Talk:Edmund Rich
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This is a very nice example of incoherent 19th century nationalism. The entry depicts Edmund as a member of a "national party" in ecclesiastical politics. He was so offended at giving benefices to "Romans" that he does what? Retires to a monastery in France! GOSH the English could be self-deceiving! O.K. - there WAS no such thing as a 'national' party. The benefices were not being given to native Roman clergymen, but to members of the papal administration and Edmund was offended not as an Englishman against Italians but as a local archbishop against the central administration. I find it interesting to imagine shipping the cash from the 300 benefices from England to Rome in the 13th century - something the author of the entry elides. Oh, well. I'm going to leave this up for a little bit before revising so that others can see my rant.