ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



A man of ability but of unscrupulous character, he had taken an evil part in 

 public affairs in the days of John, and was for a long time an exile from the 

 kingdom.^ In 1228, after the death of Archbishop Langton, he returned and 

 gained the favour of Henry III,^ who made him treasurer of the Exchequer, 

 and afterwards deputy-treasurer of the kingdom.' About 1244 the king 

 made him justice of the forests, an office that he exercised with the greatest 

 severity.* Although Passelew was not in priest's orders, the king conferred 

 on him a prebend of St. Paul's and the archdeaconry of Lewes, as well as 

 certain minor preferments. But Henry met his match when he endeavoured 

 to increase his favourite's income at the expense of the Church in the diocese 

 of Bishop Grossetete. He presented Passelew to the rectory of St. Peter's, 

 Northampton, which, in conjunction with Kingsthorpe and Upton, was at 

 that time a valuable piece of preferment. The bishop refused to institute 

 Passelew, stating that it would be contrary to divine law and canonical sanc- 

 tion to institute one who exercised the functions of a forest judge.' In a letter 

 to Archbishop Boniface, he explained that as a justice of the royal forests 

 Passelew judicially inquired into thefts of vert and venison, caused those 

 branded with such charges to be arrested and imprisoned, and sentenced not 

 only laymen but clerks, besides discharging other functions of that office ; 

 that Passelew had been frequently but fruitlessly warned by him (presumably 

 after the presentation to St. Peter's) to cease from exercising such an office ; 

 and that the refusal to institute was grounded upon Passelew's illicit exercise 

 thereof, as well as upon other objections not specified.* Grossetete's action 

 was all the bolder, because Passelew had been presented in the time of this 

 bishop's predecessor to two other rectories in Lincoln diocese — Swanbourne, 

 Buckinghamshire, in 1218, and Brampton, Northamptonshire, in 1231.^ 

 Shortly before this rebuff to the king the canons of Chichester, partly because 

 they knew such a step would win the royal favour, elected Passelew as their 

 bishop, but Grossetete was able to defeat their intention. The election of 

 Passelew came before the bishops, and they deputed Grossetete to examine 

 him. Passelew had to submit to examination, and the sturdy bishop of 

 Lincoln reported that he was too ignorant for the episcopate.' The king 

 was indignant and appealed to Rome for his consecration,' but Innocent IV 

 eventually consecrated Richard de Wych, whom the bishops had put forward 

 without asking the king's consent.^" 



Bishop Grossetete was as bold against papal as against royal encroach- 

 ments, and the well-known instance of his rejecting for preferment the 

 nephew of the pope " is often cited. His register, however, shows that he 

 could not always keep foreigners out of the benefices of his diocese ; and it 

 must be remembered, too, that his vigour in this direction was less marked 

 during the earlier portion of his episcopate than it became toward the end. 

 Giles de Spoleto, described as clerk of the papal legate, was instituted to the 



' Arm. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 89 ; Walter of Coventry (Rolls Ser.), ii, 262-3 ! Matt. Paris, Chrtm. Maj. 

 (Rolls Ser.), iii, 94. ' Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 107. 



' Matt. Paris, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 240, 296. * Ibid, iv, 400-1, 426-7. 



' Letters of Bishop Grosseteste (Rolls Ser.), 349. ' Ibid. 353-4. 



' Line. Epis. Reg. Hugh Wells. Swanbourne was then in the gift of St. Andrew's priory, Northampton, 

 and Brampton in that of Thomas Picot. 



' Matt. Paris, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 401. ' Ibid. 412. 



'° Ibid. 401, 426. Passelew was eventually ordained priest in 1249, and the bishop of Ely then gave 

 him the church of Dereham (Ibid, v, 85). " Letters of Bishop Grosseteste (Rolls Ser.), 432. 



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