york00orns

136 YORK.
the consecration of Geoffry Plantagenet, an illegitimate
son of Henry II. His ecclesiastical career
furnishes an instance of that scandalous abuse of
Church patronage which was one of the most crying
sins of the middle ages. As a mere child he was
made Archdeacon of Lincoln, and when not more
than fourteen years of age his father procured his
election to the bishopric of that see, and its revenues
were actually received by him until 1181. The pope
then declared that he must either be ordained or
forego all rights and claims in respect of the bishopric
of Lincoln. Geoffry preferred the latter alternative.
The freedom of a layman's life was more to his taste
than the restraints of the ecclesiastic state. Yet he
was soon provided with other preferments. Amongst
these were the archdeaconry of Rouen, the treasurership
of York, and the chancellorship of England.
Not long after his father's death (1189) he was
nominated to the see of York, which he accepted
somewhat reluctantly. He was eventually consecrated
at Tours on Aug. i8th, 1191. No sooner
was he seated in the chair of York than feud after
feud took place with Bishop Pudsay, who owed
Geoffry a bitter grudge for having obtained an
order from the pope that he should render obedience
to the see of York. In consequence of this Pudsay
refused to obey Geoffry's summons to attend a
provincial synod in which he was to render an
account of procurations received from Allertonshire
and Howdenshire. He absented himself also when
Geoffry was enthroned. Dissensions arose likewise,
time after time, with the Dean and canons. The