William of Warelwast's secret dealings with Urban.
The excommunication respited.
April-September, 1099.
Brave words were these of Pope Urban, but William
the Red knew how to deal with mere bravery of words,
even in the Pope whom he had acknowledged. Walter
of Albano had once outwitted William and his counsellors;
but Walter of Albano had in the end yielded to
William's most powerful argument. William of Warelwast
was not the least likely to outwit Urban; but he
had it in commission from his master to overcome the
Pope by the same logic by which his Legate had been
overcome. We may copy the words of our own Chronicler
four-and-twenty years later; "That overcame Rome
that overcometh all the world, that is gold and silver."[1]
To Urban's well conceived speech the answer of William
of Warelwast was pithy and practical; "Before I go
away, I will have some dealings with you more in
private."[2] He went to work prudently, as the Red
King's clerks knew how to do; he made friends here
and there; the Pope's advisers were blinded; the Pope
himself was blinded; a respite from Easter to Michaelmas
was granted to King William of England.[3]
Position of Anselm. This adjournment was a heavy blow for Anselm. He had in no way stirred up the Pope to any action against the prince whom he still acknowledged as his sovereign. At Bari, when no answer had as yet been received
- ↑ Chron. Petrib. 1123.
- ↑ Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 52. "Priusquam abeam, tecum secretius agam."
- ↑ Ib. "Prudenter operam dando hos et illos suæ causæ fautores efficere, ac, ut domini sui voluntati satisfaceret, munera quibus ea cordi esse animadvertebat dispertiendo et pollicendo parvi habere. Deductus ergo a sententia Romanus pontifex est." William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 101) is still more distinct on this head; "Arte qua peritus erat negotium conficiens, singulos ambiendo, muneribus et pollicitationibus, regi terminum ad festum sancti Michahelis obtinuit. Cunctatus est multum ad id concedendum Urbanus, quod luctarentur in ejus animo Anselmi religio et munerum oblatio; sed prævaluit tandem pecunia. Itaque omnia superat, omnia deprimit nummus. Indignum factum ut pectori tanti viri, Urbani dico, vilesceret famæ cura, Dei respectus cederet, et pecunia justitiam præverteret."
