Biography of Archbishop John le Romeyn 1230-1296

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. And when at length the election of the bishop of Durham was completed, the archbishop opposed the election of Anthony (age 39), saying that he had been elected by persons under excommunication, and therefore should not be admitted. The lord king, however, sent his own trusted servant, Sir John de Vescy, to the archbishop to say, and to threaten under heavy forfeiture, that he was not to hinder the election and promotion of his most special clerk; rather, if the archbishop had a legal case against the monks who had made the election, he should bring and pursue it in due place and time, but the elect was not to be punished for the offence of the others. And so the archbishop was afraid for himself, and gave way, fearing man more than God, and consecrated him, as has been said, on the day of the Translation of Saint William [9th January 1284]. Later, however, he repented of it. After him, Archbishop John Romanus (age 54) wished to make a visitation; but because he was greedy, they bought him off with money for the whole of his term. After him, Archbishop Henry of Newark did not begin such proceedings, because he lived only a short time, and besides this, he was a friend of the bishop of Durham. After him, Archbishop Thomas of Corbridge, although he visited his own province twice within four years (except for his own chapter), nevertheless did not approach Durham, because he feared the king and the trouble it would bring.

Factaque demum electione Dunolmensis, opposuit se archiepiscopus contra electum Anthonium, dicens ipsum esse electum ab excommunicatis, et propter hoc non fore admittendum. Et misit ad archiepiscopum dominus rex familiarem suum, dominum Johannem de Vescy, qui diceret, et sub gravi forisfactura comminaret, quod electionem et promotionem specialissimi clerici sui non impediret: imo si actionem haberet contra monachos eligentes, institueret et persequeretur eam pro loco et tempore; et non puniretur electus pro delicto cæterorum. Timuitque sibi archiepiscopus et adquievit, magis timens hominem quam Deum, et consecravit eum, ut supradictum est, in die translationis sancti Willelmi; postea tamen poenituit. Post hunc archiepiscopus Johannes Romanus voluit visitasse; sed quia avarus erat extinxerunt eum pecunia data pro toto tempore suo. Post illum archiepiscopus Henricus de Newerk non incepit talia, eo quod parvo tempore vixit, et præter hoc fuit familiaris domini Dunolmensis episcopi. Post quem archiepiscopus Thomas de Corebrigge, qui licet provinciam propriam infra quatuor annos, excepto proprio capitulo, duabus vicibus visitasset, Dunolmum tamen non petiit, eo quod timuit regem et vexationem.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the year of our Lord 1285, William, Archbishop of York, died at Pontigny, where he was also buried. He was succeeded by John Romanus (age 55), who travelled to the papal court and was consecrated there by Pope Honorius. In the same year, after Easter, the king held his parliament at Westminster in London, where he issued many statutes known as the Second Statutes of Westminster, consisting of forty-eight chapters. In that parliament, the king informed his magnates that he would be required to cross over to Gascony in order to address certain urgent matters. Once the kingdom was settled and all things were at peace, the king set out for Gascony in the following year. There, upon hearing complaints and discovering the treachery of certain men of Bordeaux, who had spoken with the King of France and promised to submit to his authority rather than remain faithful to the King of England, he ordered some to be dragged by horses. The elder ringleaders of the crime were hanged in the streets, using timber taken from their own houses. In this way he restored all of Gascony to his peace. From there, he intervened in the disputes between the kings of France, Spain, and Aragon, and succeeded in leading them toward peace and reconciliation. He also redeemed Charles of Salerno (age 31), his kinsman, from imprisonment under the King of Aragon, paying a considerable ransom¹. In the following year, Charles received the crown of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Sicily at Rieti from Pope Nicholas IV, after the death of King Charles of Sicily (age 57), his father. The king remained overseas in those regions for almost three full years, and when he returned to England, he heard numerous complaints against his justices. Upon conducting inquiries and discovering the truth, he permanently exiled his chief justice, Sir Thomas de Weyland, and heavily fined his associates. He removed the powerful from office and elevated the humble in their place.

Anno Domini MCCLXXXV obiit Willelmus Eborum archiepiscopus apud Pontiniacum, ubi et reconditus jacet; cui successit Johannes Romanus qui profectus ad curiam consecratus est ibidem ab Honorio papa. Eodem anno post Pascha tenuit rex parliamentum suum apud Westmonasterium Londoniis, ubi fecit statuta multa quæ dicuntur Statuta Westmonasterii secunda, et continent XLVIII capitula; in quo parliamento prædixit rex magnatibus suis quod oporteret eum transfretare in Vasconiam, pro quibusdam arduis corrigendis: ordinataque terra, et omnibus in pace agentibus, profectus est in Vasconiam in anno sequenti, ubi audita querela et fraude cognita quorundam Burdegalensium qui cum rege Francourum locuti fuerant et promiserant se ejus potestati subjici velle nec in fide regis Angliæ ulterius permanere, quosdam fecit equis trahi, et majores natu auctores sceleris sublatis lignis de eorum domibus in plateis jussit suspendi, stabilivitque totam Vasconiam in pace sua; et extunc interposuit partes suas inter reges discordantes, regem scilicet Franciæ, Hispaniæ et Aragonum, ita scilicet quod eos ad bonum pacis et quietis allexit, redemitque Carolum principem de Murreo consanguineum suum a carcere regis Aragonum, data pecunia non modica; qui quidem Carolus in anno sequenti apud Reatam a papa Nicolao IV. regni Jerusalem et Siciliæ diadema suscepit, post obitum regis Siciliæ Caroli patris sui. Moratus est itaque rex in partibus transmarinis per tres annos fere continuos, et inde reversus in Angliam audivit querimonias multas de justiciariis suis, quibus inquisitis et cognitis ipsum capitalem justiciarium suum dominum Thomam de Weyland perpetuo exulavit, et reliquos ejus consocios pecunia mulctavit copiosa, deposuitque potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles.

Note 1. Charles of Salerno was King Edward's first cousin; Charles' mother Beatrice of Provence was a younger sister of King Edward's mother Eleanor of Provence. Charles obtained his freedom in November 1288, a sum of 30,00 marks being agreed on with Alphonso of Arragon as his ransom; and was crowned King on the 29th of the May, in the following year, at Rieti, in the duchy of Spoleto.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. In the same year, near its end, specifically during Lent, John Romanus (age 66), Archbishop of York, died [11th March 1296]. He was the son of John Romanus, formerly treasurer of the church of York, and a certain serving woman. He was truly 'Romanus' in name and in nature, for from his Roman father he inherited Roman greed. And although he was a great theologian and a highly learned man, it was not his learning but his extreme avarice that drove him nearly to madness. He thirsted greatly for money and the property of others. And so, by the just judgment of God, it happened that the man who had longed after the goods of his subjects, especially those who died intestate, was overtaken by sudden death and received little or no benefit from his own will. His executors refused to act, and thus the expenses of his funeral were paid not from his own wealth, but rather from others. He was laid to rest with simple honour in his own church. Not even bread or a coin was given for the sake of his soul. He had once undertaken the visitation of the church of Durham, which his predecessor had claimed under the right and jurisdiction of the church of York; but, it was said, after receiving a payment, he allowed the matter to sleep. He also sought obedience from the Bishop of Durham, which he at first demanded pompously, but, after an appeal was lodged, pursued the matter weakly. He was succeeded by Henry of Newark, dean of the same church, who was elected by the chapter on the Friday just before the Feast of the Ascension in the year 1296. Since he could not personally travel to the pope because of the bitter war dangerously continuing between the two kings [of England and France], he was confirmed by papal bull the following year. Again, when envoys were sent for his consecration and the pallium, he was consecrated, by dispensation of the same Pope Boniface, in his own church at York [Map] by Antony (age 51), Bishop of Durham, to whom the pope had granted this special authority. This took place on the second Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, that is, on the 15th of June, in the year of our Lord 1298.

Eodem anno quasi finiente, scilicet in Quadragesima obiit Johannes Romanus, archiepiscopus Eborum, a Johanne Romano, quondam Eborum ecclesiæ thesaurario, et quadam pedissequa procreatus, et bene Romanus, quia a Romano patre Romanam cupiditatem extraxit, et cum magnus esset theologus et homo valde literatus, non tamen multæ literæ sed avaritia maxima eum fecit quasi insanire. Sitivit enim valde pecuniam et substantiam aliorum, unde, justo Dei judicio, contigit, ut, qui subditorum bona, et maxime ab intestatis, sitiret, subita quasi morte præventus, nullum vel modicum ex testamento proprio consecutus est emolumentum. Executores enim sui se intromittere noluerunt, ita quod non de proprio, sed potius alieno, fiebant expensæ funerum, et in ecclesia sua cum honore simplici repositus est. Non enim panis vel obolus pro anima dabatur ipsius. Hic visitationem Dunolmensis ecclesiæ, quam prædecessor suus jure et jurisdictione Eborum ecclesiæ vendicaverat, accepta, ut dicebatur, pecunia, dormire sustinuit. Obedientiam etiam Dunolmensis episcopi, quam primo pompose petierat, appellatione interposita, segniter prosecutus est. Huic successit Henricus de Newerk, ejusdem ecclesiæ decanus, electus a fratribus die Veneris proximo ante Ascensionem Domini, anni ejusdem MCCXCVI, qui, missis ad papam nunciis, eo quod personaliter adire non posset propter exosam guerram inter duos reges periculosissime continuatam, per bullam ipsius confirmatus est in anno sequenti, et iterum missis nunciis pro consecratione et pallio, ex dispensatione ejusdem papæ Bonifacii consecratus est in ecclesia sua Eborum per Antonium Dunolmensem episcopum, cui commiserat papa potestatem hanc specialem, Dominica scilicet secunda Sunday, post festum Sanctæ Trinitatis, XVII scilicet kalendas Julii, anno Domini MCCXCVIII.