486 
THE ANTIQUITIES 
whom depended all the civil affairs in the kingdom. After 
the death of John, and during the minority of his son Henry, 
this prelate took upon him the entire management of the 
realm, and was soon appointed protector of the king and 
kingdom. 
The harons saw with indignation a stranger possessed of all 
tlie power and intluence, to part of which they thought they 
had a claim ; they therefore entered into an association against 
him, and determined to wrest some of that authority from 
liim which lie had so unreasonably usurped. The bishop dis- 
cerned the storm at a distance ; and, prudently resolving to 
give way to that torrent of envy which he knew not how 
to withstand, withdrew quietly to the Holy Land, where he 
resided some time. 
At tliis juncture a very small part of Palestine remained in 
the hands of the Christians : they had been by Saladin dis- 
possessed of Jerusalem, and all the internal parts, near forty 
years before ; and with difficulty maintained some maritime 
towns and garrisons; yet the busy and enterprising spirit of de 
Kupibus could not be at rest ; he distinguished himself by the 
splendour and magnificence of his expenses, and amused his 
mind by strengthening fortresses and castles, and by the improv- 
ing and endowing of churches. Before his expedition to the East 
he had signalized himself as a founder of convents, and as a 
benefactor to hospitals and monasteries. 
In the vear 1231 he returned again to England; and the 
very next year, in 1232, began to build and endow the Priory 
of Selborne. As this great work followed so close upon his 
return, it is not improbable that it was the result of a vow 
made during liis voyage ; and especially as it was dedicated 
to the Virgin Mary. Why the bishop made choice of Selborne 
for the scene of his munificence can never be determined now : 
it can only be said that the parish was in his diocese, and lay 
almost midway between Winchester and Farnham, or South 
Waltham and Farnham ; from either of wdiich places he could 
without much trouble overlook his w^orkmen, and observe what 
progress they made ; and that the situation was retired, with a 
stream running by it, and sequestered from the world, amidst 
