Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

horses. The fierce king was roused to fury by the sight; without waiting for any one else to go with him he spurred on his horse and rushed upon the foe. He trusted so much in his own strength and courage that he thought no one would be able to stand against him. But presently his horse, which he had only that day bought, was killed under him, and he was thrown down and for some time dragged along by his foot. He was not hurt, however, by the fall, for his armour was so strong that it saved him; but the soldier who had unhorsed him drew his sword to strike him. Then William, seeing his danger, cried out, in his great, fierce voice, "Hold, rascal! I am the King of England." At the sound of his well-known voice all the troop trembled. With great respect they at once helped him to rise, and got another horse for him. He did not wait for help but jumped into the saddle, and looking round with his keen eyes, he asked, "Who unhorsed me?" All stood silent with fear but the man who had done the deed, and he answered readily: "It was I who took you not for a king, but for a soldier."

William was delighted with his boldness and his answer, and cried out with an oath: "Henceforth thou shalt be my man, and I will reward thee for thy good service." So the soldier became William's man, and earned the King's favour instead of his anger.

As the siege went on Henry and his followers began to be in sore want of water. So Henry sent messengers to Robert to tell him that it was impious to let him be without water, to which all men had a right; and that he might try his

courage any other way that he chose, so long as he did not use the forces of nature to fight against him, but only the bravery of a soldier. Robert's kindly heart was easily moved, and he ordered his men who kept watch to be more careless, so that Henry's men might get water. But when William heard what Robert had done, he was filled with anger and said to him, "You indeed well know how to carry on war when you allow your enemies plenty of water; pray, how shall we subdue them, if we indulge them in food and drink?” Robert with great good-humour answered, smiling: “Oh, shame should suffer my brother to die with thirst? Where shall we find another if we lose him?" On this William laughed at him with scorn at his mild temper, and no doubt took care that strict watch was kept to prevent Henry's men from getting any more water. Soon after Henry found it impossible to hold out any longer in his castle. With great difficulty he persuaded his brothers to allow him to go away free. For two years he wandered about poor and landless, with only five attendants; but after that time things began to go better with him, and he again made friends with Williami the Red.

XII.

ANSELM, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.

A. D. 1093.

WHEN William the Red became King of England the wise Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury; but he died two years afterwards, and then William, who cared neither for God nor man, did not choose a new archbishop, but kept all the money that ought to have gone to the archbishop for himself.

At that time a wise and holy monk, called Anselm, was abbot of the monastery of Bec, in Normandy. Anselm had been a friend of Archbishop Lanfranc, and was well known to many men in England, who revered him for his great holiness. One of his chief friends in England was Hugh, Earl of Chester: Hugh was a jovial, good-natured man, so fat that he could hardly stand, who seemed to care for nothing but eating, and drinking, and hunting; yet he respected religion, and had a real love for Anselm. He wished to make a new monastery on his lands, and asked Anselm to come over to England and help him with his advice. England had then been four years without an archbishop, and many people began to say that if only Anselm came to England he might be made archbishop. Anselm had heard of this talk, and it made him afraid of coming to England, for he liked best to lead a quiet and studious life, and was quite decided never to be an archbishop.

So when Hugh of Chester asked him, he refused to come. Then Hugh fell ill and sent to Anselm again, begging him to come for the sake of his old friendship. Still Anselm could not make up his mind to go; but Hugh went on sending him pressing messages, and at last said that if he did not come he would regret it through all eternity. At this Anselm gave way, and came to England to see his old friend.

He found Hugh better when he arrived; but there were many things for which Anselm was wanted in England, and he was kept there for five months. Nothing was said, however, about his being made archbishop, and he hoped that all danger of that was over. But when he wanted to go, William the Red refused to allow him to leave England, and Anselm was kept there against his will.

Meanwhile the lords who came to keep Christmas at the King's Court complained bitterly about the want of an archbishop. They even urged the King to suffer prayers to be put up in all the churches throughout England that God would put it into his heart to allow a new archbishop to be chosen. William was very angry at their request, but said they might do as they liked, for whatever the Church might ask, he meant to have his own way in the end. So the bishops persuaded Anselm to make a prayer for them which might be offered in the churches.

One day one of the lords began to praise Anselm to the King, for he said that he knew of no other man so holy, seeing that Anselm loved nothing but God, and cared for nothing but Him. "For nothing!" answered the King, scornfully; "what? not even for the Archbishopric of Canterbury?"

« ZurückWeiter »