e revenues of Bath, Worcester, and Hereford, bishoprics
filled by Italians, who were allowed to reside abroad, and who were glad
to compound for this indulgence, by yielding a considerable share of
their income. He held "in commendam" the abbey of St. Albans, and many
other church preferments. He was even allowed to unite with the see of
York, first that of Durham, next that of Winchester; and there seemed to
be no end of his acquisitions. His further advancement in ecclesiastical
dignity served him as a pretence for engrossing still more revenues:
the pope, observing his great influence over the king, was desirous of
engaging him in his interests, and created him a cardinal. No churchman,
under color of exacting respect to religion, ever carried to a greater
height the state and dignity of that character. His train consisted of
eight hundred servants, of whom many were knights and gentlemen; some
even of the nobility put their children into his family as a place of
education; and in order to gain them favor with their patron, allowed
them to bear offices as his servants. Whoever was distinguished by any
art or science paid court to the cardinal; and none paid court in vain.
Literature, which was then in its infancy, found in him a generous
patron; and both by his public institutions and private bounty, he gave
encouragement to every branch of erudition.[*] Not content with this
munificence, which gained him the approbation of the wise, he strove
to dazzle the eyes of the populace by the splendor of his equipage and
furniture, the costly embroidery of his liveries, the lustre of his
apparel. He was the first clergyman in England that wore silk and gold,
not only on his habit, but also on his saddles and the trappings of his
horses.[**] He caused his cardinal's hat to be borne aloft by a person
of rank; and when he came to the king's chapel, would permit it to be
laid on no place but the altar. A priest, the tallest and most comely
he could find, carried before him a pillar of silver, on whose top was
placed a cross: but not satisfied with this parade, to which he thought
himself entitled as cardinal, he provided another priest of equal
stature and beauty, who marched along, bearing the cross of York, even
in the diocese of Canterbury; contrary to the ancient rule and the
agreement between the prelates of these rival sees.[***] The people made
merry with the cardinal's ostentation; and said, they were now sensible
that one