A.D. 1207.] KING ANI) THE ΓΟΤΕ AT VARIANCE. //ore the king of England sent threatening letters to ttte pope. After having thus banished the monks of Caiitcrhnry, king John sent messengers with letters to the pope, in whirl) he expressly and as it were threateningly accused hill) (if having disgracefully annulled the election of the hi.shop of Norwich, and of having consecrated, as archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Lnngtoii, a man altogether unknown to him, and who had been for a long time familiar with his declared enemies in the French kingdom; and what redounded more to the prejudice and subversion of the liberties which belonged to his crown, his consent was not duly asked by the monks who ought to have done so, and he, the pope, audaciously presumed to promote the same Stephen ; and he asserted that he could not sufficiently wonder flint he, the pope, as well as the whole court of Home, did not recollect of how much consequence the regard of the English king had been to the Roman sec till now, inasmuch as more abundant profits accrued to them from his kingdom of England than from all other countries on this siile of the Alps, lie added, moreover, that he would stand up for the rights of his crown, if necessary, even to death, and declared immutably that he eould not be deterred from the election and promotion of the bishop of Norwich, which he knew would be advantageous to himself. Finally, he summed up the business by saying, that if he were not attended to in the foregoing matters, he would sto]) the, track by sea against all who were going to Rome, that his territories might not be emptied of their wealth, and be himself be thus rendered less able to drive his enemies away from them ; and, as there were plenty of archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church, us well in England as in his other territories, who were well stored in all kinds of learning if he wanted them, he would not beg for justice or judgment from .strangers out of his own dominions. When till this had been brought to the notice of the pope by the king's messengers, that pontiff wrote in reply us follows : Λ nswer of our lord the pope to the English king. "Innocent bishop, servant of the servants of God. to his well beloved son in Christ, the illustrious John, king of the English, health, and the apostolic blessing. When we wrote vol.. H. η