hbishop of Canterbury, reorganised the Church of England;
Anselm of Aosta, late abbot of Bec, also an archbishop, canonised at the
Renaissance, the discoverer of the famous "ontological" proof of the
existence of God, a paradoxical proof the inanity of which it was
reserved for St. Thomas Aquinas to demonstrate; Gilbert Foliot, a
Frenchman, bishop of London, celebrated for his science, a strong
supporter of Henry II.; Thomas Becket, of Norman descent, archbishop and
saint, whose quarrel with Henry II. divided England, and almost divided
Christendom too; Hugh, bishop of Lincoln under the same king, of French
origin, and who was also canonised; Stephen Langton, archbishop of
Canterbury, who contributed as much as any of the barons to the granting
of the Great Charter, and presided over the Council of London, in 1218,
where it was solemnly confirmed[231]; Robert Grosseteste,[232] famous
for his learning and holiness, his theological treatises, his sermons,
his commentaries on Boethius and Aristotle, his taste for the divine art
of music, which according to him "drives away devils." Warriors or
saints, all these leaders of men keep, in their difficulties, their eyes
turned towards Rome, and towards the head of the Latin Church.

II.

At the same time as the monasteries, and under the shadow of their
walls, schools and libraries multiplied. The Latin education of the
nation is resumed with an energy and perseverance hitherto unknown, and
this time there will be no relapse into ignorance; protected by the
French conquest, the Latin conquest is now definitive.

Not only are religious books in Latin, psalters, missals and decretals
copied and collected in monasteries, but also the ancient classics. They
are liked, they are known by heart, quoted in writings, and even in
conversation. An English chronicler of the twelfth century declares he
would blush to compile annals after the fashion of the Anglo-Saxons;
this barbarous manner is to be avoided; he will use Roman salt as a
condiment: "et exarata barbarice romano sale condire."[233] Another, of
the same period, has the classic ideal so much before his eyes that he
makes William deliver, on the day of Hastings, a speech beginning: "O
mortalium validissimi!"[234]

A prelate who had been the tutor of the heir to the throne, and died
bishop palatine of Durham, Richard de Bury,[235] collects books with a
passion equal to that which will be later displayed at the court of the
M