of St. Paulinus, archbishop of York, and other bones of the same; bones of St. Ceadd the confessor; part of the rod of Moses; a portion of the stone on which the Lord Jesus sat during his forty days' fast; bones of St. Folewin, bishop and confessor; the dalmatic of St. Ambrosius; the bones of St. Pelagia; part of the sepulcher of St. Peregrinus the martyr, first bishop of Autun; part of the head of St. Bartholomew the apostle; part of the head of St. Susanna; part of the clothing of St. Agatha the virgin. Likewise the jawbone of St. Susanna; part of the sepulcher of St. Mary the virgin; a portion of St. Martin the archbishop; some of the bones of St. Laurence the martyr; relics of four sainted kings; a portion of the stone on which the angel sat; a part of St. Dunstan the archbishop and of St. Cedda the bishop. Likewise in the same shrine in the smaller white box are contained these relics: some of the bones of St. Maurice the martyr; some of St. Dionysius; a portion of the clothing of St. Etheldreda the virgin; some of the manna which rained from heaven; some of the bones of St. Sebastian the martyr and of St. Birinus the bishop; an undergarment of St. Cuthbert the bishop, as well as a portion of the sepulcher of Lazarus; relics of St. Christopher and of St. Oswald the king; a portion of the cross of the Lord; part of the clothing of St. Mary the virgin; part of the head of St. Nicholas the bishop and confessor; relics of St. Elphege; part of the angelic clothing of St. Agnes the virgin. Likewise in the same shrine is the head of St. Everildis the virgin, wrapped up in a white linen cloth. In a shrine behind the altar of St. James are the bones of the body of St. Everildis the virgin and certain garments of the same. In a shrine behind the altar of St. Andrew are bones and Relics whose other relics. . . . the names are not known because there are certain writings there which are illegible on account of age and poor writing. . . . In a shrine covered with silver leaf are placed relics of which these are the names: one of the bones of St. Peter the apostle, which the venerable Roger, archbishop of York, brought from the home of the Lord. Likewise relics which the blessed William brought and Henry the archbishop and Thurstinus the names have been lost Relics Rome archbishop, to wit, the bones of the apostles Simon and Jude; some of the blood of the blessed Stephen the protomartyr ; some of the blood of St. Laurence the martyr; relics of Sts. Felix and Adauctus; a finger of St. Dionysius the martyr; some bones from the head of St. Benedict the abbot; a portion of the cross on which the blessed Andrew was crucified; relics of the holy martyrs Largus and Smaragdus; some of the bones of St. Januarius the martyr; bones of St. Lazarus and his sister Martha; bones of St. Cornelius the pope; relics of St. Nicholas, Sts. Crisas and Daria; bones of St. Calixtus the pope; some of the blood of St. Sebastian the martyr; bones of Blessed Boniface the martyr; bones of St. Matthew the apostle; a piece of the stone above the sepulcher of the Lord. In the shrine covered with silver leaf are placed these relics: brought from bones of St. John the Baptist; one of the bones of St. Paul the apostle in a crystalline jar; one of the bones of St. Quintinus, martyr; one of the bones of St. Cornelius the pope; one of the bones of St. Clement, pope and martyr; four bones of Sts. Mary and Agatha, Audifax, and Abacuc; vestments of the apostles Peter and Paul; some of the bones of St. Felicitas, . . . of the holy martyrs Rusticus and Eleutherius; one of the bones of St. Cyprian, martyr; some of the bones of St. Maurice . . . ; bones of St. Calixtus, pope and martyr; bones of St. Sebastian the martyr; bones of St. Matthew the apostle; the chin and rib of a certain saint whose name was not able to be read on account of the age of the writing; bones of Justina, martyr, and St. Felix, bishop of Trier; a portion of the sandals of St. Peter the apostle. All the above things contained in the shrine covered with silver leaf were brought by Roger of venerable memory, archbishop of York, from the home of the lord pope. And besides, in this shrine there is a beam of wood covered with copper on which the blessed Bridget was accustomed to weave. V. THE REIGN OF HENRY I The most marked characteristic of the reign of Henry I was his desire to conciliate all classes. This is shown most clearly by the charter that he issued soon after his coronation. Every king when he was crowned took an oath in which he promised to his people good government, but Henry followed this up with this additional written declaration in which he promised relief from the harshness of his brother's reign. In the year of the incarnation of the Lord 1101, Henry, son of King William, after the death of his brother William, by the grace of God king of the English, to all faithful, greeting. 1. Know that by the mercy of God, and by the common counsel of the barons of the whole kingdom of England, I have been crowned king of the same kingdom; and because the kingdom has been oppressed by unjust exactions, I, from regard to God, and from the love which I have toward you, in the first place make the holy church of God free, so that I will neither sell nor place at rent, nor, when archbishop, or bishop, or abbot is dead, will I take anything from the domain of the church, or from its men, until a successor is installed into it. And all the evil customs by which the realm of England was unjustly oppressed will I take away, which evil customs I partly set down here. 2. If any of my barons, or earls, or others who hold from me shall have died, his heir shall not redeem his land as he did in the time of my brother, but shall relieve it by a just and legitimate relief. Similarly also the men of my barons shall relieve their lands from their lords by a just and legitimate relief. 3. And if any of the barons or other men of mine wishes to give his daughter in marriage, or his sister or niece or relation, he must speak with me about it, but I will neither take anything from him for this permission, nor forbid him to give her in marriage, unless he should wish to join her to my enemy. And if when a baron or other man of mine is dead, a daughter remains as his heir, I will give her in marriage according to the judgment of my barons, along with her lands. And if when a man is dead his wife remains and is without children, she 73. Corona tion charter shall have her dowry and right of marriage, and I will not give her to a husband except according to her will. 4. And if a wife has survived with children, she shall have her dowry and right of marriage, so long as she shall have kept her body legitimately, and I will not give her in marriage, except according to her will. And the guardian of the land and children shall be either the wife or another one of the relatives, as shall seem to be most just. And I require that my barons should deal similarly with the sons and daughters or wives of their men. . . . 7. And if any one of my barons or men shall become feeble, however he himself shall give or arrange to give his money, I grant that it shall be so given. Moreover, if he himself, prevented by arms or by weakness, shall not have bestowed his money, or arranged to bestow it, his wife or his children or his parents, and his legitimate men shall divide it for his soul, as to them shall seem best. 8. If any of my barons or men shall have committed an offense, he shall not give security to the extent of forfeiture of his money, as he did in the time of my father, or of my brother, but according to the measure of the offense so shall he pay, as he would have paid from the time of my father backward, in the time of my other predecessors; so that if he shall have been convicted of treachery or of crime, he shall pay as is just. 9. All murders, moreover, before that day in which I was crowned king, I pardon; and those which shall be done henceforth shall be punished justly according to the law of King Edward. 10. The forests, by the common agreement of my barons, I have retained in my own hand, as my father held them. 11. To those knights who hold their land by the cuirass, I yield of my own gift the lands of their demesne plows free from all payments and from all labor, so that as they have thus been favored by such a great alleviation, so they may readily provide themselves with horses and arms for my service and for the defense of the kingdom. 12. A firm peace in my whole kingdom I establish and require to be kept from henceforth. 13. The law of King Edward I give to you again, with those changes with which my father changed it by the counsel of his barons. 14. If any one has taken anything from my possessions since the death of King William, my brother, or from the possessions of any one, let the whole be immediately returned without alteration; and if any one shall have retained anything thence, he upon whom it is found shall pay it heavily to me. Witnesses Maurice, bishop of London, and Gundulf, bishop, and William, bishop-elect, and Henry, earl, and Simon, earl, and Walter Giffard, and Robert de Montfort, and Roger Bigod, and Henry de Port, at London, when I was crowned. Half a century had now passed since the Normans had become rulers of England, and the time of Edward the Confessor had already begun to be looked upon as the "good old times," as appears from the thirteenth paragraph of Henry's charter. The monks of Westminster, strongly impressed with this feeling, sent an embassy to the pope to ask that Edward should be put on the list of saints. This was at first refused, as is shown in the following reply from the pope, but it was afterward granted and he was canonized. the monks 1138) Innocent, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his 74. Pope beloved sons, Geoffrey, abbot, and the brothers of St. Peter of Innocent to Westminster, greeting and apostolic benediction. When we re- of Westminceived that religious man Prior Osbert with letters directed from ster (A.D. your brotherhood to us, we sent him back to you as if he were our beloved son, so much were we impressed with his honesty and his brilliant conversation. Indeed his honorable importunity so nearly induced us to satisfy your desires, that if we had had sufficient testimony over the signature of bishops and abbots, he would have come back from the Roman court with your king duly canonized in the list of saints. But from the following cause, with the advice of our brothers the bishops and cardinals, we have decided to postpone your petition for the present, |