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LANGTON, WALTER (d. 1321)

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 179 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LANGTON, See also:WALTER (d. 1321) , See also:bishop of See also:Lichfield and hills along the See also:Rhone on the See also:east. Its unity was entirely a See also:political creation, but none the less real, as it was the See also:great See also:state of the Midi, the representative of its culture and, to some degree, the See also:defence of its See also:peculiar See also:civilization. Its See also:climate, especially in See also:Herault (See also:Montpellier), is especially delightful in See also:spring and See also:early summer, and the scenery still holds enough ruined remains of See also:Roman and feudal times to recall the See also:romance and the tragedy of its See also:history. Although the name is of comparatively See also:late See also:medieval origin, the history of See also:Languedoc, which had little in See also:common with that of See also:northern See also:France, begins with the Roman occupation. See also:Toulouse was an important See also:place as early as 119 B.C.; the next See also:year See also:Narbonne, the seaport, became a Roman See also:colony. By the See also:time of See also:Julius See also:Caesar the See also:country was sufficiently Romanized to furnish him with men and See also:money, and though at first involved in the See also:civil See also:wars which followed, it prospered under Roman See also:rule as perhaps no other See also:part of the See also:empire did. While it corresponded exactly to no administrative See also:division of the Roman empire, it was approximately the territory included in Gallia Narbonensis, one of the seventeen provinces into which the empire was divided at the See also:death of See also:Augustus. It was See also:rich and flourishing, crowded with great and densely populated towns, See also:Nimes, Narbonne, See also:Beziers, Toulouse; with See also:schools of See also:rhetoric and See also:poetry still vigorous in the 5th See also:century; theatres, amphitheatres and splendid temples. In the 5th century this high culture was an open See also:prize for the barbarians; and after the passing of the See also:Vandals, See also:Suebi and Visigoths into See also:Spain, the Visigoths returned under Wallia, who made his See also:capital at Toulouse in 419. This was the See also:foundation of the Visigothic See also:kingdom which See also:Clovis dismembered in 507, leaving the Visigoths only Septimania—the country of seven cities, Narbonne, See also:Carcassonne, See also:Elne, Beziers, Maguelonne, See also:Lodeve and See also:Agde—that is, very nearly the See also:area occupied later by the See also:province of Languedoc. At the See also:council of Narbonne in 589 five races are mentioned as living in the province, Visigoths, See also:Romans, See also:Jews—of whom there were a great many—Syrians and Greeks.

The repulse of the See also:

Arabs by See also:Charles Martel in 732 opened up the country for the Frankish See also:conquest, which was completed by 768. Under the See also:Carolingians Septimania became part of the kingdom of See also:Aquitaine, but became a See also:separate duchy in 817. Until the opening of the 13th century there is no unity in the history of Languedoc, the great houses of Toulouse and Carcassonne and the swarm of warlike See also:counts and barons practically ignoring the distant See also:king of France, and maintaining a chronic state of civil See also:war. The feudal regime did not become at all universal in the See also:district, as it tended to become in the See also:north of France. Allodial tenures survived in sufficient See also:numbers to constitute a considerable class of non-See also:vassal subjects of the king, with whose authority they were little troubled. By the end of the 11th century the See also:house of the counts of Toulouse began to See also:play the predominant role; but their See also:court had been famous almost a century before for its love of See also:art and literature and its extravagance in See also:dress and fashions, all of which denoted its See also:wealth. See also:Constance, wife of King See also:Robert II. and daughter of the See also:count of Toulouse, gave great offence to the monks by her following of gallant gentlemen. They owed their tastes, not only to their Roman See also:blood, and the survival of their old love for rhetoric and poetry, but also to their intercourse with the Mahommedans, their neighbours and enemies, and their See also:friends when they were not fighting. Under See also:Raymond of See also:Saint Gilles, at the end of the 11th century, the See also:county of Toulouse began its great career, but Raymond's ambition to become an See also:Oriental See also:prince, which led him—and the See also:hundred thousand men who, according to the chroniclers, followed him—away on the first crusade, See also:left a troubled heritage to his sons See also:Bertrand and See also:Alphonse Jourdain. The latter successfully See also:beat off See also:William IX., See also:duke of Aquitaine, and won from the count of See also:Barcelona that part of See also:Provence between the Dreme and the See also:Durance. The reign of Alphonse lasted from 'See also:log to 1148. By the opening of the 13th century the See also:sovereignty of the counts of Toulouse was recognized through about See also:half of Provence, and they held the rich cities of the most cultured and wealthiest portion of France, treasurer of See also:England, was probably a native of Langton See also:West in See also:Leicestershire.

Appointed a clerk in the royal See also:

chancery, he became a favourite servant of See also:Edward I., taking part in the suit over the See also:succession to the Scottish See also:throne in 1292, and visiting France more than once on See also:diplomatic business. He obtained several ecclesiastical preferments, became treasurer in 1295, and in 1296 bishop of Lichfield. Having become unpopular, the barons in 1301 vainly asked Edward to dismiss him; about the same time he was accused of See also:murder, See also:adultery and See also:simony. Suspended from his See also:office, he went to See also:Rome to be tried before See also:Pope See also:Boniface VIII., who referred the See also:case to See also:Winchelsea, See also:archbishop of See also:Canterbury; the archbishop, although Langton's lifelong enemy, found him See also:innocent, and this See also:sentence was confirmed by Boniface in 1303. Throughout these difficulties, and also during a See also:quarrel with the prince of See also:Wales, afterwards Edward II., the treasurer was loyally supported by the king. Visiting Pope See also:Clement V. on royal business in 1305, Langton appears to have persuaded Clement to suspend Winchelsea; after his return to England he was the See also:chief adviser of Edward I., who had already appointed him the See also:principal executor of his will. His position, however, was changed by the king's death in See also:July 1307. The See also:accession of Edward II. and the return of Langton's enemy, Piers See also:Gaveston, were quickly followed by the See also:arrest of the bishop and his removal from office. His lands, together with a great hoard of movable wealth, were seized, and he was accused of misappropriation and venality. In spite of the intercession of Clement V. and even of the restored See also:arch-bishop, Winchelsea, who was anxious to uphold the privileges of his See also:order, Langton, accused again by the barons in 1309, remained in See also:prison after Edward's surrender to the " ordainers in 1310. He was released in See also:January 1312 and again became treasurer; but he was disliked by the " ordainers," who forbade him to See also:discharge the duties of his office. Excommunicated by Winchelsea, he appealed to the pope, visited him at See also:Avignon, and returned to England after the archbishop's death in May 1313.

He was a member of the royal council from this time until his dismissal at the See also:

request of See also:parliament in 1315. He died in See also:November 1321, and was buried in Lichfield See also:cathedral, which was improved and enriched at his expense. Langton appears to have been no relation of his contemporary, See also:John Langton, bishop of See also:Chichester.

End of Article: LANGTON, WALTER (d. 1321)

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