abbey in 1352 he found little to remark upon. He had his injunctions delivered in French, as was now the custom with women's houses. Northburgh also attracted papal criticism for refusing to deal with a consanguinity case. In February 1331 he and Stephen Gravesend, the Bishop of London, were ordered by John XXII to summon witnesses to London to investigate the case of John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford, and Margaret Bassett, of a prominent Staffordshire family. The couple had discovered after their marriage that they were related to the fourth degree. They were at that time living apart. However, a papal letter three years later makes clear that Northburgh refused to act. The pope was forced to relaunch the enquiry, nominating canons from London and Lincoln to replace Northburgh on the panel. The reasons for Northburgh's inaction are not made clear. He certainly had no principled objection to giving dispensations for cousin marriage: he had ratified a papal dispensation in exactly the same circumstances in the interim. A political grudge might offer an explanation: John de Bohun's father, Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, had been one of the moderate ordainers but was provoked by personal conflict with Hugh Despenser the Younger into revolt alongside Lancaster, and was killed at Boroughbridge. The Black Death struck in 1348 and must have created enormous spiritual and practical challenges for the diocese. However, Northburgh's register mostly reflects this only indirectly. One definite reference occurs when a recent pestilence is mentioned when dealing with the need to consecrate a chapel yard at Didsbury for burials in 1352. Later political career Régime change Northburgh remained in favour with Edward II, through the difficulties of his final years. In 1323, he was sent, with others, to sequestrate the property of John de Stratford: Stratford's papal provision to the see of Winchester had displeased the king, who had once again tried to place Baldock in the post. As late as February 1326 Northburgh was ordered to give aid to the commissions of array raising troops in his diocese. However, Northburgh made a smooth transition to the new régime, and on 13 and 20 January 1327 took the Guildhall oaths, pledging support for the privileges of the City of London and for Queen Isabella and the young Edward III. His attitude to the dominance of the Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, the Marcher Lord