124. TO LANFRANC,: Archbishop Of Canterbury.
The Letters of St. Anselm NOTES 1. The abbey of Saint Martin of Troarn was founded about 1050. Ernulf/
Arnulf, previously prior of Seez, was elected fourth abbot by the com munity of Troarn after the death of Abbot Durand on 11 February
1088. Ernulf ruled till 1112, see OVIV: 164; R.N. Sauvage, L'Abbaye de St Martin de Troarn (Caen, 1911); and M. Chibnall, 'From Bee to Canterbury', Anselm Studies I (1983) 27.
2. Odo, half-brother of William the Conqueror, was Bishop of Bayeux from 1049-1097, see Ep 87.
3. RB 58:17.
4. Phil 2:8; RB 7:34.
124. TO LANFRANC,
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.
Anselm expresses compassion with Lanfranc in his illness and entreats him to listen to Dom Baldwin whom he is sending to Canterbury because of the needs of the community at Bee.
TO HIS LORD AND FATHER, THE REVEREND ARCHBISHOP
LANFRANC: BROTHER ANSELM AND THE WHOLE COMMUNITY AT
THE MONASTERY OF BEC, WITH ALL THEIR DEVOTION.
DEEPLY GRIEVED BY THE ILLNESS of your paternal holi ness, we do not cease praying God for your recovery, for we consider your sickness our tribulation and your health our well-being1 and we consider your life indispensable not only to us but also to mother Church, wherever your name has spread.
Your command regarding the safe-conduct of the Lom bards will, God willing, be observed from now on. Dom
Baldwin,2 whom we are sending to England on account of our needs, will be able to tell you about them himself. We beseech you to help us as is your custom, according to what you learn about them and as your paternal kindness pleases.
May almighty God long preserve your life for us and for his Church in health and prosperity and in holiness pleas ing to him. Amen. c. 1089.
The Letters of St. Anselm
NOTES 1. This letter was written during Lanfranc's final illness, shortly before his death on 24 May 1089.
2. Baldwin of Tournai, a lawyer, entered the monastery of Bee in about 1088, two-hundred twenty-ninth in the Bee profession-roll. His train ing and experience in secular matters qualified him to act as advisor during Anselm's career as abbot and archbishop. He appears whenever Anselm finds himself in a critical situation, particularly dur ing the period of the investiture controversy; see Ep 151.
125. FROM POPE URBAN II.
At Anselm's intercession Pope Urban II reinstates Fulk, Bishop of Beauvais, and recommends him to Anselm's spiritual care. The pope rebukes Anselm for having received the Roman cleric John as a monk at Bee. He demands the return of any belongings of the deceased subdeacon Hubert, and however much of Peter's
Pence he had collected in England.
URBAN1, BISHOP, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD: TO ANSELM,
THE VENERABLE AND MOST BELOVED ABBOT, GREETING AND
APOSTOLIC BLESSING.
KNOWING THE PRE-EMINENCE of your devotion and learning, we have pardoned the Bishop of Beauvais2 for what appeared illegal in his ordination3 and, trusting in the keenness of your diligence, we have laid upon him, un willing and resisting, the charge of the bishopric. Now, therefore, we commend him to you more attentively so that you may assist him as your son4 in everything, as helper, counselor, corrector, and advisor; and when you are un able to be with him yourself you should assign one of your brothers to be with him and watch over him with spiritual zeal, so that what was perceived at the beginning of his ministry to be less than canonical may be concealed by the good deeds achieved by him later on. If, however, we send you any instructions either by this bishop of Beauvais or by our son Roger about the service of the holy Roman
Church you should, as an energetic and very skillful per son, carry them out as befits such a man.
The Letters of St. Anselm Truly we wanted to keep your monk John,5 the son of our church, with us. Concerning him there is a suit pend ing against you in the Roman Church because you pre sumed to make this cleric a monk and to promote him to higher orders. Nevertheless, swayed by the entreaties of the bishop of Beauvais, we are sending him back to you on the condition that before the end of Lent this year you either send him back to us or, if you come yourself, bring him with you and any other member of your community you know to be useful to us. Furthermore, do this as quickly as you can and do not put off visiting the Apostolic See so we may enjoy the gift of mutual affection with due devotion.
With regard to Hubert,6 our subdeacon who is said to have died at your monastery, if any of his goods were left with you, dispatch them to us as quickly as possible. For when he received the office of papal legate for the kingdom of England from Lord Gregory, our predecessor of holy memory, he is said to have collected a large amount of Saint
Peter's pence. If this is in your possession we would like it to be sent to us as quickly as possible for the future needs of holy Church.
Early 1090.
NOTES 1. Pope Urban II, 12 March 1088-29 July 1099.
2. Bishop of Fulk of Beauvais, 1088/89—c. 1095; see also Epp 126, 127, 136, 160, 193.
3. Not only had Fulk gained his promotion uncanonically by the appoint ment of King Philip I of France, but he was also suspected of simo ny. Together with Bishop Henry of Soissons, who was similarly charged, he visited Urban II in Italy in 1088, confessed, and was rein stated in his bishopric necessitate exigente ecclesiae; see Jaffe-Lowenstein,
Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, 5406:1 August 1089; A. Becker, Papst Urban II, Schriften der MGH (Stuttgart, 1964) 190; W. Frohlich, 'The Letters omitted from Anselm's Collection of Letters', Anglo-Norman
Studies 6 (1984) 63, and Introduction, above.
4. Fulk had been a monk at Bee, one hundred nineteenth in the Bee profession-roll.