THE INTERDICT AND SUBMISSION OF JOHN TO THE POPE - SUBMISSION Of KING JOHN TO THE POPE
Roger of Wendover, of the abbey of St. Albans, wrote from 1188 to 1235
Pope Innocent III nominated Stephen Langton archbishop of Canterbury, John refused to accept Langton. and the result was a long conflict with the papacy, ending in John's submission . The Interdict was a Papal decree depriving the country of the usual services of the Church.
In the same year pope Innocent, on learning that king John's heart was so hardened that he would not either by
persuasion or threats be induced to consent to receive Stephen as archbishop of Canterbury, was touched to the
heart with grief. By advice of his cardinals he sent orders to William bishop of London, Eustace bishop of Ely,
and Mauger bishop of Winchester, to go to the said king, about the matter of the church of Canterbury, and to give
him wholesome counsel to yield to God in this matter, and so secure the Lord's favour : but if they found him contumacious
and rebellious as he had hitherto been, he ordered them to lay an interdict on the whole kingdom of England, and
to denounce to the said king that, if he did not check his boldness by that means, he, the Pope, would lay his
hand on him still more heavily since it was necessary for Him to conquer, who for the safety of the Holy Church
had made war on the devil and his angels, and despoiled the cloisters of hell, He also, by letters of the apostolic
see, gave orders to the suffragan bishops of the church of Canterbury, and to time other prelates of that diocese,
that by virtue of their obedience, they were to receive the aforesaid archbishop as their father and pastor, and
were to obey him with all due affection.
The bishop. of London, Ely, and Winchester, in execution of the legateship entrusted to them, went to king John,
and after duly setting forth the apostolic commands, entreated of him humbly and with tears, that he, having God
in his sight, would recall the archbishop and the monks of Canterbury to their church, and honour and love them
with perfect affection ; and they informed him that thus he would avoid the shame of an interdict, and the Disposer
of rewards would, if he did so, multiply his temporal honours on him, and after his death would bestow lasting
glory on him. When the said bishops wished, out of regard to the king, to prolong the discourse, the king became
nearly mad with rage, and broke forth in words of blasphemy against the Pope and his cardinals, swearing by God's
teeth, that, if they or any other priests so ever presumptuously dared to lay his dominions under an interdict,
he would immediately send all the prelates out of England, clerks as well as ordained persons, to the Pope, and
confiscate all their property. He added moreover, that all the clerks of Rome or of the Pope himself who could
be found in England or in his other territories, he would send to Rome with their eyes plucked out, and their noses
slit, that by these marks they might he known there from other people. In addition to this he plainly ordered the
bishops to take themselves quickly from his sight, if they wished to keep their bodies free from harm. The bishops
then, not finding any repentance in the king, departed; and, in the Lent following, fearlessly fulfilled the duty
required of them by the Pope, and accordingly on the morning of Monday in Passion week, which that year fell on
the 23rd of March, they laid a general interdict on the whole of England ; which since it was expressed to be by
authority of our lord the Pope, was inviolably observed by all without regard to person or privileges. Therefore,
all church services ceased to be performed in England, with the exception only of confession, and the viaticum
in cases of extremity, and the baptism of children ; the bodies of the dead, too, were carried out of towns and
cities, and buried in roads and ditches without prayers or the attendance of priests. What need I say more? The
bishops, William of London, Eustace of Ely, Mauger of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath, and Giles of Hereford, left
England privily, thinking it better to avoid the anger of the enraged king for a time, than to dwell without any
good effects in a country which lay under an interdict.
The king of England being greatly enraged on account of the interdict, sent his sheriff, and other ministers of
iniquity, to all quarters of England, giving orders with dreadful threats to all priests, as well as to those subject
to them, to depart the kingdom immediately and to demand justice to be afforded him by the Pope for this injury.
He also gave all the bishoprics, abbacies, and priories, into the charge of laymen, and ordered all ecclesiastical
revenues to be confiscated. But the generality of the prelates of England had cautiously turned their attention
to this, and refused to quit their monasteries unless expelled by violence. And when the agents of the king found
this out, they would not use violence towards them, because they had not a warrant from the king to that effect;
but they converted all their property to the king's use, giving them only a scanty allowance of food and clothing
out of their own property. The corn of the clergy was everywhere locked up, and distrained for the benefit of
the revenue ; the concubines of the priests and clerks were taken by the king's servants and compelled to ransom
themselves at a great expense; religious men and other ordained persons of any kind, when found travelling on the
road, were dragged from their horses, robbed, and basely ill-treated by the satellites of the king, and no one
would do them justice. About that time the servants of a certain sheriff on the confines of Wales came to the king
bringing in their custody a robber with his hands tied behind him, who had robbed and murdered a priest on the
road; and on their asking the king what was his pleasure should be done to the robber in such a case, the king
immediately answered, " He has slain an enemy of mine, release him and let him go " The relations, too,
of the archbishop and bishops who had laid England under an interdict, wherever they could be found, were by the
king's orders, taken, robbed of all their property, and thrown into prison. Whilst they were enduring all these
evils, the aforesaid prelates were sojourning on the continent, living on all kinds of delicacies instead of placing
themselves as a wall for the house of God, as the saying of the Redeemer has it, "When they saw the wolf coming,
they quitted the sheep and fled."
SUBMISSION Of KING JOHN TO THE POPE
About this time there dwelt in the county of York a certain hermit named Peter, who was considered a wise man, on account of his having foretold to a number of people many circumstances which were about to happen. Amongst other things which, in his spirit of prophecy, he had seen concerning John the English king, he openly and before all declared, that he would not be a king on the next approaching Ascension-day, nor afterwards ; for he foretold that on that day the crown of England would be transferred to another. This assertion coming to the king's knowledge, the hermit was, by his orders, brought before him ; and the king asked him if he should die on that day, or how he would be deprived of the throne of the kingdom. The hermit replied, "Rest assured that on the aforesaid day you will not be a king; and if I am proved to have told a lie, do what you will with me." The king then said to him, "Be it as you say"; and he then delivered the hermit into the custody of William d'Harcourt, who loaded him with chains, and kept him imprisoned at Corfe to await the event of his prophecy. This declaration of the hermit was soon spread abroad even to the most remote provinces, so that almost all who heard it put faith in his words as though his prediction had been declared from heaven. There were at this time in the kingdom of England many nobles, whose wives and daughters the king had violated, to the indignation of their husbands and fathers ; others whom he had by unjust exactions reduced to the extreme of poverty some whose parents and kindred he had exiled, converting their inheritances to his own uses; thus the said king's enemies were as numerous as his nobles. Therefore at this crisis, on learning that they were absolved from their allegiance to John, they were much pleased, and, if report is to be credited, they sent a paper, sealed with the seals of each of the said nobles, to the king of the French, telling that he might safely come to England, take possession of the kingdom, and be crowned with all honour and dignity.
About this time Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops William of London and Eustace of Ely, went to
Rome and informed the Pope of the divers rebellions and enormities perpetrated by the king of England from the
time of the interdict up to the present time, by unceasingly laying the hands of rage and cruelty on the Holy Church
in opposition to the Lord; and they therefore humbly supplicated the Pope in his pious compassion to assist the
Church of England, now labouring as it were in its last extremities. The Pope then being deeply grieved for the
desolation of the kingdom of England, by the advice of his cardinals, bishops, and other wise men, definitely decreed
that John king of England should be deposed from the throne of that kingdom, and that another, more worthy than
he, to be chosen by the Pope, should succeed him. In pursuance of this his decree, our lord the Pope wrote to the
most potent Philip, king of the French, ordering him, in remission of all his faults, to undertake this business,
and declaring that, after he had expelled the English king from the throne of that kingdom, he and his successors
should hold possession of the kingdom of England for ever.
Besides this, he wrote to all the nobles and knights, and other warlike men throughout the different countries,
ordering them to assume the badge of the Cross, and to follow the king of the French as their leader, to dethrone
the English king, and thus to avenge the insult which had been cast on the Church Universal ; he also ordered that
all those who afforded money or personal assistance in overthrowing that contumacious king, should, like those
who went to visit the Lord's sepulchre, remain secure under the protection of the Church, as regarded their property,
persons, and spiritual interests. After this the Pope, on his part, sent Pandulph, a sub-deacon, with the archbishop
and bishops above named, into the French provinces, that in his own presence all his commands above related might
be fulfilled. Pandulph, however, on leaving the Pope, when all others were away from him, secretly inquired of
his Holiness what it was his pleasure should be done, if by chance he should find any of the fruits of repentance
in John, so that he would give satisfaction to the Lord and the Church of Rome for all matters in regard of this
business. The Pope then dictated a simple form of peace, and said that if John determined to agree to it, he might
find favour with the apostolic see.
Whilst the English king was with his army waiting the approach of the king of the French near the seacoast, two
of the brothers of the Temple arrived at Dover, and coming to the king in a friendly manner said to him, "We
have been sent to you, most potent king, for the benefit of yourself and your kingdom, by Pandulph the sub-deacon
and familiar of our lord the Pope, who desires to have an interview with you ; and he will propose to you a form
of peace, by which you can be reconciled to God and to the church, although you have by the court of Rome been
deposed from your right to the sovereignty of England, and have been condemned by decree of that court." The
king then, on hearing this speech of the Templars ordered them immediately to cross the sea and fetch Pandulph
to him. Pandulph therefore, on this invitation of the king, came to him at Dover, and spoke to him in these words;
"Behold, the most potent king of the French is at the month of the Seine with a countless fleet, and a large
army of horse and foot, waiting till he is strengthened with a larger force, to come upon you and your kingdom,
and to expel you from it by force, as an enemy to the Lord and the supreme pontiff, and afterwards, by authority
of the apostolic see to take possession of the kingdom of England for ever. There are also coming with him all
the bishops who have for a long while been banished from England, with the exiled clergy and laity, by his assistance
to recover by force their episcopal sees and other property, and to fulfill to him for the future the obedience
formerly shewn to you and your ancestors. The said king moreover says that he holds papers of fealty and subjection
from almost all the nobles of England, on which account he feels secure of bringing the business he has undertaken
to a most successful termination. Consult therefore your own advantage, and become penitent as if you were in your
last moments, and delay not to appease God whom you have provoked to a heavy vengeance. If you are willing to give
sufficient security that you will submit yourself before Him who humbled himself for you, you may, through the
compassion of the apostolic see, recover the sovereignty, from which you have been abjudicated at Rome on account
of your contumacy. Now therefore reflect, lest your enemies shall have cause to rejoice over you, and bring not
yourself into difficulties, from which, however you may wish to do so, you will not be able to extricate yourself."
King John hearing and seeing the truth of all this was much annoyed and alarmed, seeing how imminent the danger
was on every side. There were four principal reasons, which urged him to repentance and atonement; the first was
that he had been now for five years lying under excommunication, and had so offended God and Holy Church, that
he gave up all hopes of saving his soul; the second was, that he dreaded the arrival of the French king, who was
waiting near the sea-coast with a countless army, and planning his downfall ; the third was, he feared, should
he give battle to his approaching enemies, lest he should be abandoned to himself in the field by the nobles of
England and his own people, or be given up to his enemies for destruction ; but his fourth reason alarmed him more
than all the rest, for the day of our Lord's Ascension was drawing near, when he feared that, according to the
prophecy of the hermit Peter mentioned above, he should with his life lose the temporal as well as the eternal
kingdom. Being therefore driven to despair by these and the like reasons, he yielded to the persuasions of Pandulph,
and, although not without pain, he granted the form of peace; he also swore by the holy gospels in the presence
of Pandulph, that he would be obedient to the church's sentence, and sixteen of the most powerful nobles of the
kingdom swore on the soul of the king himself, that, should he repent of his promise they would, to the utmost
of their power, compel him to fulfill it ......
Matters having thus been arranged on the fifteenth of May, which was the eve of Ascension-day, the English king
and Pandulph, with the nobles of the kingdom, met at the house of the Knights Templars near Dover, and there the
said king, according to a decree pronounced at Rome, resigned his crown, with the kingdoms of England and Ireland,
into the hands of our lord the Pope, whose functions the said Pandulph was then performing. After having resigned
them then he gave the aforesaid kingdoms to the Pope and his successors, and confirmed them to the latter by charter.
This charter of the king's, having been reduced to writing, he delivered it to Pandulph to be taken to Pope lnnocent,
and immediately afterwards in the sight of all he made the underwritten homage: "I John, by the grace of God,
king of England and lord of Ireland, will, from this time as formerly, be faithful to God, St. Peter, the Church
of Rome, and to my liege lord Pope Innocent and his Catholic successors I will not act, speak, or consent to, or
advise, anything by which they may lose life or limb, or be exposed to caption by treachery ; I will prevent damage
to them if I am aware of it ; and, if in my power, will repair it; or else I will inform them as soon as it is
in my power so to do, or will tell it to such persons as I believe will be sure to inform them of it; any purpose
which they may entrust to me themselves, or by their messengers or letters, I will keep secret, and, if I know
of it, will not disclose it to any one to their injury I will assist in holding and defending the inheritance of
St. Peter, and particularly the kingdoms of England and Ireland, against all men, to the utmost of my power. So
may God and the holy gospel help me, Amen." This happened as we said before, on the eve of Ascension-day,
in the presence of the bishops, earls, and other nobles. The day of our Lord's Ascension on the morrow was looked
for with mistrust, not only by the king, but by all others, as well absent as present, on account of the assertions
of the hermit Peter, who, as was stated before, had prophesied to John that he would not be a king on Ascension-day
or afterwards. But after he had passed the prefixed day, and continued safe and in health, the king ordered the
aforesaid Peter, who was detained a prisoner in Corfe Castle, to be tied to a horse's tail at the town of Wareham,
dragged through the streets of the town, and afterwards hanged on a gibbet, together with his son. To many it did
not seem that he deserved to be punished by such a cruel death for declaring the truth for if the circumstances
stated above to have happened be thoroughly considered, it will be proved that he did not tell a falsehood.
