When William the Conqueror asked Guitmond to come to England and soften the cruelties of Norman clergy the honest monk refused. He said he felt unfit to govern any man, and especially men whose ways and language were not his own. More, the way the conquest had been achieved meant that no man could bring good out of it.

The appointment of a clergyman, continued Guitmond, was traditionally handled by the community he was to govern, not by others; and in any case, those who had renounced worldly glory could not serve those who lived for it. Scripture assures us that the spoils of war are an offering repugnant to God, and perilous to the hand that touches it.

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