Note 629 — Chapter VI · (continued 2)

Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Eac manege sciran þe mid weorce to Lundenne belumpon wurdon þærle gedrehte, þurh þone weall þe hi worhton onbutan þone Tur, et þurh þa brycge þe forneah eall toflotan wæs, and þurh þæs cynges healle geweorc, þe man on Westmynstre worhte and mænige men þær mid gedrehte.” This is connected by Henry of Huntingdon (vii. 19) with the other oppressions of the time and with the departure of Anselm; “Anselmus vero archiepiscopus recessit ab Anglia, quia nihil recti rex pravus in regno suo fieri permittebat, sed provincias intolerabiliter vexabat in tributis quæ numquam cessabant, in opere muri circa turrim Londoniæ, in opere aulæ regalis apud Westminstre, in rapina quam familia sua hostili modo, ubicunque rex pergebat, exercebant.” The other side of the story comes out in William of Malmesbury (iv. 321); “Unum ædificium, et ipsum permaximum, domum in Londonia incepit et perfecit, non parcens expensis dummodo liberalitatis suæ magnificentiam exhiberet.” We see here how the “liberalitas” of the Red King looked in the eyes of those who had to pay for it. But it is hard to understand Sir T. D. Hardy’s note on the passage of William of Malmesbury; he is speaking not of the Tower of London, but of Westminster Hall.