Source.—Ingulph's Chronicles. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.
The Charter of our lord the King, John, as to the confirmation of the boundaries of the abbey, and of which mention is made above, was to the following effect: "John, by the Grace of God, King of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, sheriffs, and all his bailiffs and faithful subjects, greeting. Know ye, that we have granted and confirmed unto God and the Church of St. Guthlac at Croyland, and to the abbot and monks there serving God, all the lands and tenements, and other the possessions to the said church belonging, and in especial the site of the said abbey, together with the boundaries thereof herein named, which extend as follow: a distance of five leagues, from Croyland to the place where the Asendyk falls into the waters of the Welland, together with all piscaries to the said boundaries belonging. Wherefore we do will and strictly command that the before-named church, and abbot, and monks shall hold and for ever possess all their lands, tenements, and other their possessions, and all the gifts which since the death of King Henry, the grandfather of our father, have been reasonably given to them, fully, peacefully, freely, quietly, and honourably, to enjoy the same in wood and in plain, in meadows and in pastures, in waters and in marshes, in preserves and in fisheries, in mills and in mill-dams, and in all other things and places, with right of Sach and Soch, and Thol, and Them, and Infangthefe, and with all other free customs and acquittances, as fully, freely, and quietly as the said church, and abbot, and monks, held the same in the time of King Henry, the grandfather of our father, or other our predecessors Kings of England, and as fully, freely, and quietly as any churches in our kingdom of England hold the same, in such manner as is by the Charter of King Henry our father reasonably testified, etc. Given by the hand of Simon, Archdeacon of Wells."
Not even thus, however, did the venerable abbot Henry gain the wish for repose, but, like a stone out of the living rock to be placed in a heavenly house, was he squared, both on the right side and on the left, by repeated blows and numerous buffetings. For Acharius, also the Abbot of Burgh St. Peter (not content with his own boundaries, but desirous, contrary to the prophetic warning "to join house to house, and lay field to field, till there be no place,") first, by the royal writ, obtained of the King from beyond sea, impleaded the said abbot Henry, and without any good reason claimed against him our southern marsh called Alderland, of which our monastery had held undisturbed possession from its foundation until the times of our said father, just as the Assyrians did against the people of God. Upon this, Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was then chief justiciary of England, sent letters mandatory to the abbats of Ramsay and Thorney, directing them to make inquisition in his behalf upon the oaths of eighteen knights, mutually agreed upon, what right each of them had to the lands, meadows, pastures, and marshes, and all other things between the river Rene, and the river Welland, and which ought to be the boundaries between the Abbey of Burgh and the Abbey of Croyland, and fully to state the said inquisition, under their seals, and those of the knights to the before-named archbishop and justices.
A dissension, however, arising between the inquisitors, they returned to their homes, leaving the matter unsettled.
At length, however, after many conferences, discussions, delays, and expenses on both sides the dispute between the two abbats having been enquired into at great length before the justices of our lord the King at Lexington, was finally settled to the no small detriment of the church of Croyland.
THE ELECTION OF LANGTON (1207).
Source.—Roger of Wendover, Vol. II., Annal 1207. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.
About this time the monks of the church of Canterbury appeared before our lord the Pope, to plead a disgraceful dispute which had arisen between themselves; for a certain part of them, by authenticated letters of the convent, presented Reginald, sub-prior of Canterbury, as they had often done, to be archbishop-elect, and earnestly required the confirmation of his election; the other portion of the same monks had, by letters alike authentic, presented John, bishop of Norwich, showing by many arguments that the election of the sub-prior was null, not only because it had been made by night, and without the usual ceremonies, and without the consent of the King, but also because it had not been made by the older and wiser part of the convent; and thus setting forth these reasons, they asked that that election should be confirmed, which was made before fitting witnesses in open day and by consent, and in the presence of the King. At length, after long arguments on both sides, our lord the Pope, seeing that the parties could not agree in fixing on the same person, and that both elections had been made irregularly, and not according to the decrees of the holy canons, by the advice of his cardinals, annulled both elections, laying the apostolic interdict on the parties, and by definitive judgment ordering, that neither of them should again aspire to the honours of the archbishopric. When at length the letters of our lord the Pope came to the notice of the English King, he was exceedingly enraged, as much at the promotion of Stephen Langton, as at the annulling of the election of the bishop of Norwich, and accused the monks of Canterbury of treachery; for he said that they had, to the prejudice of his rights, elected their sub-prior without his permission, and afterwards, to palliate their fault by giving satisfaction to him, they chose the bishop of Norwich; that they had also received money from the treasury for their expenses in obtaining the confirmation of the said bishop's election from the apostolic see; and to complete their iniquity, they had there elected Stephen Langton, his open enemy, and had obtained his consecration to the archbishopric. On this account the said King, in the fury of his anger and indignation, sent Fulk de Cantelu and Henry de Cornhill, two most cruel and inhuman knights, with armed attendants, to expel the monks of Canterbury, as if they were guilty of a crime against his injured majesty from England, or else to consign them to capital punishment. These knights were not slow to obey the commands of their lord, but set out for Canterbury, and, entering the monastery with drawn swords, in the King's name fiercely ordered the prior and monks to depart immediately from the kingdom of England as traitors to the King's Majesty; and they affirmed with an oath that, if they (the monks) refused to do this, they would themselves set fire to the monastery, and the other offices adjoining it, and would burn all the monks themselves with their buildings. The monks, acting unadvisedly, departed without violence or laying hands on anyone; all of them, except thirteen sick men who were lying in the infirmary unable to walk, forthwith crossed into Flanders, and were honourably received at the Abbey of St. Bertinus and other monasteries on the Continent. Afterwards, by the orders of the King, some monks of the order of St. Augustine were placed in the church of Canterbury in their stead to perform the duties there; the before-mentioned bulk managing, and even distributing and confiscating, all the property of the same monks, whilst their lands and those of the archbishop remained uncultivated. The aforesaid monks were driven from their monastery into exile on the fourteenth of July.