816 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
of Lincoln when a lad, and afterwards transferred to York. Among the men of humble birth who rose to high est ecclesiastical rank were Edmund Rich and Robert Kilwardby.
The honors of canonization were reached by Hugh of Lincoln, Rich of Canterbury, and Richard of Wyche, bishop of Chichester, not to speak of Anselm and Thomas a Becket. The cases of proud and warring prelates were numerous, and the custom whereby bishops held the chief offices at the court was not adapted to develope the religious virtues. Richard Flambard, bishop of Durham under William Rufus, Hugh, bishop of Lichfield, 1188-1195, and Peter des Roches of Winchester, 1205-1238, supporter of John, are among the more flagrant examples of prelates who brought no virtues to their office and learned none. William Longchamp, bishop of Ely and favorite of Richard I., was followed by a retinue of 1000 men.1 The council of London, 1237, pre sided over by the cardinal legate, Otho, reminded the bish ops of their duty to " sow the word of life in the field of the Lord." And, lest they should forget their responsibilities, they were to listen twice a year to the reading of their oath of consecration.
The English chapters were divided almost equally be tween the two classes of clergy, monks and seculars. To the former class belonged Canterbury, Winchester, Dur ham, Norwich, Coventry, Rochester, Worcester, Ely, and Bath. The chapters of York, London, Exeter, Lichfield, Wells, Hereford, Lincoln, Salisbury, Llandaff, St. Asaph, St. David's, and Chichester were made up of secular clergy. As the chapters asserted the rights of distinct corporations, their estates were treated as distinct from those of the bishop. It not infrequently happened that the bishop lost all influence in his chapter. The dean, in case the canons were seculars, and the prior, in case they were monks, actu-
1 Hurter, III. 331 sqq., speaks of the English bishops in the time of Inno cent III. as most corrupt. Stubbs, III. 327 sq. , finds it to the credit of the bishops that there were so few instances of " removal from their sees for any penal reason,"
§ 128. CHUKCH AND CLERGY IN ENGLAND. 817
ally supplanted the bishop in the control of the cathedral when the bishop and canons were hostile to each other. The Fourth Lateran, however, recognized the superior right of the bishop to enter the church and conduct the service. The Third Lateran ordered questions in the chapter settled by a majority vote, no matter what the traditional customs had been.
The pope and the English sovereign vied with one another in appropriating the revenues of the English Church, though it is probable the pope outdid the king. In William Rufus' reign, a high ecclesiastic was no sooner dead than a royal clerk took inventory of his goods and rents, and appro priated them for the crown. The evil was so great in Ste phen's reign that the saying ran that " Christ and his saints slept." Sees were kept vacant that the crown might se quester their revenues. The principle of taxing ecclesias tical property cannot awaken just criticism. Levies for military equipment on the basis of scutage go back into the Saxon period. In the latter half of the twelfth century a new system came into vogue, and a sum of money was sub stituted. The first levy 011 the moveables of the clergy in cluding tithes and offerings, called the spiritually seems to have been made in 1188 by Henry II. This was the famous Saladin tax intended for use against the Turks.1 For the ransom of Richard I. even the sacred vessels and books of the clergy were taxed. Under John the taxation was on an elaborate scale, but it became even more exacting under Henry III., 1216-1272. In 1294 Edward I. threatened to outlaw the clergy if they refused to grant him a half of their revenues for his war with France. The dean of St. Paul's remonstrated with the king for this unheard-of demand, and fell dead from the shock which the exhibition of the king's wrath made upon him. Unwilling as the clergy may have been to pay these levies, it is said they seldom refused a tenth when parliament voted its just share. The taxes for crusades were made directly by the popes, and also
i Stubbs, II. 180. So