This resolution had hardly been adopted before two of the most influential prelates of the kingdom, Torbern Bilde, archbishop of Lund and primate of the realm, and Roennov, bishop of Zealand, arrived at Copenhagen for the purpose of offering their congratulations to the king. They were both at the episcopal palace of the city, and it appears that they received some hint of the measure that was in preparation. On the 20th August, Rantzau, entrusted with the mission by the king, appeared at the palace. He found the door closed, and his soldiers burst it open. The archbishop immediately surrendered without offering resistance. But Roennov took advantage of his familiarity with all the nooks and corners of his palace to rush within, and climbing up to the roof squatted in a foul and disgusting hole, or according to another account, behind one of the beams which supported the roof.[359] They searched for him for a long time without looking there; but the next morning they discovered him. He came down and tried to conceal his shame under an air of irritation and by violent words. All the bishops were taken prisoners; and every one of these arrests forms a history by itself. Many of them defended themselves in their strong castles and repulsed force by force. Rantzau was obliged to form regular sieges and to attack vigorously these formidable pastors who had armed men and brave officers under their orders.[360] The Danish bishops, contrary to the Bible command, had turned their crooks into swords, their crosses into halberds, and their flocks into troops of lancers. The bishops were confined in various fortresses, and their treatment with more or less mildness depended on whether they conducted themselves submissively or insulted the king’s officers. The question of course arises were these seizures legal? We reply that the bishops had been guilty of offences against the state and against the people, and that these offences justified their imprisonment. It is a legitimate course for a king and his counsellors to defend themselves against conspirators. [Sidenote: Charges Against The Bishops.]