der; and an attempt, which had been made by them for
farther liberty and greater independence on the civil power, was
therefore less acceptable to the court of Rome [o]. About the same
time that the barons at Oxford had annihilated the prerogatives of the
monarchy, the clergy met in a synod at Merton, and passed several
ordinances, which were no less calculated to promote their own
grandeur at the expense of the crown. They decreed, that it was
unlawful to try ecclesiastics by secular judges; that the clergy were
not to regard any prohibitions from civil courts; that lay patrons had
no right to confer spiritual benefices; that the magistrate was
obliged, without farther inquiry, to imprison all excommunicated
persons; and that ancient usage, without any particular grant or
charter, was a sufficient authority for any clerical possessions or
privileges [p]. About a century before, these claims would have been
supported by the court of Rome beyond the most fundamental articles of
faith: they were the chief points maintained by the great martyr,
Becket; and his resolution in defending them had exalted him to the
high station which he held in the catalogue of Romish saints. But
principles were changed with the times: the pope was become somewhat
jealous of the great independence of the English clergy, which made
them stand less in need of his protection, and even imboldened them to
resist his authority, and to complain of the preference given to the
Italian courtiers, whose interests, it is natural to imagine, were the
chief object of his concern. He was ready, therefore, on the king's
application, to annul these new constitutions of the church of England
[q]. And, at the same time, he absolved the king, and all his
subjects, from the oath which they had taken to observe the provisions
of Oxford [r].
[FN [o] Rymer, vol. i. p. 755. [p] Ann. Burt. p. 389. [q] Rymer,
vol. i. p. 755. [r] Ibid. p. 722. M. Paris, p. 666. W. Heming. p.
580. Ypod. Neust. p. 463. Knyghton, p. 2446.]

[MN Prince Edward.]
Prince Edward, whose liberal mind, though in such early youth, had
taught him the great prejudice which his father had incurred, by his
levity, inconstancy, and frequent breach of promise, refused for a
long time to take advantage of this absolution; and declared, that the
provisions of Oxford, how unreasonable soever in themselves, and how
much soever abused by the barons, ought still to be adhered to by
those who had