Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/136

Langton Lichfield as their bishop, or, as the see was more often called at the time, bishop of Chester. His election was confirmed by Archbishop Winchelsea on 11 June, and on 16 July the king restored him the temporalities of the see (, Anglia Sacra, i. 441). He was consecrated on 23 Dec. by one of the legates, Berard de Goth, cardinal-bishop of Albano, and brother to the future pope, Clement V (, Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum, p. 49; Ann. Dunstaple in Ann. Mon. iii. 400).

Langton still retained the office of treasurer, and devoted his energies to affairs of state rather than to the work of his diocese. He shared the growing unpopularity of Edward I towards the end of his reign. On the meeting of the famous Lincoln parliament on 20 Jan. 1301, the barons and commons, urged on apparently by Archbishop Winchelsea, requested Edward to remove Langton from his office. At the same time they presented, through Henry of Keighley, member for Lancashire, a bill of twelve articles complaining of the whole system of administration. Edward gave way for the time, but in June he ordered the imprisonment of Keighley, putting him under the charge of Langton, against whom he had complained, and directing that Keighley's considerate treatment in the Tower should seem to come from the good will of the incriminated minister, and not from the order of the king (, Const. Hist. ii. 151). On 14 Oct. of the same year Langton was associated with other magnates on an embassy to France (Fœdera, i. 936; Ann. Lond. in Ann. Edw. I and II, Rolls Ser. i. 103). They negotiated the continuance of a truce until November 1302, and returned to England on 21 Dec.

Grave charges were now brought against Langton. A knight, named John Lovetot, accused him of living in adultery with his stepmother, and finally murdering her husband, Lovetot's father. He was also charged with pluralism, simony, and intercourse with the devil, who, it was alleged, had frequently appeared to him in person (Fœdera, i. 956–7; Flores Historiarum, iii. 305). So early as February 1300 Boniface VIII wrote to Winchelsea demanding an investigation, and citing Langton to appear before the papal curia (Chron. Lanercost, pp. 200–1, Bannatyne Club). It was not, however, until May 1301 that a formal citation was served on the bishop, who was suspended from his office pending the investigation. Langton went to Rome to plead his cause in person, spending vast sums of money on the papal officials, who knew his wealth and did not spare him. He was at a disadvantage, moreover, as he did not make his appearance before the papal court until the date of his citation had passed. Langton remained for some time in Italy, Edward covering his retreat by appointing him in March 1302 a member of a special embassy then sent to the pope (Fœdera, i. 939). The king all along upheld the cause of his treasurer (ib. i. 943, 956). Boniface urged Edward not to show his rancour against the accuser Lovetot until the investigation was concluded (ib. i. 939). At a later stage the pope sent back the matter to Archbishop Winchelsea, who, after a long investigation, was forced to declare the bishop innocent. Lovetot was soon afterwards committed to prison on a charge of homicide, and died there (Flores Hist. iii. 306). At last, on 8 June 1303, Boniface formally absolved Langton of the charges brought against him (Fœdera, i. 956–7). All through the business Winchelsea had shown a strong animus against the accused, and a bitter and lifelong feud between the treasurer and the archbishop was the most important result of the episode.

In June 1303 Edward showed his sense of Langton's trustworthiness by making him principal executor of his testament. In 1303 and 1304 Langton was with the king in Scotland. On 15 June 1305 he was involved in a grave dispute with Edward, prince of Wales [see EDWARD II], who had invaded his woods, and answered his remonstrances with insult. Hot words passed between the minister and the prince, but the king warmly took the treasurer's side, and the prince was forced into submission. But the continued remonstrances of Langton against the prince's extravagance must have effectually prevented any real cordiality (, pp. 63–4). In October of the same year Langton was sent with the Earl of Lincoln and Hugh le Despenser on an embassy to the new pope, Clement V, at Lyons (Ann. Lond. p. 143). They took with them a present of sacred vessels of pure gold from the king (, p. 227), and were present at Clement's coronation on 14 Nov. The main object of this mission was to procure the absolution of the king from the oaths which he had taken to observe the charters, and particularly the charter of the forests. But Langton took advantage of his position to urge the complaints which both the king and himself had against Archbishop Winchelsea. On 12 Feb. Clement issued a bull suspending the archbishop from his functions. On 24 Feb. 1306 the embassy was back in London. In the summer Winchelsea went into exile. This secured the continuance of Langton's power for the rest of the king's life. He was now unquestionably Edward's first minister and almost his only real confidant.