a pitch that at length an association was formed of "those who would rather die than be confounded by the Romans". That was the real title of the society. It was a secret body, composed mostly of landowners who had resolved no longer to endure the exactions of the Pope. They wrote a circular letter to all the bishops and chapters in the country recounting the evils that arose from the preferment of so many foreign ecclesiastics in England, and ended by saying, "A man who kindly wipes our noses draws blood," a remark which they applied to the situation. They stated that they would stand it no longer, and warned the bishops and other authorities not to interfere with what they were about to do. In consequence great terror prevailed among the foreign ecclesiastics in England. A few of them were seized and imprisoned, and in 1232 a general attack was made on the barns of the Roman priests throughout the country, and the corn found in them was either destroyed or given to the poor. The leader of this movement was a Yorkshire knight, the patron of a living which had been taken possession of by a foreign priest. It was these circumstances which deterred Grosseteste from making his pilgrimage to Rome. Moreover, a violent fever seized him at this time. When he recovered he resigned all his offices except his prebendal stall at Lincoln. In acting thus, he was regarded by his friends as having committed an act of incredible folly; but he said that he did not think it right to hold more offices than one.
Grosseteste continued to teach quietly at Oxford till 1235, when he was elected by the Chapter of
