Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/223

Rh bull of August 25, 1245, he decided almost all the points at issue in favour of the bishop, who lost no time in putting his powers into execution. Of his own view of the matter a very curious exemplification is given in the letter or pamphlet sent to the chapter (epist. 127), where his right to visit them is proved by all kinds of mystical arguments and scriptural examples. In 1242, with the help of one Nicholas, a Greek, clerk of the abbey of St Alban s, he translated the Testamenta XII Pdtriarcharum, which had been brought from Athens by John of Basingsloke. In 1243 occurred the serious quarrel with the chapter of Canterbury (the see being practically vacant, as Boniface was not yet consecrated) respecting the abbey of Bardney, the bishop deposing the abbot in spite of his appeal to Canterbury, and the monks in an especially solemn manner excommunicating the bishop. On receiving the letters from the convent, he threw them on the ground, in spite of the seal containing the effigy of St Thomas, and paid no attention whatever to the sentence. Both parties appealed to the pope, and an arrangement was made between them. In 1244, being one of a committee of twelve chosen to determine what answer should be given to the king s demand of a subsidy, his influence kept the members from being separately won over by the king s endeavours to make I parties among them ; and the council broke up without giving way to the royal demands. The same year his examination of Robert Passelew, who through the king s influence had been elected bishop of Chichester, though utterly unfit, caused the election to be annulled. On return ing from Lyons we find Grosseteste executing various com missions with which he was entrusted by the pope ; urging on the archbishop of York the claims of the bishop of Cervia; endorsing and sending round the papal letter allowing Arch bishop Boniface the revenues of all benefices in his province that should fall vacant within the next seven years till 10,000 marks should be collected, in order to free the see from its debts; and insisting on the bishops paying the sub sidy demanded by the pope, in spite of the king s opposi tion. In this year (1245) he obtained a bull to prevent any of the Oxford scholars graduating in arts without passing through the usual examinations secundum morem Parisiensem, and without having been approved by the bishop himself or one appointed by him. In 1247 he delivered an address vindicating the genuineness of the relic (a portion of our Lord s blood) presented by the king to Westminster. His visitation of his diocese, especially of the monasteries in it, and his superintendence of the studies of Oxford, which went on without interruption during these years, while inducing others of the bishops to follow his example, were not accomplished without serious troubles, embroiling him even with the king. Thus, in 1250, his visitation having proved that many of the re ligious houses had converted to their own uses certain possessions which belonged to the parishes, which were thus impoverished and left without resident priests, he procured a papal letter authorizing him to revoke what they had thus obtained, citing all the beneficed monks in his diocese to hear the letter. Those who had exemptions appealed to the pope, and Grosseteste again crossed the sea to lay the case before him. But the gold of the religious orders had been at Lyons before him, and the pope sent him away from his presence in confusion, hopelessly exclaiming against the power of money at the Roman court. He was not, however, downhearted, but busied himself in other affairs, and delivered before the pope and certain cardinals his celebrated sermon on the abuses of the papal court. Here he stayed till the end of September, and then returned in sad plight to England, almost thinking of resigning his see in despair. But he soon recovered from this, and pursued his visitation of the monasteries with still greater vigour, so as to be accused by Matthew Paris of tyranny such as to make him be thought, &quot; not severe, but rather austere and inhuman.&quot; In 1251 he was suspended by the pope in consequence of his refusing to admit an Italian ignorant of English to a rich benefice in his diocese. The suspension was short, as he officiated at Hales this year, on the dedication of the church founded by Richard of Cornwall, his position among the bishops being shown by his celebrating mass at the high altar. In 1252 he obtained a papal letter authorizing the appointment of vicars, and their payment out of the revenues of their livings ; and in the same year his influ ence kept the bishops together in their resistance to the royal demands of a tenth of church revenues for three years granted by the pope, nominally for the king s necessities on his intended crusade. He had also this year a calculation made of the revenues of the foreigners in England, which amounted to more than 70,000 marks. In 1253 the pope ordered him to induct by provision his nephew Frederick di Lavagna into a canonry at Lincoln ; the bishop s answer to the requisition sent to the papal commissioners (the arch deacon of Canterbury, and Innocent, the pope s notary), though of less importance than many of his other letters, has done more to make his fame popular and permanent than any of his works. He is very decided in refusing to institute the candidate from his unfitness, at the same time that he expresses the utmost reverence for the pope and the Roman see. The letter made the pope very angry, and he was only quieted by the advice of the cardinals, who spoke in the highest terms of the bishop s character and position. Grosseteste was present at the parliament in May, when the violators of Magna Charta were again excommunicated; not content with this, he had the sentence read in every parish in the diocese of Lincoln. In October he fell ill at his manor of Buckden, where he died on October 9th. He was buried on October 13th in Lincoln Cathedral, the arch bishop performing the service and many other bishops assisting. Bells were said to have been heard in the air on the night of his death, and miracles to have taken place at his tomb. The pope is said to have expressed joy at his death, and to have desired to have his bones cast out of the church. The story of the pope s dream, that the bishop appeared to him and struck him in such a manner as to cause his death, shows what the popular estimation of the two was. It is perhaps not to be wondered at that the attempt to procure the canonization of the bishop in 1307 failed. How great the personal influence of Bishop Grosseteste was may be chiefly learnt from his letters : he was the instructor of the king (e.g., in one of his letters on the value of the royal anointing), the friend of the queen, the tutor of Simon de Montfort s sons, his warner and consoler at different times, the correspondent of Adam de Marisco, the referee of many as to spiritual difficulties. Of those who speak of him, one is especially struck by his courage, another by his universal knowledge, a third by his subtlety in interpreting scripture, a fourth by his frequent preaching. Even Matthew Paris, no favourable judge, warms into admiration in speaking of his character (Chron. Maj. v. p. 408). The popularity of Grosseteste as an author is proved by the number of manuscripts remaining of his works, and from the fact that very few writers for the two centuries following his death do not contain quotations from Lincolniensis. His determination to root out all abuses is seen in his opposition to unjust demands of the king or the archbishop, to unfit nominees of the pope, indeed to the whole system of papal provisions. That he was of a hasty temper, and harsh and severe at times, is true ; but no one ever more thoroughly tried to do his duty, probably few have effected more.