Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/167

A.D. 1101.] The marriage was celebrated on the, 12th of November, 1100, and the new queen was crowned amidst the acclamations of tho people. Previous to the ceremony Anselm, who wished to leave no room for slanderous reports, and to remove all doubts of the lawfulness of the marriage, mounted a platform before the church door, and explained the question which had been disputed, and the decision of the council, to the assembled people.

The Normans, however, who had raised the opposition to the marriage, and many of whom were secret adherents of Duke Robert, vented their ill-humour in bitter railleries and jests. They gave Henry the nickname of Godrik, and his queen they called Godiva—names which were Saxon, and were applied to the royal couple in derision. It is related by an old historian that Henry heard all these things, but that he dissembled his anger, and pretended to laugh heartily at the jests.

Soon after his marriage the king commenced proceedings against several of the most vicious of his brother's favourites, whom he despoiled of their ill-gotten possessions, and either expelled them from the country, or threw them into prison. During the time he had been attached to his brother's court, Henry had taken part in the debaucheries which there prevailed; and it is probable that the punishment of his former associates was dictated, not by any regard for the interests of virtue, but rather from a deference to the wishes of the people; while, at the same time, he was enabled to fill the royal coffers with the treasures of the banished lords. Foremost among the proscribed was Ralph Flambard, the minister of Rufus, who had been made Bishop of Durham, and who had amassed large possessions by extortion, and a selling of justice. Flambard was seized and thrown into the Tower, whence he effected his escape, by means of a rope which was conveyed to him by some of his friends in a flagon of wine. Having made his way to the coast, he crossed the Channel, and entered the service of Robert of Normandy.

When Robert at length returned to his dukedom with his bride Sibylla, he was received with acclamation by the inhabitants, and soon expressed the intention of enforcing his claim to the crown of England; but, with his accustomed procrastination, he took no immediate steps to that end, but occupied his time with feasts and tournaments. When at length he was aroused to enter upon the expedition he had planned, he was supported not only by the resident Norman barons, but also by many of those who had settled in England, and who agreed to join their forces to his standard. Among these were the Earl of Surrey, William de Warrenne, Robert de Pontefract, Hugh de Grantmesnil, Robert de Malet, and Robert de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury.

On the other hand, Henry was strong in the support of the English people, and a party of the Norman nobility. Archbishop Anselm, with other prelates, rendered the king important service, and secured to Henry the support of the Pope. There appears to be little doubt that Anselm was a conscientious man, and that if he adhered to the cause of the usurper, he did so from a sincere desire to establish the liberties of the people, and from a conviction that the rule of Henry, who had pledged himself to promote the welfare of his subjects, was preferable to that of the weak and luxurious Duke of Normandy.

Henry fitted out a fleet for the purpose of intercepting the duke in his voyage across tho Channel; but the English sailors, from some cause which has not been entirely explained, deserted from their allegiance, and carried the ships over to the service of Robert.

There was something in the character of the Duke of Normandy—in his brilliant feats of courage, in his reckless generosity, and careless way of life—which had an attraction for the minds of sailors; and it is probable, also, that they were influenced by the intrigues of Ralph Flambard. The desertion was an important service to the duke, and the fleet which had been designed to oppose his landing, served to convey the invading troops to the English shores.

Robert landed with his army at Portsmouth (A.D. 1101), and was immediately joined by many barons and knights of Norman birth; the clergy, however, and the private soldiers remained faithful to the cause of the king. Several days elapsed before the rival forces came within sight of each other; and in the meanwhile some of the Norman barons acted as mediators between the two brothers, and succeeded in arranging terms of peace. Robert agreed to resign his claim to the crown of England for a yearly pension of two thousand pounds of silver; and it was decided that the adherents of either side should be pardoned, and that their possessions, confiscated by the king or the duke, should be immediately restored. A clause was also added, to the effect that whichever of the two brothers might survive the other, should succeed to his title and dominions. The effusion of blood was thus stayed for the moment, and Robert returned with his army to Normandy, (A.D. 1102.)

Finding himself securely in posession of the throne, Henry was disposed to revoke some of the concessions which he had made to Anselm, for the purpose of securing the support of that prelate. The king demanded that he should do homage for the archbishopric of Canterbury, and Anselm having returned a decided refusal, a dispute arose which lasted over several years. In the first instance, the question was referred to the Pope, Pascal II., who decided that all ecclesiastics should enter the Church without the authority of laymen, of however high degree. Henry persisted in maintaining his prerogative, and required Anselm either to do homage or once more to quit the kingdom. The archbishop remained firm, and the king, who did not desire an open rupture with the Church, sent three bishops to Rome to negotiate with the Pope. Anselm, at the same time, sent two monks, as messengers of his own. It is stated by Eadmer, the biographer of Anselm, that the Pope had recourse to a strange expedient to evade the difficulty in which he found himself. He refused to communicate with the three bishops in writing, but informed them verbally that had ceded the right of investiture to the king; while he gave letters to the two monks, in which he supported the opposition of Anselm, and desired him to continue that course of action.

On the return of the messengers to London, an assembly was convened, at which they delivered the report of their journey. The word of the three bishops was accepted by the king in preference to the written testimony produced by the monks; and though the Pope affirmed that the evidence of the bishops was false, and, moreover, excommunicated them as liars, Henry persisted in his line of policy, and invested new bishops with the sees of Hereford and