+Source.+--_Roger of Wendover_, vol. ii., pp. 466-468. (Bohn's
Libraries.)
In the meantime the period fixed on for holding the council at
Westminster at the Feast of S. Hilary was now come, at which the King,
the clergy, and nobles of the kingdom were bound to appear to hear the
Pope's message. Many Bishops, therefore, with others of the clergy and
laity, assembled at the above place, and Master Otho, the messenger of
our lord the Pope, of whom mention has been made before, read the Pope's
letters in the hearing of them all. In these letters the Pope set forth
a great scandal and old abuse of the Holy Church of Rome--namely, an
accusation of avarice, which is said to be the root of all evil, and
especially because no one could manage any business at the Court of Rome
without a lavish expenditure of money and large presents. "But since the
poverty of the Roman Church is the cause of this offence and evil name,
it is the duty of all to alleviate the wants of their mother and father
as natural sons; because unless we received presents from you and other
good and honourable men, we should be in want of the necessaries of
life, which would be altogether inconsistent with the dignity of the
Roman Church. In order, therefore, utterly to destroy this abuse, we, by
the advice of our brethren the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, have
provided certain terms, to which if you will agree, you may free your
mother from insult, and obtain justice at the Court of Rome without the
necessity of making presents. Our provided terms are these: In the first
place, we require two prebends to be granted to us from all cathedral
churches, one from the portion of the Bishop and another from the
chapter; and from monasteries in the same way where there are different
portions for the abbot and the convent; and from convents the share of
one monk, on an equal distribution being made of their property, and the
same from the abbot."
After making these proposals, Master Otho, on behalf of our lord the
Pope, advised the prelates to consent, setting forth the above-mentioned
advantages contained in the letters. The Bishops and prelates of the
Church who were present in person then moved apart to consult on the
matter, and after having deliberated on the proposals for some time,
they deputed John, Archdeacon of Bedford, to give their answer, who went
before Master Otho, and gave the following reply to his demands: "My
lord, ... since the King, on account of illness, and some of the
Archbishops and Bishops and other prelates of the Church are absent, we
cannot, and, in their absence, ought not to give you an answer; for if
we were to presume so to do, it would be to the injury of all who are
absent." After this, John Marshal and other messengers of the King were
sent to all the prelates who held baronies in chief of the King,
strictly forbidding them to engage their lay fee to the Church of Rome,
by which he would be deprived of the service which was due to himself.
Master Otho, on hearing this, appointed a day in the middle of Lent for
those who were then present to meet, when he would procure the presence
of the King and the absent prelates, that the affair might be brought to
a conclusion; they, however, would not agree to the aforementioned day,
without the consent of the King and the others who were absent, and in
this way all returned home.