Chapter III: Part 3

Thereupon all good men entreated the king to release from her long widowhood the common mother of the whole realm by instituting a pastor thereto. He willingly consented and admitted that he had changed his mind. The question, therefore, was asked, who was most worthy to enjoy this honour, and while all were hanging on the king’s decision, he himself announced, amid the unanimous acclamation of all, that abbot Anselm was worthiest thereof. Anselm was alarmed at his words and grew pale; and when he was forced to approach the king to receive investiture of the archbishopric from his hand by the pastoral staff, he resisted with the whole of his strength, and declared that for many reasons it was altogether impossible.... He said: “I am the abbot of a monastery of another realm, having an archbishop to whom I owe obedience, an earthly prince to whom I owe submission, and monks to whom I owe the ministrations of counsel and assistance. To all these I am so bound that I can neither abandon the monks without their consent, nor loose myself from my prince’s lordship without his permission, nor disown obedience to my bishop without peril to my soul unless he absolve me.” The bishops rejoined, “That is a light matter, all will readily consent.” He replied, “Not so; what you purpose can never be.” Thereupon they dragged him to the sick king and set forth his obstinacy. The king was distressed almost to tears ... but recognising that the labour of all of them was in vain, he ordered them all to fall on their knees at his feet, to see if by that means he could be induced to consent. To what end? When they knelt, he knelt too before them and would not alter his first decision. They were angry with him, and blaming their own stupidity for the delay they had suffered by listening to his objections, they cried out “The pastoral staff, bring the pastoral staff hither.” Then, seizing his right hand, some dragged, others pushed the struggling abbot, and gradually they reached the sick man’s bedside. The king proffered him the staff, but he closed his hand against it and wholly refused to take it. The bishops struggled to unclasp his tightly clenched fingers, that the staff might be thrust into his hand. But after they had wasted their efforts for some time, and he groaned with the pain inflicted upon him, at last his forefinger was raised but bent backwards, the staff was laid against his closed hand and squeezed and held in it by the hands of the bishops. The whole throng cried out, “Long live the bishop,” the bishops and clergy lifted up their voices and began to sing “_Te deum laudamus_,” and carried rather than led the bishop elect to the nearest church, he resisting the while as well as he could, and saying: “It is all void, it is all void.” After they had performed the customary ritual in the church, Anselm was brought back to the king and said to him, “I tell you, my lord king, that you will not die of your illness, and I wish you to know this that you will be able to set right what has now been done with me, for I have not consented and do not consent to its ratification....” The king however ordered him to be invested without delay and diminution with all things belonging to the archbishopric within and without, and further that the city of Canterbury, which Lanfranc in his time held of the king as a fee, and the abbey of St. Albans, which not only Lanfranc but also his predecessors are known to have held, should pass as an alodiary[25] possession for ever to Christ Church, Canterbury, for the redemption of his soul.... The king recovered, as Anselm had foretold, and soon undid all the good that he had decreed in his illness, and ordered it to be annulled. The prisoners who had not yet been released he ordered to be kept more straitly than usual, those who had been released to be retaken if possible, old debts now pardoned to be exacted in full, pleas and offences to be recalled to their original standing, and to be tried and decided by the judgment of men who were concerned rather to subvert justice than to maintain and defend it, and interested rather in oppressing the wretched and in spoiling men of their wealth than in correcting any crime. Wherefore there grew throughout the realm so vast a woe and so woeful a waste that he who remembers it, I judge, remembers to have never seen the like in England. Indeed every evil that the king had done before his illness seemed a good thing in comparison with the evils he did after his return to health. And if any man will know the source from which they flowed, they can judge by his answer to the bishop of Rochester, when the latter in friendly conversation warned him after his recovery that he should in all things behave more circumspectly towards God: “Be sure, bishop,” he said, “by the Holy Cross of Lucca, that God shall never have me good because of the evil He has brought upon me.”

THE QUARREL OF WILLIAM RUFUS AND ANSELM (1093-94).

=Source.=--Eadmer, _Historia Novorum in Anglia_, ed. Rule, p. 47. (Rolls Series.)

At that time the king, straining with all his power to seize Normandy from his brother Robert, spent lavishly on this object a large sum of money collected from every possible quarter, so that he began to experience not a few difficulties which were thought incompatible with the king’s dignity. The new prelate was therefore recommended by his friends to offer to the king 500_l._ of silver, which he did, hoping and believing their promises that hereby he would secure thenceforward the king’s lasting favour, and would obtain his willing support for all godly works, and win peace and protection for the interests of the church within and without against all enemies. The king, hearing of this offer, expressed his thanks with the word “Excellent.” But certain evilminded folk, as usual, induced the king contemptuously to reject the money offered. They said, “Here is a man whom you have honoured, enriched and exalted above all the chief men of England; yet now, when he ought to give you 2000_l._ or at least 1000_l._, considering your necessity, in return for your lavish favours, he offers a miserable 500_l._ Do not put up with it, change your mind, and you will see that he will be influenced by the fear which others feel, and, to recover your goodwill, will be only too glad to double his offer of 500_l._” The king, in fact, pursued this plan with all his subjects; when any of them offered him any money, with the sole desire to gain his favour, he rejected the gift, unless the amount tallied with his desires, and refused to admit the donor to his continued favour, unless he would increase the gift to the king’s satisfaction. These grumblers, therefore, expected that Anselm would be moved by fear like the rest and driven forthwith to fulfil the king’s wishes by increasing the sum. So he was informed that the king had rejected his money, which amazed him. He went to the king and asked if the refusal was the king’s own act or not. Being told that it was so, he expostulated with him, saying, “My lord, I beg you not to do so; do not refuse to take what I now offer you; for though it be your archbishop’s first gift, it will not be the last. Indeed I maintain that it would be more profitable and more honourable to you to take little from me with affectionate freedom and at frequent intervals than to seize much by forcible exactions involving servility. Admit affectionate freedom, and you shall have at your service myself and my all; insist on servility, and you shall have neither.” The king was wroth, and said in a passion, “Mind your own affairs, and I will mind mine; away with you!” He rose and went, meditating, it may be, that it was not without significance that on the first day of his entry into his see the gospel had been, “No man can serve two masters.” Quickly recovering himself, he said, “Blessed be God Almighty, who of His mercy has preserved me from all evil report. For had the king graciously accepted what I offered him, verily the evil men who abound would have deemed it money promised beforehand for the bishopric, and now rendered under the cloak of a free gift. But now what shall I do? I will give the money intended for the king not to him but to Christ’s poor for the ransom of his soul, and will devoutly pray to Christ to pour down His grace upon him and defend me from all evil.” He afterwards sued for the king’s favour by messengers, but obtained it not because he would not double the money, and so after the festival (Christmas) he left the court, busying himself with the distribution of his offering to Christ’s poor, as he had determined....

Some days afterwards, by the king’s command, almost all the bishops assembled at Hastings with the chief men of England, the bishops to bless and the others to accompany the king on his intended passage to Normandy. And father Anselm came also to pray urgently for the protection of the king from the perils of the sea. The wind, however, was unfavourable for the king’s crossing, and king and barons were delayed there more than a month....

On one day he came to the king according to his wont, and sitting by him began to speak thus, “My lord king, you have resolved to cross the sea and subdue Normandy to your sovereignty. But in order that these and other your desires may turn out to your prosperity, I pray you, lend your aid and counsel to the restoration to this your realm of the Christian religion, which has now almost wholly perished in many ways.” He answered, “What aid, what counsel?” “Command,” said Anselm, “if it please you, that councils as of old be held, that things done amiss be discussed in common, and that discussion be followed by trial, trial by conviction and conviction by judgment. For no general council of bishops has been held in England since you became king and for many years before. In consequence many evils have grown up, and with none to check them, have waxed overstrong by the pernicious force of custom.” The king rejoined, “When I think fit, I will deal with these matters, and not at your will but at mine. The question shall be raised later.” And he added with a sneer, “As for you, what do you propose to talk about in a council?...” He replied, “There are many abbeys in the land destitute of their pastors, on account whereof the monks abandon their order for worldly indulgence and pass away without confession. Wherefore I counsel, I pray, I warn you to examine the matter carefully, and to institute abbots according to God’s will, that by the destruction of monasteries and the damnation of monks you yourself come not to perdition, which God forbid.” The king could restrain his anger no longer, but said, quite beside himself with passion, “What business is that of yours? Are not the abbeys mine? What? are you to do as you please with your towns, and not I with my abbeys?” He replied, “They are yours indeed, for you to defend and maintain as their guardian, but they are not yours for you to break into and lay them waste. We know they are God’s, that his ministers may live thereby, and not that your expeditions and wars may be undertaken from their revenues. You have many towns and the rents thereof for the ample administration of your affairs. May it please you to leave to the churches what is theirs?” “By heaven,” said the king, “your words are intolerable; your predecessor would never have dared to speak so to my father. I will do nothing for you.” Anselm realised that he was talking to the winds, and rose and left him.

Feeling, however, that the king’s former anger was manifest in such answers, and reflecting that, if the king’s heart were incensed, there would be no peace, for the sake of the general welfare, and to achieve more abundant results for God by securing the royal favour for himself, he humbly sued the king through the mouth of the bishops, freely to receive him into his friendship. “If he refuses,” he said, “let him say why; and if I have offended, I am ready to make amends.” This was reported to the king, who answered, “I have nothing to blame him for, but I will not extend my favour to him, for I hear no reason why I should.” When the bishops brought this answer, he was puzzled by the words “I hear no reason why I should.” They said, “The mystery is clear enough; if you want peace, you must offer him more money. Lately you proffered him 500_l._, and he refused to take it, because it was too little; if you will take our advice and do what we do in similar circumstances, give him now the same 500_l._ and promise him a like sum to be taken by you from your men; we are sure that he will restore you to favour and permit a peaceable fulfilment of your wishes. We can see no other way out of it, and in our own case, we have no other way in face of such obstacles.” He at once grasped the effect of this advice upon himself, and said “I cannot take that way. You say that though he brings no charge against me, he is yet so much enraged that he can be appeased only by 1000_l._; now if I, a new bishop, can appease him with such a gift, his anger will break out again habitually, demanding a like sop. Apart from that, after the death of Lanfranc, my predecessor, of venerable memory, my men were robbed and plundered; and shall I, before I have done anything to restore their estate, rob them, naked as they are, nay, break the hearts of men already stripped? God forbid....” They replied, “At least, we are sure, you will not refuse the 500_l._ you offered before.” He answered, “I will not give him even that, for when I offered, he rejected it, and besides, I have already given the greater part to the poor, as I promised.” The king was told, and ordered this reply to be brought to him: “Yesterday I hated him much; to-day I hate him more; let him know that to-morrow and after I shall hate him always worse and worse. I will count him no further as father or archbishop; I entirely abominate and curse his blessings and his sermons. He may go where he chooses; let him wait no longer to bless my passage.” So we[26] hastened away from the court and left him to his will. For his part, he crossed to Normandy, and though he spent enormous sums of money, he could by no means conquer it.

THE FIRST CRUSADE (1095).

=Source.=--William of Malmesbury, _De gestis regum Anglorum_, ed. Stubbs, vol. ii., pp. 390, 393, 398. (Rolls Series.)

In the year 1095 after the Incarnation of Our Lord, Pope Urban II., who then filled the apostolic see, passed over the Alps and came to France. The ostensible cause of his coming was that after being driven from Rome by Guibert’s violence he might win over the churches north of the Alps to acknowledge him. His more secret purpose was less well known, to wit, by Bohemond’s counsel, to stir up wellnigh the whole of Europe for an expedition to Asia, so that amid so great a commotion in all countries mercenaries might easily be secured for Urban to attack Rome, and Bohemond Illyria and Macedonia.... However, whatever might have been the occasion of his journey, his coming was of great and glorious benefit to Christians. A council, then, was summoned at Clermont, the most famous city of Auvergne.... A clear and forcible sermon, as a priest’s sermon ought to be, was addressed to the people, touching an expedition of Christians against the Turks.... The audience was filled with enthusiasm, and shouted approval, delighted with the eloquence, and attracted to the pilgrimage; and forthwith, in the council, many of the nobility knelt before the Pope and consecrated themselves and theirs to God’s warfare; among them was Aymer, the mighty bishop of Puy, who afterwards commanded the host with wisdom and increased its numbers with his eloquence. So in the month of November, in which the council was held, all departed to their own homes; and forthwith the report of the good news spread throughout all the world and stirred the hearts of Christians with a pure emotion, which was so universally diffused, that there was no people so remote, so obscure, as not to contribute its proportion; for not only were the Mediterranean countries fired by the enthusiasm, but all who dwelt in the utmost islands or among savage nations and had heard the name of Christ. The Welshman left his forest-hunting, the Scotsman forsook his friendly lice, the Dane abandoned his endless drinking bouts, the Norwegian deserted his raw fish. The husbandmen left the fields, houses were emptied of their inmates, whole cities went abroad. There was no regard for ties, love of country was of small esteem, God alone held men’s vision. Stored up barns, hoarded treasures, all that might satisfy the tiller’s eager hopes or the miser’s greed, were abandoned; they hungered only after the journey to Jerusalem. Joy went with the travellers, grief oppressed those who stayed at home. Those who stayed at home? You might have seen husband and wife and all their children on the march; you would have laughed to see them, furniture and all, setting off in carts. The roads were too narrow, the ways too strait, for those who took the journey, so thick the multitudes jostled and thronged. The number surpassed men’s imagination, though the travellers were estimated at six millions. Never, beyond a doubt, did so many nations combine for one same purpose, never did a host so unorganized submit its undiscipline to one, nay, to no command. For most wonderful of all it was to see so vast a throng move slowly through all Christendom, yet never led to plunder, and none to restrain them. All were afire with mutual love, so that if any man found in his possession what he knew not to be his, he exposed it everywhere for many days to be claimed, and the finder’s desire meanwhile was checked, until the loser’s need might be satisfied.

THE PAWNING OF NORMANDY (1097).

=Source.=--Florence of Worcester, _Chronicon_, ed. Thorpe, vol. ii., p. 40.

After this Robert, duke of the Normans, having determined to set out with others to Jerusalem, sent envoys to England to request his brother king William to renew the peace between them and to lend him 10,000 marks of silver, receiving from him as security the duchy of Normandy. The king, anxious at once to satisfy his request, commanded the nobles of England, each of them according to his means, to advance him money with all speed. Therefore, bishops, abbots and abbesses broke up their gold and silver church-ornaments, and earls, barons and sheriffs despoiled their knights and villeins, and brought to the king a large sum of gold and silver. And he crossed the sea in the month of September, made peace with his brother, lent him 6,666_l._, and received Normandy from him as security.

THE JEWS UNDER WILLIAM RUFUS (1098).

=Source.=--Eadmer, _Historia Novorum in Anglia_, ed. Rule, p. 99. (Rolls Series.)

Over and above the deeds of which we knew the king to be constantly guilty, when we were living in England, news of some fresh atrocity was brought every day by those who came thence, wherein he was understood to be so hardened against God’s righteousness, that many of that country, men and women alike, cherished sentiments about him other than the Christian law teaches Christians to hold about a Christian. And hereon I have thought fit to digress a little, that my charges may not be thought bare assertion. I will set out simply what we heard, without affirming its truth or falsity. Those who came told us that almost at that very time, when the king was staying at Rouen, the Jews dwelling in that city came to him, complaining that some of their number had forsaken Judaism and recently become Christians, and asking the king to take money to force them to reject Christianity and return to Judaism. He consented, received the price of apostasy, and ordered the Jews concerned to be brought to him. What shall I add? Many of them were compelled by his threats and menaces to deny Christ and readopt their former error. Moreover there was at that time a young Jew, to whom one day, as he was walking along the road, another young man appeared, seemly in face and vesture. On being asked whence he came and who he was, he replied that of old he had been converted from Judaism to Christianity, and that he was Stephen, the first martyr. “And I have descended now from Heaven,” he said, “that you may reject the Jewish superstition, and, becoming a Christian, be baptized in Christ by my name.” He spoke and vanished out of sight. The young man was seized with fear and straightway went to a priest and clearly related what he had seen and heard, and confessing that he believed in Christ, forthwith received the grace of baptism. When his father discovered the fact, he was smitten to the heart with sharp grief, and amidst his anxious efforts to find means of restoring his son to his faith, learned that William, king of the English, for the sake of money, had lately given back such converts to Judaism. He went therefore to him and in plaintive tones set forth how he had lost his son. He prayed for his compassion and asked that the boy, whom he loved as an only son, might be restored to his father’s laws by the royal sanction. The king made no answer to his requests, not hearing a reason why he should meddle in such a matter. The Jew understood the secret of his silence and at once promised to give him 60 marks of silver if he would restore his son to Judaism. So the king ordered the young man to be brought before him and addressed him as follows: “Your father complains that you have become a Christian without his permission. If this is so, I command you to satisfy his desire and without any hesitation to return at once to Judaism.” The youth replied “My lord king, I suppose you are jesting.” He replied in a rage, “Jest with you, you guttersnipe? Be off and do at once what I bid you, else, by the Holy Cross of Lucca, I will have your eyes put out....” The young man was driven out and found his father at the door eagerly awaiting the outcome of the matter, and to him he said with anger, “Son of death, heir of eternal perdition, is not your own damnation enough, but you must drag me down with you. Christ has now become my father, and God forbid that I should ever recognize you for my father, for your father is the devil.” While he was speaking, at the king’s order the Jew was ushered into the king’s presence, and the king said to him, “I have done what you asked; pay me what you promised.” He replied, “My son is now more confirmed than ever in his confession of Christ, and has become more bitter against me than before, and yet you say ‘I have done what you asked, pay me what you promised.’ Rather finish first what you began and then discuss promises; for that was the covenant between us.” The king replied “I have done what I could; but, though I have not succeeded, I certainly shall not do something for nothing.” And the trembling Jew had much ado to secure his release from half the sum promised, on payment of the other half.

THE DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS (1100).

=Source.=--Florence of Worcester, _Chronicon_, ed. Thorpe, vol. ii., p. 44.

On 4 August ... William the younger, king of the English, while hunting in the New Forest, which is called Ytene in the language of the English, was struck by an arrow carelessly aimed by a Frenchman, Walter, surnamed Tyrel, and died; and his body was carried to Winchester and buried in the old minster in the church of St. Peter. His fate astonished none, for popular report affirmed it to proceed from the great strength and vengeance of God. For in ancient times, to wit, in the days of king Edward and other kings of England, his predecessors, the same district flourished exceedingly with God-fearing inhabitants and with churches; but, at the command of king William the elder, the men were driven away, the houses pulled down, the churches destroyed and the land given over to the habitation only of deer; and that was the cause, so folk believed, of the mischance. For Richard, brother of the same William the younger, had perished in the same forest some time before, and a little while afterward his nephew, Richard, son of Robert duke of the Normans, was struck, while hunting, by an arrow shot by one of his knights, and perished. In the place where the king fell a church had stood in former times, but, as we said before, it was destroyed in the time of his father.

In the days of the same king ... there were many portents in the sun, the moon and the stars; the sea, too, often overflowed the shore and drowned men and beasts, and swept away many towns and houses; in the county of Berkshire, before his death, blood flowed from a well for three weeks; the devil also showed himself to many Normans in horrible shape in the woods, and spoke with them touching the king and Ranulf (Flambard) and certain other persons. And no wonder, for in their time almost all legal justice was silenced, and in causes before the courts money alone swayed the powers that were. In truth at that time many obeyed the king’s will rather than justice, and Ranulf, contrary to ecclesiastical law and the rule of his order (for he was a priest), took from the king at farm first abbeys, and then bishoprics, the prelates whereof were lately dead, and paid to him yearly therefrom large sums of money. His ingenuity and shrewdness were so active and in a short time became so useful, that the king appointed him justiciar and collector of the whole realm. In the enjoyment of such wide powers, everywhere throughout England he exacted fines from the rich and wealthy, despoiling them of their possessions and lands; and incessantly burdened the poor with heavy and unjust taxes, and in many ways, both before he received his bishopric and after, oppressed great and small alike, and that too, until the king’s death.

THE CHARACTER OF THE REIGN OF WILLIAM RUFUS.

=Source.=--_The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, ed. Thorpe, vol. i., p. 364. (Rolls Series.)

He was very strong and stern over his land and his men and towards all his neighbours, and much to be feared; and through evil men’s counsels, that were ever comfortable to him, and through his own covetousness, he was ever tormenting this people with an army and unjust taxes, whereby in his days all right fell, and all unright in the sight of God and of the world uprose. God’s churches he brought down; and the bishoprics and the abbeys whereof the heads passed away in his days either he sold them all for money, or held them in his own hand and let them to farm, because he would be the heir of every man, ordained and lay; and so on the day that he died, he had in his own hand the archbishopric of Canterbury and the bishopric of Winchester and the bishopric of Salisbury, and eleven abbacies, all let to farm. And though I take long to tell it, all that was hateful to God and oppressive to men, it was all customary in this land in his times, and therefore he was hateful to well-nigh all his people and loathed of God, as his end bore witness, for he perished in the midst of his unrighteousness, without repentance and any atonement.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE CISTERCIAN ORDER BY STEPHEN HARDING.

=Source.=--William of Malmesbury, _De gestis regum Anglorum_, ed. Stubbs, vol. ii., p. 380. (Rolls Series.)

In his (William Rufus’) days was founded the Cistercian order, which is now believed and alleged to provide the surest path to Heaven. To speak of this here is not irrelevant to the work I have undertaken, since it is England’s glory to have bred the man who was at once the founder and the organizer of this rule. To us he belongs, and in our schools as a boy he passed his early years. Therefore, if we are without envy, we shall the more gratefully cherish his worth, the more intimately we learn of it; at the same time I am myself disposed to sing loud his praises, because it is a noble trait to approve in others those qualities, the lack of which in yourself you regret. Harding was his name among the English, and he was born of no very illustrious parentage. In early youth he was a monk at Sherborne, but when, as he grew up, worldly desires troubled him, disgusted with his cloth, he went first to Scotland and afterwards to France. There, after some years education in the humanities, he felt the prickings of the love of God, for, after his manhood had put away childish follies, he went to Rome with a clerk, his fellow-student; neither the length nor the difficulty of the journey, nor their poverty, could restrain them from chanting daily the whole psalter as they went and returned. Already, indeed, the renowned man was meditating at heart the purpose which by God’s grace he began to execute soon after; returning to Burgundy, he received the tonsure in Molesme, a new and great monastery, and readily acknowledged the first principles of the rule, as he had formerly seen them; but when other observances were proposed to him which he had neither read in the rule nor ever seen, he began to press for the reason of the same, humbly and as becomes a monk.... His opinions, spreading, as happens, from one to another, justly moved the hearts of such as feared God, lest perchance they should run or had run in vain. The question, therefore, was debated in many chapters, and ended in the agreement of the abbot himself that superfluous observances should be given up and only the essential principles followed. Thereupon two of the brethren were chosen, of equal learning and piety, to enquire by vicarious research touching the will of the founder of the rule, and to expound the results of their enquiry to the others. The abbot strove earnestly to obtain the consent of the whole convent, but it is difficult to uproot from men’s minds old habits of thought, since they are reluctant to eschew what they have earliest digested; so well-nigh all refused to accept the new doctrine, because they loved the old. Only eighteen, among whom was Harding (who is also called Stephen), persisted in their holy determination, and left the community with their abbot, declaring that the rule could not be observed in its purity in a place where the soul, in spite of struggle, was overwhelmed by wealth and gluttony. So they came to Cîteaux, a place once simple woodland, but now so marked by the abundant piety of monks, that it is deservedly held to be conscious of the divine presence itself. There, by the countenance of the archbishop of Vienne, now Pope, they entered upon a labour worthy of renown and reverence for all time.

Truly many of their rules seem severe, but these especially: they wear no fur or linen, nor that finely woven woollen cloth which we call _staminium_; they never have breeches, except when they are sent on a journey, and then they wash and give them up on their return; they have two gowns with hoods, but put on no added garment in winter; but in summer, if they choose, they lighten their clothing. They sleep robed and girt, and never return to their beds after matins, but they so order the hour of matins that it shall be light before the _laudes_; they are so careful of the rule that they deem no jot or tittle should be disregarded. Immediately after the _laudes_ they chant the prime, whereafter they go forth to work for stated hours. They accomplish all their labour and chanting for the day without any artificial light. None is ever absent from the daily services, none from compline, except the sick; the cellarer and hospitaller, after compline, serve the guests, observing however the strictest silence. The abbot allows himself nothing that is not allowed to others, and is everywhere present, everywhere tending his flock; only he eats not with the rest, since his table is always with pilgrims and the poor. None the less, wherever he be, he is sparing of speech and food, for neither for him nor for others are laid more than two courses; only the sick may have lard and meat. From 5 September to Easter, regarding no festival except Sundays, they break their fast but once a day. They never leave the cloister except to work, nor do they converse then, or at any time, except in turn to the abbot or prior. They observe unwearied the canonical hours, adding nothing foreign thereto, except a vigil for the dead. They use in divine offices the Ambrosian chants and hymns, so far as they could learn them at Milan. They bestow care on guests and the sick, but inflict intolerable crosses on their own bodies for the salvation of their souls.... In a word, the Cistercian monks are to-day a pattern for all monks, a mirror for the diligent, a spur to the slothful.

FASHIONS AT THE COURTS OF WILLIAM RUFUS AND HENRY I.

=Source.=--William of Malmesbury, _De gestis regum Anglorum_, ed. Stubbs, vol. ii., pp. 369, 530. (Rolls Series.)

Flowing hair was then in vogue, and extravagance of dress; and the fashion of shoes with curved points was then adopted; it was the ambition of the young gallants to rival women in suppleness of limb, in mincing gait, in easy gesture and uncovered bust. Effeminate and soft, they refused to be what birth had made them.

In the twenty-ninth year (of Henry I.) an event occurred in England which may appear strange to our long-haired dandies, who forget their sex and eagerly ape the fashions of women. An English knight, who was proud of his luxuriant hair, was terrified by the pricks of conscience into a dream, in which he thought a man was strangling him with his own locks. Shaken out of his sleep, he straightway cut off his too abundant curls. The fashion spread throughout England, and, since a recent shock commonly stirs the feelings, almost all knights tolerated without ado the reasonable cropping of their hair. But this decency did not last long; scarcely had a year passed, when all who claimed to be men of court lapsed to their earlier vice; they vied with women in the length of their hair, and when they had little, they wore false; forgetful, or rather ignorant, of the saying of the apostle, “If a man have long hair it is a shame unto him.”

THE CHARTER OF HENRY I. (1101).

=Source.=--Richard, Prior of Hexham, _De Gestis regis Stephani_, ed. Howlett, vol. iii., p. 142. (Rolls Series--Chronicles of Stephen, Henry II., and Richard I.)

Henry, by the grace of God king of the English, to all his faithful, as well French as English, of the whole of England, greeting.

Know ye that I, by the mercy of God and by the common counsel of the barons of the realm of England, have been crowned king of the same realm. And because the realm was oppressed by unjust exactions, I, out of reverence for God and out of the love which I have towards all of you, grant first that the Holy Church of God be free, so that I will neither sell it nor put it to farm, nor, upon the death of archbishop or bishop or abbot, will I take aught of the lordship of the church or of the men, until a successor enter therein. And all the evil customs, with which the realm of England was unjustly oppressed, will I remove therefrom. Which evil customs I set forth in part here.

If any of my barons or earls or others who hold of me shall die, his heir shall not redeem his land as he did in the time of my brother, but he shall relieve it with a lawful and just relief. In like manner the men of my barons shall relieve their lands from their lords by a lawful and just relief.

And if any of my barons or other men wish to give his daughter in marriage, or his sister or niece or kinswoman, he shall speak with me thereon. But neither will I take anything of his for licence herein, nor will I forbid him from giving her in marriage, unless he wish to unite her with my enemy. And if, upon the death of a baron or other man of mine, his daughter be left heir, I will give her in marriage with her land by the counsel of my barons. And if a husband die and his wife be left and she have no children, she shall have her dower and marriage, and I will not give her to a husband except according to her will; and if a wife be left with children, she also shall have her dower and marriage, so long as she live chastely, and I will not give her in marriage except according to her will; and the guardian of the children’s land shall be either the wife or another kinsman, who shall have the juster claim. And I command that my barons behave in like manner towards the sons or daughters or wives of their men.

The common moneyage which was taken by cities and by counties, which also was not taken in the time of king Edward, I wholly forbid henceforth. If any man be taken, whether moneyer or other man, with false money, right justice shall be done thereon.

All pleas and all debts which were due to my brother, I pardon, except my right farms, and except those which were agreed upon for the inheritances of others, or for those matters for which others were justly liable. And if any man have made any covenant for his own inheritance, I pardon it, and all reliefs which were agreed upon for right inheritances.

And if any of my barons or men shall fall sick, I grant that, as he shall give his money, or dispose it to be given, it shall be so given. But if he be prevented by battle or sickness and do not give his money or dispose it to be given, his wife or children or kinsfolk, and his lawful men, shall divide it for his soul as shall seem best to them.

And if any of my barons or men shall do amiss, he shall not pledge his money by way of mercy, as he did in the time of my father or my brother, but according to the manner of the fault, so shall he make amends, as he would have made amends before the time of my father in the time of other my predecessors. And if he be convicted of treason or crime, he shall make amends in like manner.

I pardon also all murder-fines incurred before the day on which I was crowned king. And for such as shall be made hereafter, amends shall be made justly, according to the law of king Edward.

By the common consent of my barons I have retained the forests in my hand as my father had them. Of my own gift I grant to the knights, who do service for their lands by hauberk, the lands of their demesne ploughs quit of all gelds and of all work, so that, as they have been relieved at so great a burden, they may so equip themselves well with horses and arms, that they may be prompt and ready for my service and for the defence of my realm.

I establish a firm peace in the whole of my realm and command it to be henceforth observed. I give back to you the law of king Edward, with those amendments by which my father amended it by the counsel of his barons.

If any man have taken aught of mine or of any other man since the death of king William, my brother, the whole shall be restored speedily without amends. And if any man shall retain aught thereof, he in whose possession it shall be found shall make heavy amends to me.

Witness: Maurice bishop of London, and William bishop-elect of Winchester, and Gerard bishop of Hereford, and Henry the earl, and Simon the earl, and Walter Giffard the earl, and R. de Muntfort, and Eudo the butler, and Roger Bigot. Fare ye well.

HENRY I.’S APOLOGY TO ANSELM FOR BEING CROWNED IN THE LATTER’S ABSENCE (1100).

=Source.=--_Epistolæ Anselmi._

Henry by the grace of God king of the English to his most pious spiritual father, Anselm archbishop of Canterbury, greeting and all affection.

Know, dear father, that my brother king William is dead, and that I, by the will of God, elected by the clergy and by the people of England, and now consecrated king, though reluctantly by reason of your absence, request you as my father, together with all the people of England, that as soon as you can you come to give your counsel to me, your son, and to the said people, the care of whose souls has been committed to you. I commit myself and the people of the whole realm of England to the counsel of you and of those who ought with you to give me counsel; and I pray you not to be vexed that I have received the blessing as king in your absence; for as touching that, I would have received it more gladly from you than from any other. But necessity compelled, for enemies wished to rise up against me and the people whom I have to govern, and therefore my barons and the same people refused to permit that it should be longer delayed; wherefore on that account I received it from your vicars. Indeed I would have sent to you certain from my side; by whom I would have also despatched some of my money to you, but by the death of my brother the whole world was so unsettled touching the kingdom of England, that they could not in any wise have come safely to you. Therefore I recommend and warn you not to come through Normandy but by Witsand, and I will cause my barons to meet you at Dover and money to be brought to you; and you shall find resources, God willing, wherefrom you shall be well able to repay any loan you have received. Therefore, my father, make haste to come, that our mother church of Canterbury, long troubled and desolate for your sake, suffer no longer the desolation of souls. Witness bishop Gerard, and William, bishop elect of Winchester, and William Warelwast, and earl Henry, and Robert FitzHamon, and Hamon the sewer,[27] and others as well my bishops as my barons. Farewell.

THE INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY (1100-1107).

=Source.=--Eadmer, _Historia Novorum in Anglia_, ed. Rule, pp. 119, 128, 131, 134. (Rolls Series.)

A few days after his return, Anselm came to the king at Salisbury and was welcomed by him; he accepted the king’s excuse for having assumed the royal dignity without waiting for the benediction of him whose right he knew it to be, and was thereupon required to do homage to the king according to the custom of his ancestors, and to receive the archbishopric from the king’s hand. He answered that in no wise either would he or could he consent so to do, and when asked why, he immediately set forth in plain words what he had agreed to on these and certain other matters in the council at Rome, saying in conclusion, “If the lord the king will accept these terms, and accepting, observe them, there shall surely be a firm peace between us; but if not, I do not see that my remaining in England will be either useful or honest; especially as, if he has granted any bishoprics or abbacies, I must altogether reject communion both with him and with those who have accepted them. I have not returned to England to dwell there, unless the king will obey the Pope of Rome. Therefore I beg that the king will make what order he will, that I may know which way to turn.” The king, on hearing this, was gravely disturbed. It seemed to him a serious matter to lose the investitures of churches and the homage of prelates, but not less serious to suffer Anselm to leave the realm before he himself was fully established on the throne. On the one hand he thought he would be losing as it were half the realm, and on the other he feared that Anselm would go to his brother Robert, who had by that time returned to Normandy from Jerusalem, and persuading him to submit to the apostolic see, which he knew to be a most easy thing to do, would make him king of England. A truce, therefore, from controversy on either side was asked for until Easter.... To this Anselm consented....

Not long after ... a friendly letter was sent by the king to him.... asking him to come to the king, who wished the matter to be settled and had another plan. Hoping to hear that God of his grace had touched the king’s heart, he went, as he was ordered, to Winchester. There the bishops and chief men of the realm were gathered together, and by their common assent Anselm agreed that ... envoys should be sent by both parties to Rome to explain to the Roman pontiff face to face that either he must abandon his original decision, or submit to the expulsion of Anselm and his party from England and lose the submission of the whole realm and the profits which he was accustomed to derive yearly from the same. Two monks therefore were sent by Anselm, to wit, Baldwin of Bec and Alexander of Canterbury, not indeed to urge the Roman pontiff in any way to abate the rigour of justice on Anselm’s behalf, but partly to bear testimony of the threats of the court which the Pope must straightway believe, and partly to bring back to Anselm a final decision from the apostolic see. To accomplish the same purpose the king sent three bishops, Gerard of Hereford, lately made archbishop of York, Herbert of Thetford and Robert of Chester....

The journey at length accomplished, the envoys reached Rome together, and announced the cause of their coming to the apostolic ears, each party presenting its own case, and humbly asked for the Pope’s counsel to put an end to the quarrel. He heard their story and found no words in which to express his amazement. But when he was urgently pressed by the bishops to consult his own interests and mitigate the strictness of his predecessor’s rigid decision, that peace might everywhere abound, he declared that he would not do it even to ransom his person. “Shall one man’s threats,” he asked with indignation, “drive me to annul the decrees and institutes of the holy fathers?” That was the end of the matter. Hereupon he sent letters to the king and Anselm, one to each ... which we set out before our readers’ eyes, the better to reveal their contents:

“Paschal the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his
dear son Henry, king of the English, greeting and apostolic
benediction.

“We give thanks to the Lord, the King of kings, who by the
grace of His goodwill has raised you to the throne, and by the
grace of His goodwill and of His ineffable mercy has watched
over you as a Christian king. We ask, therefore, that He may
make the good beginnings of your reign grow to better things,
and to the end watch over His gifts bestowed upon you. For you
have repudiated the impiety of the king your brother, which,
as you see, has been terribly avenged by the divine judgment;
you have restored the churches to freedom, you have begun to
honour the clergy and to reverence their heads, the bishops,
and in them Christ the Lord. We are therefore confident that
you will be equally wise to the end and persevere in the same
excellence; except that there are men of perverse spirit who
strive to prepare your royal heart for divine wrath through
the investiture of bishops and abbots. Their counsels in this
behalf should be shunned by you like poison, that you offend
not Him by whom kings reign and the mighty decree justice. If
you propitiate Him, of a truth your reign will be blessed,
and you will win undisputed power and riches. But if, which
God forbid, you offend Him, neither the counsels of barons,
nor the aid of knights, nor arms nor riches will avail to
help you when He shall begin to overthrow you. In the honour
of God, in the liberty of the church, you shall have in us a
friend and helper. Be sure that no man shall wrest you from our
friendship, if you abstain from investitures, if you yield to
the church due honour and preserve its freedom ordained by God.
Indeed, by the judgment of the Holy Ghost, we prohibit kings
and princes and all laymen alike from investitures of churches.
It is not fit that a mother should be sold into slavery by a
son, receiving a spouse whom she has not chosen. For her Spouse
she has our King and Lord, and may He keep you of His mercy in
power and piety, and lead you from an earthly to a heavenly
kingdom. Amen.”

* * * * *

“Paschal the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his
venerable brother and fellow-bishop, Anselm, greeting and
apostolic benediction.