the French king, whom they had elected their sovereign. And they had sent him hostages, and written letters, and other kinds of bonds and engagements of fealty and allegiance, conveyed by formal embassies, and he now, having made all the necessary preparations, was hastening his arrival. But king John, hearing of the arrival of Louis in England, flew to Canterbury. In the meantime, Guaio, the legate, landed, who had been sent by the lord pope Innocent the Third for the protection of king John, who, having visited Philip, king of France, on his journey towards England, had, on the part of the lord the pope, dissuaded him, by all the means he could think of, not to send his son Louis to the succour of men who were excommunicated, lest the Roman church should be deprived of its patrimony. And when king Philip had understood that this was said of the kingdom of England, he presently answered in this manner : " The*kingdom of England never was the patrimony of Peter, or of the Roman church, nor is it now, nor will it ever be so ; for king John, a long time ago, wishing unjustly to deprive his brother, king Richard, of the kingdom of England, and being on that account accused of treason, and. convicted before him, was condemned by a formal trial in the court of the king himself, and the sentence was pronounced by Hugo de Pusatz, bishop of Durham ; and so he has never been the true king of England. Again, even if he ever was a king, and the true king of England, still he subsequently forfeited the kingdom by the murder of Arthur, for which action he was condemned in our court. Again, no king or prince can give away his kingdom without the consent of his barons, who are bound to defend that kingdom. And if the pope, being led away by a lust of new dominion, has ultimately determined to uphold this error, he will give a very mischievous example to all kingdoms." And at these words, all the nobles of France who were standing by, began to cry out, as it were, with one voice, that they would stand to the death in defence of that article, namely, that no king or prince could, by the impulse of his own private will, give away his kingdom, or make it tributary, by which conduct the nobles of his kingdom would be rendered slaves. These events took place at Lyons, on the fifteenth day after Easter. But the next day Louie came to the conference, and, in the presence of his father, and Guaio, the legate, and all the rest who were standing by, said : " My lord the king,