46 THE KING'S MIRROR 



cases, there remains the question : Jias the .king., any, su- 

 perior authority over the church ? The answer is that 

 king has such authority;) and the author fortifies his 

 position by recalling the story bow Solomon punished 

 Ahinthnr the high p^ or bishop as he is called in the 

 King's Mirror. l^^^U^^h^ 

 whether SolamfflLd^^ Abiathar 



of the high-pxiestly office, the father, affirms ..thatJiie 

 acted properly and according to law. The king-is 

 for th ft reason that he must 



not jpnly -bis-own house .ol judgment, -but a] so the 

 pf the ^JtajywhiVh is ordinarily in the, bishnp^ 



keeping. Abiathar had sinned in becoming a party to the 

 treasonable intrigues of Adonijah, who was plotting to 

 seize the throne of Israel while his father David was 

 still living, [inasmuch as the high priest had attempted 

 to deprive the Lord's anointed of his royal rights, Solo- 

 mon would have been guiltless even if he had taken 

 Abiathar's lifeTJThe author also calls attention to the 

 fact that Abiathar was elevated to the high-priestly 

 office by David himself .* 



On the qimst^" of the king's right tn pprHrol ppi's^n- 

 pal appointments the Kin (fa Mirror is also in agreement 

 with the earlier Address. On the death of Archbishop 

 John, the Address tells us, " Inge appointed Eystein, 

 his own chaplain, to the archiepiscopal office f . . with- 

 out consulting any cleric in Trondhjem, either the 

 canons or any one else; and he drove Bishop Paul from 

 the episcopal throne in Bergen and chose Nicholas 

 Petersson to be his successor." Doubtless the philosopher 



* C. Ixx. f Archbishop Eystein was consecrated in 1161. 



