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Malmsb. Hist. Novell. 1. 1. fol. 102.

oath, and defies king Stephen.

church of York lay in ruins a great while, and did not recover till the reign of king Edward I.

The Church affairs being intermixed with the state, I must mention something of the latter. King Stephen now began to grow uneasy in the administration, and many of the great men of his own party proved troublesome to him. They took advantage of the defect of his title, and made unreasonable demands; and in case he refused to grant them what lands they desired, they immediately applied to force, manned their castles against him, and plundered the estates belonging to the crown. They took the greater freedom because of the juncture; for things now began to look disturbed and unsettled, there being a strong report A. D. 1138., that Robert, earl of Glocester, would shortly set sail from Robert, earl of Glocester, Normandy into England, in defence of his sister, the emdissatisfied with his new press's right. Neither were people deceived in this expectation, for soon after Whitsuntide this earl sent king Stephen a solemn defiance from Normandy, revoked his homage, and renounced him in form; and to prevent the imputation of inconstancy, and breach of faith, he gave him the reasons of his defiance; alleging, that Stephen had seized the crown against justice and law, and failed in his promises to those who had owned him. The earl likewise confessed that himself had fallen short of his duty, and made a breach upon the constitution, by acknowledging another sovereign during the life of the empress; and that since he was under the pre-engagement of an oath to this princess, he had no liberty to transfer his homage. This earl, as Malmsbury reports, was governed by the motives of conscience in this declaration; the deserting his sister, the empress, had given him some disturbance. This put him upon consulting a great many persons of figure and religion; they all told him it was impossible either to live with a character of a man of honour, or be happy in the other world, if he continued in the breach of his oath, and outraged so near a relation: besides, as this historian adds, the pope had enjoined the earl to be true to the oath which he had sworn before the king his father; but with what grace or consistency the pope could do this, is hard to account for, if we consider his late support of king Stephen's pretensions. If it be said the pope was now

Malmsb.

ibid.

329.

the

better informed of the empress's right, this will only give MAUD, him the commendation of an honest penitent; but then his Empress. rashness in confirming Stephen's title, before he had examined the matter, can never be excused.

north

Scots.

Many of the nobility in the southern parts now declaring against king Stephen, and giving him a diversion, David, king of Scots, takes hold of the opportunity, and invades England with a numerous army. Thurstan, archbishop of Thurstan, York, raised the nobility of the north to stop the progress of York, archbishop of this enemy. The English, having drawn together a con- raises the siderable body, set up the royal standard near North Aller- against the ton, making choice of that place for the field of battle. The archbishop of York sent an order to all the parish priests of his diocese to repair to the army with crosses, colours, and holy relicks, and to carry as many as they could engage along with them. The archbishop's sickness prevented his Ethelred coming into the field in person; however, he took care to val. de send Ralph, bishop of the Orcades, in his stead. This pre- dard. Col. late, when the enemy appeared, and the armies were going 337. to charge, stood upon an eminence in the midst of the English troops, and encouraged them with the speech following:

Abbas Rie

Bello Stan

Huntingt.
Historiar.
1. 8. fol. 222.

bishop of

"My lords, you have the honour to be peers of England, Ralph, and Normans by extraction; I mention this last addition, Orcades', because those who are just ready to give the onset ought to speech to the English recollect the advantage of their original. I desire you would army. consider the place where, and the enemy against whom you fight. The truth is, nobody has hitherto encountered you without misfortune; the French, brave as they are, have been glad to retire, and resign you part of their territories. The old English, notwithstanding they had a rich country to encourage them in their defence, were forced to submit to your valour, and own you for their masters. vince of Puglia has recovered its ancient splendour under your conquest, and the famous cities of Jerusalem and Antioch have been forced to surrender and set open their gates to you; and now Scotland, which is by right but an English province, has the hardiness to make an offensive expedition, and endeavours to drive you from your own dominions. But alas! the preparation of the enemy is little better than

The pro

their cause; they seem to have nothing but their own rashness to support them, and appear better fitted for squabbling than fighting. If you examine the matter, you will find there is neither conduct in the officers nor discipline in the soldiers; in short, we have more reason to be ashamed than afraid at what we are going about. I say ashamed, that those people whom we have always beaten in their country should be so hardy and hot-headed as to attack us in our own; however, I am strongly persuaded that divine Providence has infatuated them to this undertaking, that those men who have profaned churches, stained the altars with the blood of the slain, killed the priests, and spared neither women nor children, that those men, I say, should be punished, and fall in the same country where they had committed such horrid barbarities; and God, I doubt not, will this day make you the ministers of his vengeance upon them. Be brave, therefore, gentlemen, and charge this savage enemy with the customary courage of your ancestors; or rather let the consciousness of a good cause and the countenance of heaven animate your resolution. Be not surprised to find the enemy not discouraged by so many defeats, and that they have still the boldness to make head against us; for rashness, without other accoutrements, is a poor defence. These Scots have neither arms, nor skill to handle them; whereas you are trained to the art and exercise of war, you are armed cap-a-pee, and, as it were, sheathed in iron, so that the enemy will be at a loss where to make a blow at you. March, therefore, and never question falling on upon a naked rabble. Are you apprehensive of their numbers? There is no reason for that; for victory does not depend upon the poll, or telling of noses. A multitude is oftentimes a disadvantage, it is more difficultly governed, and is neither well prepared for victory or misfortune; it hinders pursuit in the one case, and retreat in the other: besides, your ancestors have often conquered against great disadvantage of numbers. Indeed, what signifies illustrious birth, martial skill, and good discipline, unless it makes a few of you an over-match for a great many? But it is time to break off, for now the enemy, which I am glad to see, begins to advance in a broken unmilitary order, and looks more like tumult than war. Having, therefore, a commission to re

the

330.

present your archbishop, if any of you happen to fall in the MAUD, field, you, I say, who have the honour to fight in the cause Empress. of God and your country, and to revenge the outrages done to religion, I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, whose creatures the enemy has most barbarously destroyed, and of the Son, whose altars they have profaned, and of the Holy Ghost, from whose grace and guidance they have made so flagitious a revolt."

To this all the English army shouted Amen, Amen.

Upon this, the two armies charged with great fury, and the fight was obstinately maintained for some time; but at last the Scots were broken, and the victory remained to the English, who cut above ten thousand of the enemy in pieces, with little loss of their own. This battle was fought in August.

West

bericus, the

This year, in December, there was a synod held at West- 4 synod at minster under Albericus, the pope's legate. This Albericus, minster, bishop of Ostia, had been some months in England, and under Almade a visitation in several dioceses. At his first arrival, pope's legate. his credentials being read before the king and the lords, they demurred to his authority; but at last, out of regard to the pope, his character was owned. However, as Gervase of Canterbury relates, the king took it ill, that his brother, the bishop of Winchester, should be struck out of his legatine commission, which he had hitherto enjoyed during the vacancy of the see of Canterbury. But Malms- Chronic. bury, who lived at this time, makes his legatine authority of a later date.

Some short time before the meeting of the synod, Albericus, the legate, sent a summons to the prior, convent, clergy, and laity of Canterbury, about the election of an archbishop. He orders his letter of summons to be read on the first Sunday of Lent, before all the clergy and people of Canterbury; and that after they had prepared themselves for the matter in hand by prayer, fasting, and distributions of charity, they should take care to think upon such a person, against whom there could be no objection made from the canons; such a person, to whose election the bishops of the province ought to consent, and whom the king could not reasonably refuse. He therefore enjoins them, in the pope's name, to pitch upon proper delegates for this business, to

Gervas. col.

1344.

THEO- furnish them with powers to represent the whole body, and send them to London about the middle of Advent.

BALD, Abp. Cant.

Chronic.

From hence it appears that the election of bishops was Gervas. col. left, in a great measure, to the respective chapters, and not tied up to the direction of a conge d'elire.

1346.

Id. col. 1348.

Theobald

The synod was opened at Westminster on the 13th of December; it consisted of seventeen bishops and thirty abbots, besides a numerous appearance of inferior clergy and laity. The legate Albericus presided, and after the dispatch of other business, there were sixteen canons drawn up, several of which, being the same with those in former synods, need not be repeated.

By the eighth canon, those clergymen that used the diversion of hunting, or managed secular business to enrich themselves, were to be suspended ab officio et beneficio.

By the ninth, if any person killed, imprisoned, or assaulted any clerk, monk, nun, or other ecclesiastical person, he was to be excommunicated; neither should it be lawful for any person but the pope to give him absolution, unless at the point of death.

The twelfth prohibits the clergy practising the profession of arms, and serving in the field.

By the sixteenth, those schoolmasters who put others in their places are forbidden taking any money for the substitution.

After the breaking up of the council, Jeremy, prior of chosen arch- Christ's Church, Canterbury, with some others of the conbishop of Canterbury, vent, being summoned to court, chose Theobald, abbot of Bec, in Normandy, for their archbishop, the king, several of the bishops and temporal nobility, being present. Henry, bishop of Winchester, is said to have expected this preferment for himself, and was disgusted at the disappoint

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Theobald, upon his election, went to Canterbury, and was consecrated in January, by the legate Albericus; and soon after took a journey to Rome with the legate for his pall. He was honourably received by pope Innocent II., and, as the author of the Antiquitates Britannicæ reports, had the title of legatus natus bestowed upon himself and his successors. If the fact stands thus, which I question, this Theobald. favour was no more than an empty title; for, it is certain,

Antiquit.
Britan. in

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