Note 875 — Chapter III · (continued 3)

So says Florence. Remigius is eager to dedicate his church, “quia sibi diem mortis imminere sentiebat.” Thomas objects, “affirmans eam in sua parochia esse constructam.” “At rex Willelmus junior, pro pecunia quam ei Remigius dederat, totius fere Angliæ episcopis mandavit ut, in unum convenientes, septennis idibus Maii ecclesiam dedicarent.” Of course there is nothing about the bribe in Giraldus, nor yet in William of Malmesbury, Gest. Pont. 313, where the King’s order to the bishops is issued “magnanimi viri”—​Remigius has got the King’s own epithet—​“hortatu.” Matthew Paris, in the Historia Anglorum, i. 42, credits the Red King with an unlooked-for degree of zeal; “Postea rex Willelmus, cujus consilio et auxilio ecclesia illa fuit a primo loco suo remota, et quam pro anima patris sui [this at least is characteristic] multis ditaverat possessionibus, procuravit ut ea magnifice consummaretur.”