[875] Roger of Wendover, iii. 293. “Producta est in medium charta quædam regis Henrici primi, quam iidem barones a Stephano, Cantuariensi archiepiscopo, ut prædictum est, in urbe Londoniarum acceperant. Continebat autem hæc charta quasdam libertates et leges regis Eadwardi sanctæ ecclesiæ Anglicanæ pariter et magnatibus regni concessas, exceptis quibusdam libertatibus quas idem rex de suo adjecit.”
[876] See the list in Select Charters, 98. Why does not Walter Giffard sign as Earl? Or is it his son? William of Malmesbury (v. 393) seems to speak of a general oath to the charter on the part of the nobles; “Antiquarum moderationem legum revocavit in solidum, sacramento suo et omnium procerum, ne luderentur corroborans.”
[877] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 295; iii. p. 590; v. p. 893.
[878] See N. C. vol. v. p. 602.
[879] On Abbot Simeon, see N. C. vol. iv. pp. 481, 833. According to the local writers (Anglia Sacra, i. 612; Stewart, 284) he reached his hundredth year. They have much to tell of the troubles of the abbey during the vacancy at the hands of Flambard (Stewart, 276–283). But it seems that Flambard needed to be stirred up by a local enemy, who, we are sorry to find, bears an English name and a singular surname; “vir Belial Ælwinus cognomento Retheresgut, id est venter pecudis.”
[880] Orderic (783 C, D) mentions all these appointments to abbeys along with the appointment of William Giffard to Winchester and that of Gerard to York. It will be remembered that he fancied that Archbishop Thomas was dead before the coronation. “Eliense cœnobium dedit Ricardo, Ricardi de Benefacta filio, Beccensi monacho, et abbatiam Sancti Edmundi regis et martyris Rodberto juveni Uticensi monacho, Hugonis Cestrensis comitis filio. Glastoniam quoque commisit Herluino Cadomensi, et Habundoniam Farisio Malmesburiensi.” That the appointments were made on the day of the coronation appears from the two local histories, the Annals of Saint Eadmund’s in Liebermann, 130, and the two Ely histories, that in Anglia Sacra, i. 613, and the Liber Eliensis (Stewart, 284), which largely copies Florence. As Richard the second Earl of Chester was “filius unicus Hugonis consulis” (Hen. Hunt. De Contemptu Mundi, 304), and as Orderic (787 C) calls him “Pulcherrimus puer, quem solum ex Ermentrude filia Hugonis de Claromonte genuit [Hugo],” it would follow that Abbot Robert was one of the many natural children of Earl Hugh. See N. C. vol. v. p. 490. He was appointed, say the local Annals, “renitentibus monachis.”
[881] Orderic, as we have seen, calls Abbot Richard a son of Richard of Bienfaite, while the Ely writers call him the son of Count Gilbert, which must be wrong. Yet they have much to say about his family, who are oddly spoken of as the “Ricardi,” along with the “Gifardi.” They tell at length the story of his deposition, but attribute it to the King rather than to Anselm. But see Florence, 1102; Eadmer, 67; Ans. Ep. iii. 140.
[882] See Willis, Glastonbury, p. 9.
[883] Faricius fills a large space in the history of his abbey. He was a native of Arezzo, and had been cellarer at Malmesbury; Hist. Ab. ii. 44, 285. He was kept back from the archbishopric by the scruples of Robert (Bloet) Bishop of Lincoln and Roger Bishop of Salisbury; Hist. Ab. ii. 287.
[884] William of Malmesbury (v. 393) puts the whole story emphatically enough; “Ne quid profecto gaudio accumulato abesset, Rannulfo nequitiarum fæce tenebris ergastularibus incluso, propter Anselmum pernicibus nuntiis directum.” Florence also joins the imprisonment of Flambard and the recall of Anselm; “Nec multo post Dunholmensem episcopum Rannulfum Lundoniæ in turri custodiæ mancipavit, et Dorubernensem archiepiscopum Anselmum de Gallia revocavit.” In the Chronicle we get the Tower named in our own tongue, as in 1097; “And se cyng sona æfter þam be þære ræde þe him abutan wæran, þone biscop Rannulf of Dunholme let niman, and into þam Ture on Lundene lét gebringon and þær healdan.”