John and Longchamp entered open conflict. A Mid-Lent Sunday meeting at Winchester over John’s pensions and castles ended in a quarrel that sparked revolt. Gerard de Camville, Sheriff of Lincolnshire by purchase and Constable of Lincoln Castle by right of his wife Nicolaa de Haye, refused to appear before royal justices and declared himself John’s liegeman. Roger de Mortemer plotted treason with the Welsh. Longchamp marched against Mortemer, who submitted and went into exile, then advanced on Lincoln, only to find John had already secured Nottingham and Tickhill. John sent an insulting message; realizing John was too strong, Longchamp proposed arbitration. On 25 April the Bishops of London, Winchester, and Bath plus 11 lay arbitrators ruled against Longchamp: Nottingham and Tickhill were placed under John’s partisans, Longchamp’s castle warden nominations were made practically dependent on John’s approval, Gerard was reinstated, and Longchamp had to promise to secure the crown for John if the king died.
Two days later Walter of Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen, landed at Shoreham with contradictory royal commissions dated 23 February, having been allowed to leave Messina only on 2 April. He arrived to find the arbitration already concluded and could only stand aside. After midsummer Longchamp tried to repudiate his concessions, advancing on Lincoln to deprive Gerard and grant the castle to William de Stuteville. Bishops intervened, and at a Winchester meeting on 28 July a fresh settlement placed Gerard as sheriff pending a royal trial, bound both parties from further seizures, placed castles under Walter’s control without John’s input on castellans, and handed them to John if Longchamp breached the agreement or the king died. The contest ended in a stalemate.
In autumn Archbishop Geoffrey of York, Henry’s eldest living child, returned to England. He had his father’s fiery temper but no Angevin inheritance; forced into a clerical career without a calling, he had served as Archdeacon of Lincoln and Bishop-Elect of Lincoln before renouncing the bishopric in 1182 to become chancellor. Richard nominated him to York, and he was consecrated at Tours on 18 August. Geoffrey reached out to John, but Longchamp—unaware his vow of exile had been remitted—ordered his arrest and arranged with the Countess of Flanders that no Flemish ship would carry him.
Disguised, Geoffrey sailed from Wissant, landing at Dover on Holy Cross Day. The constable was absent; his wife Richenda was Longchamp’s sister. Her men recognized Geoffrey and tried to arrest him. He fled to St Martin’s priory outside the town; for five days they tried to starve him out, then rushed into the priory church and ordered him to leave. Geoffrey, seated by the altar in pontifical robes holding his cross, defied them; when he refused to mount a horse, they dragged him by hands and feet through the town, excommunicating his captors, and threw him in prison.
The outrage united all factions. Remonstrances came from the Treasurer and Bishop of London, the Bishop of Norwich, the Canterbury chapter, and St Hugh of Lincoln, who excommunicated Richenda and her abettors at Oxford. John secured Geoffrey’s release on 26 September on the condition he travel to London.
Longchamp was at Norwich when he was summoned to answer for his treatment of Geoffrey and Hugh at a 5 October assembly at Lodden bridge. He issued a counter-summons and hurried to Windsor, but the Earls of Arundel, Warren, and Norfolk appeared in his place. The following Saturday, John and the barons spent the day reviewing Longchamp’s offences, and all agreed the chancellor had to be removed.
The next morning Longchamp tried bribing John. At high mass in Reading parish church, the bishops lit candles and excommunicated Geoffrey’s captors. By nightfall Longchamp swore to stand trial on Monday. Setting out, he learned his enemies were marching on London: John and the barons crossed the river, splitting their forces, sending the larger group with baggage to Staines while John, with bishops and barons, marched on Windsor. Longchamp hurried back, but John’s men-at-arms came up the Staines road; a skirmish broke out, Roger de Planes was mortally wounded, though Longchamp reached the city. He called a meeting in the Guildhall, but found widespread opposition: Londoners had established a commune on 31 July and refused to shut their gates to John. Longchamp shut himself in the Tower.
John was admitted to the city the next morning. Barons and citizens gathered in St Paul’s, where Longchamp’s victims set out their grievances, led by the Archbishop of York. Walter of Rouen and William the Marshal produced Richard’s 20 February letter accrediting Walter to the Marshal and justiciars, ordering them to follow Walter’s direction if the chancellor failed. John and the barons agreed to abide by the letter, won over the citizens by swearing to uphold the commune, and all swore fealty to Richard and to John as his intended successor; per one account, John was appointed regent with control of all royal castles except three.
Longchamp’s forces could defend the Tower but had no time to restock, and overcrowding was severe. On Wednesday he tried bribing John, nearly succeeding until Geoffrey of York and Hugh of Coventry protested so loudly John continued the attack. That afternoon, four bishops and four earls met him in the Tower. Five days of tension exhausted his frail frame; when told of the previous day’s events, he dropped unconscious. On reviving and begging for sympathy, Hugh of Coventry’s insults provoked him: he told them his reckoning would come, refusing to surrender castles or his seal. Late that night, his brother Osbert and others wrung a promise from him to offer himself as a hostage for submission the next day.
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