232 



Bishops of Old Sarum. 



took counsel with them. Without their concurrence he could, and 

 would, do nothing-. Well acquainted, as he was, with the laws and 

 customs of his Church, he fully recognised the Canons of his Cathe- 

 dral as forming together one corporate body, with the Bishop at 

 their head, for the service of the cathedral and the administration 

 of the diocese. 1 Amongst those who formed the " Chapter " on this 

 occasion were Adam of Ivelchester (or Ilchester) the Dean, and 

 William de Wanda, who had quite recently been appointed Precentor. 

 It was determined, first of all, to send special messengers to 

 Rome, asking permission from the Pope for the removal of the 

 cathedral and for the blessing of the Holy Father on the under- 

 taking; and, secondly, as their own offering, to devote one fourth of 

 their revenues for the next seven years to the furtherance of the 

 good work. 2 The delegates from the Chapter, whom William de 

 Wanda describes as " summos nuncios," carried with them letters 

 from Cardinal Gualo, Legate of the Apostolic See in England, which 

 had been framed on an inquisition taken by him concerning the 

 matter with the object of laying open the necessities of the Church, 

 the distresses of the clergy, and the inconvenience of the situation. 

 In due time they returned from Rome, bringing with them a bull 

 from the Pope (Honorius III.) fully sanctioning the work, and 

 giving them authority to proceed with it. 



In the following year (1219) a real commencement was made, for 

 the Bishop seems to have set apart a portion of the site as a cemetery, 



1 The scrupulous way in which Bishop Richard Poore always consulted his 

 chapter is especially to be noticed ; many instances of this will occur in the course 

 of the narrative. He must have been well aware of the reproof administered not 

 many years before by Pope Alexander III. (in 1180) to the Patriarch of Jerusalem 

 for making certain appointments without consulting his Chapter : — " Novit tuse 

 discretionis prudentia, qualiter tu et fratres tui unum corpus sitis, ita quod tu 

 caput, et illi membra esse probantur. Unde non decet te, omissis membris, 

 aliorum consilio in ecclesise tuse negotiis uti ; cum id, non sit dubium, et hones- 

 tati tuse et sanctorum patrum institutionibus contrarium." Decret. Lib. III., 

 Tit. x., cap. iv. 



2 A copy of this decree of chapter, translated, will be found in " Antiquitates 

 Sarisburienses," pp. 72-74. The quarterly payments were to be made in the 

 Chapter House of Sarum on the Feast of All Saints, the Purification of S. Mary 

 the Virgin, the Feast of the Ascension, and "Ad Vincula S. Petri." See 

 WiLkins' Concilia, i., 552. 



