Exposita siquidem nobis dilecti filii nobilis viri Galfridi de Ianvilla patris tui, fili Symon, petitio continebat quod cum terra Ybernie ac eius incole, ut tenentur, nec sedi eidem, nec Regi Anglie obedirent, sed velut effrenes per campum licentie ducerentur, clare memorie Henricus olim Rex Anglorum de voluntate sedis ipsius armata manu terram predictam intravit, et eam ac habitatores ipsius ad ejusdem sedis obedientiam suaque (sic) pro posse reduxit, et tam idem Rex quam ejus successores in regno prefato probos viros nationis alterius studuerunt successu temporis in terra memorata Ybernie ad continuandam inibi sedis ejusdem obedientiam collocare.
The words of this preamble should be most carefully studied; for though, as I have said, it clearly refers to the action of Pope Adrian, in its statement that Henry invaded Ireland “at the wish of the Papal see,” yet the words “velut effrenes per campum licentie ducerentur” must, surely, be derived from the “tanquam effrenis passim per abrupta deviat viciorum” of Alexander’s letter to Henry entered in the ‘Liber Niger.’ If so, they are evidence, even though they stand alone, that the existence and contents of this letter were known in Ireland at the time.
There is another and far later reference to ‘Laudabiliter’ in a Papal document, which I have not seen mentioned, although the document is one of great consequence for Irish history. When Innocent X. despatched Rinuccini as Papal Nuncio to Ireland (1645) he gave him formal instructions, in which was comprised a brief outline of past events. In it we find this definite and most striking passage:
For a long period the true faith maintained itself, till the country, invaded by the Danes, an idolatrous people, fell for the most part into impious superstition. This state of darkness lasted till the reigns of Adrian IV. and of Henry II., king of England. Henry, desiring to strengthen his empire, and to secure the provinces which he possessed beyond sea in France, wished to subdue the island of Ireland; and, to compass this design, had recourse to Adrian, who, himself an Englishman, with a liberal hand granted all he coveted.
The zeal manifested by Henry to convert all Ireland to the faith moved the soul of Adrian to invest him with the sovereignty of that island. Three important conditions were annexed to the gift. 1st. That the king should do all in his power to propagate the Christian religion throughout Ireland. 2nd. That each of his subjects should pay an annual tribute of one penny to the Holy See, commonly called Peter’s pence. And 3rd. That civil liberty should be guaranteed, and the privileges and immunities of the Church be held inviolate.[420]
This clear testimony to the Pope’s belief, in 1645, that Adrian had, by ‘Laudabiliter,’ invested Henry II. with the sovereignty of Ireland can hardly be agreeable reading to Father Gasquet and his friends.
IX
The Coronation of Richard I
The first coronation of an English king of which we possess a detailed account is that of Richard I. (3rd Sept., 1189). It was carried out, says Dr. Stubbs, “in such splendour and minute formality as to form a precedent for all subsequent ceremonies of the sort.”[421] As a more recent writer has observed:
The order of the procession and the details of the ceremonial were arranged with unusual care and minuteness; it was the most splendid and elaborate coronation-ceremony that had ever been seen in England, and it served as a precedent for all after-time.[422]
It is consequently of some interest to learn on what authority the narrative of this coronation rests.