p. 237. [b] Higden, p. 277.] The English flattered themselves that, by the accession of Edward, they were delivered for ever from the dominion of foreigners; but they soon found that this evil was not yet entirely removed. The king had been educated in Normandy; and had contracted many intimacies with the natives of that country, as well as an affection for their manners [c]. The court of England was soon filled with Normans, who, being distinguished both by the favour of Edward, and by a degree of cultivation superior to that which was attained by the English in those ages, soon rendered their language, customs, and laws, fashionable in the kingdom. The study of the French tongue became general among the people. The courtiers affected to imitate that nation in their dress, equipage, and entertainments: even the lawyers employed a foreign language in their deeds and papers [d]. But, above all, the church felt the influence and dominion of those strangers: Ulf and William, two Normans, who had formerly been the king’s chaplains, were created Bishops of Dorchester and London. Robert, a Norman also, was promoted to the see of Canterbury [e], and always enjoyed the highest favour of his master, of which his abilities rendered him not unworthy. And though the king’s prudence, or his want of authority, made him confer almost all the civil and military employments on the natives, the ecclesiastical preferments fell often to the share of the Normans; and as the latter possessed Edward’s confidence, they had secretly a great influence on public affairs, and excited the jealousy of the English, particularly of Earl Godwin [f]. [FN [c] Ingulph. p. 62. [d] Ingulph. p. 62. [e] Chron. Sax. p. 161. [f] W. Malm. p. 80.]