The Lion of Justice Read Online Free Page B

the other. Thus the survivor would have both England and Normandy.
    It had been at this time that Henry had become so incensed against his brothers. He said they ignored his existence; they forgot that he also was their father’s son, and he demanded to know what his inheritance would be.
    â€˜The ladies of England,’ retorted Rufus. ‘And I doubt Robert would debar you from enjoying the Norman ones when you visit his Duchy.’
    â€˜And I’ll leave the men to you,’ answered Henry, and for a while they hurled insults at each other. But Henry was indeed resentful. He had set himself up in the fortress of Mont St-Michel, with the intention of making himself a nuisance to both his brothers.
    It was not possible to enjoy a peaceful reign. There would always be conflict. It was looming now in yet another spot. The Church! The Conqueror had been a deeply religious man and he had lived in harmony with his Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc. Rufus lacked his father’s devotion to the Church. Often he blasphemed against it and he did not suffer from those twinges of conscience which had beset the Conqueror when he considered his reception in heaven. Rufus had an inherent dislike of churchmen. Many of them were rapacious, a characteristic he understood perfectly, being well endowed with it himself, but whereas he admitted this they hid their avaricious natures under a guise of hypocrisy. At least Rufus was not a hypocrite. In private Rufus could laugh at himself and did. Very few people of his time could do that; many of his intimates had whispered among themselves that it was only this characteristic which made him tolerable.
    He could not accuse Lanfranc of hypocrisy. There was a man of great integrity and Rufus had never had any intention of removing him from his post. Death had done that. The See of Canterbury was very rich and Rufus had made a habit of keeping the abbeys and bishoprics under his own control whenever the occasion arose. He found this highly profitable; so when Lanfranc died he added Canterbury to those over which he held sway and was in no hurry to find a successor to the Archbishop.
    Since he had been ill, however, even he had experienced a few qualms. His priests had shaken their heads over him as though they feared his future in Heaven if he did not repent and, although had he been in good health he would have laughed at them, it was not so easy with Death lurking not far distant.
    It so happened that Anselm, the prior of Bec in Normandy, was visiting England and because of this man’s qualities, Rufus decided that he should become Archbishop of Canterbury.
    When the offer was made to Anselm, he thanked the King but shook his head. ‘My home is in Normandy,’ he told him. ‘I have lived so long at Bec that I could consider no other.’
    Rufus smiled grimly. We shall soon see about that, he told himself.
    Craftily he ordered that Anselm should visit his sick-room where he had ordered the leading churchmen to assemble. When the bewildered Anselm entered, a crozier was thrust into his hands and a Te Deum was sung to celebrate his election.
    The sick King lay back on his bag of straw, smiling. He could never resist baiting the clergy.
    Anselm looked sternly at him. ‘My lord,’ he had said, ‘you must understand that I am not one of your subjects. I am a Norman and owe obedience only to my Duke.’
    Rufus laughed at him. ‘So you would lay down the crozier we have bestowed on you, would you? Do so . . . for a while. You will take it up again.’
    And he did, for Robert at the time was eager to come to terms with his brother after having been so disastrously defeated in his attempt to take the English crown that it was necessary for him to comply with the request of Rufus. So the reluctant Anselm had been obliged to take the post offered him and now presided over the See of Canterbury.
    These fanatical men were a menace to peace. They had