3τ4
Constitutional IListor//.
[⅛IIAP.
Case of
Richard
Ie Grand.
Case of
Edmund.
Cases of
Kilwardby
and Peck-
ham.
although the royal assent was withheld. It was seen to he an
extreme measure, but it served as a precedent. On Langton’s
death the king, by promising a large grant of money to the pope,
prevailed on him to quash the election made by the monks, to
keep the appointment to himself, and to nominate the person
whom the king recommended1. This Gregory IX did ‘ex
plenitudine potestatis,’ and thus by Henry’s connivance re-
asserted the principle laid down by Innocent in 1204, that, in
case of an election quashed upon appeal, the judge has an
absolute right of appointment. Archbishop Edmund was ap-
pointed in 1234 in the same summary way in which Langton
had been chosen in 1207 2 ; Boniface was elected by the chapter
at the earnest petition of the king3; but, as his election re-
quired papal confirmation, the pope took the opportunity of
committing to him the administration of his see in temporals
as well as spirituals4 ; Kilwardby and Peckham 5 were nomi-
nated by the pope ‘ ex plenitudine potestatis,’ the king exacting,
in the former case at least, an acknowledgment, on the resti-
tution of the temporalities, that the recognition was a matter of
special favour and not to be construed as a precedentδ. In the
ɪ Vol. ii. p. 43 ; M. Paris, iii. 169, 187.
2 The pope quashed three elections made by the monks and then em-
powered them to elect Edmund ; M. Paris, iii. 243, 244.
3 M. Paris, ɪv. 104. Boniface was elected by the convent, Feb. I, 1241.
They petitioned that the election might be confirmed, or if not that the
pope would ‘ praeficere ’ him : and this petition was repeated, June 10,
1241. The bull was dated 16 Kal. Oct. 1243. See the details in Cent.
Gerv. ii. 190-193.
4 Cont. Gerv. ii. 200.
5 On the death of Boniface, William Chillenden, prior of Canterbury,
was elected, and renounced the election, whereupon the pope nominated
Kilwardby by provision; Ann. Winton, p. 112; Waverl. p. 379. Kil-
Mardby was made a cardinal in 1278 ; the monks thereupon elected bishop
Burnell the chancellor. The pope provided Peckham, and Burnell, whose
election was quashed, did not further contest the point. See Prynne,
Becords, iii. 214.
c The words are very important : ‘ Cum, ecclesiis Cathedralibus in regno
Angliae viduatis, et de jure debeat et solet de Consuetudine provideri per
electionem canonicam ab hiis potissime Celebrandam collegiis, Capitulis et
personis ad quas jus pertinet eligendi, petita tanɪen prius ab iɪlustri rege
Angliae super hoc Iicentia et optenta ; et demuιn eelebɪata electione per-
sona electi eideɪn régi debeat pr,ιesentari, ut idem rex contra personam
ipsam possit proponere si quid rationabile habeat contra earn, videtur
eidem domino régi et suo consilio quod sibi et ecclesiae, cujus ipse patronus
est pariter et defensor, fiat praejudicium in hae parte, praecipue si res
χlχ.J Appointments to Bishoprics. 315
case of Peckliam, as the pope had used words closely resembling
those employed in that of Boniface, the king introduced into
the writ of restitution a clause saving his own rights ɪ. Robert Cas® ®f
. Winchelsey.
Winchelsey was appointed with the unanimous consent of all
parties2.
Whilst the primacy was thus made the prize of the stronger
and more pertinacious claimant, the appointments to the
bishoprics were a constant matter of dispute. The freedom of
election promised by John had resulted in a freedom of litiga-
tion and little more. The attempts of Henry III to influence Numerous
η. disputed
the chapters were undignified and unsuccessful ; hɪs candidates elections to
were seldom chosen ; the pope had a plentiful harvest of appeals, sees under
Between 12 ɪg and 1264 there were not fewer than thirty dis- π°m∙vl
puted elections carried to Rome for decision s. On the last of
these occasions, a contested election to Winchester in 1262, the
pope, wearied with discussion, adopted the plan which Innocent
III and Gregory IX had followed, rejected both candidates,
declared the elective power to be forfeited, and put in his own
nominee4. This bold measure had the effect of stopping appeals
for a time ; only one case more occurred during the reign of
Henry III. In 1265 the canons of York elected William
Langton ; the pope appointed S. Bonaventura, who, knowing
the disturbed state of the kingdom, declined the appointment.
The chapter was then allowed to postulate the bishop of Bath s.
383. Under Edward I there were only twelve cases of the
kind ; yet, although the rarity of the appeals shows the king to
have become stronger, they were so managed by the popes as to
trahitur in aliis ecclesiis Angliae in exemplum, quod sιιmmus pontifex
Iiiis oniissɪs in hoc casu, nbi nec in materia nec in forma electionis in-
ventuιn est fuisse peccatuιn, nec in ipsius Iitteris expressum, potestatem
sibi assumpserit ipsi ecclesiae providendi,’ &c. ; Prynne, Records, iii. 12 2*.
1 Prynne, Records, iii. 223.
2 The election of Winehelsey, one of the very few which the popes
allowed to be canonical, is described at length in the bull of confirmation
issued by Celestine V ; Wilkins, Cone. ii. 197, 198.
3 The details of most of these disputes may be found in the second
volume of Prynne’s Records.
4 The monks were divided ; fifty-four chose Oliver de Tracy, seven
chose Andrew of London ; the pope provided John of Exeter ∙ Ann.
Winton, p. 99. ’
5 See Raine, Fasti Eboracenses, i. 302.