en
welcomed by the corrupt and self-seeking crowd which is eager, after
the fashion of birds of prey, to tear the carcase from which life has
departed. A large party was formed in England, especially amongst the
greater barons, which was anxious to strip the clergy of their wealth
and power, without any thought for the better fulfilment of their
spiritual functions. In the Parliament of =1371= bishops were declared
unfit to hold offices of state. Amongst others who were dismissed was
William of Wykeham, the Bishop of Winchester. He was a great architect
and administrator, and having been deprived of the Chancellorship used
his wealth to found at Winchester the first great public school in
England. By this time a Chancellor was no longer what he had been in
earlier days (see p. 127), a secretary to the king. He was now
beginning to exercise equitable jurisdiction--that is to say, the
right of deciding suits according to equity, in cases in which the
strict artificial rules of the ordinary courts stood in the way of
justice.

[Illustration: William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, 1367-1404:
from his tomb at Winchester.]

9. =The Duke of Lancaster. 1374--1376.=--In =1374=, as soon as the
Duke of Lancaster returned from his disastrous campaign (see p. 257),
he put himself at the head of the baronial and anti-clerical party. He
was selfish and unprincipled, but he had enormous wealth, having
secured the vast estates of the Lancaster family by his marriage with
Blanche, the granddaughter of the brother of Thomas of Lancaster, the
opponent of Edward II. Rich as he was he wished to be richer, and he
saw his opportunity in an attack upon the higher clergy, which might
end in depriving them not only of political power, but of much of
their ecclesiastical property as well. His accession to the baronial
party was of the greater importance because he was now practically the
first man in the state. The king was suffering from softening of the
brain, and had fallen under the influence of a greedy and unscrupulous
mistress, Alice Perrers, whilst the Black Prince was disqualified by
illness from taking part in the management of affairs. A bargain was
struck between the Duke and Alice Perrers, who was able to obtain the
consent of the helpless king to anything she pleased. She even sat on
the bench with the judges, intimidating them into deciding in favour
of the suitors who had bribed her most highly. It seemed as if
Langland's Mee