seen a little more of his new sovereign’s ways—which were indeed not likely to meet with the approval of statesmen who had grown old under Henry II—preferred to sacrifice the money as the price of Richard’s consent to his departure. That the sacrifice was, after all, not a ruinous one may be inferred from the fact that it left him still able to make his expedition independently of the king, for he died at Acre seven months or more before Richard’s arrival there.[410] Two Chief Justiciars were appointed in his stead, of whom one, William de Mandeville, was a trusted and faithful friend of King Henry, and the other, Bishop Hugh of Durham, was a kinsman of the royal house and a man of long experience in politics, untiring energy and ambition, and great wealth, with the surplus of which he was quite willing to purchase release from his vow of Crusade and as many other benefits as Richard cared to bestow on him.[411] Several other high offices, both in Church and State, had to be filled anew, some from causes altogether beyond the king’s control, some in fulfilment of his promise to carry into effect the grants which his father had left uncompleted. There were five vacant bishoprics, besides the metropolitan see of York. This last Henry had destined for his son Geoffrey the Chancellor; to Geoffrey Richard gave it,[412] and thereby the chancellorship was vacated. Two men vied with each other as candidates for this important post; both offered large sums for it; Richard in this instance showed that his choice of men was not governed by his thirst for money, by accepting the lower bid of the two, because it was made by a man whom he knew and trusted;[413] and the person who received the largest share of grants out of the royal domain received them absolutely free. That person was John. Henry had (or was said to have) expressed the intention of endowing John with the Norman county of Mortain and four thousand pounds’ worth of land in England. As soon as Richard was by investiture as duke of Normandy legally able to make grants in that duchy, he put John in possession of Mortain.[414] The heritage of the late Earl of Gloucester had been promised, with the hand of his heiress, to John ever since 1176; Richard [Sidenote: _Aug. 29_] secured it for him by causing the marriage to take place a fortnight after the brothers reached England.[415] Within the next month the king further bestowed upon John a number of escheated honours and other lands to the gross annual value of some five or six hundred pounds. Within three more months he added the gift of six whole counties, with the entire revenues and profits of every kind which they were wont to render to the Crown, and the control of all administration and justice within their limits.[416]