Introduction
Peter of Pomfret (Pontefract, near Wakefield in Yorkshire’s West Riding) was a simple, unlettered hermit who incautiously prophesied that by Ascension Day in 1213, King John would no longer be king of England. When that day had passed, and John still sat upon his throne, the King had poor Peter hanged; but as Sir George Wrong explains, the prophecy wasn’t so wide of the mark.
When Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, died in 1205 the younger monks of Canterbury hurriedly elected their sub-prior as archbishop, and sent him to Rome for confirmation, while the elder monks supported the candidate whom John sent to Rome, John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich.* But Pope Innocent III, the strongest and most determined man of his time, took advantage of the dispute to reject both claimants, and appointed his own nominee, Stephen Langton,* an English cardinal at Rome. The Canterbury monks acquiesced, and confirmed the nomination, but John was furious. He drove the new archbishop’s father from England, refused to allow Langton himself to put his foot in the country, and finally seized some of the Church’s possessions.
Innocent was not the man to be compelled by such means to give up his purpose, and he promptly placed England under an interdict* and closed the churches; baptism and extreme unction were allowed, but apparently no religious rites hallowed marriage or burial. John, as a chronicler says, “was wonderfully little disturbed,” and probably the clergy did not fully obey the interdict, under which England lay for nearly seven years.
Précis
In 1207, Stephen Langton was an English cardinal in Rome, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Innocent III against the wishes of King John. The furious King barred Langton from entering the country, and confiscated Church property. The Pope responded with a country-wide Interdict, a severe reprimand that was not taken to heart by the King.
(56 / 60 words)
In 1207, Stephen Langton was an English cardinal in Rome, appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Innocent III against the wishes of King John. The furious King barred Langton from entering the country, and confiscated Church property. The Pope responded with a country-wide Interdict, a severe reprimand that was not taken to heart by the King.
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1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words.
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