Bishop Cantilupe, Grand Master Of Templars.

BISHOP CANTILUPE , GRAND MASTER OF TEMPLARS .

PROM THE "KEYSTONE" 23 rd AUGUST . j

SO far as wo are aware , thero was during the middle ages but a single Bishop of the English Chnrch who was also a Provincial Grand Master of Knights Templar . There were not a few examples of eminent ecclesiastics who were also architects and Freemasons and , as thoro aro analogously now—ono distinguished Bishop of this country , Sir and Bro . Et . Eov . AVm . H . Odenheimer , D . D ., D . C . L ., having died only last week , and been interred on Monday , August

18 th inst . ; but wo believe that Sir Thomas Cantilnpo , Bishop of Hereford , is tho only English Bishop who was a leading Templar , and whoso shrine in an English Cathedral is conspicuously decorated with Templar emblems . Sir and Bishop Cantilupe was a famous man in his day , as the interesting details of his biography which we are about to give

conclusively prove ; and yet , singular to say , you may search in vain in any general biographical dictionary , even tho fullest , or any ancient or modern encyclopaedia , for even the mention of his name ! It is quite time that his memory should bo rescued from this comparative oblivion , since it is only in certain special works that you may read of him at all , and we feel assured that all Freemasons , and especially all

Knights Templar , will thank ns for tho accurate information we give below concerning one who played so distinguished apart in the history of Tomplarism , of tho English Church , and of tho English State . Ho was an English Bishop , a Lord Chancellor of England , and after his death was canonized by tho Pope . To these distinctions he added tho crowning one , to ns , of being a Knight Templar , and a Provincial

Grand Master of tho Templars of England . Thomas Cantilnpo was of noble extraction , being the son of AVilliam Baron do Cantilupe . of an illustrious Norman line , whose name was derived from Champ de Loup , or Campus Lupi ( field of the wolf ) . Ho studied at Oxford University , then went to Paris to tho College of Sarbonne , where he was graduated M . A . Thence he went to Orleans ,

where ho studied the civil law , under an eminent professor , and was so quick and able a scholar that in his master ' s absence ho occupied his chair . Keturning to Oxford he studied canon law , and received the degree of D . C . L . In 12 G 2 , he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford , in which position ho distinguished himself not only by his learning , hut also by his manly courage . A riot having

arisen between tho southern and northern students , Chancellor Can - tilnpo promptly suppressed it , but not without injury to both his garments and his person . During the " Barons' AVar , " in February 12 G 5 , ho was appointed , in the name of King Henry III ., Lord Chancellor of England . * IIo held this high office until August of the samo year , when tho defeat of the Barons at tho battle of Evesham

caused tho elevation of Edward I . to the throno , by whom he was removed . Ho thon retired to Oxford , where he pursued anew his studies iu divinity , and received tho degree of Doctor of Divinity . But his connection with tho insurgent Barons did not blind king Edward I . to his merits , who appointed him Archdeacon of Stafford , Canon of York , Canon of London , & c ., to which ho

added other and " many fat benefices , being quite a pluralist . He received his chief ecclesiastical dignity in 1275 , when he was appointed Bishop of Hereford . t and presided over the Seo until 1282 . During his Episcopacy he had a dispute with Peckham , Archbishop of Canterbury , who went so far as to excommunicato him . The intrepid Cantilupe , fearing nothing , however , and relying upon tho justice of

his cause , proceeded to Eome , ancl laid his cause before Pope Martin IV ., by whom he was paternally received , ancl who , espousing his cause , decided the dispute in his favor . On his return journey , and before he had passed out of Italy , the good Bishop was seized with a mortal malady , and died in 1282 at Civita Vecchia . His remains were strangely treated—probably by his own dying

request . The flesh was separated from his bones , by boiliug , and interred in a church at Orvieto ; his heart was transported to the monastic church of Ashridgo , in Buckinghamshire ; and his bones were taken to his own Cathedral of Hereford . As tho latter were taken into the Cathedral , tho Earl of Gloucester approached , and touched the casket containing them , when , tho story runs , that they

" bled afresh , whereupon tho Earl was led to make restitution to tho Church of all tho lands that Bishop Cantilupe had , in his lifetime , justly , but ineffectually , claimed from him . Cantilupe was a man of great learning , of hamility , and yet of a manly courage ancl of blameless life . His friend , Archbishop Kilwarby , when Oxford conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of

Divinity , even went so far as to say that " he was never guilty of any sin which he could judge to be mortal . " His succeessors in the Bishopric of Hereford specially honoured Bishop Cantilupe , by taking his family arms as the heraldic bearings of their See . In tbe view of many , tho crowning houor of his career was his canonization , iu 1320 , by Pope John XXII . He was the last Englishman

canonized before tho Eoformation . Flo tcoidd havo been canonized sooner had he not been a Knight Templar . In this connection , we may mention that Cantilupc ' s first patron , King Henry III ., in the tenth year of his reign ( 1226 ) , granted a charter to tho Templars , confirming them iu all their possessions , and granting them many additional privileges .

In 130 / the Templars were arrested throughout England ; in 1310 they wore condemned , and two years later the Order was formally dissolved by the Council of Vienno . The bones of Bishop Cantilupe wore interred at first in the Lady Chapel of Hereford Cathedral , hut afterwards , in 1280 , they were removed , in the presence of King Edward IL , to tho north transept , which appears to havo been rebuilt expressly for tho reception of the magnificent Templar shine which

Bishop Cantilupe, Grand Master Of Templars.

waa there erected to his memory , and still exists to excite the admiration of every visitor to the Cathedral . Tho " brass" that surmounted it is gone , bnt the shrine remains . AVe will describe it , since all Temp , lars , and also all Freemasons , will bo interested in it . It is a worthy memorial of Provincial Grand Master Cantilupe . This Templar altar shrine is constructed entirely of Pnrbeck marblo ,

in tho form of a parellogram , with two divisions , tho lower solid , tho upper of open work . On this onco rested tho actual shrine , containing tho relics of the saint . " Cantilnpo was Provincial Grand Master of the Knights Templar of England ; and round tho lower division of tho pedestal aro fifteen figures of Templars , in various attitudes , placed in tho recesses of a foliated arcade . All are fully armed , in

chain-mail , with snrcoat , shield ancl sword . "J AVo neeel not bo surprised to learn that it was asserted that miracles wero performed at the shrine of this canonized saint ; Fuller says , " no fewer than four hundred and twenty-fivo miracles aro registered , reported to have been wrought at his tomb * * yea , it is recorded in his legend that by his prayers were raised from death to life threescore

several persons , one-and-twenty lepers healed , and threc-and-twenty blind ancl dumb men received their sight and speech . " § This Knights Templar ' s bones , if we havo faith in this long catalogue , have been quite efficacious in healing the ills of humanity . And it would seem also true that a Lord Chancellor of England , a Bishop of the English Church , a Chancellor of Oxford University , and

a canonized saint , to say nothing of a Grand Master of Knights Templar , is worthy of at least a passing mention in the biographical dictionaries of our day . Cantilupe came of an heroic race . His undo , Walter Cantilnpo ( sometimes styled Walter Normanus , or tho Norman ) , was Bishop of

Worcester in 1237 , and was a brave champion of English liberty as against tho Pope . Before the battle of Lewis , he absolved the entire army of tho Barons , bidding them fight boldly against the King ' s forces , and with as much certainty of salvation as if they were fighting in a crusade ! Ho , too , was excommunicated by tho Pope , and was only reconciled and absolved on his death bod .

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