, in opposition
to the will of King John (whose consent was necessary) and of Hubert
Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury (whose rights as metropolitan were
attacked). Gerald hastened off to Rome to get the Pope's support,
taking with him the most precious offering that he could think of--six
of his own books; for Rome had a bad name for bribery--and who could
resist such a bribe? But he found it advisable to supplement his books
by other promises, especially by the offer to the Pope of tithes from
Wales.

The Pope at this time was Innocent III.--the greatest of all the
Popes--who brought kings and nations under his feet and held despotic
sway over the Universal Church, and stamped out heresy in blood. In
the references to him in Gerald's works he appears in much more human
guise. We see him after supper unbending and laughing at Gerald's
anecdotes and cracking jokes of a somewhat risky character with the
archdeacon. It is clear that the Pope thoroughly enjoyed the
Welshman's company, but also that he did not take him very seriously
as an ecclesiastical statesman. "Let us have some more stories about
your archbishop's bad Latin," he would say, when Gerald was getting
too urgent on the independence of the Welsh Church or his own right to
the see of St. David's.

This archbishop was Hubert Walter, who was much more of a secular
administrator than an ecclesiastic, and whose Latin though clear and
ready might show a fine contempt for all rules of grammar. Gerald was
a stickler for correct Latin grammar; he is great on "howlers." There
is one of his stories, illustrating both the avarice of the Norman
prelates and the ignorance of the Welsh clergy: A Welsh priest came to
his bishop and said, "I have brought your lordship a present of two
hundred _oves_." He meant "_ova_"; but the bishop insisted on the
sheep; and the priest probably rubbed up his Latin grammar. Gerald had
also other patriotic reasons for his hostility to the archbishop, who
as chief justiciary--_i.e._, chief minister of the king--had recently
attacked and defeated the Welsh between the Wye and the Severn.
"Blessed be God," writes Gerald sarcastically to him, "who has taught
your hands to war and your fingers to fight, for since the days when
Harold almost exterminated the nation, no prince has destroyed so many
Welshmen in one battle as your Grace."

Gerald continued the struggle till 1203, though deserted by the Welsh
clergy. "The laity of Wales," he said,