When  Lanfranc  came  to  Canterbury,  he  drew  up  for  the  regulation
of  the  monks  of  Christ  Church  a  book  of  Customs,  which  found  its  way
into  many  of  the  English  monasteries  and  was  known  sometimes  as
the  Customs  of  Canterbury  and  sometimes  as  the  Customs  of  Bee1.  It
represented  the  result  of  the  experience  of  Lanfranc  and  Anselm,  as
gained  and  formulated  in  the  eager  life  of  Herluin's  new  foundation;
but  it  rested  largely  on  earlier  codes  which  can  be  traced  back  through
Fecamp  and  Dijon  to  Cluny  and  even  to  that  strenuous  reformer  Benedict
of  Aniane.  Lanfranc  made  some  modifications  in  detail  in  deference
to  English  traditions,  though  in  general  he  was  not  sympathetic  in
dealing  with  the  religious  life  of  his  new  fellow-countrymen.  We  can
hardly  doubt  that  this  code,  which  Gilbert  must  have  seen  in  force  at
Canterbury,  was  brought  by  him  to  Westminster.  As  a  matter  of  fact,
considerable  portions  of  it  are  embodied  word  for  word  in  the  thirteenth
century  Customary  of  Abbot  Ware.  Vitalis,  who  had  come  to  West-
minster from  Bernay,  which  was  a  cell  of  Fecamp,  must  have  paved
the  way  for  the  peaceable  introduction  of  the  new  regulations.  From
Lanfranc's  book  a  picture  might  easily  be  drawn  of  the  daily  life  of
Westminster  Abbey  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century ;  but  we  must
confine  ourselves  here  to  the  more  laborious  task  of  gathering  together
such  scattered  notices  as  can  be  found  in  charters  or  elsewhere  of
Abbot  Gilbert's  rule.
