William Longchamp - Exile and Return

Exile and Return

Longchamp went to the court of Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, who was holding King Richard I captive at Trifels. The bishop arranged for Richard to be held at the imperial court and negotiated a payment plan for the ransom, 100,000 marks, under the terms of which the emperor agreed to release Richard once 70,000 marks had been paid and hostages for the payment of the rest had been received. When the Emperor in January 1194 called a meeting of the imperial magnates to debate King Philip II of France's offer to pay the Emperor to keep Richard captive, Longchamp attended along with Walter of Coutances and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard's mother. After further diplomatic wrangling, Richard was freed on 4 February 1194.

Richard rewarded Longchamp with the custody of Eye and an appointment as Sheriff of Essex and Sheriff of Hertfordshire when the pair returned to England, but Longchamp soon became embroiled in a renewal of his disagreement with Archbishop Geoffrey of York. Richard left England in May 1194, and Longchamp accompanied him to the continent, never to return to England; Longchamp returned to the Emperor's court in 1195. Richard continued to use Longchamp in diplomacy—although it was Geoffrey who arranged a truce with King Philip in 1194—as well as retaining the bishop as chancellor, but the main power in England was now Hubert Walter. Longchamp spent the rest of his life outside his diocese, usually accompanying the king.