Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Norwich / A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See

by C. H. B. Quennell

John of Oxford (1175-1200) was consecrated at Lambeth by Richard, Archbishop of Canterbury, December 14, 1175; he was clerk or royal chaplain to the king. He had presided over the council of Clarendon, the constitutions of which defined the king's prerogatives in regard to the Church, and chiefly with regard to the question of trying clerks charged with crimes in the civil courts. He was despatched to Rome on an embassy to the Pope, Alexander III., and on its failure was sent by Henry to the Diet at Wurzburg; the king, not having been supported by Alexander, determined to uphold his opponent, and as well he, in direct opposition to the Pope, made John of Oxford Dean of Salisbury, with the result that the future Bishop of Norwich incurred the penalty of excommunication by Becket from Vezelay, "for having fallen into a damnable heresy in taking a sacrilegious oath to the emperor, for having communicated with the schismatic of Cologne, and for having usurped to himself the deanery of the church of Salisbury."

The dispute was referred to the Pope at Sens, where John of Oxford, with his fellow-ambassador, Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London, repaired; John of Oxford was rebuked by the Pontiff for his misconduct, but diplomatically managed to effect his end and retain his deanery. Henry had met Becket at Chaumont, through the mediation of the Archbishop of Sens, and, the quarrel being patched up, John of Oxford was sent to escort him to England. He landed, December 1, at Sandwich, in the year 1170, and within the month was murdered at Canterbury.

In 1175, the incursion of William of Scotland was checked, and the king himself taken prisoner by Ranulph de Glanville. John of Oxford and others were commissioned to settle terms of peace; and they executed the treaty of Falaice, afterwards ratified by King Henry at York, by which the Scottish king and his barons were under the necessity of doing homage for their possessions. John of Oxford, who had rendered good service to his sovereign, was rewarded by promotion to the vacant see of Norwich; and during his episcopate sent by the king on an embassy to William, King of Sicily, to convey his majesty's consent to the marriage of his daughter Joan with that monarch.

An important step in the administration of justice was taken during this reign—the king divided the country into six circuits, to which certain prelates and nobles were to be sent at certain times to hear suits and save litigants the trouble of attending the king's court at Westminster. John of Oxford was one of a company of five to whom was given jurisdiction over a portion of the country, from Norwich down to Sussex, and from Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire eastward to the coast.

On the 9th of July 1189, King Henry died, and was succeeded by his third son, Richard: John of Oxford assisting at the coronation. Richard had no sooner been crowned than he led the crusade to the Holy Land, which had been preparing in Henry's time, and John of Oxford was forced to proceed to the Pope to ask for his absolution of the oath he had taken to follow the Cross, on account of his old age and infirmity. This request being granted, for which he had to pay 10,000 marks, he returned to England.

The last public act of John of Oxford—who was one of the most remarkable men who have held the see of Norwich—was most probably his attendance at the coronation of King John. He died June 2, 1200.

John de Grey (1200-1214) was elected by the monks, and his election being confirmed by King John, he was consecrated by Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was during his episcopate, and through the quarrel between King John and the Pope, that the power of the latter was at length firmly established—a supremacy that was unquestioned until the sixteenth century.

The metropolitan see of Canterbury fell vacant in 1205; the sub-prior, who was surreptitiously elected by the monks, and unknown to the king, travelled to Rome for the Pope's sanction of his appointment. When the king became aware of this he was enraged, and despatched an embassy upholding his nominee, John de Grey. The Pope pleased neither party, and named Stephen Langton as Hubert's successor. The Pope, Innocent, sent two legates, of whom Pandulph was one, in 1211 to England, and on John declining to recognise the Papal claims, he was deposed, and his crown offered to the French king Philip.

The country had been placed under an interdict, and most of the bishops had left the country. John de Grey remained faithful to the king, and actually invaded France with a small force to attack the invading Philip, but soon was forced to retreat. In the end, John submitted, resigned his crown, which was restored to him, and was compelled to pay to the Church as damages 40,000 marks. John de Grey, who had been sent to Rome to arrange this, died on the return journey at S. Jean d'Angelo, near Poictiers, 18th October 1214.

Pandulph Masca (1222-1226) was consecrated Bishop of Norwich by Honorius, 29th May 1222. He is supposed to have been a member of a noble Pisan family, and in 1211 had been sent by Pope Innocent to humble King John, which he successfully did. He was again employed as Papal Legate during the young King Henry II.'s minority, and died in Italy, 16th September 1226, having played a prominent part as politician and mediator.