King John & the Church

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Blame for the 1202 Crisis

  • Pope Innocent III - elected 1198, wanted papal jurisdiction over Christendom. Innocent had supported Otto so initially had a good relationship with John but he didn't support him in the conflict with Philip - increased tensions.
  • Blame: Reginald and the Monks
  • Hubert Walter died in 1205, leaving Canterbury vacant. John suggested John de Gray be ABC (loyal servant, bishop of Norwich) but the monks at Canterbury claimed their right to a free election. John suggested they appeal to Rome.
  • The monks appealed but secretly elected Reginald, their sub-prior. They then denied the election when John confroned them and then elected John de Gray to appease him.
  • But in 1206 the Pope declared the election of de Gray invalid as it had occured while the election was under appeal.
  • In 1207 Innocent suggested and consecrated Stephen Langton (his candidate and a member of the papal court).
  • John - why he was not to blame
  • As king John's rights were being infringed (patronage) - Pope was never permitted to elected archbishops.
  • John distrusted Langton - he had been a teacher and Paris and was unknown in England.
  • Henry II or Richard wouldn't have tolerated this either, but relations between the crown and the Church had changed; Innocent didn't need to compromise by 1206 because John had lost much power.
  • Innocent sent appeals to the barons of England, ordering them as good Catholics to support him - but many chose to support John because they didn't want to be dictated to by a foreign power. 
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The Interdict - how England suffered

  • Ultimately neither side compromised so in March 1208 Innocent III placed England under interdict. 
  • John didn't punish the Church because of the interdict but he did punish the clergy in England by arresting priests mistresses and confiscating the property of those who refused to perform services.
  • He is accused of being stubborn and uncaring as England suffered; which it did because people couldn't be buried properly and baptisms/marriages weren't secured or blessed. However, John was supported by the whole of his baronage, even after they were targeted by Innocent in 1207.
  • John faced little opposition and gained financially; 7 vacant bishoprics and 17 abbacies boosted the treasury - John gained around £60,000 throughout the conflict.
  • Negotiations continued throughout the interdict but there was distrust on both sides; e.g. Langton visited England but wasn't invited to meet John.
  • Eventually the stalemate led to Innocent excommunication John in November 1209.
  • But the barons still supported John as they agreed that any settlement with Rome would have to guarantee royal rights.
  • But the excommunication came with threats; John's soul was at risk, barons and foreign leaders had no protection under the Church (so could rebel at any time without interference from the papacy, which was dangerous for John). Many bishops left England, and by 1211 John declared that he'd hang Langton if he ever came to England.
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Submission to Rome - 1213

  • John had rejected a better peace settlement with the Pope in 1211 but accepted in 1213 because:
  • 1) by 1212 John's political situation was deteriorating; Philip was gaining strength and John had little land or money; if Philip and Innocent joined forces then John's kingship would be under heavy threat.
  • 2) the 1212 conspiracy - William Marshall (in Ireland) advised John to end the dispute as internal problems were surfacing, and when John was dealing with Welsh rebels he heard of a revolt in the north. By then a plot had emerged to kill him - he was in some amount of danger within England. 
  • 3) by 1212 John was in a position to return to France and reclaim his lands; he had raised £130,000 and wanted to invade but couldn't in fear of a French-papal alliance.
  • 4) by 1212 Otto of Brunswick had been excommunicated so papal support went to his enemy, Frederick, who was also in alliance with Philip - greater threat to John (Philip, Pope, Fred).
  • 5) by 1213 Philip was preparing to invade - had built fleets and threatened the count of Flanders for not joining him.
  • In early 1213 John's envoys arrived in Rome to convey John's acceptance of Innocent III's terms; Innocent demanded £8000 to restore Church property and demanded the return of exiles of the interdict.
  • But John didn more; he surrendered his crowns of England and Ireland to the Pope and made himself a vassal of Innocent. His kingdom was to be held as a fief from the Pope and his heirs, and he would also contribute an annual payment of £666.
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Impact & Outcome of Submission (1)

  • In the Baron's War, Innocent supported John, and in October 1213 warned the barons to "not move a step against the king; until you have consulted the Roman pontif". In August 1215 he wrote an open letter which completely forgave John and blamed the barons for the civil war, and he also invalidated that Magna Carta (illegal and unjust).
  • In foreign policy, the Pope wouldn't allow Philip to invade England in 1213, and now John could try and retake Normandy because he wasn't an excommunicated king. The 1214 campaign was financed partially by the Church and when it collapsed John told Innocent he'd made a truce so he could prepare to crusade in the Holy Land; in 1215 Innocent wrote to the barons and condemned their actions against John - threatened the crusade preparations.
  • Financially John gained, while the clergy's losses were put at 100,000 marks. The 100,000 that John had said he'd pay could be done in installments; 40,000 was to be paid before the interdict was lifted (July 2nd 1214) but John could postpone paying 13,000 of it. He actually only paid 6000 marks in October 1214 and was unlikely to have made any further payments after this.
  • In relations with the Church, John distrusted Langton to fill bishoprics, while Langton worried that free elections damaged the papacy. Nevertheless, royal influence over clerical appointments continued and John gotn his way in all 6 epsicopal elections after 1213 (e.g. appointed William Cornhill as bishop of Lichfield) and Langton was suspended by the Pope in 1215.
  • The Church also helped Henry III secure the throne when John died.
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Impact & Outcome of Submission (2)

  • Losses due to the submission:
  • the interdict and excommunication damaged John's reputation; his submission was seen as a weak move.
  • there became papal domination over England and a 1000 mark addition to Church finance and compensation.
  • the end of the interdict was advantageous for the barons in the short-term; it restored the leaders of the 1212 rebellion (Robert FitzWalter and Eustace de Vesci) who had been in exile; led to Magn Carta.
  • John was the first king of England to willingly subject himself to the superior authority of a foreign power. 
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