‘Who hath made us able
ministers of the New Testament.’
“On
the fourth head, we do convict and adjudge them to be heretics, upon
the authority of the New Testament. For the body of our Lord is
consecrated by the priest only, whether he is good or whether bad.
For by the holy words, which the Saviour pronounced at the supper,
namely, ‘ This is my body, and this is my blood,’ the
body of our Lord is consecrated and made. For just as the messenger
of the emperor, or of the king of France, or of any other powerful
person, does not by his low estate or ragged condition, corrupt or
render vile the words of his master, so in like manner, the words of
our Lord are neither changed nor blemished. And, just as a ray of the
sun, when it passes through the common sower, contracts neither stain
nor fetid smell, or as water passes clear and transparent into the
cisterns through pipes that are dirty, foul, or muddy, so are the
words of the Lord not polluted, nor are they uttered with better or
more pure effect by a good man than by a bad one, ‘ For with
God there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ But,
that the body of the Lord ought to be consecrated nowhere but in the
Church; Saint Paul says, ‘ Despise ye the Church of God ? Have
ye not houses to eat in ?’ So also Saint Paul says to Titus,
‘ That thou mayst know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in
the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar
and ground of the truth.’ And it is the duty of all the
faithful to receive their instruction in the Church. Wherefore it is
that Saint Paul says, ‘ Let your women keep silence in the
churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak.’2 5
For this, which man eats, is the bread of angels, which has descended
from heaven; and as the manna which had been rained from heaven, and
the rod of Aaron which had blossomed, were kept in the ark, as also
the tables which had been written by the finger of God, so is the
body of our Lord not consecrated, or kept except in the Church, as
being the most pleasing sanctuary of the Lord. And in the same manner
as the ark was carried on their shoulders by the Levites only, and
was under their care, and as the Levites only ministered in the
tabernacle of the Lord, so, to the priests alone, and to their
servants, has been delivered and entrusted the care of the Church. Of
this ark the Lord speaks in the Revelation; ‘the heaven was
opened, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.’
Moreover, to the priests alone has been given the power of binding
and loosing; wherefore the Lord says unto Peter, ‘Whatever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.’ Saint Paul
says also to Timothy, ‘For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and
ordain elders in every city.’ Also, with regard to orders, the
Apostle says, ‘Let the elders that rule well be accounted
worthy of double honor.’ Likewise : ‘Against an elder
receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.’
Again: ‘Deacons must be grave;’ and, ‘To all at
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, grace be unto you, and
peace.’ Behold then to whom it is that the Lord commits the
words of warning and of correction! Also, Saint Paul says, ‘Reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and
doctrine.’ Also, the Lord says to his disciples, ‘Teach
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.’
These elders, therefore, bishops, and deacons, it is the duty of both
clergy and laity to obey, for the sake of God, whether they are good
or whether bad. For this reason it is that the Lord says, ‘The
Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat; all, therefore,
whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye
after their works; for they say, and do not.’ And Saint Paul,
speaking of authorities, says, ‘Be subject to your masters with
all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward:’
and, ‘Let a bishop be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and
to convince the gainsayers.’ And again, ‘Obey them that
have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for
your souls, as they that must give account; that they may do it with
joy and not with grief.’ Also, ‘Remember them which have
the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.’
Also, ‘He that waiteth at the altar is a partaker with the
altar.’ And, ‘‘If we have sown unto you spiritual
things, is it a great thing if we shall reap you carnal things ?’
Saint Paul says also to Timothy: ‘But continue thou in the
things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of—for,
from a child, thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise to salvation.’
“On
the fifth head, we do convict and adjudge them to be heretics, on the
authority of the New Testament. For they refuse to admit that a man
and woman can be saved if they are carnally united; inasmuch as they
are in the habit of openly preaching the doctrine that a man and
woman cannot obtain salvation after carnal connexion. Consequently,
they commend and approve of the multiplication of cattle, and yet
disapprove of the multiplication of mankind. They admire sterility in
woman, according to the words of Scripture, ‘ Blessed are the
barren, and the wombs that never bare.’ This doctrine they
preach, in order that but few owners may be found for objects
innumerable, and that the creatures which have been made for the use
and service of men may be without possessor, in habitant, or ruler,
wishing all to be like themselves, as Saint Paul says, ‘I would
that all were such as I am.’
And
then they would appear to preach up the merits of virginity, as being
the state of Christ and of the Virgin Mary, although it was He who
said: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’
Indeed, they seem thereby to detract from the character of marriage,
and to condemn it, while our Lord Jesus Christ graced a marriage with
his own presence, and that of his mother Mary and of his disciples,
and honored it with the miracle of turning water into wine. Besides,
it is said in the Gospel, ‘What God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder;’ and, ‘Let it not be lawful for a
man to put away his wife, except for fornication.’ Also, Saint
Paul says: ‘He who giveth his virgin in marriage, doeth well.’
And, again, ‘The woman is bound by law to her husband so long
as he liveth.’ ‘The wife hath not power of her own body,
but her husband ;’ and similarly with regard to the husband.
Likewise, he says: ‘Defraud ye not one the other, except it be
with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to prayer ; and
come together again that Satan tempt you not.’ And, ‘I
will that the younger women marry, bear children, keep house.’
And further, ‘I say it not, but the Lord; a woman shall be
saved in childbearing.’ If it were a sin to beget children, why
should the Lord say, why should the Apostle say, that it is good ?
And why should he tell them to come together again, and use the
expression, ‘I will that’ ? Does God will, does the
Apostle will, that a sin should be committed ? We are of the belief,
then, that a man and woman may be saved, even if they are carnally
united.
“On
the sixth head we do convict and adjudge them to be heretics, and cut
off from the unity of the Church, on the authority of the New
Testament. For we say that the Lord delivered unto Saint Peter the
ministry and the power of binding and loosing, saying, ‘Whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever
thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven;’ and, ‘I
send unto you prophets, and wise men and scribes.’ But, as the
Lord says, ‘Not all men can receive this saying.’ And
further, we say, that they ought to make answer respecting the
Gospel, and to dispute thereon, standing, inasmuch as all Christians
stand when the Gospel is read; and if they stand when it is read,
much more ought they when it is both read and expounded: nor, indeed,
ought they to adopt the mode of sitting after they have once made
choice of standing. We have also many authorities, from which it is
manifestly gathered that a person ought to stand when the Gospel is
preached; as, for instance : ‘Jesus stood on the shore;’
and, again, ‘Jesus stood still and called them;’ and,
again, ‘He stood in the midst of you whom ye know not.’
And, again, after his resurrection, confirming the Apostles, and
preaching, ‘Jesus stood,’ it is said, ‘in the midst
of the disciples, and said, peace be unto you.’ These people
too hold not the position of one giving judgment, but of one making
answer; and it is the Lord that ought to sit, to whom all judgment
has been given by the Father. As for these people, they do not judge,
but are judged. Nor has there been granted to them the mystery of
preaching in the churches. Indeed, these are heretics, such as Saint
Paul foretells that there shall be, saying, ‘Evil men and
seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived;’
as also ‘The time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine, but shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be
turned unto fables;’ and, ‘From which some having
swerved, have turned aside unto vain jangling; desiring to be
teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof
they affirm.’ Indeed, it is the duty of the prelates of the
Church to punish the disobedience of these persons, and to correct it
before all men. Wherefore, the Apostle says, ‘Them that sin
rebuke before all, that others also may fear.’ Saint Paul
says, also, to the prelates [of the Church]: ‘Having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience.’ And, ‘That ye
may be able to convince the gainsayers.’ And, ‘These
things speak, and exhort and rebuke with all authority.’ Also,
I have ‘ delivered such an one unto Satan, for the destruction
of the flesh.’ And, ‘Absent I have judged as though
present, concerning him that hath so done this deed.’ And
again, ‘If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that
ye have received, let him be accursed.’ In the seventh place,
the above-named bishop questioned them upon repentance, if it could
take place at the last moment, unto salvation, or whether soldiers
who had received a fatal wound could be saved if they repented at the
last moment: or if each ought to confess his sins to the priests and
ministers of the Church, or to any one of the laity, or to those of
whom Saint James has said : “Confess your faults one to
another;” to which they made answer, and said, that it was
sufficient for the sick if they confessed to whom they pleased; but
that, as to soldiers, they were unwilling to say, as Saint James
speaks only of the sick. He also asked them if contrition of the
heart and confession by the lips were alone sufficient, or if it was
necessary to make atonement after repentance [by confession], by
fasting, alms-giving, and mortification, thus bewailing their sins,
if they had the means of so doing. To this they made answer, saying
that the words of Saint James were: “Confess your faults one to
another, that ye may be healed:” by which they understood that
the Apostle commanded nothing else but that they should confess, and
so should be healed; and that they had no wish to be wiser than the
Apostle, so as to add anything of their own, as the bishops did. To
this the heretics added, that the bishop who had given judgment was
the heretic and not they, that he was an enemy to them, a ravening
wolf, a hypocrite, and an enemy to God, and that he had not given a
righteous judgment; that they were not willing to make answer on
their faith, because they were on their guard against him, in
obedience to what our Lord had commanded in the Gospel, “Beware
of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves;” and that he was a
fraudulent persecutor of them, and they were prepared to show by the
Gospels and the Epistles, that he was not a good shepherd, neither he
nor the other bishops and priests, but, on the contrary, were
hirelings.
To
this the bishop made answer and said, that the judgment had been
pronounced upon them legally, and that he was prepared to prove in
the court of our lord Alexander the Catholic pope, or in the court of
Louis, king of France, or in the court of Raymond, count of Toulouse,
or in that of his wife, who was then present, or in the court of
Trenkevelle, the presental,* that he had given a right judgment, and
that they were manifestly heretics, and notorious for their heresies.
He further declared that he would accuse them and publish them as
heretics in every Catholic court, and would submit to all the risk
thereof.
*
This was an officer in France, who had the command of the soldiers in
a county or earldom, and acted as deputy of the “comes,”
“count,” or “earl.” The name does not seem to
have any corresponding one in the English language. The same party is
called “vicecomes,” “viscount,” or “sheriff,”
at the conclusion of the proceedings.
The
heretics, seeing that they were convicted and put to confusion,
turned towards the people, and said, “Listen, good people, to
the faith which we confess; for now, for our love of you and for your
sakes, we do make confession of it;” on which the above-named
bishop made answer, “Do you say that you pronounce it, not for
the sake of God, but for the sake of the people?” The others
then said, "We believe that there is one God, three and one, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and that the Son of God took
upon Him our flesh, was baptized in the river Jordan, fasted in the
wilderness, preached our salvation, suffered, died, and was buried ;
that He descended into hell, rose again on the third day and ascended
into heaven; that, on the day of Pentecost, He sent the Holy Ghost
the Comforter; that He will come on the day of judgment to judge both
the living and the dead; and that all shall rise again. We know,
also, that what we believe in the heart we ought to confess with the
lips; we believe that he is not saved who does not eat the body of
Christ, and that the body of Christ is not consecrated except in the
Church, and only by the priest, whether he is good or whether bad,
and that it is no more efficiently done by one who is good than by
one who is bad. We believe, also, that no person is saved unless he
is baptized, and that infants are saved by baptism. We believe, also,
that a man and woman can be saved even though they be carnally
united; and that each person ought to receive confession, both in the
lips and in the heart, and from a priest; and that baptism ought to
be performed by the priest, and in churches ;”and that, if
anything more could be pointed out to them, as supported b} r
the authority of the Gospels or the Epistles, they would believe the
same and would confess it.
In
consequence of this, fresh authorities of the New Testament were
quoted against them by the above-named Catholic persons. After the
authorities had been so heard on both sides, the above-named [?]
bishop arose and pronounced judgment to the following effect:—
“I,
Jocelyn, bishop of Lodeve, by the command and mandate of bishop
Alberic, and of his assessors, do pronounce judgment, and do here
affirm, that these heretics are wrongly informed on the subject of an
oath, and that, if they wish to do right, they ought to take the
oath, and that an oath ought to be taken when a person’s faith
is in question. And, inasmuch as they are infamous and notorious for
heresy, they are bound to prove their innocence; and, returning to
the unity of the Church, they are bound to uphold their faith upon
oath in such way as the Catholic Church maintains and believes; in
order that the weak who are in the Church may not be corrupted, and
that the diseased sheep may not contaminate the whole flock. And this
is neither contrary to the Gospel nor to the Epistles of Saint Paul.
For although it is said in the Gospel ‘ Let your communication
be yea, yea, nay, nay;’ ‘‘neither shalt thou swear
by the heaven, nor by the earth,’ 76
still it is not forbidden to swear by God, but by his creatures. For
the Gentiles were in the habit of worshipping the creatures, and, if
it had been allowed to swear by the creatures, the reverence and
honor that are due to God alone would be paid to the creatures, and,
in consequence, idols and creatures would be adored as God. For we
read in the book of Revelation, that an angel ‘Lifted up his
hand to heaven and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever;’
and Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, says, ‘ Because
God could swear by no greater, he sware by Himself. For men verily
swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end
of all strife.’ Where God has wished more abundantly to show to
the heirs of His promise the immoveableness of His counsels, he has
interposed an oath. For the Lord sware, saying, ‘By myself have
I sworn.’ And again, ‘The Lord hath sworn, and will not
repent.’ The Apostle, also, frequently made oath; thus, ‘God
is my witness,’ and ‘I call God to witness.’ If,
then, God has sworn, an Angel sworn, an Apostle sworn, how is it
right not to swear, especially where our faith is in question ?
Therefore, that which is said in the Gospel s
and in the Epistle of James is to be deemed a piece of advice and not
a precept. But, if there were no swearing, there would be no
forswearing, a thing which is still more nearly allied to evil, that
is to say, to sin or the devil, who would prompt us to swear by the
creatures.”
Accordingly,
seeing that they were also convicted on this point, they said that
bishop Alberic had made an agreement with them that he would not
compel them to take an oath; which, however, the bishop of Alby
denied. After this, the bishop of Alby arose, and said, "The
judgment which Jocelyn, bishop of Lodeve, has pronounced I do
confirm, and by my command the same has been pronounced. And I
further warn the knights of Lombez not to give them any countenance,
on penalty of the fine which they have placed in my hands. I, the
abbot of Candiel, chosen judge, do approve of this judgment, and with
my assent it has been given. I, the abbot of Aire, chosen judge, do
approve of this judgment, and with my assent it has been given. I,
Arnold de Be, chosen judge, do approve of this judgment, and with my
assent it has been given. I, Peter, bishop of Narbonne, I, A., bishop
of Nismes, I, Jocelyn, bishop of Toulouse, I, V., bishop of Agde, I,
R., abbot of Saint Pontius, I, R., abbot of Saint William, I, N.,
abbot of Gaillac, I, —, abbot of Font-froid, I, M., mayor or
Toulouse, I, G., mayor of Alby, I, N., mayor of Narbonne, I, R.,
archdeacon of Agde, I, G., prior of Saint Mary, I, P., abbot of
Cahors, I, Master Blanc, I, Bego de Veireiras, I, Trenkevelle,
viscount, I, Constance, sister of the king of France, and wife of
Raymond, earl of Toulouse, and I, Sicard, viscount of Lautrec, do
ratify this judgment, and do know them to be heretics, and do approve
of the judgment pronounced upon them.”
1177 A.D.
In
the year of grace 1177, being the twenty-third year of the reign of
king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said Henry, and Geoffrey,
earl of Brittany, and John, his sons, were at Northampton, in
England, during the festival of the Nativity of our Lord. On the same
day, king Henry, the son, and his wife were at Argenton in Normandy,
and Richard, the son of king Henry, earl of Poitou, was in Aquitaine,
at the city of Bourdeaux. Immediately after the Nativity of our Lord,
he laid siege to the city of Aques, which Peter, viscount of Aques,
and the count of Bigorre had fortified against him, and within ten
days he took it. After this, he laid siege to the city of Bayonne,
which Ernald Bertram, viscount of Bayonne, had fortified against him,
and within ten days he took it. Moving his army thence, he came to
the gates of Sizarre, now called Port D’Espagne, and took and
destroyed it, and, by force, compelled the Basques and Navarrese to
make oath, that, from that time forward, they would always keep the
peace towards strangers and among themselves, and he also put an end
to all the evil customs that had been introduced at Sorges and
Espure.
In
the meantime, the king of England, the father, holding a general
council at Northampton, after the feast of Saint Hilary, restored to
Robert, earl of Leicester, all his lands on both sides of the sea, as
he held the same fifteen days before the war began, with the
exception of the castles of Mountsorrel and Pasci. In like manner he
restored to Hugh, earl of Chester, all the lands of which he was in
possession fifteen days before the war; and to William d’Aubigny,
son of William, earl of Arundel, he gave the earldom of Sussex. At
the same council, also, Gruido, the dean, resigned into the hands of
Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, his deanery of Waltham, and
quitted claim, freely and absolutely, of all right which he had to
the church of Waltham. In the same manner did the canons secular of
Waltham as to their prebends, resigning them into the hands of the
archbishop; but our lord the king gave them full compensation for the
same, according to the estimate of the lord archbishop of Canterbury.
After this, our lord the king, by the authority of our lord the pope,
placed in the same church of Waltham canons regular taken from
various houses
in England, and appointed Walter de Ghent, a canon taken from the
church of Oseney, the first abbot of that community, and enriched
them with great revenues and very fine mansions.
In
the same year, the same king, having expelled the nuns from the abbey
of Ambrosebury,* for incontinence, and distributed them in more
strict charge in other religious houses, gave the abbey of
Ambrosebury as a perpetual possession to the abbess and convent of
Fontevraud; and, a convent of nuns being sent over from Fontevraud,
Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, introduced them into the abbey of
Ambrosebury, on the eleventh day before the calends of June, being
the Lord’s Day, in the presence of our lord the king, the
father, Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, John, bishop of Norwich, and
many others of the clergy and the people. On the same day, and at the
same place, the before-named archbishop of Canterbury consecrated
Guido, bishop of Bangor.
* Amesbury.
In this year, Philip, earl of Flanders, sent Robert, the
advocate of Bethune, and Roger, castellan of Courtrai, to our lord Henry,
the king of England, the father, to inform him that Louis, king of the
Franks, had asked of him the eldest daughter of his brother, Matthew,
earl of Boulogne, in marriage for his son Philip, and the other
daughter of the earl of Boulogne for Louis, son of earl Theobald, but
thus he was determined to give them to no one without his sanction.
The said earl also asked the king of England for the money which he
had promised to give for the soul of his brother, Matthew, earl of
Boulogne, for the purpose of maintaining knights for the defence of
the land of Jerusalem. On this, our lord the king made answer to them
that the matter would go well, unless, indeed, it stopped short with
the earl; and added, that if the earl of Flanders was willing to
marry his nieces, the daughters of the earl of Boulogne, according to
his wishes and advice, and would give him good assurance of the same,
he would then fulfil all his promises, even to a fuller extent than
he had made them. And, for the purpose of hearing the earl’s
answer on the subject, he sent Walter de Coutances, his
vice-chancellor, and Ranulph de Glanville, in whose presence the said
earl of Flanders made oath that he would marry his said nieces to no
person, unless by the advice and consent of the king of England, the
father. However, disregarding his oath, the said earl married them
without the leave and consent of the king.
In the same year, the before-named Viviamis, cardinal priest,
titular of Saint Stephen de Monte Celi, and legate of the Apostolic See, was in
the Isle of Man, with king Guthred, on the day of the Nativity of our
Lord. After the Epiphany, he passed over into Ireland, and, landing
at Duns in Ulster, while he was walking along the sea-shore towards Dublin,
he met the troops of John de Courcy, who seized him and made him
prisoner; but John de Courcy set him at liberty and suffered him to
depart. The before-named John de Courcy also, before the Purification
of Saint Mary, laid siege to and took the city of Dun, [Down] which
is the capital of Ulster, where also rest the bodies of Saint Patrick
and Saint Columba, the confessors, and of Saint Bridget, the virgin.
On hearing this, Roderic, king of Ulster, levied a large army of
Irish, and fought a battle with the above-named John; and John de
Courcy, after losing a part of his army, gained a great victory, and
having conquered king Roderic, and put him to flight, remained in
possession of the field, and distributed the spoils of the slain
among his men. In this battle was taken prisoner the bishop of Dun,
whom John de Courcy ordered, at the prayer of the cardinal, to be set
at liberty.
In the same year [1177] died the earl Hugh Bigot, whose
treasures the king, the father, retained in his own hands. In this year,
also, Alphonso, king of Castille, and Sancho, king of Navarre, his uncle,
after many and great battles fought between them, came to a
settlement before the king of England, the father, on the disputes
and claims that existed between them. Accordingly, there came into
England, on behalf of the king of Castille and on behalf of the king
of Navarre, four chosen men whom they knew to be trustworthy persons,
being sent to England to hear the decision of the court of the king
of England, and to report the same to the above-named kings of Spain,
namely, John, bishop of Tarragona, Peter de Areis, Gunter, a brother
of the Temple, and Peter de Rinoso. There came also on behalf of
Alphonso, king of Castille, Matthew, bishop of Palencia, count Gomez,
Lobdiez, Gomez, the son of Garsias, Garsias, the son of Garsias,
Peter, the son of Peter, and Gotteri Fernanz; and, on behalf of
Sancho, king of Navarre, the bishop of Pampeluna, Garsias Bermer,
Sancho, the son of Ramiro, Espagnol de Taissonal, Peter, the son of
Ramiro, and Ascenar de Chalez. All these were sent to assert their
claims, and to answer on behalf of their masters. There came also two
knights of wonderful prowess and valour, with horses and warlike
arms, one on behalf of the king of Castille and the other on behalf
of the king of Navarre, to appeal to wager of battle, at the court of
the king of England, if it should be deemed necessary.
Accordingly,
on the first Lord’s day in Lent, our lord, Henry, king of
England, son of the empress Matilda, came to London, for the purpose
of holding a general council. At it were present; Richard, archbishop
of Canterbury, Gilbert, bishop of London, Hugh, bishop of Durham,
Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, Walter, bishop of Rochester, Reginald,
bishop of Bath, Robert, bishop of Hereford, John, bishop of Norwich,
Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, Roger, bishop of Worcester, John,
bishop of Chichester, Christian, bishop of Whitherne, the bishop of
Saint David’s, the bishop of Saint Asaph, the bishop of Bangor,
and the abbats, priors, earls, and barons of England. These having
met together at Westminster, the king ordered the aforesaid envoys
from the kingdom of Spain to reduce into writing their claims and
charges, and afterwards give them to him; in order that, by means of
a translation thereof, he himself and his barons might be able to
understand their respective claims and charges; for neither the king
nor the barons of his court understood their language. For the
purpose of reducing this to writing, there was a space of three days
allowed.
Accordingly, on the fourth day they produced a writing, in which
was the following statement: “king Sancho the Fat had three sons, Ferdinand,
king of Castille, Ramiro, king of Arragon, and Garsias, king of Navarre
and Nagara. Ferdinand was the father of king Alphonso, who took
Toledo, and was the father of queen Vracha, who was the mother of the
emperor Alphonso, the father of king Sancho, whose son was king
Alphonso, who married Eleanor, daughter of Henry, king of England.
Ramiro, king of Arragon, was the father of king Sancho, who was
father of king Peter and king Alphonso. King Peter died without
issue, and was succeeded by his brother, king Alphonso, who took
Saragossa. Garsias, king of Navarre and Nagara, was the father of king Sancho,
who was afterwards slain at Penaflel: he was the father of Sancho, who died
without issue when a child, and was succeeded, in Navarre and Nagara,
by king Alphonso, his father’s kinsman, who took Toledo, as far
as the boundaries of Puente la Reyna and Sangosa: and the said child
was succeeded by Sancho, king of Arragon, his father’s kinsman,
in the remaining portion of Navarre and Pampeluna.”
The Treaty and Covenants entered into between Alphonso, king of
Castille, and Sancho, king of Navarre.
These are the treaty and covenants which were entered into
between Alphonso, king of Castille, and Sancho, king of Navarre, his uncle,
for submitting the points in dispute between them to the judgment of
the king of England. For this purpose each of these kings gives three
castles in pledge, that he will receive and fulfil the award of
Henry, king of England, son of the empress Matilda, and father-in-law
of king Alphonso; and he who shall fail so to do, is to lose the
castles underwritten. For this purpose king Alphonso gives in pledge
Nagara, a castle of the Jews, Arnedo, a castle of the Christians and
a castle of the Jews, and Celorigo. In like manner, Sancho, king of
Navarre, gives in pledge the castle of Stella, which Peter, the son
of Roderic, holds, being a castle of the Jews, as also Funes and
Maranon. And for the above purpose envoys from both kings are to
appear in the presence of the king of England on the first day of
this present Lent, being the beginning of the fast, for the purpose
of receiving his decision. And if by chance the envoys on either side
shall be detained on the road in consequence of death, infirmity, or
captivity, the envoys that precede them are to await them for a
period of thirty days beyond the day above-named at the court of the
said king of England; and then, those who are well and able are to
come to the court and hear the decision. And if all shall be sick, or
taken prisoners, or shall die, then the king who has no envoy present
is to be the loser. And if all or any of the envoys shall not be
detained by any of these causes, and shall not come before the king
of England on the day appointed, then the king, whose envoys they
are, is to lose the castles abovenamed, and this is to be done in
good faith and without evil intent. And if by accident, which God
forbid, the king of England should die in the meantime, then in the
same manner as above-mentioned they are to proceed to the king of
France to receive his decision, and are to receive his decision as
though that of the king of England, and to comply therewith. For this
purpose, Sancho, the king of Navarre, through his knight and his
deputy,* is to receive possession of these three castles, and is to
give Nagara and Celorigo in charge to Peter, the son of count
Roderic, and is to give Arnedo in charge to one of the counts of his
dominions, and they are to do homage to him for the same.
* “Portarius”. The officers who were so called,
had probably somewhat similar duties to those of our sheriffs; in seeing
that the royal commands were properly fulfilled. They were peculiar to Spain.
In like manner Alphonso, the king of Castille, through his knight
and his deputy, is to receive possession of these three castles, and is
to give Stella in charge to Peter, the son of Eoderic of Arragon,
Funes to S., the son of Ramiro, and Maranon to R., the son of Martin,
and they are to do homage to him for them. And if either of the kings
shall wish to take the castles aforesaid from the knights in
possession of them and to give them to another, then Sancho, king of
Navarre, is to give them to Peter, the son of Roderic, or to G., the
son of Vermund, or to S., the son of Ramiro, or to I., the son of
Felez, or to R., the son of Martin, or to E. or to S., the sons of
Almoran, or to E., the son of Ortiz, or to P., the son of Ramiro, or
to G. or to P., the sons of Ortiz. In like manner king Alphonso is to
give the said castles to count N. or count P., or count G. or to
count Gomez, or to R., the son of Gurtez, or to P., the son of
Arazuri, or to D., the son of Senez, or to G. or to Ordonez, the sons
of Garcias, or to G., the son of Roderico de Aragra, or to P., the
son of Gunter, or to L., the son of Roderico de Agafra; but those who
shall be holding them are not to give up the said castles until those
who ought to receive them shall have done homage for them to the
other king, in manner above-mentioned. And the whole that king
Alphonso holds of the king of Navarre he is to improve with his own
means as far as he shall be willing and able. In like manner, Sancho,
king of Navarre, is to improve with his own means as far as he shall
be willing and able, the whole that he holds of king Alphonso. And
for the purpose of hearing this decision, the kings have chosen four
trustworthy persons, namely, John, bishop of Tarragona, Peter de
Areis, Ar—— de Torrela, and Gunter, son of de Punoso; and
two or three or all of these are to proceed with the envoys to the
court of the king of England, and are to explain before him the
complaints of both kings, and when the claims have been heard, then
those are to speak whom the king shall order first to plead their
cause. And, upon the word of these same trustworthy persons, who
shall have heard the judgment pronounced by the king of England, each
of the kings are to comply with and perform the above-mentioned
covenants in such manner as is contained in this instrument, and the
knights who have done homage for the aforesaid castles, according to
the report of the said trustworthy persons, are to comply with and
perform the treaty aforesaid in good faith and without evil intent.
In addition whereto, both of the kings above-named, each upon his own
plighted faith, have agreed upon and concluded a good and safe truce
for liegemen, for castles, for lands, and for all other things, for a
period of seven years; and that the same shall be firmly kept,
Sancho, king of Navarre, places Erga* in pledge, and king Alphonso pledges
Calahorra; and if the army of either of these kings, either with him or
without him, shall enter the kingdom of the other, he whose army does so,
is to lose the fortified place above-named.
* Perhaps Ergavica, or Ergavia, towns of Spain in the middle ages.
And if by chance any vassal of these kings shall break this truce in the
kingdom of the other, or shall chance by force to take a fortified
place, then the king of whom he shall be the vassal shall within
forty days deliver up his castle to the other king. And if he shall
not do so, the knight who holds the castle that has been so placed in
pledge, is to give up the said castle to the king so complaining, and
he is to hold the same in pledge until he recovers his own castle.
And if any person in these kingdoms, who is not a vassal of those
kings, shall by any chance take a castle in the kingdom of the other,
then both the kings are to come against him with their people and
besiege him, and are not to depart thence until it is taken. It has
also been agreed that all the vassals of both kings who have lost
their hereditaments since the time of the commencement of the war,
shall recover the same, in such manner as they were holding them on
the day on which they lost them, and for misdeeds on their part, or
on accusations for what they have previously done, they are not to
lose them, nor are they to make answer to any one on any complaint
made against them within the last seven years. And if hereafter any
complaint on fresh grounds, or any litigation shall arise between
them, they are to have recourse to arbitration, and whatever judgment
shall be pronounced, they are to be satisfied with the same. Also,
all men of both kingdoms shall go and return from kingdom to kingdom
in security, with the exception of known murderers. And if either of
the kings shall be unwilling to restore the hereditaments as
above-mentioned, then he is to give up the above-named castle to the
other king, who is to hold the same in pledge, until he shall recover
the hereditaments and the whole thereof that he shall have demanded.
Also, all vassals of either king are to be included in this treaty of
peace as to all men, castles, hereditaments, and all other things
that they may possess in whatever land they may be; and all the above
is to be kept and observed in good faith and without evil intent.
Also, Alphonso, king of Arragon, is to be included in this truce, if
it shall so please him, and if perchance it shall not please him to
be included therein, nevertheless the said truce as abovementioned is
to be strictly observed between the kings abovenamed. This instrument
was made between Navarre and Logrono, in the year 1214,* on the
eighth day before the calends of September."
*
This date is according to the Spanish era, which began from the
conquest of Spain by the Roman Emperor, Augustus, in the year B.C. 38
which became year 1.
An
[earlier] Charter of Peace and Reconciliation between the king of
Castille and the king of Navarre.
“This
is the charter of peace and reconciliation which was made between
Alphonso, long of Castille, and Sancho, king of Navarre, at the abbey
which is called Siterio. It has pleased both of the said kings that a
peace and reconciliation should be made between them for ten years,
which has been made accordingly; and it has pleased them that they
should ratify the same by oath, and that they and the barons of them
both should make oath upon the altar and upon the four Evangelists,
that they will observe the aforesaid truce and reconciliation
faithfully, and without fraud and evil intent, for ten years; and
this truce has been made as to persons, cattle, goods, and castles,
in good faith and without fraud and evil intent; and if either of the
kings or any of the barons shall violate this truce, and shall not
make amends on claim made, within forty days therefrom, then is he to
be a perjurer and a traitor. This instrument was made in the year
1205, [Spanish
era see note above.]
in the month of October.”
When
the above-stated charters of peace and reconciliation between the
said kings of Castille and Navarre had been read before the king of
England and his barons, the persons who pleaded for the king of
Castille spoke to the following effect:—
The Claim of the king of Castille.
“In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
In the name of the Lord, Alphonso, king of Castille and Toledo, makes
complaint against, and demands of, Sancho, king of Navarre, his
uncle, that restitution shall be made to him of Logrono, Athleva,
Vanaret, *
in the vicinity of Ribaronia, Agosen, Abtol, Arresa, and Alava, with
their markets, namely, those of Estwalez and of Divina, and all his
rights in the lands which are called Durango: all of which king
Alphonso, of happy memory, who liberated Toledo from the power of the
Saracens, and after his death, his daughter Vracha possessed by
hereditary right: after whose death, her son, the emperor Alphonso,
of happy memory, was similarly possessed by hereditary right, and
after the death of the emperor, his son, Sancho, without question
raised, held the same by hereditary right.
*
This should be ‘Navarette’.
After
the death of king Sancho, his son, our lord the king, Alphonso, in
like manner held all the places aforesaid by hereditary right, until
such time as the king of Navarre already mentioned took away, and now
by force withholds, from the aforesaid king of Castille, his orphan
and innocent nephew and ward, and the son of his friend and lord, all
the above places, no requisition being then made of the same. He
likewise makes complaint and asks restitution to be made to him by
the before-named king of Navarre, of Roba, which he unjustly
withholds. For the emperor required that place from a king of the
Saracens, whose name was Zafadola, and left it to his son Sancho,
who, after the death of the emperor, held it in peace during the
whole period of his life: after whose death, my lord the king
Alphonso, his son, by hereditary right held it in peace, until such
time as Sancho Ramirez de Perola parted with it, who held it
according to the custom of Spain, at the hands of Peter Ortiz, which
Peter Ortiz held it according to the same custom of our lord the king
Alphonso. He also demands the revenues which the king of Navarre so
often mentioned has received from Logrono, and from all the places
above-named, from the time of his invasion, as also recompense for
the losses which he inflicted upon that land, by laying it waste and
delivering it to the flames, the amount of all which is estimated at
nearly one hundred thousand golden marks. He further demands Puente
la Reyna, and Saragossa, and the whole of the land extending from
those two towns to the river Ebro; which land king Alphonso, of
blessed memory, grandfather of the emperor, held and enjoyed in
peace; and through him, according to the custom of Spain, his
kinsman, Sancho, king of Arragon, and after his death, his son, king
Peter, and after the death of king Peter, his brother, Alphonso, king
of Arragon, in the same manner as his kinsmen and friends had held
it. He also claims, a moiety of Tudela, on the grounds of his
maternal descent, which count Dalpreg gave to his cousin-german,
[first cousin] queen Margaret, who was the wife of king Garsias, and
grandmother of the said king Alphonso, in consequence whereof the
aforesaid Tudela does in no way belong to Navarre.”
After
the bishop of Palencia, and count Gomez, and the other envoys of the
king of Castille had set forth the above, and other matters to a
similar effect, both by writing and word of mouth, they made an end
of speaking. Upon this, the bishop of Pampeluna, and the other envoys
of the king of Navarre, arose, and [orally] contradicting nothing
that had been alleged against them by their opponents, produced a
writing, in which were contained their petition, claims, and
allegations, to the following effect:—
The
Claim of the king of Navarre
“Sancho,
king of Navarre, lays claim to the monastery of Cudejo, Monte d’Oca,
the valley of Saint Vincent, the valley of Oliocastro, Cingovilas,
Monte Negro, and Sierra Alba, as far as Agreda. To all the above he
lays claim, and whatever places lie within these districts on the
side of Navarre, and he lays claim to the entire revenues of this
district, from the period of the death of king Sancho at Penafiel.
All the above, as belonging to his kingdom, Garsias, king of Navarre
and Nagara, great-great grandfather of the said king Sancho, held and
enjoyed in peace and quietness; and his great grandfather was
expelled by violence from his kingdom, on account of his imbecility,
by Alphonso, king of Castile, his kinsman. However, in process of
time, king Garsias, of famous memory, his grandson, and father of the
present king, by the Divine will, and with the aid of the fealty of
those of whom he was the natural lord, recovered his kingdom,
although not the entirety thereof, and the remaining portion is the
same that is now claimed by his son Sancho, king of Navarre. In
addition to this, he makes claim of the following places, which the
emperor took from his father, king Garsias, by violence, namely;
Naga, a castle of the Christians and Jews, Gramon, Paneorvo,
Belforest, the monastery of Cereso, Celorigo, Bilboa, Medria,
Vegueta, Claver, Verbea, and Lantaron. These same he makes claim of,
and demands restitution thereof, because his father, king Garsias,
possessed them by hereditary right, and the emperor took them from
him. Also, as to Belforest, he makes this complaint, that the emperor
restored the same to king Garsias, his father, and after his death,
the said emperor took it away from Sancho, the present king of
Navarre, who then held and enjoyed it in peace, as being his own by
hereditary right. He also demands restitution to him by Alphonso,
king of Castille, of certain castles that have been very recently
taken from him, together with all the revenues received therefrom,
and whatever he would have enjoyed if he had not been expelled
therefrom. The names of these castles are as follow: Kel, Ocon,
Parnugos, Gramon, Cereso, Valorcanas, Trepcana, Milier, Amihugo,
Haiaga, Miranda, Santa Agathea, Salmas, Portela, Malversin, Legiun,
and the fortress held by Godin. And to these he lays claim on the
grounds that he held and enjoyed the same as his own, and was,
without any judicial formalities, expelled therefrom, and his
complaint ought therefore to have the precedence, inasmuch as the
same was the last act of
violence committed, and consequently is the one for which amends
should first be made. And further, as to the other side, he has
ceased to have any right, if ever he did have any such right. And
this we are prepared to show by the abovenamed instrument, in which
is contained a truce for ten years; wherefore, king Sancho makes
complaint, because it is true, that king Alphonso has violated his
promise made in the treaty aforesaid. For he has received injury
within those ten years, by being deprived of the following castles,
Kel, Legiun, Malversin, and Portela. In addition to the above, the
king of Navarre demands restitution by the king of Castille, of the
sum of one hundred
marks of silver, [seems
too little - one hundred thousand?] king
Sancho, who now reigns over the kingdom of Navarre, hereby offering
satisfaction to the king Alphonso, upon all his complaints, according
to the arbitration of the barons of them both, or of the most serene
king of England. And we affirm with confidence, that these acts, and
the like to them, perpetrated in the face of such covenants and such
truce, ought to be redressed before we come to any other article
whatever of these claims. For this the law demands, this usage
demands, this the canonical ordinances demand, this all right and
justice demand. The things that we have said are here set forth in
written characters, but shall be more fully and more copiously
explained by word of mouth.”
When
the above-named envoys of the king of Navarre had set forth the
above, and other matters of a similar nature, and the envoys of the
king of Castille did not contradict any of the allegations made by
them, Henry king of England, son of the empress Matilda, the Holy
Evangelists being produced in presence of all the people, ordered the
said envoys of the king of Castille and the king of Navarre make
oath, before he pronounced judgment, that their masters, namely, the
king of Castille and the king of Navarre, would receive and strictly
observe his award, both as to restitution as well as to the truce,
and that if they should fail so to do, then they themselves would
surrender their bodies into his hands and power. This being
accordingly done, the earls and barons of the royal court of England
adjudged that full restitution should be made to each of the parties
above-named of what he had rightfully claimed. Accordingly, the king
of England wrote to the above-named kings of Spain to the following
effect:—
The Award of Henry, king of England, upon the judgment
given in his court between the king of Castille and the king of Navarre.
“Henry, by the grace of God, king of England,
duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, to his most dearly
beloved friends Alphonso, king of Castille, and Sancho, king of Navarre, greeting.
According as, from the tenor of your letters, and the relation of
your trustworthy servants, John, bishop of Tarragona, Peter de Areis,
Gunter, and Peter de Einoso, and from the assertions of your envoys,
the bishop of Palencia, count Gomez, Lobdioz, Gomez, the son of
Garsias, Garsias, the son of Garsias, Peter, the son of Peter,
Gotteri Fernanz, the bishop of Pampeluna, Garsias Bermer, Sancho the
son of Ramiro, Espagnol de Taissonat, Peter the son of Ramiro, and
Ascenar de Chalez, we have been informed, it has pleased us by our
judgment to bring to a termination the disputes that exist between
you, with relation to certain castles and lands, together with the
boundaries and appurtenances thereof. And for that purpose, we,
receiving your trustworthy servants and your envoys with that respect
which was their due, considering that peace being made between you
would greatly conduce to the honor of God and the whole of
Christendom, have both with reference to holy religion and our
ordinary welfare, taken this upon us. Therefore, the trustworthy
persons chosen by you in common, and your deputies, and the pleaders
of your causes being summoned into our presence, and that of our
bishops and earls and barons, we have carefully heard, and have come
to a full understanding of, the petitions and allegations of both
parties. Upon these points, those envoys to whom the cause of
Alphonso, king of Castille, has been entrusted, have made allegation
that Sancho, king of Navarre, did unjustly and by force take from the
said king of Castille, while he was yet a ward and an orphan, certain
castles and lands, namely, Logrono, Navarette, Andeva, Abtoi, and
Agosen, with all their boundaries and appurtenances, which his
father, on the day of his decease, and which he himself for some
years after had quietly enjoyed; in consequence whereof they claimed
that restitution should be made to him of the same. But the envoys to
whom the cause of Sancho king of Navarre was entrusted, contradicting
nothing of what had been alleged by the others, asserted that
Alphonso the before-mentioned king of Castille, had, by arms, and
unjustly, taken from Sancho, the before-named king of Navarre,
certain castles, namely, Legiun, Portela, and the castle that Godin
holds, and the said other party, making no contradiction whatever
thereto, demanded with like urgency that restitution should be made
thereof to him. And further, it was stated in the letter written by
you in common that you had, giving your word for the same, concluded
a truce between you for a period of seven years, and the same was
witnessed openly in court by your envoys. Having therefore held
counsel with all due deliberation with our bishops, earls, and
barons, and considering that peace between you is necessary, both for
the propagation of the Christian faith and the confusion of the
enemies of Christ, and receiving a full assurance, both from your own
written declarations and the allegations of your envoys, that you
will pay obedience to our counsel and advice both in establishing and
preserving peace, before proceeding to pronounce our award as to the
above-written complaints and truces, we do command you by your
envoys, and do counsel and enjoin you, and in addition thereto, do,
by this present writing, command you, to establish peace between
yourselves, and faithfully for the future to observe the same. Now,
as to the complaints above-mentioned relative to the castles and
lands, with all the boundaries and appurtenances thereof, that have
on each side been by force and injustice taken from the other,
inasmuch as no answer was made by either side to the acts of violence
alleged on the other side, and no reason was alleged why the
restitution which they respectively demanded should not be made, we
do decree that full restitution shall be made to each party of the
places above-mentioned which have as of right been claimed. We do
also by our award enjoin that the truces between you before-named,
which, as already mentioned, have been ratified by you on your word,
as appears from your written documents, as also from the public
avowal made to us by your envoys upon trial, shall, until the time
therein agreed upon, be inviolably observed between you. We do will
also and command for the sake of peace, that king Alphonso, our
dearly beloved son, shall pay to Sancho, king of Navarre, his uncle,
every year for the space of ten years, three thousand marabotins*
such payments to be made at three periods in the year at the city of
Burgos, namely; the first payment of one thousand marabotins to be
made at the end of the first four months after the above-mentioned
restitution shall have been made, the second payment of one thousand
marabotins to be made at the end of the next succeeding four months,
and another payment of one thousand marabotins to be made at the end
of the next four months; the said payments so to be made that in each
of the ten years next ensuing after the said restitution, there shall
be paid to Sancho, king of Navarre, at the same periods and at the
above-named place, three thousand marabotins *.
* This was a gold coin of Spain, the exact value of which is now
unknown. The name has been suggested to have been derived from “butin
de Maranes”, ”the booty of the Moors”, as forming a
large proportion of the spoils of the Moors when repulsed in their
invasion of Spain.
Also, the envoys of each of you have, before pronouncing our judgment,
solemnly sworn that you will strictly observe our judgment aforesaid,
both as to the restitution as well as to the observance of the treaty
of peace ; and that in case you shall not do so, they will surrender
their persons into our hands and power. Witnesses hereto, Richard,
archbishop of Canterbury, Hugh, bishop of Durham, Geoffrey, bishop of
Ely, Roger, bishop of Worcester, Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter,
Gilbert, bishop of London, Walter, bishop of Rochester, Reginald,
bishop of Bath, John, bishop of Norwich, John, bishop of Chichester,
Robert, bishop of Hereford, the bishop of Saint David’s, Master
Ada, the bishop of Saint Asaph, the bishop of Bangor, Christian,
bishop of Whitherne, Geoffrey, carl of Brittany, son of the king,
William, earl of Aumarle, Robert, earl of Leicester, William de
Mandeville, earl of Essex, William, earl of Gloucester, William de
Arundel, earl of Sussex, Hugh, earl of Chester, and of the barons of
England, Richard de Lucy, William de Vesci, Henry de Lacy, Odonel de
Umfraville, Robert de Vals, Roger de Mowbray, Robert de Stuteville,
Philip de Kimbe, Roger Bigot, and many others, both clergy and
laity."
During
this council, the brother of the earl of Ferrers was slain by night
at London, and thrown out from his inn into the mud of the streets,
for which deed our lord the king took into custody many of the
citizens of London; among whom there was arrested a certain aged man
of high rank and great wealth whose name was John; he being unable to
prove his innocence by means of the judgment by water, offered our
lord the king fifty pounds of silver for the preservation of his
life. But inasmuch as he had been cast in the judgment by water, the
king refused to receive the money, and ordered him to be hanged on a
gibbet.
In
the same year Philip, earl of Flanders, in contravention of the oath
which he had made to the king of England, gave the eldest daughter of
his brother the earl of Boulogne in marriage to the duke de Saringes;
shortly afterwards, leaving the duke de Saringes, she married the
count de Saint Paul, and then leaving the count de Saint Paul,
married the count Reginald de Dammartin, who received with her the
earldom of Boulogne. The other daughter of the earl of Boulogne he
also gave in marriage to Henry, duke of Louvaine.
In
the same year the before-named earl of Flanders came over to England,
to hold a conference with the king of England, and, receiving from
him leave to go on the pilgrimage, he and William de Mandeville, earl
of Essex, and many barons and knights of various countries assumed
the sign of the cross, and set out for Jerusalem; where joining the
brethren of the Temple and the Hospitallers, and Raymond, prince of
Antioch, and nearly all the knights of the land of Jerusalem, they
laid siege to Harang, a fortified place of the pagans. Having stayed
a month before it while laying siege thereto, and having almost
undermined it, by the advice of the Templars they received a large
sum of money from the pagans, and so departed without accomplishing
their object. On the-day after their departure, a great part of the
castle which they had been besieging fell down, and on returning home
they found the money which they had received from the pagans to be
nothing but copper and brass.
In
the meantime, Saladin, king of Babylon, having united with him the
kings and princes of the pagans, with more than five hundred thousand
horse and foot entered the land of the Christians, and pitched his
tents not far from the holy city of Jerusalem. On hearing this, the
Templars, and Hospitallers, and knights of the king of Jerusalem, who
had remained for the protection of the city, went forth to meet the
pagans, together with the people of the city, who had taken up arms,
while the bishop of Bethlehem carried before
them the wood of the cross of our Lord. Making a bold attack upon the
pagans, they forced them to give way, and, Oh supreme bounty of the
Most High! the Christians, who were not in number more than ten
thousand fighting men, gained the victory over five hundred thousand
pagans, and that by the aid of the Most High. For it appeared in a
vision to the pagans as though the hosts of the armies of heaven were
descending by a ladder under the form of armed knights, and aiding
the Christians in the attack upon them. The pagans being unable to
endure their onset, were put to flight, on which, the Christians,
pursuing them, put them to the edge of the sword, and slew of them
more than a hundred thousand, and took a great number of prisoners.
But Saladin, by means of his coursers, made his escape; however, in
this battle he lost many of his nephews and kinsmen, and of the
principal men of his army.
In
addition to this, to the utter confusion of the pagans, and for the
establishment of the Christian faith, it appeared to the pagans that
the extremity of the wood of the cross of our Lord, which the bishop
of Bethlehem was carrying, reached up to heaven, and that its arms
were embracing the whole -world; at which being greatly alarmed, they
took to flight. The Christians, on gaining this glorious victory,
returned with joyousness to Jerusalem, and filled the land with the
spoils of the slain. This battle took place, to the praise and glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon the plain of Ramah, in the year of
grace eleven hundred and seventy-seven, on the seventh day before the
calends of December, being the feast of Saint Catherine the Virgin
and Martyr. In the same year, the Christians fortified a very strong
castle in the kingdom of Saladin, at the Ford of Jacob, beyond the
river Jordan ; but Saladin took it by storm, and with it was taken
the grand Master of the Hospital at Jerusalem, who, being carried
into the territory of Saladin, died there of hunger.
In
the same year, our lord the king of England, the father, delivered to
William de Stuteville the custody of the castle of Rakesburt,
[Roxburgh] to Roger de Stuteville the custody of the castle of the
Maidens, [Edinburgh] to William de Neville the custody of the castle of Norham,
to Roger, archbishop of York, the custody of the castle of Scartheburg,
[Scarborough] to Geoffrey de Neville the custody of the castle of Berwick,
and to Roger de Conyers the custody of the fortress of Durham, which the
king had taken from Hugh, the bishop of Durham, because he had only
made a feint of serving him in the civil wars. In consequence of
this, the bishop gave him two thousand marks of silver to regain his
favour, on condition that his castles should be left standing, and
that the king should give to his son, Henry de Pudsey, his royal
manor of Wighton, with its appurtenances.
After
this, the king went to Oxford, and, holding a general council there,
created his son John king of Ireland, having a grant and confirmation
thereof from Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff. To this council there
also came, to meet the king, Rees, the son of Griffin, [Rhys ap
Griffyd] prince of South Wales, David, the son of Owen, prince of
North Wales, who had married the sister of the said king of England,
Cadewalan, prince of Delnain, Owen de Kevilian, Griffin de Brunfeld,
and Madoc, the son of Gervetrog, together with many other of the
noblemen of Wales, who all did homage to the king of England, the
father, and swore fealty to him against all men, and that they would
maintain peace with him and with his kingdom. At the same council,
also, our lord the king of England gave to the above-named Rees, the
son of Griffin, the land of Merioneth, and to David, the son of Owen,
the land of Ellesmere.
The
king also gave to Hugh de Lacy, as above-mentioned, the whole of
Meath, in Ireland, with its appurtenances, for the services of one
hundred knights, to hold the same of himself and his son John, and
confirmed the same to him by charter. He also there gave to Robert
Fitz-Stephen and Milo de Cogham the kingdom of Cork, for the services
of sixty knights, to hold the same of himself and of his son John,
with the exception of the city of Cork and one cantred, which our
lord the king reserved to himself and to his heirs. He also there
gave to Hubert Fitz-Hubert, and to William, the brothers of earl
Reginald, and to Jollan de la Primerai, their nephew, the kingdom of
Limerick, for the services of sixty knights, to hold the same of
himself and of his son John, with the exception of the city of
Limerick and one cantred, which our lord the king reserved to himself
and to his heirs.
Our
lord the king also gave to William Fitz-Aldelm, his seneschal, the
custody of the city of Wexford, with all its appurtenances, and
enacted that the places under-written should thenceforth be
appurtenant to the services of Wexford, namely, Arklow, with its
appurtenances, Glascarric, with its appurtenances, the lands of
Gilbert de Boisrohard, Ferneg Winal, with their appurtenances, Femes,
with its appurtenances, the whole of the lands of Hervey, between
Wexford and the waters of Waterford, the service of Raymond de Drune,
the service of Frodrevelan, the service of Utmorth de Leighlin, the
tenement, also, of Machtaloe, with its appurtenances, Leis, the lands
of Geoffrey de Constantin, with the whole of the appurtenances, and
the whole of the lands of Otveld.
Our
lord the king also there delivered into the custody of Robert le
Poer, his marshal, the city of Waterford, with all its appurtenances,
and enacted that the places under-written should thenceforth be
appurtenant to the services of Waterford, namely, the whole of the
land which lies between Waterford and the water beyond Lismore, and
the whole of the lands of Oiseric, with their appurtenances. The king
of England also there delivered the city of Dublin, with all its
appurtenances, into the charge of Hugh de Lacy, and enacted that all
the places under-written should thenceforth be appurtenant to the
service of Dublin: the whole of the lands of Ofellane, with their
appurtenances, Kildare, with its appurtenances, the whole of the
hands of Offalaia, with their appurtenances, Wicklow, with its
appurtenances, the service of Meath, and the service of four knights
due from Robert le Poer, by tenure of his castle of Dunavet.
After
our lord the king had, at Oxford, in manner aforesaid, divided the
lands of Ireland and their services, he made all the persons to whom
he had entrusted the custody thereof do homage to himself and to his
son John, and take the oaths of allegiance and fealty to them for
their lands in Ireland. Also, at the same council, our lord the king
gave to Richard, prior of Rikeby, [Revesby, in Lincolnshire?] the
abbey of Whitby, and to Benedict, prior of the church of the Holy
Trinity at Canterbury, the abbey of Burgh; on which Richard, the
archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated him abbot thereof.
In
the same year, the before-named Vivianus, cardinal priest and legate
of the Apostolic See, having completed the business of his legateship
in Ireland, came back to England, and, with the safe conduct of our
lord the king, returned to Scotland, and, holding a synod at the
castle of Edinburgh, suspended from the pontifical office, Christian,
bishop of Whitherne, because he had refused to come to the synod so
held by him; but the bishop of Whitherne did not take any notice of
the suspension, being protected by Roger, archbishop of York, whose
suffragan he was.
After
this, our lord the king came to Marlborough, where the king gave to
Philip de Braose all the kingdom of Limerick, for the service of
sixty knights, to hold of him and of his son John; for Hubert and
William, the brothers of Reginald, earl of Cornwall, and Joslan de la
Pumerai, their nephew, declined to accept the gift of that kingdom,
because it was not yet reduced into possession. For Monoderus, who
was the king of Limerick, and had done homage for it to the king of
England, having been slain by some of his courtiers, one of his
issue, a powerful and active man, invaded the kingdom of Limerick,
gained possession of it, and ruled it with a strong hand,
acknowledging no subjection to the king of England, and refusing to
obey his officers, because of their faithless conduct, and the evils
they had inflicted on the people of Ireland without their deserving
them. The king of Cork, also, and many other wealthy persons in
Ireland, rose in rebellion against the king of England and his
officers; and their last doings were still worse than their former
ones, as they fell to slaughtering one another.
In
this year, [1177] the relics of Saint Amphibalus and his companions
were discovered through a revelation from heaven, and were translated
to St. Albans, on the seventh day before the calends of July, being
Saturday. In the same year, queen Margaret, the wife of the king, the
son, being pregnant, went to her father, the king of France, and, on
arriving at Paris, was delivered of a still-born son. The Franks,
however, asserted that this son of the king was born alive and was
baptized, and named William. In the same year, on the thirteenth day
before the calends of July, it rained a shower of blood for two whole
hours, in the Isle of Wight, so much so that linen clothes which were
hung out upon the hedges were stained with this bloody rain, just as
though they had been dipped in blood.
In
this year, also, Martin, a canon-regular of the church of Bomigny,
clandestinely carried away the body of Saint Petroc, and, taking to
flight, carried it with him to the abbey of Saint Mevennes. On
discovering this, Roger, the prior of the church of Bomigny, with the
better-disposed portion of his chapter, went to the king of England,
the father, and wrought so effectually against him that, by his
precept, he commanded the abbey and community of Saint Mevennes,
without delay, to restore the body of Saint Petroc to Roger, the
prior of Bomigny; and, in case they should not do so, the king
ordered Roland de Dinant, the justiciary of Brittany, to take the
Saint’s body by force, and deliver it into the hands of the
abovenamed prior of Bomigny. On hearing this, the abbot and community
of Saint Mevennes, having care for the safety of their church, and
not daring to oppose the king’s wishes, restored the said body,
without any diminution thereof, to Roger, the prior of Bomigny,
making oath upon the Holy Evangelists, and upon the relics of the
saints, that they had restored the identical body, unchanged, and in
an entirely perfect state.
In
the same year, our lord the king of England, the father, restored to
Bartholomew, the bishop of Exeter, the chapelry of Boseham, [Bosham
in Sussex?] and made him chaplain thereof, Arnulph, the bishop of
Lisieux, to whom the king had unjustly given the said chapelry,
agreeing and consenting thereto. For the abovenamed bishop of
Lisieux, being led to repentance, gave to the before-mentioned bishop
of Exeter, and to his church, letters patent of his resignation of
the said chapelry of Boseham, renouncing the same for himself and his
successors for ever. Our lord the king, also, gave a charter of
surrender and confirmation of the chapelry of Boseham to the church
of Exeter, in presence of Richard, archbishop of Canterbury,
Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, John, bishop of Chichester, and numerous
other witnesses. In this year also, our lord the king gave permission
to the Jews in his dominions to have a burial-ground for each city of
England, without the walls of the said cities, wherever they could,
for a reasonable sum and in a convenient situation, purchase a place
for the burial of their dead. For, before this, all Jews who died
were carried to London to be buried.
In
the same year, by the Divine mercy, pope Alexander and Frederic,
emperor of the Romans, were reconciled at Venice, at the Rialto
there; the schism being thereby put an end to, which had now
continued in the Church of Rome for nearly eighteen years. At this
reconcilement there were present of the party of our lord the pope,
Hunbald, cardinal-bishop of Ostia, William de Pavia, cardinal-bishop
of Porto, Walter, cardinal-bishop of Albano, Conrad, cardinal-bishop
of Sabina, Manfred, cardinal-bishop of Palestrina. John of Naples,
cardinal-priest, Theodinus, cardinal-priest, Albert, cardinal-priest,
Peter de Bona, cardinal-priest, Bosus, cardinal-priest, Vivianus,
cardinal-priest, Herenbrand, cardinal-priest, Jacinto,
cardinal-deacon, Herdizum, cardinal-deacon, Chinche Chapel,
cardinal-deacon, Laborandus, cardinal-deacon, Hugezun,
cardinal-deacon, Reiner, cardinal-deacon, the archbishop of Vienna,
the archbishop of Bourges, the archbishop of Milan, the archbishop of
Ravenna, the archbishop of Salerno, and count Roger de Andre, on
behalf of the king of Sicily.
On
the side of Frederic, emperor of the Romans, there were present at
the above-mentioned reconciliation the persons undernamed: the
archbishop of Magdeburg, Philip, archbishop of Cologne, Christian,
archbishop of Mentz, the archbishop of Besancon, the archbishop of
Treves, the elector of Worms, the prothonotary of the emperor, count
Henry de Dice, the marquis Albert, and many others. These having all
assembled in the city of Venice, on the ninth day before the calends
of August, on the vigil of Saint James the Apostle, the abovenamed
emperor, as had been previously arranged and agreed upon, came to the
church of Saint Nicholas, which is one mile distant from Venice; and
there, both he and the archbishops, bishops, and other principal men
of the kingdom of Germany, renouncing their schism, rendered
themselves deserving to receive the benefits of absolution from the
bishops and cardinals whom our lord the pope had sent for the purpose
of absolving them.
After
this, they came to Venice, where, before the church of Saint Mark,
the before-named emperor humbly paid all
honor and reverence to our lord the pope as Supreme Pontiff, and,
receiving from him the kiss of peace, devoutly placed himself at his
right-hand, and, with great dutifulness, led him into the church as
far as the altar. On the succeeding day, it being the feast of Saint
James and the second day of the week, the before-named emperor came
to meet our lord the pope outside of the church of Saint Mark, and,
devoutly placing himself at his right hand, led him into the church,
and, the service of the mass having been there celebrated, then
conducted him to the door of the said church; and, while our lord the
pope was mounting his palfrey, the above-named emperor held for him
the stirrup, and showed him all the honor and reverence which his
ancestors had been in the habit of showing to the pope’s
predecessors.
At
this council, also, John, abbot of Struma, who had been styled pope
Calixtus, and was the third and last anti-pope of this schism, was
degraded, and was rejected and renounced by the emperor himself and
all his principal men, both ecclesiastics and seculars. In like
manner, all the archbishops, bishops, and abbats of the kingdom of
Germany who had been ordained either by him or by the other
anti-popes, his predecessors, namely, by Octavianus, who had been
styled pope Victor, or by Guido de Crema, who had been styled pope
Paschal, were degraded. The altars, also, which had been consecrated
by them, or by those ordained by them, were destroyed. At this
council, also, Conrad, the brother of the above-named emperor,
received from the hands of pope Alexander the archbishopric of
Sanceburg, [Saltzburg] together with the legateship of the whole
kingdom of Germany, to hold the same for life. Indeed, this Conrad,
when in the time of the schism he had been elected archbishop of
Mentz, refused to receive consecration from pope Octavianus, but,
preferring to live among Catholics in a state of poverty for the name
of Christ, rather than among schismatics be loaded with riches and
transitory blessings, came to pope Alexander at the city of Sens, by
whom being kindly received, he was made cardinal-bishop of Sabina ;
and Christian, chancellor of the emperor, succeeding him as
archbishop of Mentz, received the pall from Guido of Crema, which he
afterwards burned with his own hands, because he had received it of
him, and was absolved at Venice, at the Rialto, in the palace of the
Patriarch, before pope Alexander and the whole of the cardinals, and
receiving the pall from Alexander; continued to be archbishop of
Mentz.
The Letter of pope Alexander to Richard, archbishop of Canterbury,
and his suffragans, on the restoration of peace to the Church.
“Alexander,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brethren
Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, and his suffragans, and his
beloved sons the abbats appointed in the archbishopric of Canterbury,
and who especially belong to the Roman Church, health and the
Apostolic benediction. We do give to Almighty God exceeding praise
and thanks, who, though He has for so long permitted the ship of
Peter to be tossed by the stormy tempests of the sea, has now at
length given His orders to the winds and the waves, and a great calm
has ensued, insomuch that, the waves of the raging sea being
appeased, the said ship has been brought into the haven of rest and
of safety. For our most dearly beloved son in Christ, Frederic, the
illustrious emperor of the Romans, on a day recently past, being the
Lord’s day before the feast of Saint James, with great
devoutness came into our presence at Venice, attended by the
principal ecclesiastics and laymen of his realm, and there, before an
innumerable concourse of men and women, who repeated his praises with
the loudest acclamations, paid all reverence and honor to ourselves
as Supreme Pontiff; and on the feast of Saint James, as we were going
at his entreaty to the church of Saint Mark for the purpose of
celebrating the solemnity of the mass, he came to meet us, and after
the mass was finished, which, unworthy as we are, he reverently heard
performed by us, he paid us all the honor which his ancestors had
been accustomed to shew unto our predecessors. On the calends also of
the present month of August, the before-named emperor, in presence of
a numerous multitude of persons, caused oath to be made on his soul,
on which his chief men who were then present, both ecclesiastics as
well as laymen, the said oath being administered, did confirm the
same, to the effect that he would for ever keep intact and inviolate
the peace towards the Church, and for fifteen years towards our most
dearly beloved son in Christ, William, the illustrious king of
Sicily, and the truce with the Lombards from the aforesaid calends of
August for the space of six years in such manner as the said peace
and truce had been agreed upon, and arranged and reduced to writing.
Accordingly, in the same way that the said emperor has received us as
the Catholic pope and his spiritual father, so do we acknowledge him
as the Catholic emperor, and his wife as the Catholic empress, and
their son as the Catholic king. Wherefore give thanks to our Creator
who in His compassion has looked upon His spouse the Holy Church, and
has in the fullness of His grace, after the many persecutions by
which she has been grievously oppressed and crushed, restored peace
and quietness to her. Given at Venice, at the Rialto, on the eighth
day before the ides of August.”
The Letter of pope Alexander to Roger, archbishop of York, and Hugh,
bishop of Durham, on the peace made between himself and the emperor.
“Alexander,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable
brethren, Roger, archbishop of York, and legate of the Apostolic See,
and Hugh, bishop of Durham, health and the Apostolic benediction. The
obedience you have manifested in your most pleasing devotedness, and
which you are known to have displayed both duteously and laudably
towards ourselves and the Church, require that to you, as especial
and duteous spiritual sons of the Church, we should describe the
successes of the Church, inasmuch as it is worthy and becoming and
right that those whom we have found so firmly rooted and established
in duty towards us, we should render joyous and pleased at our
welfare and that of the Church. Therefore, together with ourselves,
give thanks to Almighty God who dwells on high, and who from above
looks down upon the lowly, by whose bounty it has come to pass that
His spouse the holy Church, after being long and grievously tossed by
stormy waves and most mighty tempests, has now at length reached the
haven of safety ; and, the raging storms appeased, enjoys the
tranquillity her due, and so much longed for by her. For, on the
twelfth day before the calends of the present month of August, by
command of our most dearly beloved son in Christ Frederic, the
illustrious emperor of the Romans, the son of the marquis Albert, a
man of noble rank, great and powerful, and chamberlain of the emperor
himself, in presence of the principal ecclesiastics and laymen of the
kingdom of Germany, publicly made oath upon his soul, while touching
the holy Evangelists, in our presence and before an innumerable
concourse of persons, to the effect that after the said emperor had
come to Venice, all questions and disputes being set at rest, he
would make peace with the Church as the same had been arranged and
agreed upon by our brethren and his principal men, and peace with our
most dearly beloved son in Christ William, the illustrious king of
Sicily, for fifteen years, and a truce with the Lombards for the
space of six years, to be ratified by oath upon his soul, as also by
his principal men, according to the contents of the charter
containing the said treaties of peace and truce. Also, the chief men
of the kingdom of Germany, namely, our venerable brethren the
archbishops of Magdeburg and Cologne, and Christian, the so-called
archbishop of Mentz, and certain others, then made oath for
themselves upon their souls to the same effect. On the ninth day
before the calends of August the before-named emperor, as had been
arranged and agreed upon, came to the church of Saint Nicholas, which
is one mile distant from Venice, where, both he, as also the
archbishops, bishops, and other principal men of Germany, renouncing
their schism, were thereby rendered deserving of the benefit of
absolution at the hands of our brethren the bishops and cardinals at
our command, certain other persons being there present. After this,
they came to Venice, and there before the church of Saint Mark the
before-named emperor, in the presence of an innumerable concourse of
men and women, who returned thanks and rendered praises with the
loudest acclamations, humbly and reverently paid obedience and
respect to ourselves as Supreme Pontiff; and having received from us
the kiss of peace dutifully took his place at our right hand, and
with the respect and devotedness which was our due, led us into the
church as far as the altar. On the following day, being the feast of
Saint James, at the request of the said emperor, we came to the
aforesaid church of Saint Mark to perform the solemnity of the mass,
and on our arriving there the before-named emperor came forth from
the church to meet us, and having dutifully taken his place at our
right hand, led us into the church, and after the celebration of the
mass, walked at our right hand to the door of the said church, and
when we mounted our palfrey which was there ready, held our stirrup
and showed us all the honor and respect which his ancestors had been
accustomed to show to our predecessors. It will, therefore, be your
anxiety to congratulate ourselves and the Church upon our prosperity
and success, and to impart the effects of peace to the other devoted
sons of the Church, in order that those who are influenced by zeal
for the house of the Lord may rejoice and exult in the Lord for the
gift of peace sent unto them from above. Given at Venice, at the
Rialto, on the seventh day before the calends of August.”
In
the same year, Peter, cardinal priest, titular of Saint Chrysogonus,
and legate from the Apostolic See, formerly bishop elect of the see
of Meaux, came into France and received a mandate from pope
Alexander, that the whole of Normandy and all the lands of the king
of England on both sides of the sea should be placed under interdict,
unless he should allow his son Richard, earl of Poitou, to marry
Alice, the daughter of Louis, king of France, whom the king of
England had for a long time, and beyond the period that had been
agreed upon between them, kept in his charge. When this was
understood by the king of England, he appealed to the presence of our
lord the pope, in his own behalf and that of his territories, and
shortly after crossed over from England to Normandy, where a
conference was held between him and the king of France at Ivery, on
the eleventh day before the calends of October, in the presence of
the before-named cardinal and the chief men of both kingdoms.
Here
the king of England the father, by his people, plighted his faith and
caused oath to be made on his soul, that his son Richard, earl of
Poitou, should be married to the before-named Alice, if the king of
France, the father of the young lady, would give to the before-named
Richard, earl of Poitou, the city of Bourges with its appurtenances
as his daughter’s marriage portion, according to the terms of
the covenant that had been made thereon between them, and would give
to his son king Henry the whole of the French portion of Veuilgesin, *
namely, the whole of the land that lies between Gisors and Pontoise,
which he had promised that he would give him as a marriage portion
with his daughter. But as the king of France declined to give them
up, the king of England would not allow his son Richard to marry the
before-named Alice. Nevertheless, at the said interview, by the
advice of the cardinal and the chief men of both kingdoms, friendship
and a final reconciliation were made between the king of France and
the king of England upon the following terms :—
*
Now the Vexin.
“Know
all men, both present as well as to come, that I Louis, by the grace
of God king of the Franks, and I Henry, by the like grace king of
England, wish it to be understood by all men, both present and to
come, that we, by the inspiration of God, have promised and made oath
that we will go together, in the service of Christianity, and
assuming the cross will depart for Jerusalem, in manner contained in
the instrument made between us as to assuming the cross. We do also
will that all should know that we now are and henceforth wish to be
friends, and that each of us will, to the best of his power, defend
life and limb for the other, and his worldly honours against all men.
And if any person shall presume to do injury to either of us, I
Henry, to the best of my power, will aid Louis, king of France, my
liege lord, against all men; and I Louis will, to the best of my
power, aid Henry, king of England, as my vassal and liegeman, against
all men; saving always that faith which we owe to our liegemen so
long as they shall preserve their fealty to ourselves. And from
henceforth neither of us will harbour any enemy of the other in his
dominions, from the time that delivery of him shall have been
demanded. And to the end that henceforth all matter of discord
between us may be removed, we do mutually agree that as to the lands
and possessions and other things which each of us now possesses, the
one shall from this time forward make no demand thereof against the
other, (except Auvergne, as to which the dispute arose between us,
and except the fee of Chateau Raoul, and except some small fees and
allotments of lands belonging to us in Berry,) in case our vassals
should take any portion thereof the one from the other or in
opposition to either of us. And if, as to the places which are above
excepted, we shall not be able of ourselves to come to an agreement,
then I Louis, king of the Franks, have chosen three bishops, those of
Claremont, Mvernois and Treguier, and three barons, count Theobald,
count Robert, and Peter de Courteney, my brethren, and I Henry, king
of England, have chosen three bishops, William, bishop of Le Mans,
Peter, bishop of Perigord, and Robert, bishop of Nantes, and three
barons, Maurice de Croume, William Maingot, and Peter de Montrabell,
on my side. And the bishops before-named, shall upon the word of
truth assert, and the laymen shall make oath, that they will
diligently make inquisition into the allegations made on either side,
both through themselves and through the oaths of the men of those
districts, and that whatever they shall learn as to the rights of
each of us, the same they will pronounce between us, and we will in
good faith strictly abide by their decision. But if all those bishops
whom I Louis have chosen, shall not be able to be present,
nevertheless we will abide by the decision of such two as shall be
present. And if all the barons who have been named on my side shall
not be present, for all that we will not do otherwise than abide by
the decision of the other two who shall be present. And in like
manner it shall be as to those whom I king Henry have chosen, both
bishops as well as barons. We have also made oath that we will do no
injury to them because the}’ shall have said the truth as to
the said matters. And if perchance, which God forbid, any dispute
shall hereafter arise between us as to our dominions, the same shall
without delay be settled by the same persons in good faith and
without evil intent. But if any one of the aforesaid persons shall in
the meantime chance to die, then another one shall be substituted in
his place. And if either of us, before assuming the cross, shall wish
to depart at an earlier period upon the journey, the other who shall
remain, shall faithfully protect and defend the territories and
subjects of him who shall have gone abroad, as though they were his
own and part of his own dominions. And after we shall have, by the
will of God, assumed the cross, we will cause our men who shall be
with us to make oath that, if either of us, which God forbid, shall
die upon the road, then in such case they will faithfully serve him
who shall be surviving, as they would have served their lord if he
had been living, so long as they shall think proper to remain in the
land of Jerusalem. The money of the deceased the survivor shall keep,
to perform the due services to Christianity, with the exception of
that portion which, before setting out, the deceased shall have
ordered to be given to certain places and certain persons. And if
either of us shall depart this life, we will appoint, if God shall
indulge us with time sufficient, certain of our trustworthy and
faithful subjects, to whom shall be entrusted the money of each of us
for the performance of the due services to Christianity, and who
shall lead and govern our men. Also, on assuming the cross, before we
set out on the expedition, we will cause those whom we shall appoint
as guardians and governors of our dominions, to make oath that they
will, in good faith and to the best of their power, if need shall be,
assist in defending the lands of each of us, whenever the same shall
be demanded in behalf of the other; that is to say, that they whom I
Henry, king of England, shall appoint to govern my dominions, shall
to the utmost of their power assist in defending the lands of Louis,
king of France, my liege lord, in the same manner in which they would
defend my own lands, in case my city of Rouen were besieged; and in
like manner that those whom I Louis, king of France, shall appoint to
govern my dominions, shall, to the utmost of their power, assist in
defending the lands of Henry, king of England, just as they would
defend my own lands if my city of Paris were besieged. I do also will
that merchants and all other men of his dominions, both clergy as
well as laity, shall, with all their property, be secure, and enjoy
peace in all my territories. And I Henry, king of England, do in like
manner will that merchants and all other men, both clergy as well as
laity, of the dominions of the king of France, my liege lord, shall,
with all their property, be secure and enjoy peace in all my
territories. The above-written we have engaged strictly to observe,
and have sworn the same in the presence of the venerable Peter,
cardinal priest, titular of Saint Chrysogonus, legate of the
Apostolic See, and in the presence of Richard, bishop of Winchester,
John, bishop of Chartres, Henry, bishop of Bayeux, Froger, bishop of
Seez, Grilles, bishop of Evreux, Henry, king of England, the son,
earl Theobald, earl Robert, Peter de Courtrai, Simon, earl of Evreux,
William de Humezt, and many others, both clergy and laity."
After
the conference was concluded, Henry, king of England, the father,
came to Vernueil, and there, in order to gain the Divine favour, and
moved by the entreaties of the good men of Grammont,* he enacted, in
presence of Richard, bishop of Winchester, Henry, bishop of Bayeux,
Gilles, bishop of Evreux, Froger, bishop of Seez, Simon, earl of
Evreux, Robert, earl of Leicester, and many other earls and barons of
his realm, that no one should for the debt of the superior lord
presume to take the property of the vassal, unless the vassal should
owe to him the same debt, or be security for the same ; but that the
rents which the vassals are bound to pay to their superior lords, are
to be paid to the creditors of their lords, and not to the lords
themselves. The rest, however, of the property of the vassals was to
remain their own and in peace, and it should be lawful for no one to
seize them for the debts of their superior lords. This statute and
custom the king enacted, and ordered to be observed in all his vills
and everywhere throughout his realm; namely, in Normandy, Aquitaine,
Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Brittany, as being universal and
established. And in order that the said statute might be strictly
observed and held as ratified, he ordered it to be committed to
writing and confirmed by the authority of his own seal.
* An abbey not far from Limoges.
In the same year, [1177] on the fifth day before the calends of October,
being the third day of the week, Geoffrey, nephew of Roger,
archbishop of York, prior of Beverley, and chancellor to the king of
England, the son, master Robert le Grand, and many others, in number
three hundred men and women, passing over in one and the same ship
from England to Normandy, perished at sea near Saint Valery, on the
coast of Ponthieu. Shortly after, our lord, the king of England, the
father, entering Berry with a large army, captured Chateau Raoul; and
when he was marching thence toward Castres, the lord of that town
came and met him on the road, and delivered up to him the daughter of
Raoul de Dol, whom the king gave to Baldwin de Rivers, together with
the honor of Chateau Raoul.
After
this, our lord, the king of England, the father, proceeded to
Grammont, and Audebert, earl of March, came to meet him there, and in
presence of the archbishop of Bourdeaux, John, bishop of Poitiers,
and many other persons, both clergy and laity, sold to the
before-named king of England the whole earldom of March for fifteen
thousand pounds Anjouin, twenty mules, and twenty palfreys, and by
his charter confirmed the same.
The
Charter of Audebert, earl of March, made on the sale of his earldom
to Henry, king of England, the father
“Be
it known to all present, as well as to come, that I, Audebert, earl
of March, having lost my son, who was my sole heir, and being thereby
left to the inclination of my own will, have, inasmuch as I have made
a vow to devote myself for ever hereafter to the service of God, made
sale of the whole of my lands, and whatever belonged to me by
hereditary right, to my lord Henry, the illustrious king of the
English, no one making objection to the same, (indeed there being no
one whatever who could of right object thereto,) for fifteen thousand
pounds of money, Anjouin, paid down to me in full at Grammont, twenty
mules, and twenty palfreys. And further, I have by my corporal oath,
administered by the hands of William, archbishop of Bourdeaux, given
security that I will guarantee to my lord the king, and to his heir,
the earl of Poitou, or to whomsoever he shall give the same, the
aforesaid lands, in good faith and without evil intent, against all
men, and that, during the whole of my life, I will do nothing either
by contracting marriage or in any other way, to prevent the aforesaid
sale from remaining inviolate. And to the end that this my sale so
solemnly made, may not possibly, by any malignity hereafter, be
rendered null and void, I have fortified the same with my seal. Done
publicly in the year from the Incarnation of our Lord 1177, in the
month of December, at Grammont, in presence of the archbishop of
Bourdeaux, John, bishop of Poitou, and many others.”
After
these matters were transacted at Grammont, our lord, the king of
England, the father, received homage and the oaths of fealty and
allegiance from the barons and knights of the earldom of March, and
Audebert, the said earl of March, departed thence with the
above-mentioned sum of money which had. been paid him by the king of
England.
In
the same year, a great flood took place in Holland, the embankments
against the sea being burst asunder, and washed away nearly the whole
of the property in that province, and drowned multitudes of people;
this took place on the seventh day before the ides of January.
In
the meantime, the abbot elect of the church of Saint
Augustin, at Canterbury, often and earnestly, both personally and by
other worthy men, as his mediators, entreated Richard, archbishop of
Canterbury, to come to the church of Saint Augustin, to consecrate
him as abbot thereof, to which the archbishop made answer that it was
not his duty to go thither to consecrate him, but rather that he
ought to come to the metropolitan church of Canterbury, for the
purpose of receiving his benediction. In consequence of this dispute,
the beforenamed abbot elect appealed to the presence of our lord the
pope, and setting out for Rome, obtained letters from Alexander, the
Supreme Pontiff, to the following effect:
Letter
of pope Alexander on behalf of the abbot elect of the church of Saint
Augustin, at Canterbury
“Alexander,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brother
Roger, bishop of Worcester, health and the Apostolic benediction.
Whereas we did some time since give our commands to our venerable
brother Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, legate of the Apostolic
See, no longer to defer bestowing the gift of consecration upon our
dearly beloved son, the abbot elect of the church of Saint Augustin,
in his monastery, which, without any intermediate person, belongs
directly to the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome, and inasmuch as
the archbishop refused to perform our commands, we might of right
have bestowed consecration upon the said abbot elect, either
ourselves or through another, who would not prove so ready to oppose
our wishes. Being desirous, however, more fully to make trial in him
of the virtue of obedience, after a long discussion which the said
archbishop has had in our presence, by means of his envoys with the
abbot elect, on the disputed point as to the consecration, the same
has, by the common consent of our brethren, by their definite
judgment, been thus decided; that the archbishop of Canterbury must,
without exacting obedience from him, and all opposition laid aside,
consecrate both him and his successors in the monastery of Saint
Augustin. We have accordingly, in conformity with the customary and
abundant considerateness of the Apostolic See, thought proper to send
back the said abbot elect to the aforesaid archbishop, to receive
from him the gift of consecration. Considering, therefore, the
labours and expenses which the said monastery has now for a long time
incurred upon this point, we do command your brotherhood,
by our precept in this our Apostolic writing conveyed, and do by
virtue of your obedience enjoin you, that, if the said archbishop
shall delay to consecrate the said abbot elect, as directed by us,
within the period by our letters appointed, then, relying on our
authorization, all excuses, opposition, and appeal set aside, as soon
as you shall be called upon so to do, no decree, either of ourselves
or of another, by which it is ordered that the same shall be
submitted to appeal, and no letters that have been, or shall be
obtained from us withstanding, and no exception whatsoever thereto
holding good, you shall, without curtailment or delay, fulfil our
commands. Given at the Lateran, on the fifteenth day before the
calends of May.”
When the before-named archbishop of Canterbury heard of this,
he determined to go to the monastery of Saint Augustin for the purpose
of consecrating the said abbot elect, according to the tenor of the
mandate of the Apostolic See. Accordingly, on a certain day on which
the said abbot elect was travelling in another province upon the
business of his house, the archbishop came with a considerable
retinue of his clergy and laity to the monastery of Saint Augustin,
asserting that he had come thither for the purpose of consecrating
the said abbot elect, and on not finding him, appealed to our lord
the pope on behalf of himself and the dignity of his church. In
consequence of this, the abbot elect went to Rome, and received the
gift of benediction from pope Alexander.
1178 A.D.
In the year of grace 1178, which was the twenty-fourth year of
the reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said Henry was at the
city of Anjou, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord. In this year,
the king of England; the father, desired exceedingly to return to
England, and sending messengers to Louis, king of the Franks,
obtained from him letters of protection to the following effect:—
“Louis, king of the Franks, to all to whom this present
letter shall come, greeting. Know all of you that we have taken into our charge
all the lands of Henry, king of England, our most dearly beloved brother,
that lie on this side of the sea, in case he shall happen to cross
over into England or go abroad, upon the understanding that when his
deputies from the lands beyond sea shall call upon us so to do, we
will with good faith and without evil intent give them counsel and
help for the defence and protection of the said lands. Given at
Vincennes.”
In the meantime the Arian heresy which, as previously mentioned,
had been condemned in the province of Toulouse, had revived; and this
coming to the ears of the king of France and the king of England,
inflamed by zeal for the Christian faith, they determined personally
to go thither, in order that they might entirely drive the
before-named heretics from those parts. However, after a short time
had intervened, it seemed to them that it might be more effectual if
they sent thither wise men to convert the heretics to the Christian
faith by their preaching and learning, than if they themselves were
to hasten thither in person. For they were reminded of the words,
“‘Tis enough to have commanded vengeance; more will the
dread of your name effect than your sword; your presence diminishes
your fame.”
They therefore sent thither Peter, cardinal priest, titular
of Saint Chrysogonus, and legate of the Apostolic See, the archbishops of
Bourges and Narbonne, Reginald, bishop of Bath, John, bishop of
Poitou, Henry, abbot of Clairval, and many other ecclesiastics, in
order that by their preaching they might convert the said heretics to
the Christian faith, or on reasonable grounds prove them to be
heretics, and separate them from the threshold of holy mother Church
and from communion with the faithful. In addition to this, the
before-named kings chose Haymond, count of Toulouse, the viscount of
Touraine, Raymond of Neufchatel, and other influential men, and
ordered them to act as assessors to the above-named cardinal and his
associates in the faith of Christ, and to expel the said heretics
from those parts by the power of their might.
Accordingly, when the before-named cardinal and the other Catholic
persons had entered Toulouse, they found there a certain wealthy man, who
possessed two castles, one within the city and the other without the
walls of the city, who, before their coming, had confessed himself to
be a sectary of the heretical corruption; but now, moved by terror,
and desiring to screen this execrable sect, made pretence that he was
a Christian. When the cardinal came to know this, he ordered the said
wealthy person to be brought before him; on whose coming for the
purpose of making confession of his faith, he was found to be in
every article an antagonist of the Christian religion.
Accordingly, he was pronounced by the aforesaid cardinal and the
bishops who were with him a manifest heretic, and condemned; and they gave orders
that his property should be confiscated, and that the castles which he
possessed, lofty and of great beauty, should be levelled with the
ground. Upon seeing himself thus condemned, and his property
confiscated, he came to the cardinal and the bishops, his associates,
and prostrating himself at their feet, asked pardon, and, penance
being enjoined him, was led naked and scourged through the streets
and lanes of the city. After this, he swore that he would go to
Jerusalem, and remain there three years in the service of God, and if
after the said three years he should return home, his possessions
were to be restored to him, on condition, however, that his castles
should be levelled, in testimony of his heretical depravity; he was
also to give to the count of Toulouse five hundred pounds of silver.
On these things taking place, many of the heretics, fearing lest
they might be dealt with in a similar manner, came to the cardinal and his
associates, and secretly confessing their errors and asking pardon,
obtained mercy. In the meanwhile, it came to their ears, that certain
false brethren, namely, Raymond, Bernard, the son of Raymond, and
certain other heresiarchs, transforming themselves into angels of
light, while they were those of Satan, and preaching what was
contrary to the Christian faith, led astray the minds of many by
their false preaching, and had dragged them with themselves to hell.
These being summoned to come into the presence of the cardinal and
his associates, for the purpose of making confession of their faith,
made answer that they would come before them if they should have a
safe conduct in going and returning.
A safe conduct, in going and returning, being accordingly
given to them, they came before the above-named cardinal, and the bishops,
barons, clergy and people who were present, and produced before them
a certain paper in which they had written down the articles of their
faith. On their reading this at length, there seemed to be in it
certain expressions of a suspicious nature, which, unless more fully
expressed, might possibly conceal the heresy they had preached. When
one of them attempted to explain the articles so written, and to
speak in Latin, he was barely able to connect two words, being utterly ignorant
of the Latin language. Upon this, it was necessary for the cardinal and the bishops
to bring themselves more on a level with them, and, in consequence of their
ignorance, to use the vulgar tongue. Accordingly, on being examined
as to the articles of the Christian faith, they made answer as to all
the articles of the faith as soundly and as circumspectly as if they
had been most sincere Christians.
Upon the count of Toulouse and others, who had formerly heard
them preach what was contrary to the Christian faith, hearing this statement
from them, being struck with the greatest astonishment and inflamed with
zeal for the Christian faith, they arose and most clearly convicted
them to their faces of having lied; saying that they had heard from
some of them that there were two Gods, the one good, and the other
bad, the good one having made only things invisible, and which cannot
be changed or corrupted, the bad one the heavens, the earth, man and
the other things visible. Others again affirmed that they had heard
at their preaching, that the body of Christ was not made by the
ministration of a priest who was unworthy, or who had been convicted
of any crime. Others also stated that they had heard them say, in
their preaching, that a man and his wife could not be saved if the
conjugal debt was satisfied. Others again said that they had heard
from them that baptism was of no use to infants, and the utterance of
numerous other blasphemies against God and the holy Church and the
Catholic faith, which, by reason of their abominable enormity, it is
better to be silent upon than to disclose.
The heretics, however, contradicted these matters, and said that
they had given false testimony against them. For they said publicly, in
presence of the before-named cardinal and bishops, and all the people
there present, and made confession, and stoutly asserted, that there
is but one God most high, who has made all things visible and
invisible, and entirely denied that there were two first principles
of things. They also confessed that the priest, whether good or bad,
whether just or unjust, and whether such a character that they knew
him beyond doubt to be an adulterer or criminal in other respects,
was able to make the body and blood of Christ, and that, through the
ministration of a priest of this character, and by virtue of the
Divine words which were pronounced by the Lord, the bread and wine were really
changed in substance into the body and blood of Christ. They also asserted that
infants or adults baptized with our baptism are saved, and that without the said
baptism no one can be saved, together denying that they used any
other kind of baptism or imposition of hands, as had been imputed to
them. In addition to this, they declared their belief, that a man and
woman united in marriage, in case no other sin prevented it, would be
saved, even though they should carnally satisfy the conjugal debt,
being excused by virtue of their marriage, and that by reason thereof
they are not damned.
They affirmed also, that archbishops, bishops, priests, monks,
canons, hermits, recluses, Templars, and Hospitallers, would be saved. They
also said, that it was becoming and proper that those who entered
churches founded in honor of God and of the Saints, should approach
them with the greatest devoutness, and, showing to their priests and
other ministers honor and respect, should as a matter of duty pay
them their first fruits and tithes, and make answer dutifully and
faithfully on all parochial matters. They also laudably asserted,
among other things, that alms ought to be given both to churches and
to the poor, and indeed to every one who sought them.
Although they were said to have previously denied all these points,
still they asserted that they did, according to a sound understanding,
understand the same; on which the before-named cardinal and bishops
ordered that they should swear that they believed in their hearts as
they had confessed with their lips. But they, like men of distorted
minds and crooked intentions, were at length unwilling to abandon
their heresy, where any semblance of authority seemed to aid their
crass and drowsy intellects, using as an excuse the words which the
Lord is mentioned in the Gospel as having used; “Swear not at
all, but let your words be yea, yea, nay, nay,” and asserting
that they ought not to swear; whereas the Lord Himself is often read
of as having sworn, as it is written; “The Lord hath sworn and
will not repent;” “and again, the Lord says, “I
have sworn by myself.” The Apostle also says, “An oath
for confirmation is the end of all strife.” But they, like
idiots, not understanding the Scriptures, fell into the snare which
they had concealed, for whereas they at first abhorred an oath as
being an execrable thing and forbidden by the Lord, they were, by the
paper of their confession, convicted of having sworn as they had
said, “We do believe in the truth, which is God, and do say
that this is our belief;” not being aware that to adduce the
truth and the word of God in testimony of the truth of their
assertion, is beyond a doubt taking an oath; as we read of the
Apostle, when he says, “For this we say unto you by the word of
the Lord,” and again, “God is my witness;” and as
other passages of a like nature prove, which can be easily found by
those who understand, and have read, the Holy Scriptures.
When, therefore, they had been convicted by many and competent
witnesses, and many persons were still preparing to bear witness against them,
because the Church is not wont to deny the bosom of mercy to those
who return thereto, they carefully warned them, laying aside all
heretical corruptions, to return to the unity of the faith. They also
advised them, as they had been excommunicated by our lord the pope,
and the before-named cardinal, and the archbishops of Bourges and
Narbonne, and the bishop of Toulouse, on account of their perverse
preaching and schism, to come to be reconciled to the Catholic faith,
according to the forms prescribed by the Church. This, however, being
warped into tortuous ways and hardened by abandoned habits, they
refused to do, on which the said cardinal, and the above-mentioned
bishops, together with the before-named bishop of Poitiers, and the
other religious men who had assisted them throughout, in the sight of
the whole people, with lighted candles* again denounced them as
excommunicated, and condemned them, together with their prompter, the
devil, and gave orders to all the faithful in Christ, thenceforth
cautiously to avoid the before-named Raymond and Bernard, and their
accomplices, as persons excommunicated, and handed over to Satan; and
that if at any time in future they should preach to them any thing
else than what they had confessed in their hearing, they should
reject their preaching as false, and contrary to the Catholic and
Apostolic faith, and drive them as heretics and forerunners of
Antichrist to a distance from their territories. Moreover, the count
of Toulouse, and the other more influential men of the province, in
presence of all the people, gave assurance on oath, that from that
time forward they would neither, for entreaty nor for money, support
the heretics.
* A solemn mode of excommunication, in which, at the moment of
sentence being pronounced, the candles were extinguished.
Accordingly, the before-named cardinal wrote to all the sons of holy
mother Church, to the following effect:
The Letter of Peter, titular of Saint Chrysogonus, cardinal priest, and
legate of the Apostolic See.
“Peter, by the grace of God, titular of Saint Chrysogonus,
cardinal priest, and legate of the Apostolic See, to all the sons of holy mother
Church, who preserve the Catholic and Apostolic faith, health in the
Lord. The Apostle bears witness that as there is but one God, so is
there known to be but one faith, from the soundness whereof no one
can possibly without peril wander astray. The foundations thereof,
than which no one can possibly lay any other, the Apostles and the
Apostolic men their successors, have, by the inspiration and teaching
of the Holy Ghost, so firmly and so circumspectly laid with sound
doctrines, as though with natural stones, that neither the blasts of
the roaring north wind, nor the engines of the impious, even with
repeated assaults, can overthrow them, or in any way move them from
the firmness of their position. Consequently, although in these days
certain false brethren, namely, Raymond de Baimiac, and Bernard, the
son of Raymond, and certain other heresiarchs, transforming
themselves into angels of lights, whereas they are those of Satan,
for some time past preaching what is contrary to the Christian and
Apostolic faith, have, by their poisonous doctrines, deceived the
souls of many, and dragged them with themselves to perdition ; more
recently, however, He who unveils mysteries, and who gave His spirit
to Daniel to confound the elders of Israel, having respect for the
souls deceived by the guiles of the devil, has been unwilling that
their perfidiousness should be any longer hidden, or that the purity
of the Christian doctrines should by their preaching be corrupted;
and by His wonderful power, many hearing and seeing the same, has
revealed the venom of their perfidiousness which had been previously
concealed, to the increase and glory of the Christian faith. For
lately, the aforesaid Raymond and Bernard and others met our reverend
brother Reginald, bishop of Bath, and the noble men the viscount of
Touraine, and Raymond of Neufchatel, who by our advice had come to
the territory of Roger de Bediers, for the purpose of obtaining the
liberation of our venerable brother the bishop of Alby, and asserted
that they were unjustly treated by the noble man the count of
Toulouse and other barons who had for ever abjured them; on which
occasion, on their proposing to come into our presence for the
defence of their faith if they could have a safe conduct in coming
and returning, the said bishop and viscount, fearing lest this
stumbling-block might not be revealed to the hearts of the simple,
who were imbued with their abominations, and lest they might ascribe
it to our distrustfulness if a hearing were refused them, on our
behalf and that of the before-named count, granted them the said
indulgence, in order that in full security they might present
themselves before us, that in the hearing of ourselves and our
venerable brother the bishop of Poitiers, the legate of the Apostolic
See, and of other discreet men, and of the whole people, they might
be examined, and, if their belief were sound and proper, be approved
of by us ; and in order that, after being examined by us, they might
still return in security to their homes, that so they might not
appear to have been induced by any fear or violence to make
confession of the true faith; but however, upon the understanding
that if within eight days from the time that our edict had gone
forth, they should not have returned to the true faith, they were to
be expelled from the territories of the noble men who had abjured
them. We therefore thought proper to ratify the indulgence so granted
them by the bishop and viscount; although, as we have mentioned, an
edict had already gone forth from the aforesaid count of Toulouse and
other noble men, that they should be expelled from their territories;
and, the said bishop of Poitiers and the before-named count of
Toulouse, and other clergy and laymen, about three hundred in number,
being assembled with us in the church of Saint Stephen, we enjoined
them to explain to us their belief, and, returning to the truth of
the Catholic faith, by a healthful confession of the true faith, to
remove the infamy which both the whole land and they themselves had
by their damnable doctrines incurred. On this, during the
conversation that ensued on both sides, they produced a certain paper
in which they had written out the articles of their faith, and read
it at length just as written. On our detecting in it some expressions
which seemed to be of a suspicious nature, and which might, unless
more fully explained, conceal the heresy which they had preached, we
requested them to answer and defend their faith in the Latin tongue;
both because their language was not sufficiently understood by us,
and because the Gospels and Epistles, on which alone they were
willing to ground their belief, are known to be written* in the Latin
tongue.
* He alludes to the Latin translation in the Vulgate.
When they found that they could not venture to do this, being
entirely ignorant of the Latin language, as appeared by the words of one of
them, who, when he attempted to speak in Latin, was hardly able to
join two words, and entirely failed; it became necessary for us to
stoop to their level, and, absurd as it was, by reason of their
ignorance to discourse in the vulgar tongue about the Sacraments of
the Church. On this, making denial that there were two first
principles of things, they publicly, in the presence of ourselves and
the before-named persons, made confession and stoutly asserted that
there is one God most high, who has made all things, visible and
invisible, which they also proved to be true by the writings of the
Evangelists and Apostles. They also confessed that our priest,
whether good or bad, just or unjust, and whether even of such a
character that they knew him, beyond doubt, to be an adulterer, or
guilty of any other crime, was able to make the body and blood of
Christ, and that through the ministration of such a priest, and by
virtue of the Divine words, which were pronounced by the Lord, the
bread and wine were truly changed in substance into the body and
blood of Christ. They also asserted that infants or adults when
baptized with our baptism are saved, and that without the said
baptism no one can be saved, utterly denying that they had any other
baptism or imposition of hands, as was imputed to them. They further
asserted their belief that a man and woman united in marriage, in
case no other sin prevented it, would be saved although they should
satisfy the conjugal debt, being excused by virtue of their marriage,
and that by reason thereof they are not damned. They affirmed also
that archbishops, bishops, priests, monks, canons, recluses,
Templars, and Hospitallers would be saved. They also said that it was
becoming and proper, that those who entered churches founded in honor
of God and of the Saints, should approach them with the greatest
devoutness, and, showing to the priests and other ministers honor
and respect, should dutifully pay them their first fruits and tithes,
and make answer dutifully and faithfully on all parochial matters.
They also laudably asserted, among other things, that alms ought to
be given both to the churches and to the poor, and indeed to every
one who sought them. Although they were said to have previously
denied all these points, still they asserted that they did, according
to our sound understanding, understand the same.
After they had been thus examined by us, and had of their own
accord made the confessions already mentioned, we entered the church of
Saint James; where, together with ourselves, an innumerable concourse of
people, which had flocked together, as though to witness a spectacle,
heard the confession of their faith read in the vulgar tongue, the
same having been written out in the said tongue. After this, when,
with all patience and without any tumult, they had been listened to
by us and all the people there assembled, and had of their own accord
made an end of speaking, inasmuch as the exposition of their faith
seemed quite praiseworthy and orthodox, we again asked them in the
hearing of all the people, if they believed in their hearts what they
had confessed with their lips, and if at any time they had preached
the contrary thereof, as they had been often charged with doing. They
making answer that they did so believe, and further denying that they
had ever preached to any other effect, the noble man the count of
Toulouse and many others, clergy as well as laymen, who had heard
them preach what was contrary to the Christian faith, being struck
with the greatest astonishment, and inflamed with zeal for the
Christian faith, arose and most clearly convicted them to their faces
of having lied. Some in fact steadily asserted that they had heard
from some of them, that there were two Gods, the one good and the
other bad; the good one having only made things invisible, and which
cannot be changed or corrupted; the bad one, the heavens, the earth,
man and the other things visible. Others again affirmed that they
heard at their preaching, that the body of Christ was not made by the
ministration of a priest who was unworthy, or who had been convicted
of any crime. Many in like manner bore witness that they had heard
them utterly deny that a man and his wife could be saved, if the
conjugal debt were satisfied by them. Others again stoutly maintained
to their faces, that they had heard from them that baptism was of no
use to infants, and the utterance of numerous other blasphemies
against God and the Holy Church and the Catholic faith, which, by
reason of their abominable enormity, we would rather be silent upon
than disclose. But, whatever they stated in their former confession, which
seemed to be sufficient unto salvation, if they did believe the same in
heart, and did so affirm with all their heart, still, like men of distorted
minds, and of crooked intentions, they were at length unwilling to
abandon their heresy, when any seeming authority seemed to aid their
crass and drowsy intellects, using as an excuse the words which our
Lord is mentioned in the Gospel as having used; ‘Swear not at
all, but let your words be yea, yea, nay, nay;’ and asserting
that they ought not to swear, whereas the Lord Himself is often read
of as having sworn, as it is written, ‘The Lord hath sworn and
will not repent;’ and again the Lord says, ‘I have sworn
by myself.’ The Apostle also says, ‘An oath for
confirmation is the end of all strife.’ Many other passages
also are found to present themselves to those who read the holy
Scriptures, to the like effect; in which, by reason of the infirmity
of nature, we are allowed to make an use of oaths to those whom we
would persuade to anything. However, like idiots, not understanding
the Scriptures, they fell into the snare which they had concealed;
for whereas they at first abhorred an oath as being an execrable
thing, and forbidden by the Lord, they were, by the very paper of
their confession, convicted of having sworn, as they had said, ‘
We do believe in the truth, which is God, and do say that this is our
belief;’ not being aware that to adduce the truth and the word
of God in testimony of the truth of their assertion, is beyond a
doubt taking an oath; as we read of the Apostle, when he says, ‘For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord;’ and again, ‘God
is my witness;’ and as other passages of a like nature prove,
which can be easily found by those who understand, and have read, the
holy Scriptures. When therefore they had been convicted by many and
competent witnesses, and many persons were still preparing to bear
witness against them; because the Church was not wont to deny the
bosom of mercy to those who return thereto, we carefully warned them,
laying aside all heretical corruptions, to return to the unity of the
faith ; and advised them, as they had been excommunicated by our lord
the pope, the archbishops of Bourges and Narbonne, and the bishop of
Toulouse, by reason of their perverse preaching and schism, to come
to us to be reconciled to the Catholic faith, according to the forms
prescribed by the Church. This however, being warped into tortuous
ways, and hardened by abandoned habits, they refused to do, on which,
in the sight of the whole people, who with one voice shouted assent
thereto and exclaimed against them with great fury, with lighted
candles we again denounced them as excommunicated, being joined
therein by the bishop of Poitou before-mentioned, and other religious
men who had supported us throughout, and condemned them together with
their prompter, the devil. Wherefore we do warn the whole of you, and
do exhort you in the Lord, and do for the remission of your sins
enjoin you henceforth carefully to avoid the before-named Raymond and
Bernard and their accomplices, as persons excommunicated and handed
over to Satan; and if, at any time in future, they shall presume to
preach to you anything else than what they have expressed in our
presence to the effect above-written, you are to reject their
preaching as false and contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic faith,
and to drive them as heretics and forerunners of Antichrist, from any
intercourse with yourselves in your uprightness, and to a distance
from your territories.”
The Letter of Henry, abbot of Clairval, on the same subject.
“Give ear, 0 ye heavens, to our lamentations, let the earth
learn the grief of our heart. Let Catholic Christians bewail the lot of Christ, and
let the faithful people weep for the sorrows of their faith. Let all
nations of the earth and sons of men deplore the injury done to the
salvation of mankind, and let the universal sorrow of our lives be
universally mourned by all living men. In our day a new Philistine is
arrayed against the squadrons of Israel, a band of heretics, an army
of perverts, who irreverently insult the troops of the living God,
and with the highest presumption blaspheme the majesty of the Lord.
Why dost thou hesitate, O David? Why dost thou tremble, thou faithful
man? Take up thy sling and thy stone; instantly be the blasphemer
smitten on the forehead, and let the wicked head which is shamelessly
exalted be raised on the point of his own sword by thy hands. For if
in this contest the portion of Christ is conquered, or if in the
slightest degree or in the smallest point mother Church is trodden
under foot, we know for certain that the cause is not wanting in
goodness but in defenders; we know also that the triumph will not be
denied to our champion, if when fighting he wages the warfare
inspired by love of the faith. But inasmuch as, according to the word
of truth, ‘The harvest is plenteous and the labourers are few,’
the ravagers, good Jesus, of Thy fields, being arrayed as deceitful
labourers, think if they shall enter boldly, by their ravages, as it
were, to forestall the day of gathering in thy harvest, and rather to
root up what is unripe than to reap what has attained maturity:
where, then, are Thy husbandmen appointed by Thee over Thy fertile
and pleasant field, blossoming with Thy blood, and watered with the
sprinkling thereof? Let them arise and assist us, and let them shield
us in our necessity, and oppose themselves as a wall of defence for
us against these blood-stained beasts. Arise, I say, arise, husbands,
fathers, leaders of nations, princes of the people, drive away these
vilest of savage brutes, which we have beheld, which we point out, or
at least expel these cubs of foxes; and yet it is better to take
them, but who is fitted so to do ? They have no certain paths, they
wait along winding ways, and these most savage monsters are hidden in
a kind of labyrinth made by their own frauds. Like a fawn they make
their escape from the hand, and are like unto writhing serpents; the
more tightly you grasp them, the more easily do they slip away.
Thanks to God, however, that, although they cannot be taken, they may
be driven away, that so when they have failed in the exertions they
were making against us, they may be confounded and perish of
themselves. And, that this can easily be effected, we will prove by
things that we have beheld, and in which we have taken part; so that
if, from this time forward, it is not done, we shall have to deplore,
not so much their wickedness as our own short-comings, and the
negligence of our people. For it lately happened that, at the command
of our lord the pope, and at the exhortation of the most pious
princes, Louis, king of the Franks, and Henry, king of the English,
the lord Peter, the legate of the Apostolic See, and the venerable
men the bishops of Poitou and Bath, and ourselves, went to Toulouse,
a city in their county, which, as it was stated to be a city
containing a vast multitude, was also said to be the mother of heresy and
the fountain-head of error. Accordingly, we went to her, that we might
learn if her pangs justified the waitings that were raised. And, behold!
her wound was found to be exceeding great, so much so, that from the sole
of her foot to the crown of her head, there was hardly any soundness in her.
For, in truth, not a third part had been told us of all her wicked
abominations, which that noble city was cherishing in the bosom of
her unbelief. The abomination of desolation had found a place in her,
and the likeness of the reptiles described by the prophets found a
refuge in her lurking-places. Heretics were there acting the governor
over the people, ruling over the clergy, to such a degree that it
made true the saying, ‘Like people like priest;’ and the
very life of the pastor was formed for the destruction of the flock.
The heretics spoke, and all were in admiration; a Catholic spoke,
and they would say, ‘Who is this?’ making it a miracle
and a matter for amazement if there was any one among them who should
dare even to whisper anything about the Word of truth. So greatly did
this pestilence prevail upon the earth, that they had made for
themselves not only priests and bishops, but they had even
evangelists, who, corrupting and cancelling evangelical truth, forged
new gospels for them, and, seducing the people, preached unto them
new dogmas from the wickedness of their hearts.
I am guilty of falsehood if there was not among them a certain
aged man, of considerable affluence, blessed with brethren and friends,
and withal among the greatest of the city a great man, whom the devil
had so blinded with sin, urging him on, that he declared himself to
be Saint John the Evangelist, and would separate the Word that in the
beginning was with God, from the other first principle of created
things, as though from another God. He was the head of the doomed
ones in this city, and the chief of the heretics ; and though, a
layman and illiterate, he knew nothing at all, still, like a very
fountain of diabolical wisdom, he showered forth among them the
streams, bitter as gall, of perdition and of death. Of a night there
resorted to him the owls that love darkness, on which, he, clothed in
a kind of garment made like a dalmatic, would take his seat among
them, like a king with his army standing around him, and become a
preacher to the senseless creatures. The whole city he had quite
filled with his disciples and his doctrines; so much so that, through
fear of him, no one in the city dared offer any resistance to him.
Even upon our entry into the city, such great licence did the heretics
everywhere enjoy, that even, going straight before us along the
streets and lanes, they would laugh in their sleeves, and point us
out with remarks and their fingers; crying out that we were
apostates, hypocrites, heretics. But in process of time, and on a
respite being afforded us, in a few days one of us was enjoined to
use the words of exhortation, and to discourse on the rule of faith
before the infidel multitude. Wherefore, on using orthodox discourse
in preaching to the people, the sinners were alarmed in Sion, and
trembling came upon the hypocrites ; so much so, that they who before
had closed the mouths of the speakers, now did not dare to appear
before the speakers. One seeing or hearing might instantly have
observed foxes transformed into moles, and whereas hitherto they had
with impunity run to and fro before the public, now they dived down
into their hiding-places in the ground, and into their subterranean
cells, in order that, in the bowels of the earth, they might gnaw and
destroy the sacred plants, which they now no longer dared openly to
crop. But, lest this leopard of various colours might betray himself
by the spots on his skin, by their crafty inventions they adopted a
wicked mode of expression, in order that, on being brought to the
test of discussion, for the purpose of aping our confirmed belief in
the true faith, they might lyingly assert that they believe whatever
we believe. From that day, therefore, our lord the legate and the
rest of us who thought fit to meet these wild beasts openly, for the
purpose of making examination of those whom fear and confusion had
thrust down grovelling into the very centre of the earth, turned our
whole attention, and used all our endeavours that, even by
compulsion, they should come forth into public, and, in the light,
reject the works of darkness.”
Accordingly,
it came to pass that, by command of the legate, the bishop made oath,
as also some of the clergy and the chief men of the city, and other
men in the city who were attached to the true faith, and whom no
manner of perfidy on their part had as yet aspersed, that they would
give to us in writing the names of all whom they had hitherto known
or might happen to know in future, who were accomplices in, or
promoters of, this heresy, and would spare no
one whatever either for favour or reward, or on account of any tie of
relationship. When therefore an innumerable multitude was duly
entered upon this list so drawn up, among others there was named this
great man, Peter Moran, whom, as we have previously mentioned, they
called Saint John the Evangelist. Accordingly, taking counsel
together with reference to him, we determined with him to commence
our judgment, that the rest of the perfidious multitude might
tremble, when the simplicity of the true Gospel had brought to
condemnation the craftiness of the false evangelist. Sending
therefore his apparitors, the earl of Saint Gilles, who faithfully
gave us his assistance, ordered him to be summoned. He however,
trusting in the multitude of his riches, and the numbers of his
relations, set at nought the words of the first citation, by making
some trifling and arrogant excuse for creating delay. Consequently,
on a second day the earl, relying more on blandishments than terror,
in a quiet way invited the said Peter by means of his friends and
acquaintances; and, after he had made many difficulties as to coming,
mingling threats with blandishments, at last brought him before us.
Upon this, one of us who was the speaker, began to warn him in such
terms as these: ‘Well now, Peter, your fellow-citizens accuse
you of having broken the rule of the true faith, and having entered
upon the corruptions of the Arian heresy; nay, more, you both lead
others, and are being led yourself by others through the devious
paths of multiplied errors.’ Upon this, heaving a deep sigh,
and inwardly touched with a pang at his heart, he lyingly asserted at
the first blush that he was none of that sort. On being asked whether
he would prove this on oath, he contended that credence ought be
given to his simple assertion as that of a faithful and noble man.
When, however, we all persisted in exacting the oath, he promised
that he would swear forthwith, for fear lest he might by that very
circumstance be detected to be a heretic, in case he should remain
obstinate in declining the oath, which refusal was in conformity with
the tenets of this heresy. Accordingly, shortly afterwards the relics
of the saints were with due honor produced and received with such
solemn reverence and devotion, so much so, that the faithful among
the people were moved to tears, and their hiding-places had more
charms for the heretics who had assembled than such a sight. During
the chaunt, which we sang, shedding plenteous tears,
to invoke the presence of the Holy Ghost, an evident tremor and
paleness came over the said Peter; insomuch, that both the colour of
his countenance forsook him, and his strength of mind departed. For
how, on the approach of the Holy Ghost, was any spirit to remain in
its adversary ? You might have seen the man shaking as though with a
paralytic attack, no longer retaining his power of language nor his
senses, although he was said by all to be a person of such great
eloquence that he had been accustomed to excel all others in
speaking. Why say more ? All standing by, the unhappy man making oath
that he would explain the truth as to his belief on all the articles
of faith on which we should question him, a wondrous thing took
place, and one in such a scene most agreeable, by reason of the pious
delight it afforded us. The book was open upon which he had sworn;
and one of the persons standing by, as a sort of pious amusement
desiring to obtain a presage of what was to come by means of the
expression he should hit upon, the following text of Scripture met
his view: ‘What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God
? Hast thou come to torment us before the time ?’ Truly, Lord
Jesus, they had nothing to do with Thee, whom the heavenly Father had
cut off from the true vine as unfruitful branches, and had thrown
abroad that they might wither away! But with us, who were assembled
in Thy name, the increase of our gladness was multiplied, and the
glories of Thy might resounded in thanksgivings and in the voice of
praise. At length, Peter was simply required on the strength of his
oath to confess to us his belief as to the sacrament of the altar
without any concealment thereon; however, he did not with his lips
confess to the court for the purpose of procuring safety that which
he did not believe in his heart; but on the contrary, whereas he had
made a determination to lie on all points, he made a true disclosure
of his own falseness; and by a new doctrine of his, proceeded to
assert that the holy bread of eternal life, when consecrated by the
ministration of the priest with the word of God, does not become the
body of the Lord. Upon this, all arose, overwhelming him in a manner
with the tears, which his contempt for the sacraments of Christ
produced, and the Christian compassion that was felt for the wretched
man, summoned forth. No more was needed. They gave their answer to
the earl; he was adjudged to be guilty of heresy, and immediately,
with the most positive promises on the part of his relations, was
consigned to the public place of confinement. Rumours of what had
happened flew through the streets and suburbs of this most extensive
city. The mouths of the faithful were opened, and the lips of the
Catholic people were unsealed, 0 Christ, to thy praises; then for the
first time, as it were, did the brightness of faith burst forth in
that city, and the state that had so shortly before been despaired
of, breathed again to entertain hopes of everlasting salvation.
From
that moment the word of God waxed stronger, and was daily multiplied;
so that the whole face of the city seemed more joyous, in that it
emerged from the darkness of error into the brilliancy of the light
of truth. In the meantime, Peter, coming to himself, and being moved
by the Lord who looked down upon him, on seeing that he was worthy of
death in this as well as in a future world, having sent many
mediators, asked to be allowed the means of making satisfaction, and
promised to show the fruits of conversion, if he should be liberated
from the fear of impending death to the profitable enjoyment of a
better mode of life. He came accordingly, was received by us, and was
placed in sight of the contrite people with his body naked, thus
putting off the corruption of his former infidelity. There, in the
presence of all, he acknowledged himself a heretic, there, by his
hands, he plighted his faith, there, he renounced his errors; there,
giving his right hand, he made oath in the presence of all, and gave
sureties to the earl, as well as the knights and his principal fellow
citizens, that he would submit himself to every mandate of my lord
the legate, and would in all things obey his commands. Upon this,
proclamation was made to the people that they were all to meet on the
following day, at the church of Saint Saturninus, to hear and to see
in solemn form what mode of penance the said Peter would have
enjoined upon him to perform.
Accordingly,
on the following day, as they had been warned, nil met together, and
such a multitude, such dense crowds, that, without excessive
squeezing, there hardly remained within the very horns of the altar a
vacant place for my lord the legate when celebrating the solemn
service of the mass. And, behold! in the presence of this multitude
so vast, Peter, who was now in our hands, was led through the doors
of the church naked and without shoes, the bishop of Toulouse and the
abbot of Saint Saturninus scourging him on either side, until he was
placed on the steps of the altar at the legate’s feet. Here, in
the face of the Church, he was reconciled to the sacraments thereof,
abjuring all heresy, and all heretics being cursed by him. After
this, his possessions being all forfeited and confiscated, the
following penance was enjoined on him: That, within forty days, he
should depart in exile from his country, for Jerusalem, there to
remain three years in the service of the poor; and, in the meantime,
on each Lord’s Day, he was ordered to go round the churches of
the city of Toulouse, naked and without shoes, and attended by the
rods of discipline; to restore the property belonging to churches
which he had taken away; to give back all usurious interest he had
received; to repair the losses of the poor whom he had injured ; and
to demolish from the very foundation a castle of his which he had
profaned with the conventicles of the heretics. Merciful God! what
tears did holy joyousness there pour forth, what thanksgivings and
praises did the rejoicing and devout people add to the heavenly
choirs, when such a man as this was drawn forth from the
lurking-places of infidelity, and this most ravening wolf was
transformed into a sheep of Israel.
After
this, on his being dismissed, my lord the legate sent to others with
the intention of excommunicating them, great numbers of whom either
public suspicion or private accusation had pointed out. As for
ourselves, joy having at length sprung up attended by tears, we asked
for leave to return, on the ground that pressing business of our
chapter now required our return; which was accordingly granted to us,
but upon condition, that we should proceed to the diocese of Alby, to
warn Roger, the lord of the territory, namely, that of Bediers, both
to release the bishop of Alby, whom he kept in prison and in the
custody of the heretics, and to reform the whole of his territories,
in conformity with the mandate of my lord the legate, by expelling
all heretics therefrom. Accordingly, upon our repairing thither,
together with the above-mentioned bishop of Bath, we entered this
most abandoned district, which, like a sink of all wickedness,
received whole sewers of heresy that flowed from all sides into it.
On this, the before-named Roger betook himself to the most distant
and inaccessible part of his territories, both running away through a
bad conscience and through despair of the goodness of his cause. For
he, an author of wickedness, hated the light of truth, and could not
endure our approach for the purposes of a conference, having totally
devoted himself to works of darkness. However, we arrived at a
certain fortress of his, extremely well fortified, which,
appropriately and singularly, the inhabitants called by the name of
the Castle. Here lived his wife, attended with a large retinue of
knights and a very extensive household. Nearly all the inhabitants of
this castle were either heretics or abettors of the heretics,
although being held in check by the sole might of the Lord, they
presumed not even to whisper anything against the faith which we
preached. For, although we were placed in their hands, and were
fettered as it were by being in their power, being surrounded by
multitudes of heretics on every side, still, the word of the Lord was
not checked, so as to prevent us from attacking them in repeated
censures and reproaches. And when we saw that they did not dare to
make any answer whatever, we adjudged the said Roger to be a traitor,
a heretic, and a perjurer for having violated the safety of the
bishop, and boldly, in the name of Christ, pronounced him to have
departed from the faith, and to be condemned, as by a public
excommunication, in behalf of our lord the pope and the before-named
kings, in presence of his wife and his knights. Behold, how evident
it is that from henceforth a wide door is thrown open to Christian
princes for them to avenge the injuries of Christ, and to make the
wilderness, as it were, the garden of the Lord, and the desert the
delights of paradise. Moreover, that it may not be alleged that
little or nothing could be done against them, be it known to all,
that it was the general opinion in the city of Toulouse that if this
visitation had been delayed for the space of three years, there would
have been hardly found one person in it who called upon the name of
Christ. In addition to all this, the said earl of Saint Gilles has
confirmed by oath, before the people of the city, that, from this
time forward, he will neither, for gift or entreaty, show favour to
the heretics.”
In
the same year, the king of England, the father, crossed over from
Normandy to England, and at Woodstock knighted his son Geoffrey, earl
of Brittany; who, immediately upon receiving the rank of a knight,
passed over from England
to Normandy, and on the confines of France and Normandy, giving his
attention to military exercises, took pleasure in making himself a
match for knights of reputation in arms; and the more ardently did he
seek for fame to attend his prowess, from knowing that his brothers,
king Henry, and Richard, earl of Poitou, had gained great renown in
arms. However, they had but one common feeling, and that was, to
excel others in feats of arms ; being well aware that the science of
war, if not practised beforehand, cannot be gained when it becomes
necessary. Nor indeed can the athlete bring high spirit to the
contest, who has never been trained to practise it. It is the man who
has seen his own blood, whose teeth have rattled beneath another’s
fist, who when tripped up has strove against his adversary with his
entire body, and though thrown has not lost his mettle, and who, as
oft as he fell, has risen more determined, more bold, who goes forth
with ardent hopes to the combat. For valour when aroused adds greatly
to itself; transitory is the glory of the mind that is subjected to
terror. Without any fault of his, he is overcome by the immensity of
the weight, who comes to bear the burden and is unequal thereto,
zealous though he may be. Well is the reward paid for toil, when is
found the temple of victory.
In
the same year, [1178] William, archbishop of Rheims, came into
England on a pilgrimage to the blessed Thomas the Martyr, at
Canterbury, and was met, with congratulations, by the king of
England, the father, who honored him with becoming presents. In the
same year, pope Alexander sent his legates into all parts of the
world that were subject to him, for the purpose of inviting the
prelates of the Church to come to Rome at the beginning of Lent in
the following year, to hold a solemn and general council there. For
when the violence of maladies, with rapid steps, is hastening to the
very vitals, no salutary counsel is able to extend a hand to check
it, except through the conference of numbers. Accordingly, there came
into England two legates, namely, Albert de Suma, who was
commissioned to summon the bishops and abbats of England and
Normandy, and Peter de Santa Agatha, whose commission it was to
summon the bishops and abbats of Scotland and Ireland and the
adjoining islands. Accordingly, the said Peter de Santa Agatha, for
obtaining licence to pass through the territories of the king of
England, made oath, touching the holy Evangelists, that in his
legateship he would attempt nothing to the detriment of the king or
his kingdom, and that he would return through his dominions, which he
did accordingly.
In the same year pope Alexander wrote to John king of the Indies
to the following effect:—
The Letter of pope Alexander, sent to John, king of the Indies.
“Alexander the bishop, servant of the servants of God,
to his most dearly beloved son in Christ, the illustrious and mighty king of the Indies,
the most holy of priests,* health, and the Apostolic benediction.
* This was Presbyter, or Prester John—a supposed king of the
interior of Asia. It is supposed that the person here meant was Oungh
Khan, slain by Gengis Khan, A.d. 1202. This letter is probably a fabrication of
the Nestorian Missionaries, who spread reports of his conversion.
The Apostolic See, over which, unworthy as we are, we preside, is the
head and mistress of all who believe in Christ; the same being
attested by our Lord, who said unto Saint Peter, whose successor,
unworthy though we may be, we are, ‘ Thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church.’ This rock, then, Christ has
willed to be the foundation of His church, which He declares shall be
shaken by no storms and tempests of the winds. Therefore, not without
reason did Saint Peter, upon whom He founded this church, especially
and in chief deserve to receive supremacy among the Apostles. To him
it was said by the Lord; ‘I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’
We had heard long ago, from the accounts of many, and from common
report, what unvarying diligence you have shown in pious works since
you have embraced the Christian religion, and how you devote your
attention to what is pleasing and acceptable to God. But our beloved
son, master Philip, our physician, and a member of our household, who
says that he has conversed in those parts with the great and
honourable men of your kingdom, concerning your intentions and plans,
like a cautious and discreet man, circumspect and prudent, has
constantly and anxiously signified unto us, that he has heard for
certain from them, that it is your wish and purpose to be instructed
in the Catholic and Apostolic doctrines, and that it is your fervent
desire that you and the dominions entrusted unto your highness should
never appear to hold anything in your belief which may in any degree
differ from, or be at variance with the doctrines of the Apostolic
See. Upon which, we do indeed greatly congratulate you as a most
dearly beloved son, and do give exceeding thanks to Him from whom
every gift proceeds, adding wish upon wish and prayer upon prayer,
that He who hath caused you to receive the name of Christian may of
His ineffable goodness inspire your mind with a wish to obtain all
knowledge, which ought to be imparted to the profession of
Christianity, as to all the articles of the faith. For in truth he
cannot hope to obtain salvation from the profession of Christianity,
who does not in deed and in word act in accordance with that
profession; as it is not sufficient for a person to be called by the
name of Catholic, who of himself thinks otherwise than the Catholic
and Apostolic doctrines teach; in accordance with what the Lord says
in the Gospel: ‘ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven.’2’
This also is added to our commendations of your merit, that, as the
aforesaid prudent master Philip asserts he has heard from your
people, you long with the most ardent desire to have a church in your
city, and an altar at Jerusalem where virtuous men of your kingdom
may abide, and be more fully instructed in Apostolic doctrines,
through whom you and the people of your kingdom may hereafter receive
and hold the said doctrines. We, therefore, who, though of
insufficient merits, are placed in the chair of Saint Peter, in
obedience to what the Apostle says, acknowledging ourselves as
‘debtors to the wise and the unwise, the rich and the poor,’
do feel every possible anxiety for the salvation of yourself and of
your people, and do wish to reclaim you from those matters in which
you deviate from the Christian and Catholic faith, as indeed by the
duties of the office which we have undertaken, we are most zealously
bound to do; for the Lord Himself said to Saint Peter, whom he
appointed to be the chief of all the Apostles, ‘When thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren.’ Therefore, although it
seems to be a most difficult and laborious matter to send any one
from our side to your presence, amid so many hardships and such
varied dangers of the places on the road, and into countries far
distant and unknown, yet, considering the duties of our office, and
bearing in mind your purposes and intentions, we do send the
aforesaid Philip our physician, and one of our household, a discreet,
circumspect and cautious man unto your mightiness; and we do trust in
the mercy of Jesus Christ, that, if it is your wish to persevere in
that purpose and intention, which we understand you, by the
inspiration of the Lord, to have formed, being forthwith, by the
mercy of God, instructed in the articles of the Christian faith in
which you and your people seem to differ from us, you may henceforth
have no cause to fear that anything will arise from your error to
impede the salvation of you or your people, or in you cast a stigma
upon the name of Christianity. We do, therefore, request your
excellency, and do advise and exhort you in the Lord, that, for the
respect you pay to Saint Peter and to ourselves, you will receive the
said Philip, as an honest, discreet and cautious man, and as one sent
from our side, with all due kindness, and will treat him courteously
and respectfully. And if it is your will and purpose, as indeed it
fully ought to be, to be instructed in the Apostolic doctrine on
those points which the said Philip will, on our behalf, explain to
you, you will carefully listen to him, and hear him to the end, and
will send back to us, together with him, respectable persons, and
letters sealed with your seal, whereby we may be enabled fully to
learn your purpose and intentions; for the more exalted and mighty
you appear, and the less you seem to be puffed up with your riches
and power, so much the more willingly, both as to granting you a
church in your own city, as well as erecting altars in the church of
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and at Jerusalem in the church of the
Sepulchre of our Lord, and other matters which in justice you shall
request, will we take care to pay attention to your requests, and
more effectually to listen to the same ; inasmuch as it is our wish,
in every way that, with the help of God, we possibly can, to promote
your desires hereon, which have been so worthy of exceeding
commendation, and is our ardent desire to save the souls of you and
yours unto the Lord. Given at Venice, at the Rialto, on the fifth day
before the calends of October.”
In
the same year, Richard, earl of Poitou, came with a considerable
force to the city of Anse, and found there the count
of Bigorre, a prisoner in the city gaol; whom the citizens delivered
into his hands: on which the count of Bigorre gave to the earl of
Poitou, for his ransom, Claremont, and the castle of Montbrun. After
this, he took Gengay, Martillan, Granville, Agenville, Tailleburg,
and Pons, and levelled all these castles with the ground. Buger,
count of Angouleme, also surrendered to him the city of Angouleme,
and the castle of Montignac, on which he destroyed their
fortifications.
1179 A.D.
In
the year of grace 1179, being the twenty-fifth year of the reign of
king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said Henry was in
England, at Winchester, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord.
During the period of this festival, at Oxenhale, in the lordship of
Darlington, in England, the earth raised itself up on high, in
appearance like a lofty tower, and so remained, without moving, from
the ninth hour of the day until the evening, and then fell down with
such a dreadful crash, that it alarmed all the neighbourhood, and the
earth swallowed it up, and made there a very deep pit, which remains
there as a testimony of the circumstance even to the present day.
After
the Nativity of our Lord, there came to England, from Ireland,
Laurence, archbishop of Dublin, Catholicus, archbishop of Tuam, and
five or six bishops, who were about to proceed to the council at
Rome. In the same manner, there passed through England from the
kingdom of Scotland a considerable number of bishops and abbats. All
these, both those from Ireland as well as Scotland and the other
islands, on passing through England, in order to obtain leave to
pass, made oath that they would not seek any detriment to the king or
to his kingdom. From England, however, there went but four bishops to
Rome, namely, Hugh, bishop of Durham, John, bishop of Norwich,
Robert, bishop of Hereford, and Reginald, bishop of Bath, with a
considerable number of abbats: for the bishops of England stoutly
asserted that only four bishops of England ought to be sent to Rome
to a general council of our lord the pope.
All
being accordingly assembled, at Rome, in the presence of our lord the
pope Alexander, the pope taking his seat in the church of the
Lateran, on an elevated place, together with his cardinals, chief
men, and senators, and the magistrates of the city, commenced holding
his council, which began on the second
day of the third week in Lent, being the third day before the nones
of March. In the same manner he held the council a second day, on the
fourth day of the following week, being the second day before the
ides of March. At this council, William, archbishop of Rheims, was
made a cardinal priest and titular of Santa Sabina, and Henry, abbot
of Clairval, was made cardinal bishop of Albano. Our lord the pope
held the council the third day on the second day of the week before
Palm Sunday, being the fourteenth day before the calends of April. At
this council, he enacted that the decrees underwritten should be
universally observed.
THE
DECREES OF POPE ALEXANDER.
Of
the Election of the Roman Pontiff
“Although
it is manifest that statutes sufficient have been promulgated by our
predecessors for the purpose of avoiding discord in the election of
the Roman Pontiff, still however, inasmuch as since then, by reason
of the audacity of an unbecoming ambition, the Church has oftentimes
endured grievous divisions, we also, for the purpose of avoiding the
said evil, have, with the consent of our brethren and the approbation
of this holy council, thought proper to add somewhat thereto. We do
therefore enact, that, if by chance, through some enemy sowing tares
among the cardinals, there shall not be an entire agreement as to the
election of a new Pontiff, and two-thirds shall agree thereon while
the remaining one third shall refuse to agree thereto, or shall
presume to nominate or ordain any other, in such case he is to be
held by the universal Church, without any exception, to be the Roman
Pontiff who shall have been elected and acknowledged by the
two-thirds. And if any person, trusting in the votes or nomination of
the remaining one-third, shall usurp that name, inasmuch as he cannot
in reason so do, both he himself and those who shall acknowledge him
shall be subject to the penalties of excommunication, and be visited
with the deprivation of all sacred orders; and even the communion of
the holy viaticum shall be denied unto them, except when in their
last moments; and, unless they come to their senses, they are to
receive their portion with Dathan and Abiram, whom the earth
swallowed up alive. And further, if any one shall be elected
to the Apostolic office by fewer than two-thirds, then, unless there
shall be a more full agreement, he is in nowise to be recognized as
such, and he is to be subject to the penalty aforesaid, unless with
all humility he shall be ready to withdraw such claim. Still,
however, let no prejudice be caused hereby to the canonical
constitutions, upon which subjects the opinions of the larger and
wiser part ought to have the preponderance, inasmuch as whatever
comes to be a matter of doubt to them, can always be decided by the
judgment of one superior. But, in the Roman Church, something of a
spiritual nature is here being determined upon, where recourse cannot
be had to a superior.
How
prelates are to pass sentence upon those subject to their authority
"A
very reprehensible custom has sprung up in some places, where both
our brethren and fellow-bishops, as well as some archdeacons even,
thinking that some will, in their causes tried before them, resort to
appeal, having first issued no admonition whatever, proceed to
pronounce against them sentence of suspension and excommunication. On
the other hand, also, others, dreading the sentence and canonical
discipline of their ecclesiastical superior, do without any
difficulty interpose their right of appeal, and usurp the same as a
defence for their iniquity, whereas it is known to have been
instituted as a safeguard for the innocent. Therefore, to the end
that neither the sentence of the prelate may be used to oppress those
subject to him, nor those subject may be enabled, at their sole
option, under the pretext of appeal, to escape correction by their
prelates, by this present decree we do enact, that neither shall
prelates pass sentence of suspension or excommunication upon those
subject to them, without first issuing canonical admonition, (unless
it shall so happen that the fault is such as of its own nature to
involve the penalty of suspension or excommunication), nor shall
those who are subject, in contravention of ecclesiastical discipline,
before the commencement of the trial, seek to take refuge in the
words of appeal. But, if any person shall think himself absolutely
necessitated to appeal, then a competent time is to be named for him,
within which to prosecute his appeal. And if he shall neglect to
prosecute his appeal within such limited time, then the bishop is to
be at liberty to use his own authority. And if, in any matter, any
person shall make an appeal, and on his making his appearance who was
appealed against, he who has appealed shall neglect to appear, then,
in case he shall have any property, he is to make a competent return
for the costs of the other, that so, at least, being deterred, a
person may not be too ready to appeal to the detriment of another.
But in especial, in places of religious orders, we wish this to be
observed, that neither monks, nor any religious whatsoever, when they
are to receive correction for any excesses, are to presume to appeal
against the regular discipline of their prelate and chapter, but
humbly and dutifully to receive what they know is enjoined them for
the more effectually securing their salvation.
How
prelates are to be entertained by their subjects
“Whereas
the Apostle ordered that he and his followers should be sustained by
the labours of their own hands, in order that he might leave no room
for preaching to false apostles, and might not be burdensome to those
to whom he preached, it is known to be a great grievance and one
deserving of correction, that some of our brethren and fellow bishops
prove so expensive in their entertainment to those subject to them,
that for reasons of this nature the subjects are compelled to expose
for sale the very ornaments of their churches, and a short hour
consumes the food earned in a long time ; we do, therefore, enact,
that archbishops visiting their provinces shall, according to the
different character of the provinces and the means of the churches,
under no circumstance exceed a retinue of forty or fifty horses,
bishops twenty or thirty, cardinals twenty or five-and-twenty, while
archdeacons are to be content with five or seven, and deans with two
horses. And further, they are not to go about with hounds and hawks,
or to require sumptuous entertainments, but to receive with
thankfulness that which shall properly and consistently with the
entertainer’s means, be provided for them. We do also forbid
that bishops shall presume to oppress their subjects with tallages or
exactions, and so conduct themselves as to appear to seek not what is
their own, but what belongs to Jesus Christ. For, as the Apostle
says, ‘The children ought not to lay up for the parents, but
the parents for the children,’ it seems to be greatly at
variance with the affection of a father, if those who are the
governors make them burdensome to their subjects, whom in all their
necessities they ought to cherish, like good shepherds. Also,
archdeacons and deans are not to presume to demand any exactions or
tallages 34
from priests or clerks. And further, what we have said above relative
to the number of horses that are to be allowed, is to be observed in
those places the revenues and ecclesiastical dues of which are ample.
But in poor places, it is our wish that such limits should be
observed, that the lesser ones shall not have to complain that a
hardship is inflicted on them by the arrival of the greater, so that
those who were in the habit of using a smaller number of horses may
not suppose that they are indulged with leave to use more. Indeed,
considering the many necessitous cases that occasionally arise, we
could endure that, if a manifest and reasonable cause should be found
to exist, they should be enabled to demand some slight assistance
together with our brotherly love.
That
new imposts are not to be made in churches
“Inasmuch
as in the body of the Church, all ought to be treated with
loving-kindness, and that which has been received gratuitously ought
gratuitously to be bestowed, it is a most shocking thing that in some
churches venality is said to prevail to such a degree, that, for
installing bishops or abbats, or any other ecclesiastical persons, or
introducing priests into the church, as also for the burial and
obsequies of the dead, and the benedictions of the newly-married, or
other ecclesiastical sacraments, money is demanded: and that he who
stands in need of these things, cannot obtain the same unless he
takes care to fill the hand of the bestower thereof. Many imagine
that it is lawful for them to act thus, on this ground, because they
think that the custom as to the dead has been established by
lengthened usage, not sufficiently considering, inasmuch as they are
blinded by avarice, that the longer offences have kept the mind
fettered, so much the more grievous they are. In order 1 ,
therefore, that this may not be done in future, we strictly forbid
that money shall be demanded for installing ecclesiastical persons,
instituting priests, burying the dead, blessing the newly-married, or
any other of the sacraments. And if any person shall presume in
contravention hereof to sell the same, then let him know that he will
have his portion with Gehazi, whose deeds he has imitated in the
exacting of a disgraceful gift. We do, moreover, forbid any new
imposts to be exacted from churches, either by bishops or abbats, or
any other prelate, or the old ones to be increased, or that such
persons shall presume to appropriate any part of the revenues to
their own use; but the same liberty which the greater ones desire to
be preserved for themselves, let them also, with good will, preserve
for the lesser ones. And if any person shall do otherwise than this,
what he so does is to be deemed null and void.
Christians
are forbidden to enter the service of the Saracens
“To
such a degree has shocking cupidity taken possession of the minds of
some, that, whereas they glory in the name of Christians, they carry
arms to the Saracens, and by supplying them with arms and necessaries
for the purpose of warring against the Christians, show themselves
their equals or even their superiors in wickedness. There are some
also, who, by reason of their cupidity, exercise the art and craft of
pilots, in the galleys and piratical vessels of the Saracens. Such
persons therefore we do order to be cut off from the communion of the
Church, and for their iniquity to be subjected to excommunication,
and to be mulcted with confiscation of their property by the Catholic
princes and rulers of states, and if they are taken, to become the
slaves of those so taking them. We do also order that throughout the
churches of the cities on the coast, a repeated and solemn sentence
of excommunication shall be pronounced against them. Those also are
to be subject to the penalty of excommunication, who presume either
to take captive or to despoil of their property Romans, or indeed any
other Christians, when voyaging for purposes of merchandize or any
other becoming reasons. Those also, who, with damnable avarice, dare
to despoil Christians who have suffered shipwreck of their property,
when according to the rules of religion they are bound to aid them,
are to know that they are subjected to excommunication, unless they
restore what they have so taken away.
That
tournaments shall not be held
"Continuing
in the footsteps of popes Innocent and Eugenius, of blessed memory,
our predecessors, we do forbid those detestable revels and shows,
which are commonly called tournaments, at which, by proclamation,
knights are wont to meet together, and rashly engage with each other,
to show off their prowess and valour, and from which, deaths of men
and perils to souls do so often ensue. And, if any one of such
persons shall meet with his death on such an occasion, although
absolution is not denied him, still he is to be deprived of Christian
burial.
On
keeping the truces.
“We
do order truces to be inviolably observed by all persons from the
fourth day of the week after sunset, until the seventh day of the
week after sunrise, both from the Advent of our Lord until the octave
of Epiphany, and from Septuagesima until the octave of Easter. And if
any person shall attempt to break such truce, if after the third
warning he shall not make reparation, then his bishop is to pronounce
sentence of excommunication, and announce the same in writing to the
neighbouring bishops. And no bishop is to receive him who is thus
excommunicated to communion; but, on the contrary, each is to confirm
the sentence, the copy of which he has received. And if any one shall
presume to violate this command, then let him be subject to the peril
of losing his orders. And, inasmuch as a threefold rope is broken
with difficulty, we do order that bishops, having respect only to God
and the salvation of the people, and all cupidity apart, shall use
their advice and assistance for the purpose of the strict maintenance
of peace, and not neglect the same through love or hatred for any
person whatsoever. And if any one shall be found to be lukewarm in
this work of God, he is to submit to the loss of his own dignity.
On
annulling ordinations made by Anti-popes.
“Re-enacting
that which was done by our predecessor, pope Innocent, of blessed
memory, we do pronounce the ordinations made by Octavianus and Guido,
the heresiarchs, as also by John of Struma, their follower, to be
null and void, as also ordinations made by the persons so ordained by
them; and we do further add, that those who have received
ecclesiastical dignities or benefices, by means of the aforesaid
schismatics,
shall resign what they have so acquired. All alienations also or
seizures of things ecclesiastical, which have been made by the said
schismatics, or by laymen, are to be wanting in validity, and to
return to the church without any incumbrance whatever thereon. And if
any one shall presume to contravene this command, he is to know that
he is subjected to excommunication. As for those who, of their own
accord, have taken oath to maintain the schism, we do decree that
they shall remain suspended from their holy orders and dignities.
What
sort of persons they ought to he, who are to he elected to govern the
Church
“As
in all holy orders and ecclesiastical offices, both maturity of age,
gravity of manners, and skill in literature, are to be sought for, so
ought the same much more rigidly to be exacted in the case of a
bishop, who, being placed in charge of others, ought in himself to
show how others are to preserve the same qualities in the house of
the Lord; to the end that what has been done by some persons, through
the necessities of the times, may not be adopted as an example by
posterity. We do, therefore, by the present decree enact that no one
shall be elected to be a bishop, who has not passed the thirtieth
year of his age, and is not born in lawful wedlock, and who cannot be
shown to be of praiseworthy life and learning. And when he, who has
been so elected, shall have received the confirmation of his
election, and the administration of ecclesiastical effects, the time
having expired that is pointed out by the canons for the consecration
of bishops, he is to have free option to dispose of the benefices
which belong to him, for the purpose of distribution. Also, the lower
offices, such, for instance, as deaneries or archdeaconries, and
others which have the care of souls annexed, no person whatever is to
receive, nor yet the government of parochial churches, unless he
shall have attained the twenty-fifth year of his age, and is of
praiseworthy knowledge and manners. [one or more sentences omitted]
And [in case of misbehaviour] they are to be removed from those
offices, and the same are to he bestowed on another, who is both
willing and able becomingly to fill the same, and they are not to
profit by the pretext of appealing, if they should chance to desire
to defend themselves in the transgression of these ordinances, by
means of appeal. This, indeed, we order to be observed, not only as
to those in future to be promoted, but those also who have been
already promoted, if the canons do not impede such a course. If the
clergy shall elect any one in contravention of the form above stated
they are to understand that they are deprived of the power of
electing on that occasion, and from their ecclesiastical benefices
suspended for a period of three years. For it is a becoming thing,
that those whom the fear of God does not withhold from evil, the
severity of ecclesiastical discipline should at least restrain. And
as for the bishop, if he shall act contrary to these mandates, or
shall consent to such being done, he is to lose his power in the
disposal of the offices above-named, and ordination is to be made by
the chapter, or by the metropolitan, if the chapter shall not agree
thereon.
Of
Heretics
“As
Saint Leo says, ‘Although the discipline of the Church, being
contented with the judgment of the priesthood, avoids a blood-thirsty
vengeance,’ still it is aided by the enactments of Catholic
princes, that so men may often find a salutary remedy, while they
dread that corporal punishment may befall them. Wherefore, inasmuch
as, in Gascony, the Albigeois, and other places inhabited by the
heretics whom some style ‘Catarri,’ others ‘Publicani,’
and others ‘Paterini,’ and others call by other names,
their damnable perverseness has waxed so strong that they practise
their wickedness no longer in secret as elsewhere, but publicly
expose their errors, and draw the simple and weak to be their/
accomplices, we do decree them and their protectors and harbourers to
be excommunicated, and under pain of excommunication we do forbid any
one to dare to receive or to encourage them in his house or on his
lands, or to have any transactions with them. And if they shall
depart this life in their sin, and not under the protection of any
privileges granted by our indulgence, then on no pretence whatever is
any contribution to be made for their interment, nor are they to
receive burial among Christians. And as regards the Brabanters,
Arragonese, Navarrese, Biscayans, and Coterells, *
who exercise such enormous cruelties against Christians, as not to
pay any respect to either churches or monasteries, or to spare widows
or orphans, young or old, or any age or sex, but who, after the
manner of pagans, lay waste and ravage in every direction, we do
similarly enact. We do also enact that those who shall hire, or
retain, or encourage them, shall, throughout the communities where
such excesses are committed, on the Lord’s day and other solemn
days be publicly proclaimed as excommunicated in all the churches
there, and shall be held to be condemned with the same sentence and
punishment in all respects as the aforesaid heretics, and shall not
be received into communion with the Church, unless they first abjure
the said abominable societies and heresies respectively. Those also
are to understand who are connected with them by any tie, that they
are relieved from all duties of fealty, or homage, or any obedience
to them whatsoever, so long as they shall persist in such great
iniquity; and we do further command them and all the faithful, for
the remission of their sins, manfully to oppose such dreadful
ravages, and in arms to defend the Christian people against them.
Their property also is to be confiscated, and the superior lords are
to be at liberty to subject men of this description to slavery. As
for those, however, who shall so separate from them in true
repentance, let them not doubt that they will obtain the indulgence
granted to sinners, and the blessings of an eternal reward.
* Hired mercenaries who may have been named after the
weapon they carried, a short knife or dagger called a ‘cotel’
or ‘coutel’ in Old French.
And further, trusting in the mercy of God, and confiding in the authority
of Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, we do remit two years of
enjoined penance to those faithful Christians who shall take up arms,
and, at the advice of their own or other prelates, fight against
them; and if they shall be detained a considerable time in so doing,
then we do leave it to the discretion of the bishops to whose care
these matters shall be entrusted, that so, at their option, in
proportion to the amount of labour expended, a still greater
indulgence may be granted them. But as for those who shall neglect to
pay obedience to the admonition of the bishops hereon, we do order
them to be debarred from receiving the body and blood of our Lord:
while those in the meantime, who, in their zeal for the faith, shall
undertake the laborious task of uprooting them, like those who repair
to the sepulchre of our Lord, we do take under the protection of the
Church, and do decree that they shall remain secure from all
molestation, both in property and person. And if any person shall in
the meantime presume to molest them, then sentence of excommunication
is to be hurled against him by the bishop of the place, and let such
sentence be observed by all, until such time as both what has been
taken away is restored, and full satisfaction is made for losses
caused by them. And further, bishops or priests who shall chance not
to show a proper resistance to such persons, are to be visited with
suspension from their offices until such time as they shall have
obtained mercy from the Apostolic See.
That
leprous persons are to have a private church and burial ground of
their own.
“Whereas
it is said by the Apostle Saint Paul that more abundant honor is
bestowed upon those members of the body which are less honourable: so
on the other hand, there are some who seek their own and not what is
of Jesus Christ, and who will not allow leprous persons who cannot
dwell with those in health, or to meet in churches with others,
either to have churches and burial-grounds of their own, or to have
the services of their own minister. Inasmuch as this is clearly at
variance with Christian piety, we do, in our Apostolic bounty, enact
that wherever enough shall have been assembled in one community to be
enabled to found a church for themselves with a burial-ground, and to
enjoy the services of their own priest, they shall, without any
opposition, be allowed to have the same. They are, however, to take
due care that as to parochial rights they are not in any way
detrimental to the interests of the old churches; for we are
unwilling that that which is conceded through feelings of piety,
should redound to the injury of others. We do also enact that they
shall not be compelled to pay tithes of vegetable produce and the
young of animals.
That
Christians shall not dwell with Jews or Saracens
“Neither
Jews nor Saracens are to be allowed to have Christian slaves in their
houses, either under pretext of rearing children, or for any services
or cause whatsoever. And further, those shall be excommunicated who
shall presume to dwell with them. We do also enact that the testimony
of Christians shall be received against the Jews in all causes
against Christians where they make use of their own witnesses; and we
do decree that those persons shall be excommunicated who shall
attempt in this respect to prefer Jews to Christians, as it is right
and proper that they should be beneath the Christians, and be by them
supported on grounds of humanity alone. Moreover, if any by the
inspiration of God shall be converted to the Christian faith, they
are on no account to suffer loss of their possessions, 39
as, after being converted to the faith they ought to be in a better
condition than they were in before they conformed to the faith. And
if anything shall be done in contravention hereof, we do, under
penalty of excommunication, enjoin the princes or authorities of
those places, to cause full restitution to be made to them of that
portion of their hereditary property and possessions.
That
no person shall for money receive the monastic or any religious
habit
“Monks
are not to be received in a monastery for money, nor are they to be
allowed to hold property of their own. They are. not to be
distributed alone in vills and towns, or in any parochial churches :
but are to remain in the general convent, or in company with some
other of the brethren, so as not alone to await the conflict of
spiritual with secular men; for it is Solomon who says: ‘ Woe
to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help
him up.’ And if any person on demand shall give anything for
his admission, then he is not to be admitted to holy orders, and he
who has admitted him is to be punished by loss of his office. And if
any one shall have private property, unless the same shall have been
permitted by the abbot for the carrying out of some purpose that has
been enjoined, he is to be removed from the communion of the altar ;
and if any one shall be found when at the point of death to possess
property, no offering is to be made for him, and he is not to have
burial among the brethren. The same we do command to be observed in
the various religious orders; and the abbot who shall not diligently
observe the same, is to know that he thereby incurs the loss of his
office. Also, no priorships or abbacies are to be given to any one
for the receipt of money; and in such cases both the giver and the
receiver are to be removed from all ecclesiastical duties. Also,
where priors have been appointed over conventual churches, they are
not, unless for a manifest and reasonable cause, to be removed;
unless, for instance, they have been guilty of dilapidation, or lived
incontinently, or been guilty of any thing of a like nature, by
reason of which they may appear to deserve to be removed: as also, in
cases where by the consent of the brethren he shall have been
transferred in consequence of the necessity of his filling some
higher office.
That
no person shall hold several churches.
“Inasmuch
as certain persons, placing no limits to their avarice, in
contravention of the enactments of the sacred canons, both endeavour
to obtain divers ecclesiastical dignities and several parish
churches, so that, while they are hardly able to fulfil the duties of
one office, they obtain the salary that is the due of many, we do
strictly forbid that this shall in future be done. Therefore, when an
ecclesiastical office ought to be filled up, let a person be found to
fill it who is able to reside on the spot, and to perform its duties
himself. And if any persons shall act in contravention hereof, both
he who has received the office is to lose the money that, contrary to
the sacred canons, he has received, and he who has given it is to be
deprived of the power of giving it in future. And, inasmuch as the
ambition of some has now reached to such a pitch that they are said
to hold not two or three, but six offices or even more, while at the
same time they are not able to perform the prescribed duties for even
two, we do order this to be remedied by our brethren and
fellow-bishops; and that, from these pluralities so hateful to the
canons, which afford a ground for the breaking up of societies, and
for the wandering of their members to and fro, and produce certain
peril to souls, the indigence of those may be relieved, who are able
to give their services to churches. Moreover, because the audacity of
some laymen has increased to such a pitch that, neglecting the
authority of the bishops, they institute clerks in churches and
remove them when they please, and distribute property and other
possessions of the Church mostly at their own option, and dare to
harass the churches themselves, as well as the people, with tallages
and exactions, we do enact that, from henceforth, if they shall be
guilty of the same, they shall be visited with excommunication. The
priest also, or clerk, who shall receive a church from laymen,
without the authority of his own bishop, shall be deprived from the
communion; and if he persists, then he shall be deposed from his
ecclesiastical office and orders. And, further, inasmuch as some
laymen compel ecclesiastical persons, and even bishops themselves, to
abide by their judgments, those who shall do so in future we do order
to be cut off from all intercourse with the faithful. We do also
forbid, on peril of their souls, laymen withholding tithes, under any
circumstances, making over the same to other laymen. And if any
person receives the same, and does not restore them to the Church, he
is to be deprived of Christian burial.
That
manifest usurers shall not he admitted to the communion at the altar.
“Inasmuch
as in almost every place the crime of usury has become prevalent, so
much so, that many, neglecting their usual business, adopt usury as
their lawful occupation, and do not consider how the same is
condemned by the pages of both Testaments, we do therefore enact,
that manifest usurers shall not be received to communion at the
altar, nor shall any of them receive Christian burial, or even an
oblation, if he shall die in this sin. And he who shall have received
such offering, or have given Christian burial to such usurer, is both
to be compelled to return what he has received, and is to remain
suspended from the duties of his office until such time as, in the
judgment of the bishop, he shall have given satisfaction.
Of
the wills of clerks
“Whereas,
in the duties of brotherly love, we seem in especial bound to those
from whom we know that we have received benefits, on the other hand,
certain of the clergy, after having received considerable property
from their churches, presume to
leave property thus acquired through churches to other persons.
Therefore, although it is well known that by the ancient canons this
is prohibited, we do nevertheless, once more prohibit it. And it
being our wish therefore, to provide an indemnity for the Church,
whether these persons shall have died intestate, or whether they
shall have attempted to bestow the same property on others, we do
order that the same shall remain in possession of the churches.
Moreover, inasmuch as in some places persons are appointed for a sum
of money, and are called deans, and thus for a fixed sum of money
exercise episcopal jurisdiction, we do, by the present decree, enact
that whoever in future shall presume thus to act shall be deprived of
his office, and the bishop shall lose the right of conferring the
same.
Of
the regulation of ecclesiastical communities
“Whereas,
in all churches that which seems fit to the greater part and the
elder of the brethren, ought, without hesitation, to be observed, it
seems most grievous and most worthy of censure that in some churches
a few, not so much on reasonable grounds as by reason of their own
wilfulness, throw obstacles in the way of the commands of the
majority, and will not allow the ecclesiastical ordinances to be
carried out: therefore, by the present decree we do enact, that,
unless any reasonable ground shall be shown by the fewer and younger,
all power of appeal removed, that which is ordained, on due
consideration by the greater and elder part, shall always prevail and
be carried into effect. Nor is it to be any impediment to this our
ordinance, if any person says that he is bound by oath to observe the
customs of his church. For they are not to be called oaths, but
perjuries rather, which are in opposition to the interests of the
Church and the institutions of the holy fathers. And if any person
has presumed to swear to maintain customs of this nature, which are
neither supported by reason, nor agree with the holy institutions, he
is to be debarred from receiving the body of our Lord until such time
as he shall have performed due penance for the same.
Of
the presentation of clerks
“Whereas,
in certain places, the founders of churches, or their heirs, abuse
their power, in which the Church has hitherto borne with them; and
whereas in the Church of
God there ought to be but one who is the chief, while many, without
regard to those who are subject, strive to elect; and whereas one
church ought to have but one ruler, while they present, in defence of
their own rights, a number of rulers ; we do by the present decree
enact, that if several founders divide and give conflicting votes,
that person shall be appointed over the church who is recommended by
his manners and merits, and is chosen and approved of by the
suffrages of the most persons. But, if this cannot be done without
offence, the bishop is to regulate the church in such way as he shall
think is best suited to the honor of God, and he is to do the same,
even though some question shall have arisen as to the right of
patronage, and even if, within three months, it shall be ascertained
to whom it belongs.
On
preserving peace
“We
do also enjoin that priests, clerks, monks, lay monks, pilgrims,
merchants, and serfs, when going to and fro, and engaged in
agriculture, as well as the animals with which they plough, and the
other things which they take into the fields, shall enjoy befitting
security; and no person in office whatever is anywhere to presume to
make new exactions without the authority and consent of the kings and
rulers, or to enact statutes on the moment, or in any way to impugn
the old ones. And if any one shall act contrary to this, and, on
being warned, shall not cease so doing, then, till such time as he
shall have made due satisfaction, he is to be cut off from all
Christian intercourse.
That
ecclesiastical benefices shall not be given to any one, before they
are vacant
“No
ecclesiastical benefices, or offices, or churches, shall be given to
any person, or be promised, before they are vacant, that so no one
may seem to long for the death of his neighbour, to whose place and
benefice he thinks he shall succeed. For whereas this same thing is
found prohibited even in the laws of the heathens, it is most
disgraceful, and most deserving of the censures of the Divine
judgment, if expectation of future succession should hold a place in
the Church of God, a thing which even the heathens themselves have
taken care to condemn. But when it happens that churches, to which
presen tation
is to be made, or any offices in any church, are vacant, or if at
present any are vacant, they are not to remain long unfilled, but
within six months let persons be presented to them, who are able
properly to perform the duties thereof. But if the bishop, when it is
his duty to do so, delays to collate such person, he is to be
appointed by the chapter. And if the election belongs to the chapter,
and it shall not have so done by the time appointed, the bishop,
using the advice of religious men, is to do the same according to the
will of God: or if all shall chance to neglect it, then the
metropolitan of the bishop, according to the will of God, and without
any contradiction on their part, is to dispose thereof.
That
no one shall be ordained without a certain title.
“If
a bishop shall ordain any person as deacon or priest without a
certain title by which he may earn the necessaries of life, then he
is to provide him with necessaries, until such time as he shall
assign him, in some church, a suitable salary for clerical duties,
unless the person ordained shall happen to be able to subsist on
property of his own, or inherited from his father.
That
clerks in holy orders shall not keep concubines.
“Clerks
in holy orders, who, bearing the character of incontinence, keep
young women in their houses, are either to put them away and live
chastely, or else to be deprived of their benefices and
ecclesiastical duties. Whoever shall be found to labour under that
kind of incontinence which is against nature, and on account of which
the wrath of God came upon the sons of distrust, and He consumed five
cities with fire, if they are clerks they shall be expelled from the
clergy, or be set apart in a monastery to do penance there; if they
are laymen, they shall be excommunicated and utterly removed from the
community of the faithful. Moreover, if any clerk, without necessary
and manifest cause, shall presume to frequent monasteries of nuns, he
is to be warned thence by the bishop, and if he shall not cease so to
do, he is to be deprived of his ecclesiastical benefice.
That
laymen shall not impose burdens on churches
“It
is known to be no less a sin in those who do so, than a detriment to
those who submit to it, that rulers and the chief
men in cities throughout the different parts of the world, as well as
others who seem to hold some power, frequently impose upon churches
such numerous burdens, and oppress them with such heavy and repeated
exactions, that the priesthood seems under them to be in a worse
condition than it was under Pharaoh, who had no knowledge of the law
of the Lord. For whereas he, when all others were reduced to slavery,
left their priests and possessions in their former liberty, and gave
them sustenance at the public expense, these others impose almost all
their burdens on the churches, and afflict them with so many
anxieties, that the lamentation of Jeremiah seems to apply thereto, ‘
She that was princess among the provinces, now is she become
tributary!’ For, whether it is the expense of making
fortifications, or whether of an expedition, or whether they think
proper to do anything else, they generally attempt to provide for
them all out of the property of the churches, of the clergy, and of
the poor, the advantages of Christ being thereby curtailed. On these
grounds we must feel grieved for the churches, and none the less for
those who seem to have entirely lost all fear of God and respect for
the ecclesiastical order. Wherefore, under the most severe penalty of
excommunication, we do strictly forbid any one in future to presume
to make such an attempt, unless a bishop or clerk shall evidently see
such a case of necessity and utility as to be of opinion that,
without compulsion, subsidies may be collected throughout the
churches to relieve the common necessities, the means of the laity
not sufficing thereto. And if rulers, or other persons, shall in
future be guilty of this, and, on being warned, shall chance to be
unwilling to desist, they are to know that both themselves, as well
as their abettors, are subjected to excommunication, and are not to
be restored to intercourse with the faithful until such time as they
shall have made befitting satisfaction.
That
prelates are to provide necessaries for the masters of schools
“Inasmuch
as the Church of God, both in those things which tend to the support
of the body and in those which pertain to the profit of the soul, is
bound, like an affectionate mother, to provide for the needy, in
order that the opportunity of reading and of improving may not be
withheld from the poor who cannot be assisted by the means of their
relations, in each cathedral church a certain competent provision is
to be made for a master, who is to teach gratuitously the clerks of
the said church and the poor scholars, in order that thereby the
necessities of the teacher may be relieved, and a way may be opened
to learning for those who are studying; in other churches or
monasteries, also, this is to be rectified, if in past times any
curtailment shall chance to have been made therein. For a licence to
teach no one is to demand any fee whatever, nor is he, under pretext
of any custom, to make any demand of those who teach ; nor yet, when
a licence has been given, is he to forbid any one to teach who is
fitted for so doing. The person who shall presume to contravene this
enactment, is to be deprived of all ecclesiastical benefices. For it
seems only proper and becoming, that, in the Church of God, he should
not gain the fruit of his labours who, in the cupidity of his mind,
endeavours, while he is selling a licence to teach, to obstruct the
profit of the Church.
That
clerics shall not presume to undertake secular business
“Clerks
in archdeacon’s orders, and above, as well as those of a lower
grade, if they are supported by ecclesiastical salaries, are not to
presume to act as advocates before secular judges in forensic
business, unless they are prosecuting their own cause or that of the
Church, or chance to be acting on behalf of distressed persons, who
cannot manage their own causes. And neither is any clerk to presume
to act the part of procurator of a town, or to exercise any secular
jurisdiction under any princes or men of secular power, so as to act
as their justiciaries. And if any person shall presume to contravene
this enactment, because he acts in a worldly manner, contrary to the
doctrine of the Apostle, when he says that no one who fights for God
busies himself with the affairs of this world, he is to be removed
from the ecclesiastial office, because, neglecting his clerical
duties, he has plunged into the waves of the world in order to please
the powerful. We do also decree that strict punishment is to ensue,
if any person in religious orders shall presume to attempt to do any
of the things aforesaid.
Of
Churches that have been laid under an interdict, and the burial of
those under interdict
“Inasmuch
as it is our bounden duty both to plant the sacred religion, and when
planted in every way to cherish it, we can never attempt the same to
better purpose, than if we consider that it has been entrusted to us
by the authority of God, to foster that which is right, and to
correct that which impedes the progress of the truth. Wherefore, in
consequence of the strong complaints of our brethren and our
fellow-bishops, we have understood that the brethren of the Temple
and of the Hospital, as well as others of the religious profession,
exceeding the privileges with which they have been indulged by the
Apostolic See, presume to do many things which both tend to scandal
among the people of God, and produce grievous evil to souls. For they
have purposed to receive churches from the hands of laymen; they
admit persons excommunicated and under interdict to the Sacraments of
the Church, and allow burial in their churches, contrary to good
conscience, and institute and remove priests at their pleasure. And
whereas the indulgence has been granted to their brethren when going
to seek alms, that upon their arrival such churches may be opened
once in a year, and Divine service performed therein, as we have
heard, several of them have frequently come from one or more of their
houses to a place under interdict, and have abused the indulgence of
their privileges by performing service therein, and then presuming to
bury the dead in the churches aforesaid. And further, by means of the
fraternities which in many places they establish, they sap the
strength of the episcopal authority, while, in contravention of the
sentences of the bishops, under the pretext of some of their own
privileges, they strive to screen all those who are ready to join
their fraternity. And whereas we have thought proper to make these
declarations not so much with reference to the conscience or design
of the higher authorities among them, as to the fact that some of
those of a lower grade have exceeded what in discretion they ought to
observe, for the purpose of removing those matters in which they are
guilty of excess, and which tend to cause doubts; we do therefore
forbid both them and all other religious whatsoever, laid under
interdict without the consent of their bishops, to receive churches
and tithes from the hands of laymen, not taking regard of what up to
the present time they have, contrary to the tenor hereof, received.
Persons excommunicated and by name laid under interdict, we do
pronounce to be avoided both by them and by all other persons
whatsoever, in conformity with the sentences pronounced by the
bishops. In those of their churches which do not belong to them fully
of right, they are to present priests to the bishops for institution
therein, who shall be answerable to them for their care of the
people, and give to themselves a proper account as to the temporal
things thereof. Also, they are not to presume to remove those once
instituted without consulting the bishops thereon. And if Templars or
Hospitallers come to a church laid under interdict, they are to be
admitted only once in a year to perform service therein, and not even
then are they to bury there the bodies of those under interdict.
Also, as to these fraternities we do enact, that if they shall not
entirely join the brethren aforesaid, but shall think proper to
reside upon their own properties, still they are in nowise on that
account to be exempt from the sentence of the bishops, who are to
exercise their authority over them just like the other persons of
their dioceses, where they require correction for their excesses.
What has been said above as to the aforesaid brethren we do also
command to be observed as to other persons in religious orders who in
their presumption intrude upon the path, and presume to enter on a
course contrary to their own canonical professions and the tenor of
our own privileges. If, however, they shall presume to contravene
this enactment, both the churches in which they shall presume so to
do shall be laid under interdict, and what they have done shall be
deemed null and void."
These
decrees being promulgated and received by the whole of the clergy and
people standing around, the bishops and other ecclesiastics who had
met together, with the gift of the benediction, received leave to
return home.
In
the same year, the king of England, the son, returned from Normandy
to England at mid-Lent, and, during the following Easter, he and the
king, his father, were at Winchester. After Easter, Richard de Lucy,
justiciary of England, resigned the office of justiciary, and became
a canon-regular in his abbey of Lewes, which he himself had founded
on his property and had enriched with many possessions; shortly after
which. he died. After his decease, the king, the father, held a great
council at Windsor, and by the common consent of the archbishops,
bishops, earls, and barons, in presence of the king, his son, divided
England into four parts, and over each of them appointed wise men to
administer justice throughout the land, in the following manner:—
RICHARD, bishop of Winchester
RICHARD, the king’s treasurer
NICHOLAS FITZ-THOROLD
THOMAS BASSET
ROBERT DE WHITFIELD
Southamptonshire [Hampshire], Wiltshire,
Gloucestershire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire,
Devonshire, Cornwall, Berkshire, Oxfordshire.
GEOFFREY, bishop of Ely
NICHOLAS, chaplain to the king
GILBERT PIPARD
REGINALD DE WISEBEC, clerk to the king
GEOFFREY HOSKE
Cambridgeshire,Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire,
Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire,
Herefordshire (in Wales), Staffordshire,
Salopeshire [Shropshire].
JOHN, Bishop of Norwich
HUGH MURDAC, clerk to the king
MICHAEL BELET
RICHARD DE PEC
RALPH BRITO
Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire,
Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex,
Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire.
GODFREY DE LUCY
JOHN CUMIN
HUGH DE GAKEST
RANULPH DE GLANVILLE
WILLIAM DE BENDINGS
ALAN DE FURNELLES
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Eukewicshire [Yorkshire],
Northumberland, Westmoreland,
Cumberland (between the Ribble and the Mersey), Lancaster.
The last six to whom the above counties were assigned
were appointed justices in the king’s court, to hear the public claims.
In the same year [1179], Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, by command of
the king, his father, passed over from England to Brittany, and, assembling an
army, laid waste the lands of Guidomer de Leuns, and forced him to
surrender. In the same year, Henry, king of England, the son,
returned from England to Normandy. In the same year, Louis, king of
the Franks sent to Constantinople his daughter Agnes, whom his wife
Ala, queen of the Franks, and sister of William, archbishop of
Rheims, and of the counts Henry, Theobald, and Stephen, had borne to
him, to be married to Alexis, the son of Manuel, emperor of
Constantinople. In the same year, Philip, the son of Louis, king of
the Franks, and of the said queen, Ala, fell ill, and was in danger
of his life ; at which his father was extremely grieved, and was
admonished in his sleep by a Divine revelation to vow that he would
go on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Thomas the Martyr, at
Canterbury, to prevail upon him to restore his son to health.
In
consequence of this, Louis, king of the Franks, sent ambassadors to
Henry, king of England, the father, and asked for leave and a safe
conduct upon coming into England, and also liberty to return without
any impediment; which was granted accordingly. Therefore, putting his
trust in the Lord, contrary to the advice of many, he set out for
England. Taking with him Philip, earl of Flanders, and Baldwin, earl
of Guisnes, Henry, duke of Louvaine, count William de Mandeville, the
advocate of Bethune, and other barons of the kingdom of France, he
came to Witsand, and thence passed over to England, arriving at Dover
on the eleventh day before the calends of September, being the fourth
day of the week. The king of England, the father, came to meet him on
the sea-shore, and received him with great honor and congratulations,
as his most dearly-beloved liege lord and friend, and, with due
respect, supplied all necessaries for him and his people.
On the following day, that is to say, on the vigil of Saint
Bartholomew the Apostle, he escorted him to the tomb of Saint Thomas the Martyr,
at Canterbury. Upon arriving there, Louis, king of the Franks,
offered upon the tomb of Saint Thomas the Martyr a cup of gold, very
large and of great value, and gave, for the use of the monks there in
the service of God, a hundred tuns of wine, to be received yearly for
ever at Poissy, in France, entirely at the expense of the king of
France. In addition to this, he granted them that whatever in future
should be bought in the kingdom of France for their own use, should
be free from toll and all other customs and excise. All this he
caused to be confirmed by his charter, which they received at the
hands of Hugh de Pudsey, chancellor of the king of France, and son of
Hugh, bishop of Durham. On the third day after this, the king of
France and his people who were with him returned to Dover, under the
escort of the king of the English; and on the following day, namely,
the seventh day before the calends of September, being the Lord’s
Day, the king of France crossed over from England to Flanders, and
landed at Witsand.
In the meantime, his son Philip, through the merits and
prayers of the blessed Thomas the Martyr, was restored to his former health: on
hearing which, the king of France, elated, amid great public
rejoicings, ordered by proclamation that all the chief men of his
kingdom, both ecclesiastical and secular, should assemble at Rheims,
at the beginning of the calends of November, in order to celebrate
there the coronation of his son Philip. When they were assembled
there, William, archbishop of Rheims, crowned the beforenamed Philip,
the son of his sister Ala, who was now in the fifteenth year of his
age, and anointed him king at Rheims, in the church there of the
Pontifical See, on the day of the feast of All Saints, being assisted
in the performance of that office by William, archbishop of Tours,
and the archbishops of Bourges and Sens, and nearly all the bishops
of the kingdom. Henry, the king of England, the son, in the
procession from the chamber to the cathedral on the day of the
coronation, preceded him, bearing the golden crown with which the said
Philip was to be crowned, in right of the dukedom of Normandy. Philip, earl of
Flanders, also walked before, bearing before him the sword of the
kingdom. Other dukes, counts, and barons also preceded and followed
him, each being appointed to perform some duty therein, according as
the king had commanded them. But king Louis, his father, labouring
under old age and a paralytic malady, was unable to be present at his
coronation; for, as he was returning from England and staying at
Saint Denis, being struck by a sudden chill, he had an attack of
paralysis, and lost the use of the right side of his body.
In the same year [1179] died Roger, bishop of Worcester,
at Tours, where he was buried. In this year, also, died William, earl
of Aumarle, and was buried in his abbey at Tornetun.
In this year, the people of Tuscany, Pisa, and Lucca, and
the citizens of Pistoia and of Florence, with the people of the Val d’Arno,
and Ugolino de Valle Spoleta, entered into a confederacy to take, by
stratagem, Christian, archbishop of Mentz, chancellor of Frederic,
the emperor of the Romans; who, after peace was made between our lord
the pope and the said emperor, at the Rialto, at Venice, had remained
in Tuscany, and by grievous exactions had reduced the people to a
distressed state. Having accordingly arranged their plans, they
invited Conrad, the son of William, marquis of Montferrat, to meet
them, in order that he might take the chancellor by stratagem, as he
greatly hated him, though he had lately made peace with him.
Accordingly, at the instigation of the rest, and at the request of
the emperor Manuel, who promised him the possession of abundant
wealth if he should capture the before-named chancellor, Conrad came
with a strong force to the city of Camerina, whither the chancellor
had come with a few of his followers, and laying hands on him made
him prisoner, and, putting him in irons, carried him away with him,
and first incarcerated him in a castle which bears the name of Santo
Flaviano, and next imprisoned him at Rocca Venaise, and a third time
at Aguapendente; then, delivering him into the charge of his brother,
Boniface, Conrad himself set out for Constantinople to visit the
emperor Manuel, at whose suggestion he had taken the before-mentioned
chancellor. As he did not dare to return home, in consequence of the
injury he had done to Frederic, the emperor of the Romans, in taking
his chancellor prisoner, he remained with Manuel, the emperor of
Constantinople, and married one of the nieces of that emperor; on
hearing of which, his brother, Boniface, who had kept the above-named
Christian, archbishop of Mentz and chancellor to the emperor, in
prison, received from him twelve thousand perpera,* and set him at
liberty.
*
A golden coin of Constantinople, which were more generally called
“hyperpera.” They are said to have received this name
from the superlative brightness of the highly refined gold of which
they were made.
king of France had been guilty of towards his mother and his uncles.
1180 A.D.
In
the year of grace 1180, being the twenty-sixth year of the reign of
king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said king was in England,
at Nottingham, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord; at which
festival, William, king of the Scots, was also present. In this year
also, Philip, the king of the Franks, seeing that his father was
severely afflicted with a paralytic disease, followed in every
respect the advice of Philip, earl of Flanders. Listening to his
counsels, he began to practise tyranny over his people, and despised
and hated all whom he knew to be the familiar friends of his father:
his own mother too, he persecuted to such a degree, that he drove her
out of his dominions; his uncles also, William, archbishop of Rheims,
count Theobald, and count Stephen, he subjected to great
persecutions.
At
their entreaty, Henry, king of England, the son, crossed over to
England, and told his father of the excesses and vexatious conduct
which Philip, king of France, was guilty of towards his mother and
his uncles, by the advice of the earl of Flanders ; on hearing which,
the king of England, the father, with the king of England, the son,
before Easter, crossed over to Normandy. Accordingly, they were met
in Normandy by the queen of the Franks before-named, accompanied by
count Theobald and count Stephen, her brothers, and many other
noblemen of the kingdom of France : who, giving hostages to the king
of England, the father, and making oath that they would not neglect
to follow his advice, became his adherents. After this, the king of
England, the father, levied a great army throughout his dominions on
both sides of the sea, purposing, after Easter, to enter the
territories of the king of France in a hostile manner, for the
purpose of avenging the injuries which the new
After
Easter, Philip, king of France, took to wife the daughter of the earl
of Hainault, and niece of Philip, earl of Flanders, being the
daughter of his sister; and as a marriage portion with his niece, the
said earl of Flanders gave the whole territory of Vermandois as far
as the river Lis. Upon this, Philip, king of France, determined to
have himself and his wife crowned on the day of Pentecost at the city
of Sens; but, by the advice of the earl of Flanders, he shortened the
intervening time, and caused himself and his wife to be crowned on
Ascension day at Saint Denis, by the archbishop of Sens. When
William, archbishop of Rheims, came to know of this, he was greatly
incensed, and made complaint to Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, of
the intrusion 01 the archbishop of Sens, who, contrary to law and the
dignity of the church of Rheims, had had the presumption to crown the
king of France.
After this, Philip, king of France, and Henry, king of England, the father,
held a conference between Gisors and Trie; at which, the king of
England, partly by gentle words and partly by threats, prevailed upon
the king of France, in spite of the advice of the earl of Flanders,
to banish from his mind all the displeasure and indignation which he
had felt towards his mother and his uncles, and to receive them again
into their wonting favour, covenanting to allow his mother every day
seven pounds of Paris money for her daily support, and after the
decease of his father, to pay her dower entire and in full,
retaining, however, in his own hands the castles and fortified
places. At the same conference, by way of making security more sure,
the king of England, the father, in presence of Philip, king of
France, received homage from Philip, earl of Flanders, and for the
said homage granted him one thousand marks of silver yearly, to be
received out of the exchequer at London;
on condition, however, that in return for the said one thousand marks
the earl of Flanders should find each year five hundred knights to
serve the king of England for the space of forty days, whenever he
should be called upon so to do.
In
the same year, Louis, king of the Franks, departed this life at
Paris, in the month of September, it being the fourteenth day before
the calends of October, and the fifth day of
the week, and was buried at the abbey of Barbeaux; after which,
Philip, king of Trance, and Henry, king of England, the father, met
and held a conference between Gisors and Trie, where they made a
treaty of peace and reconciliation, which was established on both
sides by word and oath, and was to the following effect:—
“I,
Philip, by the grace of God, king of the Pranks, and I, Henry, by the
same grace, king of the English, do will that it shall come to the
notice of all, both present as well as to come, that we have renewed
the treaty and friendship, byword and oath, which my liege lord,
Louis, king of the Franks, and I, Henry, concluded between ourselves
before Ivery, in presence of Peter, titular of Saint Chrysogonus,
cardinal priest and legate of the Apostolic See, and of Richard,
bishop of Winchester, and many other bishops, earls, and barons who
were then present; to the effect, that we now are, and wish
henceforth to be, friends, and that each will protect the other in
life and limb, and will defend his worldly possessions to the utmost
of his ability against all men. And if any person whatsoever shall
presume to do an injury to either of us, I, Henry, will aid Philip,
king of France, my liege lord, against all men to the utmost of my
ability. And I, Philip, will aid Henry, king of England, against all
men to the utmost of my ability, as my liege and vassal, saving
always the fidelity which we owe to our liegemen, so long as they
shall preserve their fealty towards ourselves. And neither of us
shall from henceforth harbour an enemy of the other in his dominions,
from the time that demand shall be made of him. And to the end that
from henceforth all matter of discord between us may be removed, we
do mutually agree that of the lands and possessions, and all other
things which we now hold, each shall henceforth make no claim
whatever against the other (except the claim as to Auvergne,
respecting which there is a dispute between us, and except the fee of
Chateau-Raoul, and except some small fees and allotments of our lands
in Berry), in case our liegemen shall take anything from each other
or from either of us. And if we shall not be able to agree as to the
matters which are above excepted, then in such case, I, Philip, king
of the Franks, have chosen three bishops, those of Claremont,
Nivernois, and Treves, and three barons, count Theobald, count
Robert, and Peter de Touraine, my uncles; and I, Henry, king of
England, have chosen three bishops, William, bishop of Le Mans,
Peter, bishop of Perigord, and Robert, bishop of Nantes, and three
barons, Maurice de Crouy, William Maingot, and Peter de Mont Rabell,
to act in my behalf; and, having examined into the truth on both
sides, both themselves as well as by the oaths of the people of those
lands, the bishops aforesaid shall assert upon their word of truth,
and the laymen shall make oath, that whatsoever they shall find to
belong to either as of right, that same they will declare, and in
good faith will firmly abide by their decision. But if all those
bishops whom I, Philip, have chosen, shall not be able to be present,
we will nevertheless abide by the decision of such two as shall be
present; and if all the barons named on my side shall not be present,
still we will not hesitate to abide by the decision of such two of
them as shall be present; and similarly as to those, whom I, Henry,
have chosen, both bishops as well as barons. We have also made oath,
that we will do no injury to them by reason of their speaking the
truth. And if by chance, which God forbid, any dispute shall arise
between us as to our territories, the same is to be settled by the
same persons in good faith and without evil intent or delay. And if
any one of the persons before-mentioned shall in the meantime depart
this life, then another one is to be substituted in his stead. And if
either of us shall think proper to go on a pilgrimage, the one who
remains shall faithfully guard, and protect, and defend against all
men, the lands and vassals of him who shall be abroad as though they
were his own and part of his own dominions, just as though I, Philip,
were defending my city of Paris as if it were besieged, and as though
I, Henry, were defending my city of Rouen, if it were besieged. I,
Philip, also do will that all merchants and other persons whatsoever,
both clergy as well as laymen, coming from the dominions of Henry,
king of England, shall, with all their property, be in security and
enjoy peace throughout all my dominions. And I, Henry, do in like
manner, will that all merchants and other persons whatsoever, both
clergy as well as laymen, coming from the dominions of Philip, king
of France, shall, with all their property, be in security and enjoy
peace throughout all my dominions. All the above we have made promise
both by word and by oath that we will observe. Also, in obedience to
our commands, our vassals have made oath after us, that in good faith
they will counsel us to observe what we have sworn, and not give us
advice to disregard the same.”
In
the same year, Frederic, emperor of the Romans, expelled from his
kingdom Henry, duke of Saxony; the cause of whose expulsion was as
follows :—It must first, however, he observed, that there were
ten princes appointed to be custodians of the gates of the city of
Cologne, whose names were as follows :—
The
duke of Lemburg,
The
duke of Saxony,
The
duke of Saringes,
The
duke of Saxland,
The
duke of Louvaine,
The
count de Wilch,
The
count de Loo,
The
count de Gerle,
The
count Palatine of the Rhone,
The
count de Larmval.
Now,
these ten are liegemen of the archbishop of Cologne, and receive
yearly from the property of Saint Peter at Cologne two thousand marks
of silver, as the pay for their custodianships. In addition to this
the archbishop of Cologne has large revenues, most of which are in
the dukedom of Saxony, and which Henry, duke of Saxony, the
son-in-law of Henry, king of England, unjustly seized, and withheld
from the archbishop. In consequence of this, Reginald, archbishop of
Cologne, made complaint to his lord, Frederic, emperor of the Romans:
in addition to which, the before-named emperor charged the aforesaid
duke with perjury, with breach of faith, and with high treason
towards himself; and caused him to be summoned to appear in his court
to give satisfaction both to himself and to the archbishop of
Cologne. Having received, therefore, a safe conduct both in coming
and returning, the duke made his appearance ; and, after many charges
had been made against him, both as to his breach of faith, his
perjury, his high treason towards the emperor, and the injuries he
had committed towards the archbishop of Cologne, when it was his
duty, after taking counsel with his own people, to make answer to the
charges so made, he mounted his horse, and, without giving any
answer, returned home; on which the emperor demanded that judgment
should be pronounced against him, and he was accordingly pronounced
to have forfeited his dukedom; and leave was given to the archbishop
of Cologne to enter the territories of the duke of Saxony with an
armed force, in order to take revenge for the injuries which the duke
had done him. The emperor also, with a great army, entered the
territories of the duke of Saxony, and laid them waste with fire, and
sword, and famine, and reduced the duke to such extremities that he
placed himself at the mercy of the emperor, abjured his territory,
and placed the same for seven years at the mercy of the emperor, and
then came in exile to the court of Henry, king of England, his wife’s
father. Shortly after this, however, at the entreaty of Alexander,
the Supreme Pontiff, Philip, king of France, Henry, king of England,
and Philip, earl of Flanders, the emperor remitted four years from
the period of banishment which he had prescribed to the duke.
In
the same year [1180] died Manuel, emperor of Constantinople; and
Alexis his son, who had married the daughter of Louis, king of
France, ascended the throne, and reigned in peace two years. However,
in the meantime, his mother, Mary, daughter of Raymond, prince of
Antioch, had a certain person as her paramour, who, by virtue of his
office, was in the Greek language called “Protosouastos,”
* and in Latin, “Comes Palatums;” ** whom the
before-named empress loved with such a disgraceful and ungovernable
passion, that she was ready to put her son Alexis, the emperor, to
death, and thereby promote her lover to the imperial throne.
Accordingly, on a day that seemed suitable for the purpose, she gave
a poisonous draught to her son the emperor; after drinking which, the
poison, spreading its influence throughout his tender limbs, almost
suffocated him on the spot: but at length, by means of the antidotes
of skilful physicians, with considerable difficulty he escaped with
his life. Being determined to take due precautions for the future, he
sent for Androneus, the brother’s son of his father Manuel, and
associated him with himself on the throne; by whose advice he seized
his mother, and threw her into prison, and after she had long pined
in prison, caused her to be tied up in a sack, and, an anchor being
fastened to her neck, to be drowned in that part of the sea which is
called “The Greater Sea.” He also put out the eyes of the
Protosouastos, his mother’s paramour, and caused him to be
emasculated.
*
This was the title of an officer very high in rank in the emperor’s
palace at Constantinople.
**
“Attendant in the palace.” These words are however
generally rendered “Count Palatine."
A
short time after this, Androneus, seeing that it would give great
satisfaction to the people, by way of proof of his true fidelity and
his extreme affection, on a certain day named for the celebration of
the solemnity, carried Alexis, the emperor, on his shoulders from his
palace to the church of Saint Sophia, and caused him to be crowned
there by Basilius, the patriarch of the city, and, in the presence of
all the people, took the oaths of fealty to him as his liege lord
against all men whatsoever. After this was done, the emperor Alexis
gave to the before-named Androneus the power of exercising his own
will and dispensing justice among the people. However, after a
considerable time, Androneus came to the emperor Alexis and said that
the people refused to pay obedience to his commands, and requested
him to appoint some one else over the people whose commands they
would obey. On this, Alexis said to him: “I have made choice of
yourself, and have appointed you over my people, and I know of no one
else in whom I have greater confidence;” upon which, Androneus
said in reply: “If it is your wish that I should govern your
people, cause me to be crowned in their presence, so that all the
people may know that I am, under you, to reign over all the nations
which are subject to your sway.” The emperor, not being aware
that all power is averse to a partner therein, acceded to his
request.
The
clergy and people of the empire having been convened, the emperor
caused himself and Androneus to be crowned together by the
before-named patriarch, in the church of Saint Sophia. However, after
a short period of time had elapsed, the one became jealous of the
other, and the thing that pleased the one displeased the other. “For
no trust is there in associates in rule, and all power is averse to a
partner therein.” Androneus, however, still pretending the
affection which he had hitherto shown, under the veil thereof plotted
against his lord the emperor, who, suspecting nothing of the sort,
forbore to take any precautions. “For no foe is there more
pernicious than an enemy in the disguise of a friend.” Having,
therefore, gained a favourable time and place, with the sanction of
Basilius, the patriarch, he put to death his lord the emperor Alexis,
and, marrying his wife Agnes,* the daughter of the king of France,
exercised great tyranny over the people ; and not only over the
people, for all the nobles of the empire as well he either put to
death, or, depriving them of their eyes and their virility, drove
them out of the empire.
*
Then but eleven years of age. He is known in history as Andronicus I.
Comnenus
There
was in that neighbourhood a certain young man, Isaac by name, son of
the sister of Manuel, the deceased emperor, who, seeing the
tyrannical conduct Androneus was guilty of towards the principal men
of the empire, was in great dread of him, and flying from before his
face, assembled a large army, and fought a battle with the Sultan of
Iconium; in which battle he was taken prisoner by Rupin de la
Montaigne, who had come as an auxiliary to the sultan of Iconium.
After taking him prisoner, he offered to deliver him to the sultan of
Iconium, but the sultan, refusing to receive him, gave him up to
Rupin. Upon returning home, the latter sent him to his superior lord,
Raymond, prince of Antioch, who received him with great delight, and
demanded of him sixty thousand besants* as his ransom, which he
accordingly promised to give, and, sending his messengers to the
wealthy men of Cyprus, requested their assistance in procuring his
ransom. Complying with his wishes, they sent him thirty thousand
besants, which he gave to the prince of Antioch, and, by way of
security for payment of the rest of the debt, gave him his son and
daughter as hostages; whereupon, being liberated from the prison of
the prince of Antioch, he came to the island of Cyprus, on which the
chief men of the island received him, and made him their ruler.
Elated by this, in his vanity he caused an imperial crown to be made
for himself, and had himself crowned and called the “Holy
Emperor.” At the time, however, that had been arranged upon
between them, the prince of Antioch sent to him for the remainder of
the debt, that is to say, for the thirty thousand besants, but the
emperor of Cyprus refused to deliver them to the envoys of the
prince, but delivered them to the brethren of the Temple to be
conveyed to the prince of Antioch. On their departure, they were met
by pirates, who took from them the said sum of money. When this
became known to the emperor of Cyprus, he asserted that this had been
done by the contrivance of the prince of Antioch, and swore that he
would not again pay him that sum of money. In consequence of this,
his son and daughter remained two years as hostages in the hands of
the prince of Antioch; but he, at length finding that the emperor of
Cyprus would not redeem his hostages, and being moved with
compassion, gave them their liberty, and allowed them to depart.
*
A golden coin, which took its name from Byzantium, the place of its
circulation.
In
the mean time, by the advice and assistance of Basilius, the
patriarch, Androneus, the emperor of Constantinople, usurped the
monarchy of the whole empire, and placed the imperial diadem on the
heads of himself and of his wife, and persevering in his tyrannical
course, having put out the eyes of some of the nobles of the empire
and cut off the limbs of others, sent them into banishment. Among
these there was a certain nobleman, by name Androneus Angelus, who
had been chancellor to the emperor Manuel, which office was by the
Greeks called “Laucete.” Him and his two sons, the
emperor Androneus caused to be deprived of their sight and virility,
and then banished them from their country.
In
addition to these two, the before-named Androneus Angelus had a third
son, a learned clerk, whom the Greeks called “Sacwice,”
while in Latin he was named Tursakius Angelus. At the time of the
persecution he had set out for France and resided in Paris, where he
frequented the schools, that in the learning of the Latins, he might
learn their language and manners. Upon hearing the lamentable
misfortunes of his father and brothers, he set out with all speed to
administer consolation to them, and as he was passing through a
certain island of Greece he found there a certain religious man, who
had devoted himself to a life of solitude, and had a spirit of
prophecy, and who, having formerly been archbishop of the city of
Tyre, preferring to serve God rather than the world, had resigned his
archbishopric, and had taken up his residence by himself in that
island, his delicacies being the roots of wild herbs, and draughts of
water his drink. On coming to the holy man, he disclosed to him his
name and his family, and the cause of his journey. When the holy man
had heard it all he burst into tears, knowing that it was a holy
thing to weep with those who weep, and to lament with those who
lament. After he had given loose to his tears, the young man tried,
by all means in his power, to assuage his sorrow; on which the aged
man said to him, “Return to the city of Constantinople, and
prove yourself a man, for the Lord will deliver it into your hands,
and you shall rule over it, and shall be emperor, and from you shall
emperors proceed, who shall reign after you; and behold! Basilius,
the patriarch, and the chief men of the empire are seeking you that
they may become your subjects, and may have you for their lord and
emperor; therefore attempt not to fly from that which God has
prepared and predestined for you.”
Upon
this, Tursakius, believing what he said, departed for the city of
Constantinople, in the disguise of a poor man and a beggar. Not
daring to discover himself to the people because his hour was not yet
come, he remained in the suburbs alone, attended by a single servant,
and having but one gelding, and that weak and lame, and there with
patience awaited the fulfilment of the promise of the holy man
beforementioned. There he was frequently visited by the chief men of
the land and the patriarch, not openly, however, but in secret, by
reason of the fears of the emperor; who was by this time the object
of universal hatred, and was himself the hater of all men. Even the
patriarch, who had aided in his elevation, he persecuted to such a
degree, as, against his wish, to build a certain noble church in the
city, and place therein Latin canons, in consequence of which, to the
present day, that church is called the “Latin Church.”
After
a considerable time, the aforesaid Androneus, the emperor, goaded by
a bad conscience, was desirous, through his magicians, to learn if
there was still any person whom there was reason for him to stand in
fear of: on which they made answer to him, “Give us a boy
without guilt to slay, and a period of three days, and we will give
you information on what you ask.” Accordingly, a boy without
guilt was immediately delivered to them, whom they offered in
sacrifice to the demons, and after making lengthened investigation in
his blood and entrails by means of their magical arts, discovered by
the signs that the close of his rule was nigh at hand, and his death
at the gate and that he who was to put him to death was in the
neighbourhood, and his name was Tursakius Angelus.
Accordingly,
on the next day, the above-mentioned magicians came to the emperor
Androneus, and said to him, “Now at length have your sins
overtaken you of which you were guilty when, you sat on your
tribunal, oppressing the innocent and condemning the just blood
without a cause. For the day of your downfall is hastening on; and
lo! he is close at hand who shall destroy you and take your empire,
and the name of that person is Tursakius Angelus. After unheard-of
torments as your punishment, he will condemn you to a most cruel
death, and his deeds will be applauded by the lips of the people, and
he himself will become as the very food of those who tell of his
exploits, and will reign over us, and his posterity will succeed to
the sceptre. It is to your own sorrow that you have deprived his
father and brothers of eyesight and other blessings. At this moment
he is in the suburbs of this city; therefore expel him, if expel him
you can.”
Androneus,
however, on learning that he was at hand who was to put him to death,
sent his chancellor with some knights and men-at-arms, for the
purpose of seizing him. On arriving at the place where he lodged,
they found the gates closed; on which those who went first cried with
a loud voice, “Open the gates for us, open them; behold! it is
the emperor’s chancellor come;” and then said,
“Tursakius, come forth.” Tursakius, seeing that they
would break open the gates if he did not come forth with all speed,
quickly saddled his horse, and, mounting it, girded on his sword; and
then, opening the gates, he darted forth with the greatest rapidity,
and, brandishing his sword, made his way among those who resisted,
and, rushing upon the chancellor, cut off his head. The rest,
however, stood quite astounded, and not one laid hands on him; on
which, passing through the midst of them, he entered the city, and
going through it came to the church of Saint Sophia, where, finding
the patriarch Basilius, he cast himself at his feet, and told him of
all that had happened to him.
On
this, the patriarch raising him from the ground, exclaimed to the
whole of the people there assembled, “Come hither and behold
the man whom the Lord hath chosen to reign over us; say, then, what
you think thereof.” To this they all made answer, “It
pleases us that he should he our lord, and that he should reign over
us, and that we should expel this perfidious Androneus, who is
destroying us and our nation.” Upon this, the patriarch
consented to the wishes of the people, for he too had the same
desire, and forthwith consecrated him emperor: after which, having
celebrated mass and performed all things with due solemnity, the
patriarch took him to his own house, and made a great entertainment
for the chief men and tribunes of the city (for it was a festival),
to which a multitude of the people and of the elders resorted.
In
the meantime, the emperor Androneus had come forth from his palace
that he might see the end of Isaac Angelus, for the purpose of
arresting whom he had sent his chancellor; but, on hearing that the
chancellor was slain and that Isaac Angelus had been proclaimed
emperor, he returned to his palace, and the gate was shut. On this,
the new emperor came with a great multitude of armed people and laid
siege to the palace of Androneus. Suddenly, there came a great black
raven, of sinister appearance, which, sitting upon a wall of the
palace, right opposite to the emperor Androneus, sent forth at him an
unceasing and ill-boding cawing; upon which, conjecturing that this
was an omen of Ms downfall and ruin, he seized his bow and drew it,
but when he attempted to aim an arrow at it, the bow broke: on which,
being greatly enraged, he threw it at his feet, saying, “Now I
know of a truth that the day of my ruin is hastening on, and that the
anger of God has fallen upon me.”
While
he was still speaking, the followers of the new emperor scaled the
walls of the palace and took the emperor Androneus prisoner, and
after binding him, delivered him up, to the new emperor; who said to
him, “Now, through the righteous judgment of God, have your
sins overtaken you, by which you have deserved His anger, in
oppressing the innocent, and slaying your lord, the emperor Alexis,
and blinding my father and my brothers, and other nobles of the
kingdom; therefore you shall die by the most shocking of deaths;”
after which he delivered him to the torturers, saying, “Take
and scourge him through the streets and lanes of the city, and you
are at liberty to put out one of his eyes, and to cut off one ear,
one hand, and one foot. You must, however, preserve his life and his
other limbs for greater torments.”
After
this command had been fully complied with, the new emperor delivered
him to other tormentors, who, scattering straw over him, set fire to
his sides and burned him till the whole of his skin was contracted
into wrinkles: after which they fastened him to the tails of horses,
and then, dragging him through the midst of the city, when he was
dead, cast his body outside thereof.
After
this, the religious men who lived in that church in the city, which
is called the Latin church, came to the emperor Tursakius and asked
for his body; on which he gave it to them, and they buried it in
their church, which he had built. But his hand that had been cut off
was suspended by chains of iron from a gibbet. In the next place, by
command of the emperor Tursakius and the whole clergy and people, it
was, ordered, after due consideration, that whatever Androneus had
commanded to be done should be declared null and void: in consequence
of which, all who by command of Androneus had gone into exile,
returned home. In addition to this, the emperor Tursakius slew the
two sons of Androneus, and taking due precaution for the future,
deposed the above-named patriarch Basilius, and shut him up in a
monastery.
He
also sent for the person who had foretold to him what should come to
pass, and, contrary to the wishes of the canons of the church of
Saint Sophia, appointed him patriarch: in consequence of which there
arose a division among them, so that no one would pay obedience to
him. As he was a man of peace and was unwilling to have any
contention with them, he abdicated the patriarchate, on which the
emperor appointed him supreme judge in ecclesiastical matters over
all the churches of his empire. After this, the emperor Tursakius, by
the advice of his family, married the daughter of Bela, king of
Hungary, by whom he had sons and daughters, to one of whom Roger,
king of Sicily, son of Tancred, king of Sicily, was married.
In
the same year, Henry, king of England, the father, made a new coinage
in England, and fined the moneyers for the baseness of the old
coinage. In this year also, Richard, bishop of Saint Andrew’s,
in Scotland, departed this life, after whose decease there
immediately arose a division as to the election of a bishop. For the
canons of the church of Saint Andrew’s elected as their bishop
master John, surnamed Scot, while William, king of the Scots, elected
his chaplain Hugh, and ordered him to be consecrated by the bishops
of his kingdom, in spite of the appeal made to our lord the pope by
the before-named John, the bishop elect. In consequence of this,
Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, sent Alexis, subdeacon of the Church
at Rome, into Scotland, to learn the merits of the controversy that
existed between John, the bishop elect, and Hugh, who had been
consecrated, and to put an end to the same.
Upon
his arrival in Scotland, after having made lengthened enquiries in
presence of the clergy and the people of the kingdom, respecting the
election of John and of Hugh, and the consecration of the said Hugh,
and having learned that the before-named John had been canonically
elected, and that Hugh, after appeal had been made to the Roman
Pontiff, had been violently thrust by the king into the bishopric of
Saint Andrew’s, he without any hesitation deposed him from the
bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, and by virtue of the authority
entrusted to him, condemned him to perpetual silence. The election
also of John he confirmed, and caused him to be consecrated by the
bishops of Scotland, the king neither forbidding nor opposing the
same, indeed, rather, in conformity with the advice of the bishops of
the kingdom, sanctioning it. But immediately after his consecration
had taken place, the king forbade him to stay in his kingdom. On the
other hand, Hugh conducted himself as a bishop none the less than
before, and, taking with him the sacramental vessels that belonged to
the see, and the crozier and ring, together with other things which
he unlawfully withheld, departed for Rome; on which, because he was
unwilling to restore what he had carried away, Alexis excommunicated
him, and the Supreme Pontiff confirmed the sentence; whereupon the
pope wrote to the following effect to the bishops and other
ecclesiastical men of the kingdom of Scotland:—
The letter of pope Alexander relative to John and Hugh, the bishops of
Saint Andrew’s.
“Alexander, the bishop, servant of the servants of God,
to his venerable brethren, the whole of the bishops, and his dearly beloved sons the
abbats and other prelates of churches throughout Scotland appointed,
to the prior, canons, clergy, and people of Saint Andrew’s,
health and the Apostolic benediction.
Inasmuch as we understood that our venerable brother John, now bishop
of Saint Andrew’s, was canonically elected, and that after his
election, an appeal then pending, Hugh, with rash presumption, being
thrust into the said church by lay power, had dared to be consecrated
thereto; therefore, by our Apostolic authority making null and void
his election, we directed our dear son, Alexis, our subdeacon, as
legate of the Apostolic See, to repair to your parts to take
cognizance of the election of the before-named John ; who, having, as
we are informed by the testimony of many, acted therein with mature
deliberation and in a canonical manner, found his election to be
canonical, and, after many delays, in which he acted in deference to
his royal highness, confirmed the same with the Apostolic authority,
enjoining all on our behalf who belonged to the church of Saint
Andrew’s to show due reverence and obedience to the said John
as being duly elected. Whereupon, inasmuch as no one, by reason of
their dread of the king, dared openly to obey this command, the said
legate laid under an interdict, not the kingdom, as he lawfully might
have done, but the see. Inasmuch therefore as the chief men, both
ecclesiastical as well as secular, having been solemnly bound upon
oath by our most dearly beloved son in Christ, William, the
illustrious king of the Scots, to give good counsel thereon, while
the king himself had strictly promised that he would abide by their
advice, all made answer as one man that he ought not any further to
molest the consecration of the aforesaid John made in presence of our
legate and four bishops (the fifth being sick, but by writing
consenting thereto) but allow him peacefully to be consecrated to his
see. Wherefore we do by this Apostolic writing command the whole of
you, and do, under peril of your orders and benefices, enjoin you,
that putting on a spirit of forbearance, you will, within eight days
after the receipt hereof, all appeal set aside, with due honor
reinstate him in his see, and labour prudently and manfully for the
upholding of the rights of the Church, and use all diligence in
appeasing the irritation of the king, and shew all the respect and
honor to the aforesaid bishop which you were wont to shew to his
predecessors. And if the king shall will any otherwise, or even be
warped by the counsels of wicked men, it is your duty to pay
obedience rather to God and to the holy Church of Home than to men;
otherwise the sentence which our venerable brother Hugh, bishop of
Durham, has pronounced upon the rebellious and contumacious, we
shall, with God’s assistance, confirm and order to be strictly
observed."
Another
Letter of pope Alexander on the same subject
“Alexander,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable
brethren, and his dearly beloved sons the prelates of churches
appointed throughout Scotland, health and the Apostolic benediction.
Whereas it has been notified unto us, that Hugh, who had been
intruded upon the church of Saint Andrew’s in Scotland, having
unlawfully withheld the episcopal vessels,* the crozier and ring, and
other things which he had without good reason taken away, and, having
been frequently warned thereon to return to a sense of his duty,
despised the said warnings; on which our dearly beloved son Alexis,
the subdeacon and legate of the Apostolic See, in presence of
yourselves and many of the clergy and people, relying upon the
Apostolic authority, called upon him, under pain of excommunication,
within fifteen days either to restore what he had taken away or
carried off, or else to make becoming satisfaction for the same. And
whereas, he, persisting in the sin of his arrogance, has in no way
listened to the warnings of our legate aforesaid. We therefore of our
authority, confirming the sentence pronounced by him, do by these
Apostolic writings order and enjoin the whole of you, that you do
forthwith, relying on the grace of God, and all fear laid aside, and
no appeal whatever withstanding, denounce him as under the ban of
excommunication, and carefully avoid him as excommunicated, until
such time as he shall restore to our brother, John, bishop of Saint
Andrew’s, and his church, such of the things above mentioned as
he has taken away, or an equivalent for the same, and make proper
satisfaction for such other things as he has made away with.”
* “Capellam” The “capella” of a bishop was the
materiel which were employed by him in the performance of his sacred
offices.
In addition to this, our lord, the pope, gave to Roger, the archbishop
of York, the legateship in Scotland, and ordered him, together with
Hugh, bishop of Durham, to pronounce sentence of excommunication upon
the king of the Scots, and place his kingdom under an interdict,
unless he should allow the aforesaid John to hold his bishopric in
peace, and give him security that he would keep the same. The said
pope also, strictly, and in virtue of the obedience he owed, forbade
John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s, either moved by love or fear of
any person, or by any one’s suggestion or command, to presume
and dare with rashness to desert the church of Saint Andrew’s,
to which he had been consecrated and confirmed with the Apostolic
authority, or to receive another; adding, that if he should attempt
so to do, he would deprive him of both. And with reference thereto,
the Supreme Pontiff wrote to the following effect—
The Letter of pope Alexander to William, king of the Scots, on the same
matter.
“Alexander,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to William, the
illustrious king of the Scots, health and the Apostolic benediction.
We bear it in mind that we have anxiously laboured for your peace and
liberty, hoping that thereby you would be more strongly confirmed,
and increase apace in dutifulness to the Apostolic Sec, and would
more willingly preserve the liberties of the Church ; but when we
give our attention to what you have done relative to our venerable
brother John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s, in Scotland, and what
disposition you have hitherto shewn with regard to him, we find
ourselves compelled to entertain apprehensions at variance with the
hopes which we did entertain, as to the warmth of your royal
dutifulness. Wishing, nevertheless, to make trial if our forbearance
can bring your royal feelings to true repentance, we do by these
Apostolic writings strenuously admonish and enjoin your mightiness,
that, within twenty days after the receipt hereof, you make peace
with the said bishop, and give security for the same, so that he may
have no room to fear your royal indignation. Otherwise, you are to
know that we have given orders to our venerable brother Roger, the
archbishop of York and legate of the Apostolic See, in Scotland, to
lay your kingdom under an interdict, no appeal whatever withstanding,
and to pronounce sentence of excommunication against your person, if
you shall be unwilling to desist from this course. And further, be
assured of this for certain, that if you shall think fit to persist
in your violent measures, in the same way, that we have laboured that
your kingdom might gain its liberty, so shall we use our best
endeavours that it may return to its former state of subjection.”
The
king of Scotland, however, being in nowise willing to obey the
Apostolic mandates, expelled the said John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s,
and Matthew, bishop of Aberdeen, his uncle, from his kingdom.
Accordingly, Roger, archbishop of York, and Hugh, bishop of Durham,
and Alexis, the legate of the Apostolic See, in obedience to the
mandate of the Supreme Pontiff, pronounced sentence of
excommunication against the person of the king of Scotland, and laid
his kingdom under interdict.
In
the same year, a certain priest, Swerre Birkebain by name, commenced
a war with Magnus, king of Norway. Now the following were the grounds
of the claims which the before-named Swerre made against the said
Magnus, relative to the kingdom of Norway. Siward and Magnus were
brothers. Siward was king of Norway; and Magnus, his brother, crossed
over to Ireland and gained the greater part of it by arms; he was the
father of Harold, and was shortly after, slain by the Irish. The said
Harold, after the death of his father, passed over into Norway, to
his uncle, king Siward, and demanded of him a part of that kingdom,
on which he gave him that part of the kingdom which belonged to his
father of right.
Now
king Siward had a son, whom he named Magnus, and a daughter called
Christiana, and whom he gave in marriage to earl Herling, who by her
became the father of a son, whom he named Magnus. On the death of
earl Herling, his son Magnus succeeded him in the earldom; and
shortly after, a serious disagreement arising between him* and
Harold, the said Harold took him prisoner in battle, and blinded him
and deprived him of his virility, and hanged Reginald of Bergen.
Magnus, after losing his sight, became a monk, and Harold, having
obtained the whole kingdom of Norway, became the father of four sons,
namely, Ingo, who was legitimate, and Siward, Augustin, and Magnus,
who were illegitimate and by different mothers. A certain clerk,
Siward by name, insidiously slew the before-named king Harold by
night, and after his death, taking the before-named Magnus,
*
It will appear in the sequel that this is a mistake; it was probably
Magnus, the son of Siward, and uncle of this Magnus, who was slain by
Harold, who was his kinsman, from the abbey, attempted to restore him
to the throne, on which a war ensuing with the sons of Harold, he was
slain, and Magnus, who had been a monk, shared the same fate.
After
their death, Ingo, Siward, and Augustin, obtained the kingdom. Siward
became the father of Haco, Siward, and Suer, who were all
illegitimate, and born of different mothers. Augustin had a son who
was also named Augustin, and was of legitimate birth ; while Ingo was
the father of Siward and Augustin. They being slain, the before-named
Haco slew Ingo, and obtained the throne. The chief men of the kingdom
being indignant at this, raised Magnus, the son of Herling and the
before-named Christiana, to the throne. Being, however, unable to
make head in war against Haco, they retired to Denmark, where in a
short time having recruited their forces, they returned to Norway. A
battle being fought between them and Haco at Funenburgh, they gained
possession of his ships and arms, and put him to flight.
In
the following summer, Haco was pursued by Magnus, the son of Herling
and Christiana, and a naval engagement taking place between them at a
spot called Vee, Haco was slain, on which Magnus, the son of Herling
and Christiana, gained the throne. In consequence of this, Siward,
the brother of Haco, rose in rebellion against him, and a battle
being fought between them, Siward was slain; on which Magnus was made
king; and was crowned in the fifteenth year of his age and the second
of his reign, being the fourth year of the papacy of the pope
Alexander the Third, who sent to him master Stephen of Orvieto as
legate.
Now,
while the before-named king Magnus was celebrating the festival of
the Nativity of our Lord, at Funenburgh, Augustin, the son of the
before-named Augustin, surprised him with a body of horse, and
attempted to slay the king while among his guests; but the king,
being forewarned thereof, went out against him, and, an engagement
taking place, slew him, together with four hundred of his men. Those,
however, who escaped from the battle, to the amount of eleven hundred
warriors, adhered to the before-named Swerre, the priest, the son of
Siward. This Swerre, having levied a large force, on the night after
the feast of Saint Botolph, secretly entered the city of Drontheim,
where king Magnus, with his father, earl Herling, and
others of his friends were staying, and surprised them, and slew a
great number. On this occasion there fell earl Herling, the king’s
lather, John de Randeburgh, who was married to the king’s
sister, and Siward, the son of Nicholas, with many others : the king,
however, leaving the city, with some few of his followers, made his
escape. But in the following year, king Magnus, levying a
considerable army, attacked the beforenamed Swerre near the city of
Drontheim, and, at the first onset, slew many of his foes: but at
length, by the secret dispensation of God, after many of the best men
of his household had been slain, he took to flight, together with a
few of his followers, and effected his escape.
On
this, the priest Swerre pursued him as far as Bergen, on which the
king, flying thence, left him in possession of that city; and
Augustin, the archbishop of Drontheim, being unwilling to make any
submission to the priest Swerre, left his archbishopric, and coming
to England, excommunicated Swerre. It deserves to be recorded, that
this king Magnus was the first king of Norway that was crowned.
In
the same year, Henry, king of England, the father, appointed Ranulph
de Glanville chief justiciary of all England: by whose wisdom were
enacted the laws underwritten, which we call the “Anglican
Laws.”
Of the Laws and Statutes of England, after the Conquest by
William the Elder. *
* The numerous defects in the text of Hoveden have
here been corrected by a reference to the more full copy of these
laws in Wilkins’s “Leges Anglo-Saxonicae.” London,
1721, p. 228; et seq
“Here are set forth the enactments made by William, king of the English,
and his principal men, after the Conquest of England. In the first
place, before every thing, he desired that one God should be
worshipped throughout his kingdom, that the one faith of Christ
should always be kept inviolate, and that peace, security and good
will should be preserved between the English and the Normans. We do
also enact, that every free man shall on his word and oath affirm,
that, whether in England or out of it, he is willing to be faithful
to his lord, king William, to preserve his territories and honors to
him with all due fidelity, and to defend the same against his
enemies. We do will also, that all men whom we have brought with us,
or who shall have come after us, shall be under our protection. And
if any one of them shall be slain, his superior lord, if he can, is,
within fifteen days, to arrest his murderer; but if not then, he is
to begin to pay to us forty-six marks of silver, so far as the
property of the said lord shall last. But where the property of the
lord shall not suffice, then the whole hundred, in which the murder
took place, shall pay in common what remains unpaid. Also, every
person who is a Frank by birth, and was in the time of Edward, our
kinsman, residing in England, and subject to the customs of the
English, which they call ‘Anlote’ or ‘Anscote,’
* is to pay the same according to the laws of the English. This
claim was made and confirmed in the city of Gloucester. We do also
forbid that any live stock shall be sold or bought except within
cities, and then in the presence of three faithful witnesses, and
that anything second-hand shall be sold without a security and
warranty for the same. And if any person shall do otherwise, he is to
pay back the money, and then a penalty [to the king].’ It was
also there enacted, that if a Frank by birth should accuse an
Englishman of perjury, murder, theft, homicide, or ‘ran,’**
whereby is meant open robbery, which cannot be denied, the Englishman
was to defend himself in such manner as he should think best, either
by judgment by iron,*** or by wager of battle. But if the Englishman
should happen to be infirm, then he was to find some one to do so in
his stead. If either of them should be conquered, he was to pay to
the king a penalty of forty shillings. ‘ But if any Englishman
shall charge a Frank by birth [therewith], and shall be ready to
prove the same by the judgment or by duel, then our will is, that the
Frank shall clear himself by oath, not [by the judgment] by iron.
This also we do command, that all shall observe the laws of king
Edward in all respects, with the addition of what we have for the
benefit of the English enacted. Every man who shall assert himself to
be free, shall be on suretyship, ****
in order that his surety may produce him for trial, if guilty of any
offence; and if any such person shall run away and escape, then the
sureties are to see that they pay the amount claimed, and make proof
that they have been privy to no fraud in the person who has escaped.
The same summons shall be made of hundreds and counties, as our
predecessors have enacted: and those who ought in justice to appear,
and shall be unwilling so to do, shall be once summoned. And if on a
second summons they shall not appear, then one ox shall be taken, and
on a third summons, another ox, and on the fourth occasion, the
amount claimed shall be paid out of the property of the said person,
by way of what is called ‘scapgeld,’ besides a penalty to
the king. We do also forbid any person to sell a man out of the
country. We do also forbid that any person shall be put to death or
hanged for any crime: but his eyes may be put out, and he may be
deprived of his virility. And this command is not to be violated, on
pain of plenary penalty to ourselves.
*
This was a tax which was to be paid in equal shares, one scot and one
lot.
**
This Saxon word is still perpetuated in our saying, “to take
all one can wrap and rend.”
*** Holding red hot iron in the hand unharmed.
**** Alluding to the institution of Frank-pledge.
“King William, in the fourth year of his reign, by the advice of his
barons, caused the nobles and wise men among the English, and those
who were learned in their laws, to be summoned throughout all the
earldoms of England, in order that he might hear from them their
laws, ordinances, and customs. Accordingly, twelve men, elected from
each county throughout the whole kingdom, first gave assurance by
oath, that, so long as they could, proceeding in the right path and
swerving neither to the right nor to the left, they would disclose
the enactments of their laws and customs, neither omitting nor
adding, nor by prevarication changing anything. Therefore, making a
commencement with the laws of Holy Mother Church, inasmuch as through
her alone both king and kingdom have a firm and lasting foundation,
they set forth her laws, liberties, and rights of protection, to this
effect: "*
* The following translation is from the text of these laws
found in Wilkins, p. 197, et seq., which is far more correct than that found in Hoveden.
Of Clerks and their Possessions.
“Every clerk, and all scholars * as well, and all their property and
possessions, are everywhere to enjoy the protection of God and of the Holy Church.
* Probably novices in the schools of monasteries.
Of the Times and Days of the King’s Protection.
“From the Advent of our Lord until the octave of Epiphany there is to be
the peace of God and of the Church throughout all the kingdom: and,
in like manner, from Septuagesima until the octave of Easter.
Likewise, from the Ascension of our Lord until the octave of
Pentecost. Likewise, on all the days of the Four Seasons, *
and on all Saturdays, from the ninth hour until Monday. Likewise, on
the vigils of Saint Mary, Saint Michael, Saint John the Baptist, of
all the Apostles, and of those Saints whose days are announced by the
priests on the Lord’s Day, and of All Saints on the calends of
November, always from the ninth hour of the vigil and during the
subsequent festival. Likewise, in parishes in which the day of
dedication is kept. Likewise, in parishes, when the festival of the
Saint of the church is celebrated. And if any person comes devoutly
to the festival of the Saint, he is to have protection **
in going, staying, and returning. Likewise, for all Christians, when
going to Church for the purpose of prayer, there is to he protection
both in going and returning. In like manner, those who are coming to
dedications, synods, and chapters, whether they have been summoned,
or whether they have themselves to perform any part therein, are to
enjoy full protection. Also, if any person who has been
excommunicated shall resort to the bishop for the purpose of
absolution, in going and returning he is to have the protection of
God and of the Holy Church: and if any person shall do him any
injury, the bishop is to do justice upon him. And if any arrogant
person shall refuse to make amends on judgment given by the bishop,
then the bishop is to make the same known to the king: and in such
case the king will compel the offender to make amends to the person
to whom he has done such injury, that is to say, in the first place
to the bishop, and then to the king; and thus, in such case, there
will be two swords, and the one sword shall aid the other.
*
These were the four seasons for fasting prescribed by the early Roman
church, styled the Vernal, Æstival, Autumnal and Hiemal fasts,
or the fasts of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth month; March
being reckoned as the first month.
**
In these latter cases, “pax,” “peace,” or
“protection,” means merely protection from legal process.
Of
the jurisdiction of the Holy Church
“Wherever
the king’s justice shall hold his sittings, or whoever the
person whose cause he shall be occupied with, if a person sent by a
bishop shall come there and open a cause of the Holy Church, the same
is to be first brought to a conclusion ; for it is just that God
should be everywhere held in honor before man.
Of
all who hold of the Church.
“Whoever
shall hold anything of the Church, or shall have a tenement upon the
lands of the Church, he shall not, though he may have committed an
offence, be forced to plead out of the ecclesiastical court, unless,
which God forbid, there shall have been a miscarriage of justice in
such ecclesiastical court.
Of
the accused who take refuge with the Church.
“Whatever
accused or guilty person shall flee to a church for the sake of
protection, from the time that he shall have reached the porch of
such church, he shall on no account be seized by any one pursuing
him, except only by the bishop or by his servant. And if, on his
flight, he shall enter the house of a priest or his court-yard, he is
to have the same security and protection as he would have had in the
church, supposing always, that the priest’s house and
court-yard are standing upon the land of the Church. If the person is
a thief or burglar, that which he has wrongfully taken, if he has it
in his possession, he is to restore, and if he has entirely made away
with it, and has anything of his own by which to make restitution, he
is to make restitution in full to him whom he has injured. And if the
thief has thus acted according to his usual practice, and shall
happen to have frequently made his escape to churches and priests’
houses, then, after making restitution of what he has taken away, he
is to abjure that county, and not to return thereto ; and if he does
not make restitution, no one is to presume to harbour him, unless
with leave granted by the king.
Of
breach of the Protection of the Church
“If
any person shall by force violate the protection of the Holy Church,
the same belongs to the jurisdiction of the bishops. And if the
guilty person shall, by taking to flight or by arrogantly slighting
it, despise their sentence, then complaint is to be made against him
before the king after the expiration of forty days, and the king’s
justice shall exact of him surety and pledges, if he can give the
same, until he shall have made satisfaction, first to God, and then
to the king. And if for one-and-thirty days he shall not be able to
be found, either by his friends and acquaintances, or by the king’s
justice, then the king shall outlaw him by the word of his mouth. And
if he shall afterwards be found, and can be taken, he is to be
delivered alive to the king, and if he defends himself, then his
head. For from the day of his outlawry he has the head of a wolf;
which in the English language is called ‘Wulvesheofod.’*
And this is the common and universal law as to all outlaws.
*
Also called “Wolfeshead,” or “Wolferheued.”
This state of outlawry was so called, from its resemblance to that of
the wolves which infested England, for whose heads a reward was
offered.
Of
the Tithes of the Church
“Of
all yearly produce of the earth the tenth sheaf is due to God, and
ought therefore to be paid to Him. If any person has a stud of mares,
he is to give the tenth foal: he who has only one or two, is for each
foal to pay one penny. In the same manner, he who has a number of
cows is to give the tenth calf; if only one or two, he is to pay for
each calf one penny. He also who makes cheese is to give the tenth
thereof to God, and if he does not make it, then he is to give the
milk every tenth day. In like manner, the tenth lamb, the tenth
fleece, the tenth of the butter, and the tenth sucking-pig is to be
given.
Of small Tithes.
“In like manner, as to the tenths of the profits of bees. Moreover, out
of forests, meadows, waters, mills, parks, preserves, fisheries,
shrubberies, gardens, merchandize, and all other things which the
Lord has given, the tenth part is to be restored to Him who has
bestowed the other nine parts together with the tenth. The person who
withholds the same must be compelled to make payment thereof by
judgment of the bishop, and of the king, if necessary. For thus did
Saint Augustin teach, and these things were conceded by the king, the
barons, and the people. But since then, by the instigation of the
devil, many have withheld the same, and rich priests, becoming
negligent, have not taken care to undergo the trouble of seeking
them, because they had sufficient necessaries for the support of
life. But in many places there are now three or four churches where
there was then but one, and thereby their means have become
diminished.
Of those who have been adjudged by the king’s justice to undergo
the judgment of iron or of water.
“On the day on which the judgment is to be held, the bishop is to come
thither with his clergy, and in like manner the king’s justice
with law Ail men of that county, who are to see and hear that all
things are done with equity. Those whom the Lord in His mercy, and
not through their own merits, shall think fit to save, are to be
unmolested and to depart at liberty, and the king’s justice is
to pronounce judgment on those whom the iniquities of their crimes
and not the Lord has condemned. As to those barons who have
jurisdiction over their homagers in their own courts, they are to see
that they so act towards them, that they neither incur guilt before
God, nor offend the king. And if a trial takes place in any of their
courts of those who are homagers of other barons, then the king’s
justice must be present at such trial, inasmuch as, without his
presence, the said trial may not be brought to a conclusion. But if
any baron shall happen not to have jurisdiction in the hundred where
the trial takes place, then the matter is to be brought for judgment
to the nearest church where the king’s court is held, saving
always the right of such barons.
Of Saint Peter’s Penny, which in England is called Romescot.
“Every person who shall have live stock to the value of thirty pence on his
property belonging to himself, shall, according to the law of the
English, give one penny to Saint Peter, and according to the law of
the Danes, half a mark. The said penny is to be mentioned on the
feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and to be collected on the feast
which is called that of Saint Peter ad Vincula, so as not to be withheld
beyond that day. If any person shall withhold the same, then the claim is to be
brought before the king’s justice, inasmuch as this penny is the
king’s alms; and the justice is to cause the penny to be paid, as also
a fine to the bishop and to the king. And if any person shall chance to have more
houses than one, then as to that one in which he shall be residing at
the feast of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul he is to pay the penny.
What ‘Danegeld’ is, and under what emergency it was first levied.
“The
payment of Danegeld was first exacted by reason of the pirates. For,
harassing this country, they used their utmost endeavours to lay it
waste. In order to check their ravages, it was enacted, that Danegeld
should be paid yearly; namely, twelve pence for each hide of land
throughout the whole country, for the purpose of hiring persons to
resist the incursions of the pirates. From this Danegeld all the
Church was free and exempt, and all the land which belonged to the
Church as of its own demesne, wherever situate; it paying nothing
whatever towards such a tax, because more trust was put in the
prayers of the Church than in its defence by arms. [And the English
church enjoyed this exemption down to the times of William the
Younger, who was surnamed Rufus, when he required aid from the barons
of England in order to regain Normandy and retain possession of it
against his brother Robert, surnamed Curthose, who was setting out
for Jerusalem. It was conceded to him, though not sanctioned or
confirmed by law; but by reason of the necessity of the case, he
caused four shillings to be paid to him for every hide of land, that
of the Church not even excepted. While the collection of the tax was
being made, the Holy Church protested against it, demanding her
exemption, but she availed nothing thereby.]
Of the various kinds of the King’s Protection, along the Four
Streets or Royal Roads, and along rivers, by the navigation of which provisions are carried.
“The king’s protection is of various kinds. One kind is given under
his own hand, which is called by the English ‘Cyninges hande
sealde grith.’ One kind is that which lasts for a period of
eight days from the time of his coronation. There are also eight days
at the Nativity of our Lord, eight days at Easter, and eight at
Pentecost. Another protection is that given by his letters. Another,
that which the Four public Roads possess, Watlingstrete,* Fosse,**
Ikenildestrete, ***
and Ermingstrete;**** two of which extend along the length and two
along the breadth of the kingdom. Another is that which the waters of
certain rivers known by name possess, by the navigation of which
provisions are carried from different places to cities or boroughs.
This protection under the king’s hand, on the day of his
coronation, and under his letters, is to be observed under penalty of
a fine: in like manner a breach of the protection on the four public
roads and the principal rivers is to be deemed equal to assault. If
any building is erected [on the said roads or rivers], the same shall
be destroyed, and one half of the expenses of the repairs thereof
shall be paid. And if a person shall knowingly have committed such
breach, the fine is to be paid by the eighteen hundreds, in places
subject to the Danish laws,
†
and his body shall be at the king’s mercy. According to the law
of the English, his were,
††
that is to say, the price of his ransom is to be the same as the
manbote payable to the lords for those of their men who have been
slain. The manbote, according to the Danish laws, for a villein or a
sokeman, is twelve oras †††
but for free men, three marks. But manbote, according to the law of
the English, is three marks to the king, and to the archbishop, for
the men who belong to them; but to the bishop and to the earl of the
same county, and to the king’s seneschal it is twenty shillings
; and to other barons, ten shillings. Also, a recompense is to be
paid to the relations of the person slain, or the duel is to be waged
with them, as to which the English proverb says, ‘Bige spere of
side other bere.’ ††††
Protection, however, upon the Four public Roads and the
before-mentioned rivers lies under a higher jurisdiction than what we
have mentioned as to assault. Also, if a mill, or fishery, or any
other work that is an obstruction to them is in preparation, the said
works must be immediately destroyed, and the public Roads and rivers
must be placed in their former state of repair, and a fine to the
king must not be forgotten. The lesser roads, however, leading from
one city to another, and from borough to borough, and along which
merchandize is carried and other business done, are to be subject to
the laws of the county ; and if any person erects any work to their
detriment, the same is to be levelled with the ground, and the roads
are to he at once put in repair, and reparation is to be made,
according to the law of the said county, to the earl and sheriff
thereof. The same is to be done likewise as to the lesser rivers. As
to the lesser rivers which carry vessels with the things that are
necessary to boroughs and cities, wood, at least, and things of that
nature, reparation of them is likewise to be made as prescribed by
the law relative to the lesser roads.
* From Devonshire to Chester.
**
From Caithness, in Scotland, to Totnes, in Devonshire.
***
It extended from Saint David’s, in Wales, to Tynemouth, in Northumberland.
****
Extending from the south of England towards Carlisle.
† The ‘Denelega,’ or law established
by the Danes for those parts inhabited by their own nation.
†† The ‘were,’ or
‘wergeld,’ was paid by a murderer, partly to the king for
the loss of a subject, partly to the lord whose vassal he was, and partly
to the next of kin of the person slain.
†††
The ‘ora’ was a Danish silver coin, probably about ten
shillings in value.
††††
“Buy a spear for your side, or wield it yourself,”
meaning, “Either hire a person to wage the battle for you,
or fight yourself.”
Of the Divisions of the Shires.
“The
divisions of the king’s Shires properly belong to the same
jurisdiction as the four Royal public Roads. The division into
Hundreds and Wapentakes, with their jurisdiction, belong to the earls
and sheriffs of the counties. Treasures found in the ground belong to
our lord the king, unless they are found in a church or in a
burial-ground. And even if found there, the gold belongs to the king,
and a moiety of the silver, and the other moiety to the church where
it is found, whatever church it is, whether rich or poor.
Of the Laws as to Murderers.
“If a person was murdered anywhere, the murderer was sought
throughout the vill where the person murdered was found. If he was found, he was
to be delivered up to the king’s justice, within eight days
after the murder. If he could not be found, then a period of a month
and a day was given for making search for him; and if within the
given period he could not be found, then six and forty marks were
levied upon the vill. But if it was not able to make so great a
payment, then the amount was to be paid by the hundred which the vill
was unable to pay. But when the boundaries of the vill were utterly
confused, then the barons were to see that it was collected
throughout the hundred, and was sealed with the seal of some baron of
the county, and then carried to the king’s treasurer, who was
to keep the same under seal for a year and a day. If the murderer
could be found within that time,
then he was to be delivered up to the king’s justice, on which
they were to have back the forty-six marks that had been deposited
with the king’s treasurer. But if he could not be apprehended
within the said time, then the relations of the murdered person were
to have six marks and the king the remaining forty. If his relations
could not be found, then his superior lord was to receive them, and
if he had no lord, then his fellow, 63
that is to say, the person who was tied to him by bonds of fidelity.
But if there were none of these, in such case, the king of the realm,
under whose safeguard and protection they all live, was to take back
the six marks together with his own forty.
“The
law of murder was first enacted in the time of Canute, the Danish
king, who, after gaining possession of England, and reducing it to a
state of peace, at the request of the English barons, sent his army
back to Denmark. The said barons, however, became surety to the king,
that as many of his people as he should wish to retain with himself
should enjoy assured protection in all respects; and that if any of
the English should happen to slay one of them, and could not defend
himself against the charge, by the judgment of God, that is to say,
by judgment of water or of iron, justice should be executed upon him;
and that if he should take to flight, then payment was to be made as
mentioned above.
Of
the Duties of the King
“The
king, as being the viceregent of the Supreme King, is appointed for
the purpose of shewing due respect to and protecting the worldly
kingdom, and the people of God, and, above all things, His Holy
Church, and of ruling and defending it from those who would injure
it, and of removing from it, and crushing and utterly dispersing all
evil-doers; and if he does not do so, then the name of king will not
belong to him, pope John truly testifying that he loses the name of
king who does not act as king. [On Pepin and his son Charles, who
were not yet kings, but only princes under the king of the Franks,
hearing this definite opinion, pronounced as truthfully as prudently
on the name of a king, quoted by William the Bastard, king of
England, they foolishly wrote to the pope to enquire if on those
terms the kings of the Franks were to remain contented solely with
the name of king. On which they received for answer that those ought
to be called kings who watch, defend, and govern the Church of God
and His people, in imitation of the Royal Psalmist, who says, ‘
He that worketh vanity shall not dwell in my house.’]*
* Probably an interpolation.
Of the guilty condemned by Law who have recourse to
the king’s mercy.
“If
a person guilty of a capital offence shall ask the king’s mercy
for his crime, in his fear of death or of loss of limb, the king may,
by the law of his dignity, pardon him if he pleases, even though he
be deserving of death. The malefactor, however, shall make redress,
so far as he shall be able, for the offence of which he has been
guilty, and shall give sureties that he will keep the peace and
observe the laws ; and if such sureties shall not be forthcoming, he
shall be banished the country.
What
those are to do whom the king shall think proper to deliver from
death
“The
king has also another prerogative of mercy as to those who are under
arrest. For wherever he shall come, whether into city, borough,
castle, vill, or even in the road, if a person shall be under arrest,
it is in his power, by a single word, to release him from such
arrest. The person released shall, however, make satisfaction to the
person against whom the crime was committed. But as to a murderer,
traitor, or criminal of that description, although the king shall
pardon them as to life and limb, they shall on no account with the
sanction of the law remain in the country; but shall immediately make
oath that they will go to the sea-shore within a time prescribed to
them by the justice, and will immediately, as soon as they find a
ship and a fair wind, cross the seas. And if, being forsworn, they
shall afterwards remain in this country, whoever shall be able to
find them, may execute summary justice on them without judgment
pronounced; and if any person shall gratuitously harbour them for a
single night only he shall be fined according to the greater law of
the English or of the Danes, on the second occasion twofold, and for
the third offence he shall be adjudged to be the associate and
accomplice of malefactors.
Of
the wives of malefactors and their children
“If
any such shall have wives living in this country, and any one of the
relatives of the person murdered shall say that ‘they were
accomplices in the crime, they shall make proof of their innocence by
the judgment of God; and if the mercy of God and their own innocence
shall save them, they may continue to be lawful persons with their
dowries and marriage portions. But children who, before commission of
the crime, were born or begotten, are not to lose their lawful rights
for a crime committed after they were begotten, nor are they to be
deprived of their right of heirship.
What
“Frithborg” means, or the oath of the Ten Men, which the
people of York call “Tenemental.”
There
is likewise one great and especial institution, by means of which all
people are kept in a state of the greatest security, namely, where
each person giving that pledge for himself on a certain security,
which the English call ‘Freoborger.’* The people of
York, however, and they only, call it ‘Tien manna tala,’
** which means ‘ The number often men.’ This surety was
exercised in the following manner; Inasmuch as all men in all vills
throughout the whole kingdom were bound to be divided into
frank-pledges of ten, if one of the ten were guilty of an offence,
there would be nine to force him to make redress ; and if he took to
flight, a term of thirty-one days by law was granted them. On the
person being sought for, and found, he was taken before the king’s
justice, and out of his property reparation was instantly made for
the injury he had done; and if after that he was guilty of any
offence, then justice was executed upon his body. But if within the
time before-mentioned he could not be found, then, as there was in
every frithborg one head man whom they called ‘Freoborger
heofod,’*** this head man would choose two of the best men of
his own frithborgers, and then of the three frithborgs that were
nearest, he would take the head man of each, and two of the best men
of each of those frithborgs, if he could find them, after which,
himself being the twelfth, he would purge himself and his own
frithborg of the offence, if he could, and of the escape of the said
malefactor. If he could not do this, then he and his frithborg were
to make good the loss out of the property of the malefactor so far as
it would go, and on that falling short, make up the amount from the
property of himself and his frithborg, and so account to the justice
for the amount legally adjudicated against them. Then last of all the
nine would swear by themselves that they had been unable to make
satisfaction therein according to their oath, by means of the three
nearest frithborgs, and that they would in nowise be guilty thereof,
and that if they should ever be able to capture him, they would bring
him to the justice, or inform the justice where he was.
* Frank-pledge, or surety given by ten men for the good behaviour of
the eleventh.
** Or “Tenemental.” It was also called a “Decennary,”
and each person bound for himself and his neighbour, was called a
“decennier.”
*** “Head
of the frithborg.” He was also called the "deciuer,”
or “doziner.”
That all person are to establish Frithborgs for their servants and
dependants.
“Archbishops,
bishops, earls, and barons, are also to have their own knights and
yeomen, their sewers, butlers, chamberlains, cooks, and bakers, each
in his own frithborg. They are also to have their own esquires, or
other servants, each in his own frithborg. And if these persons shall
commit an offence against any man, and a charge shall be made by the
neighbours against them, they are to compel them to make redress in
their own courts; that is to say, those who have the right of sac,
and soc, and thol*, and them**, and infangthefe***.
*
Sac, is when any person charges another by name with any offence and
he denies it; on which the fine levied on proof or disproof thereof,
if there is one, belongs to the lord. Soc, is when any person
searches for anything on his lands, in which case, even though it be
stolen it belongs to him, whether found or not. Thol, which we call
‘‘Tholonium,’ is the privilege of him who has the
right of buying and selling on his own lands.
**
Them, is where any person lays claim to property in the hands of
another, in which case the party so challenged shall produce his
warranty, and if not, he shall be fined, and the penalty shall go to
the lord; and similar justice shall be dealt to him who makes the
charge, if he shall fail in his proof.
***
That person has the right of ‘infangthefe,’ who has the
right of taking cognizance of robbery in his own court in the case of
his own homager, if such person shall have been taken on his lands.
But those who have not those customs, are to have justice done before
the king’s justice in the hundreds and wapentakes, or in the
shires.
Of
entertaining guests
“If
any person shall entertain a friend or a stranger, which in English
is called ‘cuth other uncuth,’* he shall be at liberty to
keep him for two nights as a guest; and if he shall be guilty of an
offence, the host shall not incur a penalty for the guest. But if any
injury shall be committed on any person, and such person shall make a
charge before a court of justice against him that by his counsel the
offence was committed, then, together with two of his neighbours,
lawful men, he shall clear himself by oath of either counselling or
abetting the same. And if he shall not do so, he shall make good the
loss and pay a penalty. But if he shall be entertained a third night,
and shall commit an offence against any person, then the host is to
produce him to justice, as though one of his own household, which in
English is expressed by ‘Twa night gest, thrid night agen
hine.’** And if in such case he shall not be able to produce
him to justice, then he shall have the space granted him of a month
and a day. And if the offender shall be found, he shall make amends
for the injury he has done, and shall make good the same, even with
his body, if that shall be adjudged against him. But if the offender
shall not be able to make good the injury he has done, then his host
shall make it good, and shall pay a fine. And if the justice shall
hold him suspected, then he shall clear himself according to the
judgment of the court of the hundred or the shire.
*
“Kith or unkith;” “acquainted or unacquainted.”
**
Meaning “Two nights your guest, the third night one of your
household.”
What
is to be done as to things found.
“If
any person shall lead an animal into a vill, or shall bring any
money, and shall say that he has found the same, before he takes it
to his own house, or even that of any other person, he is to take it
in front of the church, and in presence of the priest of the church,
and of the reeve and chief men of the vill, show all that he has
found, whatever it may he. The reeve of the vill is at once to send
to the three or four nearest vills for their priests and reeves, who
are also to bring with them three or four of the principal men of
each vill, and in the presence of them all, the whole of what has
been found is to be shown. After this, in the sight of these persons,
the reeve, to whose jurisdiction the finder belongs, is to place the
same in safe keeping until the next day. On the following day, he is
to go with some of his neighbours who have seen what has been found
to the bailiff of the hundred in which his vill is situate, and show
him the whole thereof. And if he is the homager of the lord on whose
lands the same has been found, and the lord, in whose hands it has
been found, has not his customs of sac or soc, he is to deliver the
whole thereof to the bailiff of the hundred, in the presence of good
witnesses, if he chooses to take it. But if the lord has such
customs, then justice is to be done in the lord’s court.
Of Jews established in the kingdom.
“Be
it also known, that all Jews, wheresoever they are in the kingdom,
are to be under the tutelage and lawful protection of the king; and
no one of them can serve under any rich man without the king’s
leave; for the Jews and all their property belong to the king. And if
any person shall lay hands on them or their money, the king is to
demand restitution thereof, if he so pleases, as of his own.
Of
those who have protection by the king’s Letters.
“Those
who have the king’s protection, either under his hand or by his
letters, must observe their fealty to him. Therefore it is their
bounden duty to observe the same inviolably towards all men, and not,
having gained the shelter of his protection, to withhold rights or
services from their superior lords, nor yet from their neighbours;
for he is not worthy to enjoy peace who is not ready to keep it
towards others. And if any person should rely too much on the
protection which he enjoys, and shall be guilty of an injury to
another, then he is to make good the loss, and to pay a fine of the
same amount. The former the English call ‘murdre,’* and
the fine ‘astrihilthet.’**
*
The Saxon name for “concealment” perhaps it was so called
from the offender having sheltered himself under the king’s
protection.
**
Compensation to the master of a house.
What
those are to pay to the king and the dean who infringe upon the
king’s protection
“Protection
given under the king’s hand, that given on the first eight days
from the time of his coronation, protection on the before-named
festivals, and protection by the king’s letters, have one mode
of redress [for breach thereof], which is to be taken cognizance of
in the highest court of justice, held in the shire in which the peace
has been broken, as for example, in places subject to the Danish
law,* the eighteen hundreds pay the penalty, the amount of which is
one hundred and forty-four; as the Danes assessed the penalty paid by
each hunat eight pounds Norwegian, and eight multiplied by eighteen
makes one hundred and forty-four. And this, not without a reason. For
of these eight pounds the king had one hundred shillings, and the
earl of the county, who had every third penny of fines, fifty
shillings. The dean of the bishop, in whose deanery the peace had
been broken, had the remaining ten, besides the king’s
protection, if the protection had been originally granted under the
king’s hand, or on his coronation, or on the festivals
before-mentioned of the Nativity, Easter, or Pentecost.
*
Denelega.
Of
the supervision of those who disregarded these laws
“As
it happened that some foolish and dishonest people, without reason,
and too frequently, did injuries to their neighbours, the wiser
persons began to take cognizance of the matter, and appointed j
justices over every ten frithborgs, whom we may call ‘deciners.’
These, in English, were called ‘tienheofod,’ that is,
‘heads of ten.’ They took cognizance of matters between
the vills and their neighbours, exacted fines for offences committed,
and made parties come to terms, about such things as pasturage,
meadows, harvests, disputes between neighbours, and innumerable
questions of that nature, which harass human frailty, and are
everlastingly attacking it. When, however, greater matters of dispute
arose, they referred them to their superior judges, whom the wise men
before-mentioned had appointed over them, that is to say, over the
ten deciners, and whom we may call ‘centurions’ or
‘centeners,’ because they exercised jurisdiction over a
hundred frithborgs.
Of
Wapentage, and how those acted who accepted Wapentage
“Warwickshire,
Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire,
as far as Watling Street extends and eight miles beyond, are under
the law of the English. And what the English call a ‘Hundred,’
the counties above-named call a ‘Wapentake.’ And not
without a reason; for when a person received the headship of a
wapentake, on a day named, at the place where they were accustomed to
meet, all the elders went forth to meet him, and, on his dismounting
from his horse, they all closed around him; on which, raising his
spear erect, in the usual manner, he received the assurance of all.
Then all, as many as had come, with their lances touched his spear,
and thus by touching arms gave assurance, publicly granting him their
protection. Now, in the English language, arms are called ‘wsepnu,’
and ‘taccare’ means ‘to assure,’ and the
phrase, as it were, means ‘ the assurance of arms;’ or,
if we may more explicitly explain the word ‘wapentake,’
in the English language it means, ‘the touching of arms,’
for ‘wsepnu’ means ‘arms,’ and ‘tac’
is ‘touch.’ Therefore, we may conclude that for this
reason all such assemblage was called a wapentake; it being the fact
that by touching arms they were leagued together.
What the difference is between a Wapentake, a Trihing, and a Hundred.
“There were also other jurisdictions, above the wapentake, which were called
‘Trihingas,’ because they consisted of the third part of
a county. Those who ruled the trihings were called ‘Trihingerefas;’
and before them were brought the causes of the trihing which could
not be settled in the wapentakes, and thus, what the English called
by the name of hundreds; they called ‘wapentakes;’ and
what the people of England called, ‘three’ or ‘four
hundreds,’ these people called ‘trihinga.’ In some
counties, in the English language, what they called ‘trihinga,’
was called ‘lethe.’ Causes that could not be settled in
the trihing were taken to the shire.
What is the meaning of the name ‘Greve’ and what are his
duties; and what is the meaning of the name ‘Ealdorman’, which
literally signifies an elder of the people; and into how many
meanings the name ‘Greve’ has been expanded.
“Greve * also is a name that signifies power, and cannot be
better expressed in Latin than by the word ‘praefectura,’ for the word is
employed with such multiplied meanings, that there is the ‘
greve’ of the shire, of wapentakes, hundreds (also of the ‘
lethe’), boroughs, and of vills even; in all of which it seems
to have the same meaning, and to signify the same as ‘dominus’
[chief]. Some, also, are of opinion that the word ‘greve’
is a name compounded of the English ‘grith’ and the Latin
‘vae.’ For ‘grith’ is a word denoting peace,
whereas ‘vae’** indicates misery: as the Lord testifies
when He says, ‘Vaes unto thee, Chorazin.’ Consequently
the greve is so called, because by law he ought to ensure to the
country ‘grith,’ or peace, against those who would bring
upon it ‘vae,’ that is, evil or misery. The Germans, and
Frisians, and Flemings, are in the habit of calling their earls by
the name of ‘ margrave,’ as though meaning ‘higher
lords,’ or ‘good peacemakers.’ And those who are
called ‘greves’ at the present day, having jurisdiction
over others among the English, were anciently called ‘ealdormen,’
as though elders, not by reason of old age, inasmuch as some were
young men, but on account of their wisdom.
*
The Saxon “gerefa,” more generally spoken of as the
“reeve,” or “reve.”
**
“Woe!” An idea more fanciful than well-founded. See St.
Matt. i. 21.
For
what reason king William abolished the laws of the English and
retained those of the Danes
“The
law of the Danes and Norwegians prevailed in Norfolk, Suffolk, and
Cambridgeshire. Now as to payment of penalties [by hundreds] for
offences committed, where these counties had eighteen hundreds, the
former ones had only ten and a half, which arose from their being in
the vicinity of the Saxons, the whole sum of contribution in cases of
the largest penalty among the Saxons in those times being eighty-four
pounds. But in all other matter for trial and penalties they had the
same law with the [Danes and] Norwegians above named.
[When
king William heard of this, together with the other laws of his
kingdom, he greatly approved thereof, and gave orders that it should
be observed throughout all his kingdom. For he stated that his
ancestors, and those of nearly all the barons of Normandy, had been
Norwegians, and had formerly come from Norway. And for this reason he
asserted that he ought to follow and observe their laws before the
other laws of his kingdom, as being more profound and more consistent
with what was right: whereas the laws of other nations, Britons,
Angles, Picts, and Scots, were prevailing in every quarter. On
hearing of this, the whole of the people of this country who had
promulgated these laws, being touched with sorrow, entreated him with
one accord that he would allow them to retain their own laws and
ancient customs, under which their fathers had lived, and they
themselves were born and brought up, as it would be very hard for
them to receive laws of which they knew nothing, and judge on matters
of which they were ignorant. The king, however, still remaining
obdurate, they at last plied him with entreaties, for the sake of the
soul of king Edward, who had granted him the crown and kingdom in
succession to himself, and by whom and no strangers the said laws
were founded, not to compel them to observe other than the laws of
their fathers. After taking this under due consideration, at the
earnest request of his barons, he at length acceded to their
entreaties. From that day, therefore, their authority being
recognized, the laws of Saint Edward the king were respected
throughout all the kingdom, and were confirmed and observed before
all other laws of the country, having been first established and
enacted in the days of king Edgar, his grandfather; but, after his
death, they had been set aside for sixty-eight years. For Edward, his
son and heir by his lawful wife, reigned four years, less sixteen
weeks; after whose death, in his innocence, by the treachery of his
stepmother, on account of his innocent life, so chaste and so full of
alms-deeds, and his undeserved end, they honored him as a Martyr, and
held him to be a Saint. After him, his brother Aldred* received the
kingdom, and ruled, amid many adversities and perils,
eight-and-thirty years. After Aldred, his son Edmund Ironside reigned
nearly nine months, during which he valiantly fought five battles
against Canute, the king of the Danes.
*
Before called by Hoveden
“Egelred,”
and more generally “Ethelred."
After
the last battle, they came to terms, and divided the kingdom in
halves; and one moiety of England fell to Canute, the other to
Edmund, on condition that whoever should survive the other should
have the whole of the kingdom, and that neither should in the
meanwhile be crowned. Matters, therefore, being thus settled, and all
the chief men of England giving their assent to the arrangement thus
made between them, within one month after, Edward was, alas! removed
from this world; on which Canute received the kingdom of the whole of
England, and ruled nearly eighteen years. After his decease, Harold
Harefoot, supposed by nearly all to be falsely considered as the son
of Canute and Elfgiva, succeeded to the throne, and reigned five
years; after whom Hardicanute, son of Canute and Emma, the sister of
Robert, duke of Normandy, and mother of the last king, Saint Edward,
reigned two years, less twelve weeks. And thus passed sixty-eight
years, during which the said laws were neglected. But after king
Edward came to the throne, by the advice of the barons of England, he
raised the code of laws that had slept for sixty-eight years, and
remodelled it thus raised, beautified it thus remodelled, and
confirmed it thus beautified. When thus confirmed, it was called ‘the
law of king Edward,’ not because he had been the first to frame
it, but because it had been neglected and almost left in oblivion
from the days of his grandfather, Edgar, who had reigned seventeen
years, and who had been the first founder thereof, until his own
times, being nearly, as said above, sixty-eight years. For Edward,
because it was a just and good code of laws, raised it from the deep
abyss, and matured it and ordered it to be observed as though his
own.
Edmund
Ironside before-named had a son, Edward by name, who, shortly after
the death of his father, through fear of king Canute, fled to the
king of the Rugi, which we more properly call Russia; and the king of
that country, Malesclotus by name, when he understood who he was,
gave him an honourable reception. He there married a wife of noble
birth, by whom he had Edgar Atheling, Margaret, afterwards queen of
Scotland, and Christiana, her sister, to which Christiana king Edward
gave the lands afterwards held by Ralph de Limisey. Now, the said
Christiana was sister of Edgar Atheling, who was sent for by his
uncle king Edward, who caused him to come to his court; on arriving
at which he did not long survive, and in a very short space of time
his wife died. King Edward, however, kept his son Edgar with him, and
brought him up as his own son. And because he intended to make him
his heir he gave him the name of ‘ Atheling,’ the same as
we say ‘domicellus’ or ‘damisell,’ meaning
‘young lord;’ but we say it indifferently of many,
inasmuch as we call the sons of barons ‘damisells,’
whereas the English called none but the sons of kings by that name.
And if we would express this still more clearly, in one part of
Saxony an image is known by the name of ‘ling;’ and
‘athel,’ in the English, signifies noble; wherefore, the
two being joined together, the word ‘Atheling’ would
signify the ‘image of nobility.’ Hence it is that the
West-Saxons, that is, the people of Exeter, have an expression
signifying supreme contempt— ‘hinderling,’ meaning
‘an image cast down from or forsaking all propriety.’
King Edward, however, as he was aware of the wickedness of his
nation, and especially the vanity of the sons of Godwin, namely,
Harold (who afterwards seized the kingdom), Gurth, Leofwin, and the
rest of his brothers, thinking that that could not possibly be
lasting or durable which he had purposed respecting Edgar Atheling,
adopted William, duke of the Normans, as his successor in the
kingdom, William the Bastard, that is to say, the bastard son of
Robert, his mother’s brother and his own uncle, a valiant,
brave, and warlike man, who afterwards, by the will of God, having
conquered the above-named Harold, the son of Godwin, victoriously
gained possession of the kingdom of the English.]*
*
This appears to be a gloss or interpolation
Of
robbers slain for robbery
“If,
after judgment given, any one shall make a charge before the
justiciary that a person has been unrighteously slain, and that
unjustly he lies buried among robbers, and shall say that he is
willing to make proof thereof, he is to give a pledge and find
sureties ; upon which, the space of one month and a day shall be
given him, and then he is to take relatives of the person slain, on
both sides, namely, his father’s and his mother’s side,
twelve on his father’s side and six on his mother’s. And
if these eighteen are willing to make proof with him who first made
the charge, and who has given the pledge, each of them is to give his
pledge with his sword; and, after that, he is to find sureties, such
as can pay his fine, that is to say, his ‘were,’ in case
they cannot make proof of what they say. Then the slayer is to give
his pledge and find sureties that the person was rightfully slain,
and deservedly lies buried among robbers, and according to law, as
being a robber. And then, he is first, to show for what robbery and
for what reason he was slain. And if he shall acknowledge that he was
taken alive, he is to name a court, and judges, and lawful witnesses
of the number of his neighbours. And if these persons shall undertake
to prove that justice was rightfully done upon the person as his
theft deserved, then his slayer shall be acquitted. In such case they
who have made the charge shall forfeit their securities, the same to
be paid over to the judges and witnesses. And if it shall be proved
that he was unjustly slain, then the slayer shall give pledge to the
justice of the bishop, and sureties that he will make redress. After
this, the justice of the bishop shall cause a procession to be
formed, with the priest clad in alb, maniple, and stole, and the
clerks in their surplices with holy water and cross, with
candlesticks going before, and thurible, fire, and incense. And then,
his friends are to bring him forth, and place the dead man on a bier
and carry him to the church; where the mass having been performed for
the dead and the other offices performed, they shall inter him as
becomes a Christian. Between that day and sixteen days therefrom, the
slayer is to pay three fines to the bishop: one, because he has slain
a lawful man as a robber; another, because he has buried his brother
as a robber; which the English call ‘his emne-Christen;’**
and the third because he has given security that he would make proof
and has not been able so to do.
*
Being buried probably in unconsecrated ground.
**
His brother in Christ.
Of
Usurers.
“King
Edward also forbade usurers to remain in his kingdom; and if any
person was convicted of exacting usurious interest, he was to lose
all his substance, and be thenceforth considered out of the pale of
the law. For this king used to assert, that he had heard it remarked,
at the court of the king of the Franks, while he was staying there,
that usury is the root of all vices.
Of
purchases
“By
the same law it was also forbidden, that any person should buy a live
animal or worn garment without sureties and good witnesses. If it was
a work of gold or silver, concerning which the buyer might be in
doubt, he was not to buy it without the aid of goldsmiths or
moneyers. If these, on seeing it, said that it came out of a church
or treasury, he was not to buy it without finding sureties; and if
the seller could not find sureties, then he was to be detained with
the property until his lord should come, or some one else who could
give good security for him; and if any man bought on any other terms,
because he had purchased foolishly, he was at once to lose what he
had bought and pay a fine. After this, inquisition was to be made by
legal men, and the chief men of the borough, or vill, or hundred
where the buyer lived, as to what was his mode of life, and if they
had ever heard of his being charged with acting unlawfully : and if
witness was borne by them, that he was of good life and lawful
character, he was to prove before the court of the county that he did
not know that the seller was acting unlawfully in the sale thereof,
or was guilty of any unlawful offence, and if he should know who the
seller was or where he was, he was to say so; on which the justiciary
was to make search for him, in order to bring him to justice, and if
he could not be found he was to be outlawed.
Of
buyers and provision dealers.
“But
when it was stated that no man was to buy a live animal without
sureties, the provision-sellers in the cities and boroughs, whom the
English call ‘fleshmongers,’ made an outcry, that every
day they were obliged to buy, kill, and sell live animals, as their
livelihood was got by killing such animals. In addition to which, the
citizens, burgesses, and populace cried out for their customs,
because they had about the feast of Saint Martin been in the habit of
buying animals at market without any surety, for the purpose of
killing them against the Nativity of our Lord. There was also a great
murmuring among the multitude about this enactment. Wherefore I am of
opinion, that if enquiry had been made whether that decree pleased or
not, as is the case in some assemblages, an answer would with
universal assent have been given by multitudes, ‘it does not so
please us.’ There, also, you might have heard, had you been
present, different whispers muttered aside in the ear, and the
clamours and murmurs of a tumultuous populace. It was to the king’s
praise, however, that he would not do away with customs that were
just and wisely framed’; but he only required in the king’s
market, on the sale of their wares, that there should be witnesses
and some knowledge of the parties selling.”
The
Genealogy of the Dukes of Normandy.
Rollo,
the first duke of Normandy, who at his baptism was also named Robert,
reigned thirty years; his son William, twenty-five, Richard the
Elder, fifty-three, Richard the Second, thirty, Richard the Third,
one year, Robert, his brother, eight years; William the Bastard
reigned as duke thirty years, and after he was king of the English,
twenty years. Now Richard the Elder had a daughter named Emma, who
was married to Adelred, king of the English, and by whom that king
became the father of Edward and Alfred. In the time of Richard the
Second, king Adelred caused the Danes throughout England to be slain,
in consequence of which Sweyn, king of the Danes, invaded England and
subdued it; on which, Adelred, with his wife and sons, fled to
Normandy, to the court of Richard the Second, the brother of his
wife, and duke of Normandy. Shortly after this, Sweyn died, and was
carried to Denmark to be buried there.
In
the mean time, Adelred, with his wife, returned to his kingdom,
leaving his sons in the charge of their uncle. After Sweyn was
buried, his son Canute, with a great fleet, bringing with him
Lachiman, the king of the Swedes, and Olaf, the king of the
Norwegians, who was afterwards baptized at Rouen, entered the Thames,
and besieged king Adelred in London; who, while thus besieged, was
suddenly attacked by a malady, and died. Canute, on gaining
possession of the kingdom, took the before-named queen Emma to wife,
and by her became the father of Hardicanute, who was afterwards king
of the Danes, and of a daughter named Gunhilda, who became the wife
of Henry, emperor of the Romans. In the meantime, on the decease of
Richard the Second, his son Richard succeeded him for a single year;
after whose death his son Robert succeeded him. He, being wishful to
replace Edward on the throne of the English, gave him a fleet, but
being forced to return in consequence of contrary winds, after having
been detained a long time at the isle of Gerneswic,* returned to
Normandy. After this, setting out for Jerusalem, he left his son
William, then a little child, his heir; and having fulfilled his vow,
in returning to his country, died at the city of Nicaea.
*
Guernsey.
At
the time of William succeeding to the dukedom of Normandy, Canute,
king of the English, departed this life, and was succeeded by Harold
Harefoot, his son by his concubine Elgiva. Edward, feeling indignant
at this, setting sail with forty ships, landed at Hampton, *
where the English showing resistance, after taking considerable
booty, he returned to Normandy. In the meantime, however, his brother
Alfred, who, with a large body of troops, had made an attempt upon
another part, being received by earl Godwin with an appearance of
hospitality, was by stratagem taken by him at night together with his
followers; and being placed in chains and brought before king Harold,
together with his companions, was deprived of his eyes, the rest
being put to death.
*Southampton
Not
long after this, Harold Harefoot also died, and Hardicanute,
returning from Denmark, succeeded him, being the son of Emma, the
mother of Edward. On this, Hardicanute sent for his elder brother
Edward from Normandy, and made him live with him, and on his death,
two years after, Edward succeeded him as his heir. The good king
Edward reigned twenty-two years, but having no issue, sent to his
kinsman, William, duke of the Normans, Robert, the archbishop of
Canterbury, and made him the heir to his kingdom: after him he also
sent earl Harold, who swore fealty to William at Rouen. But, after
the death of Edward, Harold treacherously and rebelliously took
possession of the kingdom and reigned nine months, and together with
his powerful accomplices, seducers, and associates, unjustly,
iniquitously, and seditiously deprived the lawful heir of the good
king Edward of the crown of the whole of the said kingdom ; *
on hearing of which, William setting sail with a powerful fleet,
landed at Pevensey, and after building a fortress there, erected
another at Hastings. Harold, meeting him with the English, fought a
battle at about the third hour of the day on the second day before
the Ides of October, in which Harold was slain at the first onset;
the fight, however, having been prolonged until nightfall. William
being victorious, was, on the following feast of the Nativity of our
Lord, in
the year of the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand six hundred and
sixty-six [1066?], crowned at London, king of the English.
* Several lines are here given from Wilkins “Leges
Anglo-Saxonicae” London 1721, which are clearly by inadvertence
omitted in the text of Hoveden.
He reigned over England twenty-two years; and after his death his son
William reigned thirteen years; in the ninth year of whose reign a
pilgrimage* of the nations to Jerusalem against the Saracens took
place. In the fourth year of this expedition, Jerusalem was taken by
the Franks, and Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, reigned over it, though
for one year only; and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who
reigned eighteen years. King William was slain with an arrow while
hunting in England, in the thirteenth year of his reign; on which he
was succeeded by his brother Henry, who reigned thirty-six years. He
was a feeder of wild beasts, and a guardian of the forests, and has
been styled by Merlinus Ambrosius, in his ‘History of the
Kings,’ “the lion of justice;” for he exercised
justice and judgment in the land.
* The first Crusade.
He was succeeded by Stephen, his nephew, who reigned nineteen years;
after whose death Henry, the son of Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, and of
Matilda, the former empress of the Romans, and daughter of the
before-named king Henry the First, took the helm of the kingdom of
England, and reigned thirty-five years. He dying, and being buried at
the abbey of the nuns at Fontevraud, his son Richard succeeded him in
the government of the kingdom, and after having reigned nine years,
seven months, and, twenty days, being struck by an arrow at the siege
of the castle of Chaluz, departed this life on the eighth day before
the ides of April. His entrails were interred at Chinon, his heart at
Rouen, and his body at Fontevraud. After his decease his brother John
succeeded to the throne, and reigned over the kingdom of England.
1181 A.D.
In the year of
grace 1181, being the twenty-seventh year of the reign of king Henry,
son of the empress Matilda, the said king was at Le Mans, on the day
of the Nativity of our Lord. After this festival, he enacted
throughout all his territories, beyond sea, that every man who had a
hundred pounds of money Anjouin, in chattel property, should keep a
horse and a complete set of military accoutrements ; that every man
who had chattel property to the amount of forty, thirty, or
twenty-five pounds Anjouin, at the least should have a hauberk, an
iron head-piece, a lance and a sword; while all other persons were to
have a gambeson,* an iron head-piece, a lance and a sword, or a bow
and arrows; and he forbade any person to sell or pledge his arms; but
on his death he was to leave the same to his next heir. When Philip,
king of France, and Philip, earl of Flanders, came to hear of this,
they ordered that their men should arm themselves in a similar
manner.
* The gambeson, or
wambais, or subarmale, was made of quilted stuff, and formed the body
armour of the burgesses.
In the same year,
after the Purification of Saint Mary, Laurence, archbishop of Dublin,
came into Normandy, bringing with him the son of Roderic, king of
Connaught, and delivered him to the king of England as a hostage for
the performance of the treaty made between him and the king of
Connaught, as to the payment of tribute by Ireland; shortly after
which the said archbishop of Dublin died at Auc, in Normandy, and was
buried there. After his decease, the king of England sent to Ireland
Geoffrey de Haye, his own secretary, and the secretary of Alexis, the
legate in Ireland, to take possession of the archbishopric of Dublin,
and also sent with them John, the constable of Chester, and Richard
of the Peak, to take charge of the city of Dublin, of which Hugh de
Lacy had had the keeping. For our lord the king was unwilling that he
should any longer have charge of it, because he had, without his
permission, married the daughter of the king of Connaught, according
to the usage of that country.
In the same year, our lord the pope most strictly commanded Richard, the archbishop of
Canterbury, all pretexts and excuses laid aside, under pain of
ecclesiastical censure, to compel Geoffrey, the bishop elect of the
church of Lincoln, and son* of our lord the king of England, either
to renounce his election, or without delay to take priest’s
orders, and assume the dignity of the pontifical office. On this,
Geoffrey being placed in a dilemma, sensible of his own
insufficiency, and considering that he was not competent to perform
the duties of so arduous an office, preferred to renounce the
episcopal office, rather than undertake to bear a burden which he
could not support. Accordingly, he wrote to Richard, the archbishop
of Canterbury, to the following effect.
* Illegitimate son. He was afterwards archbishop of York.
The Letter of Geoffrey, bishop of Lincoln elect, on his resignation of that bishopric.
“To the venerable father and lord Richard, by the grace of God,
archbishop of Canterbury, and legate of the Apostolic See, Geoffrey,
son and chancellor of our lord the king of England, health and all
due and duteous respect. It has pleased his Apostolic Majesty to
instruct your holiness to call upon me within a certain time to take
priest’s orders and to assume the dignity of the pontifical
office. Now upon considering how many bishops of more mature years,
and more advanced in wisdom, are still hardly of an age to prove
themselves equal to the requirements of such a weighty office, and
are scarcely able to fulfil the duties of their pontificate without
danger to souls, I have been alarmed at myself, who am so much
younger, assuming a burden, which those more advanced in years are
unable to bear, not doing so from any levity of feeling, but from a
feeling of respect for my vows. Having therefore had an interview
hereon, with our lord the king, my father, and my lords and brothers
the king and the earls of Poitou and Brittany, and Henry, bishop of
Bayeux, Froger, bishop of Seez, Reginald, bishop of Bath, Sigfred,
bishop of Chichester, who were present, I have come to a different
determination as to my mode of life and profession, wishing for a
time to serve in a military capacity under the orders of the king, my
father, and to refrain from interfering in episcopal matters.
Accordingly, most holy father, I do spontaneously, freely, and
entirely, resign into your hands all rights consequent upon my
election, as also the see of Lincoln; requesting of you as being my
metropolitan, and for this purpose especially delegated by the
Apostolic See, absolution both from the said election and from
holding the said bishopric. Farewell.”
In like manner, the said bishop elect of Lincoln wrote to the
canons of the church of Lincoln, asking of them absolution both from the said election and
from holding the said bishopric. After this, our lord, the king, by
whose advice his son Geoffrey had resigned his election into the
hands of the archbishop of Canterbury, gave him his chancellorship
and a yearly revenue of five hundred marks in England, and the same
in Normandy.
In this year, Saladin, the king of Babylon, seeing that Baldwin, king of Jerusalem,
being smitten with leprosy, had not strength to resist him, raising a
great force, came into the land of Jerusalem, and laid it waste, and
there was no person to make any resistance to him. In the same year,
the king of England was at Chinon during the festival of Easter ; and
after Easter returned into Normandy, and held a conference with
Philip, king of France, at Saint Remy, on the fifth day before the
calends of May, being the second day of the week; at which the
Templars and Hospitallers of Jerusalem presented to the beforenamed
kings letters from Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, to the following
effect:
The Letter of pope Alexander on the necessity of giving aid to the land of Jerusalem.
“Alexander,the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearly beloved
sons, those noble men, the dukes and princes, earls, barons, and all
the faithful servants of God, to whom these letters shall come,
health and the Apostolic benediction. The sinister rumours which,
according to the universal report of those passing this way, have
reached us from the land of Jerusalem, have afflicted our heart and
those of all our brethren with excessive grief; inasmuch as any one
who has the name of Christian can hardly even hear, without tears and
sighs, the recitals that are given as to the wretched state of that
country. For it is (and with grief we own it) trodden down under the
inroads of the infidels, and so utterly bereft of the prowess of men
of might, and the prudent counsel of men of probity, that unless the
people receive from the Christian kings and princes of the earth
speedy and powerful succour, we fear, which may God forbid, the
speedy desolation thereof, thus working to the disgrace of the Lord,
and to the contempt of the Christian faith. For there is no king to
rule that land, inasmuch as Baldwin, who now holds the helm of state,
has been (as we believe you are aware) so grievously scourged under
the righteous judgments of God, that he is hardly able to endure the
incessant torments of his body. Indeed, the heavy losses and the
shocking misfortunes, both in men and property, which that land (for
which our fathers and ancestors shed their blood in the battles which
they formerly waged with the heathens) has, in consequence of its
sins so requiring it, endured, we can neither without great sorrowing
at heart call to our recollection, nor can any who are zealous for
the law of the Lord, endure with feelings of patience calamities of
the faithful so mighty; and the more especially so, as this most
abominable nation of the pagans, in consequence of the losses and
dangers which they have inflicted upon the nation of the Christians,
are said to be inspired with such audacity as impudently to boast
that they will, which God forbid, gain possession of that land.
Therefore let the zeal of the Lord move you, and let not the
Christian religion sleep in its sorrow over such mighty evils as are
threatening that land; but, on the contrary, manfully defend all
those places which our Saviour and Redeemer has sanctified by His
bodily presence, and despise the nations which reject the Lord, and
strive to sweep away the Christian name from off the earth. For
indeed, there is no Christian who is not moved at the misfortunes of
the before-named land, and who does not prepare for the purpose of
defending it from the attacks of the infidels, while they are
striving to possess it, and, which God forbid, to profane it by their
abominations. Therefore, those among you who are valiant and fit for
waging war, ought, as a matter of duty, to undertake a work as pious
as it is necessary and the labours of this pilgrimage, clothed no
less with the shield of faith and the breastplate of justice than
with worldly arms, and to defend those places in which the Redeemer
of mankind has been. willing to die for us and has undergone a
temporal death, with powerful might, so that in our times
Christianity may suffer no detriment in those parts. For inasmuch as
Christ for our salvation endured man)’ insults, and, last of
all, suspension on the cross, that He might make an offering of us to
God, mortified in the flesh and justified in the spirit, it is most
conducive to the salvation of the faithful that on His behalf we
should expose our bodies to perils and to labours, that so we may not
seem to be forgetful of the price of His blood which He shed for us.
Give heed therefore, my beloved sons in Christ, and consider how
disgraceful it would be, and how deserving of the grief of all
Christians, if at last the enemies of the cross of Christ should
prevail against the dwellers in that land; and that they will prevail
we have no small dread, unless assistance is brought in all haste
from the different parts of Christendom to those who dwell there.
Therefore, take precaution and exert all your endeavours that
Christianity may not succumb to heathenism, inasmuch as it is better
to meet an impending evil before it comes, than to seek a remedy
after the cause has been injured.
To those also, who on behalf of Christ shall undertake the labours of
this expedition, we do, by the Apostolic authority, grant and confirm
that remission of sins, which the fathers, our predecessors, Urban
and Eugenius, the Roman Pontiffs, gave by their enactments. The wives
also, and children of such persons, and their goods and possessions,
we do decree to be under the protection of Saint Peter and of
ourselves, as also of the archbishops and bishops and other prelates
of the Church; strictly forbidding, that after the assumption of the
cross, any claim shall be entertained with reference to the things of
which they are in peaceable possession, until such time as they shall
return, or certain information shall have been brought of their
death. Let it also be lawful for them, after their relations, or even
their superior lords, to whom the fee belongs, have shown themselves
unwilling or unable to lend them money thereon, to pledge their lands
or other possessions to churches or to ecclesiastics or others of the
faithful, freely and without any challenge thereof, in order to
defray the expenses of the said expedition. Moreover, such men,
accustomed to arms and fitted for the defence of that land, as shall,
in the fervour of their devotion, repair to those holy places, and
serve there for a period of two years against the Saracens, in
defence of the Christian name, trusting in the merits of Jesus Christ
and in the authority of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, we
do give them absolution for all those sins of which with a contrite
and humble heart they shall make confession, unless they shall happen
to have taken property that belongs to another, or to have extorted
usurious interest, or to have committed thefts; for all which
offences due reparation ought to be made. But if those who are guilty
thereof have not the means of making such reparation, nevertheless
they shall obtain pardon for their offences, as we have already
mentioned. And those who shall have remained there but one year, as
we have previously mentioned, shall obtain an indulgence for one half
the penance enjoined them and remission of their sins. And, further,
to all, who, by reason of urgent necessity, are wishful to visit the
sepulchre of our Lord, whether they die on the road, or whether they
arrive at that place, we do enjoin that the labour of the said
journey shall be in place of penance, and obedience, and for the
remission of all their sins, that so by the bounty of God, they may
arrive from the turmoils of this life at that state of blessedness, ‘
Which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the
heart of man,’ and which the Lord hath promised to those who
love Him. Given at Tusculanum, on the seventeenth day before the
calends of February.”
The said pope also wrote to the archbishops, bishops, and other
prelates of churches with reference to the same subject, to the following effect:—
Another Letter of pope Alexander on the same subject.
“Alexander the bishop, servant of the servants of God,
to his venerable brethren the archbishops and bishops, and to his dearly beloved
sons the abbats and other prelates of churches to whom these letters shall
come, health and the Apostolic benediction. Inasmuch as the eastern
lands, by reason of the attacks and assaults of the infidels, have
been deprived of the prowess of men of valour and the counsel of men
of probity, and are stricken with exceeding dismay, the archbishops,
bishops, and other chief men of the land, have thought proper to send
to your parts our dearly beloved sons, the knights of the Temple, the
bearers of these presents, religious men, and who fear God, in order
to implore your aid; wherefore we, whom the calamities of that land
afflict with intense sorrow, after the example of our fathers and
predecessors, being anxious for the preservation thereof, do by this
healthful warning exhort the Christian kings and princes of the world
to the defence of those places in which the feet of the Lord have
stood; and for that purpose, we do proclaim to all sinners, who, in
the cause of Christ, shall undertake the labour of aiding Jerusalem,
and shall with faithful duteousness make it their care to fight
against the Saracens, that remission and forgiveness of sins, which
the fathers, our predecessors, Urban and Eugenius, the Roman
Pontiffs, gave by their enactments. We do therefore advise and
strictly enjoin the whole of you, to receive with kindly feelings the
brethren who have been sent for this purpose, and after learning
through them the state of the countries of the east, and the
necessities thereof, to labour by frequent and anxious exhortations
to induce the princes, earls, and others of the faithful in Christ in
your respective dioceses, to repair with all haste to these lands,
for the delivery of which their fathers and ancestors have shed their
own blood, and to fight with might and valour against the enemies of
the cross of Christ. The letters which for this purpose we send,
addressed to all generally, you will cause to be publicly read in all
churches and will explain the tenor thereof, and will announce the
remission of sins which we grant to those who shall engage in a work
so pious and so necessary, and so advise all persons to do that which
we suggest. And may, through your anxiety and your exhortations, that
land speedily be sensible of the aid and succour of the faithful, and
may you yourselves in return for it, gain from Almighty God an
everlasting reward. Given at Tusculanum,* on the sixteenth day of
January.”
* The modern
Frascati.
On hearing of
this, Philip, king of France, and Henry, king of England, greatly
lamenting the adversities and the desolation of the land of
Jerusalem, promised that they would, with the aid of the Lord, give
speedy succour thereto; upon which, the interview was brought to a
close.
In the meantime,
William, king of Scotland, by the command of our lord the king of
England, came into Normandy, and by his counsel and advice the said
king of Scotland gave liberty to return to Matthew, bishop of
Aberdeen, and John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s, whom he had
banished from Scotland. An agreement was entered into between them,
in presence of the king of England, to the following effect:—
That Matthew, bishop of Aberdeen, should freely and without any
opposition, under the safe conduct of the king of Scotland, return to
his own see, and if anything should have been taken from him, the
same should be restored ; and John, who had been consecrated bishop
of Saint Andrew’s, in order to regain the favour of his lord
the king of Scotland, agreed that he would give up to him the said
bishopric, if he should be allowed to choose whatever bishopric he
might please in the kingdom of Scotland, and if in addition thereto,
the king of Scotland should give him his chancellorship and all the
revenues which he had held before his consecration, together with
forty marks of yearly revenue from the church of Saint Andrew’s.
Upon this the king of Scotland sent his envoys to pope Alexander, to
request that for the sake of peace, he would allow this change of
episcopal sees to take place; this, however, our lord, the pope,
would not allow.
After these
transactions, the king of England gave to John Fitz-Luke, his clerk,
the bishopric of Exeter, and to Ralph de Warnville, who was his
chancellor and treasurer of the church of York, the bishopric of
Lisieux, which Arnulph, bishop of Lisieux, had vacated in consequence
of the dislike which the king had taken to him; for when he found
that he could at no price obtain the royal favour, he preferred
resigning the bishopric, to enduring the king’s hatred any
longer. Accordingly, after getting in his gold and silver from every
quarter, of which he was said to have a large quantity, and having
received from the king of England a large sum of money for vacating
his bishopric, he went to Paris, and remained at the church of Saint
Victor there until the day of his death. After this, while the king
of England was making a stay at Barbeflet,* with the intention of
passing over to England, a dispute arose between Philip, king of
France, and Philip, earl of Flanders, concerning the count of
Claremont, whom the earl of Flanders greatly disliked. The king of
England, therefore, at the request of the king of France, attended a
conference between them at Gisors, and made peace between the king of
France and the earl of Flanders. After this, the king of England came
to Cherbourg, and, passing over to England, landed at Portsmouth, on
the seventh day before the calends of August, being the Lord’s
day, with William, king of the Scots, who accompanied him.
* Harfleur
Shortly after
this, the king of England made the following assize as to keeping
arms throughout England: “Whoever has a single knight’s
fee must keep a cuirass, a helmet, a shield, and a lance, and every
knight must keep as many cuirasses, helmets, shields, and lances as
he has knights’ fees in his demesne. Every free layman, who
shall have in chattels or in rental to the amount of sixteen marks,
must have a hauberk, an iron head-piece, and a lance; and all
burgesses, and all companies of freemen must keep a gambeson, an iron
head-piece, and a lance; and every person may make oath that before
the feast of Saint Hilary he will provide such arms, and will do
fealty to our lord the king, namely, Henry, the son of the empress
Matilda, and will hold the said arms at his service in obedience to
his command, and in fealty to his lord the king and to his realm. And
no person, after he shall have provided the said arms, is to sell the
same, or to make a pledge thereof, or to lend them, or in any way to
part with them ; nor is the lord in any way to take them from his
homager, either by way of fine, gift, or pledge, or in any other way
whatsoever. And if any person having the said arms shall die, his
arms shall remain with his heir; and if his heir be not of such an
age that he can use arms, if required, then the person who shall have
the guardianship of him, shall in like manner have the guardianship
of such arms, and shall find a man to use the said arms in the
service of our lord the king, if needs be, until the heir shall be of
such an age as to be able to bear arms, and then he is to have them.
And further, whatever burgess shall have more arms than according to
this assize he ought to have, he is to sell the same, or give them
away, or part with them to some person who shall wield them in
England in the service of our lord the king. And no one of them is to
retain more arms than in conformity with this assize he ought to
have. Also, no Jew is to keep in his possession a cuirass or hauberk;
but he is to sell the same or give them away, or in some other manner
dispose thereof, but so that they continue to be used in the service
of our lord the king of England. Also, no person is to carry arms out
of England except with the leave of our lord the king, and no one is
to sell arms to any person for him to carry them out of England, and
no merchant or other person is to carry them out of England. Also,
the justices are to cause oath to be made by lawful knights, or by
other free and lawful men of hundreds, visnets,* and burghs, as may
seem most expedient to them, that those who have the value in
chattels to the amount above stated, shall provide, as they ought, a
cuirass, helmet, lance, and shield, according to what has been
mentioned above; and that for the said purpose they will name all
those of their hundreds, visnets, and boroughs, who have sixteen
marks’ value either in chattels or yearly rental; and after
that, the justices are to cause all of them to be registered, both
jurors and the others, both who they are and what chattels or rental
they have, and what arms each ought to provide, according to the
value of the chattels or rental; and after that, in their presence
and in the hearing of them all, they are to cause this assize to be
read as to keeping arms, and to cause them to make oath that they
will provide such arms according to the aforesaid value of the
chattels or rental, and will hold the same at the service of our lord
the king in conformity with the aforesaid assize, in obedience to the
command of and in fealty to their lord, king Henry, son of the
empress Matilda, and to his realm. And if it shall so happen that any
one of those persons who ought to provide such arms shall not be in
the county at the time when the justices shall be in that county,
then the justices are to appoint a time for him to appear before them
in another county. And if the said persons shall not come to them in
any county through which they shall pass, and shall not be in those
districts, then they are to name a time at Westminster, on the octave
of Saint Michael, that each may then be there for the purpose of
making oath, as he loves himself and all that belongs to him ; and
orders are to be given to him before the feast of Saint Hilary
before-named, to provide arms according as he is bound to provide the
same. And further, the justices are to cause proclamation to be made
throughout all counties through which they shall pass, that those
persons who shall not provide the said arms as herein commanded, the
king will lay hands on their bodies, and will on no account take from
them their lands or chattels. Also, no person is to be sworn as of
the free and lawful men who has not sixteen marks or ten marks in
chattels. Also, the justices are to give orders throughout all the
counties through which they shall pass, that no person, as he loves
himself and all that belongs to him, shall buy or sell any ship for
the purpose of transport from England ; and that no person shall
carry timber, or cause it to be carried, out of England. The king has
also ordered that no person shall be admitted to the oath of arms
unless he is a free man.”
*
“Neighbourhoods”; from the Norman “vesine”;
probably, small communities not unlike the “frithborgs”
of the Anglo-Saxons.
In the same year,
Henry, king of England, son of the empress Matilda, gave to John
Cumin, his clerk, the archbishopric of Dublin, in Ireland, at
Evesham, on the eighth day before the ides of September. In the same
year William, archbishop of Rheims, came to England on a pilgrimage
to the Martyr Saint Thomas of Canterbury. In the same year Dufenald,
the son of William, the son of Dunecan, who had often laid claim to
the kingdom of Scotland, entered Scotland with a large army, and laid
waste the parts near the sea-coast. In this year also, John, bishop
of Saint Andrew’s, pronounced sentence of excommunication
against Richard de Morville, the constable, and Richard de Prebenda,
and others of the household of the king of Scotland, who had caused a
breach of the peace between himself and the king. In addition to
this, Roger, archbishop of York, the legate in Scotland, and Hugh,
bishop of Durham, by the authority of our lord the pope, commanded
the prior of Saint Andrew’s and the ecclesiastical personages
throughout the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, to go to John,
their bishop, and pay him the respect of their duteous submission,
declaring that if they refused, they would pronounce upon them, as
being contumacious and rebellious, sentence of suspension. On this,
some of the ecclesiastics of the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s,
through fear of suspension, came to the before-named bishop John; on
which William, the king of Scotland, expelled them from his kingdom,
with their sons and kinsmen, and even those who, hanging at their
mother’s breasts, were yet crying in the cradle. Roger,
archbishop of York, and Hugh, bishop of Durham, seeing the shocking
proscription of these persons, acted in obedience to the mandate of
our lord the pope; for Roger, archbishop of York, excommunicated
William, king of Scotland, and both he and Hugh, bishop of Durham,
pronounced sentence of interdict on all the territories of the king
of Scotland, ordering the bishops, abbats, priors, and other
ecclesiastical persons strictly and inviolably to observe the said
sentence of interdict, and carefully to avoid the king himself as an
excommunicated person.
In the same year
died pope Alexander the Third, in the twenty-second year of his
papacy, and on the twelfth day before the calends of October, being
succeeded in the papacy by Imbald, cardinal bishop of Ostia, who took
the name of pope Lucius the Third. In the same year, Roger,
archbishop of York, being attacked with a severe illness, on
perceiving the last day of his life at hand, called together the
abbats, priors, and other ecclesiastical persons of his diocese, and
with becoming considerateness distributed his property for the use of
the poor, and among other wondrous deeds of his power, to perpetuate
his praises, he sent to William, archbishop of Rheims, and the other
bishops of the kingdom of France, more than five hundred pounds of
silver to be distributed among the poor. In like manner he left a
similar sum to the archbishop of Rouen and the other bishops of
Normandy ; and the same to the archbishop of Canterbury and the other
bishops of England. Having thus made distribution of all his
property, he removed from Cowda, where he was taken ill, to York, the
metropolitan see of his archiepiscopate, where on the tenth day
before the calends of December, being Saturday, at twilight, he
departed this life, full of days, after having happily ruled his
archbishopric twenty-seven years and six weeks. His body was buried
by Hugh, bishop of Durham, in the choir of the canons secular of the
metropolitan church at York; William, the king of Scotland, still
remaining under the sentence of excommunication which the
before-named archbishop of York had pronounced against him.
Upon hearing of
the death of the archbishop of York, William, king of Scotland, was
greatly delighted; and holding a council with the bishops, earls, and
elders of his territories, sent Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, and
Arnulph, abbot of Melrose, and other wise and discreet ecclesiastics
of his kingdom to Rome, to Lucius, the Supreme Pontiff, in order that
he might be absolved from the said sentence of excommunication, and
that his lands might be released from the interdict, and in order
that, if in any way it could be brought about, John, bishop of Saint
Andrew’s, might be deposed.
When word was
brought to the king of England that the before-named archbishop had
gone the way of all flesh, he sent his servants throughout all the
archbishopric of York, giving orders that all of which the said
archbishop in his illness had made distribution should be
confiscated; which was accordingly done. For the entire devise, which
in his illness he had made, was, by the king’s command,
rendered null and void ; as our lord the king asserted that the
before-named archbishop of York had pronounced an opinion in his
lifetime that it was not lawful for any ecclesiastical person to make
a devise except at a time before he was taken ill.
In the same year,
[1181] count Stephen, the uncle of Philip, king of France, seized the
lands of a certain person his neighbour, and withheld them by force,
and did homage for them to Philip, earl of Flanders; on doing which,
the king of France laid hands on them, and the earl of Flanders
claimed restitution thereof to be made to himself and earl Theobald;
and the king of France, refusing to accede thereto, the earl of
Flanders entered the territories of the king of France with a hostile
hand, and ravaged them. In the same year, Hugh, earl of Chester,
departed this life, and was succeeded in the earldom by his son
Ranulph.
After the death of
Roger, archbishop of York, our lord the king gave orders to his
justices in England to make diligent inquisition as to the monies
left by the before-named archbishop, and wherever such were
discovered, in his name, to make demand thereof. In consequence of
this, the said justices demanded of Hugh, bishop of Durham, three
hundred marks of silver, which the said bishop had received out of
the monies of the archbishop, for the purpose of distribution among
the poor; on which he made answer to them:—"I distributed
the three hundred marks of silver which you demand of me, during the
lifetime of the archbishop who gave them to me, among the lepers, the
blind, the lame, the dumb, and the rest of the necessitous, and in
the repair of churches and bridges, for the salvation of his soul,
according as he himself had ordered; therefore let him who wants them
collect them, for by me they will never be collected.”
Accordingly, an answer of this nature exasperated the feelings of our
lord the king beyond measure, so much so, that he ordered the castle
of Durham to be seized in his name, in order that the bishop might be
harassed by every kind of persecution.
1182 A.D.
In the year of grace 1182, being the twenty-eighth year of the
reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said king was at Winchester, in
England, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord, which took place on
the sixth day of the week. In the same year died the count of
Zelders, who had married the eldest daughter of Matthew, earl of
Boulogne; also the countess of Flanders, daughter of Ralph de
Peronne, and wife of Philip, earl of Flanders. In the same year,
Henry, king of England, the father, crossed over from England to
Normandy, in consequence of the annoyances and vexations which his
son king Henry was causing him. For, having gone with his wife to
Philip, king of France, he was devising all the evils he possibly
could to the detriment of the king, his father, contrary to good
faith and the oaths of fealty which he had often taken to him ;
demanding of him, in conformity with the advice of Philip, king of
France, his wife’s brother, the whole of Normandy, or else some
other part of his territories, in which he and his wife might take up
their abode, and from which he might pay his knights and servants for
their services. However, the Divine grace inspiring him so to do, he
returned to his father, and swore that for the future he would not
oppose his wishes or designs, or demand anything more of him than a
hundred pounds of money Anjouin per day for his expenses, and ten
pounds per day of the same money for his wife’s expenses; in
addition to which the king, the father, agreed with the king, his
son, that in the same year he would give him the services of a
hundred of his knights.
After this, the king, the father, held a conference, at which
were present the king of France and the earl of Flanders; on which occasion an
arrangement was made between them to the following effect; that the lands of
which the earl of Flanders demanded restitution to be made to
himself, should be restored to the knight who had lost them, and that
the earl of Flanders should make good for the king of France the
injuries that he and his people had done in France, with reference to
the destruction by fire, and the booty that had been carried off. In
addition to this, the said earl quitted claim to the king of France
of the services of the count of Claremont, and delivered up to the
king of France the city of Amiens with its appurtenances, and all the
lands extending thence to the waters of the Lys after his own
decease, together with his niece, the daughter of the earl of
Hainault; and the said earl made confession that lawfully Peronne
with its appurtenances was only in pledge to himself, and agreed that
the king of France should have possession thereof for sixty thousand
pounds of silver. At the same conference, the said earl of Flanders
delivered into the possession of the king of England, the father, the
agreement entered into in writing by the king his son, and released
him and his brothers from all covenants made between them in the time
of the war.
In the same year, pope Lucius the Third ordained John Chimin priest,
on the third day before the ides of March, at Yeletri; and afterwards consecrated him
archbishop of Dublin at the same place, on the sixth day before the
calends of April, being Palm Sunday. In the same year, at the urgent
request of the envoys of the king of Scotland, namely, Jocelyn,
bishop of Glasgow, Arnold, abbot of Melrose, Osbert, abbot of Kelso,
and Walter, prior of Saint Columba of the Isle, pope Lucius the Third
absolved William king of Scotland from the sentence of
excommunication, and his kingdom from the interdict, at the palace of
the Lateran, at Rome, in presence of his cardinals, namely, Peter de
Pavia, bishop of Tusculanum, the bishop of Præneste, Albert, his
chancellor, Jacinto, Hugesun, Peter de Bova, master Vivianus, Reiner
the Great, Chinchechapel, Reiner the Little, Hardesrun, Hardewin, and
Matthew of Anjou. After having so done, he delivered letters of
absolution to the before-mentioned envoys of the king of Scotland, to
the following effect:—
The letter of pope Lucius on the absolution of William, king of Scotland.
“Lucius, the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brethren
the bishops, and the abbats, clergy, and people throughout Scotland,
health and the Apostolic benediction. Inasmuch as the Apostle has
directed that deference shall be paid to kings as being of exalted
station, it is worthy and consistent with reason that we should pay
them the highest honor as our most dearly beloved sons, and, in
performance of our duty to Saint Peter and the holy Church of Rome,
give all attention to their just desires. And whereas we have heard
that because our dearly beloved son in Christ, William, the
illustrious king of the Scots, was inexorably opposed to the election
and consecration of our venerable brother bishop John, by virtue of
letters of pope Alexander, our predecessor, of holy memory, Roger,
archbishop of York, of happy memory, and the before-named bishop
pronounced sentence of excommunication against him and his realm, and
certain persons in his kingdom. And whereas our venerable brother
Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, and our dearly beloved sons, Arnold,
abbot of Melrose, Osbert, abbot of Kelso, and Walter, prior of Saint
Columba of the Isle, after coming for the said purpose to the
Apostolic See, have, by their declarations, made proof and shewn
before us and our brethren that the sentence of excommunication
pronounced by the said archbishop upon the king, and that of
interdict upon his kingdom, and the sentence of excommunication
pronounced by the said bishop upon certain persons of his kingdom,
ought reasonably and upon numerous grounds to be set aside.
Wherefore, paying due deference to the before-named king as our most
dearly beloved son in Christ, we have, by the common consent of our
brethren and with the Apostolic authority, remitted all the sentence
which was pronounced by the before-named bishop for the cause
before-mentioned, against him or his people, or his kingdom, and have
enacted that he and his people shall not be held to be
excommunicated, nor his kingdom to be under interdict, in consequence
of our sentence above-written. Wherefore, we do by our precept, by
these Apostolic writings, command the whole of you that you will in
no way hesitate to treat with him as a Catholic king and as holding
communion with the Apostolic See, but will rather in all things pay
him the honor that is his due. For the more assured we feel of the
sincerity of his duteousness to the churches and ecclesiastical
persons of his realm, the more abundantly do we wish him to be
honored in all things in which, with due respect to God, we can be
honored. Given at Velletri, this sixteenth day before the calends of
April.”
In the same year,
[1182] the king of England sent his envoys, namely, William de
Mandeville, earl of Aumarle, and some other persons of his household,
to Frederic, the emperor of the Romans, in order that, if possible,
they might avert his anger and displeasure from Henry, duke of
Saxony. Although this could not be fully brought about, the emperor
granted to all who had chosen to depart with him, leave to return to
their country. In addition to this; the said emperor granted to
Matilda, duchess of Saxony, in consideration of the love he bore to
the king of England, her father, permission to remain at perfect
liberty and under his protection, and to enjoy all her dowry freely
and quietly; and the emperor further agreed that, if she should
prefer to go into exile with her lord, he would place keepers for the
purpose of protecting her dowry. The time therefore drawing nigh at
which the before-named duke was to withdraw from his country and
kindred, he and his wife, with their sons and daughters, and his
counts and barons, and the richest men of his territories, departed
from their country and kindred, and came to Normandy, to Henry, king
of England, the father of the before-named duchess, who joyfully
received them. Shortly after, the before-named duke gave to his
counts and barons, and the richer men of his territories, permission
to return home, and the king of England, the father of the duchess,
bestowed on them many presents and then dismissed them. The duke
himself set out on a pilgrimage to Saint Jago, and the duchess his
wife being pregnant, remained with the king, her father, at Argenton
in Normandy, where she was shortly after delivered of a son.
In the same year,
the Welch slew Ranulph Poef, the king’s sheriff of
Gloucestershire. In this year also, ltoland, the bishop-elect of Dol
and subdeacon of the Roman Church, came into England on behalf of
pope Lucius, for the purpose of making peace between the king of
Scotland and John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s; and proceeded to
the court of the king of the Scots, together with Silvanus, the abbot
of Rievaulx, his colleague, where, after having for a long time
negotiated upon making peace between them, at their request the
following terms were made between the king and the before-named
bishop :— Hugh was to abjure the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s,
and bishop John was to release the said bishopric from all claims
whatever on his part and, instead thereof, he was to have the
bishopric of Dunkeld, and all the yearly revenues which he had had
before his election, as also the chancellorship to the king, and
forty marks of yearly revenue arising from the bishopric of Saint
Andrew’s, during his life. Hugh, however, when called upon by
his lord the king of Scotland to abjure the bishopric of Saint
Andrew’s, made answer that he would rather receive judgment
thereon at the Roman court, than in this way abjure a bishopric to
which he had been consecrated: and immediately charged the letters
which bishop John had obtained, against him from the Roman Pontiff
with being forged, and appealed to the Roman Pontiff: upon which the
before-named Roland and the abbot Silvanus, being unable to proceed
as they ought, wrote to the Supreme Pontiff to the following effect:—
The Letter of Roland, bishop-elect of Dol, and Silvanus, abbot of Rievaulx,
to pope Lucius.
“To the reverend father and lord, Lucius, by the grace of God, supreme
and universal Pontiff, Roland, by the like grace, bishop-elect of
Dol, servant of his Holiness, the foster-child of the Apostolic See,
and the least of the sub-deacons, and Silvanus, appointed abbot of
Rievaulx, the respect of duteous obedience. After we had presented to
bishop Hugh the letters which that bishop charges with being forged,
and those in which the case is stated at length, and proposed, on
receiving leave of our lord the king of the Scots, to return home
with all haste, our lord the king entreated me, the bishop-elect of
Dol, with earnestness and anxiety, to pass by the way of the lord
bishop John, and, as a mark of his favour, to make him an offer on
his behalf of the bishopric of Dunkeld, with the yearly revenues
which he had before received in the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s,
together with an increase of forty marks to be received yearly, as
also the office of chancellor to the king; and he further added that
he would restore to him and his every thing he had taken away, with
the exception only of what he knew to have already come to his hands,
and would restore them to the fullness of his favour, in the same
manner as had been previously offered him. He also desired that the
said bishop John would burn all documents that had been obtained upon
the matter of Saint Andrew’s from your predecessor Alexander,
of pious memory. He also gave his sanction that bishop Hugh should be
transferred to the bishopric of Glasgow, if bishop John should refuse
to consent on other terms, and if that could not be brought about,
still he would agree to what he had offered. On making offer of all
these things in presence of Hugh, the lord bishop of Durham, to our
lord John, he courteously acceded thereto on these terms: namely,
that he would never allow bishop Hugh to remain in the enjoyment of
the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s. He was also willing that the
documents before-mentioned should be put aside in some place, so that
he could never make use of them against the king’s wishes. Upon
this, we returned to the king’s presence, while bishop John
waited for us near Rokelburg;* on which the king informed us that it
would give him great pleasure if bishop Hugh could remain in the
bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, and requested me to use my best
endeavours to prevail upon bishop John to admit of this; and when I
made answer to him that I would never again make any request of him
upon that point, because I had not been able to make any impression
upon him on the subject, his answer was, ‘ I am fully persuaded
that since the lord John has returned to reconciliation and favour
with me, he will, on consideration of my favour, and at the urgency
of my entreaties, admit of this, and I would gladly confer with him
thereon;’ and the king requested me to advise him to come and
have a conference with him. The king’s clerks being accordingly
sent to bishop John, he made answer that he would not come, because
he had heard from certain advisers of our lord the king, that the
king was always endeavouring, in every possible way, to gain his
point that Hugh should remain in the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s,
and asserted that, if he should be inclined to come, they were not
able to give him a safe conduct. When this answer was returned him,
our lord the king sent a bishop, and some abbats, earls, and barons
to the said bishop, requesting that he would come to him for the
purpose of an interview, and ordered them to guarantee to the said
bishop entire security. These, on their return, stated that the lord
John, inasmuch as he had a presentiment that his lord the king wished
bishop Hugh to remain in the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, made
answer that he would never come to the king unless they should first
make oath that their lord the king would observe everything that
through me he had offered to him; this, however, they were unwilling
to do, upon which, the lord John returned home. We, however, have
appointed a stated time, on the calends of October, for the
before-named bishops, John and Hugh, to come to you, and to submit to
your judgment. Farewell.”
* Roxburgh
In the same year
died Walter, bishop of Rochester, and was succeeded in the bishopric
by Waleran, archdeacon of Bayeux. In this year, while Walter, a
servant of Eustace, the lord abbot of Flaye, was one night asleep, he
heard a voice from heaven, saying to him a first, second, and third
time, "Go and say to Henry, king of England, ‘In the name
of Christ, annihilate and destroy,’ and say to him that so he
must do, and, if he does not do so, both his sons and himself shall
die.” On this the before-named Walter made answer and said,
“Who am I, that I should carry thy commands unto the king ? “To
which he received for answer, “Go to Rotrod, the archbishop of
Rouen, and to his chaplain, and to Eustace, the abbot of Flaye, and
they shall remove the thorns and briars from out of thy path, and,
unless thou shalt make haste, thou shalt die.” After the third
warning, therefore, the said Walter came to the before-named
archbishop of Rouen, and to his chaplain, and to abbot Eustace ; and
whereas, the archbishop and his chaplain, being worn out with
sickness and old age, could not attend to the matter, they deputed
the abbot of Flaye to act in their behalves ; on which, he with his
servant went to the king, and the servant related to the king his
vision and the accompanying threats; but the king, not being able to
understand any part thereof, and there being no one to interpret the
vision to him, paid no attention whatever to it; and, shortly after,
his son king Henry died, and then his son Geoffrey, earl of Brittany.
About the time at which this vision took place many of the Manichaean
heretics were burned in many places throughout the kingdom of France,
a thing that the king would in nowise allow in his territories,
although there were great numbers of them.
1183 A.D.
In the year of grace 1183, being the twenty-ninth year of the
reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said king of England was at
Caen, in Normandy, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord; the [young] king
also, and Richard and Geoffrey, his sons, and Henry, duke of Saxony,
and his wife, together with their sons and daughters, and a large
retinue, together with Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, and John
Cumin, archbishop of Dublin, and many bishops, earls, and barons were
there with him. After the Nativity of our Lord, the king ordered the
king, his son, to receive homage from Richard, earl of Poitou, and
from Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, his brothers; on which, in obedience
to his father, he received the homage of his brother Geoffrey, and
was willing to receive it from his brother Richard, but Richard
refused to do homage to him; and afterwards, when Richard offered to
do homage to him, the king, the son, refused to receive it. Richard,
feeling greatly indignant at this, withdrew from the court of the
king, his father, and going to Poitou, his own territory, built there
some new castles and fortified the old ones.
At the request of
such of the earls and barons of Poitou as adhered to him, and who
inflicted many losses on earl Richard, the king, his brother, pursued
him. Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, also came to Poitou, with a large
force, to assist the king, his brother. On Richard perceiving that he
could not make head against his brothers, he sent for assistance to
the king, his father, who, raising a great army, came in all haste,
and laid siege to the castle of Limoges, which had been a short time
before surrendered to the king, his son.
The cause of the dissensions between the king and his sons .
In order, however,
that the cause may be known of these shocking dissensions that took
place between the father and his sons, it ought to be stated that, on
the holy day of the Circumcision of our Lord, king Henry, son of our
lord the king of England, of his own accord, and no one forcing him
thereto, touching the Holy Gospels, and in presence of a large body
of the clergy and laity, made oath that he would from that day
forward all the days of his life maintain his fealty unblemished to
Henry, king of England, as being his father and his liege lord, and
would show him all due honor and obedience. And because, as he
asserted, the king wished to retain no rancour and malice in his
mind, by reason of which his father might possibly be afterwards
offended, he declared to him that he had entered into a compact with
the barons of Aquitaine against his brother Richard, being influenced
by the fact that his said brother had fortified the castle of
Clairvaulx, which was part of his own inheritance after his father’s
death, contrary to his own wishes. Wherefore he earnestly entreated
his father to take the said castle from Richard, and keep it in his
own charge.
Richard, being
admonished by our lord the king relative thereto, at first refused to
do so, but afterwards freely delivered it to be disposed of at his
father’s pleasure. Accordingly, the three sons of our lord the
king, namely, the [young] king, Richard, and Geoffrey, came to Anjou,
with the king, their father, for the purpose of entering into a final
treaty of peace between them ; and each of the three made oath that
they would observe their fealty at all times towards the king, their
father, against all men, and would pay him all honor and lasting
obedience. They also made oath, in accordance with the directions of
their father, that they would observe lasting peace between
themselves. On a given day, therefore, for ratifying the peace made
between them, at a place called Mirabel, under the direction of their
father, because the barons of Aquitaine, to whom the king, the son,
had engaged himself by oath, were not present, the king, the father,
sent his son Geoffrey to them that they might come to the said
conference for the establishment of peace and reconciliation, and in
the meantime cease from all hostilities.
But the said
Geoffrey, utterly forgetful of God and of respect for his father, and
unmindful of his commands, did not bring peace, but the sword, and,
slighting his oath, his homage, and the fealty which he had so often
sworn to his father, entered into a compact with the enemies of his
father, for the purpose of harassing him, and induced a sacrilegious
race, and one detested by the Church of Rome, to ravage the
territories of his father. The king, the son, on hearing of this,
entreated his father to establish peace between his brother Richard
and the barons of Aquitaine. In answer to the entreaties of his son,
our lord the king promised that he would preserve peace, and that,
for this purpose, in the manner that had been agreed upon in the
preceding summer, reparation should be made for all excesses
committed by either party, or else, if that should not please the
barons, he would judge them in conformity with the opinions
pronounced by his court This offer was quite to the satisfaction of
the king, the son; on condition, however, that the castle of
Clairvaulx should remain safe in the hands of the king, his father.
Upon this, the
king, the son, having gained of his father all that he had requested,
with his father’s permission set out for Limoges, for the
purpose of inviting both his brother Geoffrey and the barons of
Aquitaine to come to terms, and in the meantime sent his wife to
France, to her brother, the king of that country, for the purpose of
being in safety. The king, the father, also, at the request and by
the advice of the king, the son, came with a few followers by another
road to Limoges, in safety from his sons and in safety from his
subjects; but when he had come to this territory that was his own,
his own subjects received him most shamefully, for they aimed their
arrows against him, so much so that they even wantonly pierced his
coat armour, wounded one of his knights before his eyes, and
violently prevented the king from entering either the city or the
castle; in consequence of which, he and his son Richard were obliged
to depart.
After this, our
lord the king effected an entrance into the city of Limoges; but when
he was departing therefrom, for the purpose of conversing with his
sons in a fatherly manner, in presence of his sons, the garrison of
the castle before-mentioned aimed their deadly arrows; in consequence
of which, they wounded the horse which bore the king, the father, in
the head, and if the horse had not lifted its head just at the
approach of the arrow, it would have pierced the king’s breast
to a considerable depth. This his sons Henry and Geoffrey thinking
lightly of, took no pains to punish the offender; and,
notwithstanding, returned to the deadly foes of their lord and
father.
Shortly after, the
king, the son, came to his father, and promised him, that, if the
barons of Aquitaine would not come to his feet to sue for peace, he
would utterly abandon them, and return to obedience to him under all
circumstances. On this, the king the father, being moved at the
entreaties of his son, again made promise of the peace which he had
previously promised to the barons. Wherefore, the king the son, as he
said, went to his brother Geoffrey and the barons of Aquitaine, and,
returning from them to his father, asserted that they were utterly
disobedient and rebellious, for which reason, he had returned to his
duty and obedience to his father’s will. This, however, as
appeared in the sequel, was done fraudulently, in order that in the
meantime the perfidious race of the Brabanters, and Geoffrey, that
son of perdition, might with lawless violence the more easily ravage
his father’s territories, and nefariously lay them waste,
carrying off the ornaments of the churches, burning towns and
villages to the ground, emptying the fields and the sheepfolds by
their ravages, so as to cause utter destruction in every quarter;
sparing neither age, nor sex, nor rank, nor the religious profession;
on the contrary, as it appeared, aiming at the perpetration of
homicide, sacrilege, and rapine alone.
Shortly after
these things had taken place, the king, the son, on hearing what had
been done by his brother Geoffrey, told his father, that whatever he
had done in this matter had been done by the counsel of his brother
Geoffrey, and giving his arms and his horse in his father’s
charge, remained with him some days. But after he had eaten at the
same table with his father, and had dipped his hands into the same
dish, he withdrew from him, and again leagued himself by oath with
his father’s enemies, and then returning to his father,
declared that he could in no way see how he was to inflict upon the
men of the castle the punishment they had deserved ; after which,
leaving his father, he set out for Dorat.
But his father,
thinking him peaceably inclined, recalled him; on which, returning
and entering the castle, and not being able to bring the wickedness
which he contemplated to the wished-for result, he swore by the body
of Saint Martial, that he would assume the cross. His father,
however, thinking that he had done this more through indignation than
religious feeling, in an affectionate manner used all his endeavours
to recall him from this rash vow, asking of him on his knees, and
weeping, whether that vow had proceeded from rancour, indignation,
poverty, or religious feelings. To this the son made answer, with all
kinds of oaths, that he had made the vow solely for the remission of
the sins which he had been guilty of towards his father; and added,
when he saw his father opposing it and shedding tears, that he would
slay himself with his own hands, unless his father should cease to
dissuade him from his purpose of assuming the cross, inasmuch as the
body of the Lord which he had that day beheld, consecrated before his
eyes, testified that he ought a long time before that to have assumed
the cross, but it had not till then been disclosed to him; hoping and
trusting that he should be in the more full enjoyment of his father’s
favour, as he was unwilling to go on the pilgrimage without his
favour. On this, his father learning his holy and fixed
determination, replied; “The will of God and your own be done.
I will be your supporter and assistant in acquiring the earldom, and
will provide you, by the help of God, with such plentiful supplies,
that no one, of whom I have heard going to the land of Jerusalem,
could at any time have done his service to God on a more bounteous
scale."
On this, the king
the son returned many thanks to his father, and entreated him to deal
mercifully with the men in the castle and the barons of Aquitaine; to
which his father, in tears, made answer, and promised that he would
act in every one of those matters quite according to his pleasure.
The king the son, again returning thanks, sent for the men of the
castle, and, though against his father’s will, threw himself
with the burgesses at his father’s feet, and asked for peace in
their behalves, which request was granted, hostages however being
required to ensure the peace being kept. The king the father sent
some of his followers to receive the hostages, but they were nearly
slain by those who were to give them. This was in nowise punished by
the king the son, but, disregarding his oath to assume the cross, he
became, together with them, the enemy and persecutor of his own
father.
Shortly after, the
king the son, pretending that he wished for peace, requested his
father to send to him Maurice de Crouy with a truce, and some other
barons; and while some of their followers were conversing with him,
they were slain in the presence of the king the son, by the enemies
of our lord the king. Some days after this, Geoffrey, that son of
iniquity, with evil intent, entreated that he would send to him
Oliver Fitz-Ernest and Jerome de Mustervol with a truce ; on which,
one of them, Jerome namely, was pierced with a sword through his
head-piece, his coat-armour, and his shirt, not without a
considerable loss of blood ; while Oliver, the other, was thrown from
a bridge into the water, in the presence of Geoffrey himself, who
took no pains to punish this misdeed. After this, the same son, being
again desirous to hold a conference with his father, came in perfect
security to his father, and, deceitfully treating about making peace,
requested of his father leave to enter the castle in order that he
might prevail upon the king his brother, and the other enemies of our
lord the king, to comply with the wishes of the king. Permission was
accordingly given him, on which he entered the castle, spoiled the
shrine of Saint Martial, and carried off the other vessels of that
monastery, both gold and silver, and then, returning with the booty,
requested his father to prolong the truce till the next day. The
truce was accordingly granted him, and, passing over the bridge, he
the same day renounced the truce with his father as being at an end,
and out of the proceeds of the sacrilege and robbery, of which he had
been guilty towards Saint Martial, paid their wages to his
Brabanters. The amount of this theft was, according to the estimate
made by worthy men, fifty-two marks of gold and twenty-seven marks of
silver.
In the meantime,
Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, bishop of Bayeux, John,
bishop of Evreux, Ralph, bishop of Lisieux, Froger, bishop of Seez,
and Waleran, bishop of Rochester, together with the abbats and clergy
of Normandy, and a great number of people, came to Caen, and there,
in the monastery of Saint Stephen, solemnly, in the universal hearing
of all the people, pronounced sentence of excommunication against all
who should prevent peace and reconciliation being made between our
lord the king and his sons, the person of the king, the son, alone
excepted.
Money now failing
him, the king, the son, proceeded to Saint Mary de Roche Andemar,
stripped the tomb of Saint Andemar, and carried away the treasures of
the church. In the course of a few days after this, the king, the
son, seeing that he could not do any material injury to the king, his
father, in consequence of indignation and rancour of mind, was
attacked by a severe malady at a village called Martel, not far from
the city of Limoges. He was first attacked with a fever, and then by
a flux of the bowels, which reduced him to the point of death. On
seeing that his death was impending, he sent for our lord the king,
his father, who refused to come to him, as he dreaded his treachery.
The king, the son, having, therefore, summoned the bishops and
religious men who were there, into his presence, having first
secretly, and afterwards before them all, made confession of his
sins, received absolution and remission of his sins, and gave to
William Marshal, one of his household, his cross to bear to Jerusalem
[in his stead]. After this, laying aside his fine garments, he placed
upon him haircloth, and fastening a cord around his neck, said to the
bishops and other religious men who stood around him : "By this
cord do I deliver myself, an unworthy, culpable, and guilty sinner,
unto you, the ministers of God, beseeching that our Lord Jesus
Christ, who remitted his sins to the thief when confessing upon the
cross, will, through your prayers and His ineffable mercy, have
compassion upon my most wretched soul.” To which all made
answer, "Amen.” He then said to them : "Drag me out
of this bed by this cord, and place me on that bed strewed with
ashes,” which he had caused to be prepared for himself; on
which they did as he commanded them, and placed under his head and
feet two large square stones; and, all things being thus duly
performed, he commanded his body to be taken to Rouen, in Normandy,
and there buried. After saying this, being fortified with the
viaticum of the holy body and blood of our Lord, in the fear of the
Lord, he breathed forth his spirit.
When news was
brought of his death to our lord the king, his father, bursting into
tears, he threw himself upon the ground, and greatly bewailed his
son. O how dreadful a thing it is for sons to persecute a father! for
it is not the sword of the man who fights, not the hand of the foeman
that avenges the injury of the father; but it is fever that deals its
retribution, flux of the bowels, with ulceration of the intestines,
that exercises vengeance. The son laid prostrate, all return to the
father. All are overjoyed, all rejoice, the father alone bewails his
son. Why, glorious father, dost thou bewail him? He was no son of
thine, who could commit such violence upon thy fatherly affection.
This defence of thee has wrought security for fathers, and has
checked the audacity of parricides. For it was his due to perish by a
severe retribution, who wished to introduce parricide into the world;
because the Judge of all minds, in the same way that He avenges the
tribulations of the righteous, so does he sometimes punish the
persecutions of the wicked.
The king’s
servants, after having extracted the brain and the entrails, and
buried them at Martel, sprinkled the body of the dead king with large
quantities of salt, and then wrapped it in bulls’ hides and
lead, that they might take it to Rouen for burial there, and
accordingly set out on their way with the royal body; but when they
had come to the city of Le Mans, and had passed the night in the
church of Saint Julian the Confessor and Pontiff, singing hymns and
psalms in its vicinity, and wished in the morning to depart thence
with the body, the bishop of the city and the clergy, together with
the common people, would not allow them to carry it away, but buried
it in an honourable manner in the church of Saint Julian.
On this being told
to the people of Rouen, they were indignant thereat, and resolutely
demanded his body, swearing that they would take it by force, unless
it was instantly given up to them; upon which the king, the father,
ordered that the body should be given up to the people of Rouen, as
the king, his son, had, while living, commanded; which was
accordingly done; and they dug up the king’s body from the spot
where it had been buried, and, carrying it to Rouen, buried it in the
church there of Saint Mary.
The king, the
father, after the death of the king, his son, every day made more
violent assaults upon the castle of Limoges, to which he had laid
siege, and at length both the castle and the city of Limoges were
surrendered to him, besides all the castles of his enemies in that
neighbourhood; some of which he retained in his own hands, and some
he levelled with the ground, not leaving one stone upon another.
After the death of the king, the son, Philip, king of the Franks,
demanded of our lord the king of England, the dowry which his son,
the king, had given to his sister, and the whole of the land of the
Vexin, together with the castles and fortresses which Louis, king of
France, his father, had given them on their marriage. Whereupon, a
conference being held between them, between Gisors and Trie, an
arrangement was made in the following manner:—That Margaret,
the sister of the king of France, who had been the wife of the king,
the son, should receive, for quitting claim of all the above demands,
one thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds of money Anjouin, each
year at Paris from our lord the king of England and his heirs, so
long as she should live.
In the same year
[1183] our lord the king gave the bishopric of Lincoln to Walter de
Coutances, his clerk, whom Richard, archbishop of Canterbury,
consecrated at Anjou, and sent to England to his see, which had now
been vacant for a period of eighteen years, namely, from the time of
Robert de Chennay, bishop of Lincoln, until now. Geoffrey, earl of
Brittany, the king’s son, now returned to his father and made
peace with him and with his brother, Richard, earl of Poitou.
In the same year, John and Hugh, the bishops, of whom
we have previously made mention, came to Velletri to have an audience of Pope
Lucius, and each of them stated, in presence of our lord the pope and of all
his cardinals, the claims that he asserted upon the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s.
After hearing them, our lord, the pope, by the common advice of his
brethren, took the bishopric from them both, and they freely and
absolutely resigned the said bishopric of Saint Andrew’s into
the hands of the Supreme Pontiff, and then withdrew from the court,
awaiting the mercy of the Supreme Pontiff; and a few days after, by
the advice of all his cardinals, the Supreme Pontiff gave to bishop
Hugh the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, and confirmed him in
possession thereof; and granted to bishop John the bishopric of
Dunkeld, together with all the things before mentioned that had been
offered him on part of the king of Scotland, and confirmed him
therein. On this, Hugh returned home and received the bishopric of
Saint Andrew’s. Bishop John also received the bishopric of
Dunkeld; but as the king of Scotland declined to restore to him what
he had taken away, he again put forward his claims against bishop
Hugh as to the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, as stated in the
sequel.
In the same year, our lord the king commanded Richard, his son and heir,
to receive the homage of his brother John for Poitou, but he declined receiving it.
In the same year a grievous dissension arose between the Romans and
pope Lucius, relative to certain customs which his predecessors had
been in the habit of following, but which the pope above-named swore
he would never comply with. At this the Romans were indignant, and
were frequently guilty of ravages and incendiarism in the territories
of our lord the pope; on which, the pope flying from place to place,
took refuge in his castles and fortified cities. To defend him there
came Christian, archbishop of Mentz, chancellor of the lord
Frederick, emperor of the Romans, having levied a large army for that
purpose. The Romans, being unable to oppose him, returned to Rome, on
which the before-named chancellor, pursuing them, laid waste every
thing that belonged to the Romans, and followed them even to the very
gates of the city of Rome, setting fire to all the suburbs thereof.
On this, the
Romans, seeing that they were devoted to ruin, devised how they might
slay the before-named chancellor by stratagem ; and, as all other
modes were wanting to them, they determined to take him off by means
of poison, and did so. For when the said chancellor and his army were
at a distance of nearly ten miles from the city, the Romans sent
envoys, clad in the garb of poor men, to learn the state of the
court, who, after learning all particulars relating thereto,
discovered, among other matters, one thing which they made choice of
in order to effect his destruction. For there was near that spot a
spring of water exceedingly limpid, the water of which, mixed with
wine, the chancellor and his army were in the habit of drinking.
Accordingly, these wicked traitors went to the spring, and drugged it
thoroughly with poison, so that the water flowing therefrom was
corrupted. Consequently, on the chancellor drinking thereof, he died
by a speedy death. There also died after him more than a thousand men
who had drank of the said spring. When the death of the chancellor
became publicly known, his army was dispersed and put to flight, on
which the Romans rose in rebellion with still greater acrimony
against our lord the pope.
In the same year,
[1183] Philip, earl of Flanders, married the sister of Sancho, king
of Portugal. In this year, also, our lord the king of England gave
the archbishopric of Rouen to Walter de Coutances, bishop of Lincoln,
and Lucius, our lord the pope, sent him the pall. The said pope, not
being able successfully to oppose the Romans, sent his ambassadors to
the kings and chief men of the various countries, both secular and
ecclesiastical, to gain assistance in the defence of Saint Peter
against the Romans : upon which his envoys came to Henry, king of
England, to ask him, and the clergy of England, to afford him
assistance. Accordingly, the king consulted his bishops and the
clergy of England, as to the prayer of the Supreme Pontiff; on which
the bishops and clergy advised him, according to his own inclination
and honor, to give assistance to our lord the pope, both on his own
behalf as well as on theirs; inasmuch as it would be more endurable
to them, and would please them better, that their lord the king
should, if he so pleased, receive from them a recompense for such
assistance, than if he should allow the nuncios of our lord the pope
to come to England to receive assistance from themselves; as, if any
other step than the one named were taken, it might possibly be turned
into a precedent, to the detriment of the kingdom. The king
acquiesced in their advice, and gave considerable assistance to the
pope, in gold and silver.
Accordingly, by
means of this money, and other sums of money lent to him by other
princes from all quarters, our lord the pope made peace with the
Romans, which was necessary for him and the Church of Rome.
In the same year,
died Rotrod, archbishop of Rouen, and was succeeded by Walter, bishop
of Lincoln. In this year also died Richard Pecche, bishop of Chester,
who was succeeded by Gerard Lapucelle.* In the same year, Gilbert,
surnamed Assaili, grand master of the house of the Hospital at
Jerusalem, came into Normandy to king Henry, and was honorably
entertained by him. Having obtained the king’s permission to
cross over to England, he came to Dieppe, and, before the feast of
Saint Michael, embarked on board of a ship which had been lying for
nearly a year upon the sands of the sea-shore, shattered and dried
up, and had lately been a little repaired and refitted, and launched
again, together with many other persons, clergy as well as laity, who
had become tired with waiting: but shortly after, when the vessel had
got out of harbour into the open sea, the seams opening, it went down
into the deep, just like a stone; on which Gilbert, and all the rest
who were on board of it, with the exception of eight only, who
escaped by means of a boat, were drowned, on the thirteenth day
before the calends of October. In the same year, Henry, king of
England, a conference being held on the day of Saint Nicholas,
between him and Philip, king of France, between Gisors and Trie, did
homage to Philip, king of France, for all his lands beyond sea,
whereas before this he had never been willing to do homage to him.
* Roger of Wendover says, that he died within ten weeks of his consecration.
1184 A.D.
In the year of grace 1184, being the thirtieth year of the reign of Henry,
king of England, son of the empress Matilda, the said king was at Le Mans on
the day of the Nativity of our Lord, which took place on the Lord’s
day. In the same year, Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, departed
this life on the fourteenth day before the calends of March; to whom,
before he was taken ill, the Lord appeared in a vision, saying, "Thou
hast wasted the property of my church, and I will root thee from out
of the earth.” Being greatly terrified at this vision, he
immediately fell ill, and died on the eighth day after. In the same
year, the king of England, having made peace between Philip, king of
France, and Philip, earl of Flanders, with reference to the disputes
that existed between them concerning the land of Vermandois, passed
through the middle of Flanders, and crossed over from Witsand to
Dover, in England, where he landed on the fourth day before the ides
of June; his daughter, the duchess of Saxony, crossing over with him.
In the same year,
and the same week in which the king landed in England, a spring of
running water, near the church of Saint Winin, in the western parts
of the territories of the king of Scotland, below Tyningham, and not
far from the castle of Irwine, [Irving] flowed with blood, without
intermission, for eight days and as many nights. In the same year,
the king’s daughter, the duchess of Saxony, was delivered of a
son at Winchester. In this year also, Theobald, count of Blois, uncle
to Philip, king of France, came into England on a pilgrimage to Saint
Thomas, at Canterbury. In this year also, Henry, duke of Saxony, the
king’s son-in-law, came to England. In the same year died
Simon, earl of Huntingdon, on whose decease the king gave the said
earldom to ‘William, king of the Scots; immediately on which,
in presence of the king, he conferred the earldom on his brother
David.
In the same year,
Gilbert de Plumpton, a knight of noble birth, being led in chains to
Worcester, and accused of rape before our lord, the king of England,
by Ranulph de Glanville, justiciary of England, who wished to condemn
him, he was by an unjust judgment condemned to be hanged on a gibbet;
and when he was led forth to the gibbet, there met him a multitude
of men and women, crying aloud and saying, that a righteous and
innocent man ought not thus to suffer. Upon this, Baldwin, the bishop
of Worcester, a religious man and one who feared God, hearing the
shouts of the people, and learning the injustice that was being
perpetrated against this wretched man, ran after him ; but the
ministers of wickedness, hastening to perpetrate their crime,
fastening a rope round his neck had suspended him aloft, when lo !
the bishop of Worcester came up in all haste, and said to the
executioners; "In behalf of Almighty God, and under pain of
excommunication, I forbid you to put that man to death this day, for
it is the Lord’s day, and the feast of Saint Mary Magdalen.”
At these words the executioners stood astounded, hesitating what to
do, for they feared the king’s justice, and dreaded sentence of
excommunication. However, the Divine power prevailed, and from
respect for the solemnity of the day, they loosed the rope and let
him come to the ground, to be kept until the next morning; when he
was to undergo the same punishment. That same night, our lord the
king, being moved with pity, and influenced by the counsels of his
followers, commanded that he should remain as he was, until he should
give further orders what was to be done with him; for he was aware
that Ranulph de Glanville had thus acted towards him from feelings of
dislike, and wished to put him to death on account of his wife, the
daughter of Roger Gulewast, whom the said Ranulph wished to give in
marriage, together with her inheritance, to his friend Reiner, the
sheriff of York. Accordingly, the knight, being rescued from death,
was kept in prison by Ranulph de Glanville, until the king’s
death.
After this, our
lord the king came to Reading, and holding a council there as to
choosing a pastor for the Church of Canterbury, a strife and
contention arose between the monks of Canterbury and the bishops of
England. For the monks claimed to have the first voice in the
election, and produced a charter of our lord the king, by which he
had granted and confirmed to them freedom of election. The bishops,
on the other hand, used their best endeavours to prove that that
charter ought not to be observed, both because it was made contrary
to law, and tended to the injury of the. Church of England, as also,
because the election of their own metropolitan belonged to
themselves. In consequence of this dispute, no terms could be come to
between them on the present occasion.
By command of our lord the king, the bishops of England and the monks of Canterbury met
at London, in the king’s presence, for the election of an
archbishop of Canterbury; and, the contention still continuing,
Gilbert, bishop of London, who, according to the ancient right of his
see, had the first voice in the election, made choice of Baldwin, the
bishop of Worcester, as archbishop of Canterbury, on the fourth day
before the nones of December; upon which all the bishops gave their
assent to that choice; the monks of the Church of Canterbury, being
the only persons who made any opposition, departed for the purpose of
appealing to our lord the pope, and the bishops of England presented
to the king the person whom they had elected. Oh their presentation
and election, our lord the king received him with the kiss of peace
and love; which example was followed by Richard, Geoffrey, and John,
the king’s sons.
After this, our
lord the king came to Canterbury, for the purpose of putting an end
to the angry feelings of the monks, and, holding a conference with
them, prevailed upon them to elect as their archbishop the
before-named Baldwin, which they accordingly did; for Alan, the prior
of the church of the Holy Trinity at Canterbury, came to London with
the less infirm part of his chapter, and with letters of
confirmation. On their meeting together in the Chapter house of the
monks of Westminster, they elected for themselves and the Church of
Canterbury, the before-named Baldwin as archbishop; and then, that
they might not appear to have assented to the election of the
bishops, sang their own “Te Deum Laudamus,” and led him
to the altar, and, receiving Kim with the kiss of peace, presented
him to the king, who again received him with the kiss of peace and
love; as did Richard, earl of Poitou, his son. After this, the king
confirmed the treaty and final reconciliation by writing, and
ratified the same, after its confirmation, by oath on part of his
sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John, in presence of queen Eleanor their
mother, Henry, duke of Saxony, and many others.
In the same year,
the archbishop of Cologne came to England on a pilgrimage to Saint
Thomas of Canterbury, on which the king of England met him with
congratulations, and prevailed upon him to lay aside his anger and
displeasure towards Henry, duke of Saxony, and receive him into the
favour which he had formerly enjoyed when honored with his esteem.
The before-named archbishop of Cologne also, at the entreaty of the
king of England, agreed that the daughter of Frederic, emperor of the
Romans, should be given in marriage to Richard, earl of Poitou, the
king’s son: for he knew that this was the especial wish and
desire of the emperor. After this, the before-named archbishop, and
Philip, earl of Flanders, who had come with him over to England,
returned to Flanders, and, having levied a great army, invaded the
territories of the earl of Hainault, and ravaged them, in revenge for
the injuries which he had inflicted on the earl of Flanders.
In the same year,
died the empress of the Romans, the wife of the emperor Frederic. In
this year also, died Gilbert de Ver, abbot of Selby, and Gerard,
surnamed La Pucelle, bishop of Chester. In the same year also, died
Waleran, bishop of Rochester, Clement, abbot of Saint Mary’s at
York, Simon, earl of Huntingdon, Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury,
Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter, and the earl of Warwick. In this year
also, died the daughter of Frederic, emperor of the Romans, who, as
above stated, was to have been married to Richard, earl of Poitou. In
this year also, the church of Saint Julian, at the city of Le Mans,
was destroyed by fire. The abbey of Glastonbury was also burnt in
this year.
In the same year,
our lord the king of England, being anxious to make peace between the
duke of Saxony and the emperor Frederic, by the advice of the
archbishop of Cologne, sent his envoys, Hugh de Nunant, archdeacon of
Lisieux, and some others of his clerks, and of the members of his
household, to Lucius, the Supreme Pontiff, in order that through his
aid the before-named emperor might receive the duke of Saxony into
favour. Accordingly, the king’s envoys, coming to the court of
our lord the pope, found him at Verona in Italy; and while they were
staying there with him, Frederic, emperor of the Romans, came thither
for the purpose of holding a conference with the pope; at whose
urgent request the before-named emperor gave the duke of Saxony
permission to return to his country, and released him from all the
oaths which he had taken as to remaining in exile; our lord the pope
also absolved him from the oath which he had taken to the emperor.
In the same year,
Thomas Fitz-Bernard departed this life, who, after the decease of
Alan de Neville, had been appointed by our lord the king chief
justiciary of all the forests in England; upon whose decease our lord
the king divided his forests in England into different parts, and
over each part appointed four justices, namely, two clerks and two
knights; also two yeomen of his household to be guardians of vert and
venison, over all the other foresters, both those of the king as well
as of the knights and barons ; and he sent them to hold pleas of
forestal matters, in conformity with the Assize of the Forests
previously mentioned.
In the same year,
our lord the king came to Worcester, for the purpose of marching
thence with a large army into Wales, to wage war against the Welch,
who had ravaged his territories and slain his subjects. Rees, * the
son of Griffin, however, dreading his attack, having obtained a
safe-conduct from the king, came to Worcester, and there swore fealty
to the king of England, and that he would give his son and nephews as
hostages to the king; but, on his attempting to bring them, they
refused to accompany him.
* Rice, or Rhys ap
Griffyd.
In the same year,
[1184] our lord the king gave to William, the prior of the church of
Saint Augustin, at Bristol, the bishopric of Bangor. In the same
year, the priest Swerre, who was also called Birkebain, slew Magnus,
king of Norway.
In this year also,
the astrologers both of Spain and Sicily, as also the diviners
throughout almost the whole world; both Greek and Latin, wrote and
set forth nearly one and the same opinion as to the conjunction of
the planets. On this occasion, a certain astrologer, Corumphira by
name, wrote to the following effect:
Auguries from the Conjunction of the Planets.
“In the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Almighty
God hath known and the science of numbers hath disclosed, that the
planets, both superior as well as inferior, will come in conjunction
in Libra, that is to say in September, in the year from the
Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal and true God, one
thousand one hundred and eighty-six; and in the year of the Arabians
five hundred and eighty-two. * During the year this conjunction will
be preceded by a partial eclipse of the sun, which will be of a fiery
colour; this, taking place on the first hour of the twenty-first day
of the month of April, will be preceded by a total eclipse of the
moon, in the said month of April; that is to say, on the fifth day
thereof, and at the first hour of the night that shall precede
Wednesday; this, if God shall so will, nay rather because He does so
will, shall so will, hath so willed, and will not cease so to will.
Therefore, in the year before-named, the planets being, by the will
of God, in Libra, that is to say, in an aerial and windy sign, the
Dragon also contributing as a cause thereto, a wondrous earthquake
will take place, and especially in those regions in which such things
have been in the habit of taking place, and will destroy certain
places that have been subject to earthquakes and liable to the
mischances of utter ruin. For in the parts of the East there shall
arise a mighty wind, and with its strong blasts it shall blacken the
air and shall corrupt it with its poisonous stench. In consequence, a
mortality and sickness will attack great numbers, and loud peals will
be heard, and voices in the air that shall terrify the hearts of
those who hear them, and the wind shall raise aloft the sands and the
dust from the face of the earth, and shall utterly overwhelm the
cities situate on the plain, and especially those in the sandy
regions, those in the fifth climate, to wit; as Mecca, Barsara,
Baldac, ** and Babylon; nor shall any land be left otherwise than
covered with the sand and dust, and be utterly ruined thereby; so
much so, that the regions of Egypt and Ethiopia shall become almost
uninhabitable. And from the West this calamity will extend to all
parts of the East. In the regions of the West also shall arise
dissensions; and seditions of the people shall take place, and there
shall be one of them who shall levy armies innumerable, and shall
wage war on the shore of the waters, on which a slaughter so vast
will take place that the flow of the blood so shed will equal the
surging waves. Let each person feel assured that the conjunction
about to take place, whatever others may say, signifies to me, if God
so wills, the mutation of kingdoms, the superiority of the Franks,
the destruction of the Saracenic race, with the superior blessedness
of the religion of Christ, and its especial exaltation, together with
longer life to those who shall be born hereafter."
* If he alludes to
the Hegira, he is wrong here; A.D. 1186 would be the 564th year of
the Hegira.
** Probably
Bassora and Bagdad.
In like manner,
William the Astrologer, clerk to John, the constable of Chester,
wrote concerning the before-mentioned conjunctions of the planets to
the following effect :—
“In the year
from the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand one hundred and
eighty-six, in the month of August, on the completion of the
thirtieth day thereof, and in the following night, at the ninth hour,
in the twenty-ninth degree of Virgo, which is called the degree of
periods and the period of woes, Leo being in the ascendant, this
conjunction, which is called a minor conjunction, is most portentous.
Evil is predominant in this figure. This is followed by a conjunction
of Mars and Saturn, in the fourth degree of Libra, on the seventh day
of September, at the fourth hour, being the first day of the week;
the Sun being the lord of the hour, and Sagittarius the horoscope.
This conjunction is called a mid-conjunction. In this conjunction
good fortune is predominant; and in this inclination evil is
mitigated. Then follows a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which is
styled a major conjunction, in the eighth degree of Libra, on the
tenth day of October, being the sixth day of the week, at the ninth
hour. Mercury is then the lord of the hour, Capricorn the horoscope ;
Mars being in conjunction in the fourteenth degree with the Tail of
the Dragon. This conjunction portends wondrous events; thunder and
lightning, with fiery flashes running to and fro in the air. But not
regarding the conjunction of these, be it our part to record by
figure what other persons have couched under an enigmatical form, as
to the conjunction of all the planets in Libra, which will have an
effect in our day before unknown, and not to be known in times to
come. This conjunction will take place on the sixteenth day of
September, being the third day of the week, at the first hour; Mars
being the lord of the hour, and the Sun in the East, and the planets
in their several places, as follows: Libra being the horoscope, and
beginning in the first degree [of longitude]; the Sun being in the
thirtieth degree of Virgo ; Jupiter in two degrees three minutes;
Venus in three degrees forty - nine minutes; Saturn in eight degrees
six minutes ; Mercury in four degrees ten minutes; Mars in nine
degrees eighteen minutes; the Tail [of the Dragon] in eighteen
degrees twenty-three minutes; the Part of Warfare in fifteen degrees;
the Moon in seventeen degrees eight minutes; the Part of Fortune in
nineteen degrees. The second [horoscope] is Libra, beginning at its
twenty-fifth degree. The third is Scorpio, beginning at its
twenty-fourth degree. The fourth is Capricorn, beginning at its first
degree. The fifth is Aquarius, beginning at its fifth degree. The
sixth is Pisces, beginning at its seventh degree. The seventh is
Aries, beginning at its first degree. Now, as Saturn is most elevated
in orbit, let us first treat of him. He signifies the Pagans, and all
who are opposed to the laws of Christianity. Now, inasmuch as in the
figure of the sphere Saturn is in the mid-heaven governing the [airy]
triplicity, from the triplicity of the figure the Saracen magicians *
are auguring victory on their side, especially as the Sun at his
setting is seeking the superior conjunction of the planets.
* It is possible
that this may be the meaning of the mystic letters which here occur;
Tr. G. F. S. M. standing for “Triplicitate figurae gentis
Saracenae magi.” If not, those who are skilled in judicial
astrology may, possibly, be able to give a better translation.
“However,
from an estimate of the figure we form a very different opinion. For
the Sun signifies the potentates of Christendom, and in this figure
is seeking conjunction with Jupiter ; but Jupiter, being powerless,
seeks conjunction with Venus, and she with Saturn. Mercury then, by
retrograding, cutting it off,* would naturally appear by his
retrograde motion to indicate the elevation of their religion and the
depression of our own. But as Mercury imparts this same disposition
to Jupiter, and Jupiter imparts it to none, this marks the lasting
nature of our faith. Now since the Sun is of the greatest influence
in this figure, a man, a Christian, is arising among us, one of great
fame, whose name will be exalted until the end of the world. But
because this conjunction takes place in a changeable sign, the career
of this person will be closed before Saturn shall have passed through
this sign; and inasmuch as Jupiter denotes power of prophecy, he will
at last be enumerated among the prophets. In this figure, Mars being
separated from Saturn, transfers the properties of Saturn to the Tail
[of the Dragon] ; which not retaining this position, as though by a
retrograde movement, carries back again towards Mars what has been so
entrusted to it. But, inasmuch as Mars is being scorched by the orb
of the Sun, being thus impeded and embarrassed between two evils,
Saturn and the Tail [of the Dragon], he becomes infected with their
nature, and signifies by his properties, sorrows, contentions,
alarms, catastrophes, murders, and spoliation of property. The Tail
also signifies separations, losses, dangers, and diminution of
possessions; and because Mars forms an evil conjunction with the Tail
[of the Dragon] in the ascendant, I do therefore contradict the
judgment pronounced by Albumasar upon this figure in his Hundred
Discourses. Turn your eyes from the figure in which Mars is at the
greatest angle when Scorpio is in the ascendant, or when he is with
the Tailand as it is evident to every astrologer that Saturn has an
influence over this climate, the Moon participating with him, I am of
opinion that he cannot be considered as exempt from the evil
before-mentioned. Wherefore, the only remedy remaining is, for
princes to be on their guard, to serve God and eschew the devil, that
so the Lord may avert their imminent punishments. Amen.”
* Conjunction with
Saturn.
Again, with
reference to the before-mentioned conjunction of the planets, the
following was written:—
“To all
literate men, and especially to scholars, to whose presence this
present page shall come, Anselm, the humble brother in the Lord, of
the monastery at Worcester, greeting. Marvellous is God in His Saints
and in His works, who never ceases to work miracles in behalf of His
people. And, inasmuch as no man places a light under a bushel, but
upon a candlestick, that it may give light to all, a miracle,
wondrous beyond measure, took place in our house on the day before
the calends of November; which, in order that it might come to the
knowledge of those not present, by writing at least, I have committed
to writing. Be it known then unto your discreetness, that one of our
lay brothers, falling into a trance, lay nine days and nine nights
like one dead before a certain altar, prostrate there in the form of
a cross;* and as he was a religious man, and a brother of a holy mode
of life, no one of us dared to remove him thence. On the tenth day,
at the third hour, in a low voice, and with a wailing tone, still in
a wondrous lament, he chaunted the following lines ten times or even
more, in the same order in which they are here written:
* With his arms
extended.
“The fall of
mankind and the sudden ruin of this world, a pernicious fatality is
hurrying on. Children of tender age one universal slaughter
overwhelms; by the same death young and old must die. The water shall
be tainted by the corruption of the substance of the air, and with
deadly dew shall the whole ground be drenched. Hence shall a dreadful
mortality arise, and universal carnage. A universal cause is there of
death, a universal cause of woe. For as soon as the Sun shall touch
the back of the Lion slain by Hercules, a two-fold heat shall parch
the entrails dried-up. Then, though there shall be a thousand like
Lachesis, and even hands as many to each, still, at the same instant
will Atropos cut all their threads. For with the sword of death will
the just vengeance of God visit the sins of the people. Ah wretched
me! alas! what will be my lot? Behold! the sword is gleaming, which
will the whole world destroy. Behold the hand of the Lord! Ah
wretched me! whither shall I fly? Behold the wrath of the Lord! shall
I take to flight, or here conceal myself? Whither shall I fly from
God, for God is everywhere? If the Divine will cannot be moved by
prayer, then the seed with the chaff will the wrath of God beat down.
That all things must return unto their ancient Chaos, the opinions of
the philosophers prove. Still, thus it cannot be, as it is clear that
whatever has been, and most things that now are, must remain as they
are. Now, above the stars am I borne, and though my eyes are closed,
lifted up to the stars, either house of the Sun do I behold. There is
night without the stars and Moon, and day without the Sun: but though
so it is, why so it is I cannot tell. The stars of Mercury, of Venus,
and of Jove, now lie concealed. They exist not, or if they do exist,
they have forsaken the sky. Through the whole Zodiac they roam at
large, both Mars and the noxious star of the scythe-bearing old man
who wields the scythe.* Mars smites with his sword, Saturn smites
with his hurtful scythe; he strives to inflict ruin on the interests
of men. Hence am I now borne to the dubious realms of the Stygian
tyrant, in which there is, and will be, everlasting gloom. Amid gloom
so great, neither Sun, nor Moon, nor fire, in this place of
wretchedness are able to direct the eyes. Here is toil, and grief,
and anxiety inextricable : here for the wretched guilty are grievous
punishments prepared. Here resounds everlastingly the direful dirge,
woe! woe! The gloom how great! woe, woe is me! woe! woe! Cerberus is
raging before the gates, and is yawning with his three throats; three
dreadful sounds from his mouth at the same instant does he send.
Three Furies guard the portals, Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, on
whose features horror is impressed. Horrid is their aspect, and foul
the breath of their mouths, and their hoarse voices sound like
thunder in their throats. In all there is an innate propensity to
wickedness in their minds; in all there is a disposition prone to
every crime. In the midst of the water stands Tantalus, thirsting
with it up to his throat; while, that he may not drink thereof, it
ever retreats from his mouth. Here is mighty Sisyphus rolling the
stone that rolls everlastingly back; so that his is a labour without
an end. Continually does the devouring vulture gnaw at the liver of
Tityus; which, that it may be for ever perishing, is ever on the
point of perishing. Some dreadful famine, some severe drought
attacks, and labour without cessation fatigues. Some are frozen by
cold, others are scorched by the heat of flames; each as he has
deserved is here visited with a punishment his own. An entrance is
open to all, an exit to none; all does that place devour, and to the
Furies consign. Tisiphone, in conjunction with those dreadful
sisters, awards the punishments which they have been found to deserve
to endure. Now to the guilty do I leave Styx, now Lethe; now Acheron;
once again with much ado do I retrace my steps to those above.”
* Saturn.
When he had
recited this last line, at length returning to himself, and aroused,
as it were, from sleep, he raised his head, and said to one of the
brethren, who, for the purpose of seeing the miracle, had come with
the rest, eyeing him most intently: ‘Wonder not at my features,
for die thou shalt. A grievous and sudden end shall overtake thee.’
After this, turning his eyes upon the assemblage of the brethren,
not less elegantly than if he had been gifted from his infancy with
the eloquence of Tully did he foretell in the Latin tongue certain
events which were then to come to pass. And, as these things
afterwards did come to pass, just as he had foretold, being filled
ourselves with the greatest astonishment, in order that others, as
well as ourselves, may admire the lines which this lay brother
composed, who was never in any degree acquainted with letters, we
have determined, on account of the stories there interwoven, to send
them from school to school, in order that, by their judgment, this
assertion of ours may be thoroughly sifted. Some indeed there are,
who, in consequence of the fables inserted, despise the rest; while
some endeavour to prove (since in many things it has fallen out as he
predicted) that under a kind of veil, these fables bear the impress
of truth; and, as in no respect it fell out otherwise than he had
predicted, the very same day, gnashing his teeth, that same brother
whose death he had predicted, ended his life in the greatest agony.
Upon this, the brother who had pronounced those prophetic lines,
bursting into tears in the presence of all, was not ashamed to
confess, in the contrition of his heart, whatever during his life he
had been guilty of; and, as befitted a religious man, received the
communion with the greatest devoutness; after receiving which, he
immediately breathed forth his spirit, saying, “Lord, into thy
hands I commend my spirit.”
Now when the
public had heard of these things, and others of a similar nature,
they were greatly alarmed, and the nearer that pestilential season,
which the before-named astrologers had predicted, drew nigh, the more
did exceeding terror come upon all, both clergy and laity, rich and
poor, and drove great numbers of them to a state of desperation. A
certain writing however, which Pharamella, the son of Abdallah of
Cordova, sent to John, bishop of Toledo, gave them some comfort; it
was to the following effect:
“Pharamella,
son of Abdallah of Cordova, an Arabian by parentage, and brought up
in the palace of the great king Evenjacob, who is called ‘El
Emir Amimoli,’ to John, bishop of Toledo, bishop of those
persons who are called Christians, health, beyond all those who call
upon God. They who fear God, the Creator of all things, shall be
exalted, and they also who adore Him with pure hands and with a heart
entirely cleansed. We have seen some men of your persuasion,
dissimilar to ourselves in dress and in language, who were merchants,
and had very good woollen cloths of various colours on sale. They
stated that they had come from a far distant land, which is called
the ‘ land of the Elders,’ that is to say, the kingdom of
the Franks. Among other matters, we learned from them through an
interpreter, Ferdinand by name, a fellow-citizen of yours, and at
present a captive with us, that certain false astrologers of the
west, who were ignorant of the virtues of the heavenly bodies and the
effects produced by the five wandering ones, [the planets?] and the
two lights [sun and moon?] which move of themselves in epicycles and
eccentric circuits, through their houses and dignities, have alarmed
the hearts of you believers in Christ, and not only of such as are
simple-minded, but even of those among you who are believed to be
wise. For they say that in the year which is the five hundred and
seventy-second of the Alligera, [Hegira] and the one thousand one
hundred and eighty-sixth from the Incarnation of your Lord Christ, in
the month which you call September, there is to be a very mighty
wind, such as is not often experienced, which shall destroy cities
and towns, and overthrow everything it meets on the earth in its
course. This wind shall come, they say, from the West, and shall
extend even unto the East; and after the wind a most dreadful stench,
that shall destroy human beings. Of this circumstance they allege no
further cause than that the planets will come in conjunction in
Libra, which is an aerial sign, and therefore a cause of windy
weather. Now, it may at once be answered these persons, by even our
children, that not only is Libra an aerial sign, but so also are
Gemini and Aquarius aerial signs; in both of which, many planets have
come in conjunction, and still no danger of winds or of pestilential
exhalations or of mortality has ensued. But while Saturn and Mars are
two unfortunate stars, Jupiter and Venus are fortunate ones and
propitious; wherefore, if they shall happen to be in the same sign
with the others, without any setting or attractions, or shall keep
themselves duly balanced, their beneficent effect will temper the
evil effects of the former ones. But on the day of the month in which
they say that this will take place, Mars will not be in Libra, but in
the thirteenth degree of Virgo; while Venus in Scorpio, which is the
house of Mars, will entirely do away with all the evil influence of
Mars, both as regards his house in which she is reigning, as also in
consequence of the respect due to her sex, by means of which she
attracts Mars to feelings of courtesy towards her. Jupiter also, will
assuage the disastrous influence of Saturn, Mercury being nearer to
Jupiter than Saturn. Such persons ought also to recollect, that
inasmuch as Saturn performs his revolution once in thirty years, he
remains two years and a half in each of the signs;51 whereas Mars
accomplishes his course through each of the signs in little less than
a year and a half. Since then, it is a matter of necessity, that in
every thirty years Saturn must always make a stay of about two years
and a half in Libra; by the same necessity it comes to pass, that
before Saturn goes out of Libra, Mars must be in the same sign of
Libra together with Saturn. If then, Mars and Saturn have already
hitherto been every thirty years once together in Libra, and are so
to be in future, either these pestilential winds have happened
before, or will happen from their evil influence when in a windy
sign, or the converse. But that they have happened at any previous
time, we neither read in the writings of the masters, nor have we
witnessed the fact in our own times. Consequently, we ought to feel
assured that they will not happen, since upon similar combinations it
has never fallen out that any thing of a like nature has happened.
Therefore, let your astrologers peruse the tables of the Inner
Persians, and of the Arabians, Hermes, Astalius, and Abidemonus, as
well as of Albumasar, of more modern date; and let them compute
proportionally the influences of the stars, their settings,
attractions, separations, equalities, and other matters which it were
tedious to recount to those even who have time to listen thereto; and
when they have found that from a like conjunction of the stars that
is false which they are dreaming of, either let them relinquish
opinions based upon such idle stories, or else be converted to the
religion of Ishmael which we profess. However, according to the
judgment of Messehella and Alkandus, unless God shall ordain it
otherwise, there will be a scanty vintage, crops of wheat of moderate
average, much slaughter by the sword, and many shipwrecks.”
1185 A.D.
In the year of grace 1185, being the thirty-first year of the reign
of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, that king was at Windsor in England, on
the day of the Nativity of our Lord. In the same year, on the day of
the Circumcision of our Lord, died Gilbert, the son of Fergus, who
had taken his brother Uchtred, the father of the noble man Roland,
and had caused him to be deprived of his eyes, tongue, and virility,
by his own son Dunecan; and who had also given up his son the
before-named Dunecan, to the king of England as a hostage to ensure
the preservation of the peace. After his death, Roland, the son of
Uchtred, invaded all the lands of the before-named Gilbert, and
gained possession of them.
In the same year,
Baldwin the Leper, king of Jerusalem, and the Templars and
Hospitallers, sent to the king of England, the son of the empress
Matilda, Heraclius, the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and
the grand Masters of the Hospital and Temple, together with the royal
standard, and the keys of the Sepulchre of our Lord, of the Tower of
David, and of the city of Jerusalem, asking of him speedy succour, as
being the heir and lord of the land of Jerusalem. For it ought to be
known, that Fulk, the brother of Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, the father
of the said Henry, was king of Jerusalem, as we have previously
mentioned. Wherefore, when the before-named Patriarch and Master of
the Hospital came to England, the king of England met them at the
town of Reading, and received them with great joyousness ; on which,
immediately falling at the king’s feet, with great weeping and
sobbing, they uttered the words of salutation on behalf of the king,
and principal men, and the whole of the people of the land of
Jerusalem, and, explaining the cause of their coming, delivered to
him the royal standard, and the keys of the Sepulchre of our Lord,
and those of the Tower of David and of the city of Jerusalem, in
behalf of the king and the principal men of the city of Jerusalem,
besides letters from pope Lucius, to the following effect:—
The Letter of pope Lucius on giving aid to the land of Jerusalem.
“Lucius,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Henry, the illustrious
king of the English, health and the Apostolic benediction. Inasmuch
as all your predecessors have been especially distinguished above all
the other princes of the earth for glory in arms and nobleness of
spirit, and the people of the faithful have been taught to look upon
them in their adversity as their defenders; deservedly is application
made to you, the heir not only of your father’s kingdom but of
his virtues, a certain degree of security being assured therefrom, at
a time when peril or even extermination is dreaded as impending over
the Christian people; that by the arm of your royal mightiness,
protection may be granted to the members of Him who has in His mercy
allowed you to reach such a height of glory and pre-eminence, and has
rendered you an invincible wall of defence against those who wished
to impugn His name. In the first place, be it known to your serene
highness how that the land of Jerusalem has been here buffeted by
frequent and vexatious disputes on these matters, the special
inheritance of Him who was crucified, and the place in which the
mysteries were foretold of our salvation, and brought to a completion
by the carrying out of that event, and of which He who comprehended
all things in His death, by a peculiar privilege made it the scene;
and how being now trampled under foot, and hemmed in by the pressure
of a perfidious and most abominable race, it stands nodding to its
downfall; and how, which God forbid, the Christian religion must
thereby sustain irreparable loss. For Saladin, the most inhuman
persecutor of that holy and fearful name, has now risen to such a
pitch in the spirit of his fury, and is to such a degree putting
forth all the might of his wickedness for the destruction of the
people of the faithful, that, unless the vehement onset of his
wickedness is checked as though by barriers placed in his path, he
may entertain an assured hope and belief that Jordan will flow before
his face, and that the land that was consecrated by the shedding of
the vivifying blood, will be polluted by the contact of his most
abominable superstitions, and the country which your glorious and
noble predecessors, amid many labours and perils, rescued from the
dominion of the unbelieving heathens, will once more be subjected to
the accursed dominion of this most nefarious tyrant.
In
consequence, therefore, of the urgency of the necessity, and of the
sorrows thus imminent, we have deemed it advisable, by these
Apostolic letters, to entreat your mightiness, or rather with a
palpitating heart to call upon you with the loudest voice, showing
regard for the honor of Him who has set you upon high, and, in
comparison with the name of the mighty ones who are on earth, has
bestowed upon you a glorious name, in the earnestness of your, pious
zeal, to give your attention to the desolate state of the
before-named land, and, to the end that, in those parts, the
confusion of Him may be put an end to, who, in your behalf, submitted
to be held in derision in that self-same land, to afford efficacious
aid. Wherefore, following in the footsteps of your predecessors, by
the aid of the Lord, let that land be preserved in the worship of the
great God by means of your diligence, which they rescued from the
jaws of the prince of darkness. In such straits of oppression it
befits your highness to labour with the more earnest zeal, inasmuch
as you are aware that the land is deprived of the protection of a
king, and the powerful men have thought proper to centre all their
hopes of defending it in the protection of your mightiness. And this
your serene highness may be the better enabled to understand, from
the fact that they have despatched to your excellency the chief men
of that land and the mighty defenders thereof, namely, our venerable
brother Heraclius, the Patriarch, and our dearly beloved son, the
Master of the Hospital, that from their dignified presence you may be
enabled to take under consideration the present state of affairs, and
to see how great and extreme is the necessity, on account of which
they have so long endured to be without protection; to the end that
in person they might the more easily incline your devotedness to
comply with their desires. Receive, therefore, the persons
before-named with all kindness, as though sent to you by the Lord
Himself, treat them in all things with that brotherly love which is
their due, and show yourself ready to acquiesce in their requests,
according as, having regard to their weight and their probity, you
shall think them deserving of your grace and favour. And further, let
your prudence call to mind, and with anxious meditation thereon
ponder over those promises by which you have so often bound your
highness as to undertaking the protection of the land so often named;
and show yourself in this respect so wary and so zealous, that, at
the terrible day of judgment your conscience may not accuse you, and
the question put to you by that searching Judge who is not to be
deceived, may not lead to your condemnation.”
After hearing
these requests, our lord the king made answer that, God willing, all
things would yet be well, and appointed a time for his answer,
namely, the first Sunday in Lent, at London. Accordingly, on this
day, our lord the king, the Patriarch, the bishops, abbats, earls,
and barons of the kingdom of England, William, king of Scotland, and
his brother David, together with the earls and barons of his kingdom,
met at W This council was held at Clerkenwell. London, and after a
conference had been held thereon with due deliberation, it pleased
all that our lord the king should consult thereupon Philip, king of
France, his liege lord; upon which the council breaking up, our lord
the king gave to all his subjects, both clergy and laity, permission
to assume the cross. Accordingly, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury,
Ranulph, justiciary of England, Walter, archbishop of Rouen, and
Hugh, bishop of Durham, together with many others of the bishops from
both sides of the sea, and nearly all the earls, barons, and knights
of England, Normandy, Aquitaine, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, and
Touraine, assumed the cross; at the period of the assumption of which
a certain miraculous event took place.
For on a certain
day, a woman who had secretly become pregnant, finding that the time
of her labour was approaching, fled from the house of her father, in
consequence of her wish to avoid being detected in her transgression;
when behold ! a mighty tempest of wind and rain overtook her in her
flight, as she was wandering alone in the fields and begging the Lord
for His assistance and a place of refuge. Upon finding ‘that
her prayers were not instantly listened to by the Lord, she fell into
a fit of desperation, saying, “If thou, God, dost despise my
prayers, then may the Devil succour me;” immediately upon which
the Devil made his appearance to her under the form of a young man,
barefoot and girt up as though for a journey, and said to the woman,
“Follow me.” As they passed along the road they met with
a sheepfold in a field, on which the Devil ran before and got ready a
fire in the sheepfold, and a seat made of fresh straw, upon which the
woman followed him, and, entering the place, warmed herself before
the fire. While so doing, she said, “I am thirsty, and am quite
famished with hunger;” to which the Devil made answer: “Wait
a little, and I will bring you bread and drink.” While he was
gone [to fetch this], two men, who happened to be passing along the
road, seeing a fire in the sheepfold, wondered what it could be, and
coming nearer, entered the sheepfold ; where, finding the pregnant
woman lying down near the fire, they asked her who it was that had
made the fire for her, to which she made answer, “The Devil.”
On this they enquired of her where he was, when she replied, “I
was hungry and thirsty, and he has gone to find me some victuals and
drink.” On hearing this, they said to her, “Have faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ and in the glorious Virgin Mary, His mother,
and they shall deliver you from the hand of the enemy; and be sure to
enquire of him what shall come to pass;” after saying which,
they went to a village that was near at hand, and related to the
clergy and the people what they had seen and heard upon the road.
In the meantime,
the Devil returned, and bringing with him bread and water, refreshed
the woman; after which, stooping down, she gave birth to a male
child, which the Devil taking up, performed the duties of midwife,
and was warming it before the fire, when, lo! the priest of the
village before-mentioned came to the sheepfold, armed with the
Catholic faith, the cross, and holy water, and attended by the clergy
and a great number of people. Finding that she was delivered, he was
sprinkling the child, which the Devil was holding in his arms, with
holy water, in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, when the
Devil, being utterly unable to endure it, took to flight, and,
carrying the child away with him, appeared to them no more. On this,
the woman, returning to herself, exclaimed, “Now do I know of a
truth that the Lord hath delivered me from the hands of the enemy ;”
and she then related to them that she had been informed by the Devil,
that, since the time when Jesus Christ prevailed over hell, there had
not been so great sorrow or lamentation in hell as there was now, in
consequence of the assumption of the cross: but, said she, his sorrow
will be turned into joy, because so great will be the iniquities and
offences of the Crusaders, that the Lord will blot them out of the
Book of Life, and many of them, forsaking the religion of the cross,
will become persecutors of the cross and of the name of Christ—a
thing that afterwards proved to be the case.
Our lord the king next came to Windsor, and there,
on the Lord’s day on which is sung “Lætare,
Jerusalem,” [“Rejoice, 0 Jerusalem,"] which this year
fell on the day, before the calends of April, he dubbed his son John a knight, and
immediately after sent him to Ireland, appointing him king thereof.
In the meantime, a mighty earthquake was heard* throughout nearly
the whole of England, such as had not been heard in that land since
the beginning of the world; for rocks were split asunder, houses of
stone fell down, and the metropolitan church of Lincoln was rent from
top to bottom.
* The word is “auditus” at the present day we speak
of feeling an earthquake, and, in general, not of hearing one.
This earthquake took place on the day after Palm Sunday,
that is to say, on the seventeenth day before the calends of May; and on the
day after the said earthquake our lord the king of England, Heraclius, the
Patriarch, and Hugh, bishop of Durham, with many of the principal men
of England, crossed over between Dover and Witsand. After his arrival
in Normandy, our lord the king of England raised a considerable army,
and then sent word to his son Richard, earl of Poitou, who had
fortified Poitou against him, and had taken prisoner his brother
Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, that unless he delivered up to his mother
Eleanor the whole of Poitou freely and quietly, he would visit him
with a rod of iron, and war against him with all the power of his
might. Upon receiving this command, the said Richard, ceasing all
hostilities, delivered up Poitou to his mother, and, returning to his
father, remained with him like an obedient son.
In the meantime, on the calends of May, being the day of the
Apostles, Saint Philip and Saint James, about mid-day, a total eclipse of the sun was seen,
which was followed by thunder and lightning, and a mighty tempest;
from the effects of which men and animals perished, and many houses,
being set on fire thereby, were burned to the ground. After this,
Philip, king of France, and Henry, king of England, holding a
conference as to giving aid to the land of Jerusalem, promised that
they would afford it ample assistance both in men and money: but, for
all this the before-named Patriarch cared but little, as he had been
in hopes that he should be enabled to bring back with him, for the
defence of the land of Jerusalem, the before-named king of England,
or one of his sons, or else some other person high in authority ;
but, being unable to effect this, he retired from the court in sorrow
and confusion on his return to his country.
In the same year,
[1185] Walter, the archbishop elect of Rouen, received the pall from
pope Lucius, and immediately consecrated Gilbert de Glanville, who
had been presented with the bishopric of Rochester by the king of
England. In this year also, John, the king’s son, coming into
Ireland, was honorably received by John, the archbishop of Dublin,
and the other subjects of his father, who had preceded him; however,
as he thought fit to shut up everything in his own purse, and was
unwilling to pay their wages to his soldiers, he lost the greater
part of his army in several conflicts with the Irish, and being at
last reduced to want [of troops], after appointing justices and
distributing his knights in various places for the defence of the
country, he returned to England.
In the month of
December, in this year, pope Lucius departed this life; and was
succeeded in the papacy by pope Urban the Third; who immediately
thereupon, in order that notice thereof might be universally given,
wrote to the prelates of the Holy Church to the following effect:
“Urban,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brethren
the archbishops and bishops, and to his dearly beloved sons the
abbats, priors, and other prelates of churches, to whom these letters
shall come, health and the Apostolic benediction. The exalted
counsels of heaven, retaining in their dispensations a constant
supervision thereof, have founded the Holy Church of Rome, to the
governance whereof, insufficient as we are, we have been chosen, upon
a rock which is based upon the solidity of the faith; bestowing upon
her that foundation in the strength of the Apostolic confession, that
so neither the outbreaks of the storm, nor the winds of the tempest
can prevail against her. Wherefore it is that the universal Mother
Church, ever retaining with her the Saviour, even unto the end of the
world, has so, as expressed in the Song of Solomon, “embraced
him whom she loved,” that, by reason of no change of events or
of times, can she be separated from the singleness of her faith, or
the fixedness of her affection. For although, by reason of the
repeated changes of her pastors as they depart, she has frequently
fallen into various perils, or in consequence of the attacks of the
wickedness of this world has endured persecutions and labours
innumerable, still, never has the Divine favour forsaken her, any
further than that she might perfect her strength in some temptation,
and thence obtain the joyous fulfilment of her hope, on receiving
thereby a strengthening of her faith. The Lord thus dealing towards
her, within these few days as a mark of His goodness, although no
slight grief and sorrow affected her for the death of the pious
father Lucius, Divine Providence has preserved her in the unity of
the spirit and in the bond of peace, so that after the sorrow of the
evening joy came in the morning, and she, like a most beauteous dove,
rejoicing amid her sighs, retained her beauty without a ruffle even
or a spot upon her whiteness. Now, after the decease of the father of
pious memory, our predecessor, Lucius, our lord the pope, when his
most venerable body had been honorably entombed, there was held by
the brethren a conference as to the election of a successor, at which
there was such unity among all, and such concord of each with the
other, that He may be supposed to have wrought upon them, in whose
hands are the hearts of all men, and through whom the diversity of
minds is reconciled. But, while in the church of God, there were many
venerable and prudent men, of whom it is our belief that their votes
might have more prudently and more worthily have made choice,
inefficient as we are, they turned their eyes upon us; and it was
done accordingly as it pleased the Lord, in that they made choice of
us as their father and shepherd, who have neither strength nor merits
to suffice to the elevation of a dignity so great. However, although
we were fully conscious to ourselves of our own infirmities, so as to
believe that we might, not without good reason, have offered
resistance to their proposals; still, to the end that through delay
in the transaction or pertinacity in making resistance, no danger
might ensue to the Church, although unwillingly, we consented to
undertake the labour of the burden entrusted to us; hoping that our
steps would be guided by Him who bestowed on Saint Peter, when
sailing on the waves, faith even to that degree that he went down
into the sea, and went forth to meet Him in the midst thereof, that
doubting he might not perish. Now therefore, being placed in such a
position and office, as to require to be aided therein by the
suffrages of all the faithful, to you do we resort, as especial sons
of the Roman Church, with full confidence and security, and,
prefacing with the salutation of the Apostolic benediction, we do by
these familiar letters admonish you, and do earnestly request and
exhort you in the Lord, that, attending the death of our before-named
father and lord Lucius, with the devout suffrages of your prayers,
you will especially pay to ourselves that fidelity and duty which is
owed to us, in virtue of your respect for Saint Peter and Saint Paul
the Apostles and the Apostolic See, by all of you in common, that by
so doing, you may be enabled both to obtain your reward of God, and
always be enabled to find more abundant grace in my eyes, and prove
yourselves deserving before the whole Church. Given at Verona, on the
second day before the ides of January.”
In the same year,
Henry, king of England, sent envoys to pope Urban, and obtained many
things of him, which pope Lucius had stoutly refused ; one of which
was that such one of his sons as he should think fit should be
crowned king of Ireland. This was acceded to by our lord the pope,
who confirmed the same by his bull, and, as a proof of his assent and
confirmation thereof, sent him a crown made of peacock’s
feathers, embroidered with gold. In this year, shortly before the
feast of Saint Peter ad Vinculo,, the before-named Patriarch, having
returned to Jerusalem, and brought with him no aid for the defence of
that land, great fear came upon the inhabitants of the land of
Jerusalem. Consequently, a certain brother of the Temple, an
Englishman by birth, whose name was Robert de Saint Alban, having
forsaken the Christian faith, went to Saladin, king of Babylon, and
promised him that he would deliver up to him the city of Jerusalem ;
and, on his giving him security for the same, Saladin gave him his
niece in marriage, and a considerable body of troops, and put him in
command of his army, making him general thereof. Upon this, he
immediately went forth with his army to the plains of Saint George,
and there divided it into three detachments, two of which he sent
into the parts adjacent to lay them waste; on which they ravaged the
whole country, from Montreal to Neapolis, while Jericho, and the city
of Sebaste, with some other cities, were destroyed.
But the
before-named Robert, with the third part of his army, marched against
the city of Jerusalem; on which the few inhabitants who were in the
city, trusting in the Lord, went forth by the postern gates, and,
carrying before them the wood of the Cross of our Lord as a standard,
by the might of the Lord smote the army in which was the before-named
Robert; on which, taking to flight, he turned his back on the
smiters, while the men of Jerusalem followed him and his army, and
slew many of them with the edge of the sword: Robert, however, though
with considerable difficulty, made his escape.
After this, on Saladin purposing a fresh attack upon the land of Jerusalem, the
Templars and Hospitallers and other chief men of that land, gave him
sixty thousand besants for a truce until the octave of the ensuing
Easter. In the meantime, William de Marchis, earl of Joppa, having
died, William the Leper, the king of Jerusalem, abdicated the throne
of the kingdom, and, naming the boy Baldwin, son of the before-named
William and Sibylla, who was his sister, his heir, caused him to be
crowned king in the Holy City of Jerusalem; shortly after which he
died, on which the boy Baldwin reigned in his stead for nearly two
years, and his mother Sibylla married Guido de Lusignan, and by him
had two daughters.
1186 A.D.
In the year of grace 1186, being the thirty-second year of the reign of king Henry,
son of the empress Matilda, the said king was at Damfront, in
Normandy, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord; after which
festival a conference was held between him and Philip, king of
France, at Gisors, where he made oath that he would give Alice, the
sister of the king of France, in marriage to his son Richard, earl of
Poitou. The king of France also promised to the before-named Richard,
together with his said sister, Gisors, and all that his father Louis
had promised, together with his daughter Margaret, to Henry, the son,
the king of England; and he further made oath that he would never
after that advance any claim against them in respect thereof.
After having held
this conference, the king of England crossed over to England, and
gave to Hugh, prior of the house of Wicham, which is of the
Carthusian order, and in the bishopric of Bath, the bishopric of
Lincoln; whom Baldwin, the archbishop of Canterbury, shortly after
consecrated. After this, the king proceeded with a large army to
Carlisle, intending to go still further to wage war against Roland,
the son of Ucthred, son of Fergus, for the injuries and spoliations
which he had been guilty of towards Dunecan, the son of Gilbert, son
of Fergus; but the said Roland came thither to the king and made
peace with him. The king also, while there, caused Paulinus of Leeds
to be elected to the bishopric of Carlisle; which, however, the said
Paulinus declined. On this, in order that Paulinus might be willing
to accept of that bishopric, the king offered him to enrich it with
revenues to the amount of three hundred marks yearly, arising from
the church of Bamborough, the church of Scarborough, the chapelry of
Tickhill, and two of the king’s manors near Carlisle.
In the same year,
Philip, king of the Franks, gave to Bela, king of Hungary, his sister
Margaret in marriage, who had been the wife of Henry, the son of the
king of England. In the same year, Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, son of
Henry, king of England, died at Paris from bruises which he had
received from the hoofs of horses at a tournament, and was buried in
the cathedral church of that city. In this year also some of the
Irish cut off the head of Hugh de Lacy in Ireland. In the same year,
our lord the king of England gave Ermengard, his kinswoman, daughter
of Richard, viscount de Beaumont, in marriage to William, king of
Scotland ; and caused them to be married in his chapel at Woodstock
by Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, where he held in their honor
great nuptial festivities at his palace for a period of four days.
Our lord the king also there presented the king of Scotland with the
castle of Edinburgh; which the said king immediately gave to the
before-named Ermengard his wife as a marriage portion, and by way of
increasing the same he gave her one hundred pounds of yearly revenue,
and forty knights’ fees.
In the same year,
while the king of England was staying at Carlisle, Robert Buteville,
dean of the church of York, departed this life, and was succeeded in
the deanery by Hubert Fitz-Walter, clerk to Ranulph de Glanville, at
the king’s presentation. In the same year, our lord the king of
England gave to William de Northale the bishopric of Worcester, and
to John, subdean of Salisbury, the bishopric of Exeter; who were
accordingly consecrated by Baldwin, the archbishop of Canterbury.
In the same year,
after pope Urban, upon the complaint of John, the bishop of Dunkeld,
had heard the dispute that existed between him and Hugh, the bishop
of Saint Andrew’s, he wrote to the king of Scotland to the
following effect: —
The Letter of pope Urban to William, king of Scotland.
“Urban,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to William, the
illustrious king of the Scots, health and the Apostolic benediction.
Inasmuch as, by the duties enjoined upon us by God in virtue of our
office, we are bound to give our earnest attention to all the
churches, both those near to us, as also those at a great distance,
and, if we know of any unreasonable attempts made by them or by their
ministers, to recall them to a more suitable line of conduct, the
princes of this world ought not to feel themselves aggrieved in
consequence thereof, if sometimes we think proper to extend our hands
for the correction of those things which they have done amiss;
inasmuch as they themselves also, in conformity with the power that
has been entrusted to them, ought to aid us herein, and, when it is
necessary and the obstinacy of any stands in need thereof, stoutly to
resist the contumacy prompted by a spirit of wickedness. Your royal
excellency is not unaware what a grievous dissension has arisen
between our venerable brethren, John, bishop of Dunkeld, and Hugh,
bishop of Saint Andrew’s; and although either party has
undergone great labours, and submitted to great expenses, and, in the
time of pope Lucius of blessed memory, our predecessor, held a long
discussion thereon at the Apostolic See, they still were unable to
bring the matter in dispute to a conclusion. And whereas lately the
said bishops came to our presence, and discussed the said matters at
length, in our hearing, upon which, by the advice 01 our brethren, we
gave to the before-named bishop of Dunkeld power to act in the
bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, in opposition to the said bishop
Hugh, and the said bishop of Saint Andrew’s was sufficiently
instructed in our presence, to return to his own place within a
period named, upon the understanding that if he should not do so
within the said time, our venerable brother Jocelyn, bishop of
Glasgow, and our dearly beloved sons, the abbats of Melrose,
Newbottle, and Dunfermline, should from thenceforth suspend him from
the episcopal duties, and if he should after that prove contumacious,
should place him under the ban of excommunication, and not revoke
their sentence until such time as he should have come into our
presence. For it is our wish, that this matter should no longer
remain in a state of suspense, in order that thereby the said church
of Saint Andrew’s may incur no grave detriment to its
interests, but rather that, the truth being known, with the aid of
the Lord, by our means it may be brought to a suitable conclusion. We
have also ordered the before-named bishop of Glasgow and his
colleagues, relying upon our authority, to extend their protection to
our dearly-beloved sons, Aiulph, dean of Lothian, Odo, the seneschal,
Roger de Feric, and other clerks, friends of the beforenamed bishop
of Dunkeld, from all molestation whatsoever, and not to allow their
possessions or other goods, or the revenues of the said bishop to be
seized upon by any person. And if any one shall presume to disregard
this prohibition hereon, they are, by means of canonical censure, to
restrain them in such course, no appeal to the contrary withstanding.
To the end, therefore, that what we have ordered may without any
difficulty whatever be complied with, we do advise your royal
excellency, and exhort you in the Lord, and, for the remission of
your sins, enjoin you, out of your love of justice, and your
reverence for Saint Peter and for ourselves, to allow proceedings to
be taken in this matter in conformity with the tenor of our mandates,
and with your royal protection to defend the before-named dean and
seneschal, and Robert de Fedic, and the rest of the kinsmen and
friends of the beforenamed bishop of Dunkeld, as also the bishopric,
and the rest of his revenues, and neither in any way to aggrieve them
nor suffer them to be aggrieved by others; that so this dispute may
without any hindrance be brought to a conclusion, and your royal
mightiness may for this work of justice gain a neverfailing reward
from God, and a good name among men. You are to know also, that we
have enjoined the before-named bishops, in virtue of their obedience
to us, not to receive anything from the churches or clergy subject to
them in respect of the expenses which, in the transaction of the
matters before-named, they are liable to incur, but to make it their
care to supply the necessary expenses from their own revenues alone.
For we are unwilling that by their deeds the churches, or any persons
in your kingdom, should incur any detriment whatever. We also wish it
not to escape your royal excellency, that the before-named bishop of
Dunkeld has so honorably conducted his cause, and has paid such
deference to your kingly dignity, that he has made no proposition
whatever, which might by any possibility redound to the derogation of
your royal name, or, by reason of which, your serene highness ought
to feel angered against him. Wherefore, if anything to the contrary
shall be suggested to your highness by his opponents, you must not
lend your royal ear to the words of such persons. Given at Verona, on
the second day before the calends of August.”
The Letter of the same Pope to John, bishop of Glasgow, and the
abbats, his colleagues, on the same subject.
“Urban, the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brother,
Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, and his dearlybeloved sons, the abbats of
Melrose, New bottle, and Dunfermline, health and the Apostolic
benediction. Inasmuch as, by the duties enjoined upon us by God in
virtue of our office, we are bound to give our earnest attention to
all the churches, both those near to us as also those at a great
distance, and if we know of any unreasonable attempts made by them,
or by their ministers, to recall them to a more suitable line of
conduct ; the princes of this world ought not to feel angered in
consequence thereof. Your discreetness is not unaware what a grievous
dissension has arisen between our venerable brethren, John, bishop of
Dunkeld, and Hugh, bishop of Saint Andrew’s; and although
either party has undergone great labours and submitted to great
expenses, and, in the time of pope Lucius, of blessed memory, our
predecessor, held a long discussion thereon at the Apostolic See,
they still were unable to bring the matter in dispute to a
conclusion. And whereas lately the said bishops came to our presence
and discussed the said matters at length in our hearing, upon which,
by the advice of our brethren, we gave to the before-named bishop of
Dunkeld power to act in. the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, in
opposition to the said bishop Hugh, and the said bishop of Saint
Andrew’s was sufficiently instructed in our presence to return
to his own place within a period named. And to the end that our most
dearly beloved son in Christ, the illustrious king of the Scots, may
not by his power impede the prosecution of this business, we have
warned him by our letters that he is to allow proceedings to be taken
in this business according to the tenor of our mandate, and to defend
with his royal protection our dearly beloved sons, Aiulph, dean of
Lothian, Odo, the seneschal, and Robert de Fedic, and the other
kinsmen of the abovenamed bishop of Dunkeld, and neither to aggrieve
them in any way himself, nor suffer them to be aggrieved by others.
To the end, therefore, that the business before-named may no longer
remain in suspense, and the church of Saint Andrew’s thereby
incur detriment to its own interests, we do, by these Apostolic
writings, enjoin your discreetness, and do, in virtue of your
obedience, order you, reducing to writing whatever you shall know of
yourselves or through other persons on the subject of this business,
to make it your care to inform us of the same, sending it to us under
the protection of your seals, in order that we, being instructed by
your intimations thereon, using the advice of our brethren, may
proceed in the business in such manner as it is our duty to do. And
if any persons shall with rash daring lay hands upon the before-named
dean, Odo, the seneschal, Robert de Fedic, or any other friends of
the bishop of Dunkeld, and their possessions or other property, or
the bishopric and other revenues of the said bishop, then, fully
relying on our authorization, you are, by canonical censure, to
restrain them, without any obstacle thereto by way of appeal. Also,
you will, on our behalf, forbid the said bishops, as we have also
done orally, to receive anything whatever from the churches or clergy
subject to them, in respect of the expenses which they are liable to
incur in the prosecution of the before-named business; as they are to
supply the necessary expenses from their own revenues alone. For we
are unwilling that, by their deeds, they should cause detriment to
the Church, or to any other person of your kingdom. Wherefore, by our
authorization, you are strictly to warn the beforenamed bishop of
Saint Andrew’s, that, having received sufficient notice, he is
to repair to our presence, within a time appointed by us for both
parties. And if he shall not come, then you are, all appeal set
aside, immediately to suspend him from his episcopal duties. And if
even then he shall not show obedience thereto, you are to place him
under the ban of excommunication, and not to relax your sentence,
until such time as he shall have presented himself before us. Also,
you are to intimate to his royal excellency that the before-named
bishop of Dunkeld has so honorably conducted his cause, and has paid
such deference to his kingly dignity, that he has made no proposition
whatever which may by any possibility redound to the derogation of
his royal name, or by reason of which he ought to feel angered
against him. Wherefore, make it your care, by unceasing exhortations,
to persuade him, that if any thing should be suggested by his
opponents to the contrary, he is not to lend his royal ear to their
words. Given at Verona, on the second day before the calends of
August.”
On the authority
therefore of this letter, Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, and his
colleagues, when the time drew nigh which had been appointed by the
Supreme Pontiff for the hearing of the before-named bishops of
Dunkeld and Saint Andrew’s, summoned the before-named bishops a
first, second, and third time to set out upon their journey: on which
the bishop of Dunkeld came, but the bishop of Saint Andrew’s,
staying beyond the time, delayed coming, whereupon the above-named
judges delegate suspended him from the episcopal duties, and then, in
consequence of his contumacy, according to the tenour of the
Apostolic mandate, excommunicated him.
In the same year,
[1186] Philip, king of France, demanded of Henry, king of England,
the charge of the daughter of Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, whom at his
death he left his heir; a thing which the king of England would on no
account comply with, but sent to him Walter, archbishop of Rouen,
William de Mandeville, earl of Aumarle, and Ranulph de Glanville, the
justiciary of England, at whose instance the king of France made a
truce, and promised to keep the peace until the feast of Saint Hilary
then next ensuing. In the same year, Richard de Vals, a knight of the
king of France, fortified a castle in his vill of Yals, between
Gisors and Trie; on seeing which, Henry de Vere, constable of Gisors,
under the before-named William, earl of Aumarle, took it amiss, and,
wishing to impede the work if he possibly could, came thither with
his people; on which the men of the before-named Richard de Vals went
out to meet him, and an engagement taking place, Rader, the son of
Richard de Vals, was slain, and after many men of the said Richard
had been wounded, they took to flight. The said Henry de Vere,
however, not daring to return to Gisors, went to Richard, earl of
Poitou. On this becoming known to the king of France, he ordered that
all who belonged to the territories of the king of England, both
clergy and laymen, who should be found in his dominions, should be
taken in custody, together with all their chattels. On the other
hand, the bailiffs of the king of England, in the parts beyond sea,
did the like as to the subjects of the king of France and their
chattels, which were found in their respective bailiwicks. But
shortly after, at the suggestion of his followers, the king of France
gave orders that the subjects of the king of England should he
liberated, and that their chattels should be restored to them; on
which the bailiffs of the king of England did the same as to the
subjects of the king of France and their chattels.
In the same year,
Constance, the countess of Brittany, daughter of earl Conan, whom
Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, her husband, had left pregnant at the
time of his decease, was delivered of her eldest son on the holy
night of Easter, and his name was called Arthur. In the same year,
Baldwin, the boy-king of Jerusalem, son of William le Marchis,
departed this life, and was succeeded in the kingdom by his mother
Sibylla, by hereditary right; but before she was crowned, a divorce
was effected between her and Guido de Lusignan, her husband, by the
Patriarch Heraclius and the Templars and Hospitallers, who wished her
to marry Walran, earl of Tripolis, or some nobleman of the principal
people of the land of Jerusalem ; she, however, by a wonderful piece
of cunning, deceived them, saying : “If a divorce takes place
between me and my husband, I wish you to make me sure, by your
promises and oaths, that whomsoever I shall make choice of you will
choose for your head and lord.”
Accordingly, after
they had so done, they led her into the Temple, and the before-named
Patriarch crowned her; shortly after which, when all were offering up
their prayers that God the Lord Almighty would provide a fitting king
for that land, the before-named queen took the royal crown in her
hands, and placed it on the head of Guido de Lusignan her husband,
saying, “I make choice of thee as king, and as my lord, and as
lord of the land of Jerusalem, for those whom God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder."
At these words all
stood in amazement, but on account of the oath which they had made,
no one dared oppose her, and the Patriarch, approaching, anointed him
king; and then, Divine service having been celebrated, the Templars
escorted the king and queen to their abode, and provided for them a
sumptuous entertainment. The earl of Tripolis, however, vexed and
sorrowful that the queen had rejected him, went to Saladin, king of
Babylon, and, entering into an alliance with him, devised many evils
for the destruction of the king and queen. Saladin, however,
requested that the truce before-mentioned, which he had made until
the ensuing Easter, should be prolonged for the three years next
ensuing; to which proposition king Guido, by the advice of the
Templars, assented, although it was evident to him that there would
shortly come a vast number of pilgrims, both from England and other
kingdoms, in consequence of the preaching of the Patriarch.
Accordingly, after Easter, there came to Jerusalem an immense
multitude of men-at-arms and other pilgrims; but as the truce had
been prolonged, very few of them chose to remain. However, Roger de
Mowbray and Hugh de Beauchamp remained there in the service of God.
1187 A.D.
In the year of grace 1187, being the thirty-third year of the reign of king Henry,
son of the empress Matilda, that king was at Guilford, in England, on
the day of the Nativity of our Lord. In the same year, after the
Nativity of our Lord, pope Urban sent to England Octavianus, a
cardinal-subdeacon of the Holy Church of Rome, and with him Hugh de
Nunant, to whom he gave the legateship to Ireland, for the purpose of
there crowning John, the king’s son; but our lord the king put
off that coronation, and took the before-named legates with him to
Normandy, to a conference to be held between himself and Philip, king
of France. Accordingly, the king of England crossed over and landed
at Witsand, in Flanders, and with him the legates before-named, and
shortly after, a conference was held between him and the king of
France at Vè Saint Remy, but they could come to no agreement,
in consequence of the exorbitant demands made by the king of France,
and parted without any hopes of peace and reconciliation.
In the same year,
after Pentecost, Philip, king of France, levying a large army,
besieged Richard and John, the sons of the king of England, in
Chateau Raoul; hearing of which, the king of England came thither
with a great army to succour his sons so besieged. On this, the king
of France met him with his army, and drew up his troops in battle
array ; but, by the mercy of God and the injunction of Urban the
Supreme Pontiff, and by the advice of the archbishops, bishops, and
other influential men of both kingdoms, they agreed to a truce for
two years, and that the king of France should hold Yssoudon and Urse
de Fretteval till the end of the truce; and upon these terms they
desisted from hostilities and returned home.
Alter peace was
thus made, Richard, earl of Poitou, remained with the king of France,
though much against the will of his father, and the king of France
held him in such high esteem, that every day they ate at the same
table and from the same dish, and at night had not separate chambers.
In consequence of this strong attachment which seemed to have arisen
between them, the king of England was struck with great astonishment,
and wondered what it could mean, and, taking precautions for the
future, frequently sent messengers into France for the purpose of
recalling his son Richard; who, pretending that he was peaceably
inclined and ready to come to his father, made his way to Chinon,
and, in spite of the person who had the custody thereof, carried off
the greater part of his father’s treasures, and fortified his
castles in Poitou with the same, refusing to go to his father.
This is supposed
to have taken place through the Providence of God, in order that his
father might not be deceived by the pretended affection of his son,
nor be in too great haste to promote him to the helm of state, in the
same way that he had promoted the other one,* who, as already
mentioned, had caused him endless troubles by his unrighteous and
vexatious conduct. At length, however, through the mercy of God, it
came to pass that Richard, earl of Poitou, neglecting the counsels of
the wicked, returned to his father, and once more did homage to him
in presence of a great number of people, both clergy and laity, and
swore fealty to him upon the Holy Evangelists against all men, and
promised that he would not forsake his counsels. These matters being
concluded, the king of England set out for Brittany, and took the
castle of Montrelais by siege, of which Hervey de Lyons and his
brother Guimar had taken possession after the death of Geoffrey, earl
of Brittany.
* His eldest son,
Henry.
In the same year,
Donald, the son of William, son of Dunecan, an enemy of William, king
of Scotland, and whom the Scotch called Mac William, was slain in
Moray. In the same year, Isabella, the queen of France, and daughter
of the earl of Hainault, was delivered of her first-born son on the
third day before the nones of September, being the fifth day of the
week, who was named Louis. In the same year, Saladin, king of
Babylon, with an immense multitude of his Turks, on pretext of the
disunion which existed between the king and the earl of Tripolis,
entered the land of Jerusalem; on which the brethren of the Temple
and of the Hospital went forth against him with a great multitude of
people, and on an engagement taking place between them, the army of
the Pagans prevailed against the Christians, on which the latter
betook themselves to flight, and many of them were slain and many
taken prisoners. On the same day also, being the calends of May,
sixty brethren of the Temple, and the Grand Master of the Hospital,
together with sixty brethren of his house, were slain.
Saladin, on
gaining this great victory, attacked and took a considerable number
of the castles, cities, and fortresses of the Christians; after
which, returning to his own country, he levied a great army, and, by
the advice, it is said, of the earl of Tripolis, who was an enemy to
the king, entered the territory of Jerusalem, on the Friday after the
feast of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with eight hundred
thousand men or more; on which he took Tiberias, with the exception
of the keep of the castle, to which place the lady of the castle had
retreated, together with a few knights. On king Guido being informed
of this, by the advice of the earl of Tripolis, who had lately, with
fraudulent intent, entered into a treaty of peace, the king proceeded
one day’s march towards Tiberias, when the earl of Tripolis,
who was the leader and guide in the march, halted the whole army on
an elevated and craggy spot. Being there threatened with an attack of
the enemy on every side, the king, urged by necessity, and compelled
by the advice of his barons, thought proper to engage, and, at their
entreaty, gave the honor of striking the first blow to the Master and
knights of the Temple.
Upon this, the
brotherhood of the Temple, rushing upon the foe with the bravery of
lions, put some to the sword, and forced others to take to flight.
The rest, however, neglecting the king’s commands, did not join
the battle, or give them any succour whatever; in consequence of
which, the knights of the Temple were hemmed in and slaughtered.
After this, the troops of Saladin surrounded the army of the
Christians, worn out with the fatigues of the march, exhausted by the
intense heat of the climate, and utterly destitute of water, and, in
a great measure, of food as well. At this conjunction, six of the
king’s knights, namely, Baldwin de Fortune, Raymond Buck, and
Laodicius de Tiberias, with three companions, being seized with a
diabolical spirit, fled to Saladin, and spontaneously became
Saracens, informing him of every particular as to the present state,
intentions, and resources of the Christians. On this, Saladin, who
before was in anxious doubt as to the result of the warfare, took
courage, and with trumpets sounding, made an attack with an infinite
multitude of warriors on the Christians, who, in consequence of the
rocky and inaccessible nature of the spot, were unable to fight; and
so, assailing them with every possible method of attack, he utterly
routed the Christians. At last, Thekedin, the nephew of Saladin, took
Guido, king of Jerusalem, while flying, and the wood of the Cross of
our Lord, after slaying Rufinus, bishop of Acre, who was carrying it.
And this was done through the righteous judgment of God; for,
contrary to the usage of his predecessors, having greater faith in
worldly arms than in heavenly ones, he went forth to battle equipped
in a coat of mail, and shortly after he perished, being pierced by an
arrow. Nearly all the others, being utterly routed, were taken
prisoners and either slain or loaded with chains, the Persians, oh,
great disgrace! remaining masters of the camp.
The earl of
Tripolis alone, who was the designer of this treachery, escaped with
his men unhurt. Immediately after the battle, Saladin ordered the
knights of the Temple and of the Hospital to be separated from the
rest, and to be decapitated in his presence, he himself with his own
hand slaying Raymond de Castiglione, their chief. After this he took
the city of Acre and the places adjacent, with nearly all the
fortified spots in those parts.
In the meantime,
Conrad le Marchis, brother of the abovementioned William, earl of
Joppa, having been guilty of murder in the city of Constantinople,
took to flight, deserting his wife, the niece of Isaac, emperor of
Constantinople; and on the very same day on which Saladin gained this
victory over the Christians, Conrad came to Tyre and found it
deserted, for nearly all the citizens of the place were slain in the
beforementioned battle. On Saladin coming thither, expecting to have
free ingress, Conrad offered a stout resistance, and refused him
permission to enter; on which, Saladin, seeing that he could effect
nothing by staying there, took his departure, and captured the city
of Beyrout, and both the cities which are called Gibelet, with Sidon,
and the city of Cæsarea, as also Joppa, Saint George, Saint
Abraham, Bethlehem, the New Castle of Caiaphas, Saphet, Jaunay, Mount
Tabor, Faba, and Caffarmundel, the Cave of the Temple, Calenzun,
Marle of the Temple, the Castle on the Plain, Ramah, Bethurun of the
Knights, Castle Arnald, Castle Bourgoing, Tarentum, Blanchewarde,
Galatia, Gasseres, Darun, Rouge Cisterne, the Castle of Saint Peter,
Saint Lazarus of Bethany, Saint Mary of Mount Sion, and the City of
Jerusalem.
On this, the
queen, the wife of Guido, betook herself, with her two daughters and
her household, to the city of Ascalon, and fortified it with
provisions and soldiers ; these, however, in the second year after,
she surrendered to Saladin for the ransom of her husband Guido, and
thus liberated him from the custody of Saladin. All those, however,
who had fled to Acre, and a multitude of Christians who had taken to
flight, betook themselves to Tyre, and made Conrad their ruler and
protector; Antioch also, and Margat, with nearly all the lands of the
prince thereof, stoutly fortified themselves against Saladin.
While the earl of
Tripolis was endeavouring to wean his nation from the worship of God,
and to betray his country to Saladin, he was found dead in his bed
just as though fast asleep; on which his wife, with all her people,
surrendered herself and the city of Tripolis to Raymond, prince of
Antioch, and he appointed his son Jocelyn lord thereof.
Now when pope
Urban heard that in his time the king of Jerusalem had been taken
prisoner, as also the Cross of our Lord, and the Holy City of
Jerusalem, he was greatly afflicted, and fell ill, and died on the
thirteenth day before the calends of November, at Ferrara; being
succeeded in the papacy by Albert his chancellor, who was called pope
Gregory the Eighth. On this, the cardinals, with the sanction of our
lord the pope, strictly pledged themselves to each other,
disregarding all wealth and luxuries, to preach the cross of Christ,
and that not in word only but by deed and example, and to be the
first, assuming the cross, to go begging for succours, and to precede
the rest to the land of Jerusalem. They also, with the consent of our
lord the pope, established a most strict truce between all the
princes of Christendom, to last for a period of seven years; on the
understanding that whoever in the meantime should commence war
against a Christian, should be subject to the curse of God, and of
our lord the pope, and the excommunication of all the prelates of the
Universal Church. They also solemnly promised each other, that from
thenceforth they would receive presents from no one who had a cause
to try in the court, but would only receive as much as should be
given, or sent to supply their necessities and for their sustenance;
as also that they would not mount a horse so long as the land on
which the feet of the Lord had stood should remain under the feet of
the enemy.
It is also worthy
of observation, and to be ascribed to the Divine Providence, that at
the time when the city of Jerusalem and Antioch had been rescued from
the power of the Pagans, on the expedition headed by Audemar, bishop
of Puy, and many other bishops and religious men, as also Hugh,
brother of Philip, king of France, Godfrey, duke of Lorraine,
Stephen, count of Chartres, Robert, duke of Normandy, brother of
William the Second, the king of England, then reigning, (which Robert
conquered in battle, Colbrand, the chief of the knighthood of the
Pagans), Robert, earl of Flanders, Eustace, earl of Boulogne, and
Baldwin, the two brothers of duke Godfrey, Raymond, earl of Saint
Gilles, Boamund, son of Robert Guiscard, and many other noblemen, the
pope who was then living was named Urban, the Patriarch of Jerusalem
was called Heraclius, and the emperor of Rome was called Frederic;
and so now, when the land of Jerusalem was taken from the hands of
the Christians by the people of Saladin, the pope was called Urban,
the patriarch of Jerusalem Heraclius, and the Roman emperor Frederic.
It also deserves to be known, that between the time when Jerusalem
was rescued from the hands of the Pagans by the warriors
before-named, and the time when king Guido was deprived of it, a
space of eighty-seven years intervened.
The Letter of Terricius, Master of the Temple, on the capture of the land of
Jerusalem.
“Thebrother Terricius, so called Grand Master of the most impoverished
house of the Temple, and of all the brethren himself the most
impoverished, and that brotherhood all but annihilated, to all
commanders and brethren of the Temple to whom these presents shall
come, greeting, and may they lift up their sighs to Him at whom the
sun and moon are astounded. With how many and how great calamities,
our sins so requiring it, the anger of God has lately permitted us to
be scourged, we are unable, 0 sad fate ! either in writing or in the
language of tears to express. For the Turks, assembling together an
immense multitude of their nations, began with bitter hostility to
invade the territories of us Christians; and accordingly, uniting the
forces of our nation against them, we ventured, before the octave of
the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, to attack them; and for that
purpose ventured to direct our march towards Tiberias, which, leaving
their camp unprotected, they had taken by storm. After repulsing us
among some most dangerous rocks, they attacked us with such
vehemence, that after they had captured the Holy Cross and our king,
and a whole multitude of us had been slain, and after two hundred and
thirty of our brethren, as we verily believe, had been taken by them
and beheaded, (besides those sixty who had been slain on the first of
May), with great difficulty, the lord the earl of Tripolis, the lord
Reginald of Sidon, the lord Ballovius, and ourselves, were enabled to
make our escape from that dreadful field. After this, the Pagans,
revelling in the blood of us Christians, did not delay to press on
with all their hosts towards the city of Tyre; and, taking it by
storm, spread themselves over nearly the whole of the land,
Jerusalem, Tyre, Ascalon, and Berytus being alone now left to us and
to Christendom. These cities also, as nearly all the citizens have
been slain, we shall not be at all able to retain in our hands,
unless we speedily receive the Divine assistance, and aid from
yourselves. For at the present moment they are besieging Tyre with
all their might, and cease not to assault it either night or day,
while so vast are their numbers, that they have covered the whole
face of the land from Tyre, as far as Jerusalem and Gaza, just like
swarms of ants. Deign, therefore, with all possible speed, to bring
succour to ourselves and to Christianity, all but ruined in the East,
that so through the aid of God and the exalted merits of your
brotherhood, supported by your assistance, we may be enabled to save
the remainder of those cities. Farewell.”
In the same battle
in which Guido, king of Jerusalem, was made prisoner, Roger de
Mowbray was also taken; whom in the following year the brethren of
the Hospital and the Temple ransomed from the hands of the Pagans ;
shortly after which he died. In the same battle also, Hugh de
Beauchamp was slain.
In the same year,
the king of England gave Constance, countess of Brittany, the mother
of Arthur, in marriage to Ranulph, earl of Chester. In this year
also, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, erected new buildings and a
church* near the walls of the city of Canterbury, and assigned
thereto prebends in the churches of the monks at Canterbury; but the
said monks complaining in consequence thereof, pope Urban forbade
that this should be done, and thus the persons who had built the
place expended their labour in vain. However, the said archbishop
transferred this building to Lamhe,** which is on the other side of
the Thames, opposite to Westminster. In the same year, Richard, earl
of Poitou, assumed the cross of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
* Akington, or
Hackington, in the suburbs of Canterbury.
** Lambeth.
The Letter of pope Gregory the Eighth to all the faithful in Christ.
“Gregory,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all the faithful in
Christ, to whom these presents shall come, health and the Apostolic
benediction. On hearing of the severity of the tremendous judgment
which the hand of God has inflicted upon the land of Jerusalem, both
we and our brethren have been put to confusion with terror so
extreme, and afflicted with sorrows so great, that it did not readily
suggest itself to us what we were to do, or what indeed we ought to
do. We only called to mind the words of the Psalmist, where he
laments and says, ‘0 God, the heathen are come into thine
inheritance: thy holy temple have they defiled, they have laid
Jerusalem in heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given
to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto
the beasts of the earth.’ For, taking advantage of the
dissensions, which, through the wickedness of men, at the suggestion
of the Devil, had arisen throughout the earth, Saladin came with a
multitude of troops to those parts, and, being met by the king, the
bishops, Templars, Hospitallers, earls, and barons, with the people
of the land, together with the Cross of our Lord (through which, by
the remembrance of Christ and faith in Him who hung therefrom and
redeemed mankind, there used formerly to be assured protection, and a
defence now vainly regretted against the assaults of the Pagans) part
of our people were there slain, the Cross of our Lord was captured,
the bishops slaughtered, the king made prisoner, and nearly all
either slaughtered with the sword or taken by the hands of the enemy,
so much so, that it is said that but very few escaped. The Templars
also, and Hospitallers, were beheaded in his presence. How, after
they had vanquished our army, they subsequently attacked and gained
possession of all quarters, so that only a few places are said to be
remaining which have not fallen into their hands, we do not think
requires to be set forth in our letters. However, although we may now
say with the Prophet, ‘Oh that my head were waters, and mine
eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep night and day for the
slain of my people ;’ still, we ought not to be so utterly cast
down as to fall into distrustfulness, and to believe that God is so
angered with His people, that what in His wrath He has allowed to be
done through the multitude of our sins in common, He will not
speedily, when appeased by our repentance, in His compassion
alleviate, and will, after our tears and lamentation, cause gladness
and rejoicing. Whatever person then, amid such vast grounds for
lamentation, does not, if not in body, still in heart, condole with
us, is not only forgetful of the Christian faith, which teaches us to
grieve with all who grieve, but even of his own self and of our
common humanity, as every person of ordinary discretion is able well
to estimate both the very magnitude of the danger, the fierceness of
the barbarians who thirst for Christian blood, and exert the whole of
their might in profaning the holy places, and using their endeavours
to sweep away the name of God from off the earth, points on which we
will not enlarge. And whereas the Prophets first laboured with all
their zeal, and after them the Apostles and their followers, that the
worship of God might exist in that land, and flow thence unto all
regions of the world, aye, and even more than that, God (who was
willing to become flesh, by whom all things were made, and who in his
ineffable wisdom and his incomprehensible mercy was willing thus to
work out our salvation, through the infirmity of the flesh, through
hunger, fasting, thirst, the cross, and His death and resurrection,
according to the words, ‘ Of himself he wrought out our
salvation in the midst of the earth;’) also deigned here to
undergo labours as well, neither tongue can tell, nor sense can
imagine what grief it causes to us and to all Christian people to
think what this land has now endured, and what under its former
people it is read of as having suffered. Still, we ought not to
believe that it is through the injustice of the judge who smites, but
rather through the iniquity of the sinful people that these things
have come to pass; since we read that when the people turned unto the
Lord, one thousand pursued, and twelve thousand fled; nay more, that,
while the people slept, the army of Sennacherib was cut off by the
hand of the angel of the Lord. Still, however, that land devoured its
inhabitants, and was never able to remain in a state of quietude, or
to retain its people, as being transgressors of the laws of God; thus
giving a lesson and 1 an example to those who are aiming at gaining a
heavenly Jerusalem, that they cannot possibly attain the same but by
the exercise of good works and through many temptations. These
events, in fact, might have been already apprehended when Arroaise
and other lands passed into the hands of the Pagans, and proper
prudence would only have been used if the people who survived had
returned to repentance, and by their conversion appeased God, whom by
their transgressions they had offended. Nor yet did His wrath come
suddenly upon them, but He delayed His vengeance and gave time for
repentance. At last, however, He who loses not justice in mercy, has
exercised His vengeance in the punishment of the transgressors, and
in thus giving a warning to those who wished to be saved. Moreover,
we, who amid such great sorrow for that land, ought to give our
attention not only to the sins of the inhabitants thereof, but also
to our own and to those of the whole people, and to be in dread lest
what still remains to us of that land may be lost, and their might
may rage to the detriment of other nations as well, as we hear in all
parts of dissensions and offences between kings and princes, cities
and cities, may well mourn with the Prophet and say : ‘ There
is no truth nor knowledge of God in the land. By lying, and killing,
and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.’
Wherefore this is imperative upon all, and is to be thought upon and
to be done ; making atonement for our sins by a voluntary
chastisement, we ought, through repentance and works of piety, to
turn to the Lord our God, and first to amend in ourselves those
matters in which we have done amiss, and then to stand prepared for
the fierceness and malice of our enemies, and those attacks which
they do not fear to make upon God, inasmuch as we ought on no account
to hesitate to act in the cause of God. Think, therefore, my sons,
how you have come into this world, and how you are to depart
therefrom, how transitory are all things, and how transitory are you
yourselves as well; and with thanksgiving receive, so far as in you
lies, this opportunity for repenting and doing good, and both offer
your possessions, and offer yourselves as well, because you are not
of yourselves, nor have you anything of yourselves, who are not able
to make so much as a single fly upon the earth. And we do not say, ‘
leave behind you,’ but rather ‘ present beforehand’
to the garner of heaven what you possess, and lay it up with Him,
with whom ‘ neither rust nor moth destroy, nor thieves break
through and steal,’ labouring for the recovery of that land in
which for our salvation the Truth of the earth was born, and did not
disdain for us to bear the cross. And devote not your thoughts to
lucre or to temporal glory, but to the will of God, who in His own
case has taught you to lay down your lives for your brethren, and
give unto Him your riches, which, whether willingly or unwillingly,
you know not to what heirs you are at last to leave. For indeed it is
no new thing that that land is chastised, nor in fact is it unusual
that scourgings and chastisements should accompany mercifulness. God
indeed by His will alone can save it; but still, we have no right to
ask him why He has acted thus: for perhaps He has wished to make
trial, and to place this before the notice, of others, if any there
are who are of good understanding or who seek for God, and who will
with joy embrace the opportunity offered them for repentance, and,
laying down their lives for their brethren, will compress and include
the deeds of a long life in a small compass. Consider how the
Maccabees, influenced with zeal for the Divine law, submitted to
every extremity of peril for the purpose of liberating their
brethren, and showed how that, for the safety of their brethren not
only their substance but also their lives were to be laid down,
exhorting one another, and saying, ‘Arm yourselves, and be
valiant men For it is better to die in battle than to behold the
calamities of our people and of our sanctuary.’ And yet these
were under the control of the law only, whereas you, through the
Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, being led by the light of
truth, and being instructed by many examples of the Saints, ought to
act without any hesitation, and not to fear to give your earthly
things, few in number, and destined to last for a short time only;
you to whom those good things have been promised and reserved, which
‘Neither eye hath seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man;’ and as to which the Apostle says, ‘The
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us’ Wherefore, to those
who with a contrite heart and humble spirit shall undertake the
labour of this expedition, and shall die in repentance for their sins
and in the true faith, we do promise plenary indulgence for their
offences, and eternal life. And whether they shall survive or whether
die, they are to know that they will have, by the mercy of Almighty
God and of the authority of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul,
and of ourselves, remission of penance imposed for all sins of which
they shall have made due confession. The property also of such
persons, from the time that they shall have assumed the cross,
together with their families, are to be under the protection of the
Holy Church of Rome, and of the archbishops, bishops, and other
prelates of the Church of God, and no person is to make any claim
against the property of which, on assuming the cross, they were in
quiet possession, until it is known for certain as to their return or
death, but their property is to remain in the meantime untouched, and
in their quiet possession; they are also not to pay interest to any
person, if they have so bound themselves ; nor yet are they to go in
costly apparel, or with dogs or hawks, which seem rather to minister
to ostentation and luxury than to our necessities ; but they ought to
be seen with plain apparel and equipments, by which they may appear
rather to be acting in penitence than affecting an empty pomp. Given
at Ferrara, on the fourth day before the calends of November, in the
sixth year of the indiction.”
The Letter of pope Gregory the Eighth to all the faithful, upon the same subject.
“Gregory,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all the faithful in
Christ, to whom these presents shall come, health and the Apostolic
benediction. Never is the wrath of the Supreme Judge more
successfully appeased, than when, at His command, carnal desires are
extinguished within us. Wherefore, inasmuch as we do not doubt that
the disasters of the land of Jerusalem, which have lately happened
through the irruption of the Saracens, have been expressly caused by
the sins of the inhabitants of the land and of the whole people of
Christendom, we, by the common consent of our brethren, and with the
approval of many of the bishops, have enacted that all persons shall,
for the next five years, on every sixth day of the week, at ‘the
very least, fast upon Lenten fare, and that, wherever mass is
performed, it shall be chaunted at the ninth hour : and this we order
to be observed from the Advent of our Lord until the Nativity of our
Lord. Also, on the fourth day of the week, and on Saturdays, all
persons without distinction, who are in good health are, to abstain
from eating flesh. We and our brethren do also forbid to ourselves
and to our households the use of flesh on the second day of the week
as well, unless it shall so happen that illness or some great
calamity or other evident cause shall seem to prevent the same;
trusting that by so doing God will pardon us and leave His blessing
behind Him.* This therefore we do enact to be observed, and whosoever
shall be guilty of transgressing the same, is to be considered as a
breaker of the fast in Lent. Given at Ferrara, on the fourth day
before the calends of November.”
*Sic in original.
Probably the real presence in the Eucharist is referred to.
Upon this, the
princes of the earth, hearing the mandates and exhortations of the
Supreme Pontiff, exerted themselves with all their might for the
liberation of the land of Jerusalem; and accordingly, Frederic, the
emperor of the Romans, and the archbishops, bishops, dukes, earls,
and barons of his empire, assumed the sign of the cross. In like
manner, after their example, great numbers of the chief men of all
the nations of Christendom prepared to succour the land of Jerusalem.
There was a
certain clerk named master Berther, a native of Orleans, who aroused
the spirits of many to assume the cross by repeating the following
lines: “In the strains of Jeremiah the ways of Sion mourn
indeed, that no longer is there one upon the solemn day to visit the
Holy Sepulchre, or to recall the fulfilment of that prophecy; the
prophecy in which the poet writes that from Sion the law shall go
forth. Never shall the law perish there or have an avenger, where
Christ drank of the cup of passion. The wood of the cross, the banner
of the chieftain, the army follows, which has never given way, but
has gone before in the strength of the Holy Spirit. To bear the
burden of Tyre it is now the duty of valiant men to try their
strength, and daily to contend; spontaneously to be graced with the
glories of the warfare. But as to the persons who are about to engage
in this conflict, there is need of hardy champions, not effeminate
epicures. For it is not those who pamper their flesh with many
luxuries who purchase God with their prayers. The wood of the cross,
&c. [as before)* Fresh Philistines once more, the cross captured
of Him who was condemned, have taken the ark of God, the ark of the
New Testament, the substance of the ancient type, in succession the
type of the substance. But as it is clear that these are the
forerunners of Antichrist, to whom Christ would have resistance made,
what answer at the .coming of Christ is he to make who shall not have
resisted them ? The wood of the cross, &c. The despiser of the
cross is trampling on the cross, whence overwhelmed the faith sends
forth groans. Who for vengeance does not shout aloud ? At the same
value which each man sets upon the faith let him ransom the cross, if
by the cross any one has been ransomed. Those who have but little
silver, if found to be faithful, with pure faith let them be content.
Sufficient provision for the journey is the body of the Lord for him
who defends the cross. The wood of the cross, &c. Christ, on
delivering himself to the torturer, has made a loan to the sinner; if
then, sinner, thou wilt not die for Him who died for thee, thou dost
but poorly pay the debt to thy Creator. Well may he be indignant to
whom thou dost refuse to bend, while, tortured in the wine-press of
the cross as a victim for thee, to thee he extends his arms, and thou
wilt not receive his embrace. The wood of the cross, &c. When
thou hast listened to what is my request, take up thy cross and make
thy vow and say, ‘To Him do I commend myself, who gave His body
and His life, as a victim to die for me.’ The wood of the
cross, &c.”
* This is the refrain of the composition.
A Letter of the same pope to the prelates of churches.
“Gregory,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all prelates of
churches to whom these presents shall come, health and the Apostolic
benediction. Inasmuch as it is especially the duty of bishops to aid
the afflicted and distressed, and God, albeit our merits are but
deficient, has willed that we should be one of them, we are bound and
are willing to use all due care, that no person through fortuitous
circumstances, in consequence of a -visit to the Church of Rome,
should be deprived of the due results of the labour which he has
expended in coming to us. Wherefore, it has come to pass, that we,
wishing to have due regard for the expense which many have incurred,
and to alleviate their labours, have, in conformity with the
customary clemency of the Apostolic See, thought fit to enact that
the letters of our predecessor pope Urban, sent at any time previous
to three months before his decease, for the purpose of pronouncing
judgment and putting an end to litigation, (supposing always that
they do not contain anything to the manifest prejudice of any person,
or any breach of equity), shall have the same effect in the time of
our administration, which they would have had if he had been still
living. Wherefore, waiving all exceptions as to the death of him who
so directs, do what he has directed to be done, and let no one for an
excuse of this sort, be compelled to have recourse to us in his
disappointment, after having placed full confidence in obtaining
justice by these means. Given at Ferrara, on the sixth day before the
calends of September."
In the same year
[1187] died pope Gregory the Eighth, in the month of December, after
having held the papacy hardly two months, and was buried at Pisa. He
was succeeded by Paulinus, bishop of Palestrina, who was called pope
Clement the Third. In the same year, nearly the whole of the city of
Chichester was burnt, together with the cathedral of the see, and the
houses of the bishop and canons.
In the same year,
Saladin laid siege to Jerusalem, and offered the people of that city
a truce till the middle of the month of May, if they would permit him
to plant his standard in the Tower of David, and remain there eight
days. This being accordingly done, many of the Christians who had
before stoutly resisted the Saracens, surrendered their castles and
houses to Saladin. In the same year died Gilbert, bishop of London.
In the same year,
cardinal Jacinto, at this time legate of the whole of Spain, degraded
many abbats, cither because they deserved it, or prompted by his own
determination. But on his attempting to degrade the bishop of
Coimbra, Alphonso, king of Portugal, would not allow that bishop to
be degraded, but immediately ordered the before-named cardinal to
leave his kingdom, or else he would cut off his foot. On hearing
this, the legate departed on his return to Rome, and the bishop of
Coimbra remained in peace in his see.
It is also worthy
to be known, that the before-named Alphonso, king of Portugal, took
from the Pagans by force, and with mighty prowess, six cities,
namely, Lisbon, Coimbra, the city of Ferenza, and a most excellent
castle, which is called Santa Herena,* with many other castles
besides. But while he was besieging the city of Silves, and had
gained possession of it as far as the fortresses of the city, the
Pagans who were in the fortresses made an arrangement with him, that
if they should not have succours within six days, they would
surrender the forts to him. In the meantime, on the third day, having
given his army leave to make a sally into the adjacent parts of the
province, while he was asleep in his tent as being in perfect
security, Ferdinand, king of Saint Jago, (who had married the
daughter of the said king of Portugal) came in one direction with a
large army, while the Saracens came in the other. At the approach of
these, the king of Portugal, awaking from his sleep, fled on a swift
horse, but, when going through the gate of the city, broke his thigh
against the bar of the gate, and then, having passed right through
the enemy, who pursued him twenty-five miles, and could not overtake
him, he and his horse fell into a deep pit. Some shepherds, seeing
this, dragged him out, and gave him up to king Ferdinand, to whom he
gave for his ransom twenty-five towns which he had taken from him,
besides fifteen sumpter horses laden with gold, and twenty chargers;
to other persons, also, who gave assistance to that king, that he
might be the more speedily liberated, he made numerous presents.
* Now Santarem
1188 A.D.
In the year of grace 1188, being the thirty-fourth year of the reign of king Henry,
son of the empress Matilda, the said king was at Caen in Normandy, on
the day of the Nativity of our Lord; going from which place, he went
to Harfleur, with the intention of crossing over to England. On
hearing of this, Philip, king of France, levied a great army,
shamelessly boasting that he would lay waste Normandy and the other
lands of the king of England beyond sea, unless he should surrender
to him Gisors with its appurtenances, or make his son Richard, earl
of Poitou, marry his sister Alice.
The
king of England, on hearing of this, returned into Normandy, and a
conference being held between him and the king of France, between
Gisors and Trie, on the twelfth day before the calends of February,
being the day of Saint Agnes the Virgin and Martyr, they met there,
together with the archbishops, bishops, earls and barons of their
kingdoms. At this interview, the archbishop of Trie was present, who,
filled with the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, in a wonderful
manner preached the word of God before the kings and princes, and
turned their hearts to assuming the cross; and those who before were
enemies, at his preaching, with the aid of God, were made friends on
that same day, and from his hands received the cross; while at the
same hour there appeared the sign of the cross above them in the
heavens; on beholding which miracle multitudes of persons rushed in
whole troops to assume the cross.
The
kings before-named, on assuming the cross, for the purpose of
recognizing their various nations, adopted distinguishing signs for
themselves and their people. For the king of France and his people
wore red crosses ; the king of England with his people white crosses;
while Philip, earl of Flanders, with his people, wore green crosses.
After this, they departed, each to his own country, for the purpose
of providing all necessaries for themselves and the expedition.
Accordingly, Henry king of England, after he had thus assumed the
cross, came to Le Mans, where, on his arrival, he gave orders that
every one should give a tenth part of his revenues in the present
year, and of his chattels, by way of alms, as a subsidy to the land
of Jerusalem, the following articles being excepted therefrom : the
arms, horses, and garments of men-at-arms, and the horses, books,
clothes, vestments, and all kinds of sacred vessels belonging to the
clergy, as also all precious stones belonging to either the clergy or
laity; excommunication having been first pronounced by the
archbishops, bishops, and rural deans,* in each parish against every
one who should not lawfully pay his before-mentioned tithe in the
presence and at the assessment of those whose duty it was to be
present thereat.
*
It is not improbable that at this period these were the persons
called “Archipresbyteri.” At an earlier time, they were
the bishop’s deputies in the performance of the cathedral
duties.
Further,
the said money was to be collected in each parish in the presence of
the priest of the parish, the rural dean, one Templar, one
Hospitaller, one member of the household of our
lord the king, a clerk of the king, and a yeoman of the baron’s
household, his clerk, and the clerk of the bishop ; and if any one
should give less, according to their conscientious assessment, than
he ought, four or six lawful men of the parish were to be chosen,
who, on oath, were to state the amount that he ought to have stated,
on which he would be bound to add the amount by which it was
deficient. Clerks, however, and knights who should assume the cross,
were not to pay any such tithes; but the revenues from their
demesnes, and whatever their vassals should owe as their due, were to
be collected by the abovenamed persons, and to be remitted to them
untouched.
The
bishops, also, were by their letters in each parish of their
respective dioceses, to cause notice to be given on the day of the
Nativity, of Saint Stephen, and of Saint John, that each person was
to collect the before-mentioned tithe due from him by the day of the
Purification of the Virgin Mary, and, on the day after the same, was
lawfully to pay it to those present of the persons named, at such
place as should be appointed.
In
addition to this, it was decreed by our lord the pope, that whatever
clerk or layman should assume the cross, he should, on the authority
of God and of the holy Apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, be free
and absolved from all sins as to which he should have repented and
made confession. It w.as also enacted by the kings, archbishops,
bishops, and other princes of the land, that all those persons, both
clerks and laymen, who should not go on this expedition, should pay
tithes of their revenues and moveables for the present year, and of
all their chattels, both in gold and silver, and of all other things,
with the exception of the garments, books, and vestments of the
clerks and priests, and with the exception of the horses, arms, and
clothing of men at arms, pertaining to the use of their own persons.
It was also enacted that all clerks, knights, and yeomen who should
undertake the said expedition, should have the tenths of their lands
and of their vassals, and should pay nothing for themselves.
Burgesses, however, and villeins, who, without the permission of
their superior lords, should assume the cross, were still to pay
tithes.
It
was also enacted that no one should swear profanely, and that no one
should play at games of chance or at dice; and no one was after the
ensuing Easter to wear beaver, or gris,* or sable, or scarlet; and
all were to be content with two
dishes. No
one
was to take any woman with him on the pilgrimage, unless, perhaps,
some laundress to accompany him on foot, about whom no suspicion
could be entertained; and no person was to have his clothes in rags
or torn. It was also enacted that whatever clerk or layman should,
before assuming the cross, have mortgaged his revenues, he was to
have the income of the present year in full, and after the expiration
of the year the creditor was again to have the revenues thereof, upon
the understanding, however, that the revenues which he should then
receive should be reckoned towards payment of the debt, and that the
debt, from the period of the debtor assuming the cross, should not
bear interest, so long as the debtor should be absent on the
pilgrimage.
*
Grey fur; the word is used by Chaucer.
It
was also enacted that all clerks and laymen who should set out on the
said pilgrimage, should be at liberty legally to mortgage their
incomes, whether ecclesiastical, or lay, or otherwise, from the
Easter, when they should set out, for a period of three years, upon
the understanding that the creditors should, in whatever case they
should be due to the creditors, take in full, for three years from
the Easter beforementioned, all the profits of the revenues which
they should so hold in mortgage. It was also enacted that whoever
should die on the pilgrimage, should leave his money which he must
have taken with him on the pilgrimage, to be divided for the
maintenance of his servants, for the assistance of the land of
Jerusalem, and for the sustenance of the poor, according to the
judgment of certain discreet men, who were to be appointed for the
performance of that duty.
All
the above-mentioned statutes were framed and enacted at Le Mans, by
Henry, king of England, in presence of his son Richard, earl of
Poitou, William, archbishop of Tours, Baldwin, archbishop of
Canterbury, Walter, archbishop of Rouen, and in presence of John,
bishop of Evreux, Ralph, bishop of Anjou, Ii., bishop of Le Mans, and
M., bishop of Nantes, as also in presence of Hugh de Nunant, bishop
of Chester elect, Lisardus, bishop of Seez elect, and in presence of
the barons of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine.
These
matters being accordingly arranged beforehand, the king of England
appointed servants of his, clerks and laymen, to collect the
before-mentioned tithes throughout all his territories beyond sea,
and shortly after crossed over and landed in England, at Winchelsea,
on Saturday, the third day before the calends of February. In the
meantime, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, who had come to England
before the king, consecrated Hugh de Nunant bishop of Coventry.
Immediately
upon his landing in England, our lord the king held a great council
of bishops, abbats, earls, and barons, and many others, both clergy
and laity, at Gaintington, where, ‘in the hearing of the
people, he caused all the above-mentioned ordinances to be
proclaimed, which he had enacted on the subject of assuming the
cross. After they had been proclaimed, Baldwin, archbishop of
Canterbury, and Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, his deputy, delivered
wonderful sermons on the same day before the In rig and his chief
men, on the subject of the Word of the Lord and the mysteries of
salvation gained by the cross.
After
this, our lord the king sent his servants, the clerks and laymen,
throughout all the counties of England, to collect the tithes
according to his order made as above-mentioned in his territories
beyond sea. But in each of the cities throughout England he caused
all the richest men to be selected, namely, in London two hundred, in
York one hundred, and in other cities according to their quantity and
numbers, and made them all appear before him on days and places
named; on which he received from them the tenths of their property,
according to an estimate made by trustworthy men who were acquainted
with their incomes and possessions; and if he found any inclined to
be contumacious, he immediately caused them to be imprisoned and kept
in irons until they had paid the last farthing. He did the same with
the Jews in his territories, and received from them an immense sum of
money.
After
this, he sent Hugh, bishop of Durham, and others of the clergy and
laity, to William, king of the Scots, to collect the tithes in his
kingdom; on hearing which the king of Scotland met them between Werk
and Brigham, in Lothian, and would not allow them to enter his
kingdom to collect the tithes, but offered to give to his liege lord
the king of England five thousand marks of silver instead of the
above-named tithes, and on condition that he might have his castles
back again ; but to this the king of England would not agree.
Philip,
king of the Franks, also caused the tenths of the incomes and
property of his subjects to be collected throughout all his
territories. In the same year, Richard, earl of Poitou,
Raymond, count of Saint Gilles, Aimar, count of Angouleme, Geoffrey
de Rancon, Geoffrey de Lezivant, and nearly all the more powerful men
in Poitou, engaged in war, all against the before-named Richard, and
he against all; he, however, was victorious. Among other persons whom
he took prisoners in the territory of the count of Saint Gilles, he
captured Peter Seillun, by whose advice the before-named count of
Saint Gilles had taken some traders of the territory of the earl of
Poitou, and had done many injuries to him and his lands. Accordingly,
earl Richard placed this Peter in close confinement and in most
rigorous custody. The count of Saint Gilles being able on no terms to
ransom him, he set spies throughout his cities and castles, to arrest
any persons they could find belonging to the household of the king of
England, or of earl Richard his son ; and it so happened that, a few
days after, as Robert Poer and his brother Ralph, two knights of the
household and retinue of our lord the king, were passing through the
territories of the count of Saint Gilles, from Saint Jago, *
which they had been visiting on a pilgrimage, the men of the count of
Saint Gilles laid hands on them, and carried them in chains to the
count; on which, the count said to them, “Unless Richard, the
earl of Poitou, delivers up to me my servant Peter, and sets him at
liberty, you shall not escape from my hands.” On hearing this,
earl Richard made answer, that he would neither make entreaties or
give money for their ransom, inasmuch as the respect due to their
character as pilgrims, ought to suffice for their liberation.
*
Saint Jago of Compostella, in Spain.
Upon
this, the king of France ordered them to be set at liberty, not for
his love or respect for the king of England, or for his son Richard,
but out of respect and esteem for Saint James the Apostle. However,
earl Richard entered the territories of the count of Saint Gilles
with a great army, laid it waste with fire and sword, and besieged
and took his castles in the neighbourhood of Toulouse. Upon this, the
king of the Franks, hearing the lamentations of the people of
Toulouse, sent his envoys to England to the king of England, to
enquire if the mischief which was being done by his son Richard was
being done by his direction, and to demand reparation for the same.
To this the king of England made answer, that his son Richard had
done none of these things by
his
wish or advice, and that the said Richard had sent word to him, by
John, archbishop of Dublin, that be had done nothing in respect
thereof, but by the advice of the king of France.
In
the same year, the Patriarch of the city of Antioch wrote to the king
of England to the following effect:—
The
Letter of the Patriarch of Antioch to Henry, king of England
“By
the grace of the Holy God, and of the Apostolic See, the Patriarch of
Antioch, to Henry, by the same grace, the most illustrious king of
the English, his beloved lord and friend— may he govern in Him,
through whom kings govern. With tears and with sighs by these
presents we announce to your excellency, the dire and inexpressible
grief which we feel for the unexpected and terrible disaster that has
lately befallen us, or, indeed, all Christendom we may rather say.
Let all the world listen, with yourself, to this our grief, that it
may know whence proceed our tears and our lamentations, or what is
their end. On the fourth day of the month of July, in the year of the
Word made incarnate one thousand one hundred and eighty-seven,
Saladin, having gathered together a multitude of our foreign foes,
engaged with those of the Christians who were in the land of
Jerusalem, and, having routed their forces, triumphed over them to
his heart’s content; the vivifying Cross being exposed to the
ridicule of the Turks; the king being taken prisoner, and the Master
of the Temple, as also prince Raymond, being slain by this accursed
Saladin with his own hands; while bishops, Templars, and
Hospitallers, in all a multitude of nearly twelve hundred, and thirty
thousand foot were slaughtered in the defence of the Holy Cross,
besides a considerable number who were afterwards slain, or made
prisoners in the cities which he took. After this, being quite
satiated with the blood of the Christians, he took Tiberias and
fortified it; and then, he had laid siege to the noble city of Acre,
to Caiphas, Cæsarea, Joppa, Nazareth, Sebaste, Neapolis, Lydda,
Ramatha, Assur, Hebron, Bethlehem, and, last of all, the Holy City of
Jerusalem, and the Sepulchre of our Lord, vowing that he would cut it
into pieces and throw its fragments into the deep. As for the rest,
fearful anxiety possesses us every day and every hour, amid our
doubts whether these various places may not be subjugated to his
dominion, and their inhabitants slain or made captive, especially as
it is well
known that they are deprived of provisions, horses, munitions of war,
and defenders. By reason of this mighty anger and indignation of God
poured forth upon us from above, with tears we eat our bread, and are
alarmed with dreadful apprehensions, lest the Sepulchre of our Lord
may be delivered to strange nations, and lest we few, who still
remain in this Christian land, may, if succours are tardy in their
arrival, and our enemies press on, have to bow our necks to the
swords of the smiters. Now as, in prudence, counsel, and riches, you
surpass the other kings of the West, your aid we have always looked
for; and we therefore pray that you will hasten to bring your
powerful succour to the Holy Land. If you delay so to do, then the
Sepulchre of the Lord, with the noble city of Antioch, and the
territory adjacent thereto, will exist as an everlasting reproach to
foreign nations. Be mindful of your glories and of your name, that
so, God, who has raised you to a throne, may through you be exalted;
and if you are ready to give your assistance to so worthy an object,
either coming yourself to us, or sending to us the wished-for
succours, then to you, after God, will be imputed the liberation of
the Holy Land. We ourselves, with all possible contrition, and
smiting our guilty breast, cry unto God that He will give to you both
the will and the ability of thus acting to the praise and glory of
His name ; wherefore, at this, the last gasp of life, in your
clemency lend your aid to the Holy Land and to ourselves. Otherwise,
we who, subjected to various perils, have been afflicted with a
lingering illness, shall have nothing to expect but immediate death
for ourselves, and that after the blood of the Christians has been
poured forth, the Sepulchre of our Lord, with the noble city of
Antioch. and the country thereto adjacent, will, to the eternal
disgrace of foreign nations, be captured. We do further entreat, that
you will receive our recommendations of our dearly beloved brethren,
the bishops of Gabalus and Valenia, whom on this matter we. have
despatched to you. Farewell."
The
Letter of Henry, king of England, to the Patriarchs of Jerusalem and
Antioch, and, Raymond, prince of Antioch
“To
the venerable fathers in Christ, and his friends, A. and E., the
Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem, and to Raymond, prince of
Antioch, and to all the Christian people of the Church in the East,
Henry, by the same grace, king of England, duke of Normandy and
Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, health and consolation in Christ.
Inasmuch as, our sins so requiring it,
the Lord has in our times visited our iniquities with the rod of His
vengeance, and has, by the Divine judgment, permitted the land which
was redeemed with His own blood to be polluted by the hands of the
unbelievers; it is therefore becoming, that we, and all who belong to
the Christian religion, and are professors of that name, should
attend with pious zeal to the desolate state of the said land, and
make it our endeavour with all our might to impart thereto our aid
and counsel. Wherefore, as A., by the grace of God, the venerable
bishop of Valenia, has, with a profusion of tears and deep sighs,
disclosed unto us the griefs and calamities with which the Eastern
Church is afflicted, the greater the danger we behold impending, the
more strenuous and immediate is the assistance which we are prompted
by compassion to give. Having, therefore, faith and confidence in
Him, who never forsakes those who put their trust in Him, act
manfully, and let your hearts be strengthened in the Lord; for we
believe that now is the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled; “Jerusalem,
lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves
together, they come to thee ; Then thou shalt see, and flow together,
and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of
the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee.” For now, the Lord, who looks down upon
the sons of men, that He may see if man is of good understanding or
seeks God, has so aroused the feelings of the Christians, which were
before asleep, to His own service, that every one who is of the
Lord’s side, has now girded his sword to his thigh, and each
one reckons himself as blessed and faithful, who leaves his father
and his mother and all things besides, that he may be able to avenge
the injuries done to Christ, and to the Holy Land. Wherefore, be ye
firm, and you shall speedily see the assistance of the Lord which is
now preparing for you. For sooner than you could believe, such vast
multitudes of the faithful will by land and sea come to your rescue,
as ‘Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into
the heart of man to conceive;’ and whom the Lord has prepared
for the deliverance of your land. Among other princes as well, I and
my son, rejecting the pomps of this world, and setting at nought all
its pleasures, and all things that belong to this world being laid
aside, will shortly, by the assistance of the Lord, visit you in our
own persons. Farewell.”
In
the same year, Philip, king of France, levying a large army, entered
Berry, and took Chateau Raoul, which the burgesses surrendered to
him; and, proceeding thence, nearly the whole of Berry was delivered
up to him, with the exception of Luches, and the other castles,
demesnes of the king of England. Buchard of Vendome also surrendered
to the king of France, with his lands and castles, and became his
adherent. On the king of England making enquiry why this was done, he
was told that the king of France was acting thus in revenge for the
injuries that Richard, earl of Poitou, had done to himself and the
count of Saint Gilles. Having, therefore, held counsel with his
trusty advisers, the king of England sent Baldwin, archbishop of
Canterbury, and Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, to the king of France; that
they might, at least, by words and exhortations, assuage the anger
and indignation which, in his mind, he had conceived against him.
These
prelates being unable to succeed in their object, the king of England
crossed over from England to Normandy, and landed at Harfleur on the
fifth day before the ides of July; and going thence to Alenfon,
levied a great army in Normandy and the rest of his territories. Many
of the Welch also accompanied him to Normandy as mercenaries. In the
meantime, Richard, earl of Poitou, having raised a considerable
force, marched into Berry; on hearing of whose approach, the king of
France gave Chateau Raoul into the charge of William des Barres, and
he himself returned into France. On this, earl Richard ravaged the
lands of the earls and barons who had given in their adhesion to the
king of France, and took many of them prisoners. The king of France,
however, in consequence of the arrival of the king of England, did
not dare to move out of France, but directed his army to lay waste
the territories of the king of England.
On
this, Philip, bishop of Beauvais, entered Normandy with an army, and
ravaged with fire Blangeville, a town belonging to the earl of Auch,
and Aumarle, a castle of William, earl of Mandeville, together with
the adjoining provinces. The king of France also burned the town of
Trou, and the whole of the fortress there, but could not gain
possession thereof; however, he took forty of the knights of the king
of England. On the other hand, Richard, earl of Poitou, took an
extremely well fortified place, which is called Les Roches, beyond
Trou, towards Vendome, and captured in that place twenty-five knights
and sixty yeomen.
On
this, Henry, king of England, sent Walter, archbishop of Rouen, John,
bishop of Evreux, and William Marshal to the king of France, to
demand reparation for the injuries which he and his people had done
him ; and if he should refuse to restore what he had taken away, he
defied him. To this the king of France made answer that he would not
desist from his purpose until the whole of Berry, and the whole of
the Norman vexin should have been subjected to himself and to his
kingdom. Having, therefore, now got an excuse, by reason of the
injuries done to him by the king of France, Henry, king of England,
levying a large army, entered the lands of the king of France, on the
Tuesday after the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, and, burning
many villages, rode the same day to the town of Mante, where the king
of France was said to be. Here William des Barres and Drago de
Merlou, accompanied by a few French knights, met Richard, earl of
Poitou, and William, earl of Mandeville, and some others of the
household of the king of England; upon which, William des Barres was
taken prisoner by earl Richard, and given in charge to his men; but
while the people of the king of England were intent on other matters,
the said William des Barres made his escape upon his page’s
horse.
On
the Wednesday following, the king of England made a halt at Ivery, on
which earl Richard set out for Berry, promising the king his father
that he would serve him well and faithfully. On the Thursday after,
being the feast of Saint Gilles, the Welch troopers of the king of
England entered the territories of the king of France, and burned
Daneville, the castle of Simon Daneth, together with many villages,
and carried off considerable booty, after slaying many men. The same
day, earl William de Mandeville burned the town of Saint Clair, which
belongs to the demesnes of the king of France, and laid waste a very
fine shrubbery which the king himself had planted.
On
the same day, the king of England, having with a few knights entered
the territories of the king of France, that he might ascertain the
weak points of those parts, there came to him envoys from the king of
France to sue for peace, and offer him the lands which he had taken
from him in Berry. Upon this, a conference was held between them at
Gisors, where they were unable to come to terms as to making peace;
the king of France, aroused to anger and indignation thereat, cut
down a very fine elm situate between Gisors
and Trie, where conferences had been usually held between the kings
of France and the dukes of Normandy, vowing that thenceforth there
should be no more conferences held there. The earl of Flanders,
however, and earl Theobald, and other earls find barons of the
kingdom of France, laid down their arms, saying that they would never
bear arms against Christians until they should have returned from
their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Upon
this, the king of France, being deprived of the aid of his allies,
requested an interview with the king of England ; which being acceded
to, it was accordingly held at Chatillon, on the morrow of the day of
Saint Faith, where terms of peace were to have been agreed to between
them, as follows; the king of France was to restore to the king of
England whatever he had seized in his territories after the truce was
broken, and earl Richard was to restore to the count of Saint Gilles
whatever he had taken from him by force of arms. The king of France
also, prompted by his faithlessness, demanded of the king of England
the castle of Pascy in pledge; and, because the king of England
refused to assent thereto, they separated mutually dissatisfied; and
the king of France, leaving the place, took the castle of Palud; then
passing through Chateau Raoul, he led thence a Rout of Brabanters as
far as Bourges, promising them ample pay; but on arriving at Bourges
they were seized, and the king took from them their horses, arms, and
the whole of their money, and turned them adrift unarmed and
stripped.
Earl
Richard, however, made an offer to the king of France to come to his
court and to take his trial as to the matters that had taken place
between him and the count of Saint Gilles; that so at least peace
might be made between the king of France and the king of England,
‘his father; a thing which greatly displeased the king, his
father.
After
this conference, Nevolun Fitz Urse de Fretteval swore fealty to the
king of England, and faithful service against all men ; on which the
king of England secured to him by charter the honors of Lavardin and
Faye; he also gave to the king of England his son as a hostage, and
many of the sons of his relations.
The
Letter of Terricius, Master of the Temple, to Henry, king of England.
“To
his most dearly beloved lord, Henry, by the grace of God, the
illustrious king of the English, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and
earl of Anjou, the brother Terricius, formerly Grand Master of the
house of the Temple at Jerusalem, health in Him who gives health unto
kings. Be it known to you that Jerusalem, with the Tower of David,
has been surrendered to Saladin. The Syrians, also, have possession
of the Sepulchre until the fourth day after the feast of Saint
Michael, and Saladin himself has given permission to ten of the
brethren of the Hospital to remain in the Hospital for one year to
attend the sick. The brethren of the Hospital of Bellivier are still
making a stout resistance to the Saracens, and have already taken two
caravans of the Saracens; by the capture of one of which they have
manfully recovered all the arms, utensils, and provisions that were
in the castle of Faba, which had been destroyed by the Saracens. The
following places also still show resistance to Saladin, Cragus of
Montreal, Montreal, Saphet of the Temple, Cragus of the Hospital,
Margat, Castel Blanco, the territory of Tripolis and the territory of
Antioch. On the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin ordered the Cross to be
taken down from the Temple of our Lord, and had it carried about the
city for two days in public view, and beaten with sticks. After this
he ordered the Temple of our Lord to be washed inside and out with
rose-water, from top to bottom, and his laws to be promulgated with
regard to it in four different places amid wondrous acclamations .*
*
He perhaps alludes to the opinions expressed by Mahomet in the Koran,
as to the sanctity of the Temple.
From
the feast of Saint Martin until the Circumcision of our Lord he
besieged Tyre, while thirteen stone engines day and night were
incessantly hurling stones against it. At the Vigil of Saint
Sylvester, our lord the Marquis Conrad arranged his knights and
foot-soldiers along the city walls, and, having armed seventeen
galleys and ten smaller vessels, with the assistance of the house of
the Hospital and of the brethren of the Temple, fought against the
galleys of Saladin, and, routing them, took eleven, and captured the
high admiral of Alexandria together with eight other admirals,
slaying vast numbers of the Saracens. The rest of the galleys of
Saladin, escaping from the hands of the Christians, fled to the army
of the Saracens j on which, by his command being drawn on shore,
Saladin with his own hand had them reduced to ashes and embers; and,
moved with excessive grief, after cutting off the ears and tail of
his horse, rode upon it in the sight of all through the whole army.
Farewell.”
In
the same year, John, bishop of Dunkeld, after the Purification of the
Virgin Mary, returned from the court of our lord the pope, Hugh,
bishop of Saint Andrew’s, haying been deposed, bringing with
him letters from our lord the pope to the following effect:—
The
Letter of pope Clement to the bishops of Glasgow and Aberdeen
“Clement,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brethren
Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, Matthew, bishop of Aberdeen, and to his
dearly beloved sons Everard, abbot of Melrose, and Bertram, prior of
Coldingham, health and the Apostolic benediction. Lest what has been
done might cause scruples by reason of distrust, it is proper that
the same should be committed to writing, and be introduced by a
public and truthful intimation to the notice of those whom it may
seem to interest. Now we bear in mind that pope Urban, of blessed
memory, our predecessor, enjoined Hugh, formerly styled bishop of
Saint Andrew’s, to appear in his presence on a certain day, to
make answer in the Apostolic court, respecting the dispute which
existed between him and our venerable brother, bishop John, under
penalty of excommunication if he should neglect so to do. But,
inasmuch as he was conscious of his deeds, and dreaded the result of
the investigation, he contumaciously refused to appear; wherefore,
for this and for many other things which, according to frequent
reports, had created scandal to the Church of God, with the advice
and consent of our brethren, we have adjudged him, on the authority
of the Apostolic See, to be for ever removed from the bishopric of
Saint Andrew’s, and suspended from the episcopal office until
such time as the Apostolic See shall think fit to determine otherwise
respecting him, absolving those subject to him from the fealty which
they have been bound to pay to him; and further, inasmuch as the
rules of the holy canons forbid that churches should be deprived too
long of the pastoral control, we do command your discretion, by these
Apostolic writings, diligently on our behalf to advise our
dearly-beloved sons, the chapter of Saint Andrew’s, to choose
for themselves such a bishop and pastor, as may be able worthily to
enjoy the dignities of the episcopal office; and more especially, you
are to labour to induce them, as far as in you lies, to make choice,
without any scruple or difficulty, of the before-named bishop John, a
man of good character, and for his virtues acceptable to us and our
brethren, for the governance and prelacy of that church. And if all
of you shall not be able to take part in the performance hereof, then
any two of you may carry out the same. Given at Pisa, on the
seventeenth day before the calends of February, in the sixth year of
the indiction."
The
Letter of the same pope to William, king of the Scots
“Clement,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to William, the
illustrious king of the Scots, health and the Apostolic benediction.
We are of opinion that it must shock the eyes of the majesty of God
in no small degree if we leave without due correction those excesses
of prelates which, with a safe conscience, we may not, through
carelessness, neglect. Wherefore, inasmuch as pope Urban, of blessed
memory, our predecessor, commanded Hugh, formerly styled bishop of
Saint Andrew’s, under pain of excommunication, to appear in his
presence on a certain day, to make answer in the Apostolic court
respecting the dispute which existed between him and our venerable
brother bishop John; but he, being conscious of his own deeds, and
not without reason dreading the result of the investigation, through
contumacy, neglected to come, for this and for many other things,
which, according to frequent reports, have caused scandal to the
Church of God, with the advice and consent of our brethren, we have
adjudged him, on the authority of the Apostolic See, to be for ever
removed from the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s, and suspended
from the episcopal office until such time as the Apostolic See shall
think fit to determine otherwise respecting him, absolving those
subject to him from the fealty which they have been bound to pay him.
For although, so far as with God’s assistance we may, we firmly
purpose to consult your honor and your interest; and, in the case of
the before-named Hugh, the Roman court, not without the censure of
many, has hitherto paid deference to your royal highness, still,
inasmuch as the reports about him have, on undoubted authority,
reached our ears, we have been unable, under any pretext, by closing
our eyes thereto, any longer to forbear noticing his errors; for
which reason we do not think that anything has been done in his respect
as to which your royal feelings ought on any account to be incensed.
Therefore we ask your duteousness with prayers and affectionate entreaties,
that you will receive, on our recommendation, the above-named bishop John,
(whom we and our brethren love with sincerity of heart for his virtues,)
with the bowels of brotherly love, as you respect the Apostolic See and ourselves;
and that laying aside the offence which, if any, in your indignation you have
conceived against him, you will treat him in all respects with your royal clemency
and kindness. And further, it is our belief that from his diligence and probity
much benefit will accrue, by the aid of God, to yourself and your
kingdom; and it will always be a subject of gratification to us, if
our prayers shall with the royal ears have the desired effect. Given
at Pisa, on the seventeenth day before the calends of February, in
the sixth year of the indiction.”
The Letter of the same pope to Henry, king of England.
“Clement, the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Henry,
the illustrious king of the English, health and the Apostolic benediction.
When your royal excellency, authority, and power has received prayers preferred
by the Apostolic See, to which it is expedient effect should be given
both for preserving the churches in their present state, and for
ensuring the salvation of many, it is the duty of your royal highness
diligently to listen thereto; and the more strenuously and zealously
to use all endeavours to give effect to the same, the more certain it
is that duteous attention thereto, and the diligent execution
thereof, equally concerns your kingly glory and your salvation. Hence
it is that we have thought fit that our Apostolic letters and prayers
should be addressed to your serene highness in behalf of our
venerable brother John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s, with full
confidence, therein entreating and advising, and for the remission of
the sins of all, enjoining, your exalted royal highness with all the
affection we possibly can, that, in consideration of your veneration
for Saint Peter and ourselves, as also in consideration of the
persecutions which there is no doubt he has endured, you will
earnestly advise William, the illustrious king of the Scots, our most
dearly-beloved son in Christ, and induce him, and if necessary compel
him with that royal authority in which you are. his superior, and
which has been conceded by him to your royal highness, to cease, by
setting aside every pretext for the same, all the rancour of his indignation
which, through the malice of certain whisperers, he has entertained
against the said bishop, thus shewing due regard for his own royal
dignity and the healthful works of piety; and, for the future to
allow him quietly and without challenge to hold the diocese of Saint
Andrew’s, which, by the common counsel and consent of his
brethren, the Supreme Pontiff has confirmed unto him for ever; and
this the more especially, as he is ready to prove himself obedient
and faithful in all respects to his royal majesty so far as shall be
consistent with reason. Given at Pisa, on the seventeenth day before
the calends of February, in the sixth year of the indiction.”
The Letter of pope Clement in behalf of John, bishop of Saint Andrew’s.
“Clement, the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all
the clergy of the see of Saint Andrew’s, health and the Apostolic benediction.
Although in doubtful matters some persons may be able to show their
subtlety or artfulness, still, when all scruples and grounds for
doubt are removed, and by manifest signs the tracks of truth are
disclosed, all devious paths ought to be entirely forgotten, and the
traces of the right path to be both sought for and observed ; lest,
which God forbid, acting otherwise, and persisting in their own
contumacy, after the scourges of this world, and its condign
punishments, they may be inwardly destroyed by the everlasting
punishments of eternal death. Wishing, therefore, in our paternal
anxiety to provide for your salvation, your interests, and your
quietude, we do, by these Apostolic writings, command and order, and
in virtue of your obedience, enjoin the whole of you, within fifteen
days after the receipt hereof, humbly and duteously to receive as
your father and pastor our venerable brother John, your bishop, who
has been canonically elected to the pontifical office, and, all
pretexts whatsoever laid aside, not to hesitate henceforth to pay due
reverence and obedience to his wholesome advice and commands; being
hereby informed that if, after Hugh, the man who was formerly styled
the bishop, was removed from the dignity of your bishopric by the
Church of Rome, or after his decease, the above-named John, your
bishop, still surviving, you shall have by chance made choice of any
other bishop, we do, by the Apostolic authority, pronounce that
election to be null and void. But if, which may God forbid, you have
presumed, by the persuasion of the enemy of mankind, to be guilty of
any conspiracy against the said bishop John, then both yourselves, as
also the whole see, we are determined to subject to sentence of
interdict until such time as, acknowledging your transgressions, you
shall have re turned to obedience to the commands of the said bishop
John. Given at Pisa, on the seventeenth day before the calends of
February, in the sixth year of the indiction.”
Another
Letter of the same pope on the same subject
“Clement,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable
brethren, Jocelyn, bishop of Glasgow, Matthew, bishop of Aberdeen,
and Richard, bishop of Moray, and his dearly-beloved sons Ernulph,
abbot of Melrose, Hugh, abbot of Newbottle, and the abbats of
Holyrood, Stirling, and Scone, health and the Apostolic benediction.
Although it is our belief that, even without our advice, it is
incumbent upon you to give your serious and diligent attention, in
conformity with the duties of your office, to those things which
concern a good life and conduce to the salvation of souls, still, we
have thought fit, by these Apostolic letters, to exhort your
diligence to manifest greater anxiety in these respects; to the end
that the more fervently you devote yourselves to those works so
worthy of all praise, the more healthful it may be for you in these
respects to apply yourself with all diligence to comply with the
exhortations of the Apostolic See. And whereas it is clear that some
prelates of churches must, together with those who have been
offended, submit to the heat of persecution, and be weak with those
who are weak, in obedience to the rule laid down by the Apostle—how
great the persecutions which the church of Saint Andrew’s has
lately sustained, how great the calamities and oppressions it has
endured ! how much, also, has it been disturbed and shaken of late
under the shadow of the indignation of his royal highness ! and,
above all, how many and how great the dangers which our brother John,
the bishop of Saint Andrew’s, has endured! how many the perils
to which he has been exposed, and what have been his labours in
preserving the liberties of the church entrusted to his care, and
confirmed to him by ourselves and our two predecessors! but inasmuch
as all this is well known to you, it seems needless to reiterate the
same to your hearing.
But
inasmuch as it is universally agreed upon as being most expedient, it
befits us to give all due attention both to the king’s
salvation, to the reformation of the state of the before-named
church, and to the preservation of peace for the bishop himself, we
deem it proper that we should employ your circumspection to aid us
therein; therefore we do, by these Apostolic writings, command and
enjoin your discretion, that, on receiving these our letters, meeting
together, as befits prudent and discreet men, you will repair to the
presence of our most dearly-beloved son in Christ, William, the
illustrious king of Scotland, and diligently advise, and urgently
press him to put an end to the rancour of his indignation against the
before-named bishop, and herein not to despise the Church of Rome,
which has now for a long time deferred to the wishes of his serene
highness, but without delay wholesomely to obey and humbly to assent
to the advice of it and of yourselves, in such manner as befits his
royal glory and his salvation, and to allow the beforenamed bishop to
hold in peace the above-mentioned diocese of Saint Andrew’s;
inasmuch as he is bound by the duties of the kingly dignity not to
disperse the churches with their shepherds, but rather to cherish
them; not to despise them, but to love them ; not to persecute them,
but to defend them. But if, which God forbid, he shall, to the peril
of his own salvation, think proper to resist this Apostolic advice,
then, by the Apostolic authority, you are to inform him, that, within
twenty days, without any obstacle arising from appeal, sentence of
interdict will be pronounced by you against the kingdom of his
highness, and against his own person, as also all the abettors of his
majesty. Those also who have remained obedient to Hugh, and have
given him encouragement in his obstinacy, after the Apostolic See had
removed him for ever from the diocese of Saint Andrew’s, and
had pronounced sentence of excommunication against him, you are to
smite with a like sentence, and, publicly pronouncing them to be
excommunicated, are to cause them to be strictly avoided by others,
until they shall have returned to obedience to the Church, and sought
the benefit ‘ of absolution from the said bishop : and further,
you are, in conformity with the usage of the Church, to make
purification and sanctification of the altars and chalices, with
which the said Hugh has, since he has been placed under sentence of
excommunication, celebrated Divine service. You are also in like
manner to repair to the church of Saint Andrew’s, and,
convoking the brethren to enter the chapter-house, and make diligent
enquiry as to the order and state of the church ; and if you shall
find anything in the said church changed by the before-named Hugh, or
enacted by him, you are, of our authority, to place it again in its
proper state; and if anything therein shall stand in need of
correction, you are zealously to endeavour to change the same for the
better. But if, and may it not be so, you shall find any of the
canons reluctant to receive their beforenamed pastor humbly and
devoutly, and contumaciously inclined, you are most earnestly to
advise them to shew due respect and obedience to him, their father,
and to cease to persist in their malignant and damnable purpose. And
if they shall continue to be contumacious, you are to suspend them
both from their duties and their benefices, and to check them by the
ban of excommunication, under which you are to hold them, until they
shall have listened to the mandates and advice of the Church. And if
all of you shall not be able to take part in the performance hereof,
then let the rest carry out the same. Given at Pisa, on the
seventeenth day before the calends of February, in the sixth year of
the indiction.”
On hearing these things, the king of Scotland, being prevailed
upon by the counsels and entreaties of his people, received the before-named
bishop John into his favour, and allowed him peaceably to hold the
bishopric of "Dunkeld, and all the revenues which he had held
before his consecration, on condition, however, that the said John
should give up all claim to the bishopric of Saint Andrew’s.
Accordingly, the bishop, though protected in the assertion of his
claim by the beforementioned letters of our lord the pope, obeyed the
king’s will in all respects, and released the bishopric of
Saint Andrew’s from all claims of his, throwing himself upon
the mercy of God and of the king, well knowing that “Better is
a dry morsel and quietness therewith, than a house full of sacrifices
with strife.”
Hugh,
however, who was formerly styled bishop of Saint Andrew’s, on
being degraded and excommunicated, proceeded to Rome. Here, having
given security to abide by the decision of the Church, he was, in his
clemency, absolved by our lord the pope, but only survived a few
days. For, in the month of August, there was such a great pestilence
at Rome and in its territories, that many of the cardinals and most
wealthy men in the city died, with a countless multitude of the lower
classes: on which occasion this Hugh, with nearly the whole of his
household, and Henry, the bishop elect of Dol, with his household,
died there. On this, the king of Scotland gave the bishopric of Saint
Andrew’s to Roger, son of the earl of Leicester, his
chancellor, John, bishop of Dunkeld, being present, and making no
objection thereto. The king of Scotland also gave his chancellorship
to Hugh de Roxburgh, his clerk.
In
the same year, on the twelfth day before the calends of October,
being the third day of the week, and the vigil of Saint Matthew the
Apostle and Evangelist, nearly the whole of the town of Beverley,
with the noble church of Saint John the Archbishop, was burnt. In the
same year, master John Gilbert, of Sempringham*, first founder and
pastor of the order which is called the order of Sempringham,
departed this life, and was buried in his church at Sempringham,
among the nuns.
*
In Lincolnshire. This order was, from its founder, called “the
Gilbertines.” Both men and women lived in their houses, but
separated by high walls.
In
the same year, Gilbert de Ogleston, a brother of the Temple, who had
been elected and appointed by our lord the king of England, together
with some others, clerks and laymen, to collect the tenths, was
detected in the mal-appropriation thereof; but as the king could not,
by the ordinary mode of trial, pass sentence upon him, he handed him
over to the Master of the Temple, at London, in order that he might
be dealt with according to the statutes of his order. On this the
master of the Temple placed him in irons, and inflicted on him
various punishments; but as to what those various punishments were,
it is for you to enquire, who feel an interest in the concerns of
that order.
In
the same year, a thing took place at Dunstable, in England, very
wonderful to be mentioned and glorious to be seen, on the vigil of
Saint Lawrence the Martyr, being the second day of the week; for,
about the ninth hour of the day, the heavens opened, and, in the
sight of many, both clergy and laity, a cross appeared, very long and
of wonderful magnitude, and it appeared as though Jesus Christ was
fastened thereto with nails, and crowned with thorns; His hands also
were stretched out on the cross, and the wounds of His hands, and
feet, and sides were bloody, and His blood was flowing down, but did
not fall upon the earth. This appearance lasted from the ninth hour
of the day till twilight.
In
the same year, the king of England and the king of France held a
conference, between Bonimolt and Sulenne, on the fourteenth day
before the calends of September, being the sixth day of the week. At
this conference the king of France offered to restore to the king of
England whatever he had taken from him in war, upon the following
conditions : That he should give his sister Alice in marriage to his
son Richard, and should allow homage and fealty to be done to the
said Richard, his heir, by the people of his territories. But the
king of England, not forgetful of the injuries which the king, his
son, had done to him in return for a similar promotion, made answer
that he would on no account do so. At this, earl Richard being
greatly indignant, without the advice and wish of his father, did
homage to the king of France for all the possessions of his father
beyond sea, and, swearing fealty to him against all men, became his
adherent : on which, the king of France gave to him Chateau Raoul,
and Yssoudun, with the whole honor thereof, in return for his homage
and fealty. However, the before-named kings made a truce between them
until the feast of Saint Hilary ; but Henry, the cardinal-bishop of
Albano, whom our lord the pope had sent to put an end to the dispute
between the before-named kings, excommunicated earl Richard, because
he had broken the peace, and then, returning to Flanders, he died at
Arras.
In
the same year, the envoys of the king of France, whom he had sent to
Isaac, the emperor of Constantinople, on their return home, reported
that the sultan of Iconium had given his daughter in marriage to the
son of Saladin, and that Saladin had given his daughter to the son of
the sultan; and that Daniel, a prophet of Constantinople, had
prophesied that in the same year in which the Annunciation of our
Lord should be on Easter day, the Franks should recover the Land of
Promise, and should stall their horses in the palm groves of
Baldack,* and should pitch their tents beyond the trees of the
desert, and that the tares should be separated from the wheat. They
also reported that in the palace of the emperor of Constantinople
more honor was paid to the envoys of Saladin than to any other
persons of the very highest dignity ; and that, with the consent of
the emperor of Constantinople, Saladin had sent his idol to
Constantinople, in order that it might there be publicly worshipped;
but, by the grace of God, before it arrived there the Venetians
captured it at sea; on which, together with the ship, it was taken to
Tyre. They also reported that a certain old man, a Greek by birth,
from Astralix, had informed them that the prophecy was about to be
fulfilled which was written on the Golden Gate, which had not been
opened for two hundred years past; which was this, “When the
Yellow-haired King of the West shall come, then shall I open of my
own accord, and then shall the Latins reign, and hold rule in the
city of Constantinople.” They also stated that the emperor had
promised Saladin a hundred galleys, and that Saladin had promised him
the whole of the land of promise, if he should impede the passage of
the Franks; and that, in consequence of this, the emperor had
forbidden any one throughout all his territories to assume the cross;
and if by chance any one in his territories did assume the cross, he
was immediately arrested and thrown into prison. There was also a
prophecy and astrological prediction among the Greeks and Turks, that
within the next three years one third of the Turks should perish by
the sword, another third should fly beyond the trees of the desert,90
and the remaining third be baptized.
*
Probably meaning either Baalbec or Bagdad.
In
the same year, a certain monk, of the Cistercian order, a religious
man and one who feared God, beheld a vision of this nature relative
to Henry, king of England. There appeared to him in his sleep a man
of wonderful magnitude and noble features, and clothed in white
garments, who said to him, “Observe and read these things about
the king: ‘I have set my seal upon him; the womb of his wife
shall swell against him, and in torments he shall suffer torments,
and among the veiled women he shall be as one wearing the veil.’”
In
the same year, Frederic, emperor of the Romans, having assumed the
cross at the hands of Henry, the cardinal-bishop of Albano, as
befitted a prudent and circumspect man, made all necessary provisions
for himself and his journey; for, in the first place, he reconciled
himself to God and the Holy Church, and then wrote to Saladin to the
following effect:—
The
Letter of Frederic, emperor of the Romans, to Saladin, ruler of the
Saracens.
“Frederic,
by the grace of God, emperor of the Romans, ever august, and the
mighty triumpher over the enemies of the empire, to Saladin, ruler
over the Saracens; may he take warning from Pharaoh, and flee from
Jerusalem. The letters which your devoted services addressed to us a
long time since, on matters of importance to yourself, and which
would have benefitted you, if reliance could have been placed on your
words, we received, as became the mightiness of our majesty, and
deemed it proper to communicate, through the medium of our letters,
with your mightiness. But now, inasmuch as you have profaned the Holy
Land, over which we, by the authority of the Eternal King, bear rule,
solicitude for our imperial office admonishes us to proceed with due
rigour against audacity so rash, so criminal, and so presumptuous.
Wherefore, unless before all things you restore the land of Judaea,
Samaria, and Palestine, which you have seized, with the addition
thereto of due satisfaction to be adjudged for excesses so nefarious
according to the Holy Constitutions, that we may not appear to wage
an unlawful war against you, we give you the space of the revolution
of one year from the beginning of the calends of November, in the
year of the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand one hundred and
eighty-eight, after which time you must make trial of the fortune of
war on the plains of Tanis, * by virtue of the vivifying Cross and in
the name of the true Joseph. For we can scarcely believe that you are
ignorant of what, being testified by the writings of the ancients and
the histories of antiquity, we are to presume is to be the course of
events in our time. Do you pretend not to know that both the
Ethiopias, Mauritania, Persia, Syria,** Parthia, where our dictator
Marcus Crassus met with a premature death, Judæa, maritime
Samaria, Arabia, Chaldsea, Egypt itself as well, where, shameful to
repeat! a Roman citizen, Antony, a man endowed with distinguished
virtues, passing the limits of propriety and temperance, and, acting
otherwise than as became a soldier sent from the mistress of the
world, became enslaved by his sensual passion for Cleopatra—do
you pretend not to know that all these and Armenia and innumerable
other lands became subject to our sway? Too well is this known to the
kings in whose blood the Roman sword has been so often drenched; you
too, God willing, shall learn by experience what our conquering
eagles, what the troops of the various nations can effect. You shall
now become acquainted with the rage of Germany, who even in peace
brandishes her arms—the untamed head of the Rhine—the
youths who know not how to flee—the tall Bavarian—the
cunning Swede—wary France—cautious England
—Albania***—Cambria—Saxony, that sports with the
sword— Thuringia—Westphalia—active
Brabant—Lorraine, unused to peace—restless Burgundy—the
nimble inhabitants of the Alps —Frisonia, darting on with
javelin and thong—Bohemia,**** delighted at braving
death—Polonia, fiercer than her own wild
beasts—Austria—Styria—Rutonia—the parts of
Illyria— Lombardy—Tuscany—the March of Ancona
[Anconitana Marcia] —the pirate of Venice—the sailor of
Pisa; and lastly also, you shall learn how effectually our own right
hand, which you suppose to be enfeebled by old age, has learned to
brandish the sword on that day full of reverence and gladness which
has been appointed for the triumph of the cause of Christ.”
*
It is probable that he alludes to the city of Tanais, or Tanis, in
Saladin’s kingdom of Egypt, which was situate at the Tanaitic
mouth of the Nile, and was rebuilt by the Caliphs of the line of the
Ommiades.
**
More probably “Scythia,” with Roger of Wendover.
***
Probably Scotland.
****
In this and the next instance we have adopted the words of Roger of
Wendover, instead of those in our author, which are “Beemia,”
and “Boemia.” It seems impossible to say what country is
meant by “Beemia;” but it is most probably a misprint.
In
the same year, on the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle, before the
Nativity of our Lord, William, bishop of Winchester, departed this
life. In the same year also, Frederic, emperor of the Romans, having
given his kingdom of Germany to his son Henry, leaving his city,
which is called Rainesburg, being unwilling to trust himself to the
winds and waves, determined to proceed by land; and when he arrived
at Constantinople, the emperor Isaac received him very courteously,
and supplied him and his people with all necessaries.
After
this, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, he passed through the
territory of the sultan of Iconium, and when he had come into
Armenia, the territory of Rupin de Lamontaigne, at a river which
bears the name of Salef, when half of his army had forded the stream,
he, while accompanying the rest,
fell from his horse into the river, and was the only person drowned.
Accordingly, they drew him on shore, and there disembowelled him;
after which, his entrails, brains, and flesh, which had been boiled
in water, and thus separated from the bones, were buried in the city
of Antioch. His bones being wrapped in clean linen, Conrad, duke of
Suabia, his son, carried them with him to the city of Tyre, where he
buried them.
In the same year, it was enacted by our lord the pope and the cardinals
that prayers should be put up to the Lord by the Church Universal,
without intermission, for the peace and deliverance of the land of
Jerusalem and of the Christian captives who were confined in chains
by the Saracens. Mass was performed each day in the church of Saint
Paul in the following form: when the priest had said “Pax
Domini sit semper vobiscum”(the peace of the Lord be with you always), and
the choir had made answer “Et cum spirituo tuo” (and
with thy spirit), before the “Agnus Dei” (the
Lamb of God) was begun, the priest or præcantor commenced with this antiphone,
“Tua est potentia, tuum regnum. Domine, tu es super omnes
gentes. Da pacem, Domine, in diebus nostris” (Thine
is the power, thine is the kingdom. 0 Lord! thou art above all
nations. Grant peace, 0 Lord, in our days.) On
the Lord’s day, this was accompanied with the following Psalm,
beginning “Quare fremueunt gentes” (Why do the heathen. rage?); on
Monday, with this Psalm, “Deus, in nomine tuo, salvum me fac”
(Save me, 0 God, by thy name); on Tuesday, with this Psalm, “Deus repulisti nos et
destruxisti?” (O God, Why hast thou cast us out?); on Wednesday, with this Psalm,
“Ut quid Deus, repulisti in finem?” (O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?);
on Thursday, with this Psalm, “Deus, venerunt gentes in
haereditatem tuam”(O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance);
on Friday, with this Psalm, “Deus quis similis erit tibi”
God, who shall be like unto Thee?); and on Saturday, with this Psalm, “Deus,
ultionum Dominus” (O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth) After
having repeated these Psalms and the antiphone beforementioned, the
“Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison" was to
follow, and then the "Paternoster” and the prayer “Et
ne nos;” (after which the following sentences were
to be repeated) “0 Lord, shew unto us thy mercy. Let thy mercy,
O Lord, be shewn upon us. O Lord, deal not with us after our sins.
Remember not our former iniquities. Assist us, O Lord of our
salvation. Save thy people, O Lord. Be thou to them, O Lord, a tower
of strength. Let not their enemies prevail against them. Let there be
peace through thy might, O Lord. O Lord God of might, correct us. O
Lord, hear our prayer. The Lord be with you.” “Let us
pray.” “Almighty and everlasting God, in whose hands are
the power and rule of all kingdoms, in thy mercy look upon the
Christian armies, that the heathen who put trust in their own valour
may be vanquished by the might of thy right hand.”
In the same year, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, by means of the
influence of the king, seized into his own hands the priory of the
Holy Trinity at Canterbury; and having expelled the monks who held
offices therein from their said offices, placed his own servants in
their room, and refused sustenance to the monks. In this year also,
Honorius, prior of the church of Canterbury, having gone to Rome to
procure the restitution of his house, departed this life at Rome,
together with all the monks whom he had taken with him. In the same
year, Hugh, bishop of Durham, having assumed the cross, gave the
priory in charge to the prior and convent of Durham, for which they
were bound to pay two hundred marks or more, and which he for the
profits thereof had retained in his hands for a period of two years.
In
the same year, our lord the pope, hearing of the death of Henry, the
cardinal-bishop of Albano, whom he had sent for the purpose of
settling the dispute between the king of France and the king of
England, sent cardinal John of Anagni for the same purpose. In the
same year, William, king of the Scots, sent envoys to Clement, the
Supreme Pontiff, and obtained from him letters of protection to the
following effect:—
The Letter of pope Clement to William, king of the Scots,
as to the exemption of the churches of his kingdom.
“Clement,
the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearly-beloved son
in Christ, William, the illustrious king of the Scots, health and the
Apostolic benediction. Whereas all persons subject to the yoke of
Christ ought to find favour and protection at the Apostolic See, it
is most especially proper that those should be supported with our
defence and protection whose fidelity and dutifulness have been
experienced on the most occasions, to the end that a stronger inducement may be
held out to obtain the favours consequent upon such a choice, and duteous
affection and reverence to the same may be more generally extended,
from the fact of its being known that they will certainly obtain the
pledges of its benevolence and favour. Wherefore, most dearly-beloved
son in Christ, considering the reverence and dutifulness which for a
long period we know you to have felt towards the Church of Rome, by
the pages of this present writing we have thought proper to enact
that the Church of Scotland, as an especial daughter thereof, shall
be subject to the Apostolic See, with no intermediate party thereto;
in which Church the following are recognized as episcopal sees;
namely, the churches of Saint Andrew’s, Glasgow, Dunkeld,
Dumblane, Brechin, Aberdeen, Moray, Ross, and Caithness. And it is to
be lawful for no one but the Roman Pontiff or his legate a
latereto pronounce against the kingdom of Scotland any sentence of interdict
or excommunication; and if such shall be pronounced, we do hereby
decree that the same shall not be valid; we do also declare that it
shall not be lawful for any person in future who is not a subject of
the king of Scotland, or one whom the Apostolic See shall have
especially appointed from its body for that purpose, to hold courts
in the said kingdom for the settlement of disputes therein. We do
moreover forbid that any disputes which may exist in the said kingdom
as to its possessions, shall be brought for judgment before judges
out of that kingdom, except in cases of appeal to the Roman Church.
And further, if any written enactments shall appear to have been
obtained in contravention of the liberties hereby granted by
enactment, or if in future, no mention being therein made of this
concession, any such shall happen to be granted, nothing to the
prejudice of yourself or of your kingdom is thereby to arise with
reference to the concession of the above-mentioned prerogative; but
we do enact that the liberties and immunities that have in their
indulgence been granted to you or to the said kingdom or to the
churches therein existing by our predecessors the Roman Pontiffs, and
hitherto observed, shall be hereby ratified, and shall at all future
times remain untouched. Let no man therefore deem it lawful to
infringe upon the tenor of this our constitution and prohibition, or
in any way to contravene the same. And if any person shall presume to
attempt so to do, let him know that he will thereby incur the indignation of Almighty
God and of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Given at the
Lateran, on the third day before the ides of March, in the first year
of our pontificate.”
1189 A.D.
In the year of grace 1189, being the thirty-fifth and last year of the
reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said Henry was
at Saumur, in Anjou, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord, which
fell on the Lord’s day, and there he kept that festival ;
although many of his earls and barons, deserting him, had gone over
to the king of France and earl Richard against him. After the feast
of Saint Hilary, the truce being broken, which existed between the
before-named kings, the king of France, and earl Richard and the
Bretons, (with whom the said king of France and earl Richard had
entered into covenants, and had given sureties that if they should
make peace with the king of England, they would not omit to include
them in that peace,) made a hostile incursion into the territories of
the king of England, and ravaged them in every direction.
On
this, the cardinal John of Anagni came to the beforenamed kings in
behalf of our lord the pope, and sometimes with kind words, sometimes
with threats, exhorted them to make peace. Moved by his urgent
entreaties, the said kings, by the inspiration of the Divine grace,
gave security that they would abide by the decision of himself, and
of the archbishops of Rheims, Bourges, Rouen, and Canterbury, and
named as the day for a conference to be held near La Ferté
Bernard, the octave of Pentecost; on which the before-named cardinal,
and the four archbishops above-mentioned, pronounced sentence of
excommunication against all, both clergy and laity, who should stand
in the way of peace being made between the said kings, the persons of
the kings alone excepted.
On
the day of the conference, the king of France, and the king of
England, earl Richard, the cardinal John of Anagni, and the four
archbishops before-mentioned, who had been chosen for the purpose,
and the earls and barons of the two kingdoms, met for a conference
near La Ferté Bernard. At this conference, the king of France
demanded of the king of England, his sister Alice to be given in
marriage to Richard, earl of Poitou, and that fealty for his
dominions should be sworn to the said Richard, and that his brother
John, assuming the cross, should set out for Jerusalem. To this the
king of England made answer that he would never consent to such a
proposal, and offered the king of France, if he should think fit to
assent thereto, to give the said Alice in marriage to his son John,
with all the matters previously mentioned more at large, more fully
and more completely than the king demanded. The king of France would
not agree to this; on which, putting an end to the conference, they
separated, mutually displeased. However, the cardinal John of Anagni
declared that if the king of France did not come to a complete
arrangement with the king of England, he would place the whole of his
territory under interdict; to which the king of France made answer,
that he should not dread his sentence and that he cared nothing for
it, as it was supported upon no grounds of justice. For, he said, it
was not the duty of the Church of Rome to punish the kingdom of
France by its sentence or in any other manner, if the king of France
should think fit to punish any vassals of his who had shewn
themselves undeserving, and rebellious against his sway, for the
purpose of avenging the insult to his crown; he also added, that the
before-named cardinal had already smelt the sterling coin of the king
of England. Then closing the interview, the king of France departed
thence, and took La Ferté Bernard, and then Montfort, and next
Malestroit, Beaumont, and Balim.
After
this he came to Le Mans, on the Lord’s day, pretending that he
was going to set out for Tours on the ensuing Monday; but when the
king of England and his people seemed to have made themselves at ease
as to the further progress of the king of France, he drew out his
forces in battle array, for the purpose of making an assault upon the
city. This being perceived by Stephen de Tours, the seneschal of
Anjou, he set fire to the suburbs. The fire, however, rapidly gaining
strength and volume, running along the walls, communicated with the
city; seeing which, the Franks approached a bridge of stone, where
Geoffrey de Burillun and many with him of the party of the king of
England met them with the intention of pulling down the bridge; on
which, a desperate conflict took place, and a great part of the
armies were slain on both sides, and in the conflict, the before
named Geoffrey was taken prisoner, and wounded in the thigh ; many
others also of the king of England’s army were taken, while the
rest immediately took to flight, with the intention of betaking
themselves to the city, but the Franks entered it with them.
The
king of England seeing this, and being in a state of desperation,
contrary to his promise when he came, took to flight with seven
hundred of his knights. For he had promised the inhabitants of that
city that he would not forsake them, giving it as his reason, that
his father rested there, as also, the circumstance that he himself
was born there, and loved that city more than all others. The king of
France pursued him for three miles ; and if the stream which the
Franks forded had not been very wide and deep, they would have
pursued them as they fled with such swiftness, that they would have
been all taken prisoners. In this flight, many of the Welch were
slain. The king of England, however, with a few of his men, got to
Chinon and there took refuge within the fort. The rest of the
household of the king of England who were surviving, took refuge
within the tower of Le Mans; immediately on which, the king of France
laid siege to the town, and, partly through his miners, partly the
assaults of his engines, the tower was surrendered to him within
three days, together with thirty knights and sixty men at arms.
Marching
thence, he took Mont Double by surrender of the castle and its lord.
For the viscount of this castle had been the means, indeed, the
especial cause, of this catastrophe; for, lying in ambush, he had,
armed, fallen upon Geoffrey, the earl of Vendome, who was unarmed,
and had wounded him so seriously, that at first his life was
despaired of, though by the grace of God he afterwards entirely
recovered from the effects thereof. The king of France was the more
vexed at his acting thus, because the before-named viscount had
strictly bound himself to the king of France, by a promise that he
would injure none of his people either in going or returning, or
annoy him while engaged in the siege of Le Mans. The king departing
thence, the castle of Trou was surrendered to him, together with
Roche l’Eveque, Montoire, Chateau Carcere, Chateau Loire,
Chateau Chaumont, Chateau d’Amboise, and Chateau de Roche
Charbon.
At
length, on the sixth day of the week after the festival of the
Nativity of Saint John, on the day after the feast of Saint Peter and
Saint Paul the Apostles, the king of France came to Tours. On the
Lord’s day next after this, Philip, earl of Flanders, William,
archbishop of Rheims, and Hugh, duke of Burgundy, came to the king of
England, who was then at Saumur, for the purpose of making peace
between him and the king of France. The king of France had, however,
sent him word before they set out, that from Chateau Saint Martin,
whither he had betaken himself by fording the Loire, he should make
an attack upon the city. Accordingly, on the ensuing Monday, at
about the third hour, applying their scaling ladders to the walls on
the side of the Loire, which on account of the small quantity of the
water, was much contracted and reduced, the city was taken by storm,
and in it eighty knights and a hundred men at arms.
To
their great disgrace, on the one side, the Poitevins were planning
treachery against their liege lord the king of England, and on the
other the Bretons, who had joined the king of France, and had
obtained from him letters patent, to the effect that he would never
make peace with the king of England unless the Bretons were included
in the treaty. Accordingly, the king of England, being reduced to
straits, made peace with Philip, king of France, on the following
terms :—
Conditions
of peace made between Henry, king of England and, Philip, king of
France
“Upon
this, the before-named king of France and king of England, and
Richard, earl of Poitou, with their archbishops, bishops, earls, and
barons, about the time of the feast of the Apostles Saint Peter and
Saint Paul, held a conference between Tours and Arasie, where the
king of England wholly placed himself under the control and at the
will of the king of France. The king of England then did homage to
the king of France, although* at the beginning of the war he had
renounced the lordship of the king of France, and the king of France
had quitted all claim of his homage. It was then provided by the king
of France that Alice, his sister, whom the king of England had in his
charge, should be given up and placed in the charge of one of five
persons, of whom earl Richard should make choice. It was next
provided by the king of France that security should be given by the
oath of certain men of that land that his said sister should be
delivered up to earl Richard on his return from Jerusalem, and that
earl Richard should receive the oath of fealty from his father’s
subjects on both sides the sea, and that none of the ‘barons or
knights who had in that war withdrawn from the king of England and
come over to earl Richard should again return to the king of England,
except in the last month before his setting out for Jerusalem; the
time of which setting out was to be Mid-Lent, at which period the
said kings and earl Richard were to be at Vezelay. That all the
burgesses of the vills, demesne of the king of England, should be
unmolested throughout all the lands of the king of France, and should
enjoy their own customary laws and not be impleaded in any matter,
unless they should be guilty of felony. The king of England was to
pay to the king of France twenty thousand marks of silver; and all
the barons of the king of England were to make oath that if the king
of England should refuse to observe the said covenants, they would
hold with the king of France and earl Richard, and would aid them to
the best of their ability against the king of England. The king of
France and earl Richard were to hold in their hands the city of Le
Mans, the city of Tours, Chateau Loire, and the castle of Trou; or
else, if the king of England should prefer it, the king of France and
earl Richard would hold the castle of Gisors, the castle of Pasci,
and the castle of Novacourt, until such time as all the matters
should be completed as arranged above by the king of France.
*
Meaning that it was done previous to the war breaking out.
While
the before-named kings were conferring in person hereon, the Lord
thundered over them, and a thunderbolt fell between the two, but did
them no injury; they were, however, greatly alarmed, and separated
accordingly, while all who were with them were astonished that the
thunder had been heard so suddenly, seeing that no lowering clouds
had preceded it. After a short time the kings again met together for
a conference, on which a second time thunder was heard, still louder
and more terrible than before, the sky retaining its original
sereneness; in consequence of which, the king of England, being
greatly alarmed, would have fallen to the ground from the horse on
which he was mounted, if he had not been supported by the hands of
those who were standing around him. From that time he entirely placed
himself at the will of the king of France, and concluded peace on the
terms abovewritten, requesting that the names of all those who,
deserting him, had gone over to the king of France and earl Richard,
should be committed to writing and given to him. This being
accordingly done, he found the name of his son John written at the
beginning of the list.
Surprised
at this beyond measure, he came to Chinon, and,
touched with grief at heart, cursed the day on which he was born, and
pronounced upon his sons the curse of God and of himself, which he
would never withdraw, although bishops and other religious men
frequently admonished him so to do. Being sick even unto death, he
ordered himself to be carried into the church, before the altar, and
there devoutly received the communion of the body and blood of
Christ; and after confessing his sins, and being absolved by the
bishop and clergy, he departed this life in the thirty-fifth year of
his reign, on the octave of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul,
being the fifth day of the week; after a reign of thirty-four years,
seven months, and four days.
After
his death, having plundered him of all his riches, all forsook him ;
so true it is that just as flies seek honey, wolves the carcase, and
ants corn, this crew followed not the man, but his spoils. At last
however, his servants returned, and buried him with royal pomp. On
the day after his death, when he was being carried out for burial in
the Church of the Nuns at Fontevraud, carl Richard, his son and heir,
came to meet him, and, smitten with compunction, wept bitterly;
immediately on which the blood flowed in streams from the nostrils of
the body at the approach of his son. His son, however, proceeded with
the body of his father to the abbey of Fontevraud, and there buried
him in the choir of the Nuns, and thus it was that he was “among
the veiled women as one wearing the veil.” *
* Alluding to the prophecy of the Cistercian monk, before-mentioned
[page 211].
RICHARD THE FIRST.
The king
being thus buried, earl Richard, his son, immediately laid hands on
Stephen de Tours, the seneschal of Anjou, and, throwing him into
prison, loaded him with heavy fetters and iron manacles, and demanded
of him the castles and treasures of the king, his father, which he had in his possession;
and, after the same had been delivered up, earl Richard* took ransom from him to the
uttermost farthing. Just the time at which the before-named king of
England died, Matilda, duchess of Saxony, his daughter, died.
* So called, as not yet being crowned king of England.
After this, the said earl Richard came to Rouen, and was girded with the
sword of the dukedom of Normandy by Walter, the archbishop of Rouen,
in presence of the bishops, earls, and barons of Normandy, on Saint
Margaret’s day, being the fifth day of the week, and the
thirteenth day before the calends of August. Having then received the
oaths of fealty from the clergy and the people of the dukedom of
Normandy, he gave to Geoffrey, son of Rotrod, earl of Perche, his
niece, Matilda, daughter of the duke of Saxony, in marriage.
On
the third day after this, that is to say, on the feast of Saint Mary
Magdalen, Philip, king of France, and Richard, duke of Normandy, met
to hold a conference between Chaumont and Trie. Here the king of
France urgently requested that the duke of Normandy would restore to
him Gisors, and many other places, which it would be tedious
individually to mention. But Richard, seeing that if he did so, it
would redound to his everlasting loss and disgrace, added to the
beforementioned twenty thousand marks of silver, which the king, his
father, had covenanted that he would pay to the king of France,
another four thousand marks of silver, and by these obtained his
favour and regard ; and the king of France restored to him everything
that he had taken in war from the king, his father, both castles as
well as cities, and other fortified places, and vills and farms as
well.
In
the meantime, queen Eleanor, the mother of the beforenamed duke,
moved her royal court from city to city, and from castle to castle,
just as she thought proper; and sending messengers throughout all the
counties of England, ordered that all captives should be liberated
from prison and confinement, for the good of the soul of Henry, her
lord ; inasmuch as, in her own person, she had learnt by experience *
that confinement is distasteful to mankind, and that it is a most
delightful refreshment to the spirits to be liberated therefrom. She,
moreover, gave directions, in obedience to the orders of her son, the
duke, that all who had been taken in custody for forestal offences
should be acquitted thereof and released, and that all persons who
had been outlawed for forestal offences should return in peace,
acquitted of all previous offences against the forest laws; and
further, that all persons who had been taken and detained by the will
of the king, or of his justice, and who had not been detained
according to the common law of the county or hundred, or on appeal,
should be acquitted ; and that those who were detained by the common
law, if they could find sureties that they would make due re dress
at law, in case any person should think proper to make any charge
against them, should be set at liberty; if, also, they should make
oath that they would make due redress, if any person should think
proper to make any charge against them, even then they were to be set
at liberty just as much. Those, also, who, on appeal, had been
detained in custody upon any criminal matter, if they could find
sureties that they would make due reparation and in full, were to be
set at liberty. Those, also, who were outlawed at common law, without
appeal, by the justices, were to return in peace, on condition that
they should find sureties that they would make due reparation at law,
if any person should think proper to allege anything against them;
and if they had been convicted upon appeal made, if they could make
peace with their adversaries, they were to return in peace. All those
persons, also, who were detained upon the appeal** of those who knew
that they were evildoers, were to be set at liberty, free and
unmolested. Those evildoers who, for their evidence, had been
pardoned life and limb, were to abjure the territory of their lord,
Richard, and to depart therefrom; while those evildoers who, without
any pardon of life or limb, had accused others of their own
free-will, were to be detained in prison, until their cases should
have received due consideration.
*
She had been kept sixteen years in close confinement by her husband,
king Henry.
**
The word “appellatio,” “appeal,” is used in
these several instances in its sense of an accusation made of the
commission of a heinous crime, by one subject against the other. In
this sense it is derived from the French verb “appeller,”
“to summon,” or “challenge."
It
was further ordered, that every free man throughout the whole kingdom
should make oath that he would preserve his fealty to his lord
Richard, king of England, son of our lord king Henry and queen
Eleanor, his wife, with life and limb, and worldly honors, as being
his liege lord, against all men and women whatsoever, who might live
and die, and that they would be obedient to him, and would give him
aid in all things for the maintenance of his peace and of justice.
In
addition to this, the said duke of Normandy restored to Robert, earl
of Leicester, all his lands, which his father had taken from him, and
restored all persons to their former rights, whom his father had
deprived of their possessions. All those persons, however, clergy as
well as laity, who, leaving his father, had adhered to himself, he
held in abhorrence, and banished from his acquaintanceship; while
those who had faithfully served his father, he retained with him, and
enriched with numerous benefits.
After
this, the said duke passed over to England from Harfleur on the ides
of August, being the Lord’s day before the Assumption of Saint
Mary, the Mother of God, while Walter, archbishop of Rouen, Henry,
bishop of Bayeux, and John, bishop of Evreux, who had preceded him to
England, were there awaiting his arrival. There came also from
Normandy, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, Gilbert, bishop of
Rochester, Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, and Hugh, bishop of Chester, on
which the duke and his brother John crossed over: at the arrival of
whom, their kingdoms rejoiced, because they trusted that through them
they might be brought to a better state. And although some, though
but very few, were hurt at the death of the king, still it was some
consolation that, as the poet says, "Wonders I sing, the sun has
set, no night ensued;” for truly no night did ensue after the
setting of the sun. For a ray of the sun, occupying the throne of the
sun, spreads its own lustre more brilliantly, and to a greater
distance than its own original size for when
the sun has set below the earth from his throne, his ray, still
remaining, and subject to neither eclipse or setting, being suddenly
cut off from the body of the sun, and wholly reflected back upon
itself, as though a sun itself, it becomes much greater and much more
brilliant than the sun, of which it was a ray, by reason of no clouds
intervening and no impediment obstructing its course. But, in order
that no difficulties may harass the mind of the reader, the meaning
of this may be more fully ascertained on reading the following
pentameter:
“Sol pater, et radius films ejus erat.” *
And thus, the son becoming greater and greater, enlarged the good works
of his father, while the bad ones he cut short.
* The father was the sun, his son his ray."
For those whom the father disinherited, the son restored to their former
rights; those whom the father had banished, the son recalled; those
whom the father kept confined in irons, the son allowed to depart
unhurt; those upon whom the father, in the cause of justice,
inflicted punishment, the son, in the cause of humanity, forgave.
Accordingly, as already stated, Richard, the said duke of Normandy, son of Henry,
king of England, lately deceased, came over to England; on which he
gave to his brother John the earldom of Mortaigne, and the earldoms
of Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, Nottingham, Derby, Lancaster, and the
castles of Marlborough and of Luggershall, with the forests and all
their appurtenances; the honor also of Wallingford, the honor of
Tickhill, and the honor of Haye; he also gave him the earldom of
Gloucester, together with the daughter of the late earl, and caused
her to be immediately married to him, Baldwin, archbishop of
Canterbury, forbidding it, because they were related by blood in the
fourth degree. He also gave to him the Peak and Bolsover; but the
duke retained some castles of the before-named counties and honors in
his own hands.
In
addition to this, the said duke gave to Andrew de Chauvigny the
daughter of Raoul de Dol, with the honor of Chateau Raoul, in Berry,
(she having been the wife of Baldwin-, earl of Rivers), and had them
immediately married at Salisbury, in presence of queen Eleanor; he
also gave to William Marshal the daughter of Richard, earl of
Striguil, with the earldom of Striguil; and to Gilbert, son of Roger
Fitz-Rainfray, he gave the daughter of William de Lancaster. To
Geoffrey, his own bastard brother, who had been formerly bishop-elect
of Lincoln, he gave the archbishopric of York; the canons having,
with the king’s consent, elected him to the archbishopric of
York. And although Master Bartholomew, acting as the deputy of Hubert
Fitz-Walter, the dean of that church, both before the election and
after it, appealed to the presence of the Supreme Pontiff, because
Hugh, bishop of Durham, and an especial son of that church, and
Hubert Fitz-Walter, dean of the said church, to which parties
belonged the first votes in the election, were absent, still, the
said canons were determined not to abandon their purpose, but elected
the person above-named, and under their seals confirmed the said
election.
However,
on the bishop of Durham and Hubert Fitz-Walter making complaint as to
this illegal conduct on the part of the canons, the duke gave orders
that all things relative to the church of York should be in the same
state as they were on the day on which his father had been living and
dead; and accordingly the ecclesiastical rights of the archbishopric
returned into the hands of Hubert Fitz-Walter and his deputies as
before, while the secular benefices of the said archbishop returned
into the charge of the servants of the duke.
In
the same year, Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, departed this life at
Winchester, on the twelfth day before the calends of September, and
being carried to Ely was buried there; on which duke Richard took
possession of all his treasures. The said duke also sent his bishops,
earls, and barons to all the treasuries of the king, his father, and
caused all the treasures found, consisting of gold and silver, to be
counted and weighed ; the number and weight of which it would be
tedious to mention, inasmuch as this amount of treasure far exceeded
in tale and weight one hundred thousand marks. After this, he sent
his servants and bailiffs throughout all the seaports of England,
Normandy, Poitou, and others of his lands, and caused the largest and
best of all the ships to be selected for himself, which were able to
carry large freights, and then distributed some of them among those
of his friends who had assumed the cross for the purpose of setting
out for Jerusalem, while the others were reserved for his own use.
The
duke then came to London, the archbishops, bishops, earls, and
barons, and a vast multitude of knights, coming thither to meet him;
by whose consent and advice he was consecrated and crowned king of
England, at Westminster, in London, on the third day before the nones
of September, being the Lord’s Day and the feast of the
ordination of Saint Gregory, the pope (the same being also an
Egyptian day*), by Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, who was
assisted at the coronation by Walter, archbishop of Rouen, John,
archbishop of Dublin, Formalis, archbishop of Treves, Hugh, bishop of
Durham, Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, Hugh, bishop of Chester, William,
bishop of Hereford, William, bishop of Worcester, John, bishop of
Exeter, Reginald, bishop of Bath, John, bishop of Norwich, Sefrid,
bishop of Chichester, Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, Peter, bishop of
Saint David’s, the bishop of Saint Asaph, the bishop of Bangor,
Albinus, bishop of Ferns, and Concord, bishop of Aghadoe, while
nearly all the abbats, priors, earls, and barons of England were
present.
* Egyptian days were unlucky days, of which there were
said to be two in each month. It is supposed that they were so called from
an Egyptian superstition, that it was not lucky to bleed or begin any
new work on those days.
The Order of the Coronation of Richard, King of England.
First
came the bishops, abbats, and large numbers of the clergy, wearing
silken hoods, preceded by the cross, taper-bearers, censers, and holy
water, as far as the door of the king’s inner chamber; where
they received the before-named duke, and escorted him to the church
of Westminster, as far as the high altar, in solemn procession, with
chaunts of praise, while all the way along which they went, from the
door of the king’s chamber to the altar, was covered with
woollen cloth. The order of the procession was as follows : First
came the clergy in their robes, carrying holy water, and the cross,
tapers, and censers. Next came the priors, then the abbats, and then
the bishops, in the midst of whom walked four barons, bearing four
candlesticks of gold; after whom came Godfrey de Lucy, bearing the
king’s cap [of maintenance], and John Marshal by him, carrying
two great and massive spurs of gold. After these came William
Marshal, earl of Striguil, bearing the royal sceptre of gold, on the
top of which was a cross of gold, and by him William Fitz-Patrick,
earl of Salisbury, bearing a rod of gold, having on its top a dove of
gold. After them came David, earl of Huntingdon, brother of the king
of Scotland, John, carl of Mortaigne, the duke’s brother, and
Robert, earl of Leicester, carrying three golden swords from the
king’s treasury, the scabbards of which were worked all over
with gold; the earl of Mortaigne walking in the middle. Next came six
earls and six barons, carrying on their shoulders a very large
chequer, upon which were placed the royal arms and robes; and after
them William de Mandeville, earl of Aumarle, carrying a great and
massive crown of gold, decorated on every side with precious stones.
Next came Richard, duke of Normandy, Hugh, bishop of Durham, walking
at his right hand, and Reginald, bishop of Bath, at his left, and
four barons holding over them a canopy of silk on four lofty spears.
Then followed a great number of earls, barons,
knights, and others, both clergy and laity, as far as the porch of
the church, and dressed in their robes, entered with the duke, and
proceeded as far as the choir.
When
the duke had come to the altar, in presence of the archbishops,
bishops, clergy, and people, kneeling before the altar, with the holy
Evangelists placed before him, and many relics of the saints,
according to custom, he swore that he would all the days of his life
observe peace, honor, and reverence towards God, the Holy Church, and
its ordinances. He also swore that he would exercise true justice and
equity towards the people committed to his charge. He also swore that
he would abrogate bad laws and unjust customs, if any such had been
introduced into his kingdom, and would enact good laws, and observe
the same without fraud or evil intent. After this they took off all
his clothes from the waist upwards, except his shirt and breeches;
his shirt having been previously separated over the shoulders; after
which they shod him with sandals embroidered with gold. Then Baldwin,
archbishop of Canterbury, pouring holy oil upon his head, anointed
him king in three places, on his head, breast, and arms, which
signifies glory, valour, and knowledge, with suitable prayers for the
occasion; after which the said archbishop placed a consecrated linen
cloth on his head, and upon that the cap which Geoffrey de Lucy had
carried. They then clothed him in the royal robes, first a tunic, and
then a dalmatic ; after which the said archbishop delivered to him
the sword of rule, with which to crush evil-doers against the Church:
this done, two earls placed the spurs upon his feet, which John
Marshal had carried. After this, being robed in a mantle, he was led
to the altar, where the said archbishop forbade him, in the name of
Almighty God, to presume to take upon him this dignity, unless he had
the full intention inviolably to observe the oaths and vows
beforementioned which he had made ; to which he made answer that,
with God’s assistance, he would without reservation observe
them all. After this, he himself took the crown from the altar and
gave it to the archbishop ; on which, the archbishop delivered it to
him, and placed it upon his head, it being supported by two earls in
consequence of its extreme weight. After this, the archbishop
delivered to him the sceptre to hold in his right hand, while he held
the rod of royalty in his left; and, having been thus crowned, the
king was led back to his seat by the before-named bishops of Durham
and Bath, pre ceded
by the taper-bearers and the three swords before-mentioned. After
this, the mass of our Lord was commenced, and, when they came to the
offertory, the before-named bishops led him to the altar, where he
offered one mark of the purest gold, such being the proper offering
for the king at each coronation; after which, the bishops
before-named led him back to his seat. The mass having been
concluded, and all things solemnly performed, the two bishops
before-named, one on the right hand the other on the left, led him
back from the church to his chamber, crowned, and carrying a sceptre
in his right hand and the rod of realty in his left, the procession
going in the same order as before. Then the procession returned to
the choir, and our lord the king put off his royal crown and robes of
royalty, and put on a crown and robes that were lighter; and, thus
crowned, went to dine; on which the archbishops and bishops took
their seats with him at the table, each according to his rank and
dignity. The earls and barons also served in the king’s palace,
according to their several dignities ; while the citizens of London
served in the cellars, and the citizens of Winchester in the kitchen.
While
the king was seated at table, the chief men of the Jews came to offer
presents to him, but as they had been forbidden the day before to
come to the king’s court on the day of the coronation, the
common people, with scornful eye and insatiable heart, rushed upon
the Jews and stripped them, and then scourging them, cast them forth
out of the king’s hall. Among these was Benedict, a Jew of
York, who, after having been so maltreated and wounded by the
Christians that his life was despaired of, was baptized by William,
prior of the church of Saint Mary at York, in the church of the
Innocents, and was named William, and thus escaped the peril of death
and the hands of the persecutors.
The
citizens of London, on hearing of this, attacked the Jews in the city
and burned their houses; but by the kindness of their Christian
friends, some few made their escape. On the day after the coronation,
the king sent his servants, and caused those offenders to be arrested
who had set fire to the city; not for the sake of the Jews, but on
account of the houses and property of the Christians which they had
burnt and plundered, and he ordered some of them to be hanged.
On
the same day, the king ordered the before-named William, who from a
Jew had become a Christian, to be presented to
him, on which he said to him, "What person are you?” to
which he made answer, “I am Benedict of York, one of your
Jews.” On this the king turned to the archbishop of Canterbury,
and the others who had told him that the said Benedict had become a
Christian, and said to them, "Did you not tell me that he is a
Christian?” to which they made answer, “Yes, my lord.”
Whereupon he said to them, “What are we to do with him?”
to which the archbishop of Canterbury, less circumspectly than he
might, in the spirit of his anger, made answer, "If he does not
choose to be a Christian, let him he a man of the Devil;”
whereas he ought to have made answer, "We demand that he shall
be brought to a Christian trial, as he has become a Christian, and
now contradicts that fact.” But, inasmuch as there was no
person to offer any opposition thereto, the before-named William
relapsed into the Jewish errors, and after a short time died at
Northampton; on which he was refused both the usual sepulture of the
Jews, as also that of the Christians, both because he had been a
Christian, and because he had, “like a dog, returned to his
vomit.”
On
the second day after his coronation, Richard, king of England,
received the oaths of homage and fealty from the bishops, abbats,
earls, and barons of England. After this was done, the king put up
for sale every thing he had, castles, vills, and estates.
Accordingly, Hugh, bishop of Durham, bought of the king his good
manor of Sedbergh, *
with the Wapentake and knight’s fees thereof, for six hundred
marks of silver, by way of a pure and perpetual alms; and the said
purchase was confirmed by charter to the following effect:
*
Roger of Wendover says it was “Segesfield” meaning
probably Sedgefield, in Durham.
The
Charter of king Richard, confirming the sale of the Manor of Sedbergh
to Hugh, bishop of Durham
“Richard,
by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
and earl of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, [earls], barons,
sheriffs, and all his bailiffs and servants throughout all England,
greeting. Know ye that we have given and granted, and by this present
charter do confirm to God, and to Saint Cuthbert and the church of
Durham, and to Hugh, bishop of Durham, our dearly beloved cousin, and
to his successors, as a pure and perpetual alms for the soul of our
father, as also of our predecessors and successors, and for the
salvation of ourselves and of our heirs, and for the
establishment and increase of our kingdom, our manor of Sedbergh,
together with the Wapentake to the said manor belonging, and all
other things thereto appurtenant, both men, and lands, sown and
unsown, ways, paths, meadows, pastures, ponds, mills, waters,
piscaries, as also the services of Peter Carou, and his heirs, for
one knight’s fee, held at Seton and Oviton; the services of
Thomas de Amudeville, and his heirs, for one knight’s fee, at
Cotton and Treyford; and the services of Godfrey Baarde, and his
heirs, for two halves of one knight’s fee, at Middleton and
Hartburn, which lands they held of us between the Tyne and the Tecs,
together with all other things to the aforesaid fees pertaining, in
exchange for the services of three knight’s fees, which Philip
de Kimber has held of the said bishop in Lincolnshire, and two
knights’ fees which Gerard de Camville has also there held of
the said bishop, and one knight’s fee which Baldwin Wake and
Roger Fitz-Oseville also held there of the same bishop. Therefore we
do will and command that the before-named Hugh, bishop of Durham, and
his successors, shall have, hold, and enjoy, freely, quietly, and
with all due honor, the said two knights’ fees and the said two
halves of one knight’s fee, together with the before-mentioned
manor of Sedbergh and the Wapentake as hereinbefore named, with all
things thereto pertaining in wood and plain, with soc, and sac, and
tol, and them, and infangtheof, and with all other liberties and free
customs, and with the pleas belonging to the crown, in such manner as
we hold the same in our own hands, and in such manner as the said
bishop has and holds the other lands and knights’ fees in his
bishopric, and so that the said bishop, as also his successors, may
dispose of the men and lands to the same manor pertaining according
to his own pleasure and free will, in such manner as he does with
respect to his other men and lands in the said bishopric. Witnesses
hereto : Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, Walter, archbishop of
Rouen, John, archbishop of Dublin, Reginald, bishop of Bath, Hugh,
bishop of Lincoln, John, bishop of Norwich, Hugh, bishop of Coventry,
Sefrid, bishop of Chichester, Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, John,
bishop of Exeter, the lord John, brother of our lord the king,
William de Mandeville, earl of Essex, Robert, earl of Leicester,
Hamelin, earl of Warenne, Waleran, earl of Warwick, William, earl of
Arundel, Richard, earl of Clare, William, earl of Salisbury, Roger
Bigot, William Marshal, lord of Striguil. Given in the first year of
our reign, on the eighteenth day of September, at
Eatingert, by the hand of William de Longchamp, our chancellor.”
Also
the said bishop gave to the before-named king — marks of silver
for receiving the earldom of Northumberland for life, together with
its castles and other appurtenances.
After
this, the king proceeded to an abbey called Pipewell, where he was
met by the following persons: Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury,
Walter, archbishop of Rouen, John, archbishop of Dublin, Formalis,
archbishop of Treves, Hugh, bishop of Durham, Hugh, bishop of
Lincoln, Hugh, bishop of Chester, John, bishop of Norwich, John,
bishop of Evreux, John, bishop of Exeter, William, bishop of
Hereford, William, bishop of Worcester, Reginald, bishop of Bath,
Gilbert, bishop of Rochester, Sefrid, bishop of Chichester, Henry,
bishop of Bayeux, Peter, bishop of Saint David’s, in Wales,
Albinus, bishop of Ferns, Concord, bishop of Aghadoe, together with
nearly all the abbats and priors of England. Here the king gave to
Godfrey de Lucy the bishopric of Winchester; to Richard, archdeacon
of Ely, his treasurer, the bishopric of Lincoln ; and to Hubert
Fitz-Walter, dean of York, the bishopric of Salisbury; the abbey of
Selesby* to Roger, prior of that abbey; the abbey of Glastonbury to
Henry de Soilly, prior of Bermondsey; and to Geoffrey, his brother,
the former bishop-elect of Lincoln, the archbishopric of York. To
Henry, the brother of William Marshal, he gave the deanery of York,
and to Bucard de Pudsey, nephew of Hugh, bishop of Durham, the
treasurership of the church of York. To William de Chuneli he gave
the archdeaconry of Richmond, and to William de Saint Mary L’Eglise,
the prebendal stall which had belonged to Herbert Fitz-Walter in the
church of York, with the deanery of Saint Martin, at London.
*
Selby, in Yorkshire.
When
Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, saw that the archbishopric of York
had been given to the said Geoffrey, he claimed the consecrating of
him, and forbade that he should receive consecration, or priest’s
orders, at the hands of any one but himself, and appealed in the
matter to our lord the pope, producing before the king and all the
bishops and clergy, and people, the charter of king William the
Bastard, in which was stated the dispute which formerly took place
between the churches of Canterbury and York, with respect to the
primacy of England and certain other dignities.
In
this charter also it was stated that Thomas, at that time archbishop
of York, had received priest’s orders and episcopal
consecration at the hands of Lanfranc, at that time archbishop of
Canterbury and primate of all England, and paid to him canonical
obedience, and came to his synods with the bishop of the church of
Lindisfarne and his other suffragan bishops, and showed him all
respect as being his primate. This charter also attested that all the
above things had taken place before king William, at the general
council held at London, in accordance with the final sentence
pronounced thereon by pope Alexander the Second.
On
the following day, John, bishop elect of Whitherne, was consecrated
bishop by John, archbishop of Dublin, at Pipe well, it being the
Lord’s Day, and the fifteenth day before the calends of
October. At the same council also, our lord the king appointed Hugh,
bishop of Durham, and William, earl of Aumarle, chief justiciaries of
England, and associated with them in the government of the kingdom
William Marshal, Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, William Bruyere, Robert de
Whitfield, and Roger Fitz-Rainfray.
Geoffrey,
the archbishop elect of York, immediately made complaint against
Henry, the brother of William Marshal, Bucard, the nephew of Hugh,
bishop of Durham, William de Saint Mary L’Eglise, and Roger,
abbot elect of the abbey of Saint German, at Selby, on whom the king
had conferred the honors above-mentioned, and swore that these
presentations of the king should not hold good, unless with his
consent and will. In consequence of this, the king deprived him of
the see of York, and a great dissension arose between them, so much
so, that the king went so far even as to deprive him of all his
possessions on either side of the sea. However, shortly after, the
said archbishop elect of York received priest’s orders from
John, bishop of Whitherne, his suffragan, on the fourth day before
the calends of September, at Swale.
In
the meantime, Richard, king of England, sending his envoys to pope
Clement, obtained from him letters patent, that such persons as he
should think fit to excuse and leave in charge of his dominions,
should be exempt from assuming the cross, and proceeding to
Jerusalem; by which means he obtained an immense sum of money.
Henry,
the brother of William Marshal, to whom the king had given the
deanery of York, came to Burton, in Lindsey, and there received
orders as subdeacon and deacon on the same day, from Concord, bishop
of Aghadoe. But when the said Henry came to York with the king’s
letters, in order to receive his deanery, he found no one to install
him as dean: as the clergy of the see of York asserted that no person
but the archbishop ought to install him as dean. However, Hamo, the
precentor of York, installed him in the prebenda.1 stall which the
king had conferred on him: but when Bucard de Pudsey, the archdeacon
of Durham, to whom the king had given the treasurership of the church
of York, came with the king’s letters directed to Hamo the
precentor, requesting him to install the said Bucard, he was
unwilling to obey the king’s commands. For he asserted that
Roger, the archbishop of York, had given to him the said
treasurership, and that king Henry had confirmed it to him ; and he
appealed thereon to the Apostolic See ; and thus, both missing the
objects of their desire, took their departure.
In
the same year, Formator, *
archbishop of Treves, departed this life at Northampton, in England.
In this year, also, in the month of September, the men of London, and
many others who had taken ship on their way to Jerusalem, laid siege,
in Spain, to a certain city of the Saracens, which is called Silvia,
and took it; and, after clearing it of the abominations of the
Saracens, they ordained that the Christian law should be there
observed for ever, and built a church in honor of God and Saint Mary,
the Mother of God, and caused it to be dedicated by the neighbouring
bishops, and had a certain clerk of Flanders, who had come with them,
consecrated bishop of the said city, and then delivered it up to
Sancho, king of Portugal.
*
Properly “Formalis.”
In
the same year, Godfrey de Lucy, bishop of Winchester, purchased of
Richard, king of England, two excellent manors, namely, Wargrave and
Menes, which formerly belonged to the bishop of Winchester, as was
generally said ; and Samson, abbot of Saint Edmund’s, bought of
him the manor which is called Mildenhall, for a thousand marks, and
which, of ancient right, was said to belong to the abbey of Saint
Edmund’s. All the rest as well, whoever chose, bought of the
king their own rights and those of others; by which the king acquired
a very large sum of money. Geoffrey, the archbishop elect, coming to
York, was received with a solemn procession by the clergy and people.
There came also to York, Henry, the brother of William Marshal, to
whom the king had given the deanery of York, and Bucard, the nephew
of Hugh, bishop of Durham, to whom the king had given the
treasurership of York; but the archbishop of York refused to receive
or install them, declaring that he would not do so until such time as
his election had been confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff.
In
the same year, in the month of October, Henry, duke of Saxony, the
son-in-law of Henry, king of England, returned to Saxony, his own
country, and, having levied a large army, attacked those to whom the
emperor had given his territories, and defeated them, taking more
than thirty castles. In the same year, in the month of November,
William de Mandeville, earl of Aumarle, died at Rouen, in Normandy,
and Hugh de Pudsey, count de Bar sur Seine, nephew of Hugh, bishop of
Durham, died at Aclea, and was buried in the place at Durham which is
called the Galilee. *
*
A portion of the cathedral, at the east end of it, overlooking the
banks of the Wear.
In
the same month, Rotrod, count de Perche, and other envoys of Philip,
king of France, came into England, to Richard, king of England, to
say that, at a general council held at Paris, the king of France,
touching the Holy Evangelists, had made oath, as had all the chief
men of his kingdom who had assumed the cross, that, God willing, they
would, without 1
fail, be at Vezelay, at the close of Easter, for the purpose of
setting out for Jerusalem; and, in testimony of the said oath, the
king of France sent to the king of England his letters, requesting of
him that he and his earls and barons would in like manner give him
assurance that, at the same period, they would be’ at Vezelay.
Accordingly,
Richard, king of England, and his earls and barons who had assumed
the cross, met at a general council at London; and, touching the Holy
Evangelists, made oath that, with the help of God, they would,
without fail, be at Vezelay at the close of Easter, prepared to set
out thence for Jerusalem; upon which the before-named count de
Perche, and the other envoys of the king of France, made oath, at the
council, upon the soul of the king of France, in presence of the king
of England, to the same effect, and William Marshal and some others
made oath at the same council to the like effect, upon the soul of
the king of England, in presence of the envoys of the king of France
; and the king of England sent to the king of France his agreement
binding himself so to do.
In
the same year, Sibylla, queen of Jerusalem, gave Ascalon to Saladin,
as the ransom of her husband, Guido de Lusignan; on which Saladin set
him at liberty, and gave him leave to depart, with a safe conduct as
far as the city of Tyre; on Ms arrival at which place, the marquis
Conrad would not allow him to enter. Consequently, the king, having
no place where to lay his head, remained outside of the city of Tyre
in his tents ; on which, there flocked to him the Templars and
Hospitallers, and all the Christians, who, through fear of the
pagans, had been dispersed in that neighbourhood, and gave in their
adhesion to him as their lord and king.
Upon
this, king Guido, by the advice of Heraclius, the Patriarch of
Jerusalem, and of those who were with him, set out on his way to the
city of Acre, to which he laid siege, at a spot which is called
[Mount] Turon, in the month of August, on the octave of the
Assumption of Saint Mary, that is to say, on the eleventh day before
the calends of September; but, as the king had but a small army, the
pagans, who were in the city of Acre, did not shut the gates of the
city either by day or night, but went to and fro, with their camels,
carrying provisions and other things that were necessary to them.
On
the third day after, there landed at Acre, Robert, count de Drues,
and his brother Philip, bishop of Beauvais, count Erard de Breines,
and Jacques d’Avennes, with the landgrave of Germany, and many
other Christian pilgrims, at whose arrival the king, and all who were
with him, greatly rejoiced with exceeding gladness. Accordingly,
Saladin, after levying a large army, approached the army of the
Christians, and fought a battle with them, on the fourth day of the
week, being the day after the feast of Saint Michael, on the plain
between Acre and Casale l’Eveque, in which battle Saladin was
defeated and put to flight, so that he left all his tents in the
hands of the Christians, and lost one half of his best troops; the
Christians also lost a great part of theirs.
After
a time, in consequence of their sinfulness, Saladin again got the
better of the Christians, who were repulsed and driven to their camp,
and Gerard de Bedford, the Grand Master of the Temple, and the
Marshal of the Temple, with eighteen of the brethren, who had behaved
most valiantly, were slain; the Christians also lost many other
soldiers, and among them forty knights and one hundred Turcopoles. *
Saladin, however, lost Mirsalim, his eldest son, and his nephew
Tekehedin, Migemal, his seneschal, and a hundred of the choicest of
his troops, besides many others, whose numbers were not ascertained.
On the fourth day of the week, Saladin again approached with his
army; but when the Christians showed a readiness to engage with him,
he hastily retreated, and, on the third day after, shifted his camp,
and hastened to a place which has the name of Saftan, while his army
occupied the whole space that lies between Casale l’Eveque and
Docus; as, from the time that Saladin was born, he had never levied
such a mighty army as this. For, throughout the whole of his
territories, there was not a person fitted for war who was not
included in this army. Nor do I believe that any person could ever
have set eyes upon so large and so valiant a band of Christians as he
might have seen on this occasion. In addition to this, after the
battle was over, there arrived five hundred most valiant Christian
knights and ten thousand men, brave warriors, well provided with all
kinds of arms. In the same year, also, there came to those shores
ships and busses,** more than five hundred in number, besides
numerous galleys and cutters, which immediately returned to Apulia,
that they might bring further supplies of men and provisions. The
ships, however, of the Germans and of the Danes remained at Acre, for
the purpose of fuel: as the Christians there had no fuel with which
to cook their food, except such as the ships had brought, and the
ships themselves.
* Sons of Christian mothers by Saracenic fathers.
** “Burciæ,” or “bussæ,” “busses,”
were a kind of large merchant ships, rounded fore and aft, and with
capacious hulls. Spelman thinks that they took their name from the
English word “buss,” signifying “a box.” It
has been, however, suggested that they were so called from their
resemblance to a wine-cask, which the Greeks of the middle ages
called βετζιον.
It deserves to be described how the city of Acre was besieged ;—Guido,
king of Jerusalem, with the queen, his wife, and his two daughters,
was lodged at Turon, looking towards the sea, and near the summit of
the mountain, Heraclius, the Patriarch, and Geoffrey, the king’s
brother, being with him. The whole sea-line, which extends to
Caiaphas, was occupied by the camp of the Pisans, so much so, that no
one could escape from. the city on that side. On the other side of
[Mount] Turon, where Maconiatum is situate (called Lamahumheria by
the Saracens), the lord landgrave and the said Jacques de Avennes,
and all the Germans and the Genevese, had pitched their tents. Beyond
these, the Temple with its brotherhood took up its quarters at the
spot where were the gardens and the Tanks of the Latins. The
Hospital, with its brethren and people, pitched its camp on the spot
where were the gardens and land of the said Hospital. In the other
direction, the whole space, as far as the sea, was occupied by the
marquis Conrad, and many of the people from beyond the Alps, quite as
far as Mount Musard. Count Robert de Drues, the bishop of Beauvais,
and the count Erard de Breines, as also the Franks and Campanians,
together with the king’s people, took up their quarters towards
Mount Turon, and near the town; the archbishop of Pisa, the
archbishop of Nazareth, the archbishop of Besangon, the archbishop of
Arlesle-blanc, and the archbishop of Montreal being with them.
The
Christians next made a large trench from sea to sea, *
where the foss of the Temple was already in existence, lying between
them and the army of the pagans. They also made another trench
between themselves and Acre, so that they were in no fear of assault
from the persons in Acre, and none of the pagans could go forth from
Acre without falling into their hands. The engines also and stone
batteries of the Christians were masked behind them, so that no one
could do them any injury from the opposite side ; but the Christians
there were exposed to the winds and rain, having neither houses nor
cabins in which to shelter themselves; nor indeed, if they had sworn
so to do, could they have retreated, but there they must live or die.
In this way, as previously mentioned, was siege on all sides laid to
Acre; so strictly that no person whatever could possibly escape
therefrom, while day after day they made assaults against it.
*
Across the Peninsula.
On
the other hand, on one side of the Christians was Acre, full of pagan
warriors, and on the other was Saladin with his mighty army. And,
with all truth do I assert it, never were the Christians in a similar
position, or one full of such anxious
expectation, as no provisions could be brought them but by sea. In
the meanwhile, prayers were put up for them without ceasing by the
Church to the Lord.
In
the same year, in the month of October, Baldwin, archbishop of
Canterbury, consecrated Godfrey, bishop of Winchester, William,
bishop of Ely, Hubert, bishop of Salisbury, and Richard, bishop of
London. In the same month Rees, the son of Griffin, *
king of South Wales, came into England as far as Oxford, under the
safe conduct of John, earl of Mortaigne, the king’s brother;
but because the king of England declined to come to meet him, he was
greatly indignant, and returned to his country without an interview
with the king.
* Rice ap Griffydd.
In the same year, in the month of November, cardinal John of Anagni, who
had been sent as legate a latere by
our lord the pope to put an end to the disputes which existed between
Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, and the monks of the Holy Trinity
at Canterbury, landed at Dover, in England; on which he was forbidden
to proceed any further without the king’s command, and,
accordingly, he remained there till our lord the king sent for him.
In the meantime, our lord the king went to Canterbury, and made peace
and a final reconciliation between Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury,
and the monks, on the following terms: Roger le Norreys, whom the
before-named archbishop, against the wishes of the monks, had made
prior of the church of Canterbury, was to be deprived of the office,
and the church, 26
which the said bishop had built in the suburbs against the wish of
the monks, was to be pulled down, while the monks were to pay
canonical obedience and make profession thereof to the said
archbishop, in the same manner in which they had been accustomed to
do to his predecessors. Thus were matters arranged; and, at the
prayer of the archbishop of Canterbury, our lord the king gave to the
before-named prior, after his deposition, the abbacy of Evesham, and
he was elevated to the rank of abbot thereof. The archbishop also
placed a prior over the church of Canterbury with the king’s
assent, and with the sanction of the chapter. The monks of
Canterbury, however, after the death of that archbishop, deposed him.
In the meantime, the archbishop built a church at Lamhe,* opposite to
Westminster, and the prebends which he had given to the
church built by him in the suburbs of the city of Canterbury, he gave
to this new church which he had built at Lambeth.
*
Lambeth.
At
this treaty of peace and final reconciliation there were present
Richard, king of England, and queen Eleanor, his mother, Walter,
archbishop of Rouen, John, archbishop of Dublin, Hugh, bishop of
Durham, John, bishop of Norwich, Hubert,* bishop of Salisbury,
Godfrey, bishop of Winchester, Gilbert, bishop of Rochester,
Reginald, bishop of Bath, Hugh, bishop of Coventry, Hugh, bishop of
Lincoln, William, bishop of Worcester, the abbot of Saint Augustin’s
at Canterbury, Benedict, abbot of Burgh, Sampson, abbot of Saint
Edmund s, the abbot of Battle, the abbot of Westminster, Guarine,
abbot of Saint Alban’s, and many other priors and abbats, all
of whom set their seals to the writing in which was set forth the
said agreement.
*
This is the proper reading, and not John, as it stands in the text.
After
this, the king sent for cardinal John of Anagni, who came to
Canterbury, and was received with a solemn procession, but was
greatly offended that in his absence a reconciliation had been
effected between the archbishop of Canterbury and his monks.
In
the same year, in the month of November, Geoffrey, the archbishop
elect of York, together with the barons of Yorkshire, and the sheriff
of York, by command of our lord the king, went as far as the river
Tweed, and there received William, king of the Scots, and paid him
all due honor, and gave him a safe conduct to the king of England.
Accordingly, William, king of the Scots, came to the king of England
at Canterbury in the month of December, and did homage to him for his
dignities in England, in the same manner that his brother Malcolm had
held them. Richard, king of England, also restored to him the castle
of Roxburgh and the castle of Berwick, freely and quietly to be held
by him; and he acquitted and released him and all his heirs from all
homage and allegiance, for the kingdom of Scotland, to him and the
kings of England, for ever. For this gift of his castles and for
quitting claim to all fealty and allegiance for the kingdom of
Scotland, and for the charter of Richard, king of England, signifying
the same, William, king of the Scots, gave to Richard, king of
England, ten thousand marks sterling. The charter, executed by the
king of England, was to the following effect:—
The
Charter of the king of England as to the liberties granted by him to
William, king of Scotland
“Richard,
by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
and earl of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, abbats, earls,
barons, justices, and sheriffs, and all his servants and faithful
people throughout the whole of England, greeting. Know ye that we
have restored to our most dearly-beloved cousin William, by the same
grace king of the Scots, his castles of Roxburgh and Berwick, to be
held by him and his heirs for ever as his own of hereditary right. We
have also acquitted and released him of and from all covenants and
agreements which Henry, king of England, our father, of happy memory,
extorted from him by new charters, and in consequence of his capture;
upon condition, however, that he shall in all things do unto us as
fully as Malcolm, king of the Scots, his brother, did as of right
unto our predecessors, and of right was bound to do. We likewise will
do for him whatever of right our predecessors did and were bound to
do for the said Malcolm, both in his coming with a safe-conduct to
our court, and in his returning from our court, and while he is
staying at our court, and in making all due provision for him, and
according to him all liberties, dignities, and honors due to him as
of right, according as the same shall be ascertained by four of our
nobles who shall be selected by the said king William, and four of
his nobles who shall be selected by us. And if any one of our
subjects shall, since the time when the said king William was taken
prisoner by our father, have seized upon any of the borders or
marches of the kingdom of Scotland, without the same being legally
adjudicated to him; then we do will that the same shall be restored
to him in full, and shall be placed in the same state in which they
were before he was so taken prisoner. Moreover, as to his lands which
he may hold in England, whether in demesne or whether in fee, that is
to say in the county of Huntingdon, and in all other counties, he and
his heirs shall hold the said counties as fully and freely for ever
as the said Malcolm held or ought to have held the same, unless the
said Malcolm or his heirs shall have since enfeoffed any one of the
same; on the further condition also that if any one shall be
hereafter enfeoffed of the same, the services of the said fees shall
belong to him or his heirs. And if our said father shall have given
anything to William, king of the Scots, we do will that the same
shall be hereby ratified and confirmed. We have also restored to him
all allegiances of his subjects and all charters which the king our
father obtained of him by reason of his capture. And if any other
charters shall chance, through forgetfulness, to have been retained
by us or shall hereafter be found, we do hereby order that the same
shall be utterly void and of no effect. He has also become our
liegeman as to all the lands for which his predecessors were liegemen
to our predecessors, and has sworn fealty to ourselves and to our
heirs. The following being witnesses hereto:—Baldwin,
archbishop of Canterbury, Walter, archbishop of Rouen, Hugh, bishop
of Durham, John, bishop of Norwich, Hubert, bishop of Salisbury,
Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, Godfrey, bishop of Winchester, Gilbert,
bishop of Rochester, Reginald, bishop of Bath, Hugh, bishop of
Coventry, William, bishop of Worcester, Eleanor, the king’s
mother, John, earl of Mortaigne, the king’s brother, and many
others.”
On
the same day, there came thither, namely, to Canterbury, Hugh, bishop
of Durham, and Hubert, bishop of Salisbury, to appeal to the presence
of our lord the pope, against Geoffrey, the archbishop elect of York,
before the said cardinal and the above-named archbishops and bishops,
wishing to prove that his election ought not to hold good, because
they themselves to whom the first votes in the election belonged were
not present at his said election. Bucard also, the treasurer of the
church of York, and Henry, the dean of the said church, appealed
against the said archbishop elect of York to the presence of our lord
the pope, affirming that he was not canonically elected, and was a
murderer, born in adultery, and the son of a harlot. But although all
these allegations were made against him, the before-named cardinal
John of Anagni, the legate of the Apostolic See, confirmed his
election.
After
this, Richard, king of England, gave to his brother John, earl of
Mortaigne, by way of augmentation, the earldoms of Cornwall, Devon. 29
Dorset, and Somerset. The king of England also gave to his mother,
queen Eleanor, the whole of the dower which queen Matilda, the wife
of king Henry the Elder, had enjoyed, the whole of the dower which
Alice, the wife of king Stephen, enjoyed, and the whole of the dower
which Henry, king of England, son of the empress Matilda, had given
to her.
King
Richard departed from the city of Canterbury, on the fifth day of
December, for Dover, in order to cross over; for there many ships had
assembled by his command from different parts of England. On the day
after his arrival at Dover, Roger, the abbot elect of Saint German’s,
at Selby, received his benediction at Dover, on Saint Nicholas’
day, from Hugh, bishop of Durham, by the king’s command,
notwithstanding the prohibition of Geoffrey, archbishop elect of
York.
On
this, Geoffrey, the archbishop elect of York, becoming sensible that
without the intervention of money he would in nowise be able to gain
his brother’s favour, promised him three thousand pounds
sterling, for the purpose of so ingratiating himself: on which, the
king restored to him the archbishopric of York, and confirmed the
same to him by his charter, and restored to him all the lay fees
which king Henry, his father, had given him, on either side of the
sea; namely, in England, the vill of Wycombe, with its appurtenances,
the county of Giffard, in Normandy, and in Anjou, the honor of
Blauge, with its appurtenances. The said king also released to God
and Saint Peter of York, and to the said Geoffrey, archbishop elect
of York, and to all that were able to succeed him in the
archbishopric of York, all his lands and those of his canons in York
and Nottingham for ever, both from forestal regard*, and all other
demands and impositions of forest and foresters, and gave them free
power, and by his charter confirmed the same, to take venison
throughout all their prebends in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
*
A fee to the court of regard, which was holden for each forest every
three years, for the purpose of expeditation, or cutting off three
claws of the fore-feet of dogs, to prevent them from killing the
deer.
In
addition to this, Hugh, bishop of Durham, Hubert, bishop of
Salisbury, Henry, dean of the church of York, and Bucard, treasurer
of the same church, by the king’s command, withdrew the appeals
which they had made against the said archbishop elect of York; and
the said archbishop elect, at the king’s request, confirmed to
the said Henry, the deanery of York, and to Bucard, the
treasurership; and to Hugh, bishop of Durham, he confirmed all the
privileges and covenants which had been made between the said bishop
and Roger, archbishop of York, and promised, by the seal of his
consecration, that he would confirm the same.
After
these matters were arranged, Richard, king of Eng land,
on the eleventh day of December, being the second day of the week,
crossed over from Dover to Calais, in Flanders, whither Philip, earl
of Flanders, came to meet him, and, receiving him with
congratulations, escorted him with a safe conduct to Normandy. There
also crossed over with the king, the cardinal John of Anagni, Walter,
archbishop of Rouen, Henry, bishop of Bayeux, and John, bishop of
Evreux. Hugh, bishop of Durham, and William, bishop of Ely, remained
in England as chief justiciaries; with whom, before his departure,
the king had associated Hugh Bardolph, William Marshal, Geoffrey
Fitz-Peter, and William Bruyere. The king also delivered to William,
bishop of Ely, his chancellor, one of his seals, by virtue of which
he ordered his commands to be carried out in his kingdom; he also
gave into his charge the Tower of London. He also gave into the
charge of Hugh, bishop of Durham, the castle of Windsor, with the
forests and the earldom of the county.
Immediately
after the king had passed over, a dispute arose between the
before-named bishops of Durham and Ely, which of them was to occupy
the highest place ; for the thing that pleased the one, displeased
the other. So true it is that “All authority is impatient of a
partner;“and, not to go further for an illustration, “The
first walls were steeped in a brother’s blood.”*
*
“Fraterno primi maduerunt sanguine muri;” alluding to the
death of Remus at the hands of his brother Romulus, or of Celer, his
lieutenant, on the walls of infant Rome.
In
the month of November, in the same year, without issue, died William,
king of Sicily, the dukedom of Apulia, and the principality of Capua,
at Palermo, in Sicily. This William, king of Sicily, a long time
before his death, had given Constance, the daughter of Roger, the
former king of Sicily, his aunt, in marriage to Henry, king of
Germany, and afterwards emperor of the Romans, and had made her his
heir to succeed him on the throne of Sicily, if he should die without
issue; and this he caused to be confirmed by the oaths of the
principal men of the kingdom. However, on the death of king William,
Tancred, count de la Liche, his cousin, usurped the kingdom of
Sicily, contrary to the oath of fealty which he had taken to the
before-named Constance. On this, Henry, emperor of the Romans, sent a
large army into Apulia, under the command of the archbishop of Mentz
and Henry Teste; who, after burning many cities, and overthrowing
many towns,
returned home without effecting their purpose. On their withdrawal,
Richard, count de Cirne, brother of the queen of Sicily, the wife of
king Tancred, made war upon count Roger de Andria, on the ground that
he had given aid to the king of Germany against king Tancred, and
took him prisoner, and delivered him to king Tancred. Moreover,
Joanna, the sister of Richard, king of England, who had been the wife
of William, king of Sicily, lately deceased, remained in the custody
of king Tancred.
1190 A.D.
In the year of grace 1190, king Richard was at Burun, in Normandy, on
the day of the Nativity of our Lord, which took place on the second
day of the week, and kept that festival there with the chief men of
the territory; for this Nativity of our Lord was the first since the
coronation of the said king. After the Nativity, the said Richard,
king of England, and Philip, king of France, held a conference at V6
Saint Remy, where they agreed to a lasting peace between them and
their respective kingdoms, and, committing the treaty to writing,
ratified it by their oaths and seals, on the feast of Saint Hilary.
The archbishops and bishops also of both kingdoms agreed to the same
on their word of truth ;. while the earls and barons of those
kingdoms made oath and swore that they would faithfully observe the
said treaty of peace and keep the same unbroken. The tenor of this
treaty was to the effect that each of them would maintain the honor
of the other, and would keep faith with him for life, limb, and
worldly honor, and that neither of them would forsake the other in
the time of need ; but that the king of France would aid the king of
England in defending his territories as he himself would defend his
own city of Paris, if it were besieged, and that Richard, king of
England, would aid the king of France in defending his territories as
he himself would defend his own city of Rouen, if it were besieged.
The earls and barons also of both kingdoms made oath that they would
not depart from their fealty to the said kings or wage any war in
their territories, so long as they should be on their pilgrimage. The
archbishops also and bishops strictly promised, on their word of
truth, that they would pronounce sentence of excommunication against
such as should be guilty of a breach of the said treaty of peace and
compact.
The
said kings also made oath that if either of them should die on the
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the one who should survive should have the
treasures and forces of him who had died,
to employ the same in the service of God. And because they could not
be in readiness at Easter, the time previously appointed, they
postponed setting out for Jerusalem till the feast of the Nativity of
Saint John the Baptist, determining that then without fail they would
be at Vezelay.
In
the same year, on the vigil of the Epiphany of our Lord, a great
dissension arose between Geoffrey, archbishop elect of York, and
Henry, the dean of that church, and Bucard, the treasurer. For the
said archbishop elect having expressed a desire to be present at
vespers in the metropolitan church on such a solemn occasion, the
said Henry and Bucard would not wait for him, but began vespers;
consequently, when the said archbishop elect came into the choir,
together with Hamo, the precentor, and some other canons of the
church, he was greatly indignant thereat, and immediately ordered
silence, the precentor ordering to the like effect; while, on the
other hand, the dean and treasurer gave orders that they should sing
on ; however, in consequence of the orders of the archbishop elect
and precentor, all kept silence; on which the archbishop elect was
beginning vespers again, when the treasurer ordered the tapers to.be
extinguished. These being put out and the vespers brought to a close,
the archbishop elect complained before God, the clergy, and the
people, of the injury which the dean and treasurer had done him, and
suspended them and the church from the celebration of Divine service,
until such time as they should have given him satisfaction for the
same.
On
the following day, when all the people of the city resorted after
their usual custom to the metropolitan church, that there, on account
of the solemnity of the day, they might more becomingly hear Divine
service, both the archbishop elect and the said dean and treasurer
ought to have been in the choir, together with the canons of the said
church, to make peace and reconciliation between themselves; however,
the dean and treasurer refused to make any satisfaction to their
archbishop elect for such and so great a transgression, but spoke
contemptuously of him ; in consequence of which the populace were
enraged against them, and were desirous to make an attack on them,
but the archbishop elect would not allow them. On this, in great
alarm, they fled from before the face of the people, and one of them
took refuge at the tomb of Saint William, and the other betook
himself to the house of the dean; while the archbishop elect
pronounced them excommunicated. In consequence of this, Divine
service ceased from that day in the metropolitan church.
In
the same year, after the Purification of Saint Mary, queen Eleanor,
the mother of king Richard, Alice, the sister of Philip, king of
France, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, John, bishop of Norwich,
Hugh, bishop of Durham, Godfrey, bishop of Winchester, Reginald,
bishop of Bath, William, bishop of Ely, Hubert, bishop of Salisbury,
Hugh, bishop of Chester, Geoffrey, archbishop elect of York, and
John, earl of Mortaigne, the king’s brother, by order of our
lord the king crossed over from England to Normandy ; and after
holding a council with them, our lord the king appointed William,
bishop of Ely, his chancellor, chief justiciary of England; while he
made Hugh, bishop of Durham, justiciary from the river Humber to the
territory of the king of Scotland. He also compelled Geoffrey,
archbishop elect of York, and John, earl of Mortaigne, his brothers,
to make oath, touching the Holy Evangelists, that they would not
enter England for the next three years, except with his permission.
However, he immediately released his brother John from the oath which
he had made, and gave him permission to return to England, after
swearing that he would faithfully serve him.
The
king also sent to England William, bishop of Ely, his chancellor, to
make the preparations necessary for him and his expedition; and, as
he wished to exalt him above all other persons in his dominions, both
clergy as well as laity, he sent envoys to pope Clement, and
prevailed upon him to entrust to the before-named chancellor the
legateship of the whole of England and Scotland. On the chancellor
arriving in England, he caused the Tower of London to be surrounded
with a moat of very great depth, hoping that so the river Thames
might pass around it. After this, the chancellor received, for the
necessities of our lord the king, from each city of England two
palfreys and two sumpter horses by way of aid; from each abbey
throughout England one palfrey and one sumpter horse; and from each
of the king’s manors one palfrey and one sumpter horse
In the same month of March, on the seventeenth day before the
calends of April, being the sixth day before Palm Sunday, the Jews of the
city of York, in number five hundred men, besides women and children, shut
themselves up in the tower of York, with the consent and sanction of
the keeper of the tower, and of the sheriff, in consequence of their
dread of the Christians; but when the said sheriff and the constable
sought to regain possession of it, the Jews refused to deliver it up.
In consequence of this, the people of the city, and the strangers who
had come within the jurisdiction thereof, at the exhortation of the
sheriff and the constable, with one consent made an attack upon the
Jews.
After
they had made assaults upon the tower, day and night, the Jews
offered the people a large sum of money to allow them to depart with
their lives; but this the others refused to receive. Upon this, one
skilled in their laws arose and said : “Men of Israel, listen
to my advice. It is better that we should kill one another, than fall
into the hands of the enemies of our law.” Accordingly, all the
Jews, both men as well as women, gave their assent to his advice, and
each master of a family, beginning with the chief persons of his
household, with a sharp knife first cut the throats of his wife and
sons and daughters, and then of all his servants, and lastly his own.
Some of them also threw their slain over the walls among the people;
while others shut up their slain in the king’s house and burned
them, as well as the king’s houses. Those who had slain the
others were afterwards killed by the people. In the meantime, some of
the Christians set fire to the Jews’ houses, and plundered
them; and thus all the Jews in the city of York were destroyed, and
all acknowledgments of debts due to them were burnt.
In
the same year died Isabella, queen of France, and daughter of the
earl of Hainault, before her husband Philip, king of France, had set
out for Jerusalem. In the same year, the Annunciation of our Lord
fell on Easter day, a thing that had not happened for a long time
previously. In the meantime, the king’s envoys, whom he had
sent to Rome to obtain the legateship of England and Scotland for
William, his chancellor, returned to him with letters of our lord the
pope relative thereto. Accordingly, on the strength of his
legateship, the said bishop of Ely, legate of the Apostolic See,
chancellor of our lord the king, and justiciary of all England,
oppressed the clergy and the people, confounding right and wrong; nor
was there a person in the kingdom who dared to offer resistance to
his authority, even in word.
After
Easter, the said chancellor of the king came to York
with a great army, for the purpose of seizing those evil-doers who
had destroyed the Jews of that city; and, on learning that this had
been done by command of the sheriff and the keeper of the tower, he
deprived them both of their offices; while he exacted of the citizens
of the city a hundred hostages, as security for their good faith and
keeping the peace of the king and the kingdom, and that they would
take their trial in the court of our lord the king for the death of
the Jews. After this, the said chancellor placed in charge of Osbert
de Longchamp, his brother, the jurisdiction of the county of York,
and ordered the castle, in the old castelry which William Rufus had
erected there, to be fortified. The knights, also, of that county who
would not come to make redress, he ordered to be arrested.
The
said chancellor, by virtue of his legateship, next suspended the
canons, vicars, and clerks of the church of Saint Peter at York,
because they had refused to receive him in solemn procession; and
laid the church itself under an interdict until the canons, vicars,
and clerks of the church of Saint Peter should come and throw
themselves at his feet; he also caused the bells of that church to be
laid upon the ground.
In
the meantime, Richard, king of England, gave to Hugh, bishop of
Durham, leave to return to his country: who, on meeting the
chancellor at the city of Ely, presented to him the king’s
letters, in which the king had appointed him justiciary from the
river Humber to the territories of the king of Scotland; on which the
chancellor made answer, that he would with pleasure execute the
king’s commands, and took him with him as far as Suwelle,*
where he seized him, and kept him in custody until he had surrendered
to him the castle of Windsor and others which the king had delivered
into his charge. In addition to this, the bishop of Durham delivered
to the chancellor, Henry de Pudsey, his son, and Gilbert de la Ley,
as pledges that he would keep faith to the king and his kingdom ; on
which, the bishop of Durham, being liberated from the custody of the
chancellor, came to a vill of his, which bears the name of Hoveden.**
While the bishop was staying at this place for some days, there came
to Hoveden Osbert de Longchamp, brother of the chancellor, and
William de Stuteville, with a considerable body of armed people,
intending, by
command of the chancellor, to seize the bishop ; however, the bishop
gave them security that he would not depart thence, except with the
permission of the king or of the chancellor. Accordingly, the bishop
of Durham sent messengers to the king of England, to inform him of
everything that had happened to him through the chancellor.
*
Southwell
**
Howden, in Yorkshire.
In
the meantime, the king of England marched into Gascony, and laid
siege to the castle of William de Chisi, and took it; on which he
hanged William, the owner of the castle, because he had plundered
pilgrims from Saint Jago,* and other persons, as they passed through
his lands. After this, the king of England proceeded to Chinon, in
Anjou, where he appointed Gerard, archbishop of Auxienne, Bernard,
bishop of Bayonne, Robert de Sabul, Richard de Camville, and William
de Fortz de Oleron, chiefs and constables of the whole of his fleet
which was about to proceed to the land of Syria, and gave them
ordinances to the following effect:
The
Charter of Richard, king of England, containing ordinance** for those
who were about to proceed by sea
“Richard,
by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
and earl of Anjou, to all his subjects about to proceed by sea to
Jerusalem, greeting. Know ye, that we, with the common consent of fit
and proper men, have made the enactments under-written. Whoever shall
slay a man on ship-board, he shall be bound to the dead man and
thrown into the sea. If he shall slay him on land, he shall be bound
to the dead man and buried in the earth. If any one shall be
convicted, by means of lawful witnesses, of having drawn out a knife
with which to strike another, or shall strike another so as to draw
blood, he shall lose his hand. If, also, he shall give a blow with
his hand, without shedding blood, he shall be plunged in the sea
three times. If any man shall utter disgraceful language or abuse, or
shall curse his companion, he shall pay him an ounce of silver for
every time he has so abused him. A robber who shall be convicted of
theft, shall
have his head cropped after the manner of a champion, and boiling
pitch shall be poured thereon, and then the feathers of a cushion
shall be shaken out upon him, so that he may be known, and at the
first land at which the ships shall touch, he shall be set on shore.
Witness myself, at Chinon.”
*
Saint Jago de Compostella.
**
These are a small portion of what are known as the “Oleron
Laws,” from having been made by king Richard when his fleet was
lying at Oleron, an island at the mouth of the river Charente. They
form the basis of a large part of the sea-laws in use at the present
day.
The
king also gave orders, in another writ of his, that all his subjects
who were about to proceed to sea should pay obedience to the orders
and commands of the before-named justices of his fleet. After this,
the king proceeded to Tours, and there* received the scrip and staff
of his pilgrimage from the hands of William, archbishop of Tours; but
it so happened that, while the king was leaning on the staff, it
broke asunder. After this, the said king, and Philip, king of France,
met at Vezelay, where rests the body of Saint Mary Magdalen. Here
they stayed two days, and left the place on the octave of the
Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. When they had arrived at the city
of Lyons on the Rhone, after they with the greater part of their
households had passed over the bridge across that river, the bridge,
being thronged with men and women, broke down, not without doing
injury to great numbers. Here also the two kings separated, in
consequence of the multitude of men who followed them, as one place
was not sufficient to hold them. Accordingly, the king of France,
with his troops, went on to Genoa, while the king of England
proceeded with his to Marseilles.
*Roger
of Wendover says that he received it at Vezelay.
A
Lament on the Expedition to Jerusalem.
“Most
grievous are the days which have come upon us, and worthy to be
graced with no white stone. For the woes have ministered to our grief
which Holy Jerusalem is known to endure. For who can do other than
grieve for the slaughter of so many of the Saints, so many sacred
houses of the Lord profaned, princes led captive, dwellings
destroyed, and nobles hurled at the feet of slaves ? And yet these
things shall not escape the eyes of Him who beholds them. The Lord,
looking on, has beheld the woes of our race, has heard the groans of
this innocent people, and has descended to crush the head of the
serpent. For the God of the Hebrews has aroused the Christian princes
and their knights to avenge the blood of his Saints, and to succour
the sons of the slain. The illustrious king of England and the king
of the Franks are onward marching with many thousand men-at-arms.
‘Tis a glorious sight to behold the band of senators with the
arms of justice and with the worshippers of God. 64
‘Tis more pleasing still to hear of Frederic, lord of the
empire of Rome, joining them in war against the enemies of the Cross,
that he may restore his country to its ancient glory. The Cross going
before, they march on towards the East, and all the West they lead on
with them. An army they lead that differs in language, rites,
manners, and customs, but fervent in the faith. That they may return
victorious, let us offer up our prayers to God; that so, entering
Jerusalem, they may root out from the midst of the earth the
Canaanite, and expel the Jebusite, and so bear away the palm of
Christian prowess."
While
Richard, king of England, was staying at Marseilles, there came to
him the messengers of Hugh, bishop of Durham; and, on hearing from
him the injuries which the before-named chancellor had inflicted on
him, the king ordered the earldom of Northumberland and the manor of
Sedbergh to be delivered to the bishop of Durham; relative to which,
the king gave him his charter to the following effect:—
Another
Charter of Richard, king of England, as to the conveyance of Sedbergh
to Hugh, the lord bishop of Durham
“Richard,
by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
and earl of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, abbats, earls,
barons, sheriffs, and all his servants and faithful people throughout
the whole of England, greeting. Know ye that we have given to God,
and to Saint Cuthbert and the church of Durham, and to Hugh, the
bishop,
and his successors, for ever, the manor of Sedbergh, together with
the Wapentake and knights’ fees which we formerly gave him, and
by our charter confirmed, by way of a pure and perpetual alms, for
six hundred marks, which he paid us. Wherefore we do will and command
that he shall freely, quietly, and honorably enter upon and enjoy the
said manor, together with the said Wapentake and knights’ fees,
and all other its appurtenances, as a pure and perpetual alms, in
such manner as is set forth in our charters, which the said bishop
now holds. We do also will and grant, so far as relates to ourselves,
that, if any person shall use against him force or molestation in
respect hereof, contrary to the tenor of our charters and
confirmations, he shall incur the anger and curse of God and
ourselves. Witness myself, at Marseilles.”
When
the king of England had waited eight days at Marseilles, in hope and
expectation from day to day of the arrival of his fleet, finding
himself deceived in his wishes, he hired ten large busses and twenty
well-armed galleys, and embarked on board them with his household in
sorrow and dejection, on account of the delay of his fleet.
Accordingly, on the seventh day of August the king of England set
sail from Marseilles, in the galley Pombone, and passed by the island
of Saint Stephen and Aquila and Mont Noir, the island of Saint
Honoratus, the city of Nice, and the city of Vintimiglia. It deserves
to be known that between the city of Nice and that of Vintimiglia is
the division of the territories of the king of Arragon and of Italy.
After
this, the king of England passed Santa Maria de Funz, and Noli. On
the thirteenth day of August the king of England passed a castle
which is called Swene, and on the same day arrived at Geneva, where
he had an interview with the king of France, who was lying ill at a
house near the church of Saint Laurence. On the fourteenth day of
August the king of England arrived at Portofino, it being the vigil
of the Assumption of Saint Mary, and there he stayed five days. While
he was there the king of France sent to ask him for the loan of five
galleys, on which the king of England offered him three, which the
king of France refused. On the nineteenth day of August he left
Portofino, and came to Porto Venere, and on the day after arrived at
the port of Pisa. Here he was met by Walter, archbishop of Rouen,
John, the bishop of Evreux, then lying ill in the city of Pisa.
On
the twenty-first day of the month of August [1190] the king of
England passed by the island of Gorgona, and on the twenty-second day
of the month of August the king came to Porto Baratto. On the
twenty-third day of August, being the vigil of Saint Bartholomew the
Apostle, the king proceeded two leagues by land, and a few knights
with him, on hired horses, and came to a port, near a castle, called
Piombino, to meet his galleys; and here the king embarked on board
the galley of Fulk Rustac, in which he had not previously sailed.
Being gratified with a favourable wind, he next passed an island
which is called Ferraria, and another called Argentaria, as also an
island called Genit; after which he arrived at a port called
Talemunde.
On
the twenty-fourth day of August the king came to a port which is
called Portocarrero, which lies midway between Marseilles and
Messina. On the same day the sails were split of the galley on board
of which the king was, on which he again embarked on board the galley
Pombone, and then passed the city of Corneto, the city of Civita
Vecchia, and the place which is called the Faro di Roma; after which
he entered the Tiber. At the entrance of this river there is a fine
tower, but deserted, and there are also very considerable remains of
ancient walls. Here Octavianus, cardinal-bishop of Ostia, came to
meet him; to whom the king uttered many reproaches, charging the
Romans with simony, because they had agreed to take seven hundred
marks for the consecration of the bishop of Le Mans, and fifteen
hundred marks for the legateship of the bishop of Ely, and a large
sum of money that the archbishop of Bordeaux might not be degraded,
who was criminally accused by his clergy.
On
the twenty-sixth day of August the king passed by a certain forest
which is called Silvadena, in which there is a marble road, made like
a pavement, which extends through the middle of the wood twenty-four
miles, the wood abounding with deer, roebuck, and fawns. On the same
day the king passed by a castle which is called Nettuno. Here is a
quay which was formerly covered with copper; here also was the
entrance to a subterraneous passage, through which money brought from
all quarters was conveyed to Rome. After this, the king passed by a
castle which is called Estura. On the twenty seventh day of August
the king passed by a rock projecting into the sea, which is called
the Capo di Cercel,* and an island called Parmerola, and another
island called Ponza, and another called Palmera. On the top of the
mountain called Capo di Cercel, is a castle in which robbers and
pirates often take refuge.
*
The place now called “Circello,” or “the Tower of
Circe.”
The
king next came to a city called Terracina, in which was formerly a
pier covered with copper. He next came to Garilla, and then to a
castle which bears the name of Capo del Espurun.* Here is the
division of the territories of the Romans and of those of the king of
Sicily, in that portion thereof which is called the principality of
Capua. After this, the king passed an island which is called Pantea,
and is distant from the city of Graeta forty miles. Pantea was the
native place of Pilate, and in it there was formerly a pier covered
with copper. The king next passed an island called Istellemania,
which is always smoking. This island is said to have been set on fire
from the island called Volcano, the fire from it flying and burning
up, as they say, both sea and fish. Not far distant from this island
is the island of Girun, where there is a good castle and harbour.
*
Now called Sperlonga.
The
king next passed an island called Baterun, and the port of Baiae,
where are the baths of Virgil; it is ten miles distant from Naples.
He then passed Capua and Capo di Maverba, which lies midway between
Naples and Salerno. On the twenty-eighth day of August the king
arrived at Naples, and proceeded to the abbey of Saint Januarius, to
see the sons of Naimundus, who lie in the crypt* there, skin and
bone. Here he made a stay till the Nativity of Saint Mary the Virgin,
the Mother of God, and on the same day, hiring horses, he proceeded
to Salerno, where he stayed a considerable time.
*
These mummies being preserved by the antiseptic properties of the
crypt.
In
the meantime, Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert, bishop of
Salisbury, and Ranulph de Glanville, who had come with the king of
England as far as Marseilles, there embarked on board ship ; and the
Lord gave them a prosperous voyage, so that in a short time, without
any accident, he led them over a vast tract of sea to the siege of
Acre. John, bishop of Norwich, however, went to the pope, and,
receiving from him permission to return, gave up the cross, and
returned
home absolved therefrom. After this became known to our lord the
king, he exacted from him, by the hands of the Templars and
Hospitallers, a thousand marks for excusing him.
In
the meantime, the fleet of the king of England, which was commanded
by the archbishop of Auxienne, the bishop of Bayonne, Robert de
Sabul, Richard de Camville, and William de Forts, set out immediately
after Easter on its way for Jerusalem from the various ports of
England, Normandy, Brittany, and Poitou. One part of this fleet
assembled at the port of Dartmouth, and, after staying there some
days, the said ships, ten in number, set sail for Lisbon, and after
passing a certain headland which projects into the sea, called
Godestert,* passed Brittany, having Saint Matthew of Finisterre, or
de Fin Posterne, on the left hand side of the fleet, and the Great
Sea along which is the route to Ireland on the right, and left
Poitou, Gascony, and Biscay on the left hand side of the fleet. When
they had now passed through the British Sea and the Sea of Poitou,
and had come into the Spanish Sea, on the holy Day of the Ascension
of our Lord, at the third hour of the day, a mighty and dreadful
tempest overtook them, and in the twinkling of an eye they were
separated from each other. While the storm was raging, and all in
their affliction were calling upon the Lord, the blessed Thomas, the
archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr, appeared at three different
times to three different persons, who were on board a London ship, in
which was William Fitz-Osbert, and Geoffrey, the goldsmith, saying to
them, “Be not afraid, for I, Thomas, the archbishop of
Canterbury, and the blessed Edmund the Martyr, and the blessed
Nicholas, the Confessor, have been appointed by the Lord guardians of
this fleet of the king of England; and if the men of this fleet will
guard themselves against sin, and repent of their former offences,
the Lord will grant them a prosperous voyage, and will direct their
footsteps in His paths.” After having thrice repeated these
words, the blessed Thomas vanished from before their eyes, and
immediately the tempest ceased, and there was a great calm on the
sea.
* Probably “Good start;” meaning what we
now call “Start Point.”
And now the London ship, in which the blessed Martyr Thomas had appeared,
had passed by the port of Lisbon and Cape Saint Vincent, and had
neared the city of Silva, which in those days was the most remote of
all the cities of Christendom, and the Christian faith was as yet but
in its infancy there, as it was only the year before that it had been
wrested from the hands of the pagans, and had become Christian, as
already mentioned. The people, therefore, on board the ship, being
ignorant where they were, putting out a boat pulled for land, and
learned, by certain indications, that the land was inhabited by
Christians, and that there was no further [inland] any safe road for
them without a good and sufficient escort. Accordingly they
approached the city; and on learning the cause of their arrival, the
bishop of the city of Silva, and the clergy and people, received them
with congratulations, giving thanks to God for their arrival; for
there were in the ship a hundred young men of prowess and well armed.
In
the meantime Boyac El Emir Amimoli, emperor of Africa and of
Saracenic Spain, levying a large army, marched into the territories
of Sancho, king of Portugal, to take vengeance for the emperor of
Africa, his father, who had died six years before while besieging
Santa Erena, a castle of king Alphonso, father of the said Sancho,
king of Portugal. On this, the citizens of Silva, being alarmed,
refused to allow these young men of London to leave them, but broke
up their ship, and with the timbers of it made bulwarks for the city,
promising and giving them all kinds of security that the king of
Portugal would pay them well for the delay thus occasioned them, and
the injury received in consequence of the loss of their ship ; which
was accordingly done.
The
other nine ships of the fleet of the king of England which had been
out in the same storm, made land in different parts of Spain; after
which, by the guidance of God, sailing up the river Tagus, they at
last arrived at the city of Lisbon. In this city of Lisbon rests the
body of Saint Vincent the Martyr. Before they had arrived there, the
before-named emperor of Africa, on the day of the Nativity of Saint
John the Baptist, forded the river Tagus, and all his army with him,
and laid siege to a castle of Sancho, king of Portugal, which is
called Torresnovas. On this, the king of Portugal sent envoys to the
strangers who had come in the ships to the. city of Lisbon, and asked
succours of them against the Saracens.
Accordingly,
five hundred men, well armed, and selected from all the ships that
had arrived, as being the bravest and most courageous, preferred to
die in war for the name of Jesus Christ, rather than behold the
misfortunes of their race and its
extermination; and, leaving their ships and companions, proceeded up
the river Tagus to Santa Erena, which is distant from the city of
Lisbon two days’ march, where they found Sancho, king of
Portugal, utterly destitute both of resources and counsel ; for he
had but few soldiers, and nearly all of those without arms, and the
emperor had already taken the castle of the king which he had
besieged, and had laid siege to another castle, which is called
Thomar, and is a castle of the Templars. On hearing of the arrival of
the foreigners, the emperor was greatly alarmed, and, sending
ambassadors to the king of Portugal, demanded of him Silva, on
obtaining which, he would depart with his army, and restore to him
the castle which he had taken, and would keep peace with him for
seven years; but when the king of Portugal refused to do this, he
sent him word that on the following day he would come to lay siege to
Santa Erena.
On
this, the king of Portugal, taking counsel with the strangers who had
come in the ships, placed his men in the towers, and at the strongest
bastions of the walls; while the foreigners who ‘ had come in
the ships chose for their position the weaker parts of the city,
employing their own courage as their walls. On the following day,
when all were prepared for the attack, and there was every moment a
murmuring at the gates, to the effect that he would be there that
instant and without delay, a messenger came on a sudden, and thus
said : “The emperor has been dead these three days, and his
army is taking to flight!” and, while he was still speaking,
there came two, and then three, and then still more, all of whom
spoke to the like effect.
Accordingly,
the king and all the people believed them, and the city was filled
with gladness and exultation; and, on the next day, the king gave to
the men who had come from the ship leave to return to them, promising
that he would handsomely reward them for their labours. However,
before they had arrived at their ships, Robert de Sabul and Richard
de Camville came to Lisbon with sixty-three great store-ships of the
king of England; (a store-ship is the same as a transport-ship). 61
Some, however, of the men who had come under the command of Robert de
Sabul and Richard de Camville were evil-doers and vicious persons ;
for, on disembarking from the ships, they made their way into the
city of Lisbon, and as they went through the streets and lanes,
talked to the people
of
the city giving themselves airs, and then committed violence upon the
wives and daughters of the citizens. They also drove away the pagans
and Jews, servants of the king, who dwelt in the city, and plundered
their property and possessions, and burned their houses ; and they
then stripped their vineyards, not leaving them so much as a grape or
a cluster.
When
this became known to the king of Portugal, the lord of the city of
Lisbon, he came with all haste with a powerful hand; but on finding
there Robert de Sabul and Richard de Camville, with the fleet of the
king of England, he manifested towards them a cheerful countenance
and a peaceful disposition, bearing with patience the injuries done
to himself and his people. On the day after the king’s arrival,
the commanders of the fleet exacted an oath from all the men of the
fleet that they would faithfully keep and inviolably observe the
beforementioned statutes enacted by the king of England.
However,
in the course of three days, a quarrel ensued between the people of
Lisbon and some of those who had come in the ships, in consequence of
which, many persons were slain on both sides in a skirmish that
ensued, and the noise of the people came to the king’s ears. On
this, the gates of the city were immediately closed, and all who had
gone from the ships into the city, for the purpose of obtaining
provisions and drink, were taken and thrown into prison, in number
seven hundred men. Before they were released from the custody of the
king, the king of Portugal made peace with Robert de Sabul and
Richard de Camville on such terms as he pleased, that is to say, to
the following effect: that past injuries should be mutually
overlooked, and that they should strictly keep the peace towards the
pilgrims throughout all his territories; and it was further agreed
that the arms and all other things which had been lost in the affray
should be given up on either side.
This
having been done, Robert de Sabul and Richard de Camville left the
city of Lisbon with the fleet of the king of England, on the vigil of
Saint James the Apostle, being the fourth day of the week, and, on
the same day, came to the inlet where the Tagus falls into the sea.
On the same day also, William de Forts de Oleron arrived there with
thirty great ships of the fleet of the king of England; in
consequence of which, there were together at the same place one
hundred store-ships of the king of England, and six great ships laden
with warriors, provisions, and arms. On the day after the
feast of Saint James the Apostle, being the sixth day of the week,
Robert de Sahul, Richard de Camville, and William de Forts de Oleron
left the port of Lisbon with the fleet of the king of England, and
passed by a great mountain which projects into the sea, and is called
Espichel, as also the port of Dalchatht, and Palmella, and Sinnes,
formerly a sandy tract of land extending into the sea; they then
passed the port of Deordunite, and then a great and lofty mountain
which extends into the sea, and is called Cape Saint Vincent; on
which the body of Saint Vincent lay many ages entombed, until it was
transferred to the city of Lisbon.
After
this, they passed the port of Silva, which at that time was the most
remote city of the Christians in those parts of Spain. They next
passed a city of the pagans, which is called Santa Maria de Hayrun;
and it is worthy of remark why this city is called Santa Maria de
Hayrun. Hayrun is the name of the place in which the city was
founded, while the Christians who built it gave it the other name,
and, in memory of Mary, the blessed Mother of God, they placed a
stone image of her on the walls. After this, when the pagans
prevailed over the Christians, they gained possession of this place,
and, on finding the image standing upon the walls, they cut off its
head, feet, and arms, in contempt of the faith of Christ and of Saint
Mary, and threw it at a distance into the sea. On this being done,
the sea and land became unproductive, and famine prevailed in that
land to such a degree, that nearly every thing, men and animals, died
of hunger; upon which, all the elders of the people, and the youths,
from the highest to the lowest, weeping day and night, and doing
penance in sackcloth and ashes, recalled to mind the image whose
head, hands, and feet they had cut off, and said: “We have
sinned, we have acted unrighteously, we have done iniquitously,
inasmuch as we have cut off that head, and those hands and feet. For
what evil had they done? Let us, therefore, seek them, and let us put
them in their places, that thus, at least, God may turn away His
wrath from us, and from this city.” Thus saying, they threw
their nets into the sea, where they had thrown the head, and hands,
and feet of the image, and, drawing them upon land in their nets,
they placed the head on the neck, the hands
on the arms, and the legs on the thighs, and soldered them with gold
and silver of the finest and purest quality; after which, they placed
the image in an honored locality, and it is held in great veneration
even to the present day. Immediately upon this, the famine ceased,
and the earth yielded her increase.
After
this, they passed the castle which is called Merell, and then the
port of Hodiene ; they next passed the port of Calice* and then a
mountain, which is called Montaluc. They then passed a sandy piece of
land projecting into the sea, which is called Cape Almilan, and then
a castle and port, the name of which is Saltis; after which, they
arrived before the Port of Seville, the name of which is Windelkebir;
between Seville and the Port there is a castle midway, which is
called Captal.
*
Now Cadiz.
They
now came to the Straits of Africa, and passed through these Straits
on the first day of August, being the feast of Saint Peter ad
Vincula, and the fifth day of the week. Here the Mediterranean Sea
begins, which Sea is so called, because it is surrounded by land on
every side, with the exception of one inlet and one outlet; the one
of which is called the Straits of Africa, and the other the Arm of
Saint George, *
at the city of Constantinople. It is also worthy of remark, that,
from the entrance to the Straits of Africa, as far nearly as Ascalon,
on the right-hand side of the ship [as it sails], lie the territories
of the pagans; and on the opposite side, from the entrance of the
Straits of Africa as far as the great mountain which is called
Muncian, is Saracenic Spain, which you leave behind to the left of
the ship. It is also worthy of observation, that, according to
calculations made by mariners, the entry to the Straits of Africa,
from one shore to the other, is not more than six miles in width, on
each side of which there is a large mountain, the one in Spain,
called Calpe the other in Africa, opposite to it, called Atlas. At
the entrance of these Straits there are several cities in Africa near
the sea-shore, the names of which are Bethe, Dudenardi, Esparte,
Thange, Cacummin, Muee, Botoos, and Scep, which is the most noble of
all the cities of Africa. In Spain, on the opposite side, are several
cities and castles, the names of which are Beche, Dudemarbait,
Leziratarif, Gezehakazera, the island of Jubaltaria,** Mertell, were
so called from the church of Saint George, which was built on the
thore in the suburbs of Constantinople and Swail, a castle of the
Moors. At the foot of the mountain of Jubaltaria are two fine cities,
one of which is called Alentia, and the other Jubalar.
*
The Bosphorus, or Straits of Constantinople
**
Gibraltar.
Next
to these comes the city of Magga; [Malaga?] and after the fleet of
the king of England had passed the above-named cities of Spain, it
next passed the city of Salamame, and then Vilages, a large city
enclosed with a wall, in the circuit of which there are one hundred
and sixty towers of stone. It next passed a great and lofty mountain,
which is called the Cape of Melich, and then a castle called Munaca.
It next passed a noble city which is called Almeria, where the
valuable and fine silk is manufactured, which is called silk of
Almeria; and then a great and lofty mountain that extends into the
sea, and is called Cape Almeria. It then passed Carthagena, a fine
city, situate on the sea-shore; next after which came Penisecle, a
fine and handsome castle. The fleet then passed a sandy piece of land
projecting into the sea, called Alascerat; after which came a piece
of land projecting into the sea, which is called Cape Martin. It next
came before a large city which is called Denia, and then before the
port of Valentia. It deserves to be known that Valentia is a fine
city, distant seven miles from the entrance to its harbour. It then
passed the castle of Baiane, and then the castle of Peniscola on the
sea-shore, which is the last castle belonging to the pagans in Spain
on this side of the sea.
They
then passed a great and lofty mountain projecting into the sea, which
is called Muneian; this mountain divides the territories of the
pagans from those of the Christians, and here begins the territory of
the king of Arragon. Near this mountain, among the mountains, and at
a distance from the sea, is situate a fine city, the name of which is
Cervera; and at the foot of the same mountain, on the sea-shore,
stands a castle, which is called Amposta, in the territory of the
kingdom of Arragon, and occupied by the Hospitallers. Here also is a
great river of fresh water, which has the name of Ebro, and a noble
city called Tortosa; which stands upon that river, and is distant
from the entrance to the harbour thirty miles.
After
this, they passed a populous city on the sea-shore, called Taragutia,
[Tarragona] the see of an archbishop, and near it a great mountain
extending into the sea, called Cape Salut, beneath which mountain
lies a good harbour. They next came before a
great episcopal city, situate on the sea-shore, the name of which is
Barcelona. They then passed a castle situate on the seashore, called
San Felice, where there is a good harbour. They next passed the
territory of count Ponce, opposite a fine city, the name of which is
Ampurias, where there is a good harbour. They then passed a great
mountain projecting into the sea, which is called Cape Castiglione,
where there is a good harbour, called Port Castiglione, and as you go
up the river, there is a castle called Castiglione. They next passed
a harbour, fine and large, the name of which is Cadakis, and then a
great mountain extending into the sea, which is called Cape de Creus,
at the foot of which there is a good harbour. They then passed a fine
castle situate on the sea-shore, which is called Cockeliure,
[Collioure] where there is a good harbour called Port Vendres.
They
next passed some sand-banks extending into the sea, called Cape
Leucare, which make a conspicuous landmark, on which, near the
sea-shore, is a fine episcopal city, the name of which is Narbonne,
and a monastery, called Saint Mary de Mer. They then passed a
projection of the land into the sea, which is called Brescou ; after
which they came to the territory of the count de Agde, passing a fine
city situate on the sea-shore, the name of which is Agde. They then
passed near Villeneuve, the episcopal see of Magalona, near which is
the port of Montpellier, the name of which is Lates. They next passed
an island called Odur, which lies at the mouth of the Rhone, going up
which river you come to a fine archiepiscopal city, which is called
Arles-le-Blanc ; and still higher up the same river, you come near to
Saint Gilles, and still higher again, you come to the fine city which
is called Lyons sur Rhone.
They
then came to Marseilles, which is twenty miles distant from the mouth
of the Rhone, and is a city subject to the king of Arragon. Here were
the relics of Saint Lazarus, the brother of Saint Mary Magdalene and
of Martha, who held the bishopric of this place, after Jesus had
raised him from the dead. In this city there is a fine harbour, able
to contain many ships of a large size, almost shut in by high hills,
and on one side of it rises the episcopal city; opposite to which, on
the other side of the harbour, is the abbey of Saint Victor, in which
a hundred black monks serve God ; and here, as they say, are the
hundred and forty bodies of the Innocents who were slain for Christ,
as also the relics of Saint Victor and his companions, the rods with
which our Lord was scourged, the jaw-bone of Saint Lazarus, and one
of the ribs of Saint Laurence the Martyr. Between Marseilles and this
abbey, not far from the high road, is a monastery, in which is kept
the arm of Saint Margaret the Virgin; and near the abbey of Saint
Victor are two lofty hills, one of which is called Mount Roland, and
the other Mount Hospinel.
It
is worthy of remark, that from Marseilles to Acre is only fifteen
days’ and nights’ sail, with a fair wind; but in such
case you must go straight through the main sea, so that after the
hills of Marseilles are lost out of sight, land will not be seen
either on the right hand or on the left, if you keep straight onward
in your course, until the land of Syria is seen; and if on the right
side of the ship any land should chance to be seen, it is the
territory of the pagans, while if land should be seen on the left
side of the ship, it is the territory of the Christians. It is also
as well to be known, that there are many islands belonging to the
Saracens between the Straits of Africa and Marseilles, one of which
is called Majorc, and another Eniuce [Ibiza?], both of which are
tributary to the king of Arragon, the island of Majorc paying him a
yearly tribute of three hundred silken cloths of Almeria, while the
island of Eniuce pays him a yearly tribute of two hundred silken
cloths of like quality.
The
Division of the Kingdoms on the sea-coast
In
the first place, it ought to be known that the whole land extending
along the sea-shore from England to Spain, namely, Normandy,
Brittany, and Poitou, belongs to the dominions of the king of
England; and this extends as far as the port which is called Huartz,
which divides the territories of the count of Bayonne from those of
the king of Navarre. The territories of the king of Navarre begin at
the port of Huartz, and extend to the river which is called Castre,
and which divides the territories of the king of Navarre from those
of the king of Castille. The territories of the king of Castille
begin from the river Castre, and extend as far as the mountains of
Sora, which
divide the territories of the king of Castille from those of the king
of Saint Jago. The territories of the king of Saint Jago begin from
the mountains of Sora and extend to the river Mina,* which divides
the territories of the king of Saint Jago from those of the king of
Portugal; while the territories of the king of Portugal begin at the
river Mina, and extend beyond the city of Silva.
*
Minho
After
you come to the city of Silva, the land of the pagans begins, along
the sea-coast of Spain, and subject to the dominion of the emperor of
Africa, which extends as far as the great mountain known by the name
of Muncian. In Saracenic Spain there are four powerful kings: one of
whom is called the king of Cordres, or Corduba, *
respecting which Lucan says, “Corduba was my birth-place, Nero
caused my death; the wars I sang which the father and the son-in-law
rivals, did wage.” A second is called the king of Gant; while
the third is styled the king of Murcia, and the fourth is the king of
Valentia, whose territories extend as far as the mountain called
Muncian. This mountain divides the land of the Pagans from the land
of the Christians, that is to say, from the territories of the king
of Arragon; and the territories of the king of Arragon begin at this
mountain called Muncian, and extend beyond the city of Nice.
*
Cordoba.
At
the city of Nice begin the territories of the emperor of the Romans,
in which there is a fine city called Vintimiglia; from this the
territory of the emperor extends along the seashore as far as Gaeta,
in Apulia, the territory of the king of Sicily. This land is also
called the principality of Capua. It also deserves to be mentioned
that midway between Marseilles and Sicily there are two large
islands; Sardena is the name of the larger one, while the other is
called Corzege. [Corsica] There are also many islands round Sicily,
some of which are burning islands. In this sea, in the neighbourhood
of Sardena and Corzege, are fish, resembling cuttle-fish, which,
coming forth from the sea, fly in the air, and when they have flown
about the distance of a furlong they descend again to the sea; there
are also many falcons there flying after these fish, and pur suing
them, in order to feed upon them. A person who has seen this has
borne witness to the same, and his testimony is true, *
for he himself was sitting at table in a ship high out of the water,
when one of these flying fish fell on the table before him. It is
also worthy of remark that one of the islands in the vicinity of
Sicily, which is larger than the rest, is called Mount Gebel, ** and
used to burn with such an intense heat that it dried up a great part
of the sea in its vicinity and burned the fish; but it has now for
some time ceased to burn, through the merits and prayers of Saint
Agatha the Virgin and Martyr. For one day, when the fire was coming
forth from the crater of Mount Gebel more furiously than usual, and
had approached the city of Cattanna, where rests the holy body of
Saint Agatha, a multitude of the pagans, flying to her sepulchre,
carried her veil before them facing the fire; on which the flames
returned to the sea, and, parching it, dried it up for nearly a mile,
and scorched the fish, many of which were half burnt, and there are
to this day many fish there of the same kind, which are called the
fish of Saint Agatha. If any of these fish happen to be taken by a
fisherman, they are immediately let go, out of respect to Saint
Agatha, and to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
always wonderful and glorious in His saints.
*
He no doubt alludes to what we call flying-fish.
**
He probably means Stromboli.
Accordingly,
Robert de Sabul, Richard de Camville, and William de Fortz de Oleron,
passing with the fleet of Richard, king of England, between Africa
and Spain, after many tempests which they suffered on the voyage,
arrived at Marseilles on the octave of the Assumption of Saint Mary,
being the fourth day of the week. Not finding their master the king
there, they made a stay of eight days, for some necessary repairs to
the fleet; after which they set out in pursuit of the king, and on
the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, being the sixth day of
the week, arrived at Messina, in Sicily.
On
the Lord’s day following, Philip, king of France, arrived
there, it being the sixteenth day before the calends of October; on
which, Margarete, the admiral, Jordan de Pin, and the other governors
of the city, received him with all due honor, and assigned him the
palace of Tancred, king of Sicily, for his abode. Now when king
Richard heard that his fleet had arrived at Messina, he left Salerno
on the thirteenth day of September; and, passing an archiepiscopal
city called Amalfi, and another archiepiscopal city called Cosenza,
arrived on the eighteenth day of September at a city and castle
called Escala. Near this castle is a small island, where are said to
have been the schools of Lucan, and there is still a fine chamber
beneath the ground, in which Lucan used to study.
The
night following the king slept in a village, the name of which is
Lacerart, in the priorate of Monte Cassio. On the nineteenth day of
September the king passed through the priorate which is called Saint
Michael de Josaphat, to another priory of the same order, which is
called Santa Maria de Fosses, where there is a castle called Saint
Luke. On the twentieth day of September the king, passing by a castle
which is called Lamante, came to a town called Saint Euphemia. On the
twenty-first day of September the king came to Melida, and was there
honorably received and entertained at the abbey of the Holy Trinity.
Here there is a tower of wood close by the abbey, by means of which
Robert Guiscard attacked and took the castle and town of Melida.
On
the twenty-second day of September, the king of England, departing
from Melida with a single knight, passed through a certain small
town, and, after he had passed through, turned towards a certain
house in which he heard a hawk, and, entering the house,* took hold
of it. On his refusing to give it up, numbers of peasants came
running from every quarter, and made an attack on him with sticks and
stones. One of them then drew his knife against the king, upon which
the latter giving him a blow with the flat of his sword, it snapped
asunder, whereupon he pelted the others with stones, and with
difficulty making his escape out of their hands, came to a priory
called Le Baniare; but, making no stay there, he crossed the great
river** which is called Le Faro de Meschines, and passed the night
in a tent near a stone tower which lies at the entrance of the Faro,
on the Sicilian side. At the entrance of the Faro, near Labinaria,
lies that peril of the sea which is called Scylla, and at the outlet
of the same river is another peril of the sea which is called
Charybdis.
*
For a churl to keep a hawk was contrary to the rules of chivalry. **
He means the Straits of Messina.
On
the twenty-third day of September, Richard, king of England, arrived
at Messina, in Sicily, with many busses and galleys, in such state
and with such a noise of trumpets and clarions, that alarm seized
those who were in the city. The king of Trance and his people, and
all the chief men of the city of Messina, together with the clergy
and people, stood on the shore, admiring what they saw and heard
respecting the king of England and his might. On his landing, he
immediately held an interview with Philip, the king of France; after
which conference, the king of France, on the same day, immediately,
embarked on board of his ships, intending to proceed towards the land
of Jerusalem; but after he had got out of harbour, on the same day,
the wind shifted, and with sorrow and reluctance he returned to
Messina.
The
king of England, however, proceeded to the house of Reginald de
Muhec, where a lodging was prepared for him, in the suburbs of the
city, among the vineyards. On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth days
of September the king of England went to the lodging of the king of
France, to hold a conference with him, and the king of France visited
the king of England. In the meantime, Richard, king of England, sent
his envoys to Tancred, king of Sicily, and delivered from his custody
his sister, Joanna, the former queen of Sicily. On the twenty-eighth
day of September the king of England went to meet his sister Joanna,
who the same day arrived at Messina, from Palermo, with some gallies
sent by king Tancred.
On
the twenty-ninth day of September, [1190] that is to say, on the day
of Saint Michael, the king of France went to the lodgings of the
sister of the king of England, and saw her and offered her his
congratulations. On the thirtieth day of September the king of
England crossed the river del Faro, and took a place which is
extremely well fortified, called Le Baniare, and on the first day of
October brought his sister Joanna to that place, and, leaving her
there with some knights and a considerable number of men-at-arms,
returned to Messina. On the second day of October the king of England
took possession of a monastery of the Griffons, a very well fortified
place, lying in the middle of the river del Faro, between Messina and
Calabria. Having expelled the monks and their servants, he placed in
it the provisions which had come from England and his other
territories, and garrisoned it with some knights and others.
When
the citizens of Messina saw that the king of England had placed
knights and men-at-arms with his sister in the castle of Le Baniare,
and had taken possession of the monastery of the Griffons, ‘they
had suspicion of him, believing that he would seize the whole of the
island, if he could: consequently they were disposed to be easily
excited against him. Ac cordingly,
on the third day of October, a disagreement arose between the army of
the king of England and the citizens of Messina, and to such a pitch
did the exasperation on both sides increase, that the citizens shut
the gates of the city, and, putting on their arms, mounted the walls.
On the king’s troops perceiving this, they made a vigorous
attack on the city gates ; but our lord the king rode to and fro
through the army on a steed of the greatest swiftness, beating back
with a staff such of his men as he could reach, trying to restrain
them from making the attack. However, he was unable so to do ; and at
last returned to his lodging, where, putting on his armour, he went
out again to put an end to the affray if he possibly could. He then
embarked in a boat and repaired to the palace of king Tancred, to
consult with the king of France on the affair that had taken place.
In the meantime, however, through the mediation of the elders of the
city, the discord was allayed; and arms being laid down on both
sides, each party returned home.
On
the ninth day of October there came to the king of England, Richard,
archbishop of Messina, William, archbishop of Montreal, William,
archbishop of Risa, Margarite, the admiral, Jordan de Pin, and many
others of the household of the king of Sicily, who brought with them
Philip, king of France, Reginald, bishop of Chartres, Manasseh,
bishop of Langres, Hugh, duke of Burgundy, Peter, count de Nevers,
and Geoffrey, count de Perche, and, of the household of the king of
England, Walter, archbishop of Rouen, and Gerard, archbishop of
Auxienne, together with many others, in whom they placed confidence,
for the purpose of making peace between them and the king of England.
Now
when the terms of peace had been for some time under consideration,
and they had nearly come to a conclusion thereon, the citizens of
Messina, collecting in great multitudes, proceeded to the mountains,
and waited in readiness, treacherously to fall upon the king of
England; while others made an attack on the lodging of Hugh Le Brun.
On this, their shouts, which were far from subdued, came to the ears
of the king of England, who immediately leaving the conference with
the king of France and the other persons above-named, ordered all his
men to put on their armour, and he, with a few followers, climbed a
steep hill, which no one could have supposed he could possibly have
done, and having, with
great difficulty, reached the top of the hill, there took to flight
with all possible speed and re-entered the city, the king pursuing
them with the edge of the sword.
On
this, the knights and men-at-arms of the king of England bravely
attacked the citizens at the gates and walls of the city, and,
suffering many hard blows from stones, at one moment effected an
entrance into the city gates, while at another they were driven out.
Here there were slain five knights of the king of England’s
people, and twenty men-at-arms, while the king of France was looking
on, and giving them no assistance, although they were of one
brotherhood with him in the pilgrimage. As for the king of France, he
and his people entered the city, and made their way through them in
perfect safety.
However,
the men of the king of England at last exercised their strength with
such effect, that by main force they burst open the city gates and
mounted the walls in all directions, and so having entered the city,
they took possession thereof, and immediately hoisted the banners of
the king of England on the fortifications around the walls. At this
the king of France was greatly indignant, and demanded that the
banners of the king of England should be lowered, and his own set up;
this, however, the king of England would not permit, but still, that
the wishes of the king of France might be satisfied, he lowered his
own banners and gave the city into the charge of the knights
Hospitallers, and the Templars, until everything should have been
complied with that he demanded of Tancred king of Sicily.
Respecting
the agreement made between Philip, king of France, and Richard, king
of England, at Messina
On
the eighth day of October, [1190] the king of France and the king of
England, before their earls and barons, and the clergy and people,
made oath upon the relics of the Saints, that the one would defend
the other in that pilgrimage, both in going and returning, with good
faith, and the earls and barons swore that they would strictly and
inviolably observe the same. After this, by the advice and consent of
the whole of the army of the pilgrims, the said kings enacted that
all pilgrims who should die on their journey on the said pilgrimage,
might at their pleasure dispose of all their armour, horses, and
apparel which they should
make use of, and of a moiety of their possessions which they might
chance to have ‘with them on the journey, at their own option,
provided only they should send nothing back to their own country;
while clerks might give such orders as to their chapels and all
utensils belonging to such chapels, and all their books, as they
should think fit. The other moiety was to be at the discretion of
Walter, archbishop of Rouen, Manser, bishop of Langres, the Master of
the house of the knights Templars, the Master of the Hospital, Hugh,
duke of Burgundy, Raoul de Coucy, Drogo de Merlou, Robert de Sabul,
Andrew de Chauvigny, and Gilbert de Wascuil; who were to employ the
said money towards the relief of the land of Jerusalem, as they
should think necessary. This also the kings in their own persons
swore strictly and faithfully to observe throughout the whole
expedition, on both sides of the sea, with regard to all the pilgrims
of both kingdoms, both those who should come, as well as those who
had come already. The archbishops and bishops promised on their word
of truth to observe the same. The Masters of the Temple and the
Hospital agreed that the same should be observed on behalf of their
respective orders, while the earls and barons in their own persons
swore that the same should be observed.
Further,
no man in all the army was to play at any kind of game for money,
with the exception of knights and the clergy, who, in one day and
night, were not to lose more than twenty shillings; and if any knight
or clerk should lose more than twenty shillings in any natural day,
as often as such persons should exceed twenty shillings they were to
pay one hundred shillings to the before-named archbishop, bishop,
earls and barons, who were to add the before-mentioned sums of money
to the said sums. The kings, however, were to play at their good
pleasure; and in the lodgings of the two kings their men-at-arms
might play as far as the sum of twenty shillings, with the permission
of the kings. Also, in presence of archbishops, bishops, earls and
barons, with their sanction men-at-arms might play as far as the sum
of twenty shillings. But if any men-at-arms or mariners, or others of
the lower orders, should be found playing of themselves, men-at-arms
were to be whipped naked three days through the army, unless they
should be prepared to ransom themselves at the arbitration of the
persons before-named; and the same as to other servants of a like
degree. But if mariners should so play, they were to be plunged the
first thing in the morning into the sea, on three successive days,
after the usage of sailors, once each day, unless they should be able
to ransom themselves at the arbitration of the persons before
mentioned.
Further,
if any pilgrim, while on his journey, should borrow anything of
another person, he was to pay back what he had borrowed; but as to
what he had borrowed before setting out, he was not to be bound to
make repayment during the pilgrimage.
Further,
if any mariner hired for wages, or any men-at-arms or any other
person whatever, clerks and knights excepted, should leave his master
while on the said pilgrimage, no one else was to receive him, unless
the same should be done by the consent of his master. And if any one,
against the will of his former master, should receive him, he was to
be punished at the discretion of the persons before-mentioned. And if
any person should rashly attempt anything in contravention of the
statutes thus solemnly enacted, he was to know that he thereby
rendered himself subject to the excommunication of the archbishops
and bishops of the whole army ; and all transgressors were to be
punished as before mentioned, at the discretion of the parties
before-named, according to the nature of each ease.
It
was also enacted by the said kings, that the merchant in each article
of merchandize was to be the seller thereof, and that no one in the
army was to be allowed to buy bread to sell the same again ; nor yet
flour, unless some stranger should have brought the same, and a
person should have made bread thereof; nor yet fine corn, unless in
like manner he should have made bread thereof, or should keep it by
him to carry beyond sea. All dough was entirely forbidden to be
purchased; and all these things were forbidden to be bought within a
town and within a league from a town.
But
if any person should buy fine corn, and make bread of the same, he
was bound to make profit of but one farthing in the measure,* besides
the bran.
*
The “salina,” or “sayma,” was a measure, the
capacities of which are not known.
As
to other dealers, in whatever commodity they should deal, they were
bound in every ten pence to make but one penny profit.
No
person was to ring any money of our lord the king upon which the
impression should be visible, unless it should be broken within the
rim.
No
person was to buy any dead flesh to sell the same again, nor yet any
living beast, unless he should kill it within the camp.
No
person was to sell his wine at too dear a rate after proclamation 90
once made.
No
person was to make bread for sale except at one penny the loaf, and
all dealers were to understand that bread-corn was alone to be used
within a league of the town.
Of
the money of England one penny was to be given in all dealings for
four pence of money Anjouin.
It
ought also to be known, that all the above enactments were made and
ordained by the advice and consent of the king of France, the king of
England, and the king of Sicily.
On
the third day after the capture of the city of Messina, the chief men
of that city and of the whole province gave hostages to the king of
England as pledges that they would keep the peace towards him and his
people, and freely deliver into his hand the city of Messina, unless
Tancred, king of Sicily, their master, should publicly make peace
with him, as to all the points on which he demanded satisfaction. For
he had demanded of king Tancred Mount Saint Angelo, with the whole
earldom and its other appurtenances, on behalf of his sister Joanna,
which William, the former king of Sicily, her husband, had assigned
her for her dower, as also a gilded chair for the said Joanna,
according to the custom of the queens of that kingdom ; and for his
own use a gilded table twelve feet in length, and a foot and a half
in breadth : also, a large tent of silk, of such size that two
hundred knights might sit at table beneath it, and two gilded
trestles to support the said gilded table, besides four-and-twenty
cups, and as many dishes, of silver, and sixty thousand measures* of
corn, as many of barley, and as many of wine, and a hundred armed
galleys, with all their equipments, and victuals for the galley-men
for two years. All these things the king of England demanded for his
own use, as being the heir of king Henry, for whom the above-named
king of Sicily had provided all the things above mentioned, and had
bequeathed the same to him on his last illness.
*
Salons.
Tancred,
king of Sicily, made answer to him to the following effect: "I
gave to your sister Joanna ten hundred thousand pieces of money,
arising from lands, in satisfaction of
her dower, before she left me, and as to the rest of your demands, I
will do whatever I shall feel myself bound to do, in conformity with
the customs of this kingdom.” Accordingly, by the advice of
prudent councillors, the king of Sicily gave to the king of England
twenty thousand ounces of gold, in satisfaction of the dower of his
sister, and another twenty thousand ounces of gold, by way of
compromise for all the other particulars before mentioned, which he
had demanded of right as the bequest of William, king of Sicily,
deceased, and agreed that a marriage should be had between Arthur,
duke of Brittany, his nephew, and a daughter of king Tancred. These
concessions being made on either side, Richard, king of England,
wrote to Tancred, king of Sicily, to the following effect:—
The treaty of peace made between Richard, king of England, and Tancred,
king of Sicily.
“To Tancred, by the grace of God the illustrious king of Sicily, and of
the dukedom of Apulia and the principality of Capua, Richard, by the
same grace, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl
of Anjou, health in Him who bestows health upon kings. Whereas, while
on our pilgrimage, the Lord inspiring us thereto. we were passing
through your lands for the purpose of aiding the land of Jerusalem,
which, its sins so demanding, the incursions of the pagans have in a
great measure overrun, and the sword of the enemies of Christ laid
waste, we were compelled to make some stay at your city of Messina,
the inclemency of the winds, and of the sea, and of the season,
preventing us from setting sail, on which, a dissension chancing to
arise between our people and the citizens of the said city, great
loss resulted to both parties both in property and men: in
consequence whereof, it seemed probable to many that our brotherly
love and affection might receive some check: we have therefore taken
due care to observe the purpose and intention of our pilgrimage, and
have resolved that both by ourselves, and by our dearly-beloved and
faithful friends, as also by your venerable archbishops, to wit,
Richard, archbishop of Messina, William, archbishop of Montreal,
William, archbishop of Risa, and Richard, son of the venerable man
Walter, your chancellor, and other excellent men delegated on your
behalf, the bonds of inviolate peace should be drawn still closer
between us; the tenour of which should be preserved to last to future ages by
being reduced to writing. Therefore, we have promised to you, and to
your realm, and to all lands under your dominion, that we will, both
by land and sea, both of ourselves and of our people, observe a
lasting peace, all questions whatsoever being set at rest, which, by
our envoys to you, we had raised, both as to the dower of the queen,
our sister, as also other matters; this, also, being added thereto,
that, so long as we shall stay in your kingdom, we will be everywhere
in-readiness for the defence of your territories, and give you our
assistance, whoever may wish to invade the same, or wage war against
you. To the tenor and form of this treaty of peace, which it is our
wish and our purpose, with unbroken faith, to observe towards you and
your people, we have, by Walter. archbishop of Rouen, Gerard,
archbishop of Auxienne, John, bishop of Evreux, Bernard, bishop of
Bayonne, Jordan de Humez, our constable, William de Courcy, Richard
de Camville, Gerard Talbot, Robert de Sabul, Guido de Croum, Guarine
Fitzgerald, Bertram de Verdun, William Chamberlain de Tankerville,
Robert de Newburgh, Hugh Bardolph, Wigain de Cherbourg, Gilbert de
Wascuill, Hugh le Bruin, John de Filler, Amauri de Montfort, Andrew
de Chauvigny, William de Forts de Oleron, Geoffrey de Rancune, Amauri
Torel, and many others of our household, made oath, upon our soul, in
presence of the before-named archbishops appointed by you for the
said purpose, and others of your illustrious men, to confirm and
ratify the same, according to the tenor of the articles therein
contained. And further, to the end that this peace and brotherly love
may be knit together by bonds as multiplied as stringent, the
beforenamed principal men of your court treating thereon on your
behalf, and the Lord so disposing, we have agreed that a marriage
shall be contracted, in the name of Christ, between Arthur, the
excellent duke of Brittany, our nephew, and, if we shall chance to
die without issue, our heir, and your daughter; so that when she
shall, by the will of God, have arrived at marriageable years, and
you shall have sent her to such place as shall have been agreed upon
by either side, our said nephew shall, within fifteen days from the
time of his meeting her, be espoused to her as his lawful wife; or if
it shall please your highness that she shall be married before she
arrives at marriageable years, our said nephew shall so do according
to your pleasure therein, if the Supreme Pontiff shall grant a
dispensation for the same. And as it is our wish that such a dower
shall be assigned to her as shall befit an illustrious lady and the
daughter of a mighty king, we do engage, on behalf of our said
nephew, that such a dower shall be provided for her out of the
dukedom of our said nephew, and the same we have caused to be sworn
at the present time by our faithful servants before named, and do
engage that the same shall be given by our said nephew; and we admit
that we have received for the use of our nephew, from your
mightiness, a sum for the said marriage, that is to say, twenty
thousand ounces of gold ; this also being a part of the agreement,
that if, which may heaven prevent, either shall die in the meantime,
or if, through the fault of our nephew, or of ourselves, or of his
people, the said marriage shall not take place, then, in such case,
we or our heirs will, without any demur thereto, repay to you or to
your heirs the above-mentioned sum of money in full. Moreover, as to
the said matters, that is to say, the treaty of peace which we have
ratified and confirmed with you, and as to repayment of the said sums
of money, in case from the before-named causes intervening the said
marriage shall not take place, we do give our lord the pope and the
Church of Rome as our sureties ; to the end that if, which may God
forbid, the said peace should chance to be violated on our part, the
Church of Rome shall have power, by stringent measures, to coerce
both ourselves and our territories. In like manner, also, he shall
have full power to compel ourselves and our nephew to contract the
said marriage, or in case, by reason of the causes before-mentioned,
the said marriage should not take place, to compel us, or our heirs,
or territories, to repay the said sum of money. That this, also, we
will do, the Roman church being our surety, we have bound ourselves
by the oaths of the persons above named, according to the tenor of
the words contained in the instrument which we have sent to you,
sealed with our seal. Moreover, if, in case of our dying without
heirs [our issue], he shall succeed to our throne by hereditary
right, then we do assign to her from our kingdom the following dower,
that is to say, the ancient and customary dower of the queens of
England."
The form of the treaty made upon oath between Richard, king of England,
and Tancred, king of Sicily.
“I, N., do swear upon these Holy Gospels of God, that my lord Richard, king
of England, shall from this hour forward preserve with the lord
Tancred, king of Sicily the dukedom of Apulia and the principality of
Capua, and his realm, and all the lands under his dominion, lasting
peace, both himself and his, by land and by sea; and that, so long
as my said lord shall be in the kingdom of king Tancred, he shall
give him his assistance in defending his territories wheresoever he
shall happen to be in the territories of the lord Tancred, king of
Sicily, and what person soever may attempt to invade, or make war,
against the same; and that my lord shall, with his own hand, swear to
observe this same treaty of peace, if the lord, king Tancred, shall,
in like manner, with his hand, swear to observe the said treaty of
peace. And if, at any time, which may heaven prevent, my lord shall
attempt to break the said peace, I will place myself in the custody
of the said lord, the king Tancred, wheresoever he shall think fit;
and all these things my lord Richard, king of England, and I myself,
will observe in good faith, and without fraud and evil intent; so
help us God, and these Holy Gospels of God, and the relics of the
Saints. Amen.” It is also worthy to be remarked, that the
archbishops, bishops, and other subjects of king Tancred swore to the
same effect, upon his soul, that he and his people would keep the
peace towards Richard, king of England, and his people, by sea and by
land, so long as they should be in his territories ; and if the said
Tancred, king of Sicily, and his people, should not keep the peace,
then the said archbishops, and others, who had taken that oath on
behalf of king Tancred, would place themselves in the custody of the
king of England wheresoever he should think fit. It is also to be
observed, that king Tancred gave to Richard, king of England, another
twenty thousand ounces of gold in satisfaction of all questions which
he had raised, both as to the dower of his sister, the queen, as also
concerning all his other demands; and, to the end that king Tancred
might be made more secure as to all the covenants above mentioned,
Richard, king of England, wrote to the Supreme Pontiff to the
following effect:—
The
Letter of Richard, king of England, to pope Clement, relative to the
peace made between him and king Tancred
“To
his most reverend lord and most holy father Clement, by the grace of
God, Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Apostolic See, Richard, by the same
grace, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of
Anjou, health and
sincere dutifulness in the Lord. The actions of princes are blessed
with more prosperous results when they receive strength and favour
from the Apostolic See, and are directed by communication with the
Church of Rome. Wherefore, we have deemed it proper to transmit to
the knowledge of your Holiness the matters which have been lately
arranged between ourselves and the lord Tancred, the illustrious king
of Sicily, by public treaty, which indeed was suggested by necessity.
We have then established with him brotherly love and lasting concord,
and the same, by the oaths of our nobles, archbishops, bishops, and
very many illustrious men, we have promised that we will with
inviolate fidelity observe towards him and his people, and all the
territories of his dominions. And for the further purpose of binding
this treaty of peace and friendship with a still more stringent tie,
we have thought proper to make a contract of marriage between Arthur,
the excellent duke of Brittany, our most dearly-beloved nephew, and
heir, if we shall chance to die without issue, and, with the will of
God, his illustrious daughter ; and, by the bounty of the Lord, the
same shall be brought to a due consummation when the illustrious
damsel shall have arrived at marriagable years, or when it shall have
pleased the said lord, the king Tancred, for her, before she has
arrived at marriageable years, to be given in marriage to our nephew,
if the Holy Church of Rome shall, in like manner, think fit to grant
a dispensation for the same. And, further, the sum of money which for
the said marriage we have received for the use of our nephew from the
said lord, the king Tancred, namely, twenty thousand ounces of gold,
in case, which heaven forbid, by reason of the death of either, or
through the fault of ourselves, or of our nephew, or of his people,
the said marriage shall not take place, we, or our heirs, are bound
on our part by oaths made to that effect to repay in fill I to the
lord the king Tancred, or his heirs. To the end, therefore, that the
terms of the said treaty of peace so concluded, and full acquiescence
in the marriage thus contemplated, may, with all due integrity, be
secured on the part of ourselves and our nephew, in such manner as we
have upon oath promised to the lord the king Tancred, we do earnestly
entreat your Holiness, and the Holy Church of Rome, that the Holy See
will undertake to be surety on our behalf towards the lord the king
Tancred and his heirs, for our constant observance of the peace thus
established between us, and for the
due fulfilment of the said contract of marriage; or, in case, from
the reasons before mentioned, the said marriage should not take
place, for the repayment of the said sum of money. And that, with due
confidence the Church of Rome may undertake conjointly with you to
share the burden of the said surety, we do upon the testimony of
these present letters grant to yourselves, and to the Holy Church of
Rome, free power with all stringency to coerce ourselves and our
heirs and territory, if either we shall contravene the terms of the
said treaty of peace, or if, the marriage, from the causes before
mentioned, not taking place, we, or our heirs, shall refuse repayment
of the said sum of money. Your Holiness well knows how to show due
regard to the honor of us both; and that, if through the mediation of
the Church of Rome, the advantages of peace and of the intended
marriage shall be duly served, numerous benefits will at a future day
ensue therefrom. Witness ourselves, on this eleventh day of November,
at Messina.”
However,
before this treaty of peace was fully concluded and ratified between
the king of England and the king of Sicily, Margarite, the admiral,
and Jordan de Pini, members of the household of the king of Sicily,
to whom he had given charge of the city of Messina, left it by night,
taking with them their families and the substance which they
possessed in gold and silver. The king of England, however, on their
departure, seized their houses, and galleys, and other possessions,
into his own hands.
After this, the king of England caused a wide and deep trench to be cut
through the middle of the island on which is the monastery of the
Griffons, in the middle of the river del Faro, where his treasures
and provisions were stored: which trench ran right across the width
of the whole island, from one shore to the other, and terminated in
Charybdis.
It is worthy of remark, that in this river, called the Faro di Messina,
are those two most noted perils of the sea, Scylla and Charybdis, the
one of which, namely, Scylla, is at the entrance of the Faro, near
the priory of Le Baniare, and the other, namely, Charybdis, is near
the outlet of the Faro ; for the purpose of knowing which, a tower of
stone was erected in the above-named island near the trench made by
the king of England. It is also to be observed, that Scylla is always
vomiting forth and casting its waves on high, and consequently it is
necessary that those who pass should keep themselves at a
considerable distance, for fear lest they should he overwhelmed by
the fury of the tide. On the other hand, Charybdis is unceasingly drawing towards
it and sucking in the waves; wherefore, those who pass by, ought to
take care that they are not sucked in by it. Still, some incautious
persons, while trying to avoid Scylla, fall into Charybdis.
The
king of England, while the final completion of the treaty of peace
between him and king Tancred was being delayed, built a strong castle
for himself on the brow of a lofty hill outside of the walls of the
city of Messina, which they called Mate Griffon. The Griffons, before
the arrival of the king of England, were more powerful than any of
the inhabitants of those parts, and held in extreme hatred all the
people who lived beyond the mountains, so much so, that they thought
but very little of killing them, and there was no one to help them.
But from the time that the king of England came there, their
mischievous exploits were brought to a termination, and, their power
being crushed, they became more contemptible than any other of the
inhabitants of that land; for, hoping that they could do to the king
of England as they had been able to do to others in days of yore,
they fell into the pit which they themselves had dug, and became outcasts in the land.
On the other hand, the English nation was held in the highest esteem in
the kingdom of Sicily. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy which was
found inscribed in ancient characters on tables of stone near a vill
of the king of England, the name of which is Here; which Henry, king
of England, gave to William Fitz-Stephen, and where the said William
built a new house, on a pinnacle of which was placed the figure of a
stag; which is supposed to have been done in order that the prophecy
might be fulfilled, which said—
*These lines seem to refer to the erection of the figure of the hart
(stag) the expedition to Ireland, the feats of King Richard in Apulia
and Sicily and the release of the right to wreck (see below).
After this, the king of England, in his love for God and for
the salvation of his soul, abandoned all claims whatsoever on his
part for ever to wreck throughout the whole of his territories, and
enacted that every shipwrecked person who should reach shore alive
should freely and quietly have all his property. And if a person
should die on board ship, then his sons or daughters, or brothers or
sisters, were to have his property, according to the degree in which
they should be able to prove themselves his nearest heirs. But if the
person so dying should have neither sons nor daughters, nor brothers
nor sisters, then the king was to have his chattels. This release of
right to wreck, Richard, king of England, made and confirmed by his
charter in the second year of his reign, at Messina, in the month of
October, in the presence of Walter, archbishop of Rouen, Gerard,
archbishop of Auxienne, John, bishop of Evreux, Bernard, bishop of
Bayonne, and many others of the clergy and laity of the household of
the king of England, and the charter was delivered by the hand of
Master Roger Malchien, the king’s vice-chancellor.
In
the same year, [1190] more than a hundred thousand pagans who were in
the kingdom of Sicily, and servants of king William, after his death
indignantly refused to serve under king Tancred, both because Henry,
king of the Germans, had laid claim to the throne of Sicily, as also
because Richard, king of England, entering the kingdom of Sicily, had
taken possession of a great part thereof. They consequently retired
to the mountainous parts with their wives, sons, daughters, and
cattle,. and there lived, attacking the Christians, and doing them
considerable injury.
However,
when they heard that a treaty of peace and a final reconciliation had
been made between the king of England and king Tancred, they returned
into the service of king Tancred, and after giving him hostages as
sureties that they would keep the peace, came back to their homes,
and cultivated the land as they had cultivated it in the time of king
William, and so became the servants of king Tancred.
In
the same year, after his father, Frederic, emperor of the Romans, had
lost his life by drowning, Conrad, duke of Suabia, was made king of
the Germans and Alemannians, and the other nations subject to his
father, and repaired to the siege of Acre with a great army;
immediately on which a great famine arose among those besieging Acre,
and increased to each a degree, that a loaf of bread which used to be
sold before their arrival for one penny, was soon after sold at the
price of sixty* shillings. Upon this, great numbers of the army died
of famine, as one horse-load of corn was being sold for sixty-four
marks, English money; and in consequence, the principal men present
at the siege were obliged to feed on horse-flesh, eating it as a
delicacy.
*
Another reading says “forty.”
Now
when the famine had increased to an extraordinary degree of severity,
the clamour of the people reached Hubert Fitz-Walter, bishop of
Rouen,* and the other bishops in the expedition, on which they made a
collection of money to relieve the necessities of the poor, and the
Lord gave such increase to the sums so collected, that they sufficed
for the sustenance of all who were in want, until such time as God,
the giver of all good things, looking from on high, sent them an
abundance of corn, wine, and oil; for the third day after the
collection was distributed among the poor, there came to Acre ships
laden with corn, wine, and oil, and made so plentiful a market, and
on such moderate terms, that a measure of wheat which before was sold
for two hundred besants, was shortly after to be had for six.
*
Clearly a mistake for “Salisbury."
In
the same year, on the day of Saint James the Apostle, ten thousand
youths of prowess and well armed, came forth from among the troops
besieging the city of Acre, in spite of the prohibition of the king,
the Patriarch, and the leader of the army, with the intention of
engaging with Saladin and .his army; but Saladin, on seeing them,
retreated with his army, leaving behind his tents and provisions. On
this, the young men entered the tents of the pagans, and ate and
drank of what they found therein; after which they carried away with
them whatever they could find of value, and loaded themselves
therewith; but, when they were returning towards the force besieging
Acre, Saladin and his army fell upon them and put them to the edge of
the sword, and they were nearly all slain by the pagans ; a few of
them, however, leaving their loads behind, escaped by the aid of
Ralph de Hautereve, archdeacon of Colchester.
In
the same year, Sibylla, queen of Jerusalem, wife of Guido of
Lusignan, and his two daughters, departed this life at the siege of
Acre; upon whose death, Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat, lord of Tyre,
seeing that there was no nearer heir to the throne of Jerusalem than
Milicent, the wife of Amfrid
de Tours, sister of the said Sibylla, held a conference with the
Patriarch Heraclius before mentioned, and the mother of the lady
before named, and all the chief men of the army of the Christians,
and demanded that the sister of the deceased queen should be given
him to wife, promising that for the future he would faithfully and
zealously promote the interests of the army of the Christians, and
would from that time forward hold no communication whatever with
Saladin. On this, the mother of the lady, the Patriarch, and a
considerable number of the chief men of the army, yielded assent to
his requests, and, effecting a divorce between the said lady and
Amfrid de Tours, her husband, gave her in marriage to Conrad; who
immediately laid claim to the kingdom of Jerusalem against Guido, in
right of his wife; upon which Guido offered to abide by the lawful
decision of the court of the kings of France and England, who were
shortly about to arrive; but Conrad, being unwilling to wait so long
a time, usurped all power in the kingdom, and banished king Guido.
In
the same year, while Philip, king of the Franks, and Richard, king of
the English, were staying at Messina, in Sicily, in the month of
December, on the fourteenth day before . the calends of January,
being the fourth day of the week, loud thunder was heard at Messina,
and many and terrible flashes of lightning were seen; a thunderbolt
also fell in one of the galleys of the king of England and sank it,
striking the walls of the city of Messina, of which it levelled a
great part. The knights also and men-at-arms of the king of England,
who were keeping guard in the monastery of the Griffons, in which
were the treasures of the king of England, asserted as a truth that
they saw a ball of fire on a pinnacle of that monastery, not burning
but sending forth a light, which remained there as long as the
tempest raged, and after that ceased the ball of fire disappeared. On
their expressing surprise at this, and making careful enquiries what
it could possibly mean, the Griffons there serving God made answer
with one accord, that this always happened whenever a storm arose.
The
king of England in the meantime, while he was staying at Messina,
caused all the ships of his fleet to be hauled ashore and repaired,
as many of them had become damaged in consequence of being eaten away
by worms. For in the river Del Faro there are certain thin worms,
which in the language of the people are called “Beom,”
whose food is every kind
of wood. Whenever these have once adhered to any kind of wood, they
never leave go thereof, except through main force, until they have
pierced right through; they make narrow straight holes when they have
effected an entrance, and then from gnawing away the wood they become
so increased in size and bulk, that in coming forth they make wider
holes. In the mean time, .Richard, king of England, caused stone
engines and other engines of war to be prepared, for the purpose of
taking the same to the land of Jerusalem.
In the same year, William, bishop of Ely, legate of the Apostolic See,
chancellor of our lord the king and justiciary of all England,
oppressed the people entrusted to his charge with heavy exactions.
For in the Gist place
he despised all his fellows whom the king had associated with him in
the government of his kingdom, and disregarded their advice. Indeed,
he considered no one of his associates in the kingdom his equal, not
even John, earl of Mortaigne, the king’s brother. Accordingly,
he laid claim to the castles, estates, abbeys, churches, and all the
rights of the king as his own. On the authority also of his
legateship, he came to take up his lodging at bishoprics, abbeys, and
priories, and other houses of the religious orders, with such a vast
array of men, horses, hounds, and hawks, that a house where he took
up his abode for only a single night, was hardly able within the
three following years to recover its former state. From the clerks
and laity he also took away their churches, farms, lands, and other
possessions, which he either divided among his nephews, clerks, and
servants, or else, to the loss of the owners, retained possession of
them himself, or squandered them away to supply his extraordinary
expenses.
Did
not this wretched man consider that he should one day have to die ?
Did he not think that the Lord would demand of each an account of his
stewardship, or honourable conduct in his government ? But well is it
said as to such men as this: “Nothing is more unendurable than
a man of low station when he is exalted on high. On every side he
strikes, while on every side he fears; against all does he rage, that
they may have an idea of his power; nor is there any beast more foul
than the rage of a slave let loose against the backs of the free.”
In
the same year, [1190] on the third day after the feast of Saint
Michael, about four thousand armed Saracens came forth from the city
of Acre, and burned four of the stockades with Greek fire; hut they
were manfully repulsed by the soldiers of the army, and lost twenty
Turks who were slain, and many wounded. After this, at the feast of
Saint Martin, 1 *the
Saracens again sallied forth from the city of Acre, and made an
attack upon the Christians, who manfully withstood them. Baldwin de
Carun, Walter de Oyri, and Baldwin de Dargus, valiantly withstood
their attack, until count Henry and Geoffrey de Lusignan had come up
with the Templars, and compelled the pagans to give way with such a
mighty charge, that they lost in their flight forty Turks who were
slain, and many wounded.
After
this, between the feast of Saint Andrew and the Nativity of our Lord,
the whole army of the Christians was in arms, for the purpose of
making an assault upon the city of Acre, and the Germans and English
drew their scaling-ladders to the trenches, that they might place
them against the walls; on which the pagans went out of the city by
the postern gates, and took their scaling-ladders from the Germans,
and drove the English away from the trenches, and then fastened ropes
to the scaling-ladder of the English, with the intention of drawing
it into the city; but Ralph de Tilly, Humphrey de Veilly, Robert de
Lanlande, and Roger de Glanville, mounted the scaling-ladder of the
English, and four times extinguished the Greek fire that was thrown
down; and Ralph de Tilly coming nearer than the others, cut asunder
the ropes with his sword, and so rescued the scaling-ladder from the
hands of the pagans. Shortly after, between the feast of Saint Andrew
and the Nativity of our Lord, the famine already mentioned began in
the army of the Christians, and continued until the Purification of
Saint Mary.
In
the same year, Henry, king of the Germans, on hearing of the death of
Frederic, emperor of the Romans, his father, restored to Henry, duke
of Saxony, all that his father had taken from him, and, by way of
addition thereto, gave him ten most excellent castles. He also did
the like to all others from whom his father had taken anything away,
restoring to each person what was his own. All his subjects therefore
being now reconciled to him, he sent his envoys to pope Clement, and
the cardinals and senators of the city, demanding
the Roman empire, and promising that he would in all things maintain
the laws and dignities of the Romans unhurt. On this, pope Clement,
having with due deliberation held council with the cardinals and
senators and Roman people, respecting the demand of the king of the
Germans, granted the king what he asked for, saving always the
dignities and customs of the Romans, and appointed for him as the
time for coming to Rome the following Easter; but before he arrived
there, pope Clement died.
In
the same year, David, brother of William, king of Scotland, took to
wife Matilda, sister of Ranulph, earl of Chester. In this year also,
a dispute again happened between Geoffrey, archbishop elect of York,
and Bucard, the treasurer of the same church, in consequence of which
the archbishop elect excommunicated the before mentioned Bucard, who
went to pope Clement, and was deemed worthy by him to be absolved
therefrom; while with the Supreme Pontiff he threw such difficulties
in the way of the business of the archbishop elect of York, that the
Supreme Pontiff would neither confirm his election nor allow him to
be consecrated. In addition to this, the Supreme Pontiff conferred on
Hugh, bishop of Durham, the privilege of not making any profession or
submission throughout his life to Hugh, the archbishop elect of York,
not even though he should be consecrated to the archbishopric; on the
ground that the said bishop of Durham had once already made
profession to the church of York, and to Saint William, at that time
archbishop of York, and his Catholic successors.
In
the same year, Richard, king of England, the Divine grace inspiring
him thereto, being sensible of the filthiness of his life, after due
contrition of heart, having called together all the archbishops and
bishops who were with him at Messina, in the chapel of Reginald de
Moyac, fell naked at their feet, and did not hesitate to confess to
God, in their presence, the filthiness of his life. For the thorns of
lustfulness had departed from his head, and it was not the hand of
man who rooted them out, but God, the Father of Mercies, who wisheth
not for the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his
wickedness and live, looked upon him with the eyes of mercy and gave
him a heart to repent, and called him to repentance, for he received
the penance imposed by the bishops before named, and from that hour
forward became a man who feared God, and left what was evil and did
what was good. O happy the man who so falls as to rise with greater
strength still! O happy the man who after repentance does not relapse
into faultiness and a course of ruin!
In
the same year, Richard, king of England, hearing, by common report
and the relation of many persons, that there was a certain religious
man in Calabria, of the Cistercian order, called Joachim, abbot of
Curazzo, who had a spirit of prophecy and foretold to the people
things to come, sent for him and willingly listened to the words of
his prophecy, and his wisdom and learning. For he was a man learned
in the Holy Scriptures, and interpreted the visions of Saint John the
Evangelist, which Saint John has related in the Book of Revelation,
which he wrote with his own hands ; in hearing which, the king of
England and his people took great delight.
The
following was one of the visions of Saint John the Evangelist: “The
kings are seven in number ; five are fallen, and one is, and the
other is not yet come.” And elsewhere in the Revelation there
is another vision of the same Evangelist. “A woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon beneath her feet;” which signifies the
Holy Church, the sun of justice. Also, “the woman was clothed
with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head was
a crown of twelve stars, and, being with child, she was in pain to be
delivered; and, behold! a great red dragon, having seven heads and
ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head: and his tail drew the
third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth;
and he stood before the woman who was about to be delivered, to
devour her child as soon as it was born. And the woman brought forth
a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her
child was caught up unto the Lord, and to His throne. And the woman
fled into the wilderness of Egypt, where she had a place prepared of
God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and
threescore days."
Now
of this vision the following is the interpretation, according to
Joachim, abbot of Curazzo. “The woman clothed with the sun, and
the moon under her feet,” signifies the Holy Church, the sun of
justice, who is Christ our God, shadowed forth and typified under
that name; under his feet is the world, always to be trodden under
foot with its vices and lusts. And “upon her head was a crown
of twelve stars.” Now the head of the Church is Christ, His
crown is the Catholic faith which the twelve Apostles have preached.
“The woman was in pain to be delivered.” So the Holy
Church, which ever rejoices in new offspring, suffers pain from day
to day, to the end that she may gain souls for God, which the devil
attempts to snatch away and to drag with himself down to hell. “And
behold! a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns.”
Now this dragon signifies the devil, who is properly said to have
seven heads. For all the heads of the devil are replete with
iniquit3 r ,
and he uses the figure 7 as something finite for what is infinite ;
for the heads of the devil are infinite in number; that is to say,
those who are persecutors of the Church, and the wicked. Of these,
although they are infinite in number, the said Joachim, in his
explanation, made mention of seven principal persons who were
persecutors of the Church, whose names were as follow : Herod, Nero,
Constantius, Mahomet, Melsermut, Saladin, and Antichrist.
“Saint
John also says in the Book of Revelation, ‘There are seven
kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come:’
which the said Joachim thus explained. The seven kings are Herod,
Nero, Constantius, Mahomet, Melsermut, Saladin, and Antichrist. Of
these, five have perished; namely, Herod, Nero, Constantius, Mahomet,
and Melsermut; one is, namely, Saladin, who is now oppressing the
Church of God; and, together with it, the Sepulchre of our Lord, and
the Holy City of Jerusalem and the land on which stood the feet of
our Lord are kept in his possession ; but he shall shortly lose the
same. On this, the king of England asked the question, "When
shall this take place?” To which Joachim made answer, “When
seven years shall have elapsed from the day of the capture of
Jerusalem.” Upon which, the king of England remarked, “Why,
then, have we come so much too soon?” When Joachim made answer,
"Your arrival is very necessary, inasmuch as the Lord will give
you the victory over His enemies, and will exalt your name beyond all
the princes of the earth."
The
words then follow, “One of them is not yet come,” which
is Antichrist. Now as to this Antichrist, Joachim said, “He is
already born in the city of Rome, and will be elevated to the
Apostolic See ; and it is respecting this Antichrist that the Apostle
says, ‘ He is exalted, and strives against every
tiling that is called of God.’ And then shall the ‘wicked
one be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His
mouth, and shall destroy by the dazzling brightness of his approach.”
On this, the king turned to him and said, “I thought that
Antichrist was to be born in Antioch, or at Babylon, of the
descendants of Dan, and was to reign in the Temple of the Lord at
Jerusalem, and was to walk in that land in which Christ walked, and
was to reign therein three years and a half, and was to dispute
against Elias and Enoch, and was to slay them, and was afterwards to
die, and after his death the Lord was to give sixty days for
repentance, during which those persons might repent who had wandered
away from the paths of truthfulness, and had been seduced by the
preaching of Antichrist and his false prophets.”
It
then proceeds, “And there are ten horns.” Now the ten
horns of the devil are heresies and schisms, which heretics and
schismatics oppose to the ten precepts of the law and the
commandments of God. "And upon his head were seven crowns.”
By the crowns are signified the kings and princes of this world, who
are to believe in Antichrist. "And his tail drew the third part
of the stars of heaven.” This refers to the great number of
persons who shall believe in him. "And did cast them to the
earth.” By the name of stars he calls the lower orders of men
who are to believe in Antichrist; and he mentions the third part of
the stars of heaven by reason of the great multitude of men who shall
believe on him. “And he did cast them to the earth;” that
is to say, he sent all those to the bottomless pit who had perished
in believing on him. “And he stood before the woman, who was
about to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.”
The devil ever lies in wait for the Church, that he may carry off her
offspring, and, after so carrying it off, devour it. He is well said
“to stand;” inasmuch as he never turns aside for evil,
but always stands steadfast in wickedness and inflexible in the
crafty wiles of his deceit. Or, according to another interpretation,
his tail will signify the end of this world; at which time certain
wicked nations shall arise, which shall be called Gog and Magog, and
shall destroy the Church of God, overthrow the Christian race, and
then forthwith shall come the day of judgment.
“But
in the days of this Antichrist there shall be many Christians who
shall live in the caverns of the earth, and in the
solitary places of the rocks, and shall preserve the Christian faith
in the fear of the Lord, until the consummation of Antichrist ; and
this is meant where it is said: “The woman fled into the
wilderness of Egypt, where she had a place prepared of God, that they
should feed her there, a thousand two hundred and sixty days; and her
man child shall rule all nations with a rod of iron.” This is
especially our Lord Jesus Christ, who after His Passion and
Resurrection, has ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of
God the Father Almighty, and shall come to judge the living and the
dead, and the world by fire ; of whom, if we are followers, and shall
continue to obey His commands, we shall be caught up into the air to
meet him, and shall always be with him.”
But
although the said abbot of Curazzo gave these opinions in relation to
Antichrist, still Walter, archbishop of Rouen, and the archbishop of
Apamia, Gerard, archbishop of Auxienne, John, bishop of Evreux,
Bernard, bishop of Bayeux, and other ecclesiastical men of great
learning in -the Holy Scriptures, endeavoured to prove the contrary;
and although they brought forward many arguments on both sides, with
strong indications of truthfulness, the dispute is still undecided.
For the ancients, when making mention of Antichrist in their
writings, have written to the following effect:
“Those
persons who wish to know something about Antichrist, ought first to
mark why he has been so called. The reason is, because he will be the
opposite of Christ in all things, and will do what is contrary to
Christ. Christ came in humility, he will come in pride. Christ came
to raise the humble and to justify sinners; on the other hand,
Antichrist will cast down the humble, and will magnify sinners, will
exalt the unrighteous, and will always teach those vices which are
opposed to virtues, will destroy the law of the Gospel, will recall
to the world the worship of devils, will seek his own glory, and will
call himself “the Almighty God.” This Antichrist will
therefore have many to serve him in his wickedness, of whom many have
already preceded him in the world; such as Antiochus, Nero, and
Domitian; in our times too we know of many Antichrists. Whatever
person, whether layman, whether monk, or whether canon, lives
contrary to the laws of righteousness, and impugns the rules of his
order, and blasphemes that which is good, he is Antichrist and a
minister of Satan. But now as to the origin of Antichrist.”
What
I am saying, I am not coining out of my own imagination, or
inventing; for in reading over books with care, I find all these
things there written.
According
to what our authors say, Antichrist shall be born after the example
of the Jews, namely, of the tribe of Dan, according to the prophecy
that says: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the
path ; ”
for
like a serpent shall he lie in the way, and be in the path, that he
may smite those who walk in the path of justice, and may slay them
with the venom of his malice. He shall also be born from the
intercourse of a father and mother, just like other men, and not, as
some say, of a virgin alone. But still, in sin shall he be wholly
conceived ; in sin shall he be begotten, and in sin shall he be born.
At the very moment of his conception, the devil shall at the same
time enter the womb of his mother; and by means of the Devil will he
be cherished and protected in the womb of his mother, and the power
of the Devil will always be with her. And just as the Holy Ghost came
upon the Mother of our Lord, and overshadowed her by his efficacy,
and filled her with his divine power that so she might conceive by
the Holy Ghost, and that what should be born might be sacred and
holy; so also the Devil shall descend upon the mother of Antichrist,
and shall fill her entirely, surround her entirely, hold her
entirely, possess her entirely, within and without, to the end that,
the devil working through man, she may conceive; and what shall be
born shall be entirely noxious, entirely evil, entirely wicked.
In
consequence hereof, this man is also called “the son of
perdition ;” because, so far as he possibly can. he shall bring
mankind to perdition, and last of all he himself shall come to
perdition. Behold! now you have heard how he shall be born, hear also
the place where he shall be born. For, as our Lord and Redeemer in
His foresight provided Bethlehem as the place where He should deign
to assume humanity in our behalves, and be born, so the Devil knows
of a fitting place for that wicked man who is called Antichrist, from
which the root of all evils may take its rise, that is to say, the
city of Babylon. For in this city, which was formerly a renowned and
glorious city of the Gentiles, and the capital of the kingdom of
Persia, Antichrist will be born, and it is said that he will be
nourished and brought up in the cities of Bethsaida and Chorazin; to
which cities our Lord speaks in terms of censure, saying: “Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! woe unto thee, Chorazin!”
Antichrist
will also have magicians, sorcerers, diviners and enchanters, who,
the Devil so inspiring them, will nurture him and educate him in all
iniquities and falsehood, and in the foul art, and evil spirits shall
be his guides, associates, and sole companions. Then shall they come
to Jerusalem, and all Christians whom he shall not be enabled to
convert to his own ways, he will slay with various torments, and will
prepare to make his abode in the holy Temple. The Temple also which
was destroyed, and which Solomon dedicated to God, he shall restore
to its former state, and shall circumcise himself, and shall lyingly
assert that he is the son of Almighty God. Kings and princes also
will he first make converts of, and then through them, of other
persons; while he will travel over the places where our Lord Christ
walked, and will first lay waste what the Lord so rendered glorious.
Then, throughout the whole world will he send forth his messengers
and his preachers. And his preaching and power shall extend from sea
to sea, from east to west, from north to south. Many signs therefore
will he give, great and unheard-of miracles; he will cause fire to
come in a dreadful manner from heaven, trees to blossom in a moment
and then to wither away, the sea to be aroused and suddenly to be
tranquillized, the natural forms of things to be changed into various
shapes; the courses and tides of rivers to be changed, the air to be
agitated with winds and commotions, besides innumerable other things
of wondrous nature. The dead shall even be raised in the sight of
men, so that, if possible, even the elect may be led into error. For
when they shall behold signs so great and of such a nature, even
those who are perfect and the elect of God, shall be in doubt,
whether or not this is Christ, who, according to the Scriptures, was
to come at the end of the world.
But
he shall cause persecution in every clime against the Christians and
all the elect; and shall upraise himself against the faithful in
three ways; that is to say, by terror, by gifts, and by miracles. To
those who believe in him he will give abundance of gold and of
silver; those whom he shall not be able to corrupt with bribes he
will conquer by terror: those whom he shall not be able to conquer by
terror, he will attempt to lead astray by signs and miracles; and
those upon whom by signs and miracles he can make no effect, he will
torment, and, in the sight of all, destroy by a cruel death. Then
shall there be tribulation, such as has not been upon the earth from
the time when nations began to be, until that time; then shall those
who are in the field flee to the mountains, and he who shall be above
shall not come down into his house, to take anything away therefrom.
Then shall every faithful Christian who shall be found, either deny God,
or die by the sword, or by the fire of the furnace, or by serpents,
or by beasts, or by some other kind of torment, if he shall persist
in the faith. This terrible and fearful tribulation shall continue
throughout the whole world three years and a half. Then shall the
days be shortened on account of the elect; for if the Lord should not
shorten the days, all flesh would not be saved.
The time also when Antichrist shall come, as well as when the day of
judgment shall begin to appear, the Apostle Paul points out in his
Epistle to the Thessalonians, where he says, “We beseech you by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;” and
he reveals in the passage where he says, “Except there be a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition." 1
We know also that after the kingdom of the Greeks, as also after the
kingdom of the Persians, each of which, at its own season, gained
great glory, and flourished amid great power, at length, after other
kingdoms as well, the kingdom of the Romans began, and that it was
more mighty than all the former kingdoms, and held all the kingdoms
of the earth in subjection to it, and all nations and peoples were
tributary to the Romans. Hence it is that the Apostle Paul says that
Antichrist will not come into the world, “Except there be first
a falling away;” that is, unless all the kingdoms of the world
should first revolt from the Roman empire to whom they were before
subject. This time, however, has not come as yet ; for although we
see the Roman empire in a great measure destroyed, still, so long as
the kings of the Franks hold dominion, who are bound to uphold the
empire of Rome, the dignity of Rome will not entirely perish, for by
its kings will it be upheld.
Some,
indeed, of our learned men assert that one of the kings
of
the Franks will hold the Roman empire afresh, and in all its
integrity, who will exist at a very late period of time; and he
himself will be the greatest and the last of all the kings, and after
he shall have happily ruled over his own kingdom, shall come at last
to Jerusalem, and shall lay down his sceptre and his crown on the
Mount of Olives. This will be the end of the empire of the Romans,
and of the Christians, and immediately, according to the words of
Saint Paul the Apostle quoted above, they say that Antichrist will
come, and then will be revealed Antichrist, the man of sin, who,
though he shall be but a man, shall still be the source of all
sinfulness and the son of perdition, which means the son of the
Devil, not, indeed, by nature, but by reason of imitation ; for in
everything will he fulfil the wishes of the Devil; because the
fullness of the diabolical power, and of the whole of his evil
disposition, shall corporeally find an abode in him, in whom will be
all the treasures of wickedness and iniquity stored away, and who
shall strive against Christ, that is to say, shall be opposed to Him,
and all his members. “And he is exalted,” meaning that he
is elated with pride; “above everything that is called God,”
which means “above all the gods of the Gentiles;”
Hercules, to wit, and Apollo, Jupiter, and Mercury; above all those
whom the pagans suppose to be divinities Antichrist shall be raised;
for he will make himself greater and more powerful than them all. And
not only above these will he be raised, but above everything that is
worshipped; above the Holy Trinity even, which alone ought to be
worshipped and adored by all creatures he shall so raise himself,
that he shall sit in the Temple of the Lord, and show himself as
though he were a God. For, as we have said above, being born in the
city of Babylon, he shall come to Jerusalem, and shall circumcise
himself, and shall say to the Jews, “I am the Christ who was
promised to you again and again, who have come for your salvation, to
the end that I may gather together and defend you who are dispersed.”
Then
will all the Jews resort to him, thinking that they are receiving
God, whereas they will be receiving the Devil. But even in the Temple
of God shall Antichrist sit, that is to say, in the Holy Church,
making martyrs of all the Christians; and he shall be exalted and
shall be magnified, because in him shall be the Devil, the source of
all wickedness, who is also king over all the sons of vanity. But in
order that Antichrist may not come suddenly and unexpectedly, and at
the same moment deceive the whole of mankind with his errors, and so
bring them to ruin before his rising, two great prophets shall be
sent into the world, Enoch and Elias, who, against the attacks of
Antichrist, shall fortify the faithful of God with Divine arms, and
shall provide them, and shall strengthen and prepare the elect for
battle; and they shall teach and preach for three years and a half.
The sons also of Israel, such as shall at that season be found, these
two great prophets and teachers, shall turn to the grace of the
faith, and on the side of the elect shall render them insuperable by
the force of a whirlwind of such mighty power. Then shall be
fulfilled that which the Scripture says, “Though the number of
the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be
saved." 2
After they shall have fulfilled the time of their preaching three
years and a half, then shall the persecution by Antichrist begin to
rage, and against them the first thing of all shall Antichrist take
up arms, and shall slay them, as we read in the book of Revelation;
“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast
that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them,
and shall overcome them and kill them.” Then, after these two
shall have been slain, he shall persecute the rest of the faithful,
that so he may make them either glorious martyrs or apostates, and
then shall those who believe in him receive the impression of his
mark on their foreheads.
But
as we have spoken thus at large about his rise, let us now say what
end he is to have. Now, this Antichrist, the son of the Devil, and
the most vile contriver of all wickedness, shall, for three years and
a half, as already mentioned, harass the whole world with great
persecutions, and shall with various punishments torment all the
people of God ; and after he shall have slain Elias and Enoch, and
shall have crowned the rest with martyrdom, who remain in the faith,
at last shall come upon him the judgment of God, as Saint Paul
writes, saying, “Whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the
spirit of His mouth ;” or else the Lord shall kill him there
with the power of his command, or Michael, the Archangel, shall slay
him with the might of the Lord; for he shall be slain by the might of
some angel or Archangel. They say also that Antichrist shall be slain
on a mountain in Babylon, upon his throne, in that place opposite to
which the Lord ascended into heaven. But you should know that after
Antichrist shall” have been slain, the day of judgment will not
come immediately, the Lord will not come immediately to judge us ;
but, as we understand from the book of Daniel, the Lord will give a
day to the elect, that they may perform penance, because they have
been led astray by Antichrist. But after they shall have duly
performed this penance, there is no one who knows how long a space of
time shall intervene before the Lord shall come to judge mankind ;
but it remains subject to the determination of God at what hour God
shall judge the world, inasmuch as before the world began He
pre-ordained that it should be judged.
John
the Apostle and Evangelist, one of virgin purity and the chosen of
the Lord, and more beloved than the rest, asked the Lord as to the
end of the world, and the Lord made answer, “The sun shall be
turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, and from the trees blood
shall drop; the stones shall send forth voices, the people shall be
aroused, and Antichrist, that is, the Devil, shall reign, and shall
work miracles and great signs in the people; no one shall be able to
escape from him. He shall be born of a woman who is a harlot of the
tribe of Dan in Israel. All those who believe in him he shall mark
with his mark on the forehead, and no one shall be able to blot out
the work of his hands. He shall be brought up in Chorazin, and shall
afterwards dwell in the city of Bethsaida; and in a few days both all
those whom he shall kill, as also those who shall die under his power
of famine and thirst, shall be the elect of God; he will raise the
false ones who are dead, he will turn back rivers in their course, he
will pluck up trees by the roots, and will turn the branches to the
earth, and their roots upwards, and by his diabolical arts make them
blossom. Many he will lead astray. On the day on which he shall be
born, all who dwell in the four quarters of the world will know that
he has been born; the Scripture bearing witness thereto, which says,
“In every house the carcase of one dead man shall be a sign.”
Then
in his time shall the father slay the son, and the son the father,
and the brother the brother, and the faithful shall be found wanting
in all things. Women shall be menstruous, and shall not hide
themselves from men; the churches shall be destroyed, the priests
shall mourn, no memorials will be preserved of the places where the
bodies of the Saints have rested; people shall adore profane idols,
like pagans, and Jews, and Saracens. Nation shall arise against
nation, and one kingdom against another, and there shall be great
earthquakes in divers places, and pestilence and famine, and the
stars shall fall down upon the earth; rivers shall be changed into
blood, and all the waters which are below the heavens.
In
his reign two prophets, namely, Enoch and Elias, shall wage war
against him, who are now sorrowing in Paradise at the contemplation
of death, and Antichrist shall slay them, and they shall lie dead in
the streets of the city during three days and three nights, and on
the fourth day they shall rise again to life everlasting. At the
last, Almighty God, who wishes that all should be saved, shall send
Michael, the Archangel, having a sharp two-edged sword in his hands,
that is to say, the sword of the Holy Spirit, and shall slay him, and
shall cleave him into two parts from head to foot, that so the world
may not be destroyed, but may be renewed for the better; three years
and six months shall it thus be in the bringing of the world to a
state of perfection.
In
the same year, Richard, king of England, gave to his nephew Otho, son
of his sister Matilda, formerly duchess of Saxony, the earldom of
Evreux, and although many would have received him and have done to
him homage and fealty, still many resisted him, declaring that they
would not withdraw from their fealty to the king, before they had
spoken to him face to face. In consequence of this, our lord the king
gave to the said Otho the earldom of Poitou by way of exchange for
the earldom of Evreux.
The
names of the nobles who died this year at the siege of Acre
Queen
Sibylla, the wife of Guido, king of Jerusalem, and her two daughters,
Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Baldwin, archbishop of
Canterbury, the archbishop of Nazareth, the archbishop of Besancon,
the archbishop of Arles-le-blanc, the archbishop of Montreal, the
bishop of Sidon, that is to say, of Saeta, the new bishop of Acre,
the bishop of Baruth, the bishop of Saint George, the bishop of Saint
Abraham, the bishop of
Tiberias, the abbot of the Temple of our Lord, the abbot of Mount
Sion, the abbot of Mount Olivet, the abbot of Forde, the prior of
Saint Sepulchre, Ralph de Hautereve, archdeacon of Colchester, Roger
le Abbe. Frederic, emperor of the Romans, died on the journey to the
land of Jerusalem, being drowned in the river which is called Salef,
and Conrad, his son, duke of Suabia, died at the siege of Acre ;
Robert, earl of Leicester, also died in Romania, in going to the land
of Jerusalem ; the Landgrave of Germany died in Romania while
returning home; John, constable of Chester, also died at Tyre, in the
land of Jerusalem: Rotrod, count of Perche, also died at the siege of
Acre, the count de Puntif, Theobald, earl of Blois, and Stephen,
count de Sancerre, his brother; William, count de Ferrers, the duke
Bertold of Germany, Roger, earl of Apulia, and Jocelyn, earl of
Apulia, as also the count de Brenes and his brother Andrew, who was
slain. Among the slain were also Ingelram de Fenes, Louis de Arseles,
Hugh de Hoiry, Walter de Moy, Guido de Dancy, Odo de Gunesse. The
butler of Santstlir was taken by the pagans, as also the marshal of
count Henry, Reginald de Magny being slain.
In
the same year, [1190] there died besides the above at the siege of
Acre, the viscount of Touraine, the lord de Wancy, Gilbert de
Tileres, Florence de Angest, Jocelyn de Montmorenci, the viscount of
Chastel Heraud, Anselm of Montreal and all his household, the
viscount of Chatillon and his mother, John, count of Vendôme,
Æstellan de Ypres, Geoffrey de la Bruyere, Robert de Boives,
Adam, chamberlain of the king of France, Adam de Leun, Boves de
Juvenny, William de Pinkim, Roger de Polebare, and Robert, the
constable, seneschal of earl William de Mandeville. Ranulph de
Glanville, justiciary of England, also died at the siege of Acre, as
also Bernard the younger, of Saint Valery, Richard Clare, Guido de
Chatillon, Walter de Kime, son of Philip de Kime, John de Lamburne,
and Walter de Ros, brother of Peter de Ros.
In
the same year, Sancho, king of Portugal, gave his daughter Tarsia in
marriage to Alphonso, king of Saint Jago, his nephew ; he had by her
three sons, and though pope Celestinus used all possible endeavours
that they might be separated, he still adhered to her in spite of God
and the prohibition of our lord the pope for a period of five years;
accordingly, our lord the pope Celestinus placed the said king of
Saint Jago under an interdict, and so he remained for five years. In
the meantime,
however, Alphonso, king of Castille, arose against the said king of
Saint Jago, and compelled him to relinquish his wife, the daughter of
the king of Portugal, and by the persuasion of pope Celestinus, for
the sake of peace, gave him his own daughter to wife.
In
process of time, the daughter of Boyac El Emir Amimoli, emperor of
Africa, having heard from common report of the prowess of Sancho,
king of Navarre, brother of Berengaria, queen of England, fell in
love with him to such a degree, that she greatly longed to have him
as her husband. When she was unable any longer to conceal her
designs, she told her father, the emperor, that she would hang
herself unless Sancho, king of Navarre, would have her for his wife;
on which her father made answer, “How can that be effected,
seeing that you are a pagan and he a Christian ?” To this his
daughter made answer, “Indeed I am quite ready to embrace the
Christian faith, and to live conformably to their laws, if I only
have the king of Navarre for my husband, a thing which, my dear
father, can easily be brought about by you. For all stand in awe of
you, and extend their arms to you; still, there is need of
blandishment; away with all fury and intimidation; send entreaties
and gifts to this man, that by such means you may gain him for me.
‘Believe me, ‘tis a noble thing to give.’ *
Send also to his mother and sister, and the rest of his family,
bounteous presents, in order that they may allow him to assent to
your proposals. ‘The prey that’s sought by many hands is
speedily obtained.’ * ”
On
this, her father made answer: ‘While you were guileless, I
loved your body and your mind ; now, is your beauty blemished by the
vices of your disposition.’ ** What to do I know not, for I am
in difficulties on every side. For if the king of Navarre shall fail
to return your passion, then you will hang yourself. I will therefore
attempt to prevail upon him by entreaties and various presents, that
so I may gain him in some way or other as a husband for you. Still, I
would much rather that you would take a husband of our own nation.”
The
answer of the damsel to this was “May I be rather devoured by
the yawning earth, I pray, or burned by the gleaming flames of the
hurled thunderbolt than that I should take any man for my husband but
the king of Navarre.”
*
A quotation from Ovid
**
Also f rom
Ovid
Accordingly,
the emperor of Africa sent envoys to Sancho, king of Navarre, by whom
he begged that he would come to him, for the purpose of marrying his
daughter, and he would give him as much money as he should desire,
besides the whole of the land that lies between the extremities of
the territory of the king of Portugal and the mountain of Muncian,
which divides the territories of the Pagans in Spain from those of
the king of Arragon. But while the king of Navarre was on the way to
him, Boyac El Emir Amimoli, emperor of Africa, died ; so that when
the said king of Navarre arrived in Africa he found the emperor dead,
and the son of the emperor as yet but a little child, and not fit to
govern the kingdom; while there were many competitors with him for
the empire.
On
the king of Navarre coming to him, fully expecting that he should
receive the damsel before-mentioned as his wife, the boy who was to
reign said to him, that if he was ready to assist him and to serve
him in his endeavours to obtain the empire, he would give him his
sister in accordance with the promises of his father ; but if not, he
would place him in confinement, from which he should never be
released. Seeing himself thus placed in a dilemma, he chose to serve
under him rather than be placed in confinement; in conformity with
the maxim of Saint Augustin; “When a person is shut up within
walls that he may not escape, let him precipitate himself from the
part where the wall is lowest.” Accordingly, the Lord granting
it, and Sancho, king of Navarre, using his best endeavours, the son
of the Emir Amimoli within three years subdued all his adversaries,
and became emperor. In the meantime, Alphonso, king of Castille, and
the king of Arragon, invaded the territories of the said king of
Navarre, one of them. on one side, the other on the other; in
consequence of which, Alphonso, king of Castille, took from him
twenty-four towns, and the king of Arragon eighteen.
1191 A.D.
In the year of grace 1191, being the second year of the reign of king
Richard, the said king Richard, and Philip, king of the Franks, were
together at Messina, in Sicily, on the day the Nativity of our Lord,
which fell on the third day of the week. On the same day, after
dinner, the Pisano and Genevese seditiously made an attack upon the
galleymen of Richard, king of England, and a slaughter took place on
both sides. The noise of this accordingly reached the ears of the
king of England, who was still sitting at table in his castle of Mate
Griffon; and on this day there were feasting with him Reginald,
bishop of Chartres, Hugh, duke of Burgundy, William count de Nevers,
William count de Juvigny, Geoffrey count of Perche, and many others
of the household of the king of France. The tables being instantly
set aside, all these persons arose, and went out with the king fully
armed, for the purpose of putting an end to the fight, which,
however, they were unable to do; but, night coming on, the parties
were separated from each other till the morning. On the following
day, when the people had assembled in the church of Saint John of the
Hospital, to hear Divine service there, a certain Pisan, drawing his
knife, slew one of the galleymen of the king in the church ; on which
a conflict took place a second time between the Pisans and the
galleymen, and multitudes were slain on both sides. Upon this, the
king of France and the king of England came with a large body of
armed men, and made peace between them.
After
this, in the month of February, on the day of the Purification of
Saint Mary ever a Virgin, being Saturday, after dinner, Richard, king
of England, and many of his household, and some of the people of the
household of the king of France, assembled after their usual manner,
outside of the walls of the city of Messina, to view the games of the
people ; and when they were returning home, as they passed through
the middle of the city, they met a peasant coming from the country
with an ass laden with reeds which they call “canes;” of
which the king of England and the others who were with him each took
one, and engaged with one another. It so happened that the king of
England and William de Barres, one of the bravest knights of the
household of the king of France, engaged with each other, and broke
their reeds, while the head-piece of the king of the English was
broken by a blow from William de Barres; at which the king being
enraged, made an attack upon him with such violence that it made him
and his horse stumble; but, while the king was trying to throw him to
the ground, the king’s saddle slipped, on which he dismounted
in all haste, and another horse was brought him, stouter than the
first. Mounting it, he again made an attack upon William de Barres
and tried to throw him down, but was not able, as he kept fast hold
of the horse’s neck, on which the king uttered threats against
him.
Upon
this, Robert de Breteuil, son of Robert, earl of Leicester, whom the
king the previous day had girded with the sword of his father’s
earldom, was for laying hands on William de Barres that he might help
his master, but the king said to him, “Hold, and leave me and
him alone.” After William and the king had contended for a
considerable time, both in words and deeds, the king said to him,
“Away with you hence, and take care that you never appear in my
presence again, for at heart I shall for everlasting be the enemy of
you and yours.” Upon this, William de Barres departed from the
king’s presence grieved and in confusion, in consequence of the
king’s indignation, and went to his lord the king of France, to
ask his advice and assistance upon the matter that had thus happened
on the road.
On
the next day the king of France came to the king of England, on
behalf of William de Barres, with humble entreaties on his part,
asking for peace and mercy on behalf of William de Barres, but the
king refused to listen to him. On the third day after this, William
de Barres took his departure from the city of Messina; for his lord,
the king of France, was unwilling to keep him any longer with him,
contrary to the wish and prohibition of the king of England. However,
after a considerable time had intervened, and the time for embarking
was drawing nigh, the king of France and all the archbishops,
bishops, earls and barons, and chief men of the army, again came to
the king of England, and, falling at his feet, asked for peace and
mercy on his part on behalf of William de Barres, showing the losses
and inconveniences that might result in consequence of the absence of
a knight of such character and prowess; and after great difficulty
they obtained from the king of England that the said William might
return in peace, and the king of England would do no harm to cither
him or his, or make enquiry about them so long as they should be in
the service of their lord.
After
this, the king of England made present of many ships to the king of
France and his own people, and distributed his treasures with such
profuseness among all the knights and men-at-arms of his whole army,
that it was said by
many that not one of his predecessors had ever given so much in a
whole year, as he gave away in that month. And certainly we have
reason to believe that by this munificence he gained the favour of
Him who sends his thunders, as it is written : “God loveth a
cheerful giver.”
In
the same month of February, the king of England sent his galleys to
Naples, to meet queen Eleanor his mother, and Berengaria, daughter of
Sancho, king of Navarre, whom he was about to marry, and Philip, earl
of Flanders, who was coming with them. However, the king’s
mother and the daughter of the king of Navarre went on to Brindisi,
where Margarite, the admiral, and other subjects of king Tancred,
received them with due honor, and showed them all consideration and
respect. The earl of Flanders, however, came to Naples, and finding
there the galleys of the king of England, embarked in them and came
to Messina, and in many matters followed the advice and wishes of the
king of England; at which the king of France being enraged, prevailed
upon the earl to leave the king of England and return to him.
In
the mean time, a serious difference happened in England between the
king’s chancellor and John, earl of Mortaigne, the king’s
brother, and the other principal men of the kingdom; which increased
to such a pitch that they all wrote to the king relative to the state
of his kingdom, and the excesses that the said chancellor was guilty
of toward the people of his kingdom. Accordingly, when the king heard
of the excesses and annoyances that the chancellor was guilty of
towards his people, he sent to England from Messina, Walter,
archbishop of Rouen, and William Marshal, earl of Striguil, with
commands to the chancellor that in all business of the kingdom he
should have the said archbishop of Rouen, and William Marshal,
Geoffrey FitzPeter, William Bruere, and Hugh Bardolph, as his
associates and witnesses. On their arrival in England, these persons
did not dare deliver their letters to the chancellor, fearing lest
they should rather incur his hatred, than derive honor therefrom. For
the chancellor set at nought all the king’s commands, and would
have no one an equal with himself, or any associate in the kingdom.
On
the first day of the month of March, Richard, king of England, left
Messina, and proceeded thence to the city of Catania (where rests the
most holy body of Saint Agatha the Virgin and Martyr), for the
purpose of holding a conference with Tancred, king of Sicily, who had
come thither to meet him. Accordingly, king Tancred, on hearing of
the approach of the king of England, went forth to meet him, and with
the greatest reverence and the honor due to his royal excellency
received and introduced him into the city. As they were going
together towards the tomb of Saint Agatha the Martyr, at the entrance
of the church, they were met by the clergy and people, praising and
blessing the Lord who had united them in the bonds of such brotherly
love. After having offered up his prayers at the tomb of Saint
Agatha, the king of England entered the palace of king Tancred,
together with him, and stayed there three days and nights.
On
the fourth day the king of Sicily sent to the king of England many
presents of great value, consisting of gold and silver, horses and
silken cloths; but he would receive nothing from him except a little
ring, which he accepted as a token of their mutual esteem. On the
other hand, the king of England gave to king Tancred that most
excellent sword which the Britons called “Caliburn,” and
which had been the sword of Arthur, once the valiant king of England.
King Tancred also gave to the king of England four large ships, which
they call “ursers,” and fifteen galleys; and when the
king of England left him, he escorted him back to Taverni, two long
days’ journey from the city of Catania.
On
the following day, when the king of England was preparing to take his
leave, king Tancred gave him a certain document, which the king of
France had sent to him by the duke of Burgundy, and had therein
stated that the king of England was a traitor, and had not kept the
treaty of peace which he had made with him, and that if king Tancred
was willing to go to war with the king of England, or to attack him
by night, he and his people would give him aid against the king of
England, for the purpose of destroying his army.
On
this, the king of England made answer, “I am not a traitor, nor
have I been, nor will I be; the peace which I made with you I have in
no way broken, nor will I break it so long as I live; and I cannot
easily bring myself to believe that the king of France did send you
this about me, as he is my liege lord, and my sworn associate in this
pilgrimage.” To this king Tancred made answer and said, “I
give you the letter which he himself sent me by the duke of Burgundy;
and
if the duke of Burgundy denies that he brought me that letter on
behalf of his lord the king of France, I am quite ready to make proof
of the same against him by one of my captains.” Upon this, with
the letter so received at the hands of king Tancred, the king of
England returned to Messina.
On
the same day, the king of France came to Taverni, and had an
interview with king Tancred, and alter remaining with him one night,
on the next day returned to Messina. The king of England, being
aroused to anger against the king of France, showed him a countenance
neither joyous nor betokening peace, but sought an opportunity of
withdrawing from him with his people. Consequently, the king of
France made enquiry why this was done; on which the king of England,
by Philip, earl of Flanders, informed him of every word that the king
of Sicily had said to him about the king; and, as a proof of the
fact, showed the letter already mentioned. On this becoming known to
the king of France, having a bud conscience on the matter, he at
first held his peace, not knowing what to say in return. At length,
however, having recovered his self-possession, he said:
“Now
do I know of a truth that the king of England is seeking pretexts for
speaking ill of me, for these words are forged and false. But he has
invented these evil charges against me, I suppose, that he may get
rid of my sister Alice, whom he has sworn that he will marry; but let
him know this for certain, if he does put her aside and marry another
woman, I will be the enemy of him and his so long as I live.”
On hearing this, the king of England made answer, that he would on no
account whatever take his sister to wife; inasmuch as the king of
England, his own father, had been intimate with her, and had had a
son by her; and he produced many witnesses to prove the same, who
were ready by all manner of proof to establish that fact.
When
this became known to the king of France, through the information of
many persons, by the counsel of the earl of Flanders and others of
his faithful advisers, he acquiesced therein; and that all disputes
between him and the king of England, both on this point as well as on
all others, might be put an end to, he released the king of England
from his promises and oaths, and all covenants which he had entered
into with him as to being united in marriage with his sister
Alice: and, in consideration of this treaty, the king of England
promised that he would pay yearly, for the next five years, two
thousand marks sterling; of which, at the beginning of the treaty, he
paid to the king of France two thousand marks. Also, when they should
have returned to their own territories, the king of England was to
deliver to the king of France his sister Alice, and Gisors and all
the other places that the king of France had granted him as a
marriage portion with his sister. Also, by virtue of this treaty, the
king of France gave to the king of England leave to marry whomsoever
he should choose ; and granted to him, and conferred the same by his
charter, that the dukedom of Brittany should always belong to the
demesne of the duke of Normandy, and that the duke of Brittany should
always be a liegeman of the duke of Normandy, and be answerable to
him as his liege lord, and the duke of Normandy should be answerable
to the king of France both as to the dukedom of Brittany as well as
the dukedom of Normandy. Accordingly, on that day the king of France
and the king of England were made friends, and confirmed all those
covenants with good faith, and upon oath, with the testimony of their
seals.
In
the same month of March, on the third day before the calends of
April, being Saturday, Philip, king of France, left the port of
Messina with all his fleet; and on the twenty-second day following,
that is to say, the Saturday in Easter week, he arrived with his army
at the siege of Acre. The king of England, however, and his army
remained at Messina after the departure of the king of France. On the
same day also on which the king of France left Messina, queen Eleanor
arrived there, the mother of Richard, king of England, bringing with
her Berengaria, daughter of Sancho, king of Navarre, whom the said
king of England was to marry: on the fourth day after which, the said
queen Eleanor again returned on her way to England, with the
intention of passing through Rome, to treat of the business of
Geoffrey, the archbishop elect of York; for, through her the king of
England sent word to the Supreme Pontiff, and humbly entreated him to
confirm the election of the said Geoffrey and consecrate him
archbishop of York, or else to allow him to be consecrated by some
one else. On the departure of queen Eleanor, the daughter of the king
of Navarre remained in the charge of the king of England, with
Joanna, queen of Sicily, the sister of the said king.
In
the month of April, on the fourth day before the ides of the said
month, being the fourth day of the week, pope Clement the Third
departed this life, and was succeeded by Jacinto, cardinal deacon of
the church of Saint Mary in Cosmedim; and on the vigil of Easter he
was ordained priest, and on Easter day, which fell on the eighteenth
day before the calends of May, was consecrated Pontiff of Rome, by
Octavianus, bishop of Ostia, being called pope Celestinus the Third.
On the day after his consecration, our lord the pope went from the
Lateran to the church of Saint Peter, where he was met by Henry, king
of Germany, with his wife Constance, and a large body of men-at-arms.
The Romans, however, shut the city gates, and guarded them with a
strong hand, and in arms, and would not allow them to enter.
Accordingly,
our lord the pope, before the door of the church of Saint Peter, upon
the steps, received the oath of the said king of the Germans, that he
would faithfully preserve the Church of God, and the rights of the
Church inviolate, and would observe strict justice, and would, if
anything should be taken thence, replace the patrimony of Saint Peter
in its former integrity, and would restore to him Tusculanum.* Our
lord the pope then led them into the church, and anointed him
emperor, and his wife empress. The pope sat in the pontifical chair,
holding the imperial crown of gold between his feet, and the emperor,
baring his head, received the crown, and in like manner the empress
received her crown, at the feet of our lord the pope. Our lord the
pope also suddenly struck the crown of the emperor with his foot, and
overturned it on the ground, signifying thereby that he possessed the
power of casting him down from his throne if he should show himself
unworthy ; but the cardinals, immediately picking up the crown,
placed it on the head of the emperor.
*
Now Frascati.
In
order that the reason may be known why our lord the pope Celestinus
restored to the Romans their city of Tusculanum, we must repeat a few
circumstances that had previously transpired. When the lord Clement,
the bishop of Palestrina, was elected and consecrated Supreme
Pontiff, according to custom, at Pisa, where Gregory the Eighth, of
pious memory, had departed from this world unto the Lord, the- said
lord Clement, without delay, sent his envoys to the citizens of Rome,
repre senting
that a most strict treaty of peace ought again to be entered into
between them. For a dispute had arisen with reference to Tusculanum,
which is a city that belongs to our lord the pope, about ten miles
distant from Rome, and which the Romans were attacking* incessantly
in war, that they might render it subject to themselves. By means,
also, of these conflicts that took place between Rome and Tusculanum,
more than five thousand Romans had in one day fallen by the sword,
and, from the time of pope Alexander to that of the said Clement,
these disputes had lasted between the Church and the Romans. The
envoys, on coming to the city, entreated the Romans, like
affectionate sons, to turn their hearts to their spiritual father,
and most dutifully make it their care to receive him, on his return
to them, as a kind father, and represented that it was befitting that
they should be, as it were, but one for the future. To this the
Romans made answer, to the following effect: “This, inasmuch as
it is holy and becoming, with ardent desire we greatly wish to be
done, without any delay whatever, even more than our lord and father
does, and like true and humble sons; but still, only on condition
that, equally with ourselves, he shall wish reparation to be made for
our losses, and our injuries and affronts to be avenged, which, in
consequence of the war with Tusculanum, we have in the times of our
fathers endured, and do still endure; and shall be ready, if there
shall be necessity for so doing, to send his soldiers at his own
expense, if peace cannot be made between us on terms honourable to
this city, for the subjection of Tusculanum; an agreement being
entered into in writing for a yearly tribute to be paid by Tusculanum
to our city. He must also promise that, in case there is a refusal on
their part to make peace with us on the terms before-mentioned, if at
any future time he shall he able to get Tusculanum into his power, he
will be ready to give it up to us, for the purpose of our wishes
already expressed being complied with.”
Accordingly,
on these and some other liberties being at length conceded by that
said pope Clement to the Romans, the said Clement came to the city,
of which he was a native; and as the lord Clement did not find
himself able, in conformity with the above-stated request made by the
Romans, to render Tusculanum subject to them, he made severe attacks
upon that place, exposing it to the assaults of the Romans. Yet,
although he enjoyed the papacy for nearly four years, he was unable
to
bring this war with the Romans to a conclusion; although the Romans,
posting themselves in ambush, took nearly the greater portion of the
people of Tusculanum prisoners, outside of their fortifications, and
slew them with various pains and tortures. For some of those whom
they took prisoners they put to death at once, while others, first
deprived of their feet, others with their eyes put out, and others
with their hands cut off and hung from their necks, they sent back
home : yet all these evils they most resolutely affirmed they would
endure, in preference to being subjected to the severity of the
Romans.
After
the death of Clement, when the lord Jacinto, the cardinal priest of
Saint Mary in Cosmedim, afterwards called Celestinus, was elected
Supreme Pontiff in his stead, and Henry, the then king, was hastening
to Rome, having been invited by pope Clement for that purpose, to
receive the crown of the empire, the Romans, before the said king had
arrived at the city, entreated the lord Celestinus, before he
anointed the said king emperor, to prevail upon him to restore to
them the city of Tusculanum, which was under his control; (for its
people had betaken themselves to him, and had entreated his
protection, from the time that the above-named Clement had, as
already mentioned, left them to the mercy of the Romans). They
asserted to the said pope, with the greatest energy, that this was
the method by which Tusculanum would fall again into their hands, and
that he was bound by the compact already mentioned so to do; and this
was accordingly conceded to them.
Upon
this, envoys from our lord the pope were sent to the king, and most
strongly urged him that, as the treaty beforementioned had been made
relative to Tusculanum between the Supreme Pontiff and the Romans,
necessity consequently demanded that Tusculanum should be given up to
our lord the pope. Upon the king finding this to be the case, and
perceiving that, otherwise, great difficulties might easily be thrown
in the way of his coronation, he freely granted the request of our
lord the pope as to the delivery up to him of Tusculanum ; and,
accordingly, the king having been crowned emperor, on the following
day Tusculanum was delivered by the said emperor to our lord the
pope, and, on the third day after, was, by the said pope and the
citizens of Rome, levelled with the ground; so much Bo,
that
not one stone remained standing upon another.
In
the meantime, in the month of April, Richard, king of England,
destroyed and levelled with the ground his castle called Mate
Griffon, before departing from Messina, in conformity with the
promise he had made to king Tancred: and on the fourth day of the
week, before the Supper of our Lord, he, with the whole of his army,
and his fleet, sailed out of the harbour of Messina, with a hundred
and fifty large ships and fifty-three galleys, well armed; but, on
the day of the Preparation* of our Lord, about the ninth hour of the
day, a dreadful wind arose from the south, and dispersed his fleet.
The king, with a portion of the fleet, arrived at the island of
Crete, and afterwards at the island of Rhodes. A large buss, however,
in which were the queen of Sicily and the daughter of the king of
Navarre, with many of the king’s household, and two other
busses, while the tempest was raging, reached the island of Cyprus,
the king being ignorant as to what had been the fate of these busses.
*
“Parasceues Domini.” The day after Good Friday.
After
the tempest had abated, the king sent some galleys in search of the
busses on board of which was the queen, his sister, and the daughter
of the king of Navarre, and they found them outside of the harbour of
Limezun; but the other two busses which had accompanied them, and had
arrived before the harbour of Limezun, bad gone down, having on board
many knights and men-at-arms of the king’s household; among
whom, sad to tell! Master Roger Malchen, the king’s
vice-chancellor, was drowned; the king’s seal, however, which
he wore suspended from his neck, was found. Upon this, Isaac, emperor
of Cyprus, laid hands upon the property of those who were wrecked,
and took and threw into prison all the persons who had escaped from
the shipwreck, and seized their money; and. in a spirit of more than
diabolical cruelty, he would not allow the buss on board of which
were the queen of Sicily and the daughter of the king of Navarre to
enter the harbour.
On
the king of England being informed of this, he came with all haste to
their assistance, with a great number of galleys and a vast fleet of
ships, and found them outside the harbour of Limezun, exposed to the
winds and waves. Being greatly enraged at this, he sent messengers to
the emperor of Cyprus, a first, second, and third time, begging and
asking with humble entreaties that, out of regard for the love of
God, and respect for the Cross, the giver of life, he would allow
His pilgrims, whom he was keeping captive in chains, to depart
unhurt, and restore to them their property, and give up to him the
property of such of his subjects as had been drowned, that with the
same he might perform service to God for their souls: to which,
however, the emperor haughtily made answer, and said that he would
neither give up the pilgrims nor the property of the drowned.
The
king, upon hearing that this wicked emperor would do nothing for him
unless forced so to do, commanded the whole of his army to take up
their arms, and, being fully armed, to follow him, saying to them :
“Follow me, that we may avenge the injuries which this
perfidious emperor has done to God and to ourselves, who thus,
against the justice and equity of God, keeps our pilgrims in chains;
and fear them not, for they are without arms, and better prepared for
flight than for battle ; whereas we are well armed, and to him who
wields arms, he yields up everything who denies him what is his
right. We are also bound to fight manfully against him, in order to
deliver the people of God from perdition, knowing that we must either
conquer or die. But I have full confidence in God, that He will this
day grant us the victory over this perfidious emperor and his
people."
In
the meantime, the emperor with his people had taken up their position
in every direction on the sea-shore ; but a few only of them were
armed, and they were nearly all utterly unskilled in the art of
warfare ; however, they stood on the shore, armed with swords, and
lances, and staves; and having in front of them logs and beams, and
benches and chests, as a defence. When the king of England and his
people had armed themselves, they disembarked from the great ships
into boats and galleys, and, rowing on, made for shore with exceeding
swiftness; on which the archers, landing first, made way for the
others. After landing, the king leading the way, with one accord they
made an attack upon the emperor and his Griffons, *
and like a shower upon the grass did the arrows fall upon those who
fought; but after the combat had lasted a considerable time, the
emperor and his people took to flight: upon which the king of England
pursued them with the edge of the sword, and, making a great
slaughter of them, took prisoners many of those who offered
resistance; and had not the night come on, in all probability, on
that day the king would have taken the emperor prisoner. But, as the
king and his people were on foot, and did not know the paths across
the mountains by which the emperor and his men took to flight, they
returned with a great booty to the city of Limezun, which the
Griffons had deserted; and found in it an abundance of corn, wine,
oil, and flesh meat.
*
This seems to have been the name given by the people of the west of
Europe to the Greeks of Byzantium.
On
the same day, after the victory gained by the king of England, his
sister, the queen of Sicily, and the daughter of the king of Navarre,
entered the harbour of Limezun with the rest of the king’s
fleet. The emperor, however, collecting his men, who had been
dispersed in the valleys among the thickets there, on the same night
pitched his camp about five miles from the army of the king of
England, affirming, with an oath, that he would the next day give
battle to the king. On the king being informed of this by means of
his spies, long before daybreak he had himself and his troops fully
armed, and, going forth without any noise, came up to the army of the
emperor, and found his people buried in sleep.
Upon
this, he rushed into their tents with a loud and terrible shout, on
which, aroused from their slumbers, they became as though dead men,
not knowing what to do or whither to fly; for the army of the king of
England came upon them like ravening wolves, and made immense havoc
among them. The emperor, however, with a few of his people, made his
escape in a state of nudity, leaving behind him his treasures,
horses, arms, and tents of extreme beauty, together with his imperial
standard, embroidered all over the surface with gold, which the king
of England immediately determined to present as an offering to Saint
Edmund, the king and glorious Martyr. Accordingly, the king of
England, having gained a complete victory, returned to Limezun, a
mighty triumpher over his foes.
On
the third day after this, there came to the king of England, in the
isle of Cyprus, Guido, king of Jerusalem, Geoffrey of Lusignan, 20
his brother, Amfrid de Tours, Raymond, prince of Antioch, and Boamund
his son, • the earl of Tripolis, and Leo, the brother of Rupin
de la Montaigne, and, offering to the king their services, did homage
to him, and swore fealty to him against all men. On the same day, the
emperor of Cyprus, seeing that he was entirely destitute of all
valour and efficacious aid on the part of his troops, sent envoys to
the king of England with suppliant entreaties, and offered him peace
on the following terms, namely ; that he would give him twenty
thousand marks of gold in satisfaction of the monies that had been
lost* in his ships, and would set at liberty those persons who had
been taken after the shipwreck, together with their property, and
would himself attend him personally to the land of Jerusalem, and
remain with him in the service of God and of himself, together with
one hundred knights, and four hundred Turcopole horsemen, and five
hundred foot soldiers well armed ; in addition to which he would give
him his daughter, . who was his sole heir, as a hostage, and deliver
up to him his castles by way of security, and would swear to observe
his fealty to him and his for ever, and hold his empire of him.
*
Possibly alluding to the money of which the bodies of the drowned had
been plundered.
These
terms being accordingly agreed to on both sides, the emperor came -to
the king of England, and, in presence of the king of Jerusalem, and
the prince of Antioch, and his other barons, did homage to the king,
and swore fealty to him. He also made oath that he would not leave
him until all things had been performed that had been so covenanted.
Accordingly, the king assigned tents to the emperor and his people,
and appointed knights and men-at-arms to keep guard over them. On the
same day, however, after dinner, the emperor repented that he had
made such terms with the king of England, and while the knights,
whose duty it was to keep guard over him, were taking their mid-day
nap, by stealth he took his departure, and then sent word to the king
that, thenceforth, he would not be on terms of peace or concord with
him; a thing that, as it appeared, greatly pleased the king.
For
he, like a wary and circumspect man, immediately gave a part of his
army to Guido and the prince of Antioch, and the others who had come
to him, and commanded them to follow the emperor, and take him
prisoner if they possibly could; while the king himself, dividing his
galleys into two parts, gave one half of them to Robert de Turnham,
and commanded him to surround the island on one side, and if he
should find any ships or’ galleys, to take them ; which was
accordingly done: while the king, with the remaining portion
of his galleys, surrounded the other side; and he and Robert took all
the ships and galleys they could find in the vicinity of the island.
On this, the garrisons of the cities, and castles, and harbours,
deserted them in every direction, wherever the king and the said
Robert came, and, taking to flight, concealed themselves in the
mountains. After this was done, the king and Robert de Turnham
returned to Limezun; and king Guido, and those who were with him,
being unable to accomplish their object, re-joined the king. In the
meantime, the subjects of the emperor flocked from all quarters to
the king of England, and acknowledged themselves his subjects, and
held their lands of him.
One
day, when the above-named emperor was sitting at dinner, and his
nobles with him, one of them said to him, “My lord, we advise
you to make peace with the king of England, that the whole of your
nation may not be destroyed;” on which the emperor, being
greatly enraged at these words, struck at him with a knife which he
was holding in his hand, and cut off the nose of the person who had
given him this advice; whereupon, after dinner, the person who had
been struck, left him to go to the king of England, and became his
adherent.
On
the fourth day before the ides of May,* being the Lord’s day
and the feast of Saint Nereus, Saint Achilleus, and Saint Pancratius
the Martyrs, Berengaria, daughter of the king of Navarre, was married
to Richard, king of England, at Limezun,** in the island of Cyprus,
Nicholas, the king’s chaplain, performing the services of that
sacrament; and on the same day the king caused her to be crowned and
consecrated queen of England by John, bishop of Evreux, he being
assisted in the performance of the ceremony by the archbishops of
Apamea and Auxienne, and the bishop of Bayonne.
*
The twelfth of May.
**
This place is called Limesol at the present day.
After
the celebration of the nuptials, the king of England moved onward his
army, and a fine city was surrendered to him, which is called
Nichosis ; and when the king had arrived with his army before an
extremely well fortified castle, which is called Cherin, and in which
was the emperor’s daughter, she went out to meet the king,
and-fell upon the ground before his feet, and surrendered to him the
castle, imploring his mercy; on which the king took compassion on
her, and
sent her to the queen. After the king had moved onward in his march,
the castle was surrendered to him which is known by the name of
Baffes, as also the castle called Buffevent, the castle called
Deudeamur, and the castle called Candare; after which all the cities
and fortresses of the empire were surrendered to him. The wretched
emperor, in the meantime, concealed himself in an extremely well
fortified abbey, called Cap Saint Andrew; but, upon the king coming
thither for the purpose of taking him, the emperor went forth to meet
him, and throwing himself at his feet, placed himself at his mercy
for both life and limb, no mention being made of the kingdom, as he
knew that every thing was now in the hands and power of the king; but
his only request was, that he might not be placed in fetters and
manacles of iron; on which the king listened to his request, and
delivered him into the charge of Ralph Fitz-Godfrey, his chamberlain,
and ordered fetters and manacles of silver and gold to be made for
him. All these things took place in the island of Cyprus in the month
of July, on the first day of that month, being Saturday, and the
vigil of Pentecost.
All
these matters being brought to a conclusion, the king of England sent
the emperor, with his guards, to the city of Tripolis, and gave the
island of Cyprus into the charge of Richard de Camville and Robert de
Turnham. On the same day, that is to say, on the vigil of Pentecost,
Philip, earl of Flanders, died at the siege of Acre, and the king of
France, his liege lord, seized all his treasures and property, and
kept them in his own possession, and from that hour sought an excuse
for withdrawing from the siege of Acre, and returning to his country,
that he might subjugate the earldom of Flanders. On the same day
also, that is to say, on the vigil of Pentecost, the queen of England
and the queen of Sicily, the sister of the king of England, and the
daughter of the emperor of Cyprus, arrived before Acre with the
greater part of the fleet of the king of England.
In
the meantime, the king of England received from all the inhabitants
of the island a moiety of all their goods, and confirmed for them the
laws and institutions which they had in the time of Manuel, the
emperor of Constantinople. After this, on the fourth day of the week
of Pentecost, the king of England left the island of Cyprus with his
galleys, and on the following day arrived at Tyre, in the land of
Sulia. However, the garrison of Tyre would not allow him to enter
Tyre, saying, that the king of France and Conrad, marquis of Tyre,
had forbidden his entrance into the city; consequently he was obliged
for that night to lie in tents outside of the walls of Tyre.
On
the following day, being the sixth day of the week of Pentecost, when
he was on his way towards Acre, he saw at sea before him a large buss
laden with troops, and decked out with the banners of the king of
France and his associates; on which he sent two galleys to it and
enquired whose ship it was, and whence it came. They made answer,
that they were subjects of the king of France, and had come from
Antioch, with the intention of going to the siege of Acre; on which
those who had been sent returned with this answer to the king of
England; when the king replied, “If they are subjects of the
king of France, go and tell them to wait and speak to me:”
While they were on their road back, the men in the buss, being
conscience-stricken, as in reality they were all pagans, armed
themselves, and received the messengers of the king in a most hostile
manner, discharging arrows against them and Greek fire. Upon the king
observing this, he came nearer, and said to all who were about him,
“Give chase to them, and overtake them, and if you capture
them, all their property shall belong to you; but if they get away,
you will forfeit my regard for ever.” Upon this, they all, with
one accord, made an attack upon the buss, and pierced it on every
side with the beaks of their galleys, on which, the water effecting
an entrance, it went to the bottom. When the pagans found that they
were beginning to sink, they threw their arms into the sea, and
breaking the vessels, poured forth the Greek fire, and leaving the
ship, leaped naked into the sea; on which the king’s galley-men
slew some of them, and took many alive ; for there were in this buss
one thousand four hundred pagans, whom Saladin had chosen from all
the pagans, for the purpose of sending them to the city of Acre.
These being thus conquered and slain, the king distributed all their
property among his galley-men.
On
the following day, which was Saturday, in the week of Pentecost, he
arrived at the siege of Acre, and distributed many of the pagans,
whom he had taken in the ship, among the king of France and the chief
men of the expedition. But when the pagans, who were in the city of
Acre, heard that the pagans in the buss had been most of them
drowned, and that the king of England, the mighty triumpher over
them, had come to the siege, having entertained great hopes of them,
they dreaded him exceedingly, and from day to day sought
opportunities for surrendering the city to him, on condition that
they might depart therefrom with safety to life and limb. The king of
France, however, who on the Saturday in Easter week had come to the
siege, had before the arrival of the king of England erected a stone
tower and prepared his stone engines and covered ways, and other
engines of war, and placed them in suitable positions; but he
effected nothing with them, as he was awaiting the arrival of the
king of England, who immediately upon his coming erected his own
engines of war.
The Pisans and the Genevese at this period came to him and made
offer of their services; on which he retained the Pisans and declined the
offer of the Genevese, because they had sworn fealty to the king of
France and the marquis Conrad; the Pisans, however, did homage and
fealty to the king of England ; on which the king of England, by his
charter, confirmed their liberties and customs which they had
previously enjoyed in the land of Jerusalem. On the third day after
the arrival of the king of England, the king of France dismissed all
the servants whom he previously had for the purpose of keeping guard
over his engines of war, on which the king of England took into his
service those whom the king of France had dismissed ; the consequence
of which was, that the pagans in the city, finding that the engines
of the king of France were left without guards, burned them.
After
this, both of the kings were attacked with a malady known by the name
of “Arnaldia,” in which they were nearly reduced to the
point of death, and lost all their hair. However, by the mercy of
God, it came to pass that they both recovered from this sickness, and
became stronger and more hearty than ever in the service of God. On
king Guido making complaint to them that the marquis Conrad had
violently and unjustly deprived him of the revenues and rights of his
kingdom, they placed the revenues arising from articles sold in
market and the revenues of the port of Acre in the hands of the
Templars and the Hospitallers, for them to collect and take
care of, until it had been determined which of them was of right
entitled thereto.
Geoffrey
of Lusignan, the brother of king Guido, also accused the marquis
Conrad of breach of faith, and perjury, and treason, against the
king, his brother, and against the army of the Christians, and gave
his pledge that he would make good the accusation. Conrad, however,
being conscience-stricken, declined to take his trial, but made his
way through the crowd, and left the place, the people crying after
him, and saying, “He is a traitor who refuses to take his
trial.” However, no person laid hands upon him, for fear lest
there might chance to be a tumult among the people. On this he went
to Tyre, and a dissension immediately ensued between the kings on
account of them, the king of France, as far as he possibly could,
taking the part of Conrad, and the king of England that of king
Guido; in consequence of which, quarrels and strifes often arose
between the kings. A considerable time after, the king of France sent
for Conrad and made him chief in his household and his confidential
adviser, and in consequence of his advice and counsel, the king of
France did many things against God and the salvation of his soul; for
he even received presents from Saladin, and became friendly with him.
The
next thing was, that the king of France made demand of half of the
isle of Cyprus and of all the things that the king of England had
gained on his way to Acre; as a counterpoise to which, the king of
England demanded of the king of France one half of Flanders, one half
of all the property of the earl of Flanders, and of the other vassals
of his who had died at the siege of Acre, as also one half of Tyre,
which Conrad had presented to him. But the demands of both were
frivolous and invidious, for the agreement made between them was only
that they should halve between them all that they should acquire in
the land of Jerusalem. This same agreement they now renewed in the
presence of the leaders and the principal men of the expedition, and
confirmed the same by their charters and oaths, appointing the
Templars, and the Hospitallers, and other prudent men in whom they
placed confidence, to receive and halve between them all they should
take ; after which they became reconciled.
In
the meantime, Saladin, the leader of the armies of the pagans,
frequently sent to the king of France and the king of
England pears, Damascene plums, and abundance of other fruits of his
country, besides other little presents, that this way at least he
might render them disposed to make peace with him. For he had often
made them offers of peace and concord, both in consequence of his
apprehensions of the sons of Noureddin, who had laid claim against
him to the whole of the territories of their father which Saladin had
seized and retained in his possession, and had, with the aid of the
lord Musse, their uncle, lately entered the territory of Saladin, and
taken possession of it as far as the great river Euphrates; as also
because he wished to rescue his people who were being besieged in the
city. However, he would not entirely come to terms with the kings,
for he wished to retain in his hands the city of Jerusalem and the
Crag of Montreal, while the kings refused to make any agreement with
him on those terms. In consequence of this, the stone engines of the
kings and of the other chieftains, never ceased hurling stones
against the walls of the city and its fortifications, and the miners
of the kings did not cease day or night undermining the city walls.
In
the month of June, on the Lord’s Day, being the vigil of the
Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, and the twenty-seventh day of the
moon, at the ninth hour of the day, there was an eclipse of the sun,
which lasted three hours; so much so, that the sun was obscured, and
darkness came over the earth, and the stars appeared in the heavens ;
when the eclipse had passed, the sun was restored to its former
brightness.
In
the city of Acre there was a man, a worshipper of God, though in
secret from fear of the pagans, who frequently sent letters to the
armies of the Christians, written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and by
them signified to the Christians all the circumstances and intentions
of the pagans; in consequence of which, the Christians, being often
forewarned, avoided the stratagems of the pagans. However, it was a
cause of great vexation to the Christians that they did not know this
man, nor yet his name, though in all the letters that he sent he
declared that he was a Christian, and in his writings he always
commenced with, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” However, it is a thing greatly to be
wondered at, that, neither before the taking of the city nor yet
after it was taken, he thought fit to discover himself to the
Christians.
In
the same month of July, the Christians filled up a great part of the
fosse, that they might plant their ladders against the walls. On the
pagans seeing this, who were being besieged, they offered to
surrender to the kings their city, with their arms and provisions, on
condition of safety to life and limb, and leave to depart. However,
the kings were not willing to take it in this way, but demanded of
them the Holy Cross, and the whole of the land of Jerusalem, in the
same state it was in before the capture of king Guido. Saladin,
however, would not agree to these terms.
In
the same month of June, Richard de Camville, whom the king of England
had appointed one of his justiciaries in the island of Cyprus, was
taken ill, and, without asking leave, came to the siege of Acre,
where he died. After his decease, the Griffons and the Armenians, who
had not yet made peace with the king, appointed a new emperor to rule
over them. a monk of the family of the emperor Isaac. But Robert de
Turnham, the only one of the king’s justiciaries remaining in
the isle of Cyprus after the death of Richard de Camville, collected
a large army and engaged with the new emperor, and, defeating him and
his people, took him prisoner, and hanged him on a gibbet.
In
the same month of June, Ralph Fitz-Godfrey, to whom the king had
given charge of the emperor of Cyprus, departed this life, and was
buried at Tripolis; after whose death, the king gave the emperor into
the charge of the Hospitallers, who took him to the castle of
Margant, and there placed him in confinement.
In
the same month of June, the miners of the king of England undermined
the foundations of the walls of the city of Acre, the pagans who were
inside being in ignorance thereof; and, placing logs of wood beneath,
they set them on fire; on which a great part of the walls fell down.
In
the meantime, the stone engines of the king of France, the Templars,
and the Pisans, had made a great breach in the wall, near a tower
which is called Maledetta, and the people of the king of France ran
towards the breach, hoping, by force, to effect an entrance into the
city. However, the pagans met them with a strong hand, and drove them
back; and, as the way was steep and narrow, many of the people of the
king of France were there slain. The king of England, however, and
his men were keeping guard in the meantime over the outer
trenches, which lay between the army of the Christians and that of
Saladin; for an agreement had been made between the kings that,
whenever one of them should be making an assault upon the city, the
other should in the meantime keep strict guard over the outer
trenches, in order that the army of Saladin might not be able to do
any injury to those making the assault, by attacking them in the
rear. This arrangement was also made between the kings, because in
every affair in which the said kings and their people had united,
they were less successful than they would have been if they had acted
separately, for the king of France and his men looked contemptuously
on the king of England and his people, while he and his people did
the same to the others.
In
the month of July, on the third day of that month, being the fourth
day of the week, a great part of the walls of the city of Acre fell
down, near the tower before-mentioned: upon which, Alberic Clement,
the marshal of the king of France, ran with a large body of armed men
towards the wall, with the standard of the king of France, the
marquis Conrad running with the rest towards the wall; on reaching
which, they planted their ladders for the purpose of scaling. The
said Alberic then mounted the wall: but the pagans, throwing over him
an iron hook> dragged him within the walls, and slew him, and
crushed forty more with stones : on which, Conrad with his people
retreated, as he and they were unwilling to discharge either stones
or arrows against the enemy, and the pagans against him and his
people ; besides which, the pagans who had come for the purpose of
defending the walls, remained, in the same spot waving the banner of
Conrad himself, which he had given them as a sign of peace, in the
sight and to the admiration of all.
On
the day after this, the chief men who were in the city, namely,
Mestoc and Karakois, came to the king of France and ‘the king
of England, and offered them the city, and the arms, and gold, and
silver that belonged to themselves and all the others who were in the
city, in return for leave to depart with safety to life and limb.
However, the kings declined to accede to these terms; but required,
as the price of their ransom, all the territory that Saladin and the
other pagans had taken from the Christians since the time that Louis,
king of the Franks ,
was at Jerusalem, as well as the Holy Cross, and the Christians, whom
they kept in captivity.
To
this Mestoc and Karakois made answer, "These exorbitant demands
we cannot comply with, except with the assent and will of our lord
Saladin, and our other principal men. But give us a truce of three
days, and allow us to go to our principal men, that we may confer
with them on the nature of your demands.” Accordingly, giving
hostages as a security for their return, they went to Saladin, but,
on informing him of the demands of the Christians, could not prevail
upon him to give anything for their ransom; and so, in confusion,
they took their departure and entered the city. On the following
night, at about midnight, Saladin made an assault upon the guards of
the outer trenches, with the intention that while the Christians were
giving their attention to the defence of the trenches, the pagans who
were in the city might more easily escape by flight. But the kings,
forewarned of this by a message from the man of God before-mentioned,
who was in the city, placed guards around the walls, so that there
was no safe egress for any of the pagans.
Upon
this, a great alarm was raised throughout the army of the Christians,
who, on being aroused from their sleep, quickly snatching up their
arms, hastened to the trenches, and, making an attack upon the
pagans, slew multitudes of them, and put the rest to flight. On the
fifth day of the month of July, being the sixth day of the week, a
breach in the walls was again set fire to, which had been made by the
men of the king of England; and, on the following night, the bastions
fell, with a great part of the walls, leaving a wide gap. On the day
after this, the king of England and his army, having armed,
approached with the view of making an assault on the city; on which
the pagans immediately made a signal that they wished to make peace
with them: whereupon, laying aside their arms, the Christians
returned to their camp, and Mestoc, Karakois, Hessedin, and Ordich
came out of the city for the purpose of having an interview with the
kings, and offered them the city, with all the other articles
abovementioned.
After
the kings and they had conferred upon the matter for a considerable
time, leave was given them to go to Saladin and return. Accordingly
they went, and prevailed upon Saladin to offer to the kings the city
of Jerusalem, and the Holy Cross, and all the cities and castles
which he had taken after the capture of king Guido, and to repair and
place them in the same state in which they then were; on condition, however, that
the said kings should either go with him, or send with him six thousand knights and
twenty thousand foot soldiers, to defend his territories against the
lord Musse and the sons of Noureddin, who had conquered his uncle
Thekedin in battle, and taken possession of all his territory,
although they had permitted them to depart uninjured. However, the
kings declined to do this, and the pagans before-named entered the
city disconsolate and in confusion; their friends, however, deserting
Saladin, loaded him with censures.
On the seventh day of the month of July, being the Lord’s day,
the king of France and his army made an assault upon the city, near the
tower called Maledetta, at the same spot at which they had previously
so done, but lost forty men, and were able to effect nothing
whatever. On the eighth day of the month of July, Saladin burned
Caiaphas, and destroyed the vineyards in its vicinity. On the
following night, when many of the knights and men-at-arms of the
Christian army were watching before the tower of Maledetta, a light
from heaven shone around them, in which appeared to them the blessed
Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ; on which, from fear, the guards
were exceedingly alarmed, and became as though dead men. But the
blessed Virgin benignantly comforted them, saying, "Be not
terrified, for the Lord has sent me hither for your safety. As soon
as the day shall have dawned, go and tell your kings, in the name of
Jesus Christ my Son and Lord, and in my name, to cease levelling the
walls of this city, as, on the fourth day from this, the Lord shall
deliver it into their hands.” At the same hour also at which
the Mother of Christ was speaking to the guards, a great earthquake
took place in the city, and so terrified the pagans, that they wished
rather to die than to live. In like manner shall the Lord, when He
shall come to judgment, appear gentle to the good, and terrible to
the wicked. After the Virgin Mary had thus spoken, she was severed
from before their eyes, and with her the light departed which had
shone around them.
Accordingly,
in the morning the guards related to the kings and the chief men of
the army the vision which they had seen and the words which the
Mother of the Lord had spoken unto them ; and immediately all the
words which she had spoken were spread throughout the army, and there
was great rejoicing among the people of God. Moreover, on the ninth
and tenth
days of July, Saladin caused all the vines and fruit-bearing trees to
be rooted up which were in the vicinity of Acre, and all the cities
and castles to be destroyed in which he felt no confidence as being
able to resist the attacks of the Christians. On the eleventh day of
the month of July, the Pisans and the army of the king of England
made an assault on the city of Acre, and, having mounted the walls, a
Pisan, Leonardus by name, was slain; immediately after which the
pagans made a signal that they would surrender the city, and make
peace with the kings on their own terms. Accordingly, the chief men
of the pagans above-named came to confer with the kings as to making
peace, and, immediately after the conference, returned to the city.
On
the twelfth day of the month of July, being the sixth day of the
week, Philip, king of France, Pilchard, king of England, and all the
principal men of the Christians, assembled in the morning at the tent
of the Templars, where they were met by the principal men of the
pagans besieged in the city; and, with the sanction of the army of
the Christians, the said kings made peace with the pagans on the
following terms—The pagans were to surrender to the said kings
the city of Acre, with everything therein, and to set at liberty five
hundred Christian captives who were there. They also covenanted with
the kings that they would deliver up to them the Holy Cross, and one
thousand Christian captives, and two hundred Christian knights who
were in captivity, according as the said kings should make choice
from among all the captives who should be found in the possession of
Saladin; and that they would give for the use of the kings two
hundred thousand besants. *
They were also to remain as hostages in the hands of the kings, upon
the understanding that, if they should not within forty days then
next ensuing comply with the terms above-mentioned, they should be at
the mercy of the kings for life and limb.
*
Roger of Wendover says “seven thousand."
These
covenants being made, and these terms being agreed to by both sides,
and confirmed by oath, the kings sent their knights and men-at-arms
into the city, and selected one hundred of the richest and most noble
of the pagans, and placed them in a tower under a strong guard; while
the rest they caused to be guarded in the houses and streets of the
city, and supplied them with necessaries, making it a rule that all
who should receive baptism and embrace the Christian faith should be
set at liberty. Being influenced, accordingly, by their apprehension
of death, many of the pagans received baptism; but, as soon as they
possibly could, they forsook the Christian religion and betook
themselves to Saladin; on which the kings gave orders that, from that
time forward, no one should receive baptism. On Saladin hearing of
the peace which had been made with the Christians, he pretended that
it had not been made with his sanction. On the thirteenth day of the
month of July, the king of France and the king of England divided
between themselves the city of Acre, and everything that was in it,
both the pagans as well as the gold and silver, and all other
articles of property ; on which Drogo de Merlou and a hundred knights
were named on behalf of the king of France to receive his share; and
Hugh de Gurnay and a hundred knights were appointed on behalf of the
king of England to receive his proportion.
On the fourteenth day of the month of July, Saladin withdrew
himself and his army, and pitched his tents at a place called Saphora, and
messengers on his part went and returned to the kings, with fruits
and other presents; by whom Saladin made offer to the kings of the
whole of the land of Judea, with the exception of the Crag of
Montreal, which was beyond the river Jordan, on condition, however,
that they would lend him two thousand knights and five thousand
men-at-arms, for one year, for the purpose of defending his
territories against the lord Musse and the sons of Noureddin.
However, the kings declined to accept these proposals on his part.
On the fifteenth day of the month of July, the kings ordered their
stone engines and other engines of war to be taken down. On the sixteenth
day of July, messengers came to the kings, on behalf of the lord
Musse and the sons of Noureddin, and made the kings many and ample
offers for the assistance of their subjects against Saladin. On the
same day, Alardus, cardinal-bishop of Verona and legate of the
Apostolic See, and the archbishops of Tours, Pisa, and Aire, Hubert,
bishop of Salisbury, John, bishop of Evreux, Bernard, bishop of
Bayonne, the bishop of Tripolis, Philip of Chartres, and the bishop
of Beauvais, and other bishops of dioceses, consecrated the principal
churches of the city of Acre, which the pagans had polluted, and
built altars to the Lord, and celebrated mass thereon. In the
meantime the kings and the people gave due attention to the repair of
the walls. On the seventeenth and eighteenth days of the month of
July, the Pisans, and money-dealers, and others who followed
mercantile pursuits, received dwellings within the city, in the open
market, which the kings’ servants allotted to them, on the
understanding that they were to pay, yearly, the customary and proper
rents for the same.
On
the nineteenth day of the month of July, the earls and barons, who
had been now staying there nearly two years besieging Acre, seeing
that the kings had put every thing that had been taken upon the
surrender of the city into their own purses, and were willing to give
them no share thereof, had a meeting beyond the outer trenches, and
holding a conference there, sent word to the kings that they would no
longer continue with them, unless they were sharers in the gain as
they had been in the labour ; on which the kings made answer, that
they would satisfy their wishes; but as they delayed so doing, many,
being compelled by poverty so to do, left them. On the twentieth day
of the month of July, being the feast of Saint Margaret the Virgin,
Richard, king of England, made a proposal to the king of France that
they should both make oath that they would remain with their armies
three years in the land of Jerusalem, for the purpose of subjugating
the land; to which the king of France made answer, that he would make
no oath about the matter.
On
the twenty-first day of the month of July, the king of England first
entered the city of Acre; on which he and his wife, and sister took
up their abode in the king’s palace, while the king of France
was lodged in the mansion of the Templars. On the twenty-second day
of the month of July, being the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, the
king of France sent to the king of England Robert, bishop of
Beauvais, Hugh, duke of Burgundy, Drogo de Amiens, and William de
Merlou, and through them asked his sanction to his return to his own
country ; on which the king of England made this answer to them: “It
will be a shame and a disgrace for my lord if he goes away without
having completed the business on which he came hither. But still, if
he finds himself ailing, or in bad health, and is afraid lest he
should die here, his will be done.” On the twenty-third day of
the month, when it was spread through the army that the king of
France was about to depart, the principal men of his army came to
him, and besought him with tears not in this shameless manner to
desert the service of God. On the twenty-sixth day of the month of
July, by the advice of the king of France, Conrad came to the king of
England, and falling on the ground at his feet, asked his
forgiveness, on which the king of England put an end to all his anger
and displeasure against him On the following day, also, the king of
France came, and all the principal men of the army, to hear the
matters in dispute between king Guido and the marquis Conrad.
Accordingly, having taken their seats, the marquis Conrad arose, and
standing in the midst of them, demanded the kingdom of Jerusalem in
right of his wife; while Guido of Lusignan, who had been king before
its capture, and escaped from it when it was taken, and had commenced
the siege of Acre, demanded restitution thereof to be made to him,
showing that he had done nothing for which he deserved to lose his
kingdom. After much bandying of words on both sides, they each of
them submitted themselves to the award of the court of the kings, by
whose advice and judgment peace and final reconciliation were
effected between them, on the following terms:
In
the first place, they both made oath, that is to say, king Guido and
the marquis Conrad, that they would abide by the judgment of the
kings, and faithfully observe the same. On which, the said kings and
the whole army adjudged to the said king Guido, for his life, the
kingdom of Jerusalem; on the understanding that if he should take a
wife and have sons or daughters, they should have no right to claim
succession to the kingdom as of hereditary right. But if the marquis
Conrad and his wife, the sister of queen Sibylla, should happen to
survive him, they should succeed him in the kingdom, and their heirs
should in succession wield the sceptre and possess the same by
hereditary right. And, in the meantime, all the revenues of the
kingdom were to be halved between them, the royal dignity excepted,
which was to belong to Guido alone, so long as he should live.
Conrad, also, was to have Tyre, Sidon, and Baruth, and to hold the
same by hereditary right; while he and his heirs were always to
perform the due and customary services for the same to the king of
Jerusalem. Geoffrey of Lusignan, also, the king’s brother, was
to have the earldom of Joppa and Cæsarea, and to hold the same
by hereditary right; and he and his heirs were always to perform the
due and customary services for the same to the king of Jerusalem.
On
the twenty-ninth day of the month of July, Philip, king of France,
gave to Conrad, marquis of Montferrat, the moiety of the city of Acre
that belonged to himself. On the same
day, the king of France again asked the king of England to agree to
his return home, hut he could on no terms obtain his sanction to his
withdrawal, unless he should first swear upon the Holy Evangelists
that he would well and faithfully protect the territories and
subjects of the king of England until his return, and would inflict
no injury or grievance upon them, or allow the same to be done by any
one else. After this, the king of France appointed the duke of
Burgundy chief of his army, giving up to him a great part of his
treasure. Before his departure, he also gave to Raymond, prince of
Antioch, one hundred knights and five hundred men-at-arms for the
defence of his territory against the pagans, and gave to each of the
knights forty marks of silver as his pay from the feast of Saint
Michael until Easter, appointing Robert de Quincy their governor and
captain. The king of England also, on the same day, gave to the
prince of Antioch five great ships, laden with horses, arms, and
provisions. On the thirtieth day of the month of July, the king of
France and the king of England divided among themselves all the
pagans who had been captured at Acre. On the thirty-first day of the
month of July, that is to say, on the last day of that month, on the
feast of Saint German, the king of France departed from Acre, and,
taking with him Reginald, bishop of Chartres, and Peter, count de
Nevers, went to Tyre ; whither he also took Karakois and all the
other pagans belonging to him, and made a stay there of two days.
On
the third day of the month of August,[1191] the king of France left
Tyre, giving into the charge of the marquis Conrad all his pagan
prisoners. On the same day, the king of England caused his ships to
be laden, saying that he would go to Ascalon to lay siege to it, and
ordering all to follow him. On the fifth day of the month of August,
the king of England sent Hubert Fitz-Walter, bishop of Salisbury, to
Tyro, for the pagans whom the king of France had taken thither, in
order that he might bring them back; but Conrad refused to let them
go. On his return, he related to the king the answer he had received
from Conrad, on which the king was enraged, and swore that he would
personally go to Tyre for the purpose of bringing them away by force,
unless Conrad should speedily let them go. On this, the duke of
Burgundy made answer to the king, saying : “My lord, allow me
to go, and I will bring them back;” and accordingly, he went
and brought them back.
For
the day that had been named was now approaching upon
which the pagans were to perform their stipulation, and to he set at
liberty. However, upon that day, the pagans neither produced the Holy
Cross, nor the Christian captives, nor yet the money which they had
promised for the safety of their life and limbs: in consequence of
which failure, all those pagans were sentenced to undergo capital
punishment. When this was told to Saladin, he sent word to the king
of England and the whole army of the Christians, that if they cut off
the heads of his pagan subjects, he himself would strike off the
heads of all the Christians whom he had in his power.
On the fourteenth day of the month of August, being the fourth
day of the week, on the vigil of the Assumption of Saint Mary, the Mother
of God and ever a virgin, the king of England went beyond the outer
trenches and pitched his tents near the army of the pagans, and
remained there some days, having issued orders that all his army
should attend him; few, however, did so, in consequence of the
deficiency of horses and arms. On the same day, Saladin sent to the
king of England costly presents, and requested him to put off the day
on which he had proposed to cut off the heads of the pagans; but the
king declined to put off the day any longer, or to accept the
presents of Saladin. On Saladin seeing and hearing this, he caused
the heads of all the Christians, whom he had in his hands, to be cut
off; which was accordingly done on the eighteenth day of the month of
August, being the Lord’s day. On the same day, the king of
England moved his army, and drew near to the army of Saladin, and had
an engagement with him, on which occasion many fell on both sides
both killed and wounded, among whom, Peter Mignot, one of the
household of the king of England, was slain.
The king of England, although he heard of the death of the
Christians who had been slain, was still unwilling to anticipate the time
which he had fixed upon for taking off the heads of the pagans. However, on
the seventeenth day of the month of August, being the third day of
the week and the thirteenth day before the calends of September, the
king of England caused all the pagans who belonged to him from the
capture of Acre to be led out before the army of Saladin, and their
heads to be struck off in the presence of all. The duke of Burgundy
also caused the heads of the pagans to be cut off who had belonged to
the king of France, both within the city, and without, and near the
walls of the city.
Still,
the king of England and the duke of Burgundy preserved some of t |
