between and the papacy. confined his attention to English affairs. Though in revising his work with a view to the abridgement which he afterwards carried out in the Historia Anglorum or Minor History, he prefixes to many paragraphs and chapters the words "impertinens historia Anglorum," pertinet historiæ Scotorum," and the like; yet for this, his greater chronicle, he was evidently glad to take a wider range. Thus, into all the affairs of the empire and the papacy he enters with great zest; the wars of the emperor in Italy, the affairs of Milan and Bologna, the attempted election to the papal chair1 in 1241, Struggle &c., are all described in great detail. But to the the empire struggle between the empire and the papacy, which is the keynote to the history of the time, he has paid very great and most important attention. Many of the most valuable documents that issued from both sides are only preserved to us in his pages. They were no doubt sent to St. Alban's by the king for preservation, and found their natural place in the great work of the Careless- historian of the house. Unfortunately, he has taken less which the pains in revising these portions of his works than he has documents done with his own composition, and the documents are written. often very corruptly written.2 Many of the emperor's letters are the composition of Peter de Vineis, and are to be found in the collection of his letters, and thus some help has been afforded in printing the text. ness with have been Other documents. Of the other documents contained in the present volume, the most important are the record of the proceedings of the Parliament of 1242 (p. 185), the very curious and interesting letter of the Paterine Ivo of Narbonne to the Archbishop of Bordeaux, giving an 1 There is a complete list of all the cardinals engaged in the election, and an account of how each voted, (p. 165). 2 In addition to this, how grotesquely some of these have been disfigured in the printed editions is the subject of some remarks I have made below. 3 By a singular mistake some modern writers have styled this Ivo Archbishop of Narbonne. He gives a very honest account of his own evil life in early youth. account of his own adventures and the progress of the Tartars (pp. 270-277), and the account of the errors discussed at the University of Paris and refuted by the prelates in 1243 (p. 280). stance of a On the other hand, a lamentable instance of a forged One indocument being quoted as genuine may be seen in the forgery. case of the charter giving a pretended history of the church of Lincoln, which was produced by the canons in their quarrel with Bishop Grosseteste as to his right of visitation (p. 155.) I fear that Paris in this case allowed his party spirit to get the better of his good sense and love of truth. One can hardly suppose that he could have believed in its genuineness, yet he quotes it just as if its authority were undoubted. to omit In revising his history for abridgement, as has been Directions already stated in the preface to the third volume, Paris many directs the omission of many passages, besides those passages. relating to foreign affairs, by the words vacat, cave, offendiculum, placed in the margin. These relate chiefly (if not entirely) to the king and his belongings. Thus, he marks in this way the complaints by the bishops of the king's oppressions of the church (p. 3), his description of the king "solito tyrannior effectus et procacius (p. 14), the application of the abbats to the king for relief from the Pope's demands and the king's threats (p. 36), the description of the king as a reed to depend upon (p. 60), the deprivation of Simon le Norman of all his benefices but one (p. 63), the king's anger against Bishop William de Raleigh (p. 159), the hatred of the citizens of Saintes against the king's stepfather, Hugh le Brun (p. 217), the king's unjust treatment of William de Ros at Bordeaux, the remonstrances of Richard of Cornwall, the king's consequent anger, and the earl's departure after in vain for a time "dissimulans ut impetus "fratris voluntarios palliaret cautius," leaving the king 1 See the Preface to Roberti Grosseteste Epistolæ, p. li. Altera tions and softenings of many to waste his time and treasure at Bordeaux (pp. 228, 229, 231), the seizure of the corn belonging to the see of Canterbury (p: 230), the increasing contempt entertained for the king by the Gascons (p. 231), his poverty and debts (p. 233), the aid demanded from the Cistercians in 1242 (p. 234), the accusation of Hugh le Brun and his offer to clear himself by duel, with the flight of his wife, the king's mother, to Fontevraud, the statement of how the French and Poitevins hated her, and their assertion that she ought to be called Jezebel rather than Isabel (pp. 252, 253), the contrast of Henry III. and St. Louis as regarded their conduct to the Cistercians, the latter requesting their prayers while the former demanded their wool1 (p. 257), the king's measures against the Bishop of Winchester, William de Raleigh (p. 265), the injuries done to him by the king (p. 285), the consequence of which was a serious darkening of the king's fame (p. 296). But a more remarkable feature than this in the present volume is the alteration of many passages, chiefly those which relate to the character and conduct of the king. passages. In these, the original writing has been carefully erased, and a fresh sentence written in its place over the erasure. Fortunately, the copy now in the Cotton collection (MS. C.) was written before these alterations were made, and thus we are able to know both Paris's original words as well as those which either his softened feelings or the caution of old age induced him to substitute for them in his last revision of his work. I have printed these side by side with a line between them, so that the two editions can be seen at a glance. As they chiefly relate to the king, the change is probably due to the more kindly feelings entertained towards him by the historian, after he became acquainted with him; possibly to the fear he might have had of the king seeing his book This is omitted in MS. C., though there is no direction to omit it. while on one of his visits to St. Alban's, and of the consequences which might have followed. Enough, however, was even then left to anger monarchs of less hasty temper than Henry III. But the strongest remarks are toned down in a very remarkable way. erased. In addition to what is done in those passages which relate to the king, similar alterations are made in many of those which concern Archbishop Boniface and the Roman see. Moreover, many similar passages, and others, Others relating to the king's mother Isabella, the luxury and completely pride of the Dominicans and Franciscans, the infamy and avarice of the papal court, &c., are absolutely erased, without anything being substituted for them. All these are known from the Cotton MS. (C.), and the text is printed from that MS.1 these. The passages where the original reading has been Account of altered for a milder one will be found in p. 101 (the simoniacal arrangement between the Pope and the monks of Peterborough, altered into a very gentle definition of the transaction), p. 102 (the king's forbidding this, detesting the avarice of the Roman court "ne tam enorme "factum amplius etiam aera macularet," toned down by the omission of all the abuse of the Roman court, and the introduction of the king's attributes), p. 104 (the character of Archbishop Boniface altered from a description of him as a man utterly unfit in knowledge, manners, and age for his high office into a sketch of him as a man of noble stature and elegant person, the uncle of the Queen), p. 105 (the flight of some of the Canterbury monks to the Carthusian order rather than accept the archbishop, altered into an account of his general acceptance by the clergy) p. 206, (the different reports of the speech of one of St. Louis's nobles on the affair of Con 1 Parker, or his scribes, have usually written the passages from MS. C. over the erasures in the original MS. In the printed text VOL. IV. he makes a curious jumble of the b stantine Fitz-Athulf, the first putting the guilt of this on Henry III. himself, the second especially stating that he was ignorant of it), p. 260 (the avarice and tyranny of the king in pillaging the Jews and the abbats and priors, softened altogether in the alteration), p. 265 (the king's rage against the Bishop of Winchester, softened), p. 360 (the oppression of the Canterbury monks by Archbishop Boniface, entirely changed), p. 396 (the oppression of the citizens of London by the king, where "levi causa fictaque occasione nimis impudenter ex"torsit," is changed into "causa rationabili, ut sibi et "suis dabatur intelligi "), p. 509 (the king's anger with the archbishop for quashing the election of Robert Passelew to the see of Chichester, softened, "procaciter præcipitavit" being changed into "licet juste, cassavit,"1) p. 510 (the injuries done by the archbishop, altogether softened). Occasionally single words have been altered in this way; thus, the Pope in 1246 (p. 565) is mentioned as making the Dominicans and Franciscans his "theleonarios 2"; this is altered into "procuratores." The instances in which the objectionable passages have been simply erased without anything being substituted for them will be found in p. 211 (the words of Hugh le Brun about his wife, the king's mother), p. 254 (the mockery of the Poitevins at the king's lavish gifts and their character), p. 260 (an attack upon Archbishop Boniface), p. 279 (an attack on the luxury of the friars in their buildings, their extortions from the dying, &c.), p. 405 (the revenues of the see of Canterbury used by Archbishop Boniface and his brother for their niece's interests), p. 410 (the character of the papal court, "cujus "foetor usque ad nubes fumum teterrimum exhalabat"), p. 425 (other hits at the archbishop as "plus genere 1 Here, too, 66 quem creavi," which the king was at first made to say of Archbishop Boniface, is altered into "quem promovi." 2 This word, applied to them later, "theleonarios et bedellos," p. 612, is struck out there altogether. |