episcopal appointments as having been made without his royal consent, both Richard and Reginald started for the papal court. The new archbishop, after a tedious sojourn in Rome, was at length consecrated by the pope himself on 8 April 1174: Reginald's consecration was deferred, but it took place on 23 June at S.Jean de Maurienne in Savoy. On 24 November the archbishop was present at the enthronement of the new bishop of Bath. K. Henry and the young king his son were by this time reconciled, and they returned to England together in May 1175.
There is no evidence that up to this date Peter of Blois had ever been in England. He tells us more than once that it was the king who urged him to come (Epp. 127, 149); but it is not inconsistent with this that his friend, the new bishop of Bath, should have had something to do with his migration. It is commonly stated, indeed, that in 1175 Peter became the archdeacon of Bath; but we shall presently see that he did not receive this promotion until seven years later. As a matter of fact he entered the service of Richard, the new archbishop of Canterbury, and acted as his chancellor; and we may fairly suppose that he was introduced to the archbishop by Bishop Reginald.
The ecclesiastical policy of Archbishop Richard seemed a timid one to the admirers of his martyred predecessor. But it must be remembered that Thomas had little sympathy or support in England either from clergy or from monks during this struggle with the king: his praise and popularity began with his death. Richard had no intention of quarrelling with K. Henry; and there are indications that he disapproved of some of the immunities for which Thomas had contended.[1] His relations with Alexander III were not cordial; and the great papal chancellor Albert, who himself was to be pope for a few weeks at the end of 1187, received a letter from Peter, 'the insignificant chancellor' of the archbishop (modicus domini Cantuariensis cancellarius) defending his master from complaints which had reached the Roman court (Ep. 38). Archbishop Richard was indeed a good husband of the resources of his see; but even the king, as we learn from a frank remonstrance of Peter's, desired to see him more active in the reform of ecclesiastical abuses (Ep. 5).
In one direction he was zealous enough: he was strongly opposed to the attempts which one monastery after another was making to escape diocesan supervision and to obtain exemption from all jurisdiction except that of the pope himself. A letter which Peter
- ↑ See Ep. 73, where a protest is entered against the argument contained in the phrase 'bis in id ipsum'.
