The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and ArchitectureDitchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
History
The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and Architecture
Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Cathedrals -- Great Britain; Church architecture -- Great Britain
St. Paul's also set itself in opposition to the authority of the Pope;
and when a Papal legate sought to enthrone himself in St. Paul's, he
was openly resisted by Cantelupe, Bishop of Worcester. Boniface of
Savoy, "the handsome Archbishop," brought with him fashions strange
enough to English folk. His armed retainers pillaged the markets, and
he felled to the ground, with his own fist, the prior of St.
Bartholomew, Smithfield, who presumed to oppose his visitation. He
came to St. Paul's to demand first-fruits from the Bishop of London,
but deemed it advisable to wear armour beneath his robes. He found the
gates of the Cathedral closed against him; but he fared better than
two canons of the Papal party, who were killed by the citizens a few
years later when they attempted to enter St. Paul's. London was
aroused by these Italian priests, and the citizens at length besieged
Lambeth Palace and drove the obnoxious archbishop beyond seas.
Again and again the tocsin sounded, as St. Paul's bell rang clear and
loud, and the citizens seized their weapons and formed their
battalions beneath the shadow of the great church. Now it was to help
Simon de Montfort against the king; now to seize the person of the
obnoxious Queen Eleanor, who was trying to escape by water from the
Tower to Windsor, and who was rescued from their hands by the Bishop
of London, and found refuge in his palace. Now the favourites of
Edward II. excited their rage, especially the Bishop of Exeter, the
king's regent, who dared to ask the Lord Mayor for the keys of the
city, and paid for his temerity with his life.
An incident which shows the attachment of the people to their church
and bishop occurred in the reign of the third Edward. Wycliffe was
summoned by Bishop Courtenay to appear before a great council at St.
Paul's. But the reformer did not come alone; to the surprise of his
accusers he arrived attended by a large following of friends, among
whom were John of Gaunt and Lord Percy. These powerful supporters of
Wycliffe attacked the bishop with angry words.
News was flashed among the citizens that John of Gaunt had threatened
their bishop and vowed to drag him out of the church by the hair. They
gathered together in angry crowds, and would have slain the duke and
sacked his palace, the Savoy, in the Strand, if the bishop had not
interfered on behalf of his enemy. Wycliffe and Lollardism did not
then find much favour with the people of London.
There were reformers within the Church who were quite as eager to
correct abuses as those outside the fold. Among these was Bishop
Braybroke of London, who lived in the time of Edward IV. He contended
for the sanctity of the sacred building, inveighed against the
practice of using it as an exchange, of playing at ball within the
precincts or within the church, and of shooting the pigeons which then
as now found sanctuary at St. Paul's.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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