Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 23.djvu/83



His name appears among the clerks in the council summoned to parliaments between 1295 and 1302 (Parl. Writs, i. 644). In 1296 he was one of the numerous deputation sent to Cambray to treat for a truce with France before the two cardinals sent by Boniface VIII to mediate (Fœdera, i. 834). In 1302 he was also one of the royal proctors to treat for a peace with the French (ib. i. 940). On 30 Sept. 1302 Greenfield received the custody of the great seal as chancellor at St. Radegund's, near Dover, and during his absence on his French embassy Adam of Osgodby, master of the. rolls, acted as his substitute (Foss, from Rot. Claus. 30 and 31 Edw. I).

On 4 Dec. 1304 Greenfield was elected archbishop of York, in succession to Thomas of Corbridge [q. v.] His election received the royal assent on 24 Dec., and on 29 Dec. he resigned the chancellorship. On leaving for the papal court to receive consecration and the pallium, Greenfield was strongly commended to the pope and cardinals by the king, who speaks of his 'wisdom in council, industry, literary knowledge, and usefulness to the state' (Fœdera, i. 968); but the troubles resulting from the death of Benedict X delayed his business, and it was not until 30 Jan. 1306 that he obtained consecration as bishop from Clement V himself at Lyons (T., in , Historians of the Church of York, ii. 413; , p. 7, Engl. Hist. Soc.; , ii. 233, Engl. Hist. Soc.) Bishop Baldock [q. v.] of London was consecrated at the same time.

Greenfield at once returned to England, and defiantly bore his cross erect before him as he passed through London ('Ann. London.' in, Chronicles of Edward I and Edward II, i. 144). He was not molested by Archbishop Winchelsey, but he owed this favour to the special intercession of King Edward (, Concilia, ii. 284). It was not till 31 March that Greenfield received the temporalities of his see, and then only by purchasing the favour of an influential noble. This expense, his payments to the crown, and especially his long and expensive residence abroad without enjoying his official income, caused him to be terribly crippled by debts for many years. He got the greedy papal curia to postpone for a year the payment of what he owed to it (, Northern Registers, pp. 179-81). But he was forced to raise the money from the company of the Bellardi of Lucca; and to free himself from the Italian usurers he exacted aids from the clergy, and borrowed freely from nearly every church dignitary of the north.

The Scotch wars caused the frequent residence of the court at York, and enhanced the political importance of the archbishop. In July 1307 he acted as regent jointly with Walter Langton [q. v.], bishop of Lichfield, Edward's favourite minister, who had just shown his friendship for Greenfield by the large loan of five hundred marks. Edward II on his accession obtained from the pope a commission authorising Greenfield to crown him in the absence of Winchelsey; but the latter, regaining papal favour, caused it to be revoked and appointed his own agents ('Ann. Paul.' in, Chronicles of Edward I and Edward II, i. 260). Greenfield was a good deal occupied with the Scotch war, entertaining the king after his flight from Bannockburn, and being next year excused from parliament because he was occupied in defending the marches from Bruce and his followers. In 1314 and 1315 he summoned councils at York, in which the great ecclesiastical and temporal magnates to the north assembled to 'provide for the safety of the kingdom' (, Northern Registers, pp. 235, 245). He in vain employed ecclesiastical censures against the rebellious Bishop of Glasgow, and supported the Bishop of Whithorn in his English exile for fidelity to York and King Edward. He also inspired Dominican friars to preach against the Scots (ib. p. 238).

When Clement V attacked the Templars he appointed Greenfield a member of the commission to examine the charges brought against the English members of the order (1309). He showed some activity but little zeal in discharging this unpleasant office, and declined to act at all within the southern province. In 1310 and 1311 he held provincial councils, in the former collecting evidence, and in the latter sentencing those reputed to be guilty. But the worst sentence he imposed was penance within a monastery. He soon released the Templars from the excommunication which they had incurred, and showed his sympathy for them by sending them food and other help. Yet in April 1312 he was present at the council of Vienne, where the order was condemned and dissolved. The king had in the previous July directed Greenfield to stay at home and go to parliament, but in October granted him letters of safe-conduct for the journey beyond sea. At Vienne Greenfield 'was treated with special distinction by Clement V, and was seated nearest to the pope after the cardinals and the Archbishop of Trier.

The energy and activity of Greenfield as a bishop are clearly illustrated by the copious extracts from his extant registers quoted by Canon Raine. The Scotch wars had made his see very disorderly, but he showed great zeal in putting down crimes and  