213,
swore fealty to him before his envoy, acknowledged that he held his
kingdom of the Roman see, and promised a yearly tribute for England and
Ireland. Finally he surrendered his crown to a legate and received it
back from him. The banished clergy returned and an agreement was made as
to their losses. Langton guided the barons in their demands on the king
which were expressed in Magna Carta. The first clause provided, as
charters of Henry I. and Stephen had already provided, that the English
Church should be "free," adding that it should have freedom of election,
which John had promised in 1214. As John's suzerain, Innocent annulled
the charter, suspended Langton, and excommunicated the barons in arms
against the king. On John's death, Gualo, legate of Honorius III., with
the help of the earl marshal, secured the throne for Henry III., and he
and his successor Pandulf, as representatives of the young king's
suzerain, largely directed English affairs until 1221, when Pandulf's
departure restored Langton to his rightful position as head in England
of the church. Reforms in discipline and clerical work were inculcated
by provincial legislation, and two legates, Otho in 1237 and Ottoboni in
1268, promulgated in councils constitutions which were a fundamental
part of the canon law in England. Religious life was quickened by the
coming of the friars (see FRIARS). Parochial organization was
strengthened by the institution of vicars in benefices held by religious
bodies, which was regulated and enforced by the bishops. It was a time
of intellectual activity, in character rather cosmopolitan than
national. English clerks studied philosophy and theology at Paris or law
at Bologna; some remained abroad and were famous as scholars, others
like Archbishops Langton, and Edmund Rich, and Bishop Grosseteste
returned to be rulers of the church, and others like Roger Bacon to
continue their studies in England. The schools of Oxford, however, had
already attained repute, and Cambridge began to be known as a place of
study. The spirit of the age found expression in art, and English Gothic
architecture, though originally, like the learning of the time, imported
from France, took a line of its own and reached its climax at this
period. Henry's gratitude for the benefits which in his early years he
received from Rome was shown later in subservience to papal demands.
Gregory IX., and still more Innocent IV., sorely in need of money to
prosecu