Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 48.djvu/85

 own metropolitan jurisdiction. Immediately on his appointment he procured a series of bulls from Clement V, which invested him with no inconsiderable share of the jurisdiction usually reserved for the pope, and on Clement's death obtained a renewal of them from John XXII (, Concilia, ii. 431–442;, Archbishops of Canterbury, iii. 471–2). Thus armed with special powers, Reynolds held a visitation of the diocese of Lincoln, where he met with some opposition from the saintly bishop, John de Dalderby [q. v.] (Litt. Cantuar. i. 111). In 1322 he held an important provincial synod at Oxford, in which he drew up a series of canons (, Concilia, ii. 512–14). He was not, however, as a rule very energetic. So late as 1325 he had not wound up the administration of Archbishop Winchelsey's affairs (Litt. Cantuar. i. 135). On the other hand, he showed some magnanimity in forgiving the monks of Christ Church who had opposed his election. Before long he selected them for his special favours, and bestowed the fullest confidence on their shrewd and experienced prior, Henry of Eastry [q. v.], who became his chief adviser in his later years.

Reynolds upheld with great zeal the rights of his see against the ancient claim of the archbishops of York to have their cross borne erect before them in the province of Canterbury. William of Greenfield [q. v.], the archbishop of York, retaliated by refusing to recognise Reynolds's right to have the cross borne erect before him in the northern province. Soon after his consecration he quarrelled with the archbishop of York, when attending a great council held at York in the summer of 1314, and only royal intervention secured a formal peace, by which the right of the archbishop of Canterbury to bear his cross erect in the province of York was acknowledged (, p. 88; cf. Cal. Close Rolls, 1313–18, p. 194; Fœdera, ii. 253;, Concilia, i. 448). In 1317 Reynolds so bitterly resented the action of Archbishop Melton [q. v.], Greenfield's successor, who had had his cross borne before him in London, that he put London under an interdict which was to endure as long as the northern primate remained there (Ann. Paulini, p. 281), and the king in despair begged the pope to settle once for all the time-honoured dispute (Fœdera, ii. 339). In 1322 and 1323 he was again quarrelling on the subject with Melton (Fœdera, ii. 449;, pp. 142–3). A little later he angrily remonstrated with Edward for promoting Melton to his old office of treasurer. But he neither persuaded Edward to get rid of Melton, nor forced Melton to abate his pretensions (, pp. 283–284). By this time the old harmony between Reynolds and Edward was impaired, and in August 1325 Edward ordered Reynolds not to interfere with Melton on account of his bearing his cross in the southern province (Fœdera, ii. 604).

Edward II seems to have resented the exceptional powers conferred on Reynolds by the papacy. In 1323 Prior Henry of Eastry advised Reynolds to show great caution in explaining to the king the full nature of the papal injunctions (Litt. Cantuar. i. 111). In 1324 he came into open collision with the king, when Edward accused Adam of Orlton [q. v.], bishop of Hereford, of high treason, for his vigorous partisanship of his patron, Roger Mortimer. Reynolds and the whole of the episcopate took Orlton under their protection (, pp. 141–2). Edward prudently handed over Orlton into Reynolds's custody, but obtained a verdict against him from a jury in the royal court. Orlton remained at liberty under Reynolds's continued protection, but Edward deprived him of the temporalities of his see. Despite the strained relations resulting from this incident, Reynolds was suggested as a companion to Queen Isabella [q. v.] when she went with her son Edward, duke of Aquitaine, to perform homage for Guienne at Paris. But Reynolds, at the suggestion of Prior Eastry, excused himself from going (Litt. Cantuar. i. 137–8). Reynolds now devoted himself to the visitation of the vacant diocese of Norwich (ib. i. 144–5), but the prior and monks of Norwich Cathedral repelled his jurisdiction, claiming to be the guardians of the spiritualities during a vacancy (ib. i. 153–159).

Meanwhile the breach between Edward II and his absent queen was widening. Reynolds anxiously surveyed the situation, in order to find out which side was going to win, and to declare himself for the victors. As the outlook was uncertain, he followed Eastry's advice, and played a waiting game. But his uncertainty frightened him into a serious illness. His church courts were closed for the greater part of a year (Ann. Paulini, p. 321). He remained about the court; but, after the landing of Isabella in Suffolk, he thought it prudent to win her favour by sending her large sums of money (, p. 47). When Edward II fled from London to the west, Reynolds remained in the capital. Eastry now advised him to ‘reverently go and meet’ Isabella and her son, but at the same time not to offend the king (Litt. Cantuar. i. 172–3). If a policy of mediation were no longer pos-