A.D. 1197. THE POPE'S ADVICE TO THE AECHBISHOP OP EOUEÎÎ. 397 cause Walter, archbishop of Rouen, -would not revoke the sentence of interdict which he had laid upon Normandy ; for the bodies of the dead were lying unburied throughout the lanes and streets of the cities of Normandy. Accordingly, the king sent William, bishop of Ely, his chancellor, to the bishop of Lisieux, and Philip, the bishop elect of Durham, to plead his cause in the presence of our lord the pope, against the said archbishop of Rouen. On their arrival in Poitou, William, bishop of Ely, the king's chancellor, fell ill, even unto death, and died and was buried ; and, as long as he appeared to be in the mortal agony, a wooden crucifix in the cathedral church of the same city, which is called the cross of Saint Martial, was seen to weep so vehemently, that streams of water, as it were, poured down from its eyes, and moistened the face. The people indeed said that this now happened for the third time ; the first time at the death of a bishop of the said city, the second, time on the departure of John Belesmains, bishop of that city, and the third time on the death of this William, bishop of Ely. After his decease, the bishop of Lisieux, and the bishop elect of Durham, proceeded upon the business of their master. Our lord the king, however, not unmmdful of the services which the said chancellor had rendered him, gave to his brother Robert, prior of Ely, the abbey of Saint Mary at York ; and Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, and legate of the Apostolic See, consecrated him abbat. The said archbishop of Rouen, and the bishop of Lisieux, and the bishop elect of Ely now meeting in the presence of our lord the pope, the archbishop of Rouen asserted his right which he had over Andely, and the injury which Richard, king of England, had done him in fortifying a castle upon the possessions of the church of Rouen thus unjustly, and against his will and consent. To this the above-named envoys of the king made answer, that the king their master had often and repeatedly made him offer, through his envoys, venerable men and discreet bishops, abbats, earls, and barons, that he would make him reparation in every respect, according to the estimate formed by honorable men. For, asthey asserted ontheking'sbehalf, he could on no account give up the said island of Andely, on which, he had fortified the castle, because the king of France and his people every now and then were making inroads into Normandy, and frequently ravaged it, in consequence of which the king of England had fortified that place for the defence of