l to the old king, had once thought he would
reach the crown, but was obliged to content himself with becoming
archbishop of York. As such, he scorned to ally himself either with
Longchamp or with Puiset, and made war on both impartially. Longchamp
forbids him to leave France; nevertheless Geoffrey lands at Dover, the
castle of which was held by Richenda, sister of the Chancellor. He
mounts on horseback and gallops towards the priory of St. Martin;
Richenda sends after him, and one of the lady's men was putting his hand
on the horse's bridle, when our lord the archbishop, shod with iron,
gave a violent kick to the enemy's steed, and tore his belly open; the
beast reared, and the prelate, freeing himself, reached the priory.
There he is under watch for four days, after which he is dragged from
the very altar, and taken to the castle of Dover. At last he is
liberated, and installed in York; he immediately commences to fight with
his own clergy; he enters the cathedral when vespers are half over; he
interrupts the service, and begins it over again; the indignant
treasurer has the tapers put out, and the archbishop continues his
psalm-singing in the dark. He excommunicates his neighbour Hugh de
Puiset, who is little concerned by it; he causes the chalices used by
the bishop of Durham to be destroyed as profaned.

Hugh de Puiset, who was still riding about, though attacked by the
disease that was finally to carry him off, dies full of years in 1195,
after a _reign_ of forty-three years. He had had several children by
different women: one of them, Henri de Puiset, joined the Crusade;
another, Hugh, remained French, and became Chancellor to King Louis
VII.[230]

These warlike habits are only attenuated by degrees. In 1323 Edward II.
writes to Louis de Beaumont, bishop of Durham, reproaching a noble like
him for not defending his bishopric any better against the Scotch than
if he were a mutterer of prayers like his predecessor. Command is laid
upon bishop Louis to take arms and go and camp on the frontier. In the
second half of the same century, Henry le Despencer, bishop of Norwich,
hacks the peasants to pieces, during the great rising, and makes war in
Flanders for the benefit of one of the two popes.

Side by side with these warriors shine administrators, men of learning,
saints, all important and influential personages in their way. Such
are, for example, Lanfranc, of Pavia, late abbot of St. Stephen at Caen,
who, as arc