acted upon it should be confiscated and
themselves banished. The bishop was involved also in a local contest
with the Abbot of Battle, who refused to consider himself subject to
his episcopal jurisdiction.

After Hilary's death in 1169 the revenues of the see were for four
years appropriated to his own uses by the king, who late in the year
1173 appointed #John Greenford# (1174-1180), who was Dean of
Chichester, to the vacancy. The bishop-elect was not consecrated
until, in 1174, he, with three more nominated about the same time, had
done penance before Becket's tomb at Canterbury. Little is known of
him except that he attended some ecclesiastical councils.

The episcopate of #Seffrid II.# (1180-1204) introduces an important
period of activity, during which great alterations were made in the
fabric of the cathedral.

#Simon Fitz Robert#, or #Simon of Wells# (1204-1207), was a
bishop whose favour with the king (John) enabled him to do much for
the see. He had held a post in the Royal Exchequer, and had been
guardian of the Fleet Prison as well as Provost of Beverley and
Archdeacon of Wells. The benefactions he obtained were various. A
charter was granted by which the see should hold its property free
from impost, under the protection of the king. The bishop, with his
dean and chapter, were practically exempted from the jurisdiction of
the local civil courts and from the payment of customs and tolls
within the same sphere. Within the bounds of the property owned by
the see they were to rule without restraint, and in the presence of a
royal official "the view of Frank Pledge was to be held in the
bishop's court." In the patent rolls of King John there are two
entries, dated 1205 A.D. and 1206 A.D., by which the bishop was
granted permission to take Purbeck marble for the repair of his church
without hindrance, from the coast of Dorset to Chichester. [32] But
precautions were taken to prevent any of the material thus obtained
from being used elsewhere. A further grant, the evidence of which is
now removed, allowed the chapter to build premises beyond the
precincts northward, which encroached twelve feet into the roadway now
known as West Street. A row of lime-trees now stands where these
houses remained till the middle of the last century. For six years
after Simon's death John kept the see vacant, and during the interim
enjoyed the temporalities.

[32] See Walcott, p. 15, note _c_, May 24th, 1207.

#Richard Poore#