therefore more agreeable to the pride and haughtiness of his temper. He
certainly would have been the most extraordinary person of his age had
he been allowed to remain in his first station, and had he directed the
vehemence of his character to the support of law and justice, instead
of being engaged by the prejudices of the times to sacrifice all private
obligations and public connexions to duties which he imagined or re-
presented as superior to every civil and political consideration. As to
the endless panegyrics on his virtues, it is, indeed, a mortifying reflec-
tion to those who are actuated by the love of fame, that the wisest le-
gislator and most exalted genius that ever reformed or enlightened the
world, can never expect such eulogies as has been conferred on pre-
tended saints, whose whole conduct was probably to the last degree
odious or contemptible, and whose industry was entirely directed to
the pursuit of objects pernicious to mankind. Becket was also the subject
of poetical legends ; a work entitled, ' Lives of the Saints,' in verse,
contains an account of his martyrdom and translation. If this author
is to be credited, the archbishop was a scholar and had his palace filled
with literary men, who passed their time there in reading, disputing,
and deciding important questions of the state.
260 ECCLESIASTICAL SERIES. [SECOND
DIED A. D. 1228.
STEPHEN DE LANGTON, archbishop of Canterbury, in the reigns of
John and Henry, and one of the ablest men who ever filled the primacy
of England, was educated at the university of Paris, where he afterwards
taught divinity, and prelected upon the sacred writings with much re-
putation. After some years spent in this way, he was chosen chancellor
of the university, canon of Paris, and dean of Rheiins. His reputation
having reached Rome, he was sent for by Pope Innocent III., who
marked his sense of his merits \>y bestowing upon him the dignity of a
cardinal with the title of St Chrysagonus.
We have adverted in our notice of king John, to the contest which
arose betwixt the monks of Canterbury and the suffragan prelates of
that diocese upon the occasion of electing a successor to Archbishop
Hubert. On the cause being carried to Rome, on the mutual appeal of
both parties, the pope decided against the claims of both pretenders to
the primacy, and ordered the monks who had been deputed to maintain
the cause of their brethren to elect Langton. Innocent had reason to
suppose that the choice would not be disagreeable to the king of Eng-
land, who had frequently written to the cardinal in terms of the highest
esteem ; but no answer having been returned by the envoys whom he
sent to England to solicit John's approbation of the prelate-elect, he
proceeded to consecrate him at Viterbo, on the 27th of June, 1207. 1
On the arrival of the bull intimating the election and consecration of
the cardinal, John, who had favoured the elevation of John de Gracy,
bishop of Norwich, to the vacant primacy, was inflamed with rage, and
vented his passion on the monks of Christchurch, whom he drove into
exile. He then wrote a spirited and angry letter to the pope, in which
he accused the holy father of injustice and presumption in raising a
stranger to the highest dignity in his kingdom without his knowledge
or consent. He reminded his holiness of the extent of revenue which
he drew from England ; and assured him that unless he immediately
repaired the injury he had done him, he would break off all communi-
cation betwixt his kingdom and Rome. 2 To this letter Innocent im-
mediately returned a long answer, in which he exhorted the king not
to oppose God and the church any longer, and plainly told him that if
he persisted in his obstinacy, he would plunge himself into inextricable
difficulties, and would at length be crushed by a power, which no one
could hope to resist with success. The quarrel had now become a trial
of strength between the power of the king and that of the pontiff. John
remained firm even under the dreadful threat of interdiction, which was
at last pronounced against him, as already related. While the king
continued to hold out against the head of the church, Langton abode
at Pontigny in France, whither several of the English bishops hastened
to pay their submissions to him as their primate. The king ultimately
solicited a conference with Langton at Dover, and offered to acknow-
ledge him as primate, but the parties could not agree as to the article
1 M. Paris, 155. * M. Paris, 157.
PERIOD.] ARCHBISHOP LAXGTON. 2G1
of reparation and restitution to the clergy, and the negotiations were
finally broke off. The archbishop and prelates now united in a represen-
tation to the pope, in which they described their own wrongs in forcible
terms, and urged the necessity of adopting strong measures against
John. Innocent, who required little persuasion on this point, imme-
diately pronounced sentence of deposition against John, and absolved
his vassals from their oaths of fealty. 3
The mission of Pandolf, as pope's legate, and the formidable prepa-
rations made by the king of ^France to put in execution the pope's
sentence of deposition, at last overcame John's obstinacy ; and in July
1213, the prelates who had abandoned their country during the sove-
reign's contumacy, returned in great triumph to England with Langton
at their head. The king met them at Winchester ; and Langton pub-
licly revoked the sentence of excommunication which had been pro-
nounced against him ;* but the interdict was continued until removed
by the pope's legate with great solemnity, in the cathedral of St Paul's,
on the 29th of June 1214.
Langton's first interference in political affairs places his character in
a most respectable light. The barons were now beginning to demand
the restoration of their privileges, and the revival of the ancient char-
ters ; and with this view, instead of obeying the call of their sovereign
to accompany him in an expedition against France, had assembled in
council at St Albans, and issued their resolutions in the form of royal
proclamations. John determined to punish their disobedience by mili-
tary execution ; and had advanced as far as Northampton for this
purpose, when he was overtaken by the primate, who reminded him
that it was the right of the accused to be tried and judged by their
peers. " Rule you the church, and leave me to govern the state,"
was the answer of the king, who continued his march to Nottingham,
where he was again assailed by Langton, who at last, by threatening him
with excommunication, succeeded in diverting him from his rash pur-
pose. Three weeks after this the barons again met at St Paul's in
London, when Langton read to them the charter of Henry I., and
commenting on its provisions, showed them that its enforcement would
still secure their liberties. The barons responded to the primate's ad-
dress with loud acclamations and expressions of their determination to
be guided by his advice ; and the archbishop, taking advantage of their
enthusiasm, administered to them an oath, by which they bound them-
selves to support each other, and to conquer or die in the defence of
their liberties. 5
From the first moment of his engaging in politics, Langton attached
himself to the popular side, and evinced the most enlightened and
zealous regard for the liberties of his country. His exertions were
mainly instrumental in procuring the great charter at Runnymede,
while at the same time, he not unfrequently interfered to moderate the
violence of the more impetuous and headstrong barons, and showed that
he was friendly to the legal prerogatives of the crown. His patriotic
conduct gave so much offence to the pope, that, in 1215, he laid him
under a sentence of suspension, and reversed the election of his brother
M. Paris, 161. ' Ep. Innocent, p. 827. ' Am. Waver. 178.
262 ECCLESIASTICAL SERIES. [SECOND
Simon, who had been chosen archbishop of York. Yet, in the following
year, we find Langton assisting at a general council held at Rome.
In the succeeding reign he recovered his rank and authority, and from
this period he chiefly confined his attention to ecclesiastical concerns. In
the 6th year of Henry's reign, he held a synod at Oxford, at which he
published a new code of discipline consisting of forty-two canons, one
of which, prohibiting clergymen from publicly keeping concubines,
sufficiently illustrates the manners of the age. In this synod, a clergy-
man in deacon's orders was convicted of apostacy, delivered to the se-
cular power, and condemned to be burnt. He had suffered himself to
be circumcised that he might marry a Jewish woman. 6 At the call of
the barons, in 1213, Langton readily placed himself again at their head,
and demanded an audience of Henry, to obtain a confirmation from
him of the charters. He died on the 9th of July, 1228.
Langton was a learned and polished writer. His works have not
been collected, but they are said to exist in MS. in various public libra-
ries. He wrote commentaries upon the greater part of the books of
Scripture, into which he contrived to infuse a large portion of the
fashionable dialectics of his age. He is said to have first divided the
Bible into chapters. 7 M. de la Rue, in his dissertation on the Anglo-
Norman poets of the 13th century, 8 has placed Langton at the top of
the list, and has quoted the first proof of his poetical talents from the
stanza of a song introduced in one of his sermons upon the holy virgin.
It appears that whole discourses in French verse were then not unusual,
which is one of the strongest proofs that could be offered of the very
general taste for French poetry, and familiar acquaintance with the
language, which must have pervaded all ranks of people in England at
that time. In the same MS. which contains this sermon, are two other
pieces which have been ascribed to the archbishop. The first is a
theological drama, in which Truth, Justice, Mercy, and Peace, debate
among themselves what ought to be the fate of Adam after his fall. The
second is a canticle on the passion of Jesus Christ, in 123 stanzas, mak-
ing more than 600 verses. M. de la Rue suggests, that the 10th verse
of the 80th psalm, furnished the poet with the idea of the former of
these pieces, and says that he has worked it up with equal taste and
delicacy.
BORN CIRC. A. D. 1175 DIED A. D. 1253.
ROBERT GROSSETESTE, one of the lights of a dark age, was born of
obscure parentage at Shadbrook in Suffolk, about the year 1175. He
studied at Oxford, where he acquired a knowledge of Greek, and was
thus enabled to grapple with Aristotle in the original, whose works had
been chiefly read in translation. Here also Grosseteste mastered the
Hebrew. He then visited Paris, where he added to Greek and He-
brew the knowledge of the French tongue. He at the same time pro-
secuted, with the most indefatigable industry, the study of philosophy
Wikes, 39. ' Knyghton, apud Script, col. 2430. * See Archao'ogia, vol. xiii. art. 23.
PliUOD.] BISHOP GKOS3ETE.STE. 2()3
and theology; and some estimate may be formed of the extent of his
attainments from the fact that they were attributed to inasjic. Thi>
accusation, as is well known, was not unusually brought against men
of profound knowledge, whose erudition seemed to wondering igno-
rance impossible to be attained in any other way. On his return to
Oxford, Grosseteste became the first lecturer in the Franciscan school
in that university.
So honest and so undisguised was his opposition to ecclesiastical
abuses, that he was once actually excommunicated by the convent of
Canterbury. This sentence he treated with the contempt it deserved ;
it neither abated his zeal, nor shook his perseverance. Though the
hypocrisy of the Dominican and Franciscan friars imposed upon him for
a time, he at length began to detect it, and became convinced that
ecclesiastics might be guilty of other crimes besides those of licentious-
ness, and be destitute of humility and piety, though clothed in sack-
cloth, and ostentatious of their poverty. In the year 1247, two Francis-
cans, commissioned by the pope, and furnished with regular credentials,
were sent into England to extort money. They modestly demanded of
Grosseteste 6000 merks as the quota for the see of Lincoln. He did
not hesitate to refuse compliance with this insolent demand, and told
his visitors, though agents from the Vatican, that it was as dishonour-
able to require such a sum, as it would be impracticable to levy it.
In 1248, after much trouble he obtained, from Pope Innocent IV., leave
to reform the religious orders. 1 Thus authorized, he proceeded to in-
stitute a rigorous investigation of the revenues of the religious houses,
the rents of which he resolved to take into his own hands, intending
to distribute them in a more beneficial manner. The monks, as usual,
resisted such an unprofitable innovation ; and as they appealed to the
pope, Grosseteste was compelled to repair to Lyons to meet lu'm. The
pontiff not only decided against the English prelate, but added insult
to injustice. Grosseteste warmly retorted, almost accused the papal
court of bribery, and in a remonstrance which he left behind him, fully
exposed its abominable abuses. He particularly inveighed against the
infamous non obstante clause that ingenious expedient by which his
holiness was enabled to dispense with oaths and promises, customs and
statutes, all that is sacred in the Word of God, or the laws of man.
At this period, the ascendency which the court of Rome had attained
over the English church was unbounded, and was the necessary con-
sequence of the concessions made by King John and Henry the Third.
No stronger proof of the extent of this usurpation can be imagined, than
the fact, that many of the richest benefices in England were conferred
upon Italians men absolutely ignorant of our language favourites,
and in some cases, relations of the pope. Grosseteste, incensed at such
a flagrant abuse of power, has been known, upon some occasions, to
throw from him in scorn the bulls commanding this shameless appro-
priation of church property. At length the pope and the bishops came
to an open rupture. Grosseteste, it seems, had received an order from
the pontiff to promote his nephew, then a mere boy, to the first va-
cant canon ry in the cathedral of Lincoln. The pope apparently sus-
pecting opposition from his refractory servant, enjoined his agents, by
1 Gross Fp. 113, 114.
264 ECCLESIASTICAL SERIES. [SECOND
the non obstante clause, to see this arrangement effected. To this bare-
faced attempt Grosseteste offered the most spirited resistance. He im-
mediately wrote to the pope. This letter contained an explicit refusal
to comply with this request, couched in the strongest terms, and a cut-
ting reproof of the flagitious conduct of the pontiff. This bold reply
threw the pope into a paroxysm of rage. The cardinals endeavoured
to soothe him, though, it must be confessed, their topics of consolation
were rather oddly chosen. They frankly assured him that he would
get nothing by quarrelling with the English prelate ; that for learning,
piety, honesty and worth, he had not his match in Christendom ; and
that all he had asserted was substantially true. The pope, however,
was not to be reasoned with, especially when arguments were so hum-
bling ; and proceeded, therefore, to launch his thunderbolts against the
bishop, but they harmed him not. He viewed with pity or contempt
the impotent malice of the enraged pontiff, and retained quiet posses-
sion of his dignity.
In the summer of 1253, he was taken ill at Buckden. From this
attack he did not recover. He lingered till October 9th of the same
year, when he died. 2 The corpse was taken to Lincoln. On his death-
bed, he displayed the same unshaken courage and fortitude which had
distinguished his whole life. Conscious of his own integrity in his dis-
putes with the pope, he retracted not a syllable of what he had said,
he repented of nothing he had done, nay, he is reported in his last mo-
ments to have inveighed in the strongest terms against the gigantic
abuses of the papacy, and even to have denounced the pope as Anti-
christ. 3 The pope was of course rejoiced to hear of his death, and,
with the characteristic malice of a little mind, ordered his remains to
be disinterred and burnt. The letter, however, containing this order
was not sent. It is needless to say that Grosseteste never arrived at the
honours of canonization. But he needed no such ' damning' honours ;
posterity has spontaneously done him that justice which Rome denied
him. Grosseteste did not surpass the ecclesiastics of his age more in
judgment, piety and integrity than in learning. Old age found the
ardour with which he had sought knowledge when a youth, still un-
diminished. His acquaintance with all branches of learning was very
extensive ; but his favourite pursuits seem to have been logic, philo-
sophy and theology. He also possessed what was, alas I a rare attain-
ment in those days, an accurate knowledge of the scriptures. His
writings are very voluminous. The mere catalogue occupies not less
than twenty -five quarto pages in Dr Pegge's life of him.
Of Bishop Grosseteste it is impossible to form a correct opinion
without carefully remembering the circumstances of the age in which
he lived, and estimating the various influences which concurred in the
formation of his character. That he held many absurd dogmas of the
church of Rome, that he saw not a tenth part of the enormities of that
system against which he was partially opposed, will not appear won-
derful to any one who reflects how slowly the human mind extricates
itsjlf from error especially religious error and how gradually it ar-
rives at truth. That Grosseteste saw more than could have been rea-
sonably expected in such circumstances, and in such an age, will be
* M. Paris, 586. Ib.
PERIOD.] WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY. 265
readily admitted by every candid mind ; and, could he have added to
the zeal of his youth the knowledge and experience of his maturer
years, he would have advanced much farther. At one time his opinions
on the subject of the papal prerogative were almost as absurd as those
he entertained concerning the leading dogmas of the Romish supersti-
tion. The former he lived to correct in a great measure ; a few more
years would have done the same for the latter.
III. LITERARY SERIES.
William of
BORN CIRC. A. D. 1095 - DIED CIRC. A. D. 1 143.
THE most valuable part of the literature of the Anglo-Norman pe-
riod, is unquestionably the extensive series of national annals, chroni-
cles, and histories, composed by monkish writers. It is true, that to
enlarged and philosophical views of history, these works possess no
claim whatever, and that even in respect of literary talent they cannot
be ranked very high ; they are also deeply tinged with the supersti-
tious credulity of the times ; but then, to use the words of Turner,
" such a series of regular chronology and true incident, such faithful,
clear, and ample materials for authentic history, had scarcely ap-
peared before : nothing could be more contemptible as compositions,
nothing could be more satisfactory as authorities." A few brief sketches
of the principal of these chroniclers, with one or two other notices, is
all that our limits will permit us to attempt.
An interval of upwards of two centuries intervened from the intro-
duction of Christianity into England, before any national historian
arose. Anglo-Saxon history, properly so called, begins with Gildas,
surnamed the Wise, who seems to have written before the commence-
ment of the 6th century. Nennius has been placed by some writers in
the same era with Gildas, but he wrote in the year 858. From Gil-
das, until the 8th century, the only notices of English history we pos-
sess are contained in the odes of the British bards. The first Anglo-
Saxon chronicle now extant, to which any certain date or certain
origin can be ascribed, is the ecclesiastical history of Bede, already
noticed. It is impossible to pronounce with certainty where the exist-
ing text of the Saxon chronicle was first formed. Wheloc formed the
text which he has printed under the title of ' Chronologia Saxonica,'
from two manuscripts, one in the Bennet library, and one in the Cot-
tonian library, both of which may be referred to the 9th century. It
was continued from time to time, by various writers, to the reign of
Henry II. In the history compiled by Ethelweard, we have a very
abridged translation of the Saxon chronicle. Florence of Worcester,
who wrote in the reign of Henry I., translates the Saxon chronicle
closely to the period where the chronicle of Asser begins ; he then
transcribes the work of the British prelate, but returns to the Saxon
i. 2 L
266 LITERARY SERIES. [SicOND
chronicle as soon as Asser concludes. His contemporary, Simeon of
Durham, commences with the death of Bede, and carries on till the
death of Stephen. Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon, divides his his-
tory into books, and treats distinctly of each of the kingdoms of the
heptarchy until their union under Edgar. He states that, taking
Bede as his basis, he added much from other sources, and borrowed
from the chronicles which he found in ancient libraries. The histori-
cal writings of Ingulphus, abbot of Croyland, are now, with apparent
reason, regarded as monkish forgeries.
William of Malmesbury, one of the fathers of English history,
flourished during the first half of the twelfth century. He was born in
Somersetshire, and from that circumstance is called also occasionally
Somersetanus, but the date of his birth is uncertain. Mr Sharpe, the
translator of his ' History,' thinks it probable that he was born about
the year 1095. If this date is any thing near the truth, it seems rea-
sonable to extend the assigned date of his death, viz. 1143, a few years
at least, otherwise he must have died at the early age of 48 ; and in-
deed when it is considered that he only completed the last of his histo-
rical pieces in 1 142, and that he subsequently made several corrections
upon it, it may fairly be presumed that he lived several years after this
latter date. He was descended, he informs us, from Saxon and Nor-
man parents. When a child he discovered a fondness for learning in
which he was encouraged by his father; and while yet a boy, he was
placed for his education in the monastery, from which he afterwards re-
ceived his name, and in which he filled the office of librarian. Here,
in addition to the study of the Latin language, he applied himself to
logic, medicine, and ethics, but history soon became his favourite and
almost engrossing study.
The manner in which he conceived and executed the idea of those
historical works by which he is known, cannot be better described than
in his own modest and simple terms, which we shall quote from Mr
Sharpe's translation. 1 " When at my own expense," says he, " I had
procured some historians of foreign nations, I proceeded, during my
domestic leisure, to inquire if any thing concerning our own country
could be found, worthy of handing down to posterity. Hence it arose,
that, not content with the writings of ancient times, I began, myself, to
compose ; not indeed to display my learning which is indeed compara-
tively nothing but to bring to light events lying concealed in the con-
fused mass of antiquity. In consequence, rejecting vague opinions, I
have studiously sought for chronicles far and near, though I confess I
have scarcely profited any thing by this industry. For perusing them
all, I still remained poor in information ; though I ceased not my re-
searches as long as I could find any thing to read. However, what I
have clearly ascertained concerning the four kingdoms I have inserted
in my first book, in which I hope truth will find no cause to blush,
though perhaps a degree of doubt may sometimes arise. I shall now
trace the monarchy of the West-Saxon kingdom, through the line of
successive princes, down to the coming of the Normans: which if any
person will condescend to regard with complacency, let him in brotherly
love observe the following rule : ' If before he knew only these things,
1 London, 1815, 4to.
PERIOD.] ROBERT PULL EN. 267
let him not be disgusted because I have inserted them; if he shall know
more, let him not be angry that I have not spoken of them, but rather
let him communicate his knowledge to me while I yet live, that, at
least those events may appear in the margin of my history, which do