Higbert, bishop of Lichfield (c. 779), was made archbishop by Offa in 785; he first signs the charter as archbishop in 788, but could not act as Metropolitan, and so be on an equality with the Metropolitans of Canterbury and York, without the pallium, which it was taken as granted could only be given by the Pope. The pallium is a long strip of fine woollen cloth, ornamented with crosses, the middle of which was formed into a loose collar resting on the shoulders, while the extremities before and behind hung down nearly to the feet. This pallium gave him the power to ordain the bishops of his province, or to summon them to his synod, or to sit on the archiepiscopal throne. It was the sign of the Pope’s confirmation of his appointment as archbishop.
The Roman Curia at first hesitated to comply with the King’s request. Offa was determined to carry his point, and he knew well by what means he could realize his object. He resorted to wholesale bribery among the Roman officials, and thus gained his point.[66] Peter’s pence probably was also part of the bargain.[67]
I have gone into details on this subject on account of the results which followed. Hitherto the Church of England was practically independent of the Roman Church. But here was a splendid opportunity for so astute a diplomatist as Adrian to advance Papal supremacy over the Anglican Church. Certainly, Theodore’s appointment was a great step in the same direction.
The Pope proposed, and Offa consented, that a mission should be sent to England with a view of holding a council in Mercia, and of making such regulations in the disorganized Church as may be found necessary. Thus the Anglican Church lost her independence, and subsequently became a slave to a foreign bishop and the Roman Curia. For what? What was the quid pro quo? To convert the bishopric of Lichfield into an archbishopric with metropolitan power from 788 to 801. The price was too much. Higbert was the only person who ever bore the title of archbishop of Lichfield. He died in 801, and his successor bore the title of bishop.
Legatine Councils in England.
In 786, the two papal legates, accompanied by Wighood, a French abbot, sent by Charlemagne to assist them, reached England with letters from the Pope to King Offa, Aelfwold, King of Northumbria, and to the two archbishops.
George, Bishop of Ostia, went to King Aelfwold’s court, and Theophylact, Bishop of Todi, repaired to Offa’s. These kings then summoned councils of their chief men, both spiritual and temporal. The Northern Council assembled in 787; Offa’s Council assembled at Calchyth, i.e. Chelsea, London, in the same year. The legates placed before each Council the twenty Injunctions, which were drawn up at Rome previous to their departure. After the Injunctions were read out at each Council, they were signed by the two kings, the princes, two archbishops, bishops, and abbots. These ecclesiastical synods, presided over by the kings, were Witenagemóts, and the twenty Injunctions were so many laws regularly and legally passed. The 17th Injunction relates to tithes; therefore the payment of tithes received on this occasion a legal sanction in the two kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. Here then we put our fingers on the first case in which tithes in England had been legally ordered to be paid. Previous to 787 there existed the custom of voluntarily paying tithes. Some paid, and some did not. But in this year and in these two kingdoms only, the custom was made a legal obligation by the two Anglo-Saxon Parliaments.
“What copy,” says Selden, “of this synod the centuriators had, or whence they took it, I find not. But if it be good authority, it is a most observable law to this purpose. Being made with such solemnity by both powers of both states of Mercland (Mercia) and Northumberland, which took up a very great part of England; and it is likely that it was made general to all England.”[68] It is most important to note that for 120 years after these legatine councils were held, there is a dead silence in our laws and chronicles as regards the payment of tithes.
The legates, on their return to Rome, made a report to the Pope of their proceedings in England. The document was published in A.D. 1567 at Basle by the Magdeburg Centuriators, from a manuscript of which they give no account.[69] It contains, however, as Lord Selborne admits, abundant internal proof of authenticity.[70] Yet he adds: “But because it is not probable that, if the Injunctions which we now know from this source only had entered into the body of the public law of the three greatest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the eighth century, they would, in this country, have entirely disappeared.”[71] When such arguments from negative evidence as to laws are urged, I always think of Mr. Thorpe’s wise remarks, that “what we now possess of Anglo-Saxon laws is but a portion of what once existed.”[72] It contains twenty Injunctions, and was signed by the two kings and all the bishops, including an Irish and Welsh bishop.
In this document the object of the mission is thus stated: “To travel through and visit the island, and to confirm the authority of the Roman Pontiff acquired there formerly through the mission of Augustine.”[73]