At last a compact was made that Stephen should reign for his lifetime,
and that Maud’s son, Henry of Anjou, should succeed him; and one year
after this had been agreed upon, Stephen died, lamented by no one. Henry
was a strong character, a great lover of justice and order; indeed, he
may be called the father of English law, and to him we owe the system of
trial by jury. He found two great powers in the land, the Church and the
Barons, and he determined to hold in check the influence of both.
Westminster was fortunate in having for Abbot, Lawrence, a man of much
learning, and what was even more important, of much tact, for he managed
to keep on excellent terms with the king, whom he persuaded to repair
and cover with lead the roofs of the building. It was he who gained for
the Abbey the great honour for which the whole nation had been longing,
and as the result of a sermon he preached before the king, the nobles,
and a great assembly of people, an embassy was sent to Rome, praying
that Edward the Confessor might be raised to the honour of a saint.
More than once had this appeal been made and refused, but now the Pope,
who feared Henry and had a great regard for Lawrence, decreed that "this
glorious light was to be no more hid from the world."
Perhaps, too, the large sum of money, willingly offered by pious
Englishmen, carried some little weight.
At midnight on October 13, 1163, Abbot Lawrence with the Archbishop
Thomas à Beckett opened the grave of Edward, and the "body of the
glorious king, who was henceforth to be honoured on earth as he was
glorified in heaven," was removed into a "precious coffin," made ready
by the order of Henry II. The celebrated "pilgrim ring" Lawrence drew
from his finger to keep in the monastery as a precious relic, and the
anniversary of this day was solemnly kept for many a long year.
The king was so anxious to make safe the succession of his eldest son,
Prince Henry, that he insisted on his being crowned during his lifetime.
But Prince Henry did not live to succeed to the throne, and it was
Richard Coeur de Lion who was crowned as the next English king. A very
vivid account has come down to us through the Chronicle of De Hoveden
describing the doings on this day, telling how from the Palace to the
Abbey the ground was covered with woollen cloth over which walked the
long procession as it wended its way to the ringing of bells, the
swinging of censers, lighted tapers shining everywhere. Then before the
altar Duke Richard swore that he would all the days of his life observe
peace, honour, and reverence towards God and the Holy Church, that he
would put an end to any bad laws or customs that were in his kingdom,
and confirm all good laws, in token of which Baldwin of Canterbury
anointed him with oil on his head, his breast, and his limbs to signify
glory, valour, and knowledge, afterwards placing the crown on his head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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