VI. Worcester bishop of York. rance. Lord Chancellor de Gray now bartered his office for prefer- CHAP. ment in the Church. He was first elected Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, but some obstacle arising about his consecration, De Gray, he never was in possession of this see. In 1214, however, Bishop of he became Bishop of Worcester. He finally reached the dig- and Archnity of Archbishop of York, not without difficulty, for the Chapter long refused to elect him on the ground that he was "minus sufficiens in literaturâ," notwithstanding that he had studied at the University of Oxford, and for some years filled the office of Lord Chancellor. His election being at His ignolast carried, he could not for some time obtain consecration from the Pope, who again urged the objection of " crassa ignorantia." This was hardly denied; but the topic relied upon in answer was his virgin chastity amidst the general profligacy of churchmen. Still the scruples of His Holiness could not be overcome without an exacted present of 10007. sterling. This is said to have compelled the Archbishop to lead, for some time, a very mean and penurious life, and unjustly to incur the censure of covetousness; but having His death reached extreme old age, and been Archbishop forty years, he not only contributed much to the ornamenting of the cathedral, but he annexed the manor of Thorpe, in Yorkshire, to the archiepiscopal see, and bought York Place, in Westminster, of the Dominicans, which remained the town residence of his successors till it was made over, by Cardinal Wolsey, to Henry VIII. and cha racter. DE MA The next Chancellor after Walter de Gray, was RICHARD A. D. 1212. DE MARISCO*, Dean of Salisbury, Archdeacon of North- RICHARD umberland, and afterwards Bishop of Durham, who twice held the office. His first Chancellorship ceased in about a year, when the King going into Poitou, Peter de Rupibus, Bishop Henry II., notwithstanding the release of Richard I. of any such claim, utterly forget that, according to their reasoning, there is much more ground for contending that England is now subject to the Pope of Rome as superior; for this superiority was solemnly yielded by the king and the legislature; not only King John, but King Henry III. did homage to the pope as liege lord; the stipulated tribute or render as the badge of dependence was paid for ages, even by such a prince as Edward I.,- and there has never at any time been a renunciation of the claim by the court of Rome. Rot. Cart. 16 John, m. 7. RISCO, CHAP. VI. 29th Dec. 1213. June 19. of Winchester, was appointed Chief Justiciary and Regent, and the Great Seal was delivered to be held under him to Ralph de Neville. * The King soon returned to England, and continuing his tyrannical and oppressive measures, the insurrection of the Barons took place, which ended in their obtaining Magna Charta. No one witnesses it as Chancellor, and it does not clearly appear in whose keeping the Great Seal then was, there being no farther entry in the records on the subject during the rest of this reign; but there is great reason to believe that it remained in the hands of Ralph de Neville,— the Nevilles, already a powerful family, taking part with the king, and Hugh de Neville being mentioned among the barons who appeared on his side at Runnymede.† Whoever might then be Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal, he had nothing to do with the framing of Magna Charta. There was no negotiation as to terms. Archbishop Langton and the insurgent barons dictated whatever clauses they deemed desirable; and it is considered a great proof of their moderation and wisdom, that they merely guarded against abuses, and introduced useful reforms, without touching on the essential prerogatives of the Crown. The Bishop of Winchester and the Bishop of Worcester, who had been the King's Chief Justiciary and Chancellor, certainly were with him at Runnymede, and one of them might have acted as Chancellor on this occasion. At all events, the Great Seal was in due form affixed either by the King personally, or by some one under his authority, not only to the original, but to various copies of the Great Charter, as well as of the Charta de Foresta (hardly of less consequence to the community), and these were sent to archbishops, bishops, and priors to be safely kept in perpetuam rei memoriam. ‡ From this time till his death, John could scarcely have Nono die Octobris anno regni Domini Regis quinto decimo, liberavit Magister Ricardus de Marisco, Archidiaconus Richemundiæ et Northumbriæ Domino Regi sigillum apud Ospreng. Vicesimo secundo die Decembris liberatum fuit sigillum apud Windlesor Radulpho de Nevill sub Domino Wintoniensi Episcopo deferendum. Pat. 15 J. m. 8. n. 28. m. 6. n. 18. This was after the famous fine paid by his wife to the king, of 200 hens, that she might be allowed to sleep with him one might. Madd. Exch. 326. 4 Inst. Proeme. Some of them are still extant. CHAP. VI. Death of A. D. 1216. had any counsellors near him, and he seems merely to have acted according to the impulses of his own capricious mind; all regular government must have been at an end, and the administration of justice entirely suspended. We may, there- King John. fore, consider the office of Chancellor as in abeyance till the autumn of the following year, when John, after a long agony of body and spirit, closed his wicked and disgraceful career. The Chancellors during this reign did nothing to be entitled to the gratitude of posterity, and were not unworthy of the master whom they served. The guardians of law were the feudal barons, assisted by some enlightened churchmen, and by their efforts the doctrine of resistance to lawless tyranny was fully established in England, and the rights of all classes of the people were defined and consolidated. of statute We here reach a remarkable æra in our constitutional Beginning history. National councils had met from the most remote law. times; but to the end of this reign their acts not being preserved are supposed to form a part of the lex non scripta, or common law. Now begins the distinction between common and statute law, and henceforth we can distinctly trace the changes which our juridical system has undergone. These changes were generally introduced by the Chancellor for the time being; and I shall hereafter consider it my duty to notice them in each successive reign. CHAPTER VII. CHANCELLORS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY III. TILL THE AP- CHAP. Hen. 3. HENRY III. on his accession, being still a child, the valiant Earl of Pembroke, who had held the office of Mareschal at the conclusion of the late reign, was elected Protector with royal authority, and he appointed RICHARD DE MARISCO Chancellor.* The conduct of these two men was wise and Confirma- conciliatory. They immediately summoned a parliament, in which the Great Charter, with a few alterations, was confirmed in the name of the infant sovereign. tion of the Great Charter. Ralph de Neville, Vice-chancellor. In the third year of his reign, an act was passed that no charter or letters patent of confirmation, alienation, sale or grant of any thing in perpetuity, should be sealed with the King's Great Seal until his full age; and that if any such were sealed with that seal they should be void. In the ninth year of his reign the Great Charter was again confirmed, as it now appears at the head of the statute law of England. De Marisco had for his Vice-chancellor Ralph de Neville, an ambitious and unprincipled man, who was constantly intriguing against him, and finally supplanted him. In the year 1226 a national council was held at Oxford, at which, contrary to the advice of the Chancellor, and by the instigation of Hubert de Burgh and De Neville, the King, after declaring himself resolved to take the management of public affairs into his own hands, cancelled and annulled the Great Charter, and the Charter of the Forest, which he had previously confirmed and directed to be observed throughout the kingdom, now alleging that they were invalid, having been granted during his minority, when there was no power Pat. Rol. 3 H. 3. m. 14. Spel. Gloss. 100. Or. Jur. 8. in his own person or his seal to infringe the prerogatives of CHAP. the Crown. This was followed up by another arbitrary act, with a view to fill the treasury, for which a precedent in Richard's reign was cited. All persons enjoying liberties and privileges were required to take a fresh grant under the Great Seal, the King being now of age, and they were compelled to pay for these renewals according to the extortionate discretion of the Justiciary and the Vice-chancellor, who were the authors of the measure. - VII. duct of Neville. remonstrance The insolence of Vice-chancellor Neville, backed by MisconHubert de Burgh, who was now rising rapidly to the uncon- Vice-chantrolled power he afterwards possessed, grew to such a pitch, cellor De that he entirely superseded De Marisco in all his functions, and in writing to him styled him merely "Bishop of Durham," without deigning to give him his title of " Chancellor." This conduct drew forth the following reprimand: "Richard, by the grace of God Bishop of Durham, Chan- Letter of cellor of our Lord the King, to his beloved Ralph de Neville, Dean of Lichfield, greeting. It is marvellous in our eyes, and it must be a subject of general astonishment, that in your to the Viceletters you have omitted to address us by the title of "Chan- chancellor. cellor," since you must be well aware that we were solemnly appointed to that office, and that by God's grace we are still resolved to enjoy its powers and pre-eminence, the attempts of our enemies recoiling upon themselves, and in no respect shaking our constancy. However much they may strive to partition me, I am resolved to remain entire. "Know, that in letters with which I have been lately favoured from our lord the Pope and several of his cardinals, they have all saluted me by the title which you suppress, and you are bound to follow, or rather to worship their footsteps. "Be advised then by me for the future to act a discreeter part, and having a proper respect for others when you write to them, give them the appellations of honour to which they are entitled. Reverence for the law requires that every one should be called by the name of his dignity, and that even Accius the poet at supper, being called by his right name, should have no cause to complain of being ill used. from the Chancellor |