confirmation of his subjection by oath, he refused, and said that he was not obliged to give it. Then was the archbishop Lanfranc wroth, and he commanded the bishops, who were there at his behest to assist at the ceremony, and all the monks, to unrobe themselves; and they did as he desired; so this time Thomas returned home without consecration. It happened soon after this, that the archbishop Lanfranc went to Rome, and Thomas with him: and when they were come thither, and had said all that they desired on other subjects, Thomas began his speech, saying how he had come to Canterbury, and how the archbishop had desired of him an oath of obedience, and that he had refused it. Then the archbishop Lanfranc began to make manifest with clear reasoning, that he had a right to demand that which he required: and he proved the same with strong arguments before the Pope Alexander, and before all the council then assembled: and thus they departed home. After this, Thomas came to Canterbury, and humbly performed all that the archbishop required, and thereupon he received the blessing. This year earl Waltheof made peace with the king. And during Lent in the same year the king caused all the monasteries in England to be despoiled of their treasures. The same year king Sweyn came from Denmark into the Humber, and the people of those parts came to meet him and made an alliance with him, for they believed that he would conquer the land. Then the Danish bishop Christien, and earl Osbern, and their Danish retainers, came into Ely, and all the people of the fens joined them, for they believed that they should conquer the whole country. Now the monks of Peterborough were told that some of their own men, namely,
of Christ's church were substituted in their place, together with the prior, named Anthony, who had been sub-prior at Christ's church. The townsmen who entered the abbat's hall in amis were seized, and those who were convicted of having struck him lost their eyes.
After the death of Lanfranc the see remained vacant four years, nine months, and nine days, during which time it suffered much adversity. At length, in the year of our Lord's incarnation 1093, and on the second before the Nones of March, the archbishopric of Canterbury was given to Anselm abbat of Bec, a good and an upright man, of great learning, and amongst the most noted of his time. He came to Canterbury on the seventh before the Kalends of October, his earlier arrival having been prevented by many sufficient causes, and he was consecrated on the second before the Nones at December.
