84. To Henry, King of the English

To his dearest lord, Henry, by the grace of God king of the English, Anselm, Archbishop of Canter bury, offers his faithful service and faithful prayers.

I hear that you command William, Bishop-Elect of Winchester, to go out of the diocese and out of England, because he did not receive the consecration which the Archbishop of York and the other bishops wanted to confer upon him. Wherefore I entreat and advise you, and that as a faithful archbishop addressing his lord and king, not to believe in the advice of those who counsel you thus, for to my mind I cannot see that this is to your honour. For it is well enough known that to me belongs his consecration, nor ought any other to do it except with my authority; and this I am prepared, should need arise, to prove by argument, as such a matter ought to be proved. If therefore you expel him from your kingdom so that I cannot perform that consecration canonically, it appears to me that you are depriving me of my office without any legal reason why you should do so. Therefore I pray you to allow him to remain in peace in his diocese, at least until the end of my journey of inspection, that in the meantime I may be permitted to give him the consecration which I ought.