Showing posts with label Chester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chester. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Anselm Becomes Archbishop

Anselm of Bec was the natural successor to Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury, but King William II "Rufus" left the see vacant so he could appropriate the revenues of its estates to himself. At Christmas 1092, William swore that no one would take the position at Canterbury while he was alive. Anselm decided it was not a good idea to pursue the position in opposition to the king, so he stayed away from England.

A few months later, William fell ill—so seriously ill that he feared that this was a punishment from God for his sinful ways. In order to atone, he summoned Anselm to hear his confession and administer last rites. Anselm was actually back in England, having been begged by the Earl of Chester to help establish a new monastery. (This was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to St. Werburgh; the abbey church is now Chester Cathedral.) William undid some of his horrible acts by releasing captives and promising to rule according to the law. He also nominated Anselm to take the position at Canterbury.

The monks at Canterbury were all for it—they carried him to the church and pushed the crozier into his hands (see the 19th-century illustration of the event)—but Anselm himself claimed advanced age (he was 60) as a reason to deny the position. Also, he was still officially abbot at Bec, and Bec refused to allow him to abandon that position. Negotiators were chosen to arrange the matter. Anselm in August gave William his conditions for assuming the archbishopric.

  • William had to return the church lands he had seized
  • William needed to accept the Gregorian Reforms
  • William needed to listen to Anselm in spiritual matters
  • William had to reject Antipope Clement III and support Urban II (William had not yet chosen sides)
William accepted these terms, but a few days later changed his mind and blocked Anselm's appointment. Public pressure made him relent, and he returned all the lands of Canterbury on the day Anselm was invested, 25 September 1093.

Traditionally, to become archbishop meant being given the pallium by the pope, and Anselm wanted to travel to Rome for that purpose to make it official. The Investiture Controversy (see several recent posts) made this dangerous. The Holy Roman Emperor and the pope in Rome had been at odds and were constantly each declaring the other deposed. This also led to the antipope situation mentioned above. William had not yet decided which pope he would support, so was not going to send Anselm to either one. Anselm was invested without a pallium.

So, let's sum up: Anselm was now Archbishop of Canterbury, Canterbury's lands were returned to it, William Rufus had repented and chosen to become a better king, and Rufus and Anselm were now on the same page. One of those statements is inaccurate, and we will be looking at the continued conflicts between Archbishop and King (and whether anyone was the winner) tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Eyres

An "eyre" (Middle English, from Old French eire from Latin iter, "journey") was "a circuit court held in medieval England by a judge (a justice in eyre) who rode from county to county for that purpose." (New Oxford American Dictionary). The justices in eyre, sent from Westminster to all counties (all but two that is; see below), would hear and rule on crown pleas (criminal offenses), and civil pleas (lawsuits).

Eyres were declared in the Assize of Clarendon in 1166, put in place by the rule-loving Henry II (1133 - 1189)—who wanted to get away from solutions that involved Trial by Combat or Trial by Ordeal—but we have no records of the eyres from that decade. By the end of the century, justices in eyre were required to keep careful records so that sheriffs knew from whom and how much in fines they were supposed to collect. The resulting "eyre rolls" are rolls of parchments stitched together, filled with Latin abbreviations and legal terminology.

Durham and Chester were exempt from the justices in eyre. The king had no jurisdiction there, because they were palatinates, ruled by a local palatine [Latin: "of the palace"], a figure who had jurisdiction that normally belongs to a king. Durham and Chester were under the control of their bishops, and eyres could only be conducted there if a bishop were dead and his successor not yet appointed.