London, and on Christmas Day William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

5. William the Conqueror was a very stern man, and he was very hard towards the English people; for they often rebelled against him, and tried to drive the Normans out again. He took their lands away from the English and gave them to his Norman barons and knights; and he laid waste great tracts of land, and filled them with red deer for his hunting, and punished with death every man who stole or killed the deer. He also built strong castles all over the country, and filled them with Norman soldiers, who behaved insolently to the English people. But he compelled all men to obey the laws.

12. ARCHBISHOP ANSELM (B. 1033; D. 1109).

1. When William the Conqueror died, he was succeeded by his son William, who was called Rufus, or the Red, because of his red hair. William the Red was a violent and wicked man, the worst of all the foreign kings who had ruled over England. He had no care or thought for his people, like Canute had, nor did he uphold the law like his father. He thought only of getting their money from them, and followed his own wicked will, regarding no law of God or man; he also seized for himself many of the possessions of the Church. But he fell ill, and thought he was going to die. He began to think over all his wicked

life. So he sent for Anselm, who was the best and wisest of all the clergy, made him Archbishop of Canterbury, and gave up to him the money of the Church.

2. But the king got well again, and was soon sorry that he had given up these riches of the Church, and demanded money from Anselm. Anselm sent him a rich present; but the king wanted more, and as the archbishop did not think it right to give him any more, he sent for Anselm and tried to frighten him. He spoke to him roughly and coarsely, with oaths and threats. But Anselm was not afraid of him, and he steadily refused to pay. "Treat me as a free man," he said, "and I will be your faithful servant all my life. But if you treat me as a slave you will get nothing from me.”

3. Anselm was the first man who had dared to withstand William the Red, and all England was astonished at his boldness. But the king could not forgive him, and after a little while he drove him from his court. Yet Anselm had done good. Others followed his example; and from that time William the Red found it less easy to rule lawlessly, for good men all over the country spoke up for the people and for the law, and thwarted his wicked will. In the end, William was shot dead one day as he was hunting in the New Forest, but whether he was shot by accident or on purpose no one has ever known.

4. His brother Henry became king, and at once called back Anselm to England, for he wanted to consult him in a very difficult matter. King Henry wished to marry an English princess called Matilda,

who was descended from Edmund Ironside, and so belonged to the old royal house; and all his English subjects were very eager that this marriage should take place.

5. But at the time when the Normans first came to England, Matilda had been shut up in a convent for safety. The abbess, who was her own aunt, tried very hard to persuade her to become a nun. She made her wear a nun's veil, and pressed her continually to promise that she would live there till her death and never marry. But Matilda would not. However, when the king wanted to marry her, the abbess declared that Matilda was a true nun, and would not let her go out, even to please the king and all the people.

6. So King Henry asked advice of Anselm. Anselm thought it would be well for the English to have a queen of their own royal house, but still he held that a nun's promise could not be broken. So he sent for Matilda and questioned her closely; and she fell on her knees before him, and wrung her hands, and shed many tears, and said, "Indeed I never wished to be a nun. My aunt forced me with cruel words and blows to wear the veil, but I wished continually that I could be delivered from it."

7. And Anselm, being satisfied that all she said was true, though he had chosen to be a monk himself, and thought it was far the best life for those rough days, gave the princess leave to come out of the convent and marry the king. The abbess could not disobey the archbishop, and so at last Matilda

escaped from the convent and married Henry. She was a good wife to him, and a good queen, and all the English people loved her, and were very grateful to Anselm for having helped to give them again a queen of their own race.

13. THE WRECK OF THE WHITE SHIP (A.D. 1120).

1. Henry was a good and prudent king, and so zealous for what was fair that he was called the "Lion of Righteousness." He made many good laws, and protected the people from the tyranny of the great lords. He was a brave soldier, but he did not like warfare, and strove hard to keep peace.

His

2. Henry and Matilda had only one son. name was William, and he was very dear to them, and Henry looked to him to uphold all his laws when he was himself dead. He was much beloved, too, by the English people, because he was the son of their good Matilda, and every one was pleased to think that one day he would be King of England.

3. Now when this prince was eighteen years old, King Henry took him over to Normandy, and presented him to the Norman barons as his heir; and the barons promised that when the time of his own death came they would be loyal subjects to Prince William.

4. When all this had been done, King Henry and the prince set out to return to England. There was with them a great company of lords and knights of the