In July 1205, had died Hubert of Canterbury, whose influence as minister of the crown had been paramount during this and the preceding reign. The right of election to the metropolitan See had been constantly disputed between the monks of the cathedral and the suffragan bishops of the province. The younger monks thought to steal a march upon their rivals, and, even before the Archbishop had been buried, had elected Reginald, the sub-prior. Without waiting for the King’s approval, which had been invariably required during the reigns of the Norman kings, they hurried the Archbishop elect abroad, binding him not to disclose his election till he reached Rome. His vanity got the better of his wisdom; he boasted of his good fortune. A rumour of what had been done reached the ears of the King. The elder monks took fright, betook themselves to John, and received orders from him, in complete disregard of the claims of the bishops, to elect John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, one of his ministers. He was elected, invested with the temporalities, and messengers stating the fact were at once sent to Rome. It was now the turn of the bishops to complain. In point of fact, the last three archbishops had been elected by the common consent of the bishops and monks, and with the approval of the crown. The older right was decidedly with the bishops, and they too despatched messengers to the Papal Court. A claim raised by three distinct parties, and brought to his court to settle, was exactly the opportunity Innocent desired. There was much in the position of England and the English Church which he would have wished to see changed. The election of bishops and archbishops, under whatever forms it had been carried on, had been virtually in the hands of the crown. Many of these appointments had been given to Churchmen, who had devoted their chief time to the great administrative system which Henry II. had perfected.[33] The mixture of lay and ecclesiastical elements was very objectionable to the Pope; while if there was one thing more than another which he was desirous of suppressing, it was the independence of national churches as represented by their bishops. Innocent, therefore, now ruled that the bishops had not the slightest voice in the matter, that the monks alone had from time immemorial possessed the right of election, although it had accidentally fallen into abeyance. He thus robbed both king and bishops of their share in the election, and then declaring that the election of Reginald in the present instance had been irregular, bade the monks, a considerable number of whom had come to Rome, proceed at once to the election of his old friend and fellow-student, Stephen Langton, cardinal priest of St. Chrysagonus. He so far acknowledged the existence of John as to write him several letters pressing him to receive the Archbishop. On the rejection of these overtures, foreseeing that he was entering on an important struggle, he arranged a peace with