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Abp. Cant.

RALPH, Scotland having been for a long time under the metropolitical jurisdiction of the see of York.

The bishops The next year, about the middle of March, the king promise to stand by convened the lords spiritual and temporal at Salisbury; for William, the king's son. being now ready to embark for Normandy, in order to assist A. D. 1116. his nephew, the earl of Blois, against the French king, he was willing to provide against an accident; here, therefore, he put them in mind, that William, his son, by the queen, was next heir to the crown; upon this, the temporal nobility did homage to the young prince, and gave him the security of an oath. The bishops and abbots, though they did not go this length of submission, yet swore they would own his title, and become his homagers, in case they survived his father.

Eadmer,

p. 117.

The see of York having been vacant for some time, was now filled with Thurstan, one of the king's chaplains. This Thurstan, it may be, presuming upon his interest at court, The contest revived the old quarrel between the two metropolitical sees, and refused the profession of canonical obedience to the Canterbury archbishop of Canterbury; for this singularity, his conse

between

York and

revived.

308.

Eadmer, p. 118.

The arch

cration was stopped; and the king being acquainted with the proceedings, gave him to understand that he must either make the customary submissions, or resign up all pretensions to his see. Thurstan chose the latter part of the order, and renounced the archbishoprick. But finding his figure sink, and a declension in the regard formerly paid him, he altered his mind, set sail into Normandy after the king to recover his post, and sent his agents to Rome to procure an interest at that court. Before this matter was determined, Anselm, above mentioned, came from Rome to the king, in Normandy, and produced a commission from the pope for legate in England. The bishops and temporal nobility were somewhat surprised at this news, and met at the queen's court in London to deliberate upon proper measures. They decided, that the archbishop of Canterbury should wait upon the king in Normandy, and acquaint him with the customs and privileges of the kingdom, and go on to Rome, if his highness thought fit, to remonstrate against these encroachments.

The archbishop agreed to this resolution, embarked for bishop of Normandy, found the king at Rouën, and, by his highness's Canterbury takes a journey to Rome to complain of the innovation of a legate.

order, set forward to Rome. As for Anselm, the king HENRY I. would not suffer him to pass in his legatine character into K. of Eng. England. However, he entertained him honourably at his court. The archbishop Ralph, as Eadmer reports, who went in his train, travelled with a numerous and splendid retinue, and was received with an extraordinary regard in his passage through France and Italy.

About this time, the contest between the pope and the emperor, about investitures, ran very high. The pope, upon the emperor's march to Rome, quitted the town, and retired to Beneventum. The archbishop, perceiving the roads obstructed, and his own health in no good condition, stopped at Rome, and gave the pope notice of his coming, and the reason of his journey. After some short stay, the messengers returned with a letter to the king and the English prelates; and here the pope declares, that he had no intention to lessen the dignity of the see of Canterbury, but that all the privileges of that archbishoprick, from Augustine to Anselm, should be inviolably preserved.

Ibid.

A. D. 1117.

Baron. ad

An. 1117.

answer ge

Malmsb. de

"This letter," as Malmsbury well observes, "stands aloof sect. 10. in generals, and determines no point. Had the pope," says The pope's he," been particular and precise, mentioned the privileges neral and of the see of Canterbury in question, and confirmed them undecisive. upon the recital, the controversy had been at an end; but Gest. Ponby expressing the matter in gross, he left the affair no less tif. 1. 1. fol. perplexed than before. Thus well practised," says he, "is the court of Rome in the methods of policy and finesse. They seem not to consider the trouble of a remote journey, but give ambiguous answers, and spin out the cause when their own interest is served by it."

The archbishop having received the pope's letter, left Rome, and made some stay at Sutri, there being an expectation the pope would shortly return. But this news being quickly contradicted, and the archbishop having no hopes of seeing his holiness, travelled back to Normandy, and waited on the king at Rouën.

About this time the chapter of York, being desirous to disengage their Church from the usual submission to the see of Canterbury, sent delegates to pope Paschal, in behalf of Thurstan, the elect. These men, it seems, managed their business artfully enough, and gained the court of Rome

131.

Eadmer,

p. 120.

RALPH, to their interest, as appears by the pope's letter to the king, Abp. Cant. in which, after a general flourish upon justice, and a commendation of Thurstan for his prudence and fortitude, he complains of his being "thrown out of the archbishoprick of York without hearing or sentence. And that, therefore, he must be restored to his former station; and in case the sees of Canterbury and York have any dispute about privileges, he orders the parties to prosecute their claim before him, and promises an equitable determination.

Eadmer, p. 121.

The pope

seems partial to

Thurstan,

elect of York.

Eadmer, p. 118.

Florent. Wigorn. Angl. Sacr. pars. 1. p. 433.

The death of pope Paschal,

A. D. 1118. and of his

successor

Gelasius.

But what reason had the pope to complain that Thurstan was ill used, and turned out of his see without so much as having his cause heard? For what need was there of a trial, when Thurstan had voluntarily quitted his interest, and solemnly renounced his see before the king and the archbishop of Canterbury. If the pope was informed of this circumstance, there is nothing to be said for him; we will therefore suppose him unacquainted with the case, and that Thurstan's agents had misreported the matter; but then does he not seem to be over credulous in pressing so early for Thurstan's restitution, and giving judgment only upon the hearing of one side?

This year Robert of Lymesy, bishop of Coventry, departed this life. He was consecrated bishop of Chester in the year 1086, and removed his see to Coventry in 1102.

While the archbishop of Canterbury staid at the court in Normandy, pope Paschal died, and was succeeded by John, a monk of Montcassin, Paschal's chancellor, who took the name of Gelasius II. The emperor, upon notice of the pope's death, made a speedy march to Rome, set up one Burdin, bishop of Brachara, who had been lately excommunicated, against Gelasius, and called him Gregory; upon this competition, Gelasius was forced to quit the town and retire into Burgundy. He designed to have held a council at Rheims, but died upon the way, at Clugni. Some little time before his death, the archbishop of Canterbury sent his agents to him, to sound his inclination about Anselm and Thurstan, of York. These commissioners, at their return, made an unsatisfactory report of their negotiation; and that the pope designed to make use of several methods that were Multa Nova altogether new and unheard of in the present age; but what et inaudita facturum. Eadmer, p. 123.

these unprecedented expedients were, Eadmer is so modest HENRY I. K. of Eng. as not to mention. However, by the circumstances of the story, we may conclude, part of the design was to settle a foreign legate, and make some farther attempts upon the liberties of the English Church.

ter.

309.

Henric.

This year, in the beginning of summer, Maud, queen of The death of Maud,queen England, died at Westminster; she was a princess of such of England. admirable qualities, that Eadmer reports her death a calamity to the whole nation. Malmsbury represents her as a person of exemplary devotion, of great sobriety of conduct, and of a very obliging and charitable temper; that she went a great Her characlength in discipline and austerities; that she used to wear sackcloth under her court dress, and go barefoot to church in Lent; that she used to wash the feet of poor cripples, dress their ulcers, and served them at table. She was, likewise, a great encourager of church musick, and very liberal to men of learning, both natives and foreigners. She built Malmsb. de an hospital for lepers in St. Giles's, and another for poor Prim. 1. 5. people maimed, at a gate in the city, since called Cripple- p. 93. gate, from that benefaction. In both these places she maintained the poor with diet and clothes. She likewise founded a priory, near Aldgate, for canons regular. She was a great benefactress in the ornamenting of churches and in this respect foreigners, as well as the English, were sensible of her pious munificence. Witness the pair of golden candlesticks she sent to the cathedral of Mannes, for which Hildebert, bishop of that diocese, returned her thanks; his letter is penned with a great deal of genius, though it may be not without some few strokes of singularity; I shall translate it for the reader.

Mat. Paris.
Hist. Angl.

P. 67.

of Manne's

"To the most illustrious queen of England, &c. "To be alway exact in the bestowing of benefits is a task The bishop of great difficulty. Persons in high stations are often un- letter to the practised in this critical management: they reckon it an in- queen. stance of greatness and commendation to oblige even the undeserving. Your highness's favour has something of the generosity of this kind in it. You do not love to examine too rigorously into the merit of those you oblige; and as for myself I am almost overset with the greatness of the favour and obligingness of the manner. The present is extra

RALPH, ordinarily rich, both in the materials and the work; but the Abp. Cant. value of it is very much raised by the quality of the person it comes from; and, in my opinion, the queen has given it an improvement beyond the advantages it received either from nature or art. And, granting the metal, the bulk, and the work, had fallen much short in curiosity and value, yet I should have received it with the same satisfaction that the deities are said to receive their incense and other sacrifices. Now these superior powers regard the affection more than the expense, and are better pleased with the devotion of the person than the richness of the offering. Innocence and virtue are the only qualities that make an impression upon these great beings. A farthing, under such preparations, is sufficient to procure a blessing, and goes much farther than a vast sum without them. Thus, pardon the comparison, your highness's noble disposition heightens the favour very much in my esteem. The present does not shine so much in the lustre of its own metal, as in the generosity of the great person that sent it: a person that takes a pleasure in obliging others, and wants no prompter to acts of piety and munificence. To be surprised in this manner, without the trouble of begging, or the delays of expectation, adds a grace to the obligation. From hence, likewise, your highness has given me a very acceptable proof of your devotion, and that you are willing to furnish materials for the service of those holy sacraments which you cannot administer upon the score of your sex; in doing this your highness imitates those holy women, who first brought their tears to our Saviour's cross, and afterwards their aromatick compositions and perfumes to his sepulchre. Thus their pious zeal made them shew their sympathy and their service as far as they were able. Your highness likewise does not forget to be present at the grand solemnities of Christianity: you make part of the congregation when our Saviour's sufferings are commemorated in the sacraments. You assist at the worship, and furnish lamps for the holy service; and though the instance of duty is somewhat different, the devotion is the same.

"There are two things which I suppose you design to suggest to the bishop, and that is, neither to forget your highness nor his own character. As to the latter, the pre

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