The Men Helping the Jews, Part 3

That title is not meant to justify or praise the men of whom I'm speaking. At the time it was thought by Christians that the best approach to dealing with the "problem" of Jews was to kill them or force them to be Christian.

Yesterday I discussed Walter Mauclerc, bishop of Carlisle and first warden of the Domus Conversorum. Today is about Peter des Roches, a soldier and diplomat from Poitou who served King John and then Henry III. He spent time on the Sixth Crusade (1228 - 1229).

In 1205 he was named bishop of Winchester by John, though he seemed unsuitable. Pope Innocent III confirmed him for John's sake. Peter stayed loyal to John when Innocent placed England under interdict because John did not want to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Peter's loyalty prompted John to name him Chief Justiciar (equivalent to prime minister), but by 1215 he was replaced with Hubert de Burgh, one of the other witnesses to the charter establishing the Domus Conversorum. des Roches also led opposition to de Burgh on behalf of the barons.

He founded several monasteries, and when Dominicans first came to England in 1221 he supported them.

Peter des Roches (like Hubert de Burgh and Walter Mauclerc) eventually fell out of favor with Henry, in his case in 1234. He died in 1238.

There is an odd legend about des Roches in the Lanercost Chronicle, a history covering 1201 to 1346. It records that des Roches was out hunting and came upon King Arthur. The two dined together, and des Roches asked for a token from Arthur so that he could prove that they had met. Arthur told him to close his hand and open it again. When he did so, a butterfly appeared. The Chronicle says that des Roches could repeat this trick for the rest of his life.

As for the issue with John and Stephen Langton, I should explain that more next time.