Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/119

 power which he acquired to uphold and magnify the position of the clergy. He was ambitious for himself, and did not hesitate to employ worldly means in the pursuit of his aims; like other prelates of his time, he was, it was said, half monk and half knight (De Contemptu Mundi, p. 315). Yet he was highly esteemed by such men as Peter the Venerable and Archbishop Becket; his life was pure, and John of Salisbury speaks warmly of his universal liberality towards the church (Ep. ii. 164).

On the death of Henry I, Henry of Blois made strenuous but fruitless efforts to persuade William of Pont l'Arche, the treasurer at Winchester, to give him up the castle, in order that he might secure the royal treasure for Stephen. Stephen, whose success depended largely on his brother's influence, went at once to Winchester after his election in London. Henry met him at the head of the principal citizens, and received him as king. When William of Corbeuil, archbishop of Canterbury, hesitated to perform the coronation rite, he offered himself as surety that his brother would preserve the liberty of the church, and so procured him the crown. He joined Stephen at the siege of Exeter, and persuaded him to reject the terms offered by the besieged, for he saw by their wasted faces that they would soon be forced to surrender at discretion [see under ]. On the death of Archbishop William in 1136 he hoped to succeed to the see of Canterbury, and is said to have actually been elected (, p. 908). In Advent he left England to obtain the papal sanction to his translation, sent messengers to Innocent II, and spent the rest of the winter in northern France. Innocent refused his consent, and Theobald was elected in December 1138. Henry was deeply mortified: it is said that the pope's refusal was due to the influence of Stephen and his queen, and that Henry's later desertion of his brother's cause was due to his anger at their interference. It is probable that Stephen was unwilling to see him acquire greater power, but his change of sides was decided by other causes. The pope thought highly of him, and on 1 March 1139 appointed him legate in England. This appointment, which he did not at once make known, was greatly to the prejudice of the see of Canterbury, for it gave him higher authority than the metropolitan. One of his early acts as legate was to send back to their old house the body of canons which the convent of Christchurch had planted at Dover. He had for some time been engaged in building. In 1138 he pulled down the palace of the Conqueror, which stood near his church, and with the materials built the strong castle known as Wolvesey House, and further built the castles of Farnham, Merdon, Waltham, Dunton, and Taunton. He also began the hospital of St. Cross outside Winchester.

The imprisonment of the bishops of Salisbury and Ely excited his strong disapproval. If they had done wrong, they should, he said, have been judged according to the canons, nor should their possessions have been seized without the sentence of an ecclesiastical council. In company with the archbishop he implored Stephen not to make a breach between the crown and the church. As legate, he called a council of the church to meet at Winchester on 29 Aug., and commanded the attendance of the king. He was looked upon as the ‘lord of England’ (, i. 100). After the council had heard his commission as legate read, he charged Stephen, who appeared by proctors, with treachery and sacrilege, and bade the archbishop and bishops deliberate on the matter, adding that neither his relationship to the king nor the risk of losing lands or life should hinder him from carrying out their sentence. Stephen was compelled to appear in person and receive the rebuke of the church. The council was dissolved on 1 Sept. Immediately afterwards the legate with a large body of knights joined his brother, who was besieging the empress in Arundel Castle. It was said that he had already made terms with the Earl of Gloucester, the chief supporter of the empress, but this was probably untrue (Gesta Stephani, p. 56). He advised the king to let the empress join the earl at Bristol, so that he might act against both at the same time; his advice is said (without proof) to have been treacherous. Stephen agreed, and the legate and the Count of Meulan were sent to conduct Matilda in safety. At Christmas Henry went to the court held at Salisbury, and there urged the appointment of Henry, son of his eldest brother, William de Sully, to the vacant see of Salisbury. His recommendation was rejected, and he left the court in anger (, p. 920). Soon after Whitsuntide 1140 he arranged negotiations for peace, and went to Bath, where, in company with the archbishop and the queen, he appeared for Stephen. Peace was not made, and the declaration of the representatives of the empress that she would submit her cause to the judgment of the church, while the king was unwilling to adopt such a course, probably increased the legate's alienation from his brother. In September he crossed to France, and conferred with Louis VII, with his brother, Count Theobald, and with