35* Elucidations of Porliom of English History. [June 1, 



deposited iti them was seized by Lis Apostle,* and authorised representa- 



order, as were most of the precious lives of our lord, Pope Alexander, 



vessels and shrines ;* the scrolls on have resolved to bold a council with 



which were inscribed the false pro- yon, that we may inform ourselves of 



niises made by the Norman to the the bad things which liave sprung up 



vanquished were at the same time in the vineyard of the Lord, and may 



taken away from the churches, where plant in it things profitable both for 



they had been placed for security .f the body and for the soul. "t 



This great spoliation took place in the 

 Lent which terminated the year 10G9; 

 and in Easter-week (1070) there ar- 

 rived in England, pursuant to Wil- 

 liam's request,]: three legates from the 

 Apostolic See, viz. Ermenfeni bishop 

 of Sienna, and the Cardinals John and 

 Peter. The Norman founded his great 



The true sense of these mystical 

 words was, that ttie Conqueror, in 

 accordance with the Pope, wished to 

 strip the whole body of the higher 

 clergy of English origin ;t and the mis- 

 sion of the legates from Rome was to 

 give the colour of religion to a mea- 

 sure purely political. The prelate 



designs on the presence of these envoys whom they first struck was Stigand 

 from his ally the Pope ; and kept them archbishop of Canterbury, who had 



about him for a whole year, honourin 

 them (says an old historian,) as if they 

 had been angels from God.§ In the 

 midst of the famine, which in many 

 places was destroying the Saxons by 

 thousands,|| brilliant festivals were 

 celebrated in the fortified palace of 

 Winchester ; there the Roman priests, 

 placing the crown afresh on the head 

 of the foreign king,l[ eflaced the vain 

 malediction which Elred archbishop 

 of York had pronounced against him. 

 After the festivals, a great assembly 

 of the Normans, laymen or priests, 

 enriched by the lands of the English, 

 was held at Winchester. At this 

 assembly the Saxons were summoned 

 to appear, in the name (of the autho- 

 rity) of the Roman Church, by circu- 

 lars, the style of which might forew arn 

 them of the result of this great council 

 (as it was called) to themselves. 

 " Although the Church of Rome," said 

 the envoys, " has a right to watch over 

 the conduct of all Christians, it more 

 especially belongs to her to enquire 

 into your morals and way of life,** — 

 you whom she formerly instructed in 



dared to appear in arms against the 

 foreigner, and had refused to anoint 

 him king. These were his real crimes ; 

 but the sentence which degraded him 

 was grounded on other causes, — on 

 more honest pretexts, to use the lan- 

 guage of the old historians. § 'i'hree 

 ecclesiastical grievances were found 

 against him, which rendered his ordi- 

 nation null and void.|| He was turned 

 out of the episcopacy, — first, for hav- 

 ing taken the arclibishopric during the 

 life of the Norman archbishop Robert, 

 whom the Saxons had driven away ; 

 secondly, for having said mass in the 

 pontifical habit or pallhim, worn by 

 the said Robert, and left by him at 

 Canterbury; lastly, for having re- 

 ceived his own pallium from the hands 

 of Benedict X. who bad been de- 

 graded, and afterwards excommuni- 

 cated, by a victorious competitor. As 

 soon as the friend of King Harold and 

 of his country was, according to the 

 language of the time, struck by the 

 canonical axe, his lauds were seized 

 and divided between the Norman 

 king, the Norman queen, and the 



the decay of that faith which you hold 

 from her. In order to exercise over 

 your persons this salutary inspection, 

 we, ministers of Blessed Peter the 



the faith of Christ, and to repair in you Bishop of Bayeux. The same blow 



" was aimed at those English bishops 

 who could not be reproached with any 

 violation of the canons. 1[ Alexander 

 prelate of Lincoln, Egelmar prelate of 



• Nos qnaiesumque B. Petri Apostoli 

 ministros. (VVilkins, Con. 323.) 



t Animarum et corporum utilitati pro- 

 fecttira plantemus. (lb) 



X Dignitaiibus suis privarentur. (lb. 

 322.) 



§ Honestam de illo voliiit habere ultio- 

 nem. (Watt. Hemingford, 4.d8.) 



II Degradatus tribus de causis. (Flor. 

 Wigor. 636.) 



IT Securi canonicae animadversionis. 

 (Doomsday Book, i. 189, 152, 248.) 



East 



• Calicibus et feretris uso pepertit. 

 (Anglia Sacra, i. 2.57.) 



t i)wm chartis in qnarum libertatibus 

 Angli confidebant. (M. West. 226.) 



X Literis regiis accessiti. (Watt. He- 

 mingsf. 458.) 



S Tanquam angelos Dei. (Ord. Vit. 516.) 



B £rat magna fames. ( Edw. Lye.) 



S Ei coronani imposuerunt. (Ord. Vit. 

 516.) 



•* Conversationis vestrae mores convenit 

 inquirere. (Wilkins, Con. 323.) 



