Bull.—There can be no reasonable doubt of the authenticity of this document. Baronius published it from the Codex Vaticanus; John XXII. has annexed it to his brief addresed to Edward II.; and John of Salisbury states distinctly, in his Metalogicus, that he obtained this Bull from Adrian. He grounds the right of donation on the supposed gift of the island by Constantine. As the question is one of interest and importance, we subjoin the original: "Ad preces meas illustri Regi Anglorum Henrico II. concessit (Adrianus) et dedit Hiberniam jure hæreditario possidendam, sicut literae ipsius testantur in hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insulæ de jure antiquo ex donatione Constantini, qui eam fundavit et dotavit, dicuntur ad Romanam Ecclesiam pertinere."—Metalogicus, i. 4.
Friends.—Hib. Expug. lib. ii. c. 38.
Hugh de Lacy.—In a charter executed at Waterford, Henry had styled this nobleman "Bailli," a Norman term for a representative of royalty. The territory bestowed on him covered 800,000 acres. This was something like wholesale plunder.