Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/651

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But he had already broken his oath—the charge is delicately worded—when he threatened to go to Rome without the King's leave. For any of the great men of the realm so to do was utterly unheard of; for him most of all. Anselm's enemies had now the advantage of him; he certainly had uttered words which might be not unfairly construed as an intended breach of the law. They therefore called on him to make oath that he would never appeal to the Holy See in any shape in any matter which the King might lay upon him; otherwise he must leave the kingdom with all speed, on what conditions he already knew. And if he chose to stay and take the oath, he must submit to be fined at the judgement of the court for having troubled the King so much about a matter in which he had after all not stuck firm to his own purpose. This last condition seems hard measure; there was surely no treason in making a request to the King which it rested with the King to grant or to refuse. With regard to the alleged breach of promise they undoubtedly stood on firmer ground.

The King's messengers did not wait for an answer. Anselm therefore rose; followed by his companions, he went in to the King, and, according to custom, sat down beside him. He asked whether the message which he had just heard had really come from the King, and he received for answer that it had. Anselm then said that he had undoubtedly made the promise to observe the laws, but that he made it only in God's name, and so far as the laws were according to right, and could be obeyed in