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 was not subject to the see of Rome, and that, according to the current ideas of that time, the position of her Church was schismatical and heretical.

Henry, though not overburdened with religion, was fully alive to the advantage of the Church's sanction. It was by the interposition of the Church that he had been raised to the throne; for it was the Archbishop of Canterbury who arranged the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford, whereby it was agreed that Stephen was to hold the throne for his life, but the succession was to be secured to Henry. A trusty messenger, therefore, laid his designs concerning Ireland before the Pope, who, by a strange coincidence, happened to be the first and last Englishman that ever occupied the papal chair. The result was that a Bull was issued authorizing the conquest, recognizing that to subjugate Ireland would be to 'widen the boundaries of the Church,' claiming that Ireland belongs of right to the Holy See, simply because it is an island, and reserving an annual tribute of one penny for every house in the country.

No sooner had this Bull been received than Henry brought the subject forward at the Council of Winchester, proposing that an expedition should set out, and that the kingdom should be conquered and handed over to his brother, William of Anjou. The opposition which the king received caused him to relinquish the project for a time; and soon other concerns so fully occupied his attention that it seemed as if the authorization he had obtained would never be utilized.

At length an opportunity presented itself, arising from the disputes among the Irish leaders themselves. Dermot, King of Leinster, had drawn upon himself the enmity of Tiernan, Prince of Breffni. The chief King of Ireland took up the prince's quarrel, and in