The old bibliographers also attribute to this prelate, besides some theological works (especially several commentaries on portions of the Holy Scriptures), a work on the motions of the stars, another on the Computus, and a collection of Mathematical Tables. These titles are probably merely founded on the words of William of Malmsbury. The writers of the Histoire Littéraire de France seem to think him the author of a treatise on the Computus, which has been attributed to Marianus Scotus. WILLIAM BISHOP OF DURHAM. THIS prelate appears to have been a native of Bayeux, to the church of which he was attached, until he left it to become a monk of St. Calais au Maine (Sancti Karilefi), whence he became commonly known by the name of Gulielmus de Sancto Karilefo. After being promoted to the rank of prior in this monastery, he was elected to be abbot of that of St. Vincent du Mans,* and was at last, in 1080, brought to England to succeed Walcher as bishop of Durham. He was consecrated on the third of January, 1081. In 1089 he incurred the displeasure of king William Rufus, for the part he had taken in the intrigues of bishop Odo, and was obliged to Hist. Lit. de France, vol. viii. p. 417. A copy bearing the name of Robert as the compiler is preserved in the Bodleian Library, MS. Bodl. 594; the twentieth year of William the Conqueror, i. e. 1086, is there spoken of as being the present year, or that in which it was written. Ex clero Bajocensis ecclesiæ in monasterio Sancti Karilephi monachico babitu suscepto, primo prior claustri, postmodum abbas est effectus in monasterio Sancti Vincentii. Simeon. Dun. Hist. Dunelm. eccl. p. 343. W. Malmsb. de Gest. Pontif. p. 277, calls him erroneously Abbas Sancti Karilephi. fly to Normandy, where he remained in exile till September, 1091. On his return he recovered entirely the king's favour, and was the chief of the bishops who supported him against Anselm, in the assembly of Rockingham, in 1095. Soon after this he again incurred the king's displeasure; but he appears to have been more sincerely reconciled with Anselm, who by his express desire attended on his death-bed. Bishop William died at Gloucester, on the second of January 1096, and was buried at Durham. William of Malmsbury has preserved a story which appears to have been current among Anselm's partizans, who said that the bishop of Durham had aspired to the see of Canterbury, and that he joined the king against Anselm in the hope that he would be deposed, and that the king would then have appointed him to be his successor.* The old writers state, however, that he was generally esteemed and beloved. He laboured much for the improvement of his church and diocese. Simeon of Durham speaks of a collection of his letters written to the monks of Durham while in exile, which was extant in his time, but they appear now to be lost. The history of his exile, preserved in a manuscript at Durham, which has by some been attributed to him, was written apparently by one of his companions. It is printed in the appendix to Bedford's edition of Simeon of Durham. * W. Malmsb. de Gest. Pontif. p. 277. OSMUND BISHOP OF SALISBURY. OSMUND was by birth a Norman, a kinsman of William the Conqueror, and was in his own country count of Sees, in England earl of Dorset. He was also chancellor of England.* In 1077 he was chosen to succeed Hereman as bishop of Salisbury, and he completed the cathedral which Hereman had begun. As a bishop, Osmund appears to have retired much from the world, and to have lived chiefly in the society of the learned canons whom he had drawn together by his liberality. He collected for his church a noble library; and it is stated, as a proof of his humility, that he not only copied books himself, but that he even bound them with his own hands. He died on the third or fourth of December, 1099; authorities differ as to the day. Osmund is said to have written a life of Aldhelm, which is not now extant. He also compiled a ritual for the use of his church, of which Bale has evidently made two titles of different works, Canones Officiorum Ecclesiæ, and Consuetudinarium Ecclesiæ. This became afterwards the cele brated liturgy ad usum Sarum, which was followed by a large portion of the English clergy.‡ * See Sir R. C. Hoare's History of Wiltshire, City of Salisbury, pp. 8, 9. + Librorum copia conquisita, cum episcopus ipse nec scribere nec scriptos ligare fastidiret. W. Malmsb. de Gest. Pontif. p. 250. Higden, Polychron. lib. vii. fol. 201, ro. (MS. Arund. No. 86.) Hic quoque composuit ordinalem ecclesiastici officii quem Consuetudinarium vocant, quo fere nunc tota Anglia, Wallia utitur et Hibernia. Dictavit etiam Vitam Sancti Aldelmi, The Ordinale of bishop Osmund is still preserved in the library of Salisbury Cathedral. See Wiltshire, City of Salisbury, p. 715. THOMAS ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. THOMAS of York was considered one of the most learned prelates of the end of the eleventh century. He was the brother of Samson bishop of Worcester, and son of a married priest of Bayeux in Normandy. Under the patronage and by the encouragement of Odo bishop of Bayeux, Thomas studied at Bec as well as at some of the German schools, and he is said even to have visited Spain in order to make himself acquainted with the learning of the Arabs.* This is somewhat doubtful. We know with more certainty that in the sequel Odo made him canon and treasurer of the church of Bayeux, and that he accompanied that prelate to England. In 1070 William the Conqueror made him archbishop of York, and he immediately became involved in the controversy with Lanfranc in defence of the independence of his see. When he accompanied Lanfranc to Rome, the same year, he was accused of being the son of a priest, and was only allowed to retain his see by Lanfranc's intercession. At York he found the ruins of a cathedral, with only three almost houseless canons; but he soon collected around him a body of learned clergy, and he rebuilt the cathedral on a magnificent scale. He was accused by his successors of having wasted the patrimony of his church on these objects. In 1089, after Lanfranc's death, archbishop Thomas consecrated Anselm as his successor; and in August of 1100 he officiated at the coronation of Henry I, Stubbs, de Pont. Eborac. col. 1705, who says, "pectus suum Hispanicarum fecit armarium scientiarum." I doubt if this refers to the learning of the Arabs. Stubbs and William of Malmsbury are the chief authorities for the life of archbishop Thomas. † W. Malmsb. de Gest. Pontif. p. 273. Anselm being then in exile. He died on the 18th of November following. We have little left to attest the literary abilities of Thomas of York. A letter from him to the archbishop of Canterbury is printed among the letters of Lanfranc; and another, written in 1084, in which he bears witness to his miraculous cure at the shrine of St. Cuthbert, is preserved in the annals of Roger de Hoveden. The latter is a remarkable proof of credulity in a man whom William of Malmsbury compares with the ancient philosophers.* He was particularly attached to church music, and spent much of his time in composing hymns and chants. It has been supposed that some of these still exist in the old liturgies. It is further remarked of him that, whenever he heard any new and popular secular song or ballad sung by the minstrels, he immediately composed sacred parodies on the words to be sung to the same tune. The only specimen now extant of his poetical talents is the following epitaph on the death of William the Conqueror, preserved by Ordericus Vitalis.‡ Qui rexit rigidos Normannos, atque Britannos Et Cenomannenses virtute coercuit enses, Rex magnus parva jacet hic Guillelmus in urna, Ter septem gradibus se volverat atque duobus * Philosophus antiquis scientia comparandus. W. Malmsb. de Gest. Pontif. p. 273. † Nec cantu nec voce minor, multa ecclesiastica composuit carmina: si quis in auditu ejus arte joculatoria aliquid vocale sonaret, statim illud in divinas laudes effigiabat. W. Malmsb. ib. Conf. Stubbs, col. 1709. Lib. viii. p. 663, (ed Duchesne.) |