“I, John, by the Grace of God, king of “England, and lord of Ireland, for the expiation “of my sins, of my perfect accord, and by the “advice of barons, give to the Roman Church, to “Pope Innocent and his successors, the kingdom of “England and the kingdom of Ireland, with all the “rights attached to the one and the other: I hence− “forward hold them of the Holy See of which I shall “be the faithful vassal, faithful to God, to the Church “of Rome, to the sovereign pontiff, my lord, and to “his successors lawfully elected. I pledge myself “to pay every year, a tax of one thousand marks of “silver; to wit, seven hundred for England, and “three hundred for Ireland.” ²²³ Innoc. 3. Epist. 1. 15. ep. 77.—Rymer Act. pub. vol. 1, p. 67. This discourse is scarcely ended, when the legate is presented with a part of the tribute promised to St. Peter: Pandolph casts the money on the ground, tramples it under his feet, nevertheless collects it again, satisfied with thus expressing the subjection of temporal treasures as well as temporal powers.²²⁴ The sceptre and the crown remain in his hands: he keeps them five days; and when, after he has obtained some additional securities, he finally restores them, he pretends forsooth, that they are received as a perfectly gratuitous favour. He now passes immediately into France to announce what he has performed in England.— Philip learns from Pandolph, that John, the vassal of the pope, occupies, under the protection of the Holy See, the throne of Great Britain, and that henceforth every enterprise against this kingdom will be punished by excommunication. Philip replied, that he took up arms at the solicitation of the pope alone, that the preparations for it had cost two millions, that a fleet, recently equipped, is in the road at Boulogne, that it waits the troops destined to land at Dover, and that the time for receding is departed. In the mean time, the rebellion of a vassal compels the French monarch to carry the war into Flanders: to this vassal the king of England, the emperor Otho IV. and almost all the princes of Europe join themselves. But the victory which the French obtain at Bouvines, dissipates the hopes of their enemies: Otho is no longer emperor, save in name; and John would have been already dethroned, if Rome had not obtained for him a truce of five years. ²²⁴ Velly’s Hist, of France, vol. 3. pa. 472.