Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/484

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neither Christmas, Easter, nor Pentecost—was summoned to Winchester. In the presence of the assembled Witan, William Rufus, in full health, renewed the promises which he had made in his sickness. The wrongs done in his kingdom, above all, the wrongs done to the Church, were a second time to come to an end. Anselm was exhorted, and at last persuaded, to accept the archbishopric. He received it, seemingly without scruple, according to the ancient use of England; he became the man of the King. Anselm kneeling before Rufus, with his pure hands between the polluted hands of the King, pledging himself as the King's man for all earthly worship, makes a scene which it is strange to think of. The deed was now done, and it could not be recalled. Bishop in the spiritual sense Anselm was not as yet; but he was the legal possessor of all the temporal estates and temporal jurisdiction of the see of Canterbury.

The act which had just been done had now to be announced to the whole nation in the ancient form. The writ of King William went forth, announcing to all the King's faithful men, French and English, that he had granted to Anselm the archbishopric of Canterbury, with all the rights, powers, and possessions—rights, powers, and possessions, recited in the English tongue—which belonged to the see, with all liberties over all his men, within boroughs and without. And words were added which seemed meant expressly to enforce Anselm's."]