Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 56.djvu/121

 the case between him and St. Augustine's, and the archbishop's claims were fully satisfied (on the whole case see, cols. 1800–6; , pp. 369–81, 390–1). Theobald then left Rome, and on 11 June was present at the consecration of the new church of St. Denis in France (Recueil des Historiens, xiv. 316). He returned to England without a rival in his province, and Jeremiah consequently resigned the priorate of Christ Church. In this year a cardinal named Hicmar arrived in England as legate, but his coming does not appear to have affected Theobald; he returned on the death of Lucius in February 1145. The new pope, Eugenius III, was favourably inclined to Theobald through the influence of his great adviser, Bernard of Clairvaux, who described Theobald as a man of piety and acceptable opinions, and expressed a hope that the pope would reward him (, Ep. 238). It might be expected that some notice should occur of a grant of a legatine commission by Eugenius to Theobald as a consequence of this letter, but, in default of finding him described as legate before 1150, good modern authorities have given that year as the date of the grant (, Constitutional History, iii. 299;, Angevin Kings, i. 364). Nevertheless, the historian of St. Augustine's Abbey speaks of him as papal legate in 1148 (, col. 1807). Against this must be set that he is not so called in any bull of Eugenius known to have been sent to him before 1150, and that the ‘Historia Pontificalis’ is equally silent on the matter. Thorn, who was not earlier than the fourteenth century, may have merely been mistaken, or he may have been swayed by a desire to make an excuse for the monks of his house (see below). He says that when they disobeyed Theobald in 1148, they did not know that he had legatine authority; and an eminent scholar suggests that this story and the position of affairs at the time being taken into consideration, ‘it is possible, if not actually probable,’ that there was a secret commission to Theobald. A suit was instituted in the papal court against Theobald in 1147 by Bernard, bishop of St. David's, who sought to obtain the recognition of his see as metropolitical. The pope appointed a day for the hearing of the case; but Bernard died before the date fixed, and the suit dropped ( iii. 51, 168, 180). On 14 March 1148 Theobald consecrated to the see of Rochester his brother Walter, whom he had previously made archdeacon of Canterbury.

A summons having been sent to the English prelates to attend the council that Eugenius held at Rheims on the 21st, Stephen refused to allow Theobald or the prelates generally to leave the kingdom. Knowing that Theobald was determined to go, he ordered various seaports to be watched lest he should get away secretly, and declared that if he went he should be banished. Theobald, after obtaining leave to send some of his clerks to the council to make his excuses, secretly embarked in a crazy boat, crossed the Channel at great risk, and presented himself at the council. He was received with much rejoicing, the pope welcoming him as one who, for the honour of St. Peter, had crossed the sea rather by swimming than sailing (, i. 134, ii. 386; Hist. Pontif. c. 2;, Ep. 250 ap. Materials, vi. 57–8). When, on the last day of the council, Eugenius was about to excommunicate Stephen, Theobald earnestly begged him to forbear; the pope granted the king a respite of three months, and on leaving Rheims committed the case of the English bishops whom he had suspended to Theobald's management. On the archbishop's return to Canterbury the king ordered him to quit the kingdom; his revenues were seized and he hastily returned to France. He sent messengers to acquaint the pope with his exile; they overtook Eugenius at Brescia, and he wrote to the English bishops, ordering them to bid the king recall the archbishop and restore his possessions, threatening an interdict, and at Michaelmas to excommunicate Stephen. Theodore published the interdict; but, as the bishops were generally on the king's side, it was not observed except in Kent, and a party among the monks of St. Augustine's, led by their prior Silvester and the sacristan, disregarded it. Queen Matilda, anxious for a reconciliation with Theobald, with the help of William of Ypres [q. v.] persuaded him to remove to St. Omer, where negotiations might be carried on more easily. Constant communication was carried on between the English clergy and laity and the archbishop, whose dignified behaviour, gentleness, and liberality to the poor excited much admiration (ib. i. 123; Hist. Pontif. c. 15). While at St. Omer he, on 5 Sept., with the assistance of some French bishops, consecrated Gilbert Foliot [q. v.] to the see of Hereford, and when Henry [see ], duke of Normandy, complained that the new bishop had broken his promise to him by swearing fealty to Stephen, he appeased him by representing that it would have been schismatical to withdraw obedience from a king that had been recognised by the Roman church. Before long Theobald returned to England; he sailed from Gravelines, landed at Gosford