Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/69

 of their lives." The Pope denounced the secret society, and accused the Bishops of being members of it. The Archbishop of that time, Edmond Rich, was so disgusted at the king for allowing Rome to rob our Churches, that he at last resigned his See and spent the rest of his days in exile. What urged him especially to take this course was the order issued to the King by the legate of the Pope, that no Englishmen should be given any preferment before the king found three hundred benefices for the Romanists.

The spirit of opposition grew, and in the year 1245, a deputation, headed by Earl Bigod and several other barons, was sent to the Pope, to give him a description of their grievances, and to protest against his pretentions over England. These men complained, says Mr. Hore, "That the English benefices were held by foreigners, men who could not speak English, and were otherwise incapacitated: that Italians drew above 60,000 marks annually from the Church, a sum larger than the revenues of the crown; and that this, coupled with the non obstante clause in the bulls, was an intolerable imposition. What galled them most was the annual payment of the 1,000 marks covenanted by John. They said that it had been protested against from the first, and that neither their ancestors nor themselves would endure such a badge of slavery."

The deputation returned from Rome without receiving any redress. The national cry of woe increased. Even the king was compelled to join in it. He wrote to the Pope, saying that if he did not listen to his people's entreaties it would be unfortunate for himself as well as for his Court. Part