3 - Opposition to the Papacy

Summary

The reign of Edward III witnessed a number of crises in Anglo-Papal relations. The French origin of the popes, coupled with a long period of intermittent and largely inconclusive warfare between Plantagenet and Valois provided ample opportunities for xenophobic suspicion of the Papacy's intentions. This inevitably became intermingled with opposition to papal taxation and to the use of the system of provision, especially where the beneficiaries were French. Old grievances were exacerbated in an environment of heightened tension; financial stringency and war combined in furnishing ammunition for anti-papal elements in parliament and government.

Parliament and government must, however, be kept distinct. It was unwise for the crown to antagonise the Papacy unnecessarily: the interests of pope and king were usually best served when the two co-operated; and, moreover, Edward III needed papal help, or at least the absence of papal opposition, in the tortuous negotiations to attempt to settle the long-standing problem of sovereignty in Aquitaine and his other continental dominions. The king confronted the pope only as a last resort. Parliament, on the other hand, had no such inhibitions. At least among those vociferous elements whose complaints were recorded for posterity, there were many accusations which could be and were levelled against the Francophile Papacy.