Editing Pandulf Verraccio

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name         = Pandulf Verraccio
| title        = [[Bishop of Norwich]]
| image        = William Blake after Henry Fuseli King John Absolved by Pandulph 1797 Tate Gallery.jpg
| caption      = "King John Absolved by Pandulph" 1797 [[line engraving]] by [[William Blake]] after [[Henry Fuseli]]
| appointed    = 1215
| ended        = 16 September 1226
| predecessor  = [[John de Gray]]
| successor    = [[Thomas Blunville]]
| consecration = 29 May 1222
| other_post   = sometime [[papal legate]]
| birth_place  = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| birth_date = [[January 1155]]
| death_date   = {{death date|1226|9|16|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| buried       = [[Norwich]], [[England]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
}}

'''Pandulf Verraccio''' (died 16 September 1226), whose first name may also be spelled '''Pandolph''' or '''Pandulph''' (''Pandolfo'' in Italian), was a Roman ecclesiastical politician, [[papal legate]] to England and [[bishop of Norwich]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Pandulph |volume=20 |page=675 |inline=1}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Pandulf was born in the [[Papal States]], and first came to England in 1211, when he was commissioned by [[Pope Innocent III]] to negotiate with [[John of England|King John]] during the [[Investiture Controversy]].<ref name="EB1911" /> He is often erroneously called ''Cardinal Pandulph'' or ''Pandulph Masca'' due to being confused with Cardinal [[Pandolfo da Lucca]],<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Pandulph}}</ref> who himself was confused with Cardinal [[Pandulf of Pisa]] and erroneously given the Pisan family name Masca. His authentic surname may be rendered Verraccio, Verracchio or Verracclo.

== Role in the Investiture Controversy ==
__NOTOC__
Obtaining no satisfactory concessions in John's efforts to impose [[Caesaropapism]] upon the [[Catholic Church in England]], Pandulf is alleged to have produced the papal sentence of [[excommunication]] in the very presence of the king. In May 1213 Pandulf again visited England to receive the king's submission. The ceremony took place at the [[Knights Templar in England#Churches|Templar church]] at [[Dover, England|Dover]], and on the following day John, of his own motion, formally surrendered England to the [[Holy See]] and received it back as a papal [[fief]].<ref name=EB1911/>

== Loyalty to King John ==
Pandulf repaid this act of humility by using every means to avert the [[First Barons' War|threatened French invasion of England]]. For nearly a year he was superseded by the cardinal-legate [[Niccolò de Romanis|Nicholas of Tusculum]]; but returning in 1215 was present at the conference of [[Runnymede]], when the [[Magna Carta]] was sealed. He rendered valuable aid to John who rewarded him{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} with the [[see of Norwich, England]] in 1215, however he was not consecrated for a number of years.<ref name=Handbook261>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 261</ref><ref name=BHONorwich>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33866 British History Online Bishops of Norwich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055809/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33866 |date=14 February 2012 }} accessed on 29 October 2007</ref> The arrival of the cardinal-legate [[Cardinal Gualo|Gualo]] in 1216 relegated Pandulf to a secondary position; but after Gualo's departure in 1218 he came forward once more,<ref name=EB1911/> after having been appointed papal legate again on 1 September 1218.<ref name=BHONorwich/>

== Handling of Brigandage ==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2022}}
Pandulf is known to have sent a letter to [[Peter des Roches]] (who was bishop of Winchester) between 1218 and 1221 urgently requesting action against rampant brigandage on the roads near [[Winchester]] (one of the largest cities of England at the time). He wrote:

My lord bishop, the complaints of the poor and of women ought especially to move you, that nobody can travel near Winchester without being held up, robbed, and worst of all—should there not be enough goods on them—people are being killed. Truly, because this sort of thing is a disgrace to the lord king, and to you, and it is going on to the scandal and disorder of the whole kingdom, we ask, advise and firmly instruct your wisdom, as you value the forgiveness of your sins, that you cause this business to be sorted out, so that we hear no further complaints.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lost letters of medieval life: English society, 1200-1250 |date=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-4459-5 |editor-last=Carlin |editor-first=Martha |edition=1st |series=The Middle Ages series |location=Philadelphia |editor-last2=Crouch |editor-first2=David}}</ref>

== Regency Years 1219-1221 ==
During the years 1219-1221 there are at least 68 letters from or addressed to Pandulf which survive detailing his handling of diplomatic affairs, domestic affairs, national defense, the [[Exchequer]], and his coordination with the [[Justiciar]] [[Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent|Hubert de Burgh]], the bishop of Winchester (regency member) [[Peter des Roches]], and the vice-chancellor [[Ralph Neville]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Archives|first=The National|title=The Discovery Service|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r/2?_q=pandulf&_dss=range&_sd=1200&_ed=1250&_ps=60&_ser=SC%201&id=C13519|access-date=2021-09-14|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> In fact, the only two members of Henry III's regency government who have more surviving letters are Ralph Neville and Hubert de Burgh. He sent and received several letters regarding diplomacy including the reception of a letter from [[Llywelyn the Great]] regarding diplomatic affairs with wales.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9178345|title=Catalogue description Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, to Pandulf, bishop-elect of Norwich, papal chamberlain...|date=May 1220 }}</ref>

== Termination of Legatine and Consecration as Bishop of Norwich ==
As representing the pope Pandulf claimed a control over [[Hubert de Burgh]] and the other ministers of the young [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]; and his correspondence shows that he interfered in every department of the administration. His arrogance was tolerated while the regency was still in need of papal assistance; but in 1221 Hubert de Burgh and the primate [[Stephen Langton]] successfully moved the pope to recall Pandulf and to send no other legate ''a latere'' (of the highest rank) in his place. His legatine commission was terminated by the summer of 1221.<ref name=BHONorwich/> He was finally consecrated bishop on 29 May 1222.<ref name=Handbook261/>

Pandulf retained the see of Norwich, but from this time drops out of English politics. He died in Rome on 16 September 1226,<ref name=Handbook261/> but his body was taken to Norwich for burial.<ref name=EB1911/>

==In popular culture==
* Pandulf Verraccio is one of the main characters in the [[stage play]] ''[[King John (play)|The Life and Death of King John]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]]. Pandulf Verraccio's role centers first upon the [[Investiture Controversy]] between [[John, King of England|King John]] and [[Pope Innocent III]] and Verraccio's subsequent role in blocking the French invasion.

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055809/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33866 British History Online Bishops of Norwich] accessed on 29 October 2007
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite journal |first=Nicholas |last=Vincent |title=The Election of Pandulph Verracclo as Bishop of Norwich (1215) |journal=Historical Research |volume=68 |year=1995 |issue=166 |pages=143–63 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.1995.tb01997.x}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |first=Nicholas |last=Vincent |title=Pandulf (d. 1226) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/21230 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21230 |access-date=12 December 2015|url-access=subscription }}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John de Gray]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Norwich]]|years=1215–1226}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Blunville]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Bishops of Norwich}}

{{Authority control}}

{{short description|13th-century Bishop of Norwich}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandulph}}
[[Category:Bishops of Norwich]]
[[Category:13th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Diplomats for the Holy See]]
[[Category:1226 deaths]]
[[Category:Camerlengos of the Holy Roman Church]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Burials at Norwich Cathedral]]