Conflicts With King Henry I
William was killed on 2 August 1100. His successor, Henry I of England, invited Anselm to return, writing that he committed himself to be counselled by Anselm. Henry was courting Anselm because he needed his support for the security of his claim to the throne; Anselm could have thrown his support behind Henry's elder brother instead. When Anselm returned, Henry requested that Anselm do him homage for the Canterbury estates and receive from him investiture in his office of archbishop. The papacy had recently banned clerics doing homage to laymen, as well as banning lay investiture; thus started Anselm's conflicts with Henry.
Henry refused to relinquish the privilege possessed by his predecessors, and proposed that the matter be laid before the pope. Two embassies were sent to Pope Paschal II regarding the legitimacy of Henry's investiture, but Paschal reaffirmed the papal rule on both occasions. In the meantime, Anselm did work with Henry. Henry was threatened with invasion by his brother, Robert Curthose, and Anselm publicly supported Henry, wooing the wavering barons and threatening Curthose with excommunication.
At Michaelmas of 1102, Anselm held a council in London in which he prohibited marriage and concubinage to those in holy orders (as well as condemning simony and reforming regulations on clerical dress and sobriety). He was among the first to take a public stand against the slave trade: in 1102, at a church council in St. Peter's church, Westminster, he obtained the passage of a resolution against the practice of selling men like cattle.
For his part, Henry granted Anselm authority over all the Church in England, and agreed to obey the papacy. However, because Paschal had reaffirmed the papal rules on lay investiture and homage, Henry turned once more against Anselm. In 1103, Anselm himself and an envoy from the king (William Warelwast) set out for Rome, Paschal excommunicated the bishops whom Henry had invested.
Read more about this topic: Anselm Of Canterbury, Biography
Famous quotes containing the words conflicts with, conflicts and/or king:
“In motherhood, where seemingly opposite realities can be simultaneously true, the role of nurturer invariably conflicts with the role of socializer. When trouble came as it surely must, was I the good cop who understood, the bad cop who terrorized, or both?”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“Not all conflicts between siblings are good, of course. A child who is repeatedly humiliated or made to feel insignificant by a brother or sister is learning little except humiliation and shame.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
““Would you—be good enough—” Alice panted out, after running a little further, “to stop a minute—just to get—one’s breath again?”
“I’m good enough,” the King said, “only I’m not strong enough. You see, a minute goes by so fearfully quick. You might as well try to stop a Bandersnatch!””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)