[1094] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 16. “Hac tempestate Anselmus inscius horum morabatur in quadam villa non longe a Glocestria ubi rex infirmabatur.”
[1095] Ib. “Ingreditur ad regem, rogatur quid consilii salubrius morientis animæ judicet. Exponi sibi primo postulat, quid se absente ab assistentibus ægro consultum sit. Audit, probat, et addit, scriptum est, Incipite Domino in confessione.” He goes on at somewhat further length on the duty of confession. There is something striking in the kind of professional air with which the duty is undertaken. The spiritual physician, called in from a distance, approves the treatment of the local practitioners, just as a physician of the body might do.
[1096] Ib. “Spondet in hoc fidem suam, et vades inter se et Deum facit episcopos suos, mittens, qui hoc votum suum Deo super altare sua vice promittant.”
[1097] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 16. “Scribitur edictum, regioque sigillo firmatur, quatenus captivi quicunque sunt in omni dominatione sua relaxentur, omnia debita irrevocabiliter remittantur, omnes offensiones antehac perpetratæ, indulta remissione, perpetuæ oblivioni tradantur.” More general provisions followed; “Promittuntur insuper omni populo bonæ et sanctæ leges, inviolabilis observatio juris, injuriarum gravis, et quæ terreat cæteros, examinatio.” We may specially regret that we have not the English text of this momentary Great Charter. Its language seems to assume, like the charter of Henry (see above, pp. 344, 392), that suits brought in the King’s name would be unjust, and that his claims for debts would be unjust also.
[1098] Ib. “Gaudetur a cunctis, benedicitur Deus in istis, obnixe oratur pro salute talis ac tanti regis.” This is the real language of the moment, which is weakened by William of Malmesbury, Gest. Pont. 80; “Plausu exceptum est verbum, ibatque clamor cælo bona et salutem regi optantium.”
[1099] So says the Chronicle; “to manegan mynstren land geuðe.”
[1100] There is something odd in the way in which the Chronicler and Florence couple the two prelates now appointed; “And þæt arcebiscoprice on Cantwarbyrig, þe ær on his agenre hand stód. Anselme betæhte, se wæs ær abbot on Bæc, and Rodbeard his cancelere þæt biscoprice on Lincolne.” That is to say, they cut the whole story short; or more truly they tell it on the same scale on which they tell other things, while we are used to Eadmer’s minute narrative of all that concerns Anselm.
[1102] See Appendix Z.
[1103] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 16. They exhort the King to appoint. He consents willingly; “Sed cunctis ad nutum regis pendentibus, prænunciavit ipse et concordi voce subsequitur acclamatio omnium, abbatem Anselmum tali honore dignissimum.”
[1104] I think we may for a moment turn from the oratio obliqua of Eadmer to the vivid little picture in William of Malmesbury; “Ille cubito sese attollens, ‘Hunc,’ ait, ‘sanctum virum Anselmum eligo,’ ingenti subsecuto fragore faventium.” One is reminded of the death-bed of Eadward, as drawn in the Tapestry. See N. C. vol. iii. p. 13, note.
[1105] Eadmer, u. s. “Cum raperetur ad regem, ut per virgam pastoralem investituram archiepiscopatus de manu ejus susciperet, toto conamine restitit, idque multis obsistentibus causis nullatenus fieri posse asseruit.”
[1106] “Accipiunt eum episcopi, et ducunt seorsum de multitudine.”
[1107] “Per tyrannidem istius hominis.”
[1108] “In Deo pro nobis intende, et nos secularia tua disponemus pro te.”
[1109] “Abbas sum monasterii regni alterius.” “Regnum” of course means Normandy, an inaccurate phrase, but one that we have had already (see above, p. 25).
[1110] “Nihil est omnino, non erit quod intenditis.”
[1111] “Rapiunt hominem ad regem ægrotum, et pervicaciam ejus exponunt.”
[1112] “Contristatus est rex, pene ad suffusionem oculorum, et dixit ad eum, ‘O Anselme quid agis? Cur me pœnis æternis cruciandum tradis?’” He adds presently, “Certus sum enim quod peribo, si archiepiscopatum in meo dominio tenens, vitam finiero.”
[1113] “Regem turbas, turbatum penitus necas, quandoquidem illum jam morientem obstinacia tua exacerbare non formidas.”
[1114] Of Baldwin we often hear again; he seems to have been Anselm’s chief helper at Bec in temporal matters.
[1116] “Virgam huc pastoralem, virgam, clamitant, pastoralem. Et arrepto brachio ejus dextro, alii renitentem trahere, alii impellere, lectoque jacentis cœperunt applicare.”
[1117] I am but translating Eadmer; “Indice levato, sed protinus ab eo reflexo, clausæ manui ejus baculus appositus est, et episcoporum manibus cum eadem manu compressus atque retentus.”
[1118] “Acclamante autem multitudine, ‘Vivat episcopus, vivat;’ episcopi cum clero sublimi voce hymnum Te Deum laudamus decantare cœpere.”
[1119] “Electum portaverunt pontificem potius quam duxerunt in vicinam ecclesiam.” On the works of Serlo, see N. C. vol. iv. p. 384.
[1120] “Ipso modis, quibus poterat, resistente, atque dicente, nihil est quod facitis, nihil est quod facitis.”
[1121] This is Anselm’s own comparison in his letter to the monks of Bec, Ep. iii. 1; “Quando me episcopi et abbates aliique primates ad ecclesiam trahentes reclamantem et contradicentem rapuerunt, ita ut dubium videri posset utrum sanum insani, an insanum traherent sani; nisi quia illi canebant et ego magis mortuo quam viventi colore similis stupore et dolore pallebam.” Presently he says; “Huic autem de me electioni, imo violentiæ, hactenus quantum potui, servata veritate, reluctatus sum.” The last word may be taken in its original physical sense.
[1122] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 18. “Gestis vero quæ in tali causa geri in ecclesia mos est, revertitur Anselmus ad regem.”
[1123] “Dico tibi, domine rex, quia ex hac tua infirmitate non morieris, ac pro hoc volo noveris quam bene corrigere poteris quod de me nunc actum est, quia nec concessi nec concedo ut ratum sit.”
[1124] The change of place is clearly marked in Eadmer. “Deducentibus eum episcopis, cum tota regni nobilitate, cubiculo excessit, conversusque ad eos, in hæc verba sciscitatus est.” The parable which follows is placed earlier by William of Malmesbury; but this is surely the right place.
[1125] 1 Cor. iii. 9.
[1126] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 18. “Hoc aratrum in Anglia duo boves cæteris precellentes regendo trahunt et trahendo regunt. Rex videlicet, et archiepiscopus Cantuariensis. Iste seculari justitia et imperio, ille divina doctrina et magisterio.” This must mean during the late reign.
[1127] “Horum boum unus, scilicet Lanfrancus archiepiscopus, mortuus est; et alius ferocitatem indomabilis tauri obtinens jam juvenis aratro prælatus, et vos loco mortui bovis, me vetulam ac debilem ovem cum indomito tauro conjungere vultis.”
[1128] “Indomabilis utique feritas tauri sic ovem lanæ et lactis et agnorum fertilem per spinas et tribulos hac et illac raptam, si jugo se non excusserit, dilacerabit.” So a little after; “Me, de quo lanam et lac verbi Dei, et agnos in servitium ejus, nonnulli possent habere.” The metaphor becomes passing strange when it is thus worked out in detail.
[1129] “Ad hospitium suum, dimissa curia, vadit.”
[1130] “Præcepit itaque rex, ut, sine dilatione ac diminutione, investiretur de omnibus ad archiepiscopatum pertinentibus intus et extra.” Eadmer goes on to speak about the city of Canterbury, the abbey of Saint Alban’s, and other things of which we shall have to speak again. But he can only mean that orders were given which were not immediately carried out; for the actual investiture was, as we shall see, delayed for some months.
[1131] Ep. iii. 3. “Ipsius namque inenarrabili potentia operante, dedit dominus noster rex Anglorum, consilio et rogatu principum suorum, cleri quoque et populi petitione et electione, domino abbati Anselmo Cantuariensis ecclesiæ gubernationem.” So says Anselm himself in his letter to Archbishop Hugh of Lyons, Ep. iii. 24; “Subdidi me dolens præcepto archiepiscopi mei et electioni totius Angliæ.”
[1132] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 591, 593.
[1133] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 19.
[1134] See Appendix Y.
[1135] Ep. iii. 8. “Reverendo domino nostro principe Northmannorum Roberto concedente; et archiepiscopo nostro Guillelmo præcipiente, et vobis a Deo coactis, faventibus, a vestra cura sum absolutus, et majori involutus.” Both Anselm and the King wrote letters; Eadmer, 19, 20.
[1136] See the letter of the monks, Epp. iii. 6.
[1137] This seems implied in Anselm’s presence at Winchester at Easter, which is recorded in the Life, ii. 1. 3. But his presence there is mentioned only to bring in a kind of miracle, in which Anselm, Gundulf, and the monk Baldwin all figure.
[1138] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. i. 19. “Siquidem omne malum quod rex fecerat, priusquam fuerat infirmatus, bonum visu est, comparatione malorum quæ fecit ubi est sanitati redonatus,”
[1139] “Ipse prædicto Roffensi episcopo, cum illum, recuperata sanitate, familiari affatu moneret ut se amplius circumspecte secundum Deum in omnibus haberet respondit.” (See above, p. 165.)
[1140] The Chronicler says generally; “Ac þæt he syððan ætbræd, þa him gebotad wæs, and ealle þa gode laga forlǽt, þe he us ær behét.” We get the details from Eadmer; “Mox igitur cuncta quæ infirmus statuerat bona, dissolvit et irrita esse præcepit. Captivi nempe, qui nondum fuerant dimissi, jussit ut artius solito custodirentur, dimissi, si capi possent, recluderentur; antiqua jamque donata debita in integrum exigerentur; placita et offensiones in pristinum statum revocarentur, illorumque judicio, qui justitiam subvertere magis quam tueri defendereve curabant, tractarentur et examinarentur.”
[1141] Florence notices the death of Rhys ap Twdwr in the Easter week, of which I shall have much to say in the next chapter.
[1145] This action of William of Eu is marked by Florence at the end of the year, but without saying at what time of the year it happened; “Eodem anno Willelmus comes de Owe, auri ingenti victus aviditate et promissi honoris captus magnitudine, a naturali domino suo Rotberto Normannorum comite, cui fidelitatem juraverat, defecit et in Angliam ad regem Willelmum veniens, illius se dominio, ut seductor maximus, subjugavit.”
[1146] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 538, 684.
[1147] Anna Comnena tells us this, vii. 6. Robert, on his return from Jerusalem (ὁ Φλάνδρας κόμης ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπανερχόμενος), does homage to the Emperor (τὸν συνήθη τοῖς Λατίνοις ἀποδίδωσιν ὅρκον) and promises five hundred knights (ἱππεῖς). In viii. 7 we find that he had fulfilled his promise, and that they are ἱππεῖς ἔκκριτοι. In viii. 3 they figure as Κελτοί. Cf. Will. Malms. iii. 257.
[1148] We have heard of him in N. C. vol. v. pp. 181, 850, and we shall come across him again.
[1149] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 20. “Jam cum virga pastorali curam quam super Beccum abbas susceperat, pro descripta superius absolutione, ipse Becco restituerat.”
[1150] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 327, 328.
[1151] This seems to be the distinction drawn by Anselm, Hist. Nov. 19, 20; “Volo ut omnes terras quas ecclesia Cantuariensis, ad quam regendam electus sum, tempore beatæ memoriæ Lanfranci archiepiscopi tenebat, sine omni placito et controversia ipsi ecclesiæ restituas, et de aliis terris quas eadem ecclesia ante suum tempus habebat, sed perditas nondum recuperavit, mihi rectitudinem judiciumque consentias.” About anything which Lanfranc had actually held there could, it is assumed, be no question, either of law or of fact; about earlier claims there might easily be either.
[1152] Ib. 20. “Sicut ego te volo terrenum habere dominum et defensorem, ita et tu me spiritualem habeas patrem et animæ tuæ provisorem.” To this day it is held that, wherever the King may be, the Archbishop of Canterbury is his parish priest.
[1153] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 436.
[1154] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 435.
[1155] Ib. p. 436, note.
[1156] Ib. The language of Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 25, is nearly to the same effect; “Erant quippe (illo tempore) duo, ut in Anglia ferebatur, qui dicebantur Romani pontifices a se invicem discordantes, et ecclesiam Dei inter se divisam post se trahentes.”
[1157] There is a most important passage of William of Malmesbury in his first draught of the Gesta Pontificum (p. 86, note) which he afterwards, as in so many other cases, found it expedient to tone down. As he wrote it, it stood thus;
“Erant his diebus duo competitores Romani præsulatus, summi ambo et prestantes viri. Uterque causam verisimilibus rationibus fulciebat, Urbanus electione cardinalium, Guibertus electione imperatoris Theutonum, cujus esset Roma et Italia. Neuter ergo pro persona sua cedebat. Guiberto necessitatem subjectionis ministrabat terrarum tractus qui sub imperio illius jacet; Urbano favebat omnis Gallia et Normannia, et cetera usque ad oceanum Brittannicum. Incertum cui faveret Divinitas, nisi quod Urbani fama prosperius crementum sumebat. Consensu dubio fluctuabat Anglia, in Guibertum tamen inclinatior propter metum regis.”
[1159] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 25. “Urbano jamdudum pro vicario beati Petri ab Italia Galliaque recepto; Anselmus etiam, utpote abbas de Normannia, eum pro papa receperat, et, sicut vir nominatissimus, necnon authoritate plenus ejus literas susceperat, eique velut summo sanctæ ecclesiæ pastori suas direxerat.”
[1160] Ib. 20. “De Romano quoque pontifice Urbano, quem pro apostolico hucusque non recepisti, et ego jam recepi atque recipio, eique debitam obedientiam et subjectionem exhibere volo, cautum te facio ne quod scandalum inde oriatur in futuro.”
[1161] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 25. “Terras de quibus ecclesia saisita quidem fuerat sub Lanfranco omnes eo, quo tunc erant, tibi modo restituam, sed de illis quas sub ipso non habebat, in præsenti nullam tecum conventionem instituo. Veruntamen de his et aliis credam tibi sicut debebo.”
[1162] Eadmer, Nov. Hist. 25. “Quatenus et secundum totius regni de eo factam electionem pontifex fieri ultra non negaret.” Here are the same kind of expressions with regard to Anselm’s election of which we have already spoken in p. 405.
[1163] Ib. “Et terras ecclesiæ quas ipse rex, defuncto Lanfranco, suis dederat pro statuto servitio, illis ipsis hæreditario jure tenendas, causa sui amoris, condonaret.”
[1164] Ib. “Nolens ecclesiam, quam necdum re aliqua investierat, exspoliare.”
[1165] This letter (Ep. iii. 24) is a most important exposition of Anselm’s own views on the whole matter of the election and what followed it.
[1166] Ep. iii. 24. “Sub occasione cujusdam voluntariæ justitiæ, secundum quam de terris eisdem me vult placitare.”
[1167] Ib. “Hæc autem est illa quam dixi voluntaria justitia. Quoniam terras easdem, antequam Northmanni Angliam invaderent, milites Angli ab archiepiscopo Cantuariæ tenuisse dicuntur, et mortui sunt sine hæredibus, vult asserere se posse juste quos vult eorum hæredes constituere.”
[1168] See the instances collected in N. C. vol. v. Appendix G. The lands moreover would be yet harder to get back when they had been granted away on the new military tenures.
[1169] Ep. iii. 24. “Si quis enim alius, ad quem ecclesiæ custodia non pertineret, hanc faceret ei violentiam, aut factam patienter sustineret, palam esset quia in futuro nihil dici posset cur res ecclesiæ ad eam redire non deberent.”
[1170] Ib. “Nunc autem cum et ipse rex advocatus ejus sit, et ego custos, quid dicetur in futuro nisi, quia rex fecit et archiepiscopus sustinendo confirmavit, ratum esse debet?”
[1171] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 194; vol. v. p. 101.
[1172] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 20. “Unde Anselmus oppido lætatus est, sperans se hac occasione, a prælationis onere, per Dei gratiam, exonerandum.” And directly after; “Eo quod terras ecclesiæ injuria dare nolebat, episcopalis officii onus sese lætus evasisse videbat.”
[1173] Ib. “Cum decursu non exiguo tempore, clamorem omnium, de ecclesiarum destructione conquerentium.”
[1174] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 20. “Multis bonis et ecclesiæ Dei profuturis promissionibus illectus [Anselmus].”
[1175] Ib. “More et exemplo prædecessoris sui inductus, pro usu terræ, homo regis factus est, et, sicut Lanfrancus suo tempore fuerat, de toto archiepiscopatu saisiri jussus est.” Does not Eadmer, writing by later lights from Rome, feel scruples which Anselm did not feel at the time?
[1176] When one thinks of this, one is less surprised at the astounding language of the Council in Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 53. Yet, after all, Henry the Fourth was not Rufus.
[1177] We have the writ in the Fœdera, i. 5. It grants “omnes libertates in terra et mari super suos homines, infra burgos et extra, et super tot theines quot ecclesiæ Christi concessit Edwardus rex, cognatus meus.” This mention of the thegns, and the King’s request about the grants, and the words of Anselm to the Archbishop of Lyons, all hang together.
[1178] Ib. “Nolo pati ut aliquis hominum se intromittat de omnibus rebus quæ ad eos pertinent, nisi ipsi et ministri eorum quibus ipsi committere voluerint, nec Francus nec Anglus.”
[1179] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 18 (see above, p. 403). “At civitas Cantuaria quam Lanfrancus suo tempore in beneficio a rege tenebat, et abbatia sancti Albani quam non solum Lanfrancus sed et antecessores ejus habuisse noscuntur, in alodium ecclesiæ Christi Cantuariensis, pro redemptione animæ suæ, perpetuo jure, transirent.”
[1180] They were old friends. The Gesta Abbatum (i. 61) go on to say; “Rex Willelmus secundus archiepiscopatum, quem diu in manu sua tenuit, immisericors depauperavit. Abbas autem Paulus Anselmum egentem juvit et consolabatur. Unde, inthronizatus, in multis beneficia potiora gratus abbati recompensavit, et quod imperfectum erat in ædificiis ecclesiæ sancti Albani juvit postea consummare.”
[1181] Ib. i. 65. “Nemora complanando, hominibus beati Albani pecuniam, causis cavillatoriis adinventis, extorquendo.” Rufus is described as “nullius, præcipue mortui, verus amicus.”
[1182] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 20. “Indignationi hoc quoque non parum doloris adjiciebat, quod negotium unde agebatur ad jura ecclesiæ pertinebat, nec in aliquo regalis judicii definitionem respiciebat.”
[1183] Ib. “A rege missus quidam nomine Ranulphus, regiæ voluntatis maximus executor, qui, spreta consideratione pietatis ac modestiæ, placitum contra eum ipsa die instituit, et ferus ac tumens, tantum ecclesiæ gaudium conturbare non timuit.” Directly after; “ut nec primum quidem suæ dignitatis diem permitteretur in pace transigere.”
[1184] Ib. “Ex præsentibus futura conjecit, et quia multas in pontificatu angustias foret passurus, intellexit atque prædixit.”
[1185] The consecration of Anselm and the death of Malcolm are oddly joined together in the new Canterbury Chronicle published by Liebermann, (p. 4); “1094. On ðison geare me bletsede Anselm to biscope ii. ñ. Decemb.; and on ðison geare me scloch Malculm cing.”
[1186] T. Stubbs, X Scriptt. 1707. He adds emphatically, “Hæc interim fecit Thomas archiepiscopus, nec quisquam episcoporum erat qui hæc in sua ipsius diœcesi præsente archiepiscopo præsumeret.”
[1187] Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 21) describes the consecrators as “Thomas archiepiscopus Eboracensis et omnes episcopi Angliæ,” except the two who sent excuses. But Dr. Stubbs does not seem to reckon the Bishop of Durham among the number.
[1188] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 417.
[1189] The foundations had just been laid, as we shall see in the next chapter.
[1190] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 340.
[1191] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 21. “Cum ante ordinandi pontificis examinationem Walchelinus Wentanus episcopus, rogatu Mauricii episcopi Lundoniensis cujus hoc officium est, ecclesiastico more electionem scriptam legeret.” This is, I suppose, as Dean of the Province, an office still held by the Bishops of London, and by virtue of which they do several of the things which Thomas Stubbs claims for his own metropolitan.
[1192] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 21. Walkelin reads the writing till he comes to the words which set forth how “hæc Dorobernensis ecclesia totius Britanniæ metropolitana suo sit viduata pastore.” Then Thomas “subintulit, dicens totius Britanniæ metropolitana? Si totius Britanniæ metropolitana, ecclesia Eboracensis quæ metropolitana esse scitur, metropolitana non est. Et quidem ecclesiam Cantuariensem primatem totius Britanniæ esse scimus, non metropolitanam.”
[1193] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 21. “Quod auditum ratione submixum esse, quod dicebat intellectum est.”
[1194] Ib. “Tunc statim scriptura ipsa mutata est, et pro totius Britanniæ metropolitana, totius Britanniæ primas scriptum est, et omnis controversia conquievit. Itaque sacravit eum ut totius Britanniæ primatem.”
The Yorkist version, as given by T. Stubbs (X Scriptt. 1707), is of course quite different. Thomas is there attended by several members of his church, Hugh the Dean and others. This might almost imply the absence of his one suffragan. The words objected to are in this version “Primas totius Britanniæ.” As soon as they are heard, Thomas and his companions go out and take off their robes. Anselm and Walkelin follow them; they fall at the feet of Thomas, and ask for his forgiveness (“pedibus archiepiscopi affusi humiliter deprecati sunt, ne moleste acciperet”). Thomas stands firm. “Cum duo tantum, inquit, sint metropolitæ in Britannia, alter super alterum esse non potest.” He might have erred in his youth by admitting the claims of Canterbury; he would at least not err in the like sort again. He would consecrate no man as primate. Anselm and Walkelin submit; the word “primate” is struck out, and Anselm is consecrated as “metropolitan.”
It will be seen that in this version the place of the two titles, “primate” and “metropolitan,” is simply turned round. We can have no doubt as to preferring the contemporary account; but it is well to see how matters looked at York several centuries later.
[1195] There is no mention of this in Eadmer’s account of the consecration; but such seems to be the meaning of Anselm himself in a letter to Walter, Bishop of Albano, which I shall have to quote again (Epp. iii. 36). He there says, “Sub professione obedientiæ Romani pontificis me consecrarunt.” This is an answer to a charge of being schismatically consecrated while the kingdom was not under the obedience of Urban.
[1198] T. Stubbs, X Scriptt. 1707. “Non prohibebat quin eum Dorkacestrensem ordinaret episcopum, sicut et antecessores sui fuerant; verum Lyndecoldinum oppidum, et magnam partem provinciæ Lyndisiæ dicebat fuisse, et jure esse debere, parochiam Eboracensis ecclesiæ, et injuria illi ereptam esse.”
[1199] Eadmer does not mention the place; but it appears from the Chronicle that it was at the usual place, namely Gloucester.
[1200] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 21. “Consummato ordinationis suæ die octavo, Cantuariam egrediens, ad curiam regis pro imminente nativitate Domini vadit. Quo perveniens, hilariter a rege totaque regni nobilitate suscipitur.”
[1201] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 69, 260.
[1202] Again it is from the Chronicler that we get the most formal statement of the words of the challenge. They would doubtless be uttered in French; but we may believe that we have an authorized English version; “Him þider fram his broðer Rodbearde of Normandig bodan coman, þa cyddon þæt his broðer grið and forewarde eall æftercwæð, butan se cyng gelæstan wolde eall þet hi on forewarde hæfdon ær gewroht, and uppon þæt hine forsworenne, and trywleasne clypode, buton he þa forewarda geheolde, oððe þider ferde, and hine þær betealde þær seo forewarde ǽr wæs gewroht and eac gesworen.”
[1203] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 21. “Adeo ut nonnullas etiam difficultates pateretur, quas regiam pati excellentiam indecens videbatur.”
[1204] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 300.
[1205] Eadmer, u. s. “Siquidem hunc ipse rex morem erga cunctos quibus dominatur habebat, ut quum quis eorum aliquid ei pecuniarum, etiam solius gratiæ obtentu, offerebat, oblatum, nisi quantitas rei voto illius concurreret, sperneret. Nec offerentem in suam ulterius amicitiam admittebat, si ad determinationem suam oblatum munus non augeret.”
[1206] He does it only “suasus ab amicis suis.”
[1207] Anselm himself gives this motive in his letter to Archbishop Hugh (Ep. iii. 24); “Gratias Deo, quo miserante simplicitatem cordis mei hoc factum est, ne, si nihil aut parum promisissem, justam videretur habere causam irascendi; aut si accepisset, verteretur mihi in gravamen, et in suspicionem nefandæ emptionis.”
[1208] Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 21) gives these motives at length.
[1209] Ib. “Rex tali oblatione audita, bene rem quidem laudando respondit.”
[1210] These are the arguments which Eadmer puts into the mouths of the King’s advisers; “Quidam malignæ mentis homines regem, ut fieri solet, ad hoc perduxerunt quatenus oblatam pecuniam spernendo recipere non adquiesceret.”
[1211] Eadmer here quotes a psalm; “Mentita est iniquitas sibi.” Ps. xxvii. 12.
[1212] Ib. “Mandatur illi regem oblatam pecuniam refutare, et miratus est.”
[1213] Ib. 22. “Amica nempe libertate me et omnia mea ad utilitatem tuam habere poteris, servili autem conditione nec me nec mea habebis.”
[1214] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 441.
[1215] Eadmer, u. s. “Iratus rex, Sint, inquit, cum jurgio tua tibi, sufficient mea mihi. Vade.”
[1216] The story is told by Eadmer, 22. The objection of Maurice takes this shape; “Dicebat ipsam ecclesiam in sua parochia esse, et ob hoc, licet in terra archiepiscopi fuerit, dedicationem illius ad se pertinere.” The right of the Archbishop seems to have rested on good ancient precedent; but there is something odd in Eadmer’s way of stating the controversy. The presumption was surely in favour of the diocesan bishop.
[1217] The letter of Anselm to Wulfstan appears among the Epistles (iii. 19). Wulfstan’s answer is given in the text of the Historia Novorum. Anselm speaks of the action of the earlier archbishops in this matter; “Quod etiam sanctus Dunstanus et alii prædecessores mei fecisse probantur, ipsis ecclesiis quas dedicaverunt adhuc stantibus.” This is a little touch from a time when the churches of Dunstan’s day were being largely rebuilt, that of Harrow most likely among them. Wulfstan is well described by Eadmer; “Supererat adhuc beatæ memoriæ Wolstanus episcopus unus et solus de antiquis Anglorum patribus, vir in omni religione conspicuus, et antiquarum Angliæ consuetudinum scientia apprime eruditus.” There is something very remarkable in the way in which Wulfstan speaks of the archbishop to whom he made his first profession (see N. C. vol. ii. pp. 473, 655); “Extant quippe et in nostra diœcesi altaria, et quædam etiam ecclesiæ in hiis scilicet villis quas Stigandus vestræ excellentiæ prædecessor, haut tamen jure ecclesiasticæ hæreditatis sed ex dono possederat sæcularis potestatis, ab ipso dedicata.” Wulfstan, speaking his own words in his own letter, speaks of Stigand in quite another tone from that which he had used in the profession which was put into his mouth by Lanfranc (see N. C. vol. ii. p. 655). The places referred to are in Gloucestershire, and will be found in Domesday, 164 b. Most of the lands had passed to the Archbishop of York; some of them first to William Fitz-Osbern, and then to the King. It would seem then that, in whatever character Stigand held them, it was not as Archbishop of Canterbury. Wulfstan’s witness therefore goes so far as to give the archbishop the right to oust the diocesan bishop, not only on the lands of the archbishopric, but on any lands which he may hold as a private man.
[1218] There is something amusing in the tone of glee in which Eadmer records his patron’s triumph; “Secure deinceps suorum morem antecessorum emulabatur, non solum ecclesias, inconsultis episcopis, sacrans, sed et quæque divina officia in cunctis terris suis per se suosve dispensans.”
[1219] Eadmer, 22. “Ex præcepto regis, omnes fere episcopi una cum principibus Angliæ ad Hastinges convenerunt, ipsum regem in Normanniam transfretaturum sua benedictione et concursu prosecuti.”
[1220] The Chronicler seems distinctly to mark the ecclesiastical business which we have now come to as casually filling up the time lost by the bad weather. The whole entry runs; “Ða ferde se cyng to Hæstingan to þam Candelmæssan, and onmang þam þe he þær wederes abad he let halgian þæt mynster æt þære Bataille. And Herbearde Losange þam bishop of Theotfordan his stæf bename and þæræfter to midlengtene ofer sæ for into Normandige.” We shall take these things in order.
[1221] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 404.
[1222] Ib. 401.
[1223] In the Battle Chronicle (40) the consecration is naturally an event of great importance. But here too the presence of the King and so great a company is accounted for by their presence in the neighbourhood or other grounds; “Cumque jam operis fabricæ peroptata advenisset perfectio, rege quibusdam causis obortis eandem provinciam cum multis optimatibus forte adeunte, ex instinctu ejusdem abbatis, paterni memor edicti, eandem dedicari basilicam decrevit.”
[1224] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 405.
[1225] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 453.
[1226] He was consecrated the year before; the date of his death seems not to be known. See Bessin, 531.
[1227] See above, p. 321.
[1228] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 411.
[1229] See above, p. 29.
[1230] See Appendix Z.
[1231] So says T. Stubbs, X Scriptt. 1708. “Rex Willelmus quamdam concordiam, vel potius dispensationem, fecit inter illos, Thoma quidem archiepiscopo invito et renitente et coacto nec consentiente, sed inconsulto Eboracensi capitulo.”
[1232] Eadmer, 23. “Quidam de episcopis atque principibus conati sunt contra Anselmum scandalum movere, intendentes ad hoc ut eundem episcopum absolute absque debita professione consecraret. Quod nullo jure fulti, ea solummodo re sunt aggressi, quia putabant se animo regis aliquid ex conturbatione Anselmi, unde lætaretur inferre, scientes eum pro suprascripta caussa adversum ipsum non parum esse turbatum.”
[1233] Eadmer, 23. “Asseruit se nullo pacto consensurum ut, pro inimicitia quam contra archiepiscopum habebat, matri suæ ecclesiæ Cantuariensi de sua dignitate quid quivis detraherat.”
[1234] See Appendix Z.
[1235] On the history and character of Robert Bloet, see Appendix Z.
[1237] See above, p. 355, and Appendix X.
[1238] This deprivation of Herbert by the King—most likely with the consent of somebody, but we are not told—is quite as contrary to strict ecclesiastical notions as the deprivation of Stigand by the English people. The Parliaments of Elizabeth, William and Mary, George the First, followed that precedent. I will not speak of the reign of Edward the Sixth, as that was a time of “unlaw” nearly equal to the days of Rufus himself.
[1239] See Appendix X.
[1240] Here we come personally across the class of offenders of whom we have before spoken generally (see above, p. 158, and Appendix G). Eadmer draws their picture; “Eo tempore curialis juventus ferme tota crines suos juvencularum more nutriebat, et quotidie pexa, ac irreligiosis nutibus circumspectans, delicatis vestigiis, tenero incessu, obambulare solita erat. De quibus cum in capite jejunii sermonem in populo ad missam suam et ad cineres confluente idem pater habuisset, copiosam turbam ex illis in pœnitentiam egit, et attonsis crinibus, in virilem formam redegit.”
[1241] See Appendix G.
[1242] This is pointed out by Eadmer. “Die quadam ad eum ex more ivit, et juxta illum sedens eum his verbis alloqui cœpit.” We shall come to other instances of this custom of the Archbishop sitting down beside the King.
[1243] “Obsecro primum, fer opem et consilium qualiter in hoc regno tuo Christianitas, quæ jam fere tota in multis periit, in statum suum redigi possit. Respondit, ‘Quam opem, quod consilium?’”
[1244] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 437.
[1245] Anselm is made to say; “Generale concilium episcoporum ex quo tu rex factus fuisti non fuit in Anglia celebratum, nec retroactis pluribus annis.” Yet Lanfranc had held many synods, and one notable one as late as 1085. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 687.
[1246] He passes by the smaller matters—“ut illicita consanguineorum connubia et alia multa rerum detestandarum facinorosa negotia taceam”—and goes straight to the sin of the reign, “noviter in hac terra divulgatum,” which “jam plurimum pullulavit multosque sua immanitate fœdavit.” See Appendix G.
[1247] “Conemur una, quæso, tu regia potestate et ego pontificali auctoritate, quantus tale quid inde statuatur, quod cum per totum fuerit regnum divulgatum, solo etiam auditu quicunque illius fautor est paveat et deprimatur.” What would have been the nature of the punishment? Something more, one would think, than an ecclesiastical censure, as it was to be a decree of the King. Anselm had no objection to very severe punishments on occasion (see N. C. vol. v. p. 159; cf. vol. iv. p. 621). But when he was able to legislate on this subject (see N. C. vol. v. p. 223), it was in an ecclesiastical synod, and the penalties are milder.
[1248] “Non sederunt hæc animo principis, et paucis ita respondit, ‘Et in hac re quid fieret pro te?’ ‘Si non,’ inquit Anselmus, ‘pro me, spero fieret pro Deo et te.’” I suppose the meaning is something like what I have given. Again one longs for the actual words in their own tongue.
[1249] “Ne in destructione monasteriorum et perditione monachorum tibi, quod absit, damnationem adquiras.”
[1250] “Quid ad te? Numquid sunt abbatiæ meæ? Hem, tu quod vis agis de villis tuis, et ego non agam quod volo de abbatiis meis?”
[1251] “Tuæ quidem sunt ut illas quasi advocatus defendas atque custodias, non tuæ autem ut invadas aut devastes. Dei scimus eas esse, ut sui ministri inde vivant, non quo expeditiones et bella tua inde fiant.”
[1252] “Intellexit ergo Anselmus se verba in ventum proferre, et surgens abiit.”
[1253] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 687.
[1254] “Considerans offenso principis animo nequaquam posse pacem rebus dari.”