Dispute with the papacy

• John wished to control the Church and force it to accept his demands, but Pope Innocent III wanted to show the kings that they were vassals of the papacy
• In July 1205, Archbishop of Canterbury Hubert Walter died, and John wanted to take the opportunity to choose his own Archbishop as Richard got to choose his
• The monks would elect the archbishop unless they allowed the king to, and the monks had picked their own candidate (a Canterbury monk called Reginald) instead of of John’s candidate John de Gray, bishop of Norwich
• Instead of choosing between the two candidates, Innocent chose his own archbishop, Stephen Langton
• John refused to allow Stephen Langton into the kingdom
• He expelled the Canterbury monks from their monastery as punishment for the pope’s refusal
• He also seized the land held by Italian clergy in England to punish the Italian-born pope for his interference in the English Church