Sensible  that  he  owed  his  advancement  to  the  austerity
of  his  life,  he  became  a  partisan  of  the  rigid  monastic
rules.  The  celibacy  of  priests  was  deemed  meritorious
by  the  church  of  Rome  ;  and  the  pope  undertook  to  make
all  the  clergy  in  the  western  world  renounce  the  privilege
of  marrying.  In  England,  Dunstan  seconded  his  efforts,
and  introduced  the  reformation  into  the  convents  of  Glas-
tonbury and  Abingdon  ;  but  the  secular  clergy,  who  were
numerous  and  rich,  defended  their  privileges  against  this
usurpation.  During  the  ferment  occasioned  by  these  re-
ligious controversies,  Edred  departed  this  life.
The  children  of  Edred  being  too  young  to  bear  the

weight  of  government,  the  throne  was  filled  by  his
q-c"  nephew  Edwy,  who  was  adorned  with  a  graceful

person,  and  possessed  the  most  promising  virtues.
Contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  wisest  counsellors,  he  unfor-
tunately married  Elgiva,  a  beautiful  princess  of  the  royal
blood,  who  was  within  the  degrees  of  affinity  prohibited  by
the  canon  law.  This  occasioned  the  invectives  of  the
monks ;  and  the  king  found  reason  to  repent  his  creating
such  dangerous  enemies.  On  the  day  of  his  coronation,
whilst  his  nobility  were  indulging  in  riot  and  disorder,
Edwy  retired  from  the  noisy  revelry  of  the  table,  to  taste
the  pleasures  of  love  with  Elgiva.  Dunstan,  conjecturing
the  reason  of  the  king's  retreat,  burst  into  the  apartment,
3


26  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND*

and  with  every  opprobrious  epithet  that  could  be  applied
to  her  sex,  thrust  the  queen  from  her  royal  consort.  To
avenge  this  public  insult,  Edwy  accused  Dunstan  of  mal-
versation in  the  treasury,  and  banished^him  the  kingdom.
