Roger of Wendover: Events and Incidents leading up to Constitutions

Roger of Wendover's Account

Extract from
Roger (of Wendover); Matthew Paris; John Allen Giles (1841). Roger of Wendover's Flowers of history: Comprising the history of England from the descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1235; formerly ascribed to Matthew Paris. H. G. Bohn. pp. 295–. 

Roger of Wendover's Flowers of History p. 537

Secunda perturbatio contra Thomam, Cantuariensem archiepiscopum. 

Anno Domini MCLXIII. rex Anglorum Henricus, finibus transmarinis pro voluntate dispositis, in Angliam rediit, et Thomas, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, illi obviam veniens in osculum receptas est, sed non in gratiae plenitudinem, sicut ipsius regis vultus statim aversus omnibus qui aderant patenter ostendit. Eodem anno, rege Anglorum ad hoc instante et Alexandro papa id concedente, Gilebertus, Herfordensis episcopus, ad sedem ecclesiae Londoniensis translatus est, et quarto kalendas Maii in illa cathedra solemniter introductus. Eodem anno Robertus Muntfort, cum Henrico de Essexia de proditione regis singulari certamine congrediens, victoriam reportavit; qua de causa Henricus notam infamiae simul et exhaereditationis jacturam incurrens, indulgentia pii regis, apud Radingum habitum monachilem suscepit. Hoc etiam anno Thomas, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, ad instantissimam regis petitionem archidiaconatum Cantuariensem dedit Gaufrido Ridel, clerico suo; sed gratiam regis sibi prius subtractam non plene redintegratam cognovit. Apparuit autem prima regis perturbatio contra Thomam archiepiscopum cum sigillum regi resignavit; secunda, cum regi de partibus transmarinis venienti occurrens receptus est in osculum, et non in gratiae plenitudinem; tertia in hoc loco, cum archidiaconatum ad ejus petitionem contulit, nec tamen gratiam ejus sibi redintegratam cognovit. Eodem anno Clarenbaldus, sancti Augustini electus, benedictionem a Thoma, Cantuariensi archiepiscopo, accipere quaerebat; sed in sua ecclesia et sine processione, spe cujusvis subjectionis adempta. 3Consensit autem rex electo, consuetudines antiquas in regno stare persuadens et Ad. ne3. archiepiscopo praedicta exigenti adversans; et in hoc loco quarto apparuit perturbatio regis contra ipsum. Eodem anno facta est inquisitio generalis per Angliam, cui quis in servitio seculari de jure obnoxius teneretur; inventum est in Cantiae provincia, quod 'Willelmus de Ros in munere quolibet subeundo regem deberet agnoscere et non archiepiscopum, et sic odium personae in damnum ecclesiae redundavit; et hic quinto loco apparuit perturbatio regis contra illum. Sexto apparuit, cum archiepiscopus vacantem ecclesiam de Ainesford cuidam Laurentio contulit; sed Willelmus, villae dominus, sibi jus vendicans patronatus Laurentium expulit, pro quo facto archiepiscopus Willelmum excommunicavit; quod, quia rege minime certiorato fecisset, maximam ejus indignationem incurrit. Asserit enim rex, juxta dignitatem regni sui, quod nullus, qui de rege in capite teneat, vel minister ejus, citra illius conscientiam sit excommunicandus ab aliquo, ne, si hoc regem lateat, lapsus ignorantia communicet excommunicato, comitem vel baronem ad se venientem in osculo vel consilio admittat. Septimo apparuit, cum idem rex nuntios ad curiam Romanam misisset, ut consuetudines regni confirmaret, ubi in aliquo profecisset; nuntii reversi animum regis contra archiepiscopum et alios exasperatum non poterant mitigare.

Quod papa Alexander concilium Turonis congregavit.

Eodem anno papa Alexander Turonis concilium congregavit in ecclesia sancti Mauricii duodecimo kalendas Junii; ad cujus vocationem, permissione regis Angliae, venerunt archiepiscopi, episcopi et alii Angliae praelati, Thomas, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, cum suis suffraganeis, et ad dexteram papae in concilio sedit, et archiepiscopus Eboracensis Rogerus ad sinistram, cum solo episcopo Dunelmensi. Eodem anno rex Malcolmus Scotorum et Resus princeps Demetiae, id est Australium Wallensium, cum aliis regibus et majoribus Cambriae, kalendis Julii apud Wodestoke fecerunt homagium regi Anglorum et Henrico filio ejus. Ipso etiam anno Rogerus, comes Clarensis, a Thoma, Cantuariensi archiepiscopo, apud Westmonasterium vocatus ad faciendum sibi homagium de castello Tunebregge et pertinentiis ejus, contradixit ei comes instinctu regis, dicens, feodum illud totum in servitio laicali ad regem potius quam ad archiepiscopum pertinere; et hic loco octavo apparuit regis perturbatio adversus archiepiscopum Cantuariensem.

Translation by J.A. Giles
Extract from
Roger (of Wendover); Matthew Paris (1849). Roger of Wendover's Flowers of history: Comprising the history of England from the descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1235; formerly ascribed to Matthew Paris. H. G. Bohn. pp. 537–.


Of the second cause of offence against Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury.

A. D. 1163. Henry king of England, having settled his affairs beyond the sea, returned to England, and Thomas, the archbishop of Canterbury, coming to meet him, was received with the usual kiss, but not into full favour, as was evident to all who were present by the king's turning away from him his face. The same year, at the instance of the king, and with the pope's consent, Gilbert bishop of Hereford was translated to the see of London, and solemnly enthroned in that church on the 28th of April. Also Robert de Montfort vanquished Henry of Essex in a single combat, on a charge of treason to the king: and Henry, who by this defeat rendered himself liable to degradation and forfeiture, was allowed, by the king's indulgence, to take the monastic habit in Reading abbey. This year, also, archbishop Thomas, at the urgent request of the king, made his clerk, Geoffrey Ridel, archdeacon of Canterbury; but he plainly saw that the king's favour was not fully restored to him. The first offence was taken when he resigned the king's seal; the second manifestation of coldness was when the archbishop was received with the kiss as usual, but not into full favour. It now appeared, for the third time, when the archbishop gave the archdeaconry as the king requested, but perceived, at the same time, that the royal favour was not fully restored. The same year Clarenbald, abbat elect of St. Augustine's, endeavoured to obtain the usual benediction from the archbishop, but in his own abbey church, and without a procession, seeking by these means to withdraw himself from subjection to the archbishop. The king consented to these wishes of the abbat-elect, urging that the ancient customs of the kingdom should be preserved, and thus he opposed the archbishop, which was the next occasion of offence taken against him. This year, also, there was a general inquisition into the feudal tenures throughout England; and it was found that in the province of Kent, that William de Roos, in the discharge of a certain service, ought to recognize the king, and not the archbishop as his superior. This personal enmity became detrimental to the church; and this was the fifth occasion of offence with the archbishop. A sixth showed itself, when the archbishop bestowed the vacant church of Eynsford on one Laurence: but William, the lord of the village, claimed the patronage of the church, and expelled Laurence, for which he was excommunicated by the archbishop. This was done without consulting the king, who consequently was much offended at the proceeding; for he claimed as one of his royal dignities, that no tenant in chief or his minister, should be excommunicated without his own privity, lest he might communicate unknowingly with an excommunicated person, either earl or baron, and admit him to the kiss or to his council. A seventh manifestation of the king's anger appeared after he had sent ambassadors to Rome to obtain confirmation of the customs of the kingdom ; and the ambassadors, on their return, could not pacify the king's mind towards either the archbishop or several other persons. 

How pope Alexander convoked a council at Tours. 

The same year pope Alexander convoked a council at Tours, in the church of St. Martin's, on the 21st of May; at which council, by permission of the king of England, were present many English bishops and prelates. Archbishop Thomas, also, was there with his suffragans, and sat at the pope's right hand, whilst Roger, archbishop of York, with the bishop of Durham, sat at his left. The same year, Malcolm king of Scots, and Rees prince of Demetia, i. e., South Wales, with other kings and nobles of Cambria, did homage on the first day of June to king Henry and his son prince Henry, at Woodstock. Moreover, Roger earl ot Clare was summoned to do homage to archbishop Thomas at Westminster, for his castle of Tunbridge and its appurtenances; but, by the king's instigation, he refused, saying that all the fee of that castle was held by lay-service of the king, and not of the archbishop. This was the eighth cause of enmity between the king and the archbishop of Canterbury.