^24 Constitutional History. [chap.
under the ancient and customary patronage of the apostolic
seeɪ. Mepeham himself fell a victim to the pope’s policy, for
he died of mortification at being repelled in his metropolitical
visitation by Grandison, bishop of Exeter, who announced that
the pope had exempted him from any such jurisdiction.
Collusion 385. Edward III, during the early years of his reign, con-
Witiitheng tentedly acquiesced in the pope’s assumptions, and up to the
pope' year ɪp,,ɔo the right δf provision was exercised without check.
The king occasionally remonstrated2, but the effect of the
remonstrance was weakened by his constant petitions for the
Casesof promotion of some friend of his own. It was on an occasion
SidfiBwy. of this kind, the petition made for Thomas Hatfield of Durham,
in 1345, following a strong remonstrance presented in 1343,
that Clement VI made the famous remark—‘ If the king of
England were to petition for an ass to be таДе bishop, we
must not say him nay 3∙, Archbishop Stratford was a papal
nominee, and his first act was to set aside Robert Graystanes
the elect of Durham, who had not only been regularly chosen and
confirmed, but consecrated also : the king had petitioned and the
pope had reserved in favour of the more famous Richard de Bury 4.
Statuteof By the Statute of Provisors, in 13515, it was enacted that
all persons receiving papal provisions should be liable to im-
prisonment, and that all the preferments to which the pope
nominated should be forfeit for that turn to the king. But
even this bold measure, in which the good sense of the parlia-
ment condemned the proceedings of the pope, was turned by
royal manipulation to the advantage of the crown alone. A
system was devised which saved the dignity of all parties.
Practical When a see became vacant, the king sent to the chapter his
compromise,
1 Sext. Decr. lib. iii. tit. iv. c. 2; Extrav. Comm. lib. i. tit. 3. c. 4 ;
lib. iii. tit. 2. cc. ɪ, 13. E.g. in 1307, ‘pro eo quod nos olim ante vaca-
tioneɪn hujusmodi circa priɪnordia nostrae promotionis ad summi aposto-
Iatus officium, provisiones omnium ecclesiarum tain arehiepiseopatuuɪn
quam aliaruιn Cathedralium quas aρud dictam (sc. apostolicam) sedeɪn va-
care Contingeret disposition! nostrae ac dictae sedis duximus reservandas ;,
Theiner, p. 176 ; cf. p. 183.
2 For example in 1343 ; Wals. i. 254-258.
3 Walsingham, i. 255 sq.; Ypod. Neust. p. 284.
4 Hist. Dunelin. Scriptores, pp. 120, 121.
5 25 Edw. III. Stat, iv ; Statutes, i. 316.
XiX.] Compromise. 325
licence to elect, accompanied or followed by a letter nominating evading the
η η , . ʌ η rights of the
the person whom he would accept if elected. He also, by chapters,
letter to the pope, requested that the same person might be
appointed by papal provision. With equal complaisance the
chapters elected and the popes provided. The pope retained,
however, the nomination to sees vacant by translation, which
vacancies he took care to multiply. This arrangement was
very displeasing to the country, for the question of patronage,
in other cases besides bishoprics, was becoming complicated to
an extreme degree : the king presented to livings which were
not vacant, and displaced incumbents by his writ of quare
impedit1 ; the pope’s right of reservation affected the tenure of
every benefice in the country. At length, after long debates Congress
by way of letter, in 1374 a congress was held at Bruges for
determining the general question ; in 1375 GregoryXI annulled
the appointments which he and his predecessor had made in
opposition to the king2, and in 1377 Edward was able to Promise of
. , free elec-
announce that, whilst he himself gave up certain pieces oftɪonsmade
patronage, the pope had by word of mouth undertaken to ab- 377
stain from reservations and to allow free elections to bishoprics3.
But this promise was as illusory as all that had gone before.
The troubles of the next reign prevented England from taking
advantage, as might have been expected, of the weakness of
the papacy, now in a state of schism. Richard and his op- Translations
, ,∙1 ∙ , , ,1 ∙ , , . „ Ofpolitical
ponents were alike intent rather on using the papal influence importance
for their own ends, than on securing the freedom of the church. Bichard II.
In 1388 Urban VI, at the instance of the lords, translated
Alexander Neville from York to S. Andrews, and Thomas
Arundel from Ely to York. Such a breach of the law would
in ordinary times have called forth a loud protest, but party
1 The form of this writ is thus given by Fitz Herbert, Nat. Brev. f. 32 :
‘ Rex Vicecomiti Lincoln, salutem. Praecipe W. archiepiscopo et R. quod
permittant nos praesentare idoneam personam ad ecclesiam de W. quae
vacat et ad nostram Spectat donationem, et unde praedictus W. archiepi-
Scopus et R. nos injuste impediunt ut dicitur et nisi &c. suɪɪɪnɪoɪɪe &c.
praedietum archiepiseopum et R. quod sint coram nobis &c. vel coram
jUstitiariis nostris de Banco, &c.’ On the legal questions connected with
it, see Gibson, Codex, pp. 824, 827-830.
2 See above, vol. ɪi. p. 445. 3 See above, vol. ii. p. 445.