It happened that the ecclesiastical Province of Reims was holding a synod at Soissons, and the leaders of the winning party, the Dean and Archdeacons of Beauvais, went to announce the election and request that letters be sent to the King and the Pope on Etienne's behalf, and they petitioned Lambert of Arras, the Papal Visitor in the province to write to Pope Paschal as well. The letter to Lambert seriously misrepresented the facts in stating that the election was nearly unanimous.Delettre, II, pp. 4-5. The losing party enlisted Ivo of Chartres, who made a detailed investigation into the deeds and character of Étienne Garlande. He found that Garlande was not in holy orders, that he was illiterate and addicted to gambling, that he had a bad moral reputation, that he had been excommunicated by the Legate Hugh de Die for public incontinence (which made him ineligible for ecclesiastical office), and that his election had been intrigued at by laymen who were excommunicated. He then wrote both to the papal legates, Joannes and Benedict, and to the Pope himself.Delettre, II, p. 6. Merlet, pp. 184-186.
