Biography of Archbishop Henry of Newark -1299

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. And when at length the election of the bishop of Durham was completed, the archbishop opposed the election of Anthony (age 39), saying that he had been elected by persons under excommunication, and therefore should not be admitted. The lord king, however, sent his own trusted servant, Sir John de Vescy, to the archbishop to say, and to threaten under heavy forfeiture, that he was not to hinder the election and promotion of his most special clerk; rather, if the archbishop had a legal case against the monks who had made the election, he should bring and pursue it in due place and time, but the elect was not to be punished for the offence of the others. And so the archbishop was afraid for himself, and gave way, fearing man more than God, and consecrated him, as has been said, on the day of the Translation of Saint William [9th January 1284]. Later, however, he repented of it. After him, Archbishop John Romanus wished to make a visitation; but because he was greedy, they bought him off with money for the whole of his term. After him, Archbishop Henry of Newark did not begin such proceedings, because he lived only a short time, and besides this, he was a friend of the bishop of Durham. After him, Archbishop Thomas of Corbridge, although he visited his own province twice within four years (except for his own chapter), nevertheless did not approach Durham, because he feared the king and the trouble it would bring.

Factaque demum electione Dunolmensis, opposuit se archiepiscopus contra electum Anthonium, dicens ipsum esse electum ab excommunicatis, et propter hoc non fore admittendum. Et misit ad archiepiscopum dominus rex familiarem suum, dominum Johannem de Vescy, qui diceret, et sub gravi forisfactura comminaret, quod electionem et promotionem specialissimi clerici sui non impediret: imo si actionem haberet contra monachos eligentes, institueret et persequeretur eam pro loco et tempore; et non puniretur electus pro delicto cæterorum. Timuitque sibi archiepiscopus et adquievit, magis timens hominem quam Deum, et consecravit eum, ut supradictum est, in die translationis sancti Willelmi; postea tamen poenituit. Post hunc archiepiscopus Johannes Romanus voluit visitasse; sed quia avarus erat extinxerunt eum pecunia data pro toto tempore suo. Post illum archiepiscopus Henricus de Newerk non incepit talia, eo quod parvo tempore vixit, et præter hoc fuit familiaris domini Dunolmensis episcopi. Post quem archiepiscopus Thomas de Corebrigge, qui licet provinciam propriam infra quatuor annos, excepto proprio capitulo, duabus vicibus visitasset, Dunolmum tamen non petiit, eo quod timuit regem et vexationem.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the same year, near its end, specifically during Lent, John Romanus, Archbishop of York, died [11th March 1296]. He was the son of John Romanus, formerly treasurer of the church of York, and a certain serving woman. He was truly 'Romanus' in name and in nature, for from his Roman father he inherited Roman greed. And although he was a great theologian and a highly learned man, it was not his learning but his extreme avarice that drove him nearly to madness. He thirsted greatly for money and the property of others. And so, by the just judgment of God, it happened that the man who had longed after the goods of his subjects, especially those who died intestate, was overtaken by sudden death and received little or no benefit from his own will. His executors refused to act, and thus the expenses of his funeral were paid not from his own wealth, but rather from others. He was laid to rest with simple honour in his own church. Not even bread or a coin was given for the sake of his soul. He had once undertaken the visitation of the church of Durham, which his predecessor had claimed under the right and jurisdiction of the church of York; but, it was said, after receiving a payment, he allowed the matter to sleep. He also sought obedience from the Bishop of Durham, which he at first demanded pompously, but, after an appeal was lodged, pursued the matter weakly. He was succeeded by Henry of Newark, dean of the same church, who was elected by the chapter on the Friday just before the Feast of the Ascension in the year 1296. Since he could not personally travel to the pope because of the bitter war dangerously continuing between the two kings [of England and France], he was confirmed by papal bull the following year. Again, when envoys were sent for his consecration and the pallium, he was consecrated, by dispensation of the same Pope Boniface, in his own church at York [Map] by Antony (age 51), Bishop of Durham, to whom the pope had granted this special authority. This took place on the second Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, that is, on the 15th of June, in the year of our Lord 1298.

Eodem anno quasi finiente, scilicet in Quadragesima obiit Johannes Romanus, archiepiscopus Eborum, a Johanne Romano, quondam Eborum ecclesiæ thesaurario, et quadam pedissequa procreatus, et bene Romanus, quia a Romano patre Romanam cupiditatem extraxit, et cum magnus esset theologus et homo valde literatus, non tamen multæ literæ sed avaritia maxima eum fecit quasi insanire. Sitivit enim valde pecuniam et substantiam aliorum, unde, justo Dei judicio, contigit, ut, qui subditorum bona, et maxime ab intestatis, sitiret, subita quasi morte præventus, nullum vel modicum ex testamento proprio consecutus est emolumentum. Executores enim sui se intromittere noluerunt, ita quod non de proprio, sed potius alieno, fiebant expensæ funerum, et in ecclesia sua cum honore simplici repositus est. Non enim panis vel obolus pro anima dabatur ipsius. Hic visitationem Dunolmensis ecclesiæ, quam prædecessor suus jure et jurisdictione Eborum ecclesiæ vendicaverat, accepta, ut dicebatur, pecunia, dormire sustinuit. Obedientiam etiam Dunolmensis episcopi, quam primo pompose petierat, appellatione interposita, segniter prosecutus est. Huic successit Henricus de Newerk, ejusdem ecclesiæ decanus, electus a fratribus die Veneris proximo ante Ascensionem Domini, anni ejusdem MCCXCVI, qui, missis ad papam nunciis, eo quod personaliter adire non posset propter exosam guerram inter duos reges periculosissime continuatam, per bullam ipsius confirmatus est in anno sequenti, et iterum missis nunciis pro consecratione et pallio, ex dispensatione ejusdem papæ Bonifacii consecratus est in ecclesia sua Eborum per Antonium Dunolmensem episcopum, cui commiserat papa potestatem hanc specialem, Dominica scilicet secunda Sunday, post festum Sanctæ Trinitatis, XVII scilicet kalendas Julii, anno Domini MCCXCVIII.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. On the day after All Souls [3rd November 1296] of that same year, the king held his parliament at Bury St Edmunds, where, at his request, a twelfth penny was granted by the people, an eighth by the cities and boroughs, and a fifth by the clergy. It was answered, however, that neither the clergy could grant, nor the king receive, anything, unless both parties would incur the sentence of excommunication as contained in the bull. They added that they did not believe the king wished for this, nor would it be to his advantage. But the king was displeased with this reply, so the clergy were summoned to another parliament at London on the morrow of St Hilary [14th January 1297], in order that, with more time for deliberation, they might give a better answer. When the day came and the clergy were gathered there, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Master Robert of Winchelsey (age 51), having consulted with those sent on the king's behalf, gave this reply: "It is well known to you, my lords, and cannot be hidden, that under Almighty God we have two masters: a spiritual one and a temporal one. The spiritual is the pope, and the temporal is our lord the king. Though we owe obedience to both, we owe more to the spiritual than to the temporal. Nevertheless, wishing to please both, we agree and intend at our own expense to send special messengers to our spiritual father the pope, to ask for permission to grant this, or at least to receive his instruction on what we should do. We also believe that our lord the king, just like us, fears and seeks to avoid the excommunication contained in the bull." To this, the king's envoys replied: "Choose among yourselves certain persons who will report these words to the king on your behalf; for we, knowing his anger is already kindled, dare not relay such a message." When they did so, the king's fury ignited, and burning with wrath, he placed the Archbishop of Canterbury and the whole English clergy outside of his protection and favour, ordering that all church lands, even the endowed lands, throughout England be seized into his hands. And as many believed, it happened miraculously that on the very same day the king excluded the clergy from his protection, his soldiers in Gascony were routed and defeated by the French, as will be shown later. Furthermore, the king's chief justice, seated on the bench, declared publicly before all: "You, the attorneys of archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and all other clergy: tell your lords that from now on no justice will be granted to them in the king's court, no matter how grievous the injury they may have suffered. But justice will be done against them for all who bring complaints and seek it." Astonishing to say! The common justice granted to all the people is, by some strange spirit, denied to the clergy, and Mother Church, who once ruled over her sons, now serves and is enslaved by them. Now, Henry of Newark, elected archbishop of York, along with the bishops of Durham, Ely, Salisbury, and others, fearing the king's great wrath, and sensing grave danger approaching, arranged to voluntarily deposit a fifth of their church income for that year in sacred places, claiming it was for the defence of the English Church in its urgent need, so they might escape the king's wrath without violating the pope's bull. Yet whatever the clergy deposited, the royal treasury seized; and so, those who arranged and gave a fifth under that guise won back royal protection. But the Archbishop of Canterbury held firm. He would neither agree to the tax nor deposit anything, choosing instead to suffer the king's wrath rather than fall under the sentence of excommunication. As a result, all his goods were seized, his gold and silver vessels taken, and all his horses confiscated. His household abandoned him, and nothing remained from which even a poor man of Christ could be fed. The king issued a strict command that no one, monastic or lay, should give him shelter, under pain of forfeiture. Thus was the Apostle's exhortation "Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you", emptied of meaning. He remained cast out, sheltering in the house of a humble parish priest, with only a chaplain and one clerk, having nowhere in his entire archbishopric to lay his head. Still, he preached the word of God boldly, begging publicly, and protesting everywhere that all who gave the king or any secular person anything without the pope's consent had without doubt fallen into the bull's sentence of excommunication, always declaring himself ready to die for the Church of God. Meanwhile, the friends of Oliver, Bishop of Lincoln, though he too had refused the king's demands, arranged that the Sheriff of Lincoln take a fifth of the bishop's goods, after which his lands and possessions were restored to him. All the monasteries of his diocese and of the province of Canterbury had also been seized into the king's hands, with custodians appointed to provide the religious only with bare necessities, the rest going to the treasury. So abbots and priors, compelled by necessity, approached the king's court, not to confess sins, but to ransom back their own goods, paying a fourth. At that time, no justice was available to the clergy, and they suffered many injuries. Monks and other religious were robbed of their horses on public roads, and they received no justice until they paid for royal protection through a redemption fee.

In crastino Animarum ejusdem anni tenuit rex The clergy parliamentum suum apud Sanctum Edmundum, ubi, ad rogatum ipsius, concessus est duodecimus denarius a populo, octavus a civitatibus et burgis, a clero quintus. Responsum est, quod nec ipsi dare vel concedere, nec ipse quicquam accipere posset, nisi uterque eorum sententiam excommunicationis incurreret in bulla latam; quod tamen regem velle non credebant, nec sibi expedire sciebant. Sed non placuit regi responsum hoc, unde adjornati sunt ad aliud parliamentum Londoniis in crastino Sancti Hilarii, ut interim cum deliberatione consulti melius responderent. Adveniente tandem die, et ibidem clero congregato, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, magister Robertus de Wynchelse, communicato consilio hiis qui a facie regis' mittebantur, respondit in hæc verba: "Satis vobis constat, domini mei, nec latere potest, quod sub omnipotenti Deo duos etiam dominos habemus, spiritualem scilicet et temporalem; spiritualem vero dominum papam, et temporalem dominum nostrum regem; et quamvis utrique obedientiam debeamus, majorem tamen temporali quam spirituali. Verum ut placere possimus utrique, concedimus et mittere volumus sumptibus nostris nuncios nostros spciales ad ipsum patrem spiritualem dominum papam, ut licentiam ad concedendum habere possimus, vel saltem responsum habeamus ab ipso quid facere debeamus: credimus etiam dominum nostrum regem, sicut et nos, ipsam excommunicationis sententiam in bulla latam et timere et effugere velle." Ad hæc nuncii regis: "Ordinate ex vobis, domini carissimi, personas certas, qui talia domino regi ex parte vestra. renuncient; nos enim, scientes indignationem ejus accensam, veremur omnino talia nunciare." Quod cum ipsi fecissent, mox furor regis insævit, They are et excandens in iram, ipsum Cantuariensem archiepiscopum cum toto clero Anglicano extra suam defensionem et protectionem posuit; præcepitque ut omnes terræ etiam dotales totius ecclesiæ Anglicanæ in manum ipsius seisirentur. Et, ut creditur, miraculose contigit, eadem enim die qua extra protectionem suam rex clerum posuerat," confusi sunt milites sui in Vasconia, et a Francis devicti, ut infra patet. Justitiarius etiam regis in banco ex parte regis pro tribunali sedens, omnibus circumstantibus publice dixit, "Vos domini attornati archiepiscoporum, episcoporum, abbatum et priorum, cæterarumque personarum omnium ex clero, nunciate dominis vestris et dicite,' quod de cætero in curia domini regis nulla fiet eis justitia de quacunque re, etiam si illata fuerit eis injuria atrocissima. Justitia tamen de eis fiet omnibus conquerentibus, et eam habere volentibus. Mirabile dictu! communis justitia quæ populo conceditur, nescio quo spiritu, ipsi clero denegatur, ancillaturque et servit mater ecclesia, quæ solebat antiquitus filiis dominari." Electus autem Eborum Henricus de Newerk, item Dunolmensis, Eliensis, Salesbiriensis episcopi,' et quidam alii, timentes iram regis maximam, et conjecturantes grave periculum imminere, ordinaverunt se deponere velle in æde sacra quintam partem bonorum ecclesiasticorum illius anni, ad tuitionem ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, et defensionem urgentissimæ necessitatis, ut sic iram regis evaderent, et sententiam in bulla latam non incurrerent. Quicquid tamen deponebat clerus, tollebat fiscus; et sic ordinantes, et sub colore quintam partem concedentes, protectionem regis consecuti sunt. Canterbury's tuariensis vero archiepiscopus, animum non mutans, nec concedere nec deponere quicquam voluit, elegitque potius iram regis quam sententiam excommunicationis incurrere; unde seisita sunt omnia bona sua, et vasa ejus aurea et argentea occupata sunt, et equi omnes; recesseruntque ab eo familiares ejus, nec remansit quicquam unde Christi pauper aleretur; præceptumque est, sub gravi forisfactura regis, ne quis eum hospitio susciperet in monasterio vel extra, evacuatumque est illud apostoli, "Suscipite invicem sicut et Christus suscepit vos:" mansitque sic ejectus in domo cujusdam simplicis rectoris, cum solo sacerdote et uno clerico, non habens ex toto archiepiscopatu ubi caput reponeret; constanter tamen egit in verbo Domini, publice mendicans, et ubique protestans omnes qui vel regi vel personæ seculari præter voluntatem domini papæ quicquam concederent, in canonem latæ sententiæ eo facto proculdubio incidisse, semper existens paratus ad moriendum pro ecclesia Dei. Amici vero Lincolniensis episcopi Oliveri, etiam ipso voluntatem regis non ratificante, procuraverunt tamen quod vicecomes Lincolniensis, levata quinta parte de bonis ipsius episcopi, extunc ei possessiones et terras restitueret. Omnia etiam monasteria episcopatus ipsius, et totius provinciæ Cantuariensis, seisita fuerant in manum regis, et ex præcepto ipsius custodes appositi qui ipsis religiosis solummodo necessaria ministrarent, et reliqua converterentur in fiscum. Unde abbates et priores necessitate compulsi curiam regis adierunt, non peccata quidem sed bona propria redimentes, data quarta. Nulla tunc temporis fiebat justitia clero, et passi sunt clerici injurias multas. Religiosi etiam in via regia equis suis spoliabantur, et nullam consecuti sunt justitiam, quousque, redemptione facta, eis daretur regia protectio.