X. The bishops of London and Norwich shall be at the king's mercy, and he summoned by the

sheriffs and beadles before the king's justiciaries, there to do right by the king and his justices, for that, contrary to the statutes of Clarendon, they laid an iiitenlict by command of the lord pope on the land of Earl Hugh, and published the lord pope's excommunication against him throiiah- out their dioceses, without license of the king's justiciaries. [Translated fromtI.eQuadrilogus — Eu.]
(2) For the Latin, see the Edition of 1.563, p. 54.— Ed. 3) " Si clericus, oculos ct genitalia amittat."— Ed.
220 nEcKin's kixdrkd banished.
Henry 11. o\&Q. Also the kinj^'s will is, that all scholars and students beyond the seas
shall rfjKiir home, or else lose their benefices. And if they yet shall remain,
A. D. they shall lose the liberty of ever retimiing. Further, if any such priests shall IIC6. be ibund, that for the j)()j)e's suspense or interdict will refuse to sing, they shall be shamefully mutilated.' In fine, all such priests as sliow themselves rebels to the king, let'them be deprived of their benefices," &c.
A.n.iiGG. Besides these and such like injiinction.s, it was also set forLli bv
the kin^f's proclamation, a.d. 11 66, that all manner of persons, both
men and women, whosoever were found of the kindred of Thomas
]ieckct, should be exiled, Avithout taking any part of their goods
with them, and sent to him where he was ; Avhich was no little vex-
„ ,. .. ation to Becket to behold them. Moreover, forasmuch as he then
kiiHircd was lying with Gwarine, abbot of Pontigny, to whom the pope, as
'"'" "" ' is aforesaid, had commended liim ; therefore the king, writing to the
same abbot, recjuired him not to retain the archbishop of Canterbury
in his house, for if he did, he would drive out of his realm all the
f^'""-""'- monks of his order.^ Whereupon Becket was enforced to remove
iioveden.jfirom thcncc, and went to Louis, the French king, by whom he was
placed at Sens, and there was found of him the space of four years,
as is above mentioned.
In tlic mean time, messengers went daily with letters between the king and the pope, between the pope again and him, and also between Becket ^hc arclibisliop and others, whereof, if the reader, pcradvcnture, shall '0"?- „^ be dcsiroius to see the copies, I have thouoht here to express certain of his 01 them, to satisfy lus desire; nrst bcguuimg witli the epistle ot i'lITpope" Becket, complaining of his prince to the pope, in manner and form as followetli.
The copy of an Epistle sent by Thomas Becket to Pope Alexander.'
To your presence and audience I flee, most holy father, that you, who have l)ought the liberty of the church with your so great danger, might the rather attend to the same, either being the only or chief cause of my persecution, using and follo\ving therein your example. It grieveth me that tlie state of the church shoidd fall to any decay, and that the liberties thereof should be infringed through tlie avarice of princes. For the which caiLse I thonglit to resist betimes that inconvenience beginning so to grow; and the more I thought myself obliged to the same, my prince, unto whom next under God I am most cluefly bound, the more boldness I took to me, to withstand his unrightful attempts, till such as were on the contrary part, my adversaries, jirevailcd, working my disquietness, and incensing him against me. Whereupon, as the manner is amongst princes, they raised up against me citations and slanders, to the occasion of my persecution ; but I had rather be proscribed than subscribe. Besides this, I was also called to judgment, and cited before the king to make answer there as a lay person, to secular accoimts, and while they whom I most trusted did most forsake me ; for I saw my fellow-brethren, the bishops, through the instigation of some, ready to my condenmation. Whereupon, all being set against me, and I thus oppressed on every side, I took my refuge to ap])eal to your goodness, which castcth off none in their extremities, being ready to make my declaration before you, tliat I ought neither to be judged Uiere in tlwt place, nor yet of tliem. For what were that, father, but to usui-p to themselves your right, and to bring the spiritu.'ilty under the temporalty ? wliich thing, once begun, may breed an example to many. And therof(n-e so nuich the more stout I thought to be in witlistanding this matter, how much niore j)ronc and inclined I saw tlie way to hurt, if they might once see us to be
(1) Bee Note 2, p. 21!).— En.
(2) These monks were of the Cisterrian order.
(3) For the Latin, see the Edition of 1563, p. 5-1.— Ed.
HIS LETTER TO THE POPE. 221
faint and weak in the same. But they will say to me here again : "Give to Uenryll.
Cgesar that which belongs to Caesar," &c. But, to answer again thereunto : •
albeit we are bound to obey our king in most things, yet not in such manner of -^-I^. things, whereby he is made to be no king ; neither were they then things ^1^ belonging to "Ca'sar, but to a tyrant; concerning the which points these bishops should not for me only, but for themselves, have resisted the king. For .jq i^^.^p if the extreme judgment be reserved to him who is able to judge both body and under tiie sold, is it not tben extreme pride for men there to judge, who judge but by jJ^J.'j.^jpg themselves? If the cause of the bishops and of the clergy, which I maintain, is no be right, wl^y be they set against me? why do they reprehend me? For if I jausesuf- appealed to him, before whom either it was not lawful, or else not expedient for iln'.king" me so to do, what seem they by this, but either to blame me causeless, or else a prince to distrust your equity ? For me to be convicted before your holiness, it had been a double contiision. Or wherein have I deserved to be persecuted of them, for whose cause I have set myself to stand in their behalf? And if they had willed, I had prevailed ; but it is ill with the head, when it is left of its members and forsaken ; as if the eyes should take the tongue to speak against the head. If they had had eyes to have foreseen the matter, they might under- stand themselves to speak their own destruction, and that the princes did use their help but to tlieir own servitude. And what so great cause of hatred had they against me, to procure their own undoing in undoing of me ? So while they neglected spiritual things for temporal, they have lost them both. What should I speak more of this, that I repugning them, and appealing to your audience, they yet durst presume to stand in judgment and condemnation against me, as children against their father. Yea, and not against me only, but against the universal church of God, conspiring together with the prince being with me offended. And this suspicion might also as well pertain to you, holy father. But to this they will say, that they owe their duty and service unto the king, as their lord, to whom they are bound upon their jj. allegiance. To whom I answer, that to him they stand bound bodily, to me mean by spiritually. But to whom ought they rather to stand bound, than to themselves ? spiritual And were it not better to sustain the loss of corporal than of spiritual things ? suSf as But here they will say again ; at this time the prince was not to be provoked, pertain How subtilly do these men dispute for their own bondage 1 Yea, they *?|.||]^ ^P'" themselves provoke him by their own excess, ministering wings unto him to part of fight against them ; for he would have rested if they had resisted. And when ™!"i' I is constancy more to be required, than in persecution ? Be not a man's chief p^yj J;. friends most tried in persecution ? If they give over still, how shall they obtain berties be the victory ? Sometimes they must needs resist. Condescend, therefore, holy "°J(^? ^ ^^ father, to my exile and persecution, and remember that I also once was a great the in- man, in the time when it was; and now for your sake thus injuriously I am ward or ti-eated. Use your rigour, and resti-ain them by whose instigation the name ^^^l^ "^^ of this persecution began, and let none of these things be imputed to the king, rather are who rather is to be accounted the repairer than the author of this business. more^
Besides tliis epistle sent to the pope, he writeth also another, ^g^fp^^j, sent to the hing, in Latin, the tenor whereof he that is disposed to tion tri- read may peruse in our former edition,^ with notes adjoined withal, frilnd,"^"''
but every (1) An Epistle of Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, to King Henry, found only in the edition of cause 1563, at page 55, with the notes, probably of Jolm Foxe, adjoined. —Ed. maketh
Desiderio desideravi videre faciem vestram et loqui vobiscuni.l Non multum quidem propter -nersecu- me, sed niaxime propter vos : ut visa facie niea reduceretis ad metnoriam servitia, quae, diim }■ agerem in obsequio vestro, exhibui vobis devote et fideliter juxta aiiinii conscientiam (sic me Deus adjuvet in examine ultimo, quando omnes astabunt ante tribunal Ipsius, recepturi prout gesserunt in corpore, sive bonum sive malum), et ut moveremini super me pietate, quern oportet mendicando vivere inter alienos. Licet tamen Dei gratia, cum abundanfia victualia ad sufficientiam habeamus. Estque nobis consolatio multa, quod dicit apostolus, Omnes qui pie volunt vivere in Christo, persecutionem patientur: Et propheta, Non vidi justum derelictum, nee semen ejus quaerens panem. Propter vos : tribus ex causis. Tum quia dominus meus estis : tum quia rex meus e.stis:2 turn quia filius meus spiritualis. Eo quod dominus, debeo vobis et otfero consilium meum et obse-
Certain Notes upon this Latin Epistle.
1. Imo maxime suum agit negotium etiamsi, dissimulat sedulo.
2. Si dominus est, cur te non praebes illi servum? Si rex, cur non subditum ostendis? Porro quura servus non sui sit juris, sed in possessione sui domini. quo jure ergo servum agis fuuitivum, ab eo aufugiens, qui jure tui vindicat possessionem atque in te potestatem occupat ? Pra;terea, si dominum tuum esse agnoscas, falso igitur illi te consilium debere dicis ; in servo enim nan con- Bilium spectatur, sed obsequium, nisi is consilium exigut.
222
A\OT}!KR I.F.TTFR TO THK POPE.
iienrnii. Bcsidcs which epistle to tlie king in Latin, lie sent also one or two
^_ I) more to the saiil King Henry II., much alter the like rate and sort: one
IIGG. thus beginning, " Loijui ile Deo, libera? mentis est et valde quietae.
Inde est quod loquarad Doininum meum, ct utinam ad omnes pacifi-
quium quodciinque debet episcopus, secundum hotiorem Dei et sanctae ecclesiae, domino : eo quod rex, teneor rnbia ad reverentiamet commonitionein: eo quod filius, oflicii ratione, ad castigationcm tencor et rolierrioiicm.3 Corripit enim pater (ilium nunc blaiidis nunc asperis, ut vel sic pro\ ocet cum ad twncfacicndum. Nosse debetis vos gratia regem esse, Primo quia vos ipsuni regere dcbeti* vit.'imque vestram optimis inforniare moribus, ut vestri exemplo CcEteri provocentur ad melius, juxia illud sapientis : Cumponitiir orbis regis ad cxemplum : Secundo, alios hos demulccndo, alios puniendo potestatis aucioritate quam ab ecclesia recepistis turn sacramento unctionis, turn gladii officio, quern gestatis ad malefactores ecclesiae conterendos. Inunguntur enim reges tribus in locis, in capite, in pectore, in bracliiis; quod significat gloriam, scientiam, ct fortitudinem. Qui antiquis temporibus justilicationes Dti non observabant, et prasvaricati sunt mandata ejus, his sublata est gloria, scicntia, et fortitudo, et eorum generationi; exem- plo Pbaraonis, Nebusodonosor, Saulis, Salomonis, alionimque plurium. suum cordis contritione liumiliaverunt se Domino, his Dei gratia accessitcum omnibus supradictis abundantius et perfcctius, sicut David, Ezechiae, aliisque quam pluriinis. Chrislus fundavit matrem ecclesiam, ejusque comparavits libertatem sanguine proprio, sustinendo flagella, sputa, clavos, mortis angustias, nobis relinquens exemplum ut sequaraur vestigia ejus. Unde dicit apostolus: si compatianiur ei, et conregnabimus : si commoriamur, et resurgemus. Ecclesia enim Dei in duobus constat ordinibus, cicro et populo. In clero sunt apostoli, apostolicique viri, episcopi, et ca;teri doctores ecclesiae, quibus commissa est cura et regnum ipsius ecclesia, qui traclare habent nesotia ecclesiastica, ut totura reducant ad salutem animarum. Unde et6 Petro dictum est, et in Petro aliisrectoribus ecclesiarum, non regibus, non principibus : Tu es Petrus, et super banc petrara aedilicabo ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus earn. In populo sunt reges, et principes, duces, coraites, et alii potestates, qui secularia habent tractare negotia, ut totum reducant ad pacem et unitatem ecclesiae. Et quia certum est reges potestatem suam accipere at) eccleaia, non ipsam ab illis sed a Christo, ut salva pace vestra loquar, non habetis episcopis? pra;cipcre absolvere aliquem vel excommunicare, Irahere clericos ad secularia examina, judicare rie decimis vel ecclesifs, interdicere episcopis ne tractent causas de transgressione tidei vel juramenfi, et niulta in hunc niodum quae scripta sunt inter consuctudines vestras, quas dicitis avitas. Domi- nus enim dicit : Leges meas custodite. Et per prophetam : Vae qui condunt leges iniquas et scri- beiites scripserunt injustitias, ut opprimerent pauperesin judicio, et vim facerent causae humilium populi Dei. Audiat namque, si placet, dominus mens consilium fidelis sui, commonitionem epi- scopi sui, castigationcm patris sui** — ne cum schismaticisde ca'tero liabeat aliquam familiaritatem vel communionem, nee cum eis aliquomodo contrahat focdus vel amicitiara. Notum est enim toti fere mundo, quam devote, quam honorifice dom. papani receperitis, quantum ecclesiam Romanam foveritiset bonoraveritis, quan t unique dom. papa etetiam ecclesia Romana personam vestram dilex- erint, honoraverint, et in quibuscumque secundum Deum potuerint vos exaudierint. Nolile, Do- mine mi, ergo, si salutem animae vestrae desideraiis, eidem ecclesia; quod suum est aliqua ratione subtrahere, seu in aliquo ei citra justitiam contraire. Imo eandam ei permitlatis in regno vestro habere^ libertatem, quam in aliis regnis habere dinoscitur. Memores quoque sitis confessionis quam fecistis et posuistis scriptam super altare apud Westminster, de servanda ecclesiae libertate, quando consecrati fuistis ct uncti in regem a praedecessore nostro Theobaldo. Ecclesiam etiara Cantuariensem, a qua promotionem et consecrationem accepistis, in eum statum restituatis et digni- tatem, in quibus fuit temporibus prsdccessorum nostrorum;10possessionesetiamadip8am ecclesiam et ad nos pertincntes, villas, praedia, castella, et omnia quae pro voluntate vesiia distriliuistis, res et omnes ablatas tarn nostras quam clericorum nostrorum et laicorum, in integrum nobis resti- tuatis. Perinittatis etiam, si placet, nrs libere et in pace et cum omni securitaie redire in eedem nostram, officioque nostro libere uti, sicut debemus et ratio exigit. Et nos vobis tanquam domino charissinio et regi parati sumus fideliter et devote pro viribus servire in quibuscunque potuerimus, salvo honore Dei et ecclesiaeRomanae et salvo otdine nostro.n Alioqui pro certo sciatis, quia divinam severitatem et ultionem sentietis.
3. Subditorum est subjici suis principibus non eos subdere : Episcnpi sunt subditi suis princi- pibus : Ergo male conantur episc. suos sibi principes subjicere. Ad principis spectat ofiicium legibus animadvertere in sontes : Becketus id non permittit, prohibeiis clericos suos ad supplicia Tocari : Ergo Becketus non se pr:estat subditum suo regi.
4. Nego argumentum — Deuspunivitmalos principes contra mandata suadelinquentes : Ergo pon- tifices et episcopi punire reges debent, suadecreta iransgredientes.
5. Fallacia est a falsa definitionelibertatis ecclesiastical. Ea enim libertas quam Christus suo sanguine comparavit, ad conscientiam duntaxat attinet, non ad terrena privilegia aut corporeas facultatcs. Cliristus igitur aliam nobis redemit libertatem, Becketus de alia argutatur.