Manuscript: Faustina B. IX

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Anno Domini moccoxviii in principo1 Ianuarii rediit dominus W’ Maleuicinus episcopus Sancti
Andree de generali concilio Romano in episcopatum suum. ¶Circa finem eiusdem men
sis missi sunt ex parte domini legati adhuc2 in Anglia commorantis dominus Willelmus, prior
Dunelmensis, & magister Walterus de Wisebech, archidiaconus de Hestriding ut ec
clesiam Scoticanam sacerdotes uidelicet, & populum, exceptis episcopis, \⁊/ prelatis, ab anathe
matis uinculo simul & interdicto absoluerent. Qui incipientes a Berwic circuierunt
Scotiam & perambulauerunt eam. Accedentes autem apud Edenburc ad dominum regem
acceperunt, etiam ab ipso rege iuramentum & a suis standi iudicio ecclesie &
mandatis domini pape. Inde uero progressi sunt in profundam Scotiam usque Aberden.
In redditu autem hospitantibus, illis apud Lundors per incuriam & prodigali
tatem pincernarum succensus est thal\a/mus ubi ipse prior cum monachis suis dormiebat.
Vnde ipse prior fumo & incendio fere suffocatus uix ad tempus mori distulit sed diu
mortem non euasit. Nam post langorem maximum aput Coldingham deductus, & ad extre
ma perductus ibidem spiritum exalauit ii idus Maii. ¶Eodem anno in Annunciatione
Dominica precepit magister W’ de Wisebech de mandato dicti legati, & autoritate ipsius
qua functus est, ut omnes omnino monachi ordinis Cistercii per regnum Scot’ constituti a celebra
tione diuinorum cessarent. Ipsi uero abbates \scilicet/ Radulfus de Melr’, Adam de Neub’, Alexander de Cupro,
Radulfus de Kinlos, Hugo de Sancto Seruano, omnia sua in pace Dei, & protectione domini pape
ponentes, dictum legatum adierunt aput Eboracum, ubi post multas preces, & multorum inter
cessiones uix sibi ipsis gratiam absolutionis inpetrauerunt. Interim autem predictus W’ de
Wisebech apud Berwic, in Die Palmarum, & in crastino cum pluribus clericis & prelatis
tenuit concilium, in quo predictos monac\h/os in regno Scot’ constitutos denu3 necnon &
illis communicantes denunciauit excommunicatos. Ipsi uero monachi ibidem sicut ante fecerant,
tam contra W’ quam contra dictum legatum presenciam domini pape appelauerunt, & illam // quam dominus
Cistercii, pro statu ordinis interposuerat4 innouantes denunciationem illam irritam ha
buerunt. Quo audito dictus legatus nimium exasperatus iurauit ipsis abbatibus in presen
cia illius constitutis se nullam omnino gratiam uel ipsis uel conuentibus eorum prestiturum
nisi prius per testimonium episcoporum & decanorum suorum ipsos conuentus suos interdictum re
cepisse cognosceret. Susceptis tandem litteris abbatum suorum monachi tam a diuinorum
celebratione, quam ab introitu ecclesie aliquanto tempore cessauerunt, donec de mandato
domini legati per manum domini W’ episcopi Sancti Andree absolutionem perceperunt, prestito prius
iuramento standi iudicio ecclesie, & mandatis domini pape, saluo ordin\e/ suo & priuilegiis
suis. ¶Eodem anno mense Mayo, rediit dominus Stephanus Cantuariensis archiepiscopus a generali
concilio, \⁊/ introiuit in Angliam omnibus in aduentu ipsius tanquam in aduentu angeli
pacis, patris & pastoris piissimi exultantibus, & iterum atque iterum iubilantibus
benedictus qui uenit in nomine Domini. ¶Eodem anno mense discedente dicto G’ le
gato de Anglia uenit ibidem Pandulfus quondam clericus Romane sedis, tunc temporis le
gatus constitutus Anglie, & electus in episcopum Norwichie. ¶Electus est dominus W’
archidiaconus de Bukincham in episcopum Wirecestrie. ¶Obiit episcopus de BreiꝨin, cui successit
dominus G’ archidiaconus eiusdem episcopatus. ¶Eodem anno obiit Otho imperator Aleman
nie, cui successit Fredericus \dictus/ infans Pulie. ¶Obiit etiam comes Burgundie,
//appelacionem

Notes

1 JT: Read principio.
2 JRD: C squeezed in later (probably by the same scribe).
3 JRD: See denunciauit in the next line.
4 JRD: After interposuerat there is probably a caret and an interlineated word has been erased, possibly appelacionem.
In the 1218th year of the Lord, at the beginning of January, W[illiam] Malveisin, the lord bishop of St Andrews, returned from the general council at Rome to his bishopric.1 ¶Around the end of the same month, the lord William, prior of Durham, and Master Walter of Wisbech, archdeacon of the East Riding, were sent on behalf of the lord legate, who was still residing in England, to release the Scottish Church, that is, the priests and people (the bishops \and/ prelates were not included) from the bond of anathema, and likewise from the interdict. Beginning at Berwick, they made the round of Scotland and travelled throughout it. And coming to the lord king at Edinburgh, they even received from the king himself, and from his men, an oath to abide by the judgement of the Church and the mandates of the lord pope. From there they journeyed into deepest Scotland, as far as Aberdeen. Upon their return, however, while they were lodging at Lindores, through the negligence and recklessness of the butlers, the room in which the prior and his monks were sleeping caught fire. As a result, the prior was well-nigh suffocated by the smoke and the flame: for the moment he only just put off dying, but he did not escape death for long. Being removed to Coldingham after the greatest weakness, and being brought to the point of death, he breathed out his spirit there on 14 May. ¶On the Annunciation of the Lord in the same year, Master W[alter] of Wisbech, by command of the legate and by his authority (with which he was empowered), instructed that all the monks of the Order of Cîteaux established throughout the realm of Scotland should entirely stop celebrating divine service. The abbots, \namely,/ Ralph of Melrose, Adam of Newbattle, Alexander of Coupar, Ralph of Kinloss, Hugh of St Serf, placing everything of their own in the peace of God and the protection of the lord pope, approached the legate at York, where, after many prayers and the intercessions of many people, they procured for themselves with difficulty the grace of absolution. But W[alter] of Wisbech, meanwhile, at Berwick on Palm Sunday, and on the day after, held a council with many clerics and prelates. There, he declared the said monks established in the realm of Scotland decla to be excommunicate, as well as those who communicated with them. These monks, as they had done before, appealed to the presence of the lord pope, both against W[alter] and against the legate; and in renewing // which the lord [abbot] of Cîteaux had begun for the sake of the order’s status, they held the sentence to be invalid. When he heard of it, the legate was extremely irritated, and swore to the abbots assembled in his presence that he was going to show no favour at all, either to them or to their convents, unless he first learned, by the testimony of the bishops and their deans, that their convents had accepted the interdict. In the end, when they had received their abbots’ letters, the monks ceased as much from celebrating the divine offices as from entering the church for a short time, until they obtained absolution, from a mandate of the lord legate by the hand of W[illiam], lord bishop of St Andrews, having first sworn an oath to abide by the judgement of the Church and the mandates of the lord pope, without prejudice to their order and their privileges. ¶In the month of May that year, Stephen, lord archbishop of Canterbury, returned from the general council \and/ entered England. Everyone rejoiced at his arrival, as though it were the arrival of an angel of peace, of a most tender father and good shepherd; and again and again they sang out with joy, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ¶In the same year month, upon the legate G[ualo]’s departure from England, Pandulf, a former clerk of the Roman See, at that time appointed as legate of England, and elected bishop of Norwich, came there. ¶The lord W[illiam], archdeacon of Buckingham, was elected bishop of Worcester. ¶The bishop of Brechin died; the lord G[regory], archdeacon of the same bishopric, succeeded him. ¶In the same year, Otto, emperor of Germany, died; Frederick, \called/ ‘the Infant of Apulia’, succeeded him. ¶The Count of Burgundy also died;
//the appeal

Notes

1 JRD: Episcoptus may denote the bishop’s residence.