OCR A Level History A Y103-01 England 1199–1272 Friday 10 June 2022

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Source A: A monk from Canterbury outlines events in 1205. The king secretly sent messengers to Rome. When the monks of Canterbury heard this they sent some of their number with the sub-prior to Rome... also. Soon the royal messengers wrote to the king saying that the monks of Canterbury had elected their sub-prior and sent him to Rome. At this the king was astounded and went to Canterbury asking the monks if they had elected their sub-prior or anyone else. They maintained that they had made no election and to prove what they said was true, they elected the bishop of Norwich. Since the king approved of their election, the monks sent messengers to Rome for the pallium. But the monks who had already gone to Rome opposed the election saying that the bishop of Norwich had not been elected by the monks but had been imposed by the king using force and so his election was void. Gervase of Canterbury, The Deeds of the Kings, written before 1210 Source B: A monk of St Alban’s gives an account of John’s reaction to the papal appointment of Stephen Langton as archbishop. After banishing the monks from Canterbury, King John sent messengers with letters to the pope. In these he expressly accused the pope of having disgracefully annulled the election of the bishop of Norwich and of having consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, a man altogether unknown to him and who had been for a long time familiar with the king’s declared enemies in the French kingdom. Even more, this undermined the liberties of his crown, as his consent was not asked. He added that he would stand up for the rights of the crown and not be deterred. Roger of Wendover, History of England, written before 1236 Source C: The pope writes to King John. You have written to us waywardly with threats and reproaches and have shown us less consideration than you should. Your devotion may be very necessary to us, but our support is no less advantageous to you. You are endeavouring to lessen our dignity in a way that no other prince has presumed to do. You set forth some frivolous excuses by which you assert that you cannot give your assent to the election of our beloved son, Stephen, because, forsooth, he has been intimate with your enemies and is not personally known to you. Letter from Innocent III, 1207 Source D: King John sends letters to be read out in the shire courts. [Show More]

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