Commission to renew the the metropolitan evidence. [S. DAVID'S CLAIM OF METROPOLITANSHIP AND FREE ELECTION.] iv. A.D. 1203. June 18. Ferentinum. Innocent III. to en- the Bishop of Durham and the Dean and Prior of York a.quiry respecting INNOCENTIUS EPISCOPUS, SERVUS SERVORUM DEI, venerabili ship and to take fratri Dunelmensi Episcopo, et dilectis filiis Decano et Priori Sanctæ Trinitatis Eboracensis, salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem. Cum olim dilectus filius Giraldus, Archidiaconus Menevensis, adversus venerabilem fratrem nostrum Cantuariensem Archiepiscopum super statu Menevensis Ecclesiæ proposuisset in nostra et fratrum nostrorum audientia quæstionem; Archiepiscopo ipsi per literas nostras dedimus in mandatis, ut per se vel procuratorem idoneum ad præsentiam nostram super hoc accederet responsurus. Verum cum ipse nec venisset nec misisset propter hoc idoneum responsalem, volentes Menevensi Ecclesiæ paterna solicitudine providere, causam super hoc venerabili fratri nostro Episcopo Eliensi, et dilectis filiis Londoniensi Decano et Archidiacono de Bukingham, sub certa forma duximus committendam; a quibus non fuit hactenus juxta mandatum nostrum in ipsa processum. Ne igitur causa ipsa remaneat indecisa, Discretioni vestræ per Apostolica scripta mandamus, quatinus, nisi pars adversa prædictum Archidiaconum per exceptionem legitimam repellere valeat ab agendo, partibus (si fieri poterit) vel procuratoribus earum ad locum idoneum et securum per nuncios vestros et literas convocatis, et lite legitime contestata, testes quos Archiepiscopus duxerit producendos in Anglia, et Archidiaconus producere voluerit contra eum in Wallia, recipere procuretis. Verum si Archiepiscopus, citatus legitime, coram vobis per se vel procuratorem idoneum noluerit comparere, aut litem etiam contestari, vos nihilominus senes et valetudinarios, quos Archidiaconus per se vel procuratorem suum duxerit producendos, sublato cujuslibet contradictionis et appellationis obstaculo, admittatis; et depositiones eorum conscriptas, et vestris sigillis inclusas, ad sedem curetis Apostolicam destinare; statuentes partibus peremptorium terminum competentem, quo per se vel responsales idoneos vestro se conspectui repræsentent justiciam recepturæ. Testes autem qui fuerint nominati, si se gratia, odio, vel timore, subtraxerint, per censuram ecclesiasticam appellatione cessante cogatis veritati testimonium perhibere; nullis literis veritati et justitiæ præjudicantibus a sede Apostolica impetratis. Quod si non omnes his exsequendis potueritis interesse, tu ea, frater Episcope, cum eorum altero nihilominus [S. DAVID'S CLAIM OF METROPOLITANSHIP AND FREE ELECTION.] exsequaris. Datum Ferentini, XIV. cal. Julii, pontificatus nostri anno VI. [Gir. Camb., De J. et S. Menev. Eccl., Dist. V.; Opp. III. 282-284.] April 16, the judges at his request being taken "de Eboracensi provincia" (ib. pp. 270, 271). a Demanded by Giraldus the day after the adverse decision in his own case, i. e. upon A.D. 1203. June 20. Ferentinum. him. Same to same.—INCompel the Archbishop to pay his NOCENTIUS EPISCOPUS, SERVUS SERVORUM DEI, venerabili moiety of costs as assessed upon fratri Episcopo Dunelmensi, et dilectis filiis Decano et Priori S. Trinitatis Eboracensis, salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem. Quantum venerabili fratri nostro Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo super expensis, quas dilectus filius Archidiaconus Menevensis prima et secunda vice fecisse dinoscitur, deferre curavimus, ignorare non debet Prudentia vestra. Nuper enim, cum CCXL. marcas idem Archidiaconus se juraverit expendisse, ipseque Archiepiscopus ad solutionem medietatis illius pecuniæ teneatur; eum nonnisi in LX. marcis duximus condemnandum. Propter quod ipsi dedimus in mandatis, monentes et hortantes attentius, ut in hac parte gratiam recognoscens sine dilatione qualibet mandatum nostrum super hoc adimplere non tardet, eidem Archidiacono LX. marcas infra XL. dies post susceptionem præsentium pro expensis solvens. Ideoque Discretioni vestræ per Apostolica scripta mandamus, quatinus, dicto Archiepiscopo in executione mandati nostri cessante, vos eum ad id per districtionem ecclesiasticam, appellatione postposita, compellatis. Quod si non omnes his exsequendis potueritis interesse, tu, frater Episcope, cum eorum altero ea nihilominus exsequaris. Datum Ferentini, XII. cal. Julii, pontificatus nostri anno VI.a [Id., ib. 284; and De Invect. III. 17; ib. 70, 71.] This decree was founded on a long memorial presented to the Pope by Giraldus between April 16 and June 20 (De J. et S. Menev. Eccl., Dist. V.; Opp. III. 274-277), which contains nothing that need be given here. Appeals against v. A.D. 1203. Beginning of August. Rouen. Protest of an election made Giraldus to the Bishop of Elya.-Audivimus canonicos by the Archbishop and the Menevenses de electione tractasse, et ad nominatioChapter on hearing the Pope's nem quoque faciendam, nobis non expectatis, immo quasi captata absentia nostra, præpropere nimis et indiscrete processisse; præsertim etiam cum priores electiones cassatas fuisse, priusquam ad novam faciendam prosilirent, debuisset eis decision. [S. DAVID'S CLAIM OF METROPOLITANSHIP AND FREE ELECTION.] per literas domini Papæ vel saltem literas judicum sibi directas constare. Unde, quoniam minus legitime minusque discrete actum esse dinoscitur, ne juxta nominationem sic factam procedatur ad electionem, appellamus. Item hi clerici, quos hic videmus paratos, ut dicunt, ad electionem pro capitulo Menevensi faciendam, canonici non sunt. Unus enim filio suo præbendam cessit; et alter præbendam, a nobis auctoritate Apostolica datam, per sæcularem potestatem violenter invasit. Item est etiam excommunicatus noster uterque. Quare electionem, si alia suppeterent, facere non possent. Item tantum unus judicum adest, altero se non excusante nec vices suas committente. Item nullus trium illorum nominatorum est ad eligendum idoneus; quoniam unus eorum illiteratus, alter illegitime natus, tertius autem criminum multorum enormitate reprobandus. Sic ergo, ne vel isti eligant vel illi eligantur, prædictis rationibus appellamus. [Id., De J. et S. Menev. Eccl., Dist. V.; Opp. III. 300, 301.] a Giraldus left Rome at the end of June; and after various perils by the way, found himself at Rouen just in time, by the aid of the Bishop of Ely (one of the Commissioners for a new election), to stop by the above protest the consum mation by the King of an election, recently made by the Archbishop's means in England without waiting for those Commissioners. He proceeded thence in all haste to Canterbury, to be there by August 17 (Id., ib. 289-304). VI. A.D. 1203, August-A.D. 1204, January. Final defeat of Giraldus. [i. Giraldus renews his protest, I. at Canterbury 2. by letter to Hubert ii. He foils his Welsh adversaries in Wales Aug. 24, 1203. iii. Proceedings of King John and the Archbishop touching a new Sept. 1203. Sept. 1203. iv. Giraldus appears and protests at Waltham Oct. 28, and at Lambeth Nov. 5, 1203, but finally consents at Westminster to the elec-Nov. 10, 1203. tion of Geoffrey de Henelawe v. Final compromise between the Archbishop and Giraldus, and conse cration of Geoffrey vi. King John reconciled to Giraldus thedral before the Dec. 7, 1203. Jan. 5, 1204. Protests again in i. GIR. CAMB., De 7. et S. Menev. Eccl., Dist. VI. Canterbury Ca- [A.D. 1203. Aug. 24].-Ibidem etiam priusquam ab suffragans b of ecclesia discederent, coram Episcopis cunctis et officiaCanterbury at the libus Archiepiscopi totoque clero Giraldus Archidiaconus consecration of the Bishop of appellationem suam coram Eliensi Episcopo factam in [S. DAVID'S CLAIM OF METROPOLITANSHIP AND FREE ELECTION.] Lincoln, the Normannia renovavit, rationes easdem replicando, et Archbishop being absent. singulos tres nominatos singulorum criminum objectione reprobando. [Opp. III. 305.] ■"Dominica proxima post Assumptionem Beatæ Mariæ," Id., ib.; i. e. Aug. 17, that feast being in 1203 on a Friday. But the consecration actually took place Aug. 24 (Chron. Wykes, Merton, and P. R. C.). Giraldus had made haste himself. to be at Canterbury by the day, no doubt Aug. 17, when he had heard that the Bishop was "to be consecrated." b Except the Bishops of Llandaff and S. Asaph, who sent excuses and consent. Renews his proA.D. 1203. Aug. (after the 24th). (Probably at) Oxford. test by letter to Giraldus to Archbishop Hubert.-Venerabili domino et patri the Archbishop Huberto Dei gratia Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo GIRALDUS ARCHIDIACONUS DE BRECHENE salutem. Notum facimus vestri Paternitati, quod appellationem, quam in Normannia fecimus coram domino Eliensi Episcopo judice nostro, et postmodum Cantuariæ coram Episcopis et suffraganeis et officialibus vestris, qui consecrationi domini Lincolniensis intererant, et nunc quoque coram vobis tam literis his præsentibus quam etiam viva voce nostrorum palam et publice renovamus; prohibentes et præsentiam domini Papæ constanter appellantes, ne ad aliquam nominationem vel electionem procedatur, priusquam literæ judicum, quibus clectionis faciendæ commissa est provisio juxta formam mandati Apostolici, capitulo Menevensi transmissæ fuerint, vel etiam citra præsentiam meam vel assensum, qui canonicus sum Ecclesiæ illius et Archidiaconus et custos etiam a domino Papa constitutus. Præcipue quidem appellamus, ne de quoquam illorum trium nunc nominatorum, cum illegitimæ personæ sint ad eligendum, electio fiat. Abbas enim S. Dogmaelis illiteratus omnino est, sicut tam per judicum relationem quam per testes etiam suæ partis quinque vel sex Romæ probatum est; et ambitiosus, qui post electionem meam, quam non ignoravit necdum cassatam, se supereligi consensit et superintrudi. Administrationem etiam Episcopatus laica manu suscepit nondum confirmatus, sicut etiam testes suæ partis plures probaverunt; et eum, qui ipsam auctoritate domini Papæ possedit, inde spoliavit. Abbas autem Albæ Domus illegitime natus et ambitiosissimus, et ad hoc domus suæ dilapidator et destructor effectus. R. vero Foliotus, qui paulo ante puer impurus, nunc adultus in omnem libidinem pronus ac profluus, et teste prole recente et adhuc in cunis vagiente sexus utriusque creberrima incontinentissimus; ad hæc etiam perjurus Ecclesiæ suæ et hostis publicus; quare nec in ea promoveri debet ullatenus, nec [S. DAVID'S CLAIM OF METROPOLITANSHIP AND FREE ELECTION.] etiam in aliquam beneficii ejusdem portionem dimitti, qui libertatem ipsius et dignitatem totis nuper impugnare nisibus non erubuit. Hæc autem singula probare parati erimus locis et temporibus suis. Unde, ne aliquis illorum eligatur, aut si eligi forte præsumeretur, ne confirmatio vestra sequatur, appellamus. Valeat in Domino Paternitas vestra. [Id., ib. 305-307.] We shall proceed execution upon duw, in Breck tiff's claims be fore. ii. A.D. 1203. Sept. Monition of Abbat of Wigmore, to sentence and Prior of Wenlock, and A. de Bromfield, by their deputies, to Sept. 20 in the Giraldus a.-Viro venerabili Giraldo Archidiacono de Brechurch of Llan- chene, G. DE LANTHONEI ET I. DE BRECHENE PRIORES, nock, unless you salutem in Domino. Quia ad diem præfixum in capella satisfy the plain- S. Maria de Cruco-hel executioni faciendæ, a viris venerabilibus abbate de Wigemore et priore de Weneloch et magistro A. de Brumfelda nobis commissæ, de centum marcis, in quibus auctoritate Apostolica abbati de Sancto Domuele, et de XL. marcis O. Archidiacono de Kermerthin, et de XXX. marcis magistro R. Foliot, vos condemnaverunt, præsentiam vestram exhibere non curastis; licet non minus in executione processisse potuissemus, tamen de benignitate vos duximus commonere, quatinus quam celerius præfatis petitoribus plenius satisfaciatis; scituri, quod nisi feceritis, nos auctoritate præfatorum judicum in vigilia S. Matthæi Apostoli in ecclesia de Landu, quod nobis ab eis injunctum est, plenius exsequemur. Valete. [Id., ib. 308.] a Two writs were served upon Giraldus; the first, the day after he arrived in Wales from Canterbury, which he evaded by changing his proctors: the second, given above, where he had evaded the intended execution by a pretended sale, sometime in the previous year when he was under a vow of going to the Crusade, of the farm produce which the Abbat and his colleagues intended to seize. The alleged purchasers sold it forthwith, and the officers arrived Oppose Giraldus as our enemy. in time to find empty barns. The monition above given followed; but immediately after, the jurisdiction of the three commissioners in the matter was quashed by receipt of the letter given above on pp. 438, 439 (Id., ib. 307 -309). At S. David's, whither Giraldus then went, he is almost entirely disowned, and retires to Pembroke, where he holds a synod of clergy at Carew on Sept. 25 (Id., ib. 309-315). iii. A.D. 1203. Sept. 11. Trianon (?). King John to bis liege subjects in the Bishopric of S. David's.-REX, etc., omnibus baronibus et fidelibus per Episcopatum Menevensem constitutis, etc. Quot et quantis machinationibus nos et jura nostra opprimere, et dignitatem coronæ nostræ expugnare, et regni nostri consuetudines ab antiquis temporibus in electionibus Episcoporum optentas G. Archidiaconus de Brecheino pro posse laboraverit extinguere, tam |