Page:The reign of William Rufus and the accession of Henry the First.djvu/78

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he had with him—seven chief barons of the bishopric, as it would seem—and would send to Durham for more. But, instead of so doing, he left the King's court without his leave; he took with him some of the King's men, and so forsook the King in his need. Such was afterwards the statement on the King's side. Certain it is that, whatever the Bishop's fault was, the royal vengeance followed speedily on it. Early in March, whether with or without the advice of any assembly, Rufus ordered the temporalities of the bishopric to be seized, and the Bishop himself to be arrested. The Bishop escaped to his castle at Durham, whence it would not be easy to dislodge him without a siege. Meanwhile the King's men in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, though they failed to seize the Bishop's own person, took possession in the King's name of his lands, his money, and his men. From Durham the Bishop wrote to the King, setting forth his wrongs, protesting his innocence, and demanding restitution of all that had been taken from him. He goes on to use words which remind us in a strange way at once of Godwine negotiating with his royal son-in-law and of Odo in the grasp of his royal brother. He offers the services of himself and his men. He offers to make answer to any charge in the King's court. But, like Godwine, he asks for a safe-conduct before he will come; like Odo, he declares that it is not for every one to judge a bishop, and that he will make answer only according to histe summonuit ut cum eo equitares; tu vero respondisti ei, te cum septem militibus quos ibi habebas libenter iturum, et pro pluribus ad castellum tuum sub festinatione missurum, et postea fugisti de curia sua sine ejus licentia, et quosdam de familia sua tecum adduxisti, et ita in necessitate sua sibi defecisti."]