Randal (in Latin Ranulfis) was then appointed bishop of this see. He died in 1253, and the chapter of Down chose, without delay, a successor in the person of Thomas Liddell, who is styled in the brief of his appointment _Rector Ecclesiae del Rathlonge, Carnotensis_ (a mistake for Connorensis) _Dioecesis_. King Henry III. refused to sanction this election, and nominated Reginald, Archdeacon of Down, to the vacant see. The chapter could not be induced to ratify this nomination; nevertheless, the king issued a writ, commanding the Archbishop of Armagh to consecrate Reginald, who took possession of the see in 1258. The chapter appealed to the tribunal of the successors of St. Peter, and after a long and tedious examination of the whole controversy, judgment was given by Pope Clement IV., in 1265, declaring that Dr. Liddell was the canonically elected bishop, and that the appointment of Reginald had been from the beginning null and void. Reginald submitted with alacrity to the decree of Rome, and was soon after appointed to the Diocese of Cloyne. The Holy See, moreover, was pleased to confirm all the parochial appointments which Reginald had made during the period of his disputed appointment, adding only the clause, that the clergy thus appointed by him should otherwise be free from all canonical impediments, and capable of discharging the functions confided to them. The brief of Pope Clement IV. granting this favour is dated from Perugia, the 30th April, 1265, and begins: "Tuae devotionis promeretur affectus, ut petitionibus tuis, quantum cum Deo possumus, favorabiliter annuamus"--(_Mon. Vat._, page 96). Two months later the bull sanctioning the appointment of Dr. Liddell to the See of Down, was published with due solemnity in Viterbo, where the Pontiff then resided. It begins with the statement of the controversy which had deprived that diocese of a chief pastor for so many years, and terminates with the hope that "eadem Dunensis Ecclesia per tune circumspectionis industriam salubria in spiritualibus et temporelibus suscipiat incrementa"--(_Ibid._, page 101). Thus, then, the name of Reginald, which stands so prominent in the lists of Ware, Reeves, and Cotton, must be cancelled from the canonical order of episcopal succession in the See of Down.