CHAP. 1258 Opinions of on the рарасу, office. He was moreover an ardent supporter of the papacy, a believer in rule and order; though sprung from the people, he was no democrat; in a word, he was as real a member of the hierarchy as Gregory or Innocent. But this high opinion of the Church brought with it a deep-rooted conviction of its great responsibility, its dangers, and its duties. This vast power must be exercised only for the glory of God; no taint of earthly motives must corrupt that dignity which is so high above the earth. It was this noble ideal which he defended alike against king and Pope. The power of the Pope was unlimited, he thought; he allowed to Pope and cardinals the right of all presentations, but this right should not be abused to thrust Italians, unable to speak English, or relatives of the Pope with nothing else to recommend them, into English benefices. The last act of his life was to refuse Innocents demand of a canonry at Lincoln for one of his nephews. The monarchy was ordained of God, he considered, but its duty was not to waste the people committed to it, nor to coerce the Church which was independent of it. Carrying this notion the empire; of spiritual superiority further, he placed the papacy above the empire, and therefore supported it in its struggle, which he regarded with somewhat of prejudice, as carried on by the Church and not by an individual. He seems never to have opposed a demand for a contribution to be made bona fide on behalf of the Pope. It was a different matter when the tenth was demanded for the king by the Pope in his opposi 1252. It was not till the temporal ambition of the Pope became fully apparent, and Innocent leagued with Henry for the prosecution of so worldly an the monarchy, tion to the Pope. CHAP. VI. 1258 in England: object as the Sicilian crown, that he set his face against the project with all the vigour of a character which remained strong as ever in spite of approaching death. His posiThis being his attitude, it is not surprising that he tion miswas misunderstood, and it must be confessed that his understood notions of the ecclesiastical power led him at first to sacrifice the national interests to this object. He would have said that he regarded the souls of his people rather than their pockets; but the mass of the clergy, whose laxities he visited so severely, and who had to bear the expenses to which he consented, were hardly likely to sympathise with him. We accordingly find him and the rest of the bishops becoming suspect throughout England, and considered weak and cowardly.' Grossetestes sympathy with the friars, and its effect on his position in the Church, have been already alluded to. The feeling of hostility hostility towhich he stirred up could not altogether be obliterated by his constant support of national liberties against royal encroachment, and his unswerving refusal to appoint incompetent aliens to the dignities of the Church. There were few souls high enough fully to appreciate and love him; he was looked upon as an Ishmael, whose hand was against every man, and every mans hand was against him.2 Still, the beautiful legends told of what happened at his death, and the miracles said to have been performed at his shrine, show that the classes in which his friends the friars had most influence revered him as a saint. His last 1 Matt. Par. 730, 'suspecti ;' 951, enervati et meticulosi.' 2. Omnibus adversans, Ismaeli similis.'-Id. 688. On the night of his death bells were heard in the sky by the Bishop of London; some friars, on their way to Bugden, where he died, heard heavenly music in the air, the music made by angels come down wards him. CHAP. VI. 1258 Antipapal policy of Grosseteste. Change in the rela tions of the opposition to the Pope, on the question of presentation, seems to have obscured the true conception of his character, which is evident from his life as a whole; Matthew Paris, constrained to find some ground of praise, calls him in terms which he would have been the first to reject, 'an outspoken opponent of king and Pope, the hammer of the Romans;' while he goes on to acknowledge his many other virtues, and his fulfilment of all the highest duties of a bishop. Such was the friend, the protector, the counsellor of Simon de Montfort. i About the time of Grossetestes death a change occurred, which caused this split to heal, and united the clerical party. Innocent IV had, from the time of his accession, taken up a still more decided line of action than his predecessor. The fruits of this were soon felt in England. He laid aside all shame,' we read, and extorted larger sums of money than any before him, so that 'a murmur of complaint, loud though late, rose up from the heart of England.' 2 His opinion of England was expressed in the words, 'Verily it is an inexhaustible fount, and where there is much abundance, thence can much be extorted.'" But for some time, and especially during the heat of to take his soul. I may mention here a story showing the close connexion of Grosseteste and de Montfort in the popular imagination. On the Sunday before the battle of Evesham a lad was brought to be healed, at the bishops tomb, of dumbness and contortions. He fell asleep, and slept long; on waking he began to speak, and told his parents it was needless to wait longer, for the bishop was not present; he was gone to Evesham 'to help Earl Simon, his brother, who was to die there.'Rish. Chron. Camd. Soc., p. 71. 'Regis et Papæ redargutor manifestus. . . malleus et contemptor Romanorum, &c.'-Matt. Par. 876. 2 Matt. West. 180. Matt. Par. 705; see above, p. 82. test. CHAP. 1258 caused by a change in the atthe king. titude of the struggle, when Innocent depended mainly on the episcopate, the kings opposition threw difficulties. in his way. We have seen the warmth of Henrys youthful devotion and gratitude to the Holy See, which Honorius did not live to put to the Gregory IX stood towards him in the double relation of a feudal lord and a spiritual father; while claiming the right of appointment, he recognised to a certain extent the ancient royal rights over the Church. This policy bore fruit in the partial approval shown by Henry of his action against Frederick, as testified by the publication of the ban in England. But during most of his papacy, and the first part of that of Innocent IV, the connexion between Henry and his great brother-in-law the Emperor, the threats and entreaties of the latter, and the authority exerted by the Pope, without royal leave, over the bishops, did much to cool the ardour of Henrys devotion. From the first Innocent IV had paid Policy of considerable attention to him, and had issued bulls confirming his rights, declaring his intention not to Henry. interfere with lay patronage, bidding the clergy support their king; such favours were however too cheap to win Henry completely. After the death of the Emperor and the collapse of the secular power he made greater efforts. Henry had now nothing more 3 ' He sanctioned the marriage of Isabella to Frederick II; he interfered on behalf of Hubert de Burgh; he stood security for Isabellas marriage-portion; he warned the king against extravagance and imprudent generosity. 2 He forbade the election to a bishopric of anyone unpleasing to the king; he commanded the Bishop of Lincoln, during the vacancy of Durham, not to interfere in that diocese to the prejudice of the kings rights. Fad. i. sub annis 1244, 1245. L Innocent CHAP. 1258 Policy of Henry to fear from the indignation of the Emperor; his dynastic ambition could be utilised to its full extent. Innocent perceived that he could not win all interests, he therefore confined his attention to the king, and IV towards sought to make him his firm ally by more substantial favours. About the same time Henry, on his side, showed an inclination to come to a better understanding with the Pope. As early as 1250 we find him requesting the tenth. The Pope at that time declined to grant it, declaring it unconstitutional to do so without consent of the clergy. He also refused to allow him the tenth requested from the Church of Scotland, a demand which he styled 'utterly unundergoes heard of.' But such petty scruples soon gave way when it occurred to him that he might make use of Henry as a tool to uproot imperialism in Italy. The crusade from which he had formerly dissuaded him, as endangering the peace of his own country, was now urged upon him with the greatest eagerness; the unconstitutional tenth from England, and that unheardof contribution from Scotland, were now granted willingly enough.3 The move was a bold one, and at this on the first appeared likely to prove successful; but the Pope a change. Effect of English Church. had over-reached himself. It was this alliance of their foes which united the different sections of the English clergy, and welded them into the solid mass they had formed forty years before. Instead of the mutual support which king and Pope expected, 1 Fœd. i. 272. 2 Penitus inauditum.'—Id. i. 277. It was however not the tenth, but a twentieth, which was granted from Scotland. The feeling as to the tenth granted to the king is expressed in Gest. Abb. St. Alb. i. 369, where it is called a 'novitas a seculis inaudita,' that the Church should pay for the support of the laity, instead of the reverse. |