york00orns

I02
YORK.
Kinsius died in 1060, and was followed by Aldred,
the last of the Saxon Archbishops of York. Before
his elevation to York he held the sees of Hereford
and Worcester. The latter he retained, and went to
Rome for the purpose of obtaining the pallium, accompanied
by Earl Tosti, the brother of Harold.
The pope refused, fiercely reproaching him for attempting
to hold the see of Worcester as well as that
of York, and for having failed to seek the license of
the apostolic see for his promotion. He degraded
and dismissed him. On his homeward journey, not
many miles from Rome, Aldred and Earl Tosti fell
into the hands of a band of robbers, and were stripped
and plundered. They returned to Rome and sought
an audience of the pope. Earl Tosti's indignation
was expressed in no measured terms. He told the
pope that there was small chance of his excommunication
being regarded by any distant country, so long
as it was so little heeded by the ruffians of his own
dominions, and that he would take good care, if no
restitution was made to them of the losses they had
sustained, it should be made good by the king of
England out of the Peter-pence when they reached
their own land. The determined attitude of the
high-spirited Saxon was not without its effect, and,
on condition that Aldred resigned Worcester, the
pope confirmed the archbishopric to him and gave
him the pallium.
Aldred was a most munificent prelate. He endowed
stalls at Southwell, which was then growing
into importance. He built much at York and
Beverley. At the latter place he added a presbytery.