rnate revolution of concessions
and encroachments, sent William, then Archbishop of Canterbury, to
remonstrate with the court of Rome against those abuses, and to assert
the liberties of the English church. It was a usual maxim with every
pope, when he found that he could not prevail in any pretension, to
grant princes or states a power which they had always exercised, to
resume, at a proper juncture, the claim which seemed to be resigned,
and to pretend that the civil magistrate had possessed the authority
only from a special indulgence of the Roman pontiff. After this
manner, the pope, finding that the French nation would not admit his
claim of granting investitures, had passed a bull, giving the king
that authority; and he now practised a like invention to elude the
complaints of the King of England. He made the Archbishop of
Canterbury his legate, renewed his commission from time to time, and
still pretended that the rights which that prelate had ever exercised
as metropolitan were entirely derived from the indulgence of the
apostolic see. The English princes, and Henry in particular, who were
glad to avoid any immediate contest of so dangerous a nature, commonly
acquiesced by their silence in these pretensions of the court of Rome
[w].
[FN [w] See note [N], at the end of the volume.]

As every thing in England remained in tranquillity, Henry took the
opportunity of paying a visit to Normandy, to which he was invited, as
well by his affection for that country, as by his tenderness for his
daughter, the Empress Matilda, who was always his favourite. [MN
1132.] Some time after, that princess was delivered of a son, who
received the name of Henry; and the king, farther to ensure her
succession, made all the nobility of England and Normandy renew the
oath of fealty, which they had already sworn to her [x]. The joy of
this event, and the satisfaction which he reaped from his daughter's
company, who bore successively two other sons, made his residence in
Normandy very agreeable to him [y]; [MN 1135.] and he seemed
determined to pass the remainder of his days in that country; when an
incursion of the Welsh obliged him to think of returning into England.
He was preparing for the journey, but was seized with a sudden illness
at St. Dennis le Forment [MN 1st. Dec.], from eating too plentifully
of lampreys, a food which always agreed better with his palate than
his constitution [z]. [MN Death, and character of Henry.]