Laudabiliter
Encyclopedia
Laudabiliter was a papal bull
issued in 1155 by Adrian IV
, the only Englishman to serve as Pope
, giving the Angevin
King Henry II
of England
the right to assume control over Ireland
and apply the Gregorian Reform
s in the Irish church. The Norman invasion of Ireland
ensued in 1169-71 under the pretext of this bull following the intervention of Richard de Clare
a Hiberno-Norman
knight from Wales, retained by the King of Leinster, Diarmuid MacMorrough in his fight to regain his kingdom and the throne of the High King of Ireland
. The kings of England, from Henry II
(1171) until Henry VIII
(1541), derived the title and the authority Lord of Ireland
from this Bull. Subsequently, with the declaration of the independence of the Church of England
from Papal Supremacy
, a new basis for the English monarch's claim to the rule of Ireland was needed: the Crown of Ireland Act 1542
therefore established a sovereign Kingdom of Ireland
with Henry being given the title of King of Ireland
. There has been some controversy over the authenticity of the Laudabiliter and the possibility of its having been a forgery.
A bull
is a Papal
letter that takes its name from the bubble
-shaped, lead
en seal which it bears. However, historians such as Laurence Ginnell
, believe the letters written in the 12th century relating to Ireland
were never sealed with any seal and are not correctly called bulls but rather privilegia or privileges.
The original bulla
was a lump of clay molded around a cord and stamped with a seal. When dry, the container cannot be violated without visible damage to the bulla, thereby ensuring the contents remain tamper-proof until they reach their destination. Stephen J. McCormick, in his preface to The Pope and Ireland, notes that it is was well known that the forgery
of both Papal and other documents was fairly common in the 12th century. Citing Professor Jungmann
, who in the appendix to his Dissertationes Historiœ Ecclesiasticœ, in the fifth volume says, "it is well known from history that everywhere towards the close of the 12th century there were forged or corrupted Papal Letters or Diplomas. That such was the case frequently in England is inferred from the Letters of John Sarisbiensis and of others."
Currently, any attempt at sourcing the original document is impossible as the Vatican says the original Laudabiliter is no longer in existence. This has been used to further question the legitimacy of Laudabiliter. J. H. Round, for example, says that the grant of Ireland by Adrian is erroneously styled "the Bull Laudabiliter". It has been so long spoken of as a bull, he says, that one hardly knows how to describe it. He suggests that as long as it is realized that it was only a commendatory letter no mistake can arise.
In 1155, Pope Adrian IV issued the papal bull Laudabiliter. The document commissioned the Angevin
King Henry II
to intervene in Ireland to assist in the reform of the governance of the Irish Church and the Irish system of governance according to the Roman (Latin Rite) ecclesiastical system. This followed the structural reform of the previously quasi independent form of the Church in Ireland
as defined shortly before at the Synod of Kells. The bull derives its title from the Latin word laudabiliter (meaning laudably or in a praiseworthy manner), which is the opening word in bull, the usual manner in which bulls are named.
The proximity of Ireland to England
as well as the Holy See's ongoing dispute with the Irish Church over Papal Supremacy, provided the impetus of conquest to the Papacy who had suggested the idea of invasion to both William the Conqueror and Henry I
. Richard Lingard said that to justify the invasion of a "free and unoffending" people by Henry II, the Papacy "discovered" that the civilization of the people and reform of their clergy were needed and for the benefits of this civilization, and the Irish would cheerfully purchase with the loss of their independence. Furthermore, the Holy See claimed every Christian island as the property of the Papacy and foresaw that any Papal Bull issued to the English crown authorizing invasion of Ireland would cement the Pope's authority over the British Isles. However, the Papacy realized it could not directly advise King Henry to invade, recognizing that the king would see through the advise an attempt to further expand Papal power. Therefore a few months after his coronation Lingard writes, John of Salisbury
, a learned monk, was dispatched by Pope Adrian IV
to King Henry II and assure Henry that the Pope's object was to provide instruction to an ignorant people, to remove vice from the Lord's vineyard and to extend the Papacy's power to Ireland merely in the form of the payment of Peter's Pence
. The King, according to Lingard, "must have smiled at the hypocrisy of this address" but expressed his satisfaction and agreed to the Pope's request, reminding him to always keep in mind the conditions on which that assent had been granted. However, King Henry who fought against Papal Supremacy throughout his reign, refused to countenance any invasion of Ireland, correctly deducing that any invasion of Ireland made under the pretext of the Bull would lead to a significant curtailment on his power in Ireland and more importantly on England itself.
It was at a royal council at Winchester
that Curtis said talk of carrying out this invasion had been had, but that Henry's mother, the Empress Matilda
, had protested against it. In Ireland however, nothing seems to have been known of it, and no provision had been made against English aggression. J. Duncan Mackie, in his Pope Adrian IV. The Lothian Essay 1907 gives the date as 29 September 1155 for this meenting for conquering Ireland and giving it to Henry's brother William.
Curiously, despite the weight of historical evidence throughout diplomatic records, court records, and scholarly work, Laurence Ginnell
cites the (Roman Catholic) Dr. Malone as evidence pointing the Bull's illegitimacy. Dr. Malone states regarding the Laudabiliter "there does not appear to be in the domain of history a better authenticated fact than the privilege of Adrian IV to Henry II." However, Cardinal Gasquet writes that historians of this time were ignorant of the existence of Laudabiliter. He says that during the residence of the pontifical Court at Avignon
two Lives of Pope Adrian IV were written. One was composed in 1331 and the second in 1356. In neither is there any mention of this important act of the Pope, although the authors find a place for many less important documents. However, within the Vatican Secret Archives
there exists a large late-16th century picture of the bull being drafted, with a caption mentioning that the grant was made: "..sub annuo censu" - in exchange for an annual tax payment by the English Crown.
The following summary of the evidence cited by McCormick in favour of the authenticity of Pope Adrian's letter, appeared he says in the Irishman newspaper and was compiled by J. C. O Callaghan, who was editor of the Macariae Excidium, and author of a number of works on Irish history. This list also appears in Alfread H. Tarleton's Nicholas Breakspear (Adrian IV.) Englishman and Pope, with the additional evidence of the Norman Chronicles that testify to the fact he suggests that the bull and the ring were deposited at Winchester.
McCormick might also have mentioned these aspects:
In addition to Laudabiliter and the letters Alexander a number of authors have examined the character of Giraldus Cambrenis and the account of John of Salisbury, in addition to challenging each other. McCormick's The Pope and Ireland is very much a challenge to James G. Maguire's
Ireland and the Pope: A Brief History of Papal Intrigue Against Irish Liberty from Adrian IV. to Leo XIII. While Cambrensis Eversus by John Lynch
is in response to the works of Giraldus Cambrensis. Goddard Henry Orpen
responded to both Oliver Joseph Thatcher and J. H. Round in support of Giraldus Cambrensis while citing Miss Norgate in the English Historical Review, vol. viii.
Each of these points have been challenged by a number of authors including, Laurence Ginnell, Stephen J. McCormick, Cardinal Gasquet, in addition to Oliver Joseph Thatcher. Goddard Henry Orpen notes that as early as 1615 Laudabiliter was denounced as a forgery by Stephen White, to be followed by John Lynch (Cambrensis Eversus) in 1662 and later still by Abbé Mac Geoghegan. There are also a number of other writers, he notes which include Catholic historians such as Dr. Lingard and Dr. Lanigan, who have defended the authenticity of the Laudabiliter, and that English writers generally have accepted it as genuine.
It was only in the year 1872 that the first indictment of the evidence upon which the Bull had been accepted as genuine, was drawn up by the ultramontane Irish Australian prelate Dr. Moran, and published in the pages of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. To the arguments against the grant in that article, the editor of the Analecta Juris Pontificii added fresh and according to Cardinal Gasquet "almost conclusive evidence of the forgery."
Ginnell has written that those who accept that Laudabiliter as authentic can be equally divided on their significance. Some he says use them with the special object of exposing the Papacy’s venality, corruption, and “ingratitude towards mankind in general, and towards faithful Ireland in particular” while others use them as proof that no Pope ever erred in political matters, and suggest that Ireland has always been the object of the “Pope's special paternal care.”
On the Pope's infallibility, another argument, again assuming the authenticity of Laudabiliter, is that it would be tantamount to the Pope having made a shockingly bad choice of an instrument in Henry II for reducing Ireland to law and order. He suggests this objection is at best feeble, seeing what the character of Henry II
was, and that the English "in the seven hundred years that, have elapsed since that time have failed to accomplish the task assigned them." Ginnell suggests that it would not have constituted a greater Papal mistake than when conferring the title of Defender of the Faith on Henry VIII. That the subsequent use of this title by English Sovereigns illustrates he says, how willing they are "to cling to any honour or advantage derived from the Catholic Church," even when they have ceased to belong to it.
In the 17th century the authenticity of the Laudabiliter and Alexander III letters were recognised in Ireland by James Ussher
, Protestant Archbishop of Armagh, by Peter Lombard
, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, and by David Rothe
, Bishop of Ossory
. In the 19th century the authenticity of the letters were recognised by the ecclesiastical historian, Dr. Lanigan, the Editors of the Macarice Excidium, and Cambrensis Eversus, in addition to the Very Rev. Sylvester Malone, D.D., Vicar General
of Killaloe
, while writing in the Dublin Review
for April, 1884, and in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for October, 1891. The latter author according to Ginnell was the most strenuous upholder of all the letters was obliged he says to abandon most of his earlier arguments without securing any new ones. English historians according to Cardinal Gasquet have universally taken the genuineness of the document for granted.
Among the Irish historians who have accepted John of Salisbury's account of 'Laudabiliter' they suggest that Adrian was deceived purposely as to the state of the Ireland at the time Cardinal Gasquet thus giving rise to the necessity of the English interference by the king, and have regarded the "Bull" as a document granted in error as to the real circumstances of the case.
Against their authenticity, Ginnell writes that we must notice the entire absence of written Gaelic recognition against their authenticity. In the 17th century he cites Stephen White
, S.J., and the author of Cambrensis Eversus Dr. Lynch while in the 19th century he notes Cardinal Moran writing in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for November, 1872, and the Rev. W.B. Morris in his book, Ireland and St. Patrick.
According to Herbert Paul
, author of The Life of Froude
, the Rev. Burke "boldly denied that it [the bull] had ever existed at all" however in English Misrule in Ireland: A Course of Lectures in Reply to J. A Froude, the Rev. Burke outlines the anomalies of the letter and states that it had been examined by Reimer an acceptable authority amongst English historians. The Rev Burke dose say though that "there is a lie on the face of it."
' Conquest of Ireland written around 1188, though in it his dating is not accurate, he says he must have had some such "genuine document before him." He suggests that better evidence for the grant of Ireland can be found in John of Salisbury
's, Metalogicus, written about 1159.
. According to Gasquet it is hard to believe that Henry would have made the choice of sending an unknown and untried man to conduct so important and difficult a piece of diplomacy as negotiating with the Pope about the expedition to Ireland.
Giraldus Cambrensis, according to Thatcher apparently drew a false inference from John of Salisbury's works by saying that John went as the king's ambassador to the pope. Thatcher notes that other historians have since then unthinkingly copied this statement. This inference by Giraldus Cambrensis he says was pointed out by Abbé MacGeoghehan and Scheffer-Boichorst who called attention to the fact that John did not say that he was the king's ambassador, but had gone for the purpose of visiting his friend, the pope.
According to L. F. Rushbrook Williams, Abbot Robert of Gorham evidently saw with the elevation of Adrian IV an opportunity of acquiring privileges for St. Albans with the ostensible object of assisting in the settlement of some royal business which was in progress at the curia. Alfread H Tarleton suggests that some modern historians have stated that John of Salisbury accompanied this mission but this is a mistake, based he says on a confusion of the fact that John had many interviews with the Pope at Beneventum. The mistake may be due to the fact that the King, hearing John intended to visit the Pope, sent messages and letters through him in addition to employing a regular messenger, in the person of Robert the Abbot.
Gasquet suggests that there is almost conclusively evedience, that while a request of the nature described by Salisbury was made about this time to the Pope, Salisbury was not the envoy sent to make it. John of Salisbury, he notes, claims in Metalogicus to have been the ambassador for Henry II and obtained Laudabiliter for him and gives the year 1155 as the date when it was granted. However, when Salisbury finished his work called Polycraticus, written before Metalogicus he dedicated it to Thomas, afterwards St. Thomas a Becket, then Chancellor of England, who at this time was with Henry at the siege of Toulouse. This was in 1159; and in that year, Salisbury was presented to Henry apparently for the first time, by St. Thomas. From this fact Cardinal Gasquet concludes, Salisbury had to have been up to this time unknown to the king, and that it is most unlikely therefore that four years before this Henry had entrusted him with so private and confidential a mission to Rome.
The date that Metalogicus was written is fixed according to the author himself according to Stephen J. McCormick pointing to the fact that John of Salisbury immediately before he tells us that the news of Pope Adrian's death had reached him his own patron, Theobald
, Archbishop of Canterbury
though still living, was "weighed down by many infirmities." Pope Adrian died in 1159 he says and the death of Archbishop, Theobald of Bec
occurred in 1161. However Gile and other editors of John of Salisbury's works, without a dissentient voice, according to McCormick refer the Metalogicus to the year 1159, a view shared by Curtis.
The testimony of John of Salisbury, who, in his Metalogicus (lib. iv., cap. 42.) writes, that being in an official capacity at the Papal Court
, in 1155, Pope Adrian IV., then granted the investure of Ireland Henry II. of England. However, John of Salisbury also kept a diary which was later published which is entitled Polycraticus and had a detailed account of the various incidents of his embassy to Pope Adrian, yet in it he makes no mention of the Bull, or of the gold ring and its fine emerald, mentioned in Metalogicus or of the grant of Ireland, all of which would have been so important for his narrative in Metalogicus. If Adrian granted this Bull to Henry at the solicitation of John of Salisbury in 1155 there is but one explanation for the silence in Polycraticus, according to McCormick and that this secrecy was required by the English monarch. If this were the case, he says how then can we be asked to admit as genuine this passage of the Metalogicus, if John still continuing to discharge offices of the highest trust in the Court, would proclaim to the world as early as the year 1159, that Pope Adrian had made this formal grant of Ireland to his royal master.
J. Duncan Mackie writes that those who desire to do away altogether with Laudabiliter, find in the last chapter of the sixth book of the Metalogicus, an account of the transaction between John and Pope Adrian and in this passage is an almost insurmountable difficulty. It become necessary he says to assume that it is an interpolation, and this can only be done "in the face of all probability." In the first place, he says the Metalogicus was only finished in 1159, and there is still extant a manuscript of date earlier than 1200, in which there is no sign that the chapter was a late insertion.
says the character of the man himself ought to be taken into account, noting that we should consider whether a taste for the morally monstrous may not also have inspired his pen.
On the authority of Giraldus, Frederick J Furnivall citing James F. Dimock who comments in his preface of Giraldus works says "recent Irish scholars have quietly received Giraldus for what he is worth, as an impetuous, strongly biassed writer, whose statements have generally more or less of truth in them, but with much unfair one-sidedness." Dimock also notes that some late Irish writers, reacting to the criticism of Giraldus seemed to him to put more faith in Giraldus's history than it really deserves. While Dimock who edited Qiraldi Cambrensis Opera says that De Expugnatione Hiberniae is, in great measure, rather "a poetical fiction than a prosaic truthful history."
John J. Clancy, whose work, Ireland: As She Is, As She Has Been, and as She Ought to Be, and cited by McCormick writes that Gerald was commissioned by Henry II. to paint the Irish as a lawless, graceless, god less crew; so that Gerald promptly reported that "their chief characteristics were treachery, thirst for blood, unbridled licentiousness, and inveterate detestation of order and rule" Commenting on Gerald who wrote these words Clancy notes that it has been said that "he never spoke the truth, unless by accident." Thomas Mooney writes that Gerald Barry, commonly called Giraldus Cambrensis stands conspicuous as the historian and traducer of Ireland, and it was on such an authority the majority of subsequent English writers have deprived Ireland of her two thousand years of literature and glory.
Giraldus, Tarleton notes gives the text of Laudabiliter in no less than three of his works, in addition to Expugnatio. It is also included in De rebus a se gestis and De Instructione Priucipis however the texts he says do not always agree but that in the main they are identical. Giraldus, Cardinal Gasquet says devoted the rest of his life to writing the Expugnatio Hibernica, and published three editions. The first was published about 1188, and the last, which was dedicated to King John, in 1209. In Expugnatio Giraldus declared that truth was not his only object, but that he took up his pen to glorify Henry II.
According to Cardinal Gasquet every subsequent English chronicler who mentions Laudabiliter has simply accepted it on Giraldus's authority.
On the question of the date when Laudabiliter was first made known, most of those who deny it's authenticity believe that it was first made known about 1180 according to Ginnell. Citing Dr. Kelly a strong supporter to its authenticity he suggests that the only authority for holding that it was made known in Ireland as early as 1175 is that of Giraldus Cambrensis.
It was, according to the Rev. Burke, in the year 1174 that King Henry produced Laudabiliter which he said he got from Pope Adrian IV. permitting him to go to Ireland. The Rev. Burke asks, if he had Laudabiliter, when he came to Ireland, why did he not produce it, as this was his only warrant for coming to Ireland? For twenty years, according to McCormick that is from 1155 to 1175, there was no mention of the gift of Adrian. Henry did not refer to it when authorizing his vassals to join Dermot MacMurrough
in 1167, or when he himself set out for Ireland to receive the homage of the Irish princes and not even after he assumed his new title and accomplished the purpose of his expedition.
Curtis however while accepting that it is true that the Laudabiliter was not published by Henry when in Ireland, that can be explained by his being alienated from Rome over the murder of Thomas Becket
, in addition to the Empress Matilda, having protested against this invasion of Ireland. The date Rev. Burke writes, that was on Laudabiliter was 1154, therefore it was consequently twenty years old. During this twenty year period nobody ever heard of this Laudabiliter except Henry, and it was said that Henry kept this a secret, because his mother, the Empress Matilda, did not want Henry to act on it.
The Synod of Cashel
in 1172 McCormick notes was the first Episcopal assembly after Henry’s arrival in Ireland. The Papal Legate
was present and had Adrian’s Bull exist it should necessarily have engaged the attention of the assembled Fathers. However, "not a whisper" as to Adrian's grant he says was to be heard at that Council. Even the learned editor of Cambrensis Eversus Rev. Dr. Kelly while asserting the genuineness of Adrian s Bull, admits "there is not any, even the slightest authority, for asserting that its existence was known in Ireland before the year 1172, or for three years later."
McCormick says that it is extremely difficult, in any hypothesis, to explain in a satisfactory way this silence, nor is it easy to understand how a fact so important, to the interests of Ireland could remain so many years concealed including from those in the Irish Church. Throughout this period he says, Ireland numbered among its Bishops one who held the important office of Legate of the Holy See
, and that the Church had had constant intercourse with England and the continent through St. St Laurence O'Toole
and a hundred other distinguished Prelates, who enjoyed in the fullest manner the confidence of Rome.
On the conclusion of the Synod of Cashel
according to Edmund Curtis, Henry sent envoys to Pope Alexander III asking for a papal privilege for Ireland. Alexander from Tusculum then published three letters on the Irish question. The three letters according to Oliver Joseph Thatcher are numbered 12,162, 12,163, and 12,164 in the Regesta of Jaffé-Loewenfeld, and printed in Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol, CC, cols. 883 ff. They all have the same date, September 20, and it is certain he says that they were written in 1172. Cardinal Gasquet writes that they were first published in 1728 by Hearne in the Liber Niger Scaccarii the Black Book of the Exchequer and are addressed to the Irish Bishops, to the English king, and to the Irish princes. While they all have the same date of the 20 September, and are written from Tusculum
, he suggest that they are attributed to the year 1170.
In the letter to Henry, according to Thatcher, Alexander beseeches Henry to preserve whatever rights St. Peter already actually exercises in Ireland, and expressing confidence that Henry will be willing to acknowledge his duty. In this letter Thatcher notes, there is no mention of Adrian IV., or any document issued by him, and there is nothing that can possibly be interpreted as a reference to Laudabiliter. Thatcher notes that in none of these letters do we find any reference to Adrian IV. or to any of his letters.
On the letters of Alexander III, Cardinal Gasquet cites the editor of the Analecta who notes that they completely ignore the existence of Laudabiliter. The letters he says recognize no title or claim of Henry to dominion except "the power of the monarch, and the submission of the chiefs." They do mention the Pope's rights over all islands, and ask Henry to preserve these rights. This proves he says that the grant of Adrian was unknown in Rome as completely as it was in England and Ireland. Such a deduction is confirmed he says by the action later of Pope John XXII
with the Ambassadors of Edward II at the beginning of the 14th century. Although the author of the article in the Analecta does not agree with Dr. Moran as to the authentic character of these documents, he admits that they, at least, form some very powerful arguments against the genuineness of Pope Adrian's grant.
Citing Mathew of Westminster, Rev. Burke notes that "Henry obliged every man in England, from the boy of twelve years up to the old man, to renounce their allegiance to the true Pope, and go over to an anti-Pope" and asks was it likely then, that Alexander would give Henry a letter to settle ecclesiastical matters in Ireland? Rev. Burke citing Alexander who wrote to Henry, notes that instead of referring to a document giving him permission to settle Church matters in Ireland Alexander said;
However Curtis in his History of Ireland suggests that Henry was at this time in May 1172 reconciled with the Papacy. The Rev. Burke notes that Alexander's letter carried the date 1172 and asked was is it likely that a Pope would have given a letter to Henry, who he knew well, asking Henry to take care of the Church and put everything in order? The Rev. Burke then asks "is this the man that Alexander would send to Ireland to settle affairs, and make the Irish good children of the Pope?" Responding again to Mr. Froude, who then said that "the Irish never loved the Pope till the Normans
taught them" The Rev. Burke notes that until "the accursed Normans came to Ireland," the Papal Legate
could always come and go as he pleased and that no Irish king obstructed him and that no Irishman's hand was ever raised against a Bishop, "much less against the Papal Legate." However the very first Legate that came to Ireland, after the Norman Invasion, the Rev. Burke writes that in passing through England, Henry "took him by the throat, and imposed upon him an oath that, when he went to Ireland, he would not do anything that would be against the interest of the King". It was unheard of that a Bishop, Archbishop, or Cardinal should be persecuted, the Rev. Burke says until the Anglo-Normans brought with them "their accursed feudal system, and concentration of power in the hands of the king..."
According to Curtis, the Pope sent another privilege which was published by papal envoys after at the Synod of Waterford which he said conferred on Henry the dominion over the Irish people. Whatever we may think of the so-called Bull of Adrian, says Curtis, there can be no doubt that the letters and privilege of Alexander conferred the lordship of Ireland upon Henry II. Herbert Paul says that James Anthony Froude
also maintained that the existence of Laudabiliter were proved by this later letter. However the Rev. Burke said that he preferred to believe that it was a forgery. He based this view he said on the authority of Dr. Lynch, author of "Cambrensis Eversus," in addition to the Abbé McGeoghegan, and Dr. Moran, Bishop of Ossory
that this letter of Alexander's was a forgery.
, the historian, along with the learned Dr. Mansuerius declare that a rescript or document "that has no date, the day it was executed, the seal and the year, is invalid" and was therefore "just so much paper". The result of this being "that even if Adrian gave it, it was worth nothing." The Rev Burke continued that the "learned authorities tell us that the existence of a document in the archives does not prove the authenticity of that document" and that it "may be kept there as a mere record." However Curtis in his A History of Ireland from Earliest Times to 1922 states that there is no original or copy of Laudabiliter in the papal archieves. While accepting that there is no copy of Laudabiliter in the papal archieves Mackie suggests that this proves nothing, for there is at Rome no document dealing with the affairs of Ireland before the year 1215.
However within a century-and-a-half, Norman misrule in Ireland became so apparent that Laudabiliter was to be invoked again, this time in aid of the rights of the Gaelic Irish clans. Pope Clement V
had written to Edward II of England
in 1311 reminding him of the responsibility that Laudabiliter put upon him to execute government in Ireland for the welfare of the Irish. He warned Edward II that:
In 1317, during the Bruce invasion, some of the remaining Gaelic
kings, following decades of English rule, tried to have the bull recast or replaced, as a basis for a new kingship for Ireland, with Edward Bruce as their preferred candidate. Led by Domnall mac Brian Ó Néill, King of Tír Eógain, they issued a Remonstrance to the next Pope, John XXII
, requesting that Laudabiliter should be revoked, but this was refused.
Clearly the kings believed that Laudabiliter was the ultimate legal basis for their continuing problems at that time. In the meantime they had misremembered the year of Becket's death (1170, not 1155), but painfully recalled the date of Laudabiliter. In its date, style and contents the Remonstrance argues against the attempts to negate the bull centuries later. It is also clear from these documents that Clement V wanted Edward II to promote a more tolerant administration in Ireland, but without going so far as to revoke the bull of 1155. Given that he was a Pope during the controversial Avignon Papacy
, John XXII was not in a position to alienate the support of kings such as Edward II.
was excommunicated
by Pope Paul III
on 17 December 1538, causing his opponents to question his continuing claim to be Lord of Ireland, which was based ultimately on Laudabiliter. Henry established the Kingdom of Ireland
in 1542, whereby the kingdom was to be ruled in "personal union" with the Kingdom of England. This was not recognised by Europe's Roman Catholic monarchs. Therefore in 1555 a further papal bull Ilius was issued by Pope Paul IV
naming Queen Mary
and her husband Philip (later Philip II of Spain
) as monarchs of Ireland.
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
issued in 1155 by Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair...
, the only Englishman to serve as Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
, giving the Angevin
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
the right to assume control over Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and apply the Gregorian Reform
Gregorian Reform
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy...
s in the Irish church. The Norman invasion of Ireland
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
ensued in 1169-71 under the pretext of this bull following the intervention of Richard de Clare
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland . Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow...
a Hiberno-Norman
Hiberno-Norman
The Hiberno-Normans are those Norman lords who settled in Ireland who admitted little if any real fealty to the Anglo-Norman settlers in England, and who soon began to interact and intermarry with the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. The term embraces both their origins as a distinct community with...
knight from Wales, retained by the King of Leinster, Diarmuid MacMorrough in his fight to regain his kingdom and the throne of the High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...
. The kings of England, from Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
(1171) until Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
(1541), derived the title and the authority Lord of Ireland
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...
from this Bull. Subsequently, with the declaration of the independence of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
from Papal Supremacy
Papal supremacy
Papal supremacy refers to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered: that, in brief,...
, a new basis for the English monarch's claim to the rule of Ireland was needed: the Crown of Ireland Act 1542
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 is an Act of the Parliament of Ireland , declaring that King Henry VIII of England and his successors would also be Kings of Ireland. Since 1171 the monarch of England had held the title Lord of Ireland...
therefore established a sovereign Kingdom of Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
with Henry being given the title of King of Ireland
King of Ireland
A monarchical polity has existed in Ireland during three periods of its history, finally ending in 1801. The designation King of Ireland and Queen of Ireland was used during these periods...
. There has been some controversy over the authenticity of the Laudabiliter and the possibility of its having been a forgery.
Papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
is a Papal
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
letter that takes its name from the bubble
Liquid bubble
A bubble is a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid.Due to the Marangoni effect, bubbles may remain intact when they reach the surface of the immersive substance.-Common examples:...
-shaped, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
en seal which it bears. However, historians such as Laurence Ginnell
Laurence Ginnell
Laurence Ginnell was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party for Westmeath North at the 1906 UK general election, from 1910 he sat as an Independent...
, believe the letters written in the 12th century relating to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
were never sealed with any seal and are not correctly called bulls but rather privilegia or privileges.
The original bulla
Bulla (seal)
Bulla , is a type of seal impression. It comes in two forms: metal and clay.- Clay bullae :The original bulla was a lump of clay molded around a cord and stamped with a seal...
was a lump of clay molded around a cord and stamped with a seal. When dry, the container cannot be violated without visible damage to the bulla, thereby ensuring the contents remain tamper-proof until they reach their destination. Stephen J. McCormick, in his preface to The Pope and Ireland, notes that it is was well known that the forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
of both Papal and other documents was fairly common in the 12th century. Citing Professor Jungmann
Bernard Jungmann
Bernard Jungmann was a German Catholic dogmatic theologian and ecclesiastical historian.-Biography:He was born at Münster in Westphalia on 1 March 1833; died at Leuven , 12 January 1895...
, who in the appendix to his Dissertationes Historiœ Ecclesiasticœ, in the fifth volume says, "it is well known from history that everywhere towards the close of the 12th century there were forged or corrupted Papal Letters or Diplomas. That such was the case frequently in England is inferred from the Letters of John Sarisbiensis and of others."
Currently, any attempt at sourcing the original document is impossible as the Vatican says the original Laudabiliter is no longer in existence. This has been used to further question the legitimacy of Laudabiliter. J. H. Round, for example, says that the grant of Ireland by Adrian is erroneously styled "the Bull Laudabiliter". It has been so long spoken of as a bull, he says, that one hardly knows how to describe it. He suggests that as long as it is realized that it was only a commendatory letter no mistake can arise.
The Bull Laudabiliter
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
King Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
to intervene in Ireland to assist in the reform of the governance of the Irish Church and the Irish system of governance according to the Roman (Latin Rite) ecclesiastical system. This followed the structural reform of the previously quasi independent form of the Church in Ireland
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...
as defined shortly before at the Synod of Kells. The bull derives its title from the Latin word laudabiliter (meaning laudably or in a praiseworthy manner), which is the opening word in bull, the usual manner in which bulls are named.
The proximity of Ireland to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as well as the Holy See's ongoing dispute with the Irish Church over Papal Supremacy, provided the impetus of conquest to the Papacy who had suggested the idea of invasion to both William the Conqueror and Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
. Richard Lingard said that to justify the invasion of a "free and unoffending" people by Henry II, the Papacy "discovered" that the civilization of the people and reform of their clergy were needed and for the benefits of this civilization, and the Irish would cheerfully purchase with the loss of their independence. Furthermore, the Holy See claimed every Christian island as the property of the Papacy and foresaw that any Papal Bull issued to the English crown authorizing invasion of Ireland would cement the Pope's authority over the British Isles. However, the Papacy realized it could not directly advise King Henry to invade, recognizing that the king would see through the advise an attempt to further expand Papal power. Therefore a few months after his coronation Lingard writes, John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury , who described himself as Johannes Parvus , was an English author, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres, and was born at Salisbury.-Early life and education:...
, a learned monk, was dispatched by Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV
Pope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair...
to King Henry II and assure Henry that the Pope's object was to provide instruction to an ignorant people, to remove vice from the Lord's vineyard and to extend the Papacy's power to Ireland merely in the form of the payment of Peter's Pence
Peter's Pence
Peter's Pence is payment made more or less voluntarily to the Roman Catholic Church. It began under the Saxons in England and is seen in other countries. Though formally discontinued in England at the time of the Reformation, a post-Reformation payment of uncertain characteristics is seen in some...
. The King, according to Lingard, "must have smiled at the hypocrisy of this address" but expressed his satisfaction and agreed to the Pope's request, reminding him to always keep in mind the conditions on which that assent had been granted. However, King Henry who fought against Papal Supremacy throughout his reign, refused to countenance any invasion of Ireland, correctly deducing that any invasion of Ireland made under the pretext of the Bull would lead to a significant curtailment on his power in Ireland and more importantly on England itself.
It was at a royal council at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
that Curtis said talk of carrying out this invasion had been had, but that Henry's mother, the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, had protested against it. In Ireland however, nothing seems to have been known of it, and no provision had been made against English aggression. J. Duncan Mackie, in his Pope Adrian IV. The Lothian Essay 1907 gives the date as 29 September 1155 for this meenting for conquering Ireland and giving it to Henry's brother William.
Curiously, despite the weight of historical evidence throughout diplomatic records, court records, and scholarly work, Laurence Ginnell
Laurence Ginnell
Laurence Ginnell was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party for Westmeath North at the 1906 UK general election, from 1910 he sat as an Independent...
cites the (Roman Catholic) Dr. Malone as evidence pointing the Bull's illegitimacy. Dr. Malone states regarding the Laudabiliter "there does not appear to be in the domain of history a better authenticated fact than the privilege of Adrian IV to Henry II." However, Cardinal Gasquet writes that historians of this time were ignorant of the existence of Laudabiliter. He says that during the residence of the pontifical Court at Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
two Lives of Pope Adrian IV were written. One was composed in 1331 and the second in 1356. In neither is there any mention of this important act of the Pope, although the authors find a place for many less important documents. However, within the Vatican Secret Archives
Vatican Secret Archives
The Vatican Secret Archives , located in Vatican City, is the central repository for all of the acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, having primal incumbency until death, owns the archives until the next appointed Papal successor...
there exists a large late-16th century picture of the bull being drafted, with a caption mentioning that the grant was made: "..sub annuo censu" - in exchange for an annual tax payment by the English Crown.
Evidence for the bull
That an actual bull was sent is not doubted by many and its authenticity has been questioned without success according to P. S. O'Hegarty who suggests that the question now is purely an academic one. According to Edmund Curtis great controversy has raged, with some writers saying its a pure forgery, others that it as a touched-up version of a genuine document, while others believing in its authenticity.The following summary of the evidence cited by McCormick in favour of the authenticity of Pope Adrian's letter, appeared he says in the Irishman newspaper and was compiled by J. C. O Callaghan, who was editor of the Macariae Excidium, and author of a number of works on Irish history. This list also appears in Alfread H. Tarleton's Nicholas Breakspear (Adrian IV.) Englishman and Pope, with the additional evidence of the Norman Chronicles that testify to the fact he suggests that the bull and the ring were deposited at Winchester.
- Firstly the testimony of John of SalisburyJohn of SalisburyJohn of Salisbury , who described himself as Johannes Parvus , was an English author, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres, and was born at Salisbury.-Early life and education:...
, Secretary to the Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, who relates his having been the envoy from Henry to Adrian, in 1155, to discuss matters of Papal and Royal separation of powers and during which he was ordered by the Papacy to press for an invasion of Ireland under terms favorable to the Papacy.
- Secondly, the grant or Bull of Adrian, in extenso, in the works of Giraldus CambrensisGiraldus CambrensisGerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...
, and his contemporary Radulfus de Diceto, Dean of London, and those of Roger de Wendover and Mathew Paris in which the Laudabiliter is cited as a Bull.
- Thirdly, the Bulls of Adrian's successor, Pope Alexander IIIPope Alexander IIIPope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
which cite the Laudabiliter Bull in a number of documents as precedent for extending Papal control over the German Kings of the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
.
- Fourthly, the recorded public reading of the Bulls of Adrian and Alexander, at a meeting of Bishops in WaterfordWaterfordWaterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
in 1175, during which the Laudabiliter is used by Papacy as evidence showing the clergy of England and Ireland were solely under Papal Supremacy.
- Fifthly, after Robert the Bruce of ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
defeated King Edward II of EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at BannockburnBannockburnBannockburn is a village immediately south of the city of Stirling in Scotland. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a burn running through the village before flowing into the River Forth.-History:...
and secured Scottish independence from England, his brother Edward launched the Bruce campaign in Ireland. Edward's Irish allies enclosed a copy of Laudabiliter prefixed to a 1317 Remonstrance sent to Pope John XXIIPope John XXIIPope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
asking him to recognize Edward Bruce as King of Ireland (see section below). This method of complaint was similar to Scotland's 1320 Declaration of ArbroathDeclaration of ArbroathThe Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and defending Scotland's right to use military action when...
.
- Sixthly, from Caesar BaroniusCaesar BaroniusCesare Baronio was an Italian Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian...
, in his work, the Annales Ecclesiastici, under Adrian IV contains a copy of this grant of Ireland in full, or, excodice Vaticano, diploma datum ad Henricum, Anglorum, Regem. A copy of the Bull was contained in the Bidlarium Romanum, as printed in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1739. Finally the text appeared in the official VaticanVatican LibraryThe Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
compendium of "Great Roman Bulls", which was also published in Rome in 1739.
McCormick might also have mentioned these aspects:
- In 1185, before John's first visit to Ireland, his father Henry wanted him crowned king of Ireland and wrote to Pope Lucius IIIPope Lucius IIIPope Lucius III , born Ubaldo, was pope from 1 September 1181 to his death.A native of the independent republic of Lucca, he was born ca. 1100 as Ubaldo, son of Orlando. He is commonly referred to as a member of the aristocratic family of Allucingoli, but this is not proven...
for his consent, which was refused. His successor Pope Urban IIIPope Urban IIIPope Urban III , born Uberto Crivelli, was Pope from 1185 to 1187. He was made cardinal and archbishop of Milan by Pope Lucius III, whom he succeeded on November 25, 1185...
approved later in the year, but the coronation never happened. Without Laudabiliter and the Church's claim to precedence in Ireland Henry would not have needed to seek Papal approval. Papal authority was based on its fairly recent claim to have a superior jurisdiction over Europe's monarchs, in line with the Gregorian ReformGregorian ReformThe Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy...
s and Dictatus PapaeDictatus papaeDictatus papae is a compilation of 27 axiomatic statements of powers arrogated to the Pope that was included in Pope Gregory VII's register under the year 1075. Some historians argue that it was written by Gregory VII himself; others argue that it has been inserted in the register at a later...
.
- In 1331 the JusticiarLord Chief Justice of Irelandthumb|200px|The Four CourtsThe headquarters of the Irish judicial system since 1804. The Court of King's Bench was one of the original four courts that sat there....
and Council of Ireland wrote to Pope John XXIIPope John XXIIPope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
asking him to proclaim a crusade against some Irish clans, basing their request on their understanding that: "... the holy apostolic see in the time of Pope Adrian of blessed memory conceded the land to the illustrious king of the English...". The request was refused.
Controversy
The Very Rev. Thomas N. Burke O.P., in his English Misrule in Ireland: A Course of Lectures in Reply to J. A Froude, puts forward a number of arguments against both the Bull of Adrian and the letters of his successor, Pope Alexander III. The Rev Burke questions the date on the 'Laudabiliter', in addition to the terms contained in it and how it was obtained, questioning also the date in which it was first produced by Henry and why.In addition to Laudabiliter and the letters Alexander a number of authors have examined the character of Giraldus Cambrenis and the account of John of Salisbury, in addition to challenging each other. McCormick's The Pope and Ireland is very much a challenge to James G. Maguire's
James G. Maguire
James George Maguire was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Maguire moved with his parents to California in February 1854. He attended the public schools of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County and the private academy of Joseph K....
Ireland and the Pope: A Brief History of Papal Intrigue Against Irish Liberty from Adrian IV. to Leo XIII. While Cambrensis Eversus by John Lynch
John Lynch (Gratianus Lucius)
John Lynch, pseudonym Gratianus Lucius, D.D., was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, known as a historian and Archdeacon of Tuam.-Life:...
is in response to the works of Giraldus Cambrensis. Goddard Henry Orpen
Goddard Henry Orpen
Goddard Henry Orpen was an Irish historian. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin.Orpen was the son of John Herbert Orpen....
responded to both Oliver Joseph Thatcher and J. H. Round in support of Giraldus Cambrensis while citing Miss Norgate in the English Historical Review, vol. viii.
Each of these points have been challenged by a number of authors including, Laurence Ginnell, Stephen J. McCormick, Cardinal Gasquet, in addition to Oliver Joseph Thatcher. Goddard Henry Orpen notes that as early as 1615 Laudabiliter was denounced as a forgery by Stephen White, to be followed by John Lynch (Cambrensis Eversus) in 1662 and later still by Abbé Mac Geoghegan. There are also a number of other writers, he notes which include Catholic historians such as Dr. Lingard and Dr. Lanigan, who have defended the authenticity of the Laudabiliter, and that English writers generally have accepted it as genuine.
It was only in the year 1872 that the first indictment of the evidence upon which the Bull had been accepted as genuine, was drawn up by the ultramontane Irish Australian prelate Dr. Moran, and published in the pages of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. To the arguments against the grant in that article, the editor of the Analecta Juris Pontificii added fresh and according to Cardinal Gasquet "almost conclusive evidence of the forgery."
Divided significance
On the Pope's infallibility, another argument, again assuming the authenticity of Laudabiliter, is that it would be tantamount to the Pope having made a shockingly bad choice of an instrument in Henry II for reducing Ireland to law and order. He suggests this objection is at best feeble, seeing what the character of Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
was, and that the English "in the seven hundred years that, have elapsed since that time have failed to accomplish the task assigned them." Ginnell suggests that it would not have constituted a greater Papal mistake than when conferring the title of Defender of the Faith on Henry VIII. That the subsequent use of this title by English Sovereigns illustrates he says, how willing they are "to cling to any honour or advantage derived from the Catholic Church," even when they have ceased to belong to it.
In the 17th century the authenticity of the Laudabiliter and Alexander III letters were recognised in Ireland by James Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
, Protestant Archbishop of Armagh, by Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard was a scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum-Biography:Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno , in...
, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, and by David Rothe
David Rothe
David Rothe was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory, central Ireland.-Life:He was born at Kilkenny, of a distinguished family. Having studied at the Irish College, Douai, and at the University of Salamanca, where he graduated doctor in civil and canon law, he was ordained in 1600, and proceeded to...
, Bishop of Ossory
Bishop of Ossory
The Bishop of Ossory is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.-History:The diocese of Ossory...
. In the 19th century the authenticity of the letters were recognised by the ecclesiastical historian, Dr. Lanigan, the Editors of the Macarice Excidium, and Cambrensis Eversus, in addition to the Very Rev. Sylvester Malone, D.D., Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of Killaloe
Killaloe, County Clare
Killaloe is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland, situated in the midwest of Ireland. The village is on the south end of Lough Derg, while the settlement spreads across the River Shannon, with the County Tipperary side known as Ballina...
, while writing in the Dublin Review
Dublin Review (Catholic periodical)
The Dublin Review was an influential Catholic periodical founded in 1836 by Michael Joseph Quin, Cardinal Wiseman and Daniel O'Connell. Quin had the original idea for the new journal, soon persuading Wiseman to lend his support, and next enlisting O'Connell whose Catholic Emancipation campaign he...
for April, 1884, and in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for October, 1891. The latter author according to Ginnell was the most strenuous upholder of all the letters was obliged he says to abandon most of his earlier arguments without securing any new ones. English historians according to Cardinal Gasquet have universally taken the genuineness of the document for granted.
Among the Irish historians who have accepted John of Salisbury's account of 'Laudabiliter' they suggest that Adrian was deceived purposely as to the state of the Ireland at the time Cardinal Gasquet thus giving rise to the necessity of the English interference by the king, and have regarded the "Bull" as a document granted in error as to the real circumstances of the case.
Against their authenticity, Ginnell writes that we must notice the entire absence of written Gaelic recognition against their authenticity. In the 17th century he cites Stephen White
Stephen White (Jesuit)
Stephen White, SJ was a Jesuit author and antiquarian who wrote about the early Irish saints.He was born in Clonmel, Ireland, to a family devoted to religion and education. In 1592, Trinity College, Dublin was founded, and S. White was one of the few students named in the charter...
, S.J., and the author of Cambrensis Eversus Dr. Lynch while in the 19th century he notes Cardinal Moran writing in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for November, 1872, and the Rev. W.B. Morris in his book, Ireland and St. Patrick.
According to Herbert Paul
Herbert Paul
Herbert Woodfield Paul was an English writer and Liberal MP.Paul was the eldest son of George Woodfield Paul, Vicar of Finedon, and Jessie Philippa Mackworth. He was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became President of the Oxford Union. He was called to the bar...
, author of The Life of Froude
James Anthony Froude
James Anthony Froude , 23 April 1818–20 October 1894, was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergyman, but doubts about the doctrines of the Anglican church,...
, the Rev. Burke "boldly denied that it [the bull] had ever existed at all" however in English Misrule in Ireland: A Course of Lectures in Reply to J. A Froude, the Rev. Burke outlines the anomalies of the letter and states that it had been examined by Reimer an acceptable authority amongst English historians. The Rev Burke dose say though that "there is a lie on the face of it."
Authenticity debate
According to Curtis for the text of the Laudabiliter we only have Giraldus CambrensisGiraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...
' Conquest of Ireland written around 1188, though in it his dating is not accurate, he says he must have had some such "genuine document before him." He suggests that better evidence for the grant of Ireland can be found in John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury , who described himself as Johannes Parvus , was an English author, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres, and was born at Salisbury.-Early life and education:...
's, Metalogicus, written about 1159.
John of Salisbury
Henry according to Cardinal Gasquet at the beginning of his reign, sent ambassadors to Adrian IV, who was then at the close of his pontificate. This mission was given to three bishops and an abbot he says, they were Rotrodus, Bishop of Evreux, Arnold, Bishop of Lisieux, the Bishop of Mans and Robert of Gorham, Abbot of St. Albans. The date of this mission is the same as that claimed by Salisbury for his visit, 1155. It is most unlikely notes Gasquet that Henry would have sent two different embassies at the same time. If John of Salisbury were with this embassy he says, he could not have played the important part he claims, and would have gone in the capacity of a simple clerical retainer. The biography of Salisbury makes it very improbable he says that he was ever entrusted with such a mission. John of Salisbury he says, left England in 1137, to be educated on Continent, and only returned for a very short time in 1149. He then returned almost immediately to the Continent, where he became occupied in teaching at ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. According to Gasquet it is hard to believe that Henry would have made the choice of sending an unknown and untried man to conduct so important and difficult a piece of diplomacy as negotiating with the Pope about the expedition to Ireland.
Giraldus Cambrensis, according to Thatcher apparently drew a false inference from John of Salisbury's works by saying that John went as the king's ambassador to the pope. Thatcher notes that other historians have since then unthinkingly copied this statement. This inference by Giraldus Cambrensis he says was pointed out by Abbé MacGeoghehan and Scheffer-Boichorst who called attention to the fact that John did not say that he was the king's ambassador, but had gone for the purpose of visiting his friend, the pope.
According to L. F. Rushbrook Williams, Abbot Robert of Gorham evidently saw with the elevation of Adrian IV an opportunity of acquiring privileges for St. Albans with the ostensible object of assisting in the settlement of some royal business which was in progress at the curia. Alfread H Tarleton suggests that some modern historians have stated that John of Salisbury accompanied this mission but this is a mistake, based he says on a confusion of the fact that John had many interviews with the Pope at Beneventum. The mistake may be due to the fact that the King, hearing John intended to visit the Pope, sent messages and letters through him in addition to employing a regular messenger, in the person of Robert the Abbot.
Gasquet suggests that there is almost conclusively evedience, that while a request of the nature described by Salisbury was made about this time to the Pope, Salisbury was not the envoy sent to make it. John of Salisbury, he notes, claims in Metalogicus to have been the ambassador for Henry II and obtained Laudabiliter for him and gives the year 1155 as the date when it was granted. However, when Salisbury finished his work called Polycraticus, written before Metalogicus he dedicated it to Thomas, afterwards St. Thomas a Becket, then Chancellor of England, who at this time was with Henry at the siege of Toulouse. This was in 1159; and in that year, Salisbury was presented to Henry apparently for the first time, by St. Thomas. From this fact Cardinal Gasquet concludes, Salisbury had to have been up to this time unknown to the king, and that it is most unlikely therefore that four years before this Henry had entrusted him with so private and confidential a mission to Rome.
Metalogicus and Polycraticus
According to the Very Rev. Thomas N. Burke O.P., when news of Pope Adrian's election had arrived in England, John of Salisbury was sent by Henry to congratulate him, and get this letter [Laudabiliter] in a "hugger-mugger way," from the Pope. The Laudabiliter, according to the Rev. Burke, has been examined by a better authority than his own and by one "who has brought to bear upon it all the acumen of his great knowledge." The date according to Reimer, he says "the most acceptable authority amongst English historians," was 1154. However Pope Adrian was elected on the 3d of December, 1154 and the Rev. Burke suggests that it must having taken at least a month in those days before news of the election would have arrived in England, and at least another before John of Salisbury arrived in Rome making his arrival there around March 1155. The date being found inconvenient Reimer under who’s authority is uncertain, changed the date to 1155.The date that Metalogicus was written is fixed according to the author himself according to Stephen J. McCormick pointing to the fact that John of Salisbury immediately before he tells us that the news of Pope Adrian's death had reached him his own patron, Theobald
Theobald of Bec
Theobald was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. He was a Norman; his exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
though still living, was "weighed down by many infirmities." Pope Adrian died in 1159 he says and the death of Archbishop, Theobald of Bec
Theobald of Bec
Theobald was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. He was a Norman; his exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of...
occurred in 1161. However Gile and other editors of John of Salisbury's works, without a dissentient voice, according to McCormick refer the Metalogicus to the year 1159, a view shared by Curtis.
The testimony of John of Salisbury, who, in his Metalogicus (lib. iv., cap. 42.) writes, that being in an official capacity at the Papal Court
Papal court
The Papal Household or Pontifical Household , called until 1968 the Papal Court , consists of dignitaries who assist the Pope in carrying out particular ceremonies of either a religious or a civil character....
, in 1155, Pope Adrian IV., then granted the investure of Ireland Henry II. of England. However, John of Salisbury also kept a diary which was later published which is entitled Polycraticus and had a detailed account of the various incidents of his embassy to Pope Adrian, yet in it he makes no mention of the Bull, or of the gold ring and its fine emerald, mentioned in Metalogicus or of the grant of Ireland, all of which would have been so important for his narrative in Metalogicus. If Adrian granted this Bull to Henry at the solicitation of John of Salisbury in 1155 there is but one explanation for the silence in Polycraticus, according to McCormick and that this secrecy was required by the English monarch. If this were the case, he says how then can we be asked to admit as genuine this passage of the Metalogicus, if John still continuing to discharge offices of the highest trust in the Court, would proclaim to the world as early as the year 1159, that Pope Adrian had made this formal grant of Ireland to his royal master.
J. Duncan Mackie writes that those who desire to do away altogether with Laudabiliter, find in the last chapter of the sixth book of the Metalogicus, an account of the transaction between John and Pope Adrian and in this passage is an almost insurmountable difficulty. It become necessary he says to assume that it is an interpolation, and this can only be done "in the face of all probability." In the first place, he says the Metalogicus was only finished in 1159, and there is still extant a manuscript of date earlier than 1200, in which there is no sign that the chapter was a late insertion.
Giraldus Cambrensis
John of Salisbury, speaking of the existence of Laudabiliter in the last chapter of the Metalogicus does not give its text and it was at least thirty years after Adrian's death that the Laudabiliter itself first appeared in the Expugnatio Hibernica of Giraldus Cambrensis or Gerald Barry as he is often called. Oliver Joseph Thatcher suggests that the trustworthiness of Giraldus, to whom he says we owe Laudabiliter preservation, has nothing to do with the question of its genuineness, and should be left out of the discussion. While Thomas MooreThomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
says the character of the man himself ought to be taken into account, noting that we should consider whether a taste for the morally monstrous may not also have inspired his pen.
On the authority of Giraldus, Frederick J Furnivall citing James F. Dimock who comments in his preface of Giraldus works says "recent Irish scholars have quietly received Giraldus for what he is worth, as an impetuous, strongly biassed writer, whose statements have generally more or less of truth in them, but with much unfair one-sidedness." Dimock also notes that some late Irish writers, reacting to the criticism of Giraldus seemed to him to put more faith in Giraldus's history than it really deserves. While Dimock who edited Qiraldi Cambrensis Opera says that De Expugnatione Hiberniae is, in great measure, rather "a poetical fiction than a prosaic truthful history."
John J. Clancy, whose work, Ireland: As She Is, As She Has Been, and as She Ought to Be, and cited by McCormick writes that Gerald was commissioned by Henry II. to paint the Irish as a lawless, graceless, god less crew; so that Gerald promptly reported that "their chief characteristics were treachery, thirst for blood, unbridled licentiousness, and inveterate detestation of order and rule" Commenting on Gerald who wrote these words Clancy notes that it has been said that "he never spoke the truth, unless by accident." Thomas Mooney writes that Gerald Barry, commonly called Giraldus Cambrensis stands conspicuous as the historian and traducer of Ireland, and it was on such an authority the majority of subsequent English writers have deprived Ireland of her two thousand years of literature and glory.
Giraldus, Tarleton notes gives the text of Laudabiliter in no less than three of his works, in addition to Expugnatio. It is also included in De rebus a se gestis and De Instructione Priucipis however the texts he says do not always agree but that in the main they are identical. Giraldus, Cardinal Gasquet says devoted the rest of his life to writing the Expugnatio Hibernica, and published three editions. The first was published about 1188, and the last, which was dedicated to King John, in 1209. In Expugnatio Giraldus declared that truth was not his only object, but that he took up his pen to glorify Henry II.
According to Cardinal Gasquet every subsequent English chronicler who mentions Laudabiliter has simply accepted it on Giraldus's authority.
On the question of the date when Laudabiliter was first made known, most of those who deny it's authenticity believe that it was first made known about 1180 according to Ginnell. Citing Dr. Kelly a strong supporter to its authenticity he suggests that the only authority for holding that it was made known in Ireland as early as 1175 is that of Giraldus Cambrensis.
The date the Bull was produced
Dermot MacMurrough
Diarmait Mac Murchada , anglicized as Dermot MacMurrough or Dermod MacMurrough , was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland - Turlough Mór O'Connor...
in 1167, or when he himself set out for Ireland to receive the homage of the Irish princes and not even after he assumed his new title and accomplished the purpose of his expedition.
Curtis however while accepting that it is true that the Laudabiliter was not published by Henry when in Ireland, that can be explained by his being alienated from Rome over the murder of Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, in addition to the Empress Matilda, having protested against this invasion of Ireland. The date Rev. Burke writes, that was on Laudabiliter was 1154, therefore it was consequently twenty years old. During this twenty year period nobody ever heard of this Laudabiliter except Henry, and it was said that Henry kept this a secret, because his mother, the Empress Matilda, did not want Henry to act on it.
The Synod of Cashel
Synod of Cashel
The Synod of Cashel of 1172, also known as the Second Synod of Cashel,The first being the Synod held at Cashel in 1101 was assembled at Cashel at the request of Henry II of England shortly after his arrival in Ireland in October 1171...
in 1172 McCormick notes was the first Episcopal assembly after Henry’s arrival in Ireland. The Papal Legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
was present and had Adrian’s Bull exist it should necessarily have engaged the attention of the assembled Fathers. However, "not a whisper" as to Adrian's grant he says was to be heard at that Council. Even the learned editor of Cambrensis Eversus Rev. Dr. Kelly while asserting the genuineness of Adrian s Bull, admits "there is not any, even the slightest authority, for asserting that its existence was known in Ireland before the year 1172, or for three years later."
McCormick says that it is extremely difficult, in any hypothesis, to explain in a satisfactory way this silence, nor is it easy to understand how a fact so important, to the interests of Ireland could remain so many years concealed including from those in the Irish Church. Throughout this period he says, Ireland numbered among its Bishops one who held the important office of Legate of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, and that the Church had had constant intercourse with England and the continent through St. St Laurence O'Toole
Lorcán Ua Tuathail
Lorcán Ua Tuathail, also known as St Laurence O'Toole, was born at Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland, in 1128, and died at Eu, Normandy, France, on 14 November 1180; he was canonized in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.-Early life:...
and a hundred other distinguished Prelates, who enjoyed in the fullest manner the confidence of Rome.
Four letters of Pope Alexander III
Synod of Cashel
The Synod of Cashel of 1172, also known as the Second Synod of Cashel,The first being the Synod held at Cashel in 1101 was assembled at Cashel at the request of Henry II of England shortly after his arrival in Ireland in October 1171...
according to Edmund Curtis, Henry sent envoys to Pope Alexander III asking for a papal privilege for Ireland. Alexander from Tusculum then published three letters on the Irish question. The three letters according to Oliver Joseph Thatcher are numbered 12,162, 12,163, and 12,164 in the Regesta of Jaffé-Loewenfeld, and printed in Migne, Patrologia Latina, Vol, CC, cols. 883 ff. They all have the same date, September 20, and it is certain he says that they were written in 1172. Cardinal Gasquet writes that they were first published in 1728 by Hearne in the Liber Niger Scaccarii the Black Book of the Exchequer and are addressed to the Irish Bishops, to the English king, and to the Irish princes. While they all have the same date of the 20 September, and are written from Tusculum
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.-Location:Tusculum is one of the largest Roman cities in Alban Hills. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill—more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano...
, he suggest that they are attributed to the year 1170.
In the letter to Henry, according to Thatcher, Alexander beseeches Henry to preserve whatever rights St. Peter already actually exercises in Ireland, and expressing confidence that Henry will be willing to acknowledge his duty. In this letter Thatcher notes, there is no mention of Adrian IV., or any document issued by him, and there is nothing that can possibly be interpreted as a reference to Laudabiliter. Thatcher notes that in none of these letters do we find any reference to Adrian IV. or to any of his letters.
On the letters of Alexander III, Cardinal Gasquet cites the editor of the Analecta who notes that they completely ignore the existence of Laudabiliter. The letters he says recognize no title or claim of Henry to dominion except "the power of the monarch, and the submission of the chiefs." They do mention the Pope's rights over all islands, and ask Henry to preserve these rights. This proves he says that the grant of Adrian was unknown in Rome as completely as it was in England and Ireland. Such a deduction is confirmed he says by the action later of Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
with the Ambassadors of Edward II at the beginning of the 14th century. Although the author of the article in the Analecta does not agree with Dr. Moran as to the authentic character of these documents, he admits that they, at least, form some very powerful arguments against the genuineness of Pope Adrian's grant.
Citing Mathew of Westminster, Rev. Burke notes that "Henry obliged every man in England, from the boy of twelve years up to the old man, to renounce their allegiance to the true Pope, and go over to an anti-Pope" and asks was it likely then, that Alexander would give Henry a letter to settle ecclesiastical matters in Ireland? Rev. Burke citing Alexander who wrote to Henry, notes that instead of referring to a document giving him permission to settle Church matters in Ireland Alexander said;
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
taught them" The Rev. Burke notes that until "the accursed Normans came to Ireland," the Papal Legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
could always come and go as he pleased and that no Irish king obstructed him and that no Irishman's hand was ever raised against a Bishop, "much less against the Papal Legate." However the very first Legate that came to Ireland, after the Norman Invasion, the Rev. Burke writes that in passing through England, Henry "took him by the throat, and imposed upon him an oath that, when he went to Ireland, he would not do anything that would be against the interest of the King". It was unheard of that a Bishop, Archbishop, or Cardinal should be persecuted, the Rev. Burke says until the Anglo-Normans brought with them "their accursed feudal system, and concentration of power in the hands of the king..."
According to Curtis, the Pope sent another privilege which was published by papal envoys after at the Synod of Waterford which he said conferred on Henry the dominion over the Irish people. Whatever we may think of the so-called Bull of Adrian, says Curtis, there can be no doubt that the letters and privilege of Alexander conferred the lordship of Ireland upon Henry II. Herbert Paul says that James Anthony Froude
James Anthony Froude
James Anthony Froude , 23 April 1818–20 October 1894, was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser's Magazine. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergyman, but doubts about the doctrines of the Anglican church,...
also maintained that the existence of Laudabiliter were proved by this later letter. However the Rev. Burke said that he preferred to believe that it was a forgery. He based this view he said on the authority of Dr. Lynch, author of "Cambrensis Eversus," in addition to the Abbé McGeoghegan, and Dr. Moran, Bishop of Ossory
Bishop of Ossory
The Bishop of Ossory is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.-History:The diocese of Ossory...
that this letter of Alexander's was a forgery.
Papal copy of 'Laudabiliter'
Froude also said there was a copy of Laudabiliter in the archives at Rome and how would the Rev. Burke "get over that"? The Rev Burke in response pointed out that the copy had no date at all on it and that Caesar BaroniusCaesar Baronius
Cesare Baronio was an Italian Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian...
, the historian, along with the learned Dr. Mansuerius declare that a rescript or document "that has no date, the day it was executed, the seal and the year, is invalid" and was therefore "just so much paper". The result of this being "that even if Adrian gave it, it was worth nothing." The Rev Burke continued that the "learned authorities tell us that the existence of a document in the archives does not prove the authenticity of that document" and that it "may be kept there as a mere record." However Curtis in his A History of Ireland from Earliest Times to 1922 states that there is no original or copy of Laudabiliter in the papal archieves. While accepting that there is no copy of Laudabiliter in the papal archieves Mackie suggests that this proves nothing, for there is at Rome no document dealing with the affairs of Ireland before the year 1215.
Papal letter of 1311 and the Irish Kings' Remonstrance of 1317
Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V, born Raymond Bertrand de Got was Pope from 1305 to his death...
had written to Edward II of England
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
in 1311 reminding him of the responsibility that Laudabiliter put upon him to execute government in Ireland for the welfare of the Irish. He warned Edward II that:
In 1317, during the Bruce invasion, some of the remaining Gaelic
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans until about 1607 AD...
kings, following decades of English rule, tried to have the bull recast or replaced, as a basis for a new kingship for Ireland, with Edward Bruce as their preferred candidate. Led by Domnall mac Brian Ó Néill, King of Tír Eógain, they issued a Remonstrance to the next Pope, John XXII
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
, requesting that Laudabiliter should be revoked, but this was refused.
Clearly the kings believed that Laudabiliter was the ultimate legal basis for their continuing problems at that time. In the meantime they had misremembered the year of Becket's death (1170, not 1155), but painfully recalled the date of Laudabiliter. In its date, style and contents the Remonstrance argues against the attempts to negate the bull centuries later. It is also clear from these documents that Clement V wanted Edward II to promote a more tolerant administration in Ireland, but without going so far as to revoke the bull of 1155. Given that he was a Pope during the controversial Avignon Papacy
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
, John XXII was not in a position to alienate the support of kings such as Edward II.
Laudabiliter and the Kingdom of Ireland 1542-1555
Laudabiliter had a continuing political relevance into the 16th century. Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
was excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
by Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
on 17 December 1538, causing his opponents to question his continuing claim to be Lord of Ireland, which was based ultimately on Laudabiliter. Henry established the Kingdom of Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
in 1542, whereby the kingdom was to be ruled in "personal union" with the Kingdom of England. This was not recognised by Europe's Roman Catholic monarchs. Therefore in 1555 a further papal bull Ilius was issued by Pope Paul IV
Pope Paul IV
Pope Paul IV, C.R. , né Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was Pope from 23 May 1555 until his death.-Early life:Giovanni Pietro Carafa was born in Capriglia Irpina, near Avellino, into a prominent noble family of Naples...
naming Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
and her husband Philip (later Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
) as monarchs of Ireland.
External links
- "Pope Adrians's bull Laudabiliter and note upon it" from Eleanor Hull, 1931, A History of Ireland, Volume One, Appendix I
- Lyttleton, Life of Henry II., vol. v p. 371: text of Laudabiliter asa reprinted in Ernest F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages (London : George Bell and Sons) 1896 with Henderson's note: "That a papal bull was dispatched to England about this time and concerning this matter is certain. That this was the actual bull sent is doubted by many".