K. of Eng. Anselm, jects: always remembering the great day of retribution, HENRY I. and that virtue and vice would be remarkably distinguished in the other world." About this time, Maurice, bishop of London, departed Ep. 132. this life. He had been formerly chaplain to the Conqueror, was nominated by that prince to the see of London, in the year 1085, and consecrated by Lanfranc in the year 1086. Not long after, St. Paul's happening to be burnt, with the greatest part of the city, Maurice laid the foundation of the new cathedral upon so vast a model, that it was thought it would never have been finished. To furnish him the better for this undertaking, the king gave him the remains of a palace in London. He had likewise a grant from the crown of the castle of Bishop's-Stortford, and the manors belonging to it. Notwithstanding these advantages, and his utmost appli- don, p. 352. cation and interest for twenty years together, the structure Episc. & went on but slowly. Indeed the plan was so large and Decan. magnificent, that the church was not finished in Diceto's time, who wrote above a hundred years after the death of this prelate. Stow's Sur vey of Lon Wharton de Londinens. p. 616. To this year we are to assign the death of Richard, abbot The monastery of Ely of Ely. I mention him, because he was the last of that dig- made a nity in the monastery; for, upon his death, Hervey, bishop bishop's see. of Bangor, happening to be forced from his see by the mutinous, ungovernable temper of the Welsh; the king sent Angl. Sacr. him down to Ely to be entertained by the abbey till a far- par ther provision. This prelate, being a person of prudence and address, gained such an interest with the monks, that they wished themselves under his jurisdiction. Hervey, perceiving the monks' inclination, told them, he conceived the monastery might be serviceably turned into a bishop's see; dilated upon the convenience of the place, and the largeness of the revenues, and made them a great many promises for their assistance in this affair. The monks giving their consent, Hervey applied to the king, who, approving the motion, sent for Robert, bishop of Lincoln; for Ely being in this prelate's diocese, his jurisdiction could not fairly be lessened, nor another see erected upon him without his consent. To make him a compensation therefore for resigning Cambridgeshire to the new see, the manor of Histor. pars. 1. p. 616. 294. ANSELM, Spalding was conveyed to him and his successors. Hervey Abp. Cant. having the bishop of Lincoln's consent, and the king's favour for his project, applied to Anselm, who wrote to the pope for Angl. Sacr. his allowance of what was in hand; alleging the diocese of Lincoln was too large for the government of one bishop; but without any mention of Hervey. However, this prelate going to Rome himself, and carrying letters from the king and the archbishop, persuaded the pope that he might be the person. The pope, therefore, in his letter to the king, recommends Hervey to his highness's favour, both upon the score of his probity and learning, and also because of the barbarous usage he had met with in his own diocese; and therefore when there was a vacant see in England, he desires the king, Hervey might be preferred, that the qualifications of so considerable a person might not lie idle, and be discouraged. This letter was written the latter end Selden. Not. of November, 1107. ad Eadmer, p. 210. Pope Paschal wrote another letter to Anselm to the same purpose, excepting that there is no mention made of the Selden, ib. person designed for the new see. The charac- I shall conclude this year with the death of Godfrid, prior ter of God of Winchester; a person, as Malmsbury reports him, very frid, prior of Winches- remarkable both for his piety and learning. His letters and ter. epigrams were written with a great deal of spirit and genius. He likewise wrote a panegyric upon the English primates; and, which is more considerable, he helped to reform the divine service, discharged what was worn out by time, brightened the phraseology, and made the whole more beauMalmsb. de tiful and solemn. Malmsbury commends him very much for tif. 1. 2. fol. his hospitable and charitable temper; and that he made his Gest. Pon 140. house a general receptacle for indigent strangers. He was likewise a person remarkably humble and unpretending in conversation; which, considering his capacity and acquirements, was no mean commendation. For, as Malmsbury goes on, people are apt to grow haughty upon their attainments this way; to throw their learning and superiority into their face, and carry a disagreeable mixture of pride and sense in their mien and gestures. By the reformation he made in the publick office of the church, Alford Alford, An- conjectures, he had a principal hand in correcting Osmund's nal. vol. 4. Breviary Secundum Usum Sarum. p. 165. King Hen the diocese The next year, the king granted a charter for the erecting HENRYI. the monastery of Ely into a bishop's see. The charter sets K. of Eng. forth, that this new erection was made by the authority of A. D. 1108. pope Paschal, at the instance of Robert, bishop of Lincoln, ry's charter and his whole chapter, with the consent of Anselm, archbi-for erecting shop of Canterbury, Thomas, archbishop of York, and all the of Ely. other bishops of England; so that, as far as it appears from the charter, the king's part is only to confirm the temporalities and civil privileges to that see; and to bar the bishops Selden, Not. of Lincoln from all secular claim upon the Ely diocese. Selden makes several objections against the genuineness The genuof this charter. One of his exceptions is drawn from the date. ineness of it The charter, dated November, 1108, supposes Anselm dead; able. and yet it is certain from Eadmer, this archbishop did not die till April, the year following. Alford endeavours to salve this seeming inconsistency, by observing, that Hervey was elected to the see of Ely in the year 1108, when Anselm was living; but had not possession till the year following, in which the charter was drawn, and gave him a legal settlement: he supposes therefore the charter contains the proceedings of two years, and bears date from the first. How solid this solution may be, I shall not stand to examine: however it is certain Hervey was not possessed of the bishoprick till after Anselm's death. ad Eadmer, p. 211. question Eadmer, nal. vol. 4. Selden objects farther against the charter, from the men- p. 104. tion of the word Duces, and judiciously observes, that there was no such title in England after the Conqueror's time till the reign of Edward III. To this Alford replies, that the title of duke was frequently used in the Conqueror's time; but, not offering to prove it given to any English subject, the answer is faint, and does not come up to the difficulty. Alford. AnAbout the beginning of this year, Gundulph, bishop of p. 228. Rochester, departed this life. He was a person, though not profoundly learned, yet very prudent in his conduct, and well qualified for government and publick business. He built the cathedral of Rochester from the foundation, and left it in the condition it stands at present. He likewise founded the hospital of St. Bartholomew's, at Chatham; and the nunnery at Malling, which, at the dissolution of religious houses was valued at the yearly rent of two hundred and ANSELM, forty-five pounds. He likewise built the great tower in Abp. Cant. Rochester castle: and, to conclude with him, he made a very rich shrine for St. Paulinus's relics. Malmsb. de Gest. Pontif. lib. 1. fol. 132. Episc. And now Eadmer complains, that the decrees of the late Godwin in synod of London were slighted by the clergy; that a great many priests took the liberty to live with their wives; and those that were single, married as they thought proper. Another sy- There was therefore another synod convened at London nod at Lon- in Whitsun holidays, where all the bishops, with the conA. D. 1108. sent of the barons, made the regulations following, viz.— don. Severe ca "That priests, deacons, and subdeacons, should not ennons against tertain women in their houses, except their nearest relations, according to the decision of the council of Nice." the married clergy. 295. But here the London synod misreports the council of Nice, as I have proved already. To proceed: "Those priests, deacons, or subdeacons, who have cohabited with their wives, or married since the late synod at London; if they intend to officiate in their function, are obliged to an immediate separation: their wives are likewise forbidden to come to their houses, to meet them elsewhere, or so much as to reside upon any of the demesnes of the Church. And in case any clergyman was charged with the breach of these canons, either by publick fame, or the deposition of two or three legal witnesses, he was obliged to purge himself by six counter-evidences, provided he was a priest; but, if no more than a deacon, five would serve. But if the just number of compurgators could not be procured, he was to fall under the censure of the canon. And as for those priests who should presume to slight the authority of the synod, and cohabit with their wives, they were to be barred all exercise of their function, deprived of their benefices, and thrown under an discreditable character. And if any of them proved so mutinous, as not to part with their wives, and yet ventured to say mass, they were to be excommunicated within eight days, provided they did not appear upon summons, and make satisfaction. All archdeacons and prebendaries were likewise comprehended within the prohibition of these All archdeacons were likewise to take an oath, that they would not receive any bribe to connive at the breach canons. of this canon; nor suffer any priests, who lived with their HENRY I. K. of Eng. wives, to officiate, or put in a vicar. And, in case they heard them charged upon this article, they were to examine the truth of the accusation. The same oath was put to the deans. And, provided any dean or archdeacon refused to swear, he was to lose his deanery or archdeaconry. And as for those priests who chose rather to quit their wives than their function, they were to forbear officiating forty days, and submit to such other penance as their ordinary should enjoin them. And if any of the persons above mentioned happened to fail or relapse, their moveables were to be seized, and put into the bishop's custody. Eadmer, 1. 4. p. 95. of Hoveden Annal. fol. the clergy the synod. Notwithstanding the rigour of these canons, several the clergy refused to acquiesce. It seems they did not 270. think the synod had any authority to dissolve so solemn a Several of relation, or to bar them those liberties allowed by the Holy refused to Scriptures, and the practice of the primitive Church. Seve- acquiesce in ral priests therefore ventured through the prohibitions of the synod, and received their wives again; slighted the correction of the archdeacons, and took no notice of their excommunication. Anselm was mightily disturbed at this behaviour, flies out into a great deal of indefensible satire, and drops several intemperate expressions upon the occasion. And all that can be said for him is, that he had the Anselm, 1. 3. Epistoprejudices of the age he lived in, to plead somewhat in lar. Epist. his excuse. 112. sive custom put down. Anselm was much more serviceable to the kingdom upon another account; for it was by his advice, with the rest of the nobility, that several savage customs were put down, An oppreswhich were extremely oppressive to the commons; and here the king began with his own domestics, and made the court lead the way in the reformation. In the late reign, those that belonged to the king, and followed him in his progress, used to harass and plunder the country at discretion; and many of them were so extravagant in their barbarity, that what they could not eat or drink in their quarters, they either made the people carry to market and sell for them, or else they would throw it into the fire: and at their going off, they would frequently wash their horses' heels with the drink, and stave the remainder; and as for outrages to persons, both men and women, they went to the utmost length |