Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/167

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striving. Then a man of Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances steps in with a new count. The men who held the Bishop of Durham's castle had—before the Bishop came to the King's court; therefore, it might be inferred, with his knowledge—taken two hundred beasts belonging to the Bishop of Coutances which were under the King's safe-conduct. Bishop Geoffrey had surely seen more than two hundred beasts brought into Bristol as the spoil of loyal men in Somerset, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire; but he is careful to exact the redress of his own loss from his brother bishop and rebel. The men of the Bishop of Durham had refused to pay the price of the beasts; they refused even when Walter of Eyncourt—we have met him in Lincolnshire —bade them do so in the King's name; he William, the man of Bishop Geoffrey, demands that the price be paid to his lord. The King puts it to the barons whether he can implead the Bishop on this charge also. Lanfranc, for the first time helping his brother prelate, rules that this cannot be done. Bishop William cannot be impleaded any further, because he now holds nothing of the King—the surrender of the castle of Durham is thus held to be already made—and is entitled to the King's safe-conduct. The Assembly now breaks up for the day; the Bishop is to choose the haven from which he will sail, and to make known his choice on the morrow.

The next day the Court again comes together. The