Page:VCH London 1.djvu/498

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A HISTORY OF LONDON It is probable that the influx of foreign ecclesiastics into England particularly affected the cathedral, for Robert of Jumieges, consecrated bishop of London in 1040,^ and his successor William were both Normans ; and it can hardly be doubted that the bishop appointed the clergy of the church at this date as in later times. The Norman names Ralph and Walter are indeed those of two of the four canons of St. Paul's, who are mentioned in the Domesday Survey.*^ Bishop William, according to his epitaph in the cathedral, was ' familiar with St. Edward, king and confessor, and admitted to the councils of Prince William, king of England.'" He obtained great and large privileges for London, and was for many centuries revered by the citizens.^^ It is to be concluded that he took under his protection the cathedral church, with which, of all the institutions of the city, he was particularly connected. Thus circumstances must have combined to prevent the Conquest from occasioning any break in the history of St. Paul's. Several grants of land and two charters were conferred by William I : ^* an instruction for the restoration of ancient possessions, which occurs in one charter," indicates some losses in the times of disorder, or neglect of the like pro- vision of Edward the Confessor. William desired that the church might be as free as he would wish his soul to be on the Day of Judge- ment. Confirmations of liberties and property were received from both his sons.^* In 1087 the Saxon church of St. Paul's was burnt,*' and Bishop Maurice began the building of that cathedral which was beautified and enlarged by many generations, and stood in 1666."* Richard de Belmeis bestowed for some years all the revenues of his office on the work of construction, and yet ' it seemed that nothing had been done.' -' Richard made St. Paul's churchyard, and enlarged the streets and lanes about the cathedral at his own cost.'" He obtained from Henry I a grant of as much of the ditch of Baynard's Castle as was needed to make a wall about the church and a way without the wall ;'^ and in 1106 Eustace earl of Boulogne re- »» W. Stubbs, Reg. Sacr. Angl. 20. " Dom. Bk. i, 127, 128. " Stow, Sutxi. of Lond. (ed. Strype), iii, 158. " Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauPs, 5 1 . »* Cart. Antiq. R. A. I. " Printed in Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauPs, 1 87. " Cart. Antiq. R. BB. 9 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Ref. ix, App. i, pt. i, 45. '■ Jng/.-Sax. Chron. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 188. " Much material was obtained from the ruins of a strong castle called the Palatine Tower, which was burnt with the old church. Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauVs, 6. » Will, of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontif (Rolls Ser.), 145.

  • > Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauFs, 6.

" Stow, Surv. of Lond. (ed. Strype), iii, 142. nounced all his claim to lands thus surrounded.^' Henry I helped the builders in another way ; he commanded that ships which entered the River Fleet to bring stone for the church should be free from toll and custom.^' In 1 135 the building was injured by a fire which arose at London Bridge and spread to St. Clement Danes.'* In the story of a disputed election the attitude of the chapter during the disorderly times of Stephen is discovered. Gilbert Universalis, bishop of London, died in 1134;" for two years the see remained vacant ; then a meeting of the chapter was held simultaneously with that of a council summoned by the king to West- minster. There were two parties among the canons, that which favoured and that which opposed the election to the episcopacy of Anselm, abbot of Bury St. Edmunds.'^ This was a nephew of the late Archbishop Anselm, who had been abbot of St. Sabas in Rome, and had visited England as legate in 1115. In 1116 he had arrived in Normandy bearing letters which conferred on him the administration of the apostolic see in England, and Henry I had been persuaded by the queen, Archbishop Ralph and certain nobles to send him back to Rome." Some of his supporters in this election were de- prived of their goods, and Ralph de Diceto says of them that they were wise not in God but in things of the world, and that their action seemed iniquitous to all the council at Westminster." It is evident that they represented the anti-national party in the politics of the church, and the party opposed to Stephen in state politics. Their opponents, who were led by Dean William, underwent a temporary defeat. The treasurer was an adherent of Anselm, and with Anselm, others of the canons and much gold, journeyed to Rome, where, by help of the confusion due to the schism of Leo, an appeal was gained. Anselm was accordingly received in the cathedral by a solemn procession,'^ and was enthroned in 1137.*" The time was favourable for high- handed administrations ; the new bishop's rule was autocratic, and he probably weakened his party in the chapter and the country. In the following year Richard de Belmeis and Ralph of Langford, resident canons, rendered a second appeal to Rome, which was supported by a letter from Archbishop Thurstan of York, and, according to Ralph de Diceto, by the evidence of all the suffragans of Canterbury.*' As a " Dugdale, Hist, of St. Paul's, 6. " Ibid. " Matt. Paris, Hist. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 163. " Kewcourt, Repert. i, 1 1 . '^ R. de Diceto, Opera Hist. (Rolls Ser.), i, 249. ^ Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 215 ; Roger of Hoveden, C/:ron. (Rolls Ser.), i, 171. '* R. de Diceto, Opera Hist. (Rolls Ser.), i, 248. " Ibid. " Newcourt, Repert. i, I I. " R. de Diceto, Opera Hist. (Rolls Ser.), i, 249. 410