Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/164

 *

Lanfranc asserts the authority of the King's court. The King then steps in with one of his short speeches; "You may say what you will, but you shall not escape my hands, unless you first give up the castle to me." The Bishop then makes a shorter protest than usual, the drift of which seems to be that he is ready to suffer any loss rather than be personally arrested. The sentence of the Court is now finally passed. A day is fixed by which the Bishop's men should leave the city of Durham and the King's men take possession of it instead.

The judgement of the Assembly had thus formally gone against the claims of the Bishop of Durham; but his resources were not at an end. Defeated on all points of law, he makes an appeal to the King's generosity. Will his lord the King, he now prays, leave him something from his bishopric on which he may at least be able to live? Lanfranc again answers; "Shall you go to Rome, to the King's hurt and to the dishonour of all of us, and shall the King leave lands to you? Stay in his land, and he will give back to you all your bishopric, except the city, on the one condition that you do right to him in his court by the judgement of his barons."