Since the subjugation of Wales to the present time,three only have held the see:in the reign of king Henry I.Bernard;in the reign of king Stephen,David II.and in the reign of king Henry II.Peter,a monk of the order of Cluny;who all,by the king's mandate,were consecrated at Canterbury;as also Geoffrey,prior and canon of Lanthoni,who succeeded them in the reign of king John,and was preferred to this see by the interest of Hubert,archbishop of Canterbury,and afterwards consecrated by him.We do not hear that either before or after that subjugation,any archbishop of Canterbury ever entered the borders of Wales,except Baldwin,a monk of the Cistercian order,abbot of Ford,and afterwards bishop of Worcester,who traversed that rough,inaccessible,and remote country with a laudable devotion for the service of the cross;and as a token of investiture,celebrated mass in all the cathedral churches.So that till lately the see of St.David's owed no subjection to that of Canterbury,as may be seen in the English History of Bede,who says that "Augustine,bishop of the Angles,after the conversion of king Ethelfred and the English people,called together the bishops of Wales on the confines of the West Saxons,as legate of the apostolic see.When the seven bishops {122}appeared,Augustine,sitting in his chair,with Roman pride,did not rise up at their entrance.Observing his haughtiness (after the example of a holy anchorite of their nation),they immediately returned,and treated him and his statutes with contempt,publicly proclaiming that they would not acknowledge him for their archbishop;alleging,that if he now refused to rise up to us,how much more will he hold us in contempt,if we submit to be subject to him?"That there were at that time seven bishops in Wales,and now only four,may be thus accounted for;because perhaps there were formerly more cathedral churches in Wales than there are at present,or the extent of Wales might have been greater.Amongst so many bishops thus deprived of their dignity,Bernard,the first French [i.e.Norman]bishop of St.David's,alone defended the rights of his church in a public manner;and after many expensive and vexatious appeals to the court of Rome,would not have reclaimed them in vain,if false witnesses had not publicly appeared at the council of Rheims,before pope Eugenius,and testified that he had made profession and submission to the see of Canterbury.Supported by three auxiliaries,the favour and intimacy of king Henry,a time of peace,and consequent plenty,he boldly hazarded the trial of so great a cause,and so confident was he of his just right,that he sometimes caused the cross to be carried before him during his journey through Wales.
Bernard,however commendable in some particulars,was remarkable for his insufferable pride and ambition.For as soon as he became courtier and a creature of the king's,panting after English riches by means of translation,(a malady under which all the English sent hither seem to labour),he alienated many of the lands of his church without either advantage or profit,and disposed of others so indiscreetly and improvidently,that when ten carucates {123}of land were required for military purposes,he would,with a liberal hand,give twenty or thirty;and of the canonical rites and ordinances which he had miserably and unhappily instituted at St.
David's,he would hardly make use of one,at most only of two or three.With respect to the two sees of Canterbury and St.David's,I will briefly explain my opinion of their present state.On one side,you will see royal favour,affluence of riches,numerous and opulent suffragan bishops,great abundance of learned men and well skilled in the laws;on the other side,a deficiency of all these things,and a total want of justice;on which account the recovery of its ancient rights will not easily be effected,but by means of those great changes and vicissitudes which kingdoms experience from various and unexpected events.
The spot where the church of St.David's stands,and was founded in honour of the apostle St.Andrew,is called the Vale of Roses;which ought rather to be named the vale of marble,since it abounds with one,and by no means with the other.The river Alun,a muddy and unproductive rivulet,{124}bounding the churchyard on the northern side,flows under a marble stone,called Lechlavar,which has been polished by continual treading of passengers,and concerning the name,size,and quality of which we have treated in our Vaticinal History.{125}Henry II.on his return from Ireland,is said to have passed over this stone,before he devoutly entered the church of St.Andrew and St.David.Having left the following garrisons in Ireland,namely,Hugh de Lacy (to whom he had given Meath in fee)in Dublin,with twenty knights;Fitz-Stephen and Maurice Fitzgerald,with other twenty;Humphrey de Bohun,Robert Fitz-Bernard,and Hugh de Grainville at Waterford,with forty;and William Fitz-Adelm and Philip de Braose at Wexford,with twenty;on the second day of Easter,the king embarked at sunrise on board a vessel in the outward port of Wexford,and,with a south wind,landed about noon in the harbour of Menevia.Proceeding towards the shrine of St.
