[1255] “Deprecatus est ut in amicitiam sui sese gratis admitteret. Quod si, ait, facere nonvult, cur nolit edicat, et si offendi, satisfacere paratus sum.”
[1256] “De nulla re illum inculpo, nec tamen ei gratiam meam, quia non audio quare, indulgere volo.” The words which I have put in Italics in the two speeches must be taken together.
[1257] “Mysterium hoc, inquiunt, planum est.”
[1258] “Tantundem pecuniæ quam ab hominibus tuis accipies illi promitte.”
[1259] “Aliam qua exeas viam non videmus, nec nos, pari angustia clausi, aliam exeundi habemus.”
[1260] “Et ego cum hucusque nihil eis unde revestiri possint contulerim, jam eos nudos spoliarem, immo spoliatos excoriarem.”
[1261] “Eat quo vult, nec me transfretaturum pro danda benedictione diutius exspectet.”
[1262] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “Syððan he þider com, he and his broðer Rodbeard se eorl gecwæðan, þæt hi mid griðe togædere cuman sceoldan, and swa dydon, and gesemede beon ne mihtan.” So Florence; “Rex … ad fratris colloquium sub statuta pace venit, sed impacatus ab eo recessit.”
[1263] See N. C. vol. i. p. 435.
[1264] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “Syððan eft hi togædere coman mid þam ilcan mannan þe ær þæt loc makedon, and eac þa aðas sworen, and ealne þone bryce uppon þone cyng tealdon.” The version preserved in one manuscript of Florence says, “denuo in campo Martio convenere.” Can this be the “Champ de Mars” just outside Rouen? I had fancied that the name was modern.
[1265] Ib. “Ac he nolde þæs geþafa beon, ne eac þa forewarde healdan.”
[1266] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “And forþam hi þa mid mycelon unsehte tocyrdon.”
[1267] The mention of the places comes from Florence; “Comes quidem Rotomagum perrexit; rex ad Owe rediit et in illo resedit.”
[1268] Flor. Wig. 1094. “Solidarios undique conduxit, aurum, argentum, terras, quibusdam primatum Normanniæ dedit, quibusdam promisit, ut a germano suo Rotberto deficerent, et se cum castellis suæ ditioni subjicerent: quibus ad velle suum paratis, per castella, vel quæ prius habuerat vel quæ nunc conduxerat, suos milites distribuit.”
[1269] The “castel æt Hulme” of the Chronicler is the castle of Hulmus, Le Homme, or L’Isle Marie. See Stapleton, ii. xxv, xxviii. It must not be confounded with the “pagus Holmensis” or “Holmetia regio” in the Hiesmois. See Stapleton, ii. xc, xcv, and Ord. Vit. 691 C.
[1270] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 488. See above, p. 57.
[1271] Ib. vol. iv. pp. 200, 201.
[1272] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “And se cyng syððan þone castel æt Bures gewann; and þes eorles men þærinne genam; þa sume hyder to lande sende.” Florence adds, “partim in Normannia custodiæ mancipavit; et fratrem suum multis modis vexans, exhæredare laboravit.”
[1273] The Chronicler casually mentions Philip’s coming when speaking of the siege of Argentan; Florence is more emphatic; “At ille, necessitate compulsus, dominum suum regem Francorum Philippum cum exercitu Normanniam adduxit.”
[1274] The Chronicler (1094) says only, “Ðær togeanes se eorl mid þes cynges fultume of France gewann þone castel æt Argentses and þearinne Rogger Peiteuin genam, and seofen hundred þes cynges cnihta mid him.” Florence adds, “ipso die obsessionis dec. milites regis, cum his totidem scutariis et castellanis omnibus qui intus erant, sine sanguinis effusione cepit [rex], captosque in custodia tamdiu detineri mandavit, donec quisque se redimeret.”
[1275] So says Florence; “Post hæc in Franciam rediit.” As however he says nothing of Philip’s coming to Longueville, he may mean his return after that.
[1276] The Chronicler says only, after the taking of Argentan, “and syððan þone [castel] æt Hulme.” Florence makes it the special exploit of Robert; “Comes vero Rotbertus castellum quod Holm nuncupatur obsedit, donec Willelmus Peverel et dccc. homines, qui id defendebant, illi se dederent.”
[1277] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “And oftrædlice heora ægðer uppon oðerne tunas bærnde, and eac men læhte.”
[1278] Flor. Wig. 1094. “Interea gravi et assiduo tributo hominumque mortalitate, præsenti et anno sequenti, tota vexabatur Anglia.”
[1279] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “Ða sende se cyng hider to lande, and hét abeodan út xx. þusenda Engliscra manna [‘xx. millia pedonum’ in Florence] him to fultume to Normandig.”
[1280] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “Ac þa hi to sæ coman, þa het hi man cyrran, and þæt feoh to þæs cynges behófe þe hi genumen hæfdon; þet wæs ælc man healf punda, and hi swa dydon.” Florence tells us the place and the doer; “Quibus ut mare transirent Heastingæ congregatis, pecuniam quæ data fuerat eis ad victum Rannulphus Passeflambardus præcepto regis abstulit, scilicet unicuique decem solidos, et eos domum repedare mandavit, pecuniam vero regi transmisit.”
[1281] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “And se eorl innon Normandig æfter þison, mid þam cynge of France and mid eallon þan þe hi gegaderian mihton, ferdon towardes Ou þær se cyng W. inne wæs, and þohtan hine inne to besittanne, and swa foran oð hi coman to Lungeuile.”
[1282] Ib. “Ðær wearð se cyng of France þurh gesmeah gecyrred, and swa syððan eal seo fyrding tóhwearf.”
[1283] Florence, as we have seen, stops with the taking of La Houlme in 1094. The Chronicler goes on to Henry’s Lenten expedition in 1095. After that, neither says anything about Norman affairs till the agreement of 1096, though both of them imply (see below, p. 555) that the war lasted till that time.
[1284] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 241.
[1285] Ord. Vit. 706 C. See Appendix P.
[1286] Ord. Vit. ib. See above, p. 217.
[1287] This is one of Orderic’s best stories (706 C, D). A false tale of its lord’s death is brought to Saint Cenery. His allies, Pagan of Montdoubleau (see above, p. 209) and Rotrou of Montfort, at once forsake the castle which they had been defending. Robert’s wife Radegund cannot get them to wait till more certain news can be had. Robert of Bellême comes just in time for dinner. “Ingressi castrum, lebetes super ignes ferventes invenerunt carnibus plenas, et mensas mappulis coopertas et escas cum pane super appositas.” He spoils and burns the castle. Robert son of Geroy is left homeless; his wife (“proba femina et honesta”) dies; his little son William, whom Robert of Bellême somehow has as a hostage, is poisoned; he then defends his new castle of Montacute against Robert of Bellême. Robert of Bellême brings Duke Robert to besiege him. Peace is made by the mediation of Geoffrey of Mayenne; Montacute is destroyed, and Saint Cenery is restored to Robert son of Geroy.
[1288] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “Her onmang þison se cyng W. sende æfter his broðer Hennrige se wæs on þam castele æt Damfront, ac forþi þe he mid friðe þurh Normandig faran ne mihte, he him sende scipon æfter, and Hugo eorl of Ceastre.”
[1289] Chron. Petrib. 1094. “Ac þa þa hi towardes Oú faran sceoldan þær se cyng wæs, hi foran to Englelande and úp coman æt Hamtune on ealra halgena mæsse æfne, and her syððon wunedon, and to X[~p]es mæssan wæron on Lunden.”
[1290] Ib. 1095. “On þisum geare wæs se cyng Willelm to X[~p]es mæssan þa feower forewarde dagas on Hwitsand; and æfter þam feorðan dæge hider to lande fór, and úpp com æt Doferan.”
[1291] Ib. “And Heanrig þes cynges broðer her on lande oð Lengten wunode, and þa ofer sæ for to Normandig mid mycclon gersuman, on þæs cynges heldan, uppon heora broðer Rodbeard eorl, and gelomlice uppon þone eorl wann, and him mycelne hearm ægðer on lande and on mannan dyde.”
[1292] Ord. Vit. 722 D. “Rodbertus mollis dux a vigore priorum decidit, et pigritia mollitieque torpuit, plus provinciales subditos timens quam ab illis timebatur.”
[1293] Ib. “Henricus frater ducis Danfrontem fortissimum castrum possidebat, et magnam partem Neustriæ sibi favore vel armis subegerat.”
[1294] Ib. “Fratri suo ad libitum suum, nec aliter, obsecundabat.” I do not see what is meant in Sigebert’s Chronicle under 1095 (Pertz, vi. 367); “Rex Anglorum a fratribus sollicitatur in Normania et Anglia.”
[1295] Ib. “Porro alius frater qui Angliæ diadema gerebat in Normannia, ut reor, plusquam xx. castra tenebat, et proceres oppidanosque potentes muneribus sibi vel terroribus illexerat…. Perplures cum omnibus sibi subditis munitionibus et oppidanis regi parebant, eique, quia metuendus erat, totis nisibus adhærebant.”
[1296] He appears in Orderic’s list, 722 D.
[1297] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 129.
[1298] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 288.
[1299] Ord. Vit. 708 C. He makes the remark just before, “In diebus illis antiqui optimates qui sub Roberto duce vel filio ejus Guillelmo rege militaverant humanæ conditionis more hominem exuerunt.”
[1300] Ord. Vit. 708 C. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 498.
[1301] See above, p. 57. We shall come across his fuller picture in a later chapter.
[1302] Ord. Vit. 718 D. He adds the epitaph of his own making.
[1303] He records his death and adds his epitaph, 809 C, D. William of Breteuil and Ralph of Conches died the same year, 1102.
[1304] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 465.
[1305] Ord. Vit. 723 A. “Sic Normannia suis in se filiis furentibus miserabiliter turbata est, et plebs inermis sine patrono desolata est.”
[1306] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 25. “Ipse quidem in Normanniam transiit, expensaque immensa pecunia eam sibi nullatenus subigere potuit. Infecto itaque negotio in Angliam reversus est.”
[1307] Will. Malms. iv. 327. “Septimo anno, propter tributa quæ rex in Normannia positus edixerat, agricultura defecit, qua fatiscente, fames e vestigio, ea quoque invalescente, mortalitas hominum subsecuta, adeo crebra ut deesset morituris cura, mortuis sepultura.” This is copied by the Margam annalist.
[1308] Flor. Wig. 1094. “Post hæc rex Willelmus iv. kal. Januarii Angliam rediit, et ut Walanos debellaret, mox exercitum in Waloniam duxit, ibique homines et equos perdidit multos.” I am not at all clear that this entry in Florence is not a confusion. The Chronicle under the same year records the return of the King, and directly after sums up the Welsh warfare of the year; but it is not implied that the King took any part in it. He could not have done so before his return from Normandy, and, to say nothing of the unlikelihood of a winter campaign in itself, the incidental notices of the King’s movements hardly leave time for one.
[1309] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 9. Eadmer writes the name Illingham, a change which might easily have happened after the pattern of Ilchester (see above, p. 63) and Islip (see N. C. vol. ii. p. 15), but the g remains in use to this day. There is something very amusing in the note of Henschenius reprinted in Migne’s edition of Eadmer and Anselm, col. 394;
“Alia plura dominia, ut Rochingeham, Ilingeham, Sæftesburia, quæ jam ante occurrerunt, et plura secutura, potuissent designato locorum situ explicari, si operæ pretium visum esset eorum causa totas Anglici regni tabulas perlustrare, et esset qui exsoleta jam nomina, ubi requirenda sint, indicaret. Poterit postea curiosior aliquis hunc defectum supplere.”
Fancy a man reading his Eadmer, and not making the faintest effort to find out where any place was. But perhaps this is better than M. Croset-Mouchet, who always turns the Bishop of Exeter into a Bishop of Oxford (cf. N. C. vol. iv. p. 779), and who has a place Srewsbury, which does duty alike for the earldom of Shrewsbury and for the bishopric of Salisbury.
[1310] So say the Margam Annals, 1095; “Commotio fuit stellarum, et obiit Wlstanus Wigorniensis episcopus.” But unluckily it appears from Florence that the stars did not shoot till April 4. Still it is edifying to mark the different results of the death of a saintly and of a worldly bishop. The next entry is, “Moritur Willelmus episcopus Dunelmensis, et hic commotio hominum.” According to Hugh of Flavigny (Pertz, viii. 474) the stars paid regard to the death of an abbot who in no way concerns us; “Stellæ de cœlo cadere visæ sunt, et eadem nocte Gyraldus abbas Silvæ majoris [in the diocese of Bourdeaux] migravit ad Dominum.” Sigebert’s Chronicle (Pertz, vi. 367) has some curious physical details.
[1312] The story is told by William of Malmesbury, Vit. Wlst. Angl. Sacr. ii. 266. “Præmonuerat ministros velle se ad illud pascha convivari accuratis epulis cum bonis hominibus.” He then brings the poor people into the hall and “præcepit inter eos sedili locato epulas sibi apponi.”
[1313] The steward’s doctrine is “competentius esse, ut episcopus convivaretur cum paucis divitibus quam cum multis pauperibus.” The bishop makes his scriptural quotation, and adds, “illis debere serviri, qui non haberent unde redderent.” He then winds up, “Lætius se videre istum consessum, quam si, ut sæpe, consedisset regi Anglorum.” One would like to have Wulfstan’s English. We must remember that Wulfstan was commonly surrounded at dinner by a knightly following. Vit. Wlst. 259. “Excepto si quando cum monachis reficeretur, semper in regia considentibus militibus palam convivabatur.”
[1314] Vit. Wlst. 266. “Multo eum suspiciebat rex honore, multo proceres; ut qui sæpe ipsum ascirent convivio, et assurgerent ejus consilio.” Then follows the list of his foreign admirers, but it is only of the Irish kings that we read that “magnis eum venerabantur favoribus.” Malcolm and Margaret “ipsius se dedebant orationibus;” the foreign prelates “epistolis quæ adhuc supersunt ejus ambierunt apud Deum suffragia.”
[1316] Vit. Wlst. 267. “Humanorum excessum [had he given in a little too much to foreign ways?] confessione facta, etiam disciplinam accepit. Ita vocant monachi virgarum flagra, quæ tergo nudato cædentis infligit acrimonia.”
[1317] Serlo we have heard of before; see N. C. vol. iv. p. 383. Of Tewkesbury I shall have to speak below, and see N. C. vol. v. pp. 628, 629.
[1318] Vit. Wlst. 267. “Magis sedens quam jacens, aures psalmis, oculos altari applicabat, sedili sic composito ut libere cerneret quicquid in capella fieret.” That is, there was a squint between his bed-room and the chapel, a not uncommon arrangement, one of the best instances of which is to be seen in Beverstone Castle, in Wulfstan’s diocese, though of a date long after Godwine’s days and his. This use of the squint is only one of several ways for enabling the inmates, whether of houses, hospitals, or monastic infirmaries, to hear mass without going out of doors.
[1319] The vision is recorded by William of Malmesbury in the life of Wulfstan (268), where he says that Bishop Robert was “in curia regis,” and adds that he was “homo sæculi quidem fretus prudentia, sed nulla solutus illecebra.” Florence says that Robert was “in oppido quod Criccelad vocatur.” The inference is that the King was at Cricklade. Cricklade does not appear among the King’s lordships in Wiltshire; but both he (Domesday, 65) and other lords had burgesses there, and there is an entry in 64 b about the third penny, which brought in five pounds yearly.
In the Gesta Pontificum William of Malmesbury does not mention the vision; but he brings Bishop Robert to Worcester to bury Wulfstan without any such call. There is surely something a little heathenish in his description of the bishop’s body lying in “Libitina ante altare.”
[1320] Gest. Pont. 289. “Profecto, si facilitas antiquorum hominum adjuvaret, jamdudum elatus in altum sanctus predicaretur, sed nostrorum incredulitas, quæ se cautelæ umbraculo exornat, non vult miraculis adhibere fidem etiamsi conspicetur oculo, etiamsi palpat digito.” Yet, though he says that prayers offered at Wulfstan’s tomb were always answered, yet he says nothing about miracles being wrought there (unless we count the wonderful preservation of the tomb itself during a fire), and not much of miracles done during his lifetime. There is more in the Life.
[1321] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 25. “Quem consistentem in quadam villa quæ tribus miliariis a Sceftesberia distans Ilingeham vocatur Anselmus adiit.” See above, p. 477. By what follows this must have been some time in February.
[1323] See N. C. vol. ii. pp. 122, 462, and Hook, Archbishops, i. 27, 270.
[1324] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 353.
[1325] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 441.
[1326] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 25. “Eique suam voluntatem in hoc esse innotuit, ut Romanum pontificem pro pallii sui petitione adiret. Ad quod rex, A quo inquit papa illud requirere cupis?”
[1327] Ib. “Quicunque sibi hujus dignitatis potestatem vellet præripere, unum foret ac si coronam suam sibi conaretur auferre.”
[1328] Ib. “Iræ stimulis exagitatus, protestatus est illum nequaquam fidem quam sibi debebat simul et apostolicæ sedis obedientiam, contra suam voluntatem, posse servare.”
[1329] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 26. “Petivit inducias ad istius rei examinationem quatenus episcopis, abbatibus, cunctisque regni principibus, una coëuntibus communi assensu definiretur, utrum salva reverentia et obedientia sedis apostolicæ posset fidem terreno regi servare, annon.” These words must be specially attended to, as they contain the whole root of the matter with regard to the council of Rockingham. The word “indutiæ” is rather hard to translate. It means an adjournment, but something more than an adjournment. The word “truce,” commonly used to express it, is rather too strong; yet it is sometimes hard to avoid it.
[1330] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 26. “Quod si probatum, inquit, fuerit, utrumque fieri minime posse, fateor malo terram tuam, donec apostolicum suscipias, exeundo devitare, quam beati Petri ejusque vicarii obedientiam vel ad horam abnegare.”
[1331] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 435.
[1332] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 224.
[1333] Domesday, 220. “Rex tenet Rochingeham…. Hanc terram tenuit Bovi cum saca et soca T. R. E. Wasta erat quando rex W. jussit ibi castellum fieri.” On Rockingham Castle, see Mr. G. T. Clark, Archæological Journal, xxxv. 209.
[1334] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 26. “Fit conventus omnium dominico die, in ecclesia quæ est in ipso castro sita, ab hora prima, rege et suis secretius in Anselmum consilia sua studiose texentibus.”
[1335] “Anselmus autem, episcopis, abbatibus, et principibus, ad se a regio secreto vocatis, eos et assistentem monachorum, clericorum, laicorum, numerosam multitudinem hac voce alloquitur.”
[1336] See above, p. 480, for somewhat similar arrangements. But the present hall of Rockingham, dating from the thirteenth century, is divided by the width of the court from what seems to be the site of the chapel.
[1337] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 26. “Fateor verum dico, quia salva reverentia voluntatis Dei maluissem illa die, si optio mihi daretur, in ardentem rogum comburendus præcipitari, quam archiepiscopatus dignitate sublimari.”
[1338] “Rapuistis me, et coegistis onus omnium suscipere, qui corporis imbecillitate defessus meipsum vix poteram ferre … attamen videns importunam voluntatem vestram, credidi me vobis, et suscepi onus quod imposuistis, confisus spe auxilii vestri quod polliciti estis. Nunc ergo, ecce tempus adest quo sese causa obtulit, ut onus meum consilii vestri manu levetis.”
[1339] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 27. “Si, remota omni alia conditione, simpliciter ad voluntatem domini nostri regis consilii tui summam transferre velles, prompta tibi voluntate, ut nobis ipsis, consuleremus.”
[1340] “In medio procerum et conglobatæ multitudinis sedens.” Judges and bishops can still deliver charges sitting; but it would seem hard to carry on a debate in that posture.
[1341] “Si pure ad voluntatem domini regis consilii tui summam transferre volueris, promptum, et quod in nobis ipsis utile didicimus, a nobis consilium certum habebis. Si autem secundum Deum, quod ullatenus voluntati regis obviare possit, consilium a nobis expectas, frustra niteris; quia in hujusmodi nunquam tibi nos adminiculari videbis.”
[1342] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 27. “Quibus dictis conticuerunt, et capita sua quasi ad ea quæ ipse illaturus erat demiserunt.”
[1343] “Tunc pater Anselmus, erectis in altum luminibus, vivido vultu, reverenda voce, ista locutus est.”
[1344] “Nos qui Christianæ plebis pastores, et vos qui populorum principes vocamini.”
[1345] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 27. “Non cuilibet imperatori, non alicui regi, non duci, non comiti.” I have ventured to prefer the climax to the anti-climax.
[1348] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 27. “Turbationem suam confusis vocibus exprimentes, ut eos illum esse reum mortis una clamare putares.” The reference seems to be to St. Matthew’s Gospel, xxvi. 66.
[1349] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 295. Only the groups at Lillebonne seem to have been larger than those at Rockingham.
[1350] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 28. “Hic duo, ibi tres, illic quatuor, in unum consiliabantur, studiosissime disquirentes, si quo modo possent aliquod responsum contra hæc componere, quod et regiam animositatem deliniret et prælibatas sententias Dei adversa fronte non impugnaret.”
[1351] “Adversariis ejus conciliabula sua in longum protelantibus, ipse ad parietem se reclinans leni somno quiescebat.”
[1352] “Vult dominus noster rex, omissis aliis verbis, a te sub celeritate sententiam audire.”
[1353] “Hæc rogamus, hæc consulimus, hæc tibi tuisque necessaria esse dicimus et confirmamus.”
[1354] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 28. “Noveris totum regnum conqueri adversum te quod nostro communi domino conaris decus imperii sui, coronam, auferre. Quicumque enim regiæ dignitatis ei consuetudines tollit, coronam simul et regnum tollit.”
[1355] “Urbani illius, qui offenso domino rege nil tibi prodesse nec ipso pacato tibi quicquam valet obesse, obedientiam abjice, subjectionis jugum excute, et liber, ut archiepiscopum Cantuariensem decet, in cunctis actibus tuis voluntatem domini regis et jussionem expecta.” What more could Henry the Eighth have asked of Cranmer?
[1356] “Quatenus inimici tui qui casibus tuis nunc insultant, visa dignitatis tuæ sublevatione, erubescant.”
[1357] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 28. “Respondeam quod Deus inspirare dignabitur.”
[1358] “Suspicati ilium aut quid diceret ultra nescire aut metu addictum statim cœpto desistere.”
[1359] “Persuaserunt inducias nulla ratione dandas, sed causa recenti examinatione discussa, supremam, si suis adquiescere consiliis nollet, in eum judicii sententiam invehi juberet.”
[1360] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 28. “Erat quasi primus et prolocutor regis in hoc negotio Willelmus supra nominatus Dunelmensis episcopus, homo linguæ volubilitate facetus quam pura sapientia præditus. Hujus quoque discidii quod inter regem et Anselmum versabatur erat auctor gravis et incentor.”
[1361] “Omni ingenio satagebat, si quo modo Anselmum calumniosis objectionibus fatigatum regno eliminaret, ratus, ut dicebatur, ipso discedente, se archiepiscopatus solio sublimandum.”
[1362] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 28. “Nec regia dignitate integre se potitum suspicabatur, quamdiu aliquis in tota terra, vel etiam secundum Deum, nisi per eum quicquam habere (not dico) vel posse dicebatur.”
[1363] “Spoponderat se facturum ut Anselmus aut Romani pontificis funditus obedientiam abnegaret, aut archiepiscopatui, reddito baculo et annulo, abrenunciaret.”
[1364] Ib. 29. “Dicit quod quantum tua interest eum sua dignitate spoliasti; dum Odonem episcopum Ostiensem sine sui auctoritate præcepti papam in sua Anglia facis.”
[1365] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 29. “Revesti eum primo, si placet, debita imperii sui dignitate, et tunc demum de induciis age.”
[1366] “Nec jocum existimes esse quod agitur; immo in istis magni doloris stimulis urgemur.”
[1367] “Quod dominus tuus et noster in omni dominatione sua præcipuum habebat, et quo eum cunctis regibus præstare certum erat.”
[1368] See Appendix F.
[1369] We shall come to these matters in the next chapter.
[1370] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 29. “Aspicientes sese ad invicem, nec invenientes quid ad ista referrent, ad dominum suum reversi sunt.”
[1371] “Protinus intellexerunt quod prius non animadverterunt, nec ipsum advertere posse putaverunt, videlicet archiepiscopum Cantuariensem a nullo hominum, nisi a solo papa, judicari posse vel damnari, nec ab aliquo cogi pro quavis calumnia cuiquam, eo excepto, contra suum velle respondere.”
[1372] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 29. “Ortum interea murmur est totius multitudinis pro injuria tanti viri summissa inter se voce querentis. Nemo quippe palam pro eo loqui audebat ob metum tyranni.” We have had the word “tyrannis” already; see above, p. 397.
[1373] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 29. “Miles unus de multitudine prodiens viro adstitit flexis coram eo genibus.”
[1374] “Confidentes juxta scripturam, vocem populi vocem esse Dei.” “Scriptura” must here be taken in some wide sense; Eadmer could hardly have thought that these words were to be found in any of the canonical books.
[1375] “Ad divisionem spiritus sui exacerbatus.”
[1376] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 29. “Dunelmensis ita inprimis tepide et silenter per singula loquebatur, ut omnis humanæ prudentiæ inscius et expers putaretur.”
[1377] “Cogitabimus pro te usque ad mane.”
[1378] “Mane reversi sedimus in solito loco exspectantes mandatum regis. At ille cum suis omnimodo perquirebat quid in damnationem Anselmi componere posset, nec inveniebat.”
[1379] “Requisitus Willielmus Dunelmensis quid ipse, ex condicto, noctu egerit apud se.”
[1380] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 29. “Verum mihi violentia videtur opprimendus, et, si regiæ voluntati non vult adquiescere, ablato baculo et annulo, de regno pellendus. Non placuerunt hæc verba principibus.”
[1381] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 30. “Per vultum Dei si vos illum ad voluntatem meam non damnaveritis, ego damnabo vos.” The oath “per vultum Dei” is the same as that “per vultum de Luca.” See Appendix G.
[1382] “Robertus quidam ipsi regi valde familiaris” would seem to be no other than the Count of Meulan. We shall hear of him by name later in the story. It might be Robert the Dispenser (see above, p. 331), but that seems much less likely.
[1383] “De consiliis nostris quid dicam, fateor nescio. Nam cum omni studio per totum diem inter nos illa conferimus, et quatenus aliquo modo sibi cohereant conferendo conferimus, ipse, nihil mali e contra cogitans, dormit, et prolata coram eo statim uno labiorum suorum pulsu quasi telas araneæ rumpit.”
[1384] “Primas est, non modo istius regni, sed et Scotiæ et Hiberniæ, necne adjacentium insularum, nosque suffraganei ejus.” We have had one or two other cases, in which, in Eadmer’s language at least, the Archbishop of York is spoken of as the suffragan of Canterbury.
[1385] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 30. “Properate igitur, et quod dicitis citius facite, ut cum viderit se a cunctis despectum et desolatum, verecundetur, et ingemiscat se Urbanum me domino suo contempto secutum.”
[1386] “Et quo ista securius faciatis, en ego primum in imperio meo penitus ei omnem securitatem et fiduciam mei tollo, ac deinceps in illo vel de illo nulla in causa confidere, vel eum pro archiepiscopo aut patre spirituali tenere volo.”
[1387] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 30. “Paterno more diligentiam, animæ illius curam, si ferre dignabitur, habebo.”
[1388] “Ad hæc ille respondit,” says Eadmer; but it can only mean an answer through messengers, as it is plain that the King and the Archbishop were still in different rooms.
[1389] “Omnino adversatur animo meo quod dicit, nec meus erit, quisquis ipsius esse delegerit.”
[1390] The answer of the lay lords must be taken as a formal setting forth of their position; one would be glad to know whose are the actual sentiments and words. It runs thus (Eadmer, 30);
“Nos nunquam fuimus homines ejus, nec fidelitatem quam ei non fecimus abjurare valemus. Archiepiscopus noster est; Christianitatem in hac terra gubernare habet, et ea re nos qui Christiani sumus ejus magisterium, dum hic vivimus, declinare non possumus, præsertim cum nullius offensæ macula illum respiciat, quæ vos secus de illo agere compellat.”
[1391] “Quod ipse repressa sustinuit ira, rationi eorum palam ne nimis offenderentur contraire præcavens.” This is perhaps a solitary case of recorded self-restraint on the part of William Rufus, at all events since the death of Lanfranc. It is significant that it should be in answer to the lay lords and not to the bishops.
[1392] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 30. “Episcopi hæc videntes, confusione vultus sui operti sunt, intelligentes omnium oculos in se converti, et apostasiam suam non injuste a cunctis detestari.” It must be remembered that apostasia is a technical term, meaning, besides its usual sense, a forsaking of his monastic vows and calling by a professed monk. Eadmer speaks of the bishops as guilty of a like offence towards their metropolitan.
[1393] The picture is very graphic; “Audires si adesses, nunc ab isto, nunc ab illo istum vel illum episcopum aliquo cognomine cum interjectione indignantis denotari, videlicet Judæ proditoris, Pilati, vel Herodis horumque similium.” One of the bishops had been likened to Judas some years before on somewhat opposite grounds.
[1394] “Requisiti a rege, utrum omnem subjectionem et obedientiam, nulla conditione interposita, an illam solam subjectionem et obedientiam, quam prætenderet ex autoritate Romani pontificis, Anselmo denegassent.”
[1395] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 31. “Hos quidem qui, nulla conditione interposita, funditus ei quicquid prælato suo debebant se abjurasse professi sunt, juxta se sicut fideles et amicos suos honorifice sedere præcepit.”
[1396] “Illos vero qui in hoc solo quod præciperet ex parte apostolici sese subjectionem et obedientiam illi abnegasse dicere ausi sunt, ut perfidos ac suæ voluntatis inimicos, procul in angulo domus sententiam suæ damnationis ira permotus jussit præstolari. Territi ergo et confusione super confusionem induti, in angulum domus secesserunt,”
[1397] “Reperto statim salubri et quo niti solebant domestico consilio, hoc est, data copiosa pecunia, in amicitiam regis recepti sunt.”
All this suggests the question, what was the course taken by Gundulf of Rochester, Anselm’s old friend, and the holder of a bishopric which stood in a specially close relation to the archbishop. In the Historia Novorum there is no mention of Gundulf; the bishops are spoken of as an united body, except so far as they were divided on this last question. But it seems implied that all disowned Anselm in one way or another. Yet in the Life (ii. 3. 24) the bishops disown him, “Rofensi solo excepto.” How are these accounts to be reconciled? If Gundulf had stood out in any marked way from the rest, Eadmer would surely have mentioned him in the Historia Novorum. One might suppose that the Bishop of Rochester, as holding of the Archbishop, was not in the company of the King’s bishops at all. But, if he had stayed outside with Anselm and Eadmer, one would have looked for that to be mentioned also. He can hardly lurk in the first person plural which Eadmer so often uses.
[1398] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 31. “Donec Deus tantæ perturbationi modum dignanter imponeret.”
[1399] “Licet discessum ejus summopere desideraret, nolebat tamen eum pontificatus dignitate saisitum discedere, ne novissimum scandalum quod inde poterat oriri pejus fieret priore. Ut vero pontificatu illum dissaisiret, impossibile sibi videbatur.” The feudal language creeps in at all corners.
[1400] “Episcoporum consilio per quod in has angustias se devolutum querebatur omisso, cum principibus consilium iniit.”
[1401] “Quatenus vir cum summa pace moneatur ad hospitium suum redire.”
[1402] “Perturbatis etiam curialibus plurimis … rati sunt quippe hominem a terra discedere, et ingemuerunt.”
[1403] “Lætus et alacer sperabat se perturbationes et onera sæculi, quod semper optabat, transito mari, evadere.”
[1404] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 31. “Ecce principes a latere regis mane directi”—the style of Emperors and Popes.
[1405] “Ascendimus, inimus, et supremam de negotio nostro sententiam avidi audire, in quo soliti eramus loco consedimus.” The word “ascendimus” might show that Anselm’s lodgings were at some point lower than the castle.
[1406] “Inducias utrimque de negotio dari quatenus hinc usque ad definitum aliquod tempus inter vos pace statuta.”
[1407] “Pacem atque concordiam non abjicio; veruntamen videor mihi videre quid ista quam offertis pax habeat in se.”
[1408] “Concedo suscipere quod domino regi et vobis placet pro pacis custodia secundum Deum statuere”—Anselm’s invariable reservation.
[1409] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 31. “Dantur induciæ usque ad octavas Pentecostes, ac regia fide sancitur, quatenus ex utraque parte interim omnia essent in pace.”
[1410] “Præsciens apud se pacem et inducias illas inane et momentaneum velamen esse odii et oppressionis mox futuræ.”
[1411] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 31. “Baldwinum monachum, in quo pars major consiliorum Anselmi pendebat.”
[1412] “Præscripti discidii causa.”
[1413] “Quid referam camerarium ejus in sua camera ante suos oculos captum, alios homines ejus injusto judicio condemnatos, deprædatos, innumeris malis afflictos?” All this was “infra dies induciarum et præfixæ pacis.” Eadmer reproaches the “regalis constantia fidei.” Rufus would have said that his faith was plighted to Anselm, not to Baldwin.
[1414] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 32. “Ut fere universi conclamarent melius sibi absque pastore jam olim fuisse quam nunc sub hujusmodi pastore esse.”
[1415] The movements of Urban at this time will be found in the Chronicle of Bernold in the fifth volume of Pertz, p. 461. Cf. Milman, Latin Christianity, iii. 215.
[1416] Bernold, ib. “Henricus autem rex dictus eo tempore in Longobardia morabatur, pene omni regia dignitate privatus. Nam filius ejus Chonradus, jam dudum in regem coronatus, se ab illo penitus separavit, et domnæ Mathildi reliquisque fidelibus sancti Petri firmiter conjunctus totum robur paterni exercitus in Longobardia obtinuit.”