In 1207, Pope Innocent III placed the kingdom of England under an Interdict as the result of actions taken by King John (1199–1215) culminating in a debate over the appointment for a successor to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Interdict would stand until 1213 when John finally accepted Innocent's choice of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Nicholas acted as Innocent's main negotiator throughout the Interdict, arriving in September 1213 in order to settle its lifting.
He attempted to mediate between John and his barons, taking up the issue of sheriffs,[10] and trying to fulfil his papal brief to calm factions.
On 1 October 1213, while Nicholas de Romanis was working to bring about the end of the Interdict, the citizens of Oxford sent him a letter asking him to resolve their problems with the scholars who had taught there.