much for the sake of booty as for the profession of arms, especially the Flemings, of whom a great host then infested the land. These he ordered to return to their own country and appointed a day after which to prolong their stay in England would be attended with certain danger. Terror-stricken by this edict, they slipped away in so short a time that they seemed to have vanished in a moment like phantoms, while many marvelled at the haste of their departure. Next he ordered the newly erected castles, which had not been standing in the days of his grandfather, to be razed to the ground, with the exception of a few sited in advantageous places he desired either to retain for himself or to be maintained in the hands of peaceful men for the defence of the realm.

As Henry II's reign began, so Thomas Becket was rising in the service of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury. William FitzStephen gives a hagiographical but lively account of Becket's childhood and early carrer.

The Lord knew and predestined the blessed Thomas [to His service] before he issued from the womb and revealed to his mother what manner of man he would be. For during pregnancy she saw in a dream that she carried in her womb the whole church of Canterbury. As soon as the child saw the light of day, the midwife lifted him up in her arms saying, 'I have raised from the ground a future archbishop.' While he was yet a baby lying in a cradle, his mother dreamed one night that she rebuked the nurse for not putting a coverlet over him. 'Nay, my lady,' replied the nurse, 'he has the best of coverlets.' 'Show it me,' said her mistress. The nurse brought it and showed it to her, but when she tried to unfold it, she could not do so and said to the mother, 'It is too large for me to spread over the bed.' Whereupon the mother answered, 'Come into the hall and unfold it there.' The nurse tried hard to do so, but failed and said, 'I simply cannot unfold the whole of it here.' The astonished mother then said, 'Go out into the street of the market-place, which is now empty; no doubt you will succeed in unfolding it there.' But neither

return took part in the affairs of the city of London, being made clerk and accountant to the sheriffs. In this employment he conducted himself in a manner worthy of all praise, and acquired such a knowledge of the world that in afterlife he had no difficulty in managing with caution and prudence the common interest of the Church of England and the public affairs of the kingdom, which he dispatched efficiently and with due magnificence.

Becket showed such great promise in his work for archbishop Theobald that in 1155 the king made him Chancellor of England. That gave him responsibility for supervising Henry's Chancery (writing office) as well as a role in the royal administration.

1155[A very political queen]

After Henry II had been crowned king of England at the hands of Archbishop Theobold by the latter's recommendation and through his good offices, and also at the instigation of Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, King Stephen's brother, Thomas was made the king's chancellor in preference to all others. Being a man of diligence and industry, revolving great matters in his mind and experienced in many and great affairs, he discharged the onerous duties and obligations of his office to the praise of God and the well-being of the whole

the other with justice in respect of that saint. As regards the practice of Christian worship, there are in London and its suburbs thirteen greater conventual churches and, besides these, one hundred and twenty-six lesser parish churches.

In has on the east the Palantine castle [the Tower of London], very great and strong: the keep and walls rise from very deep foundations and are fixed with a mortar tempered by the blood of animals. On the west there are two castles very strongly fortified, and from these there runs a high and massive wall with seven double gates and with towers along the north at regular intervals. London was once also walled and turreted on the south, but the mighty Thames, so full of fish, has with the sea's ebb and flow washed against, loosened, and thrown down those walls in the course of time. Upstream to the west there is the royal palace [of Westminster], which is conspicuous in its ramparts and bulwarks, It is about two miles from the city and joined thereto by a populous suburb.

Everywhere outside the houses of those living in the suburbs, and adjacent to them, are the spacious and beautiful gardens of the citizens, and these are planted with trees. Also there are on the north side pastures and pleasant meadow lands through which flows streams wherein the turning of mill-wheels makes a cheerful sound. Very near lies a great forest with woodland pastures in which there are the lairs of wild

they hasten to the river bank and there find all they need. However great the multitude of soldiers and travellers entering the city, or preparing to go out of it, at any hour of the day or night -- that these may not fast too long, and those may not go out supperless -- they turn aside thither, if they please, where every man can refresh himself in his own way. Those who would cater for themselves fastidiously need not search to find sturgeon or the bird of Africa or the Ionian gotwit. For this is a public kitchen, very convenient to the city, and part of its amenities. Hence the dictum in the Gorgias of Plato that the art of cookery is an imitation of medicine and flatters a quarter of civic life.

Immediately outside one of the gates there is a field which is smooth [Smithfield] both in fact and in name. On every sixth day of the week, unless it be a major feast-day, there takes place there a famous exhibition of fine horses for sale. Earls, barons and knights, who are in the town, and many citizens come out to see or to buy. It is pleasant to see the high-stepping palfreys with their gleaming coats, as they go through their paces, putting down their feet alternately on one side together. Next, one can see the horses suitable for squires, moving faster though less smoothly, lifting and setting down, as it were, the opposite fore and hind feet: here are colts of fine breed, but not yet accustomed to the bit, stepping high with jaunty tread; there are the sumpter-horses,

flanks, cows with full udders, oxen of immense size, and woolly sheep. There also stand the mares fit for plough, some big with foal, and others with brisk young colts closely following them.

To this city from every nation under heaven merchants delight to bring their trade by sea. The Arabian sends gold; the Sabaean spice and incense. Ths Scythian brings arms, and from the rich, fat lands of Babylon comes oil of palms. The Nile sends precious stones; the men of Norway and Russia, furs and sables; nor is China absent with purple silk. The Gauls come with their wines.

London, as historians have shown, is a much older city than Rome, for though it derives from the same Trojan ancestors, it was founded by Brutus before Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus. Wherefore they still have the same laws from their common origin. This city is like Rome divided into wards; it has annual sheriffs instead of consuls; it has its senatorial order and lower magistrates; it has drains and aqueducts in its streets; it has its appointed places for the hearing of cases deliberative, demonstrative and judicial; it has several courts, and its separate assemblies on appointed days.

I do not think there is a city with a better record for church-

is frozen over, swarms of young men issue forth to play games on the ice. Some, gaining speed in their run, with feet set well apart, slide sideways over a vast expanse of ice. Others make seats out of a large lump of ice, and whilst one sits thereon, others with linked hands run before and drag him along behind them. So swift is their sliding motion that sometimes their feet slip, and they all fall on their faces. Others, more skilled at winter sports, put on their feet the shin-bones of animals, binding them firmly round their ankles, and, holding poles shod with iron in their hands, which they strike from time to time against the ice, they are propelled swift as a bird in flight or a bolt shot from an engine of war. Sometimes, by mutual consent, two of them run against each other in this way a great distance, and, lifting their poles, each tilts against the other. Either one or both fall, they are carried along a great way beyond each other by the impetus of their run, and wherever the ice comes in contact with their heads, it scrapes off the skin utterly. Often a leg or an arm is broken, if the victim falls with it underneath him; but theirs is an age greedy of glory, youth yearns for victory, and exercises itself in mock combats in order to carry itself more bravely in real battles.

Many of the citizen take pleasure in sporting with birds of the air, with hawks, falcons and suchlike, and with hounds that hunt their prey in the woods. The citizens have the rights of

When the two-year war was over (1174) and the fighting and persecution had stopped, the king, attributing his success like another Pharaoh not to divine mercy but to his own strength, hardened his heart and returned incorrigibly to his usual abyss of vice, or rather, to an even worse one, since, going downhill things can only deteriorate. And to mention only one thing, omitting the test, he imprisoned Queen Eleanor his wife as punishment for the destruction of their marriage; his adultery, previously hidden, now became open and blatant, not with a 'pure rose' (Latin rosa munda), falsely and friviously named, but rather with an impure one. And since the world copies a king, he offended not only by his behaviour but even more by his bad example.

How Eleanor, queen of France, behaved when she was across the sea in Palestine, and how she conducted herself on her return, towards her first husband and her second, and how her children aroused such hopes when young, but withered away; all these things are well enough known.

Of two of her daughers, the Sicilian and the Saxon, the first died without children and the second without happiness, one without fruit, the other not without misery. As far as the others are concerned, the Spanish branch, the German one and the Breton, subsequent ages will be in a position to tell

touch her, they say, both because she was his lord's wife, and because he had known her himself. As the final culmination of these outrages it is related that King Henry resumed to sleep adulterously with the said queen of France, taking her from his own lord and marrying her himself. How could anything fortunate, I ask, emerge from thes copulations?

Unlike Gerald of Wales, the chronicler Ralph of Diceto set out to write about historical events in an objective way. He takes up the story of Henry II's reign with the events of 1155.

A son, Henry, was born in London to Henry king of England and Queen Eleanor on 28 February, and was baptized by Richard bishop of London.[The English borough]

Robert dean of Salisbury was elected bishop of Exeter and was consecrated by Theobald archbishop of Canterbury.

Frederick king of Germany was crowned emperor by Pope Adrian in the church of St Peter's [Rome]. Henry of Blois bishop of Winchester left England without the permission of the king. In consequence the ordered the destruction of six of his castles. William Peverel of Nottingham was disinherited because he had given poison to Ranulf earl of Chester. The king took over the tower of Gloucester and the castles of Bridgnorth and Wigmore, which Hugh of Mortimer had fortified against him.

Thomas, the king's chancellor, came to Paris with great ceremony to receive Margaret, daughter of the king of France, to be the wife of Henry, son of the king of England.

Immediately after the death of his brother Geoffrey, Henry king of England crossed the Channel and seized Nantes.

Louis VII, king of France progressed through Normandy intending to fulfil a vow at Mont-Saint-Michel. He was received in the cathedral churches with solemn ritual. One by one men came to pay him honour, presenting him with many gifts.

The king of England came to Paris on the invitation of King Louis VII of France and was received in his palace and was offered lodging in the cloister of the canons of Notre-Dame.

1159

Henry II king of England led an army against Toulouse and took some well defended castles in that region. However, they say that the king of England did not attack Toulouse itself, out of respect for the king of France, who was staying there. For the king of France, out of good will towards the count of St Gilles, who had married his sister and had children by her, refused to retire from Toulouse. Thus the two kings became enemies.

king of France and the queen's brothers now claimed that the day had been fixed far earlier than they had anticipated and were greatly aggrieved. And so, felling enmity toward the king of England, the king of France and Count Theobald, with their allies, set about strengthening the defences of Chaumont, hoping to bring disgrace upon their enemy. However, the king of England came swiftly with his men and besieged the castle, when the French king and Count Theobald had fled. After a few days, he compelled its surrender and held fifty-five of Theobald's knights prisoner within. The marriage of the king of England's son and the king of France's daughter was celebrated with the alleged authority of Henry of Pisa and William of Pavia, cardinal priests and legates of the Holy See, even though the boy was only seven years old and the girl, three. This came to pass at Neufbourg on 5 November.

1161

Richard archdeacon of Coventry, whose father was Richard bishop of Chester, was consecrated bishop of that same see by Archbishop Theobald. For the sons of priests, if their mode of life shows them worthy, are neither to be excluded from holy orders, nor from cathedral churches nor yet from the papacy itself. Nicholas, for example, an Englishman by birth, whose father was a priest, became Pope Adrian IV.

Winchester carried the news that Thomas had been elected unopposed to the refectory of the monks of Westminster on the Wednesday before Whitsun.

On the following Sunday, he was consecrated by Henry bishop of Winchester, who was at that time vicar of the vacant see of London.

Messengers were sent to pope Alexander that the suffragans of Canterbury had chosen their pastor, who, on the unanimous vote of all, had been consecrated by their own synod. On hearing this, the pope gave his approval. And so, when the letters of the bishops, the prior and convent of Trinity [i.e. Canterbury Cathedral priory] and the king had been read out, the request for ratification was put to the cardinals assembled in the consistory. They all agreed without doubt or hesitation. The archbishop's pallium was then handed over to the messengers with all due pomp and ceremony. Archbishop Thomas, bound by the customary conditions and under the terms of the sacrament, took up the pallium from the high altar of Canterbury Cathedral.

However, as he put on those robes reserved, at God's command, to the highest of his clergy, he changed not only his apparel but his cast of mind. For he wished no longer to be bothered with the concerns of the chancery but rather that he might be allowed to retire from it and thus have more time

he exposed his naked back to the lash of discipline. Immediately over his hair shirt he wore the habit of a monk, as abbot of the monks of Canterbury. Above this he wore the garb of a canon, in order to conform to the custom of clerks. But the stole, the emblem of the sweet yoke of Christ, was every day and night around his neck. His outward visage was like that of ordinary men, but within all was different. In this he took for his pattern St Sebastian and St Cecilia, the former of whom under cover of a warrior's cloak conducted himself as a soldier of Christ, whilst the latter mortifying her flesh with sackcloth, appeared outwardly adorned with vesture of gold.

In his private cell every day he washed the feet of thirteen beggars, kneeling on his knees, in memory of Christ, and after replenishing them with victuals he gave four shillings to each of them. If he was on any occasion, though rarely, prevented from performing this act in person, he took great care to have the duty discharged by proxy. When he was alone, it was marvellous how often he dissolved into tears, and when he celebrated at the altar it was as if he discerned the Lord's Passion present in the flesh before him. He handled the holy sacraments with the utmost reverence, so that his very manner of doing so strengthened the faith and conduct of those who observed it.

Furthermore he entertained in his house the outcast and the

the most urgent request of the king. Eventually, he did resign it as the king had asked. However, although he was thus restored to the king's favour from which he had been excluded as a consequence of his delay, he never properly acknowledged this.

Roger de Clare earl of Hertford was summoned to Westminster on 22 July by Thomas archbishop of Canterbury to pay him homage in respect of Tonbridge castle and its domain. But the earl firmly resisted the archbishop's request, asserting that the fief in question was held of the king not the archbishop and it was to the former that its military service and public payments were due.

Malcolm king of Scotland, Rhys prince of the southern Welsh, Owen prince of the northern Welsh and all the noblemen of Wales paid homage to the king of England, and to Henry his son, at Woodstock on 1 July.

A general inquiry was made throughout England to find out who ought to be by right holding in secular service of whom. While making inquiries in Kent, the justiciars decided that William of Ros owed allegiance to the king not the archbishop in whatever business he did. Thus personal hatreds caused harm to the Church as a whole.

When Archbishop Thomas transferred the vacant living of

punishment on individual members of the clergy who were guilty of crimes, considering that for such men to receive less punishment than they deserved derogated from the dignity of the order as a whole. Therefore he decreed that members of the clergy who were considered by his own judges to be flagrant criminals should be turned over to their bishop. Those whom that bishop found guilty he should deprive of their authority in the presence of one of the king's judges and should, after the trial, hand over for punishment.

The archbishop of Canterbury was then put on trial for his actions as chancellor, appearing at Northampton on 12 October. The bishops, earls and barons of the whole kingdom gathered there at the king's urgent command. Roger archbishop of York was summoned and appeared. It was by order of Thomas's chancery that overseers had been appointed to the possessions of bishoprics. Since Thomas had as chancellor exceeded the limits of his authority in the king's household (for many years he had held the castles of Berkhamsted and Eye, doing what he liked with them), it seemed to most people to be consistent with the law that he should be made to account for the sum of the profits, even though, before his consecration, the archbishop had been granted by Henry, the king's son and heir, freedom and exemption from the obligation to render accounts. However, since it was impossible for Thomas to prove that this immunity had been granted him, the leaders of the church did bring judgement against him though he had neither confessed to the charge, nor been convicted, but was laying claim to benefit of clergy.

1165

Adela, the queen of France gave birth to a son who was called Philip. The queen of England, Eleanor, gave birth to a daughter who was called Joanna. Pope Alexander returned to Italy and was welcomed at Rome.

While the king was staying at Westminster [the royal palace near London], Reginald archbishop of Cologne came to England to receive Matilda, the king's eldest daughter, as a wife for Henry, duke of Saxony. However, when the nobles of the kingdom came, with great ceremony, to meet him, Robert earl of Leicester, the king's justiciar, refused to embrace him on the grounds that he was schismatic. And all the altars upon which the schismatic had celebrated were overturned.
[A daughter's alliance]

Becket had fled to the pope at Sens, and from there went to the Cistercian abbey of Pontigny. Here he adopted an austere and scholarly way of life. At Whitsun 1166, while on pilgrimage, he visited Vézelay, where he excommunicated several English bishops who were supporting the king.

1166

"Thomas archbishop of Canterbury to the king of the English.

and in case any harm should be done to the Cistercian Order in England took him to Sens and paid his expenses at Ste Colombe for four years.

1167

King Henry II's daugher Matilda married duke of Saxony. The earls of Arundel and Pembroke, and many others, escorted her to him.

The kings of France and England fell out: the Normans burnt Chaumont near Gisors, capturing many knights and civilians, and in revenge, the French king burnt Andelys, a country house of the archbishop of Rouen, and returned to France the same day losing more than a thousand men on the journey. Afterwards a great number of French knights were captured by the Normans in Perche; but the two kings made peace, as Richard duke of Aquitaine, the English king's son, was betrothed to Alice of France, the king's daughter.

1169

Eleanor, daughter of the king of England, married Alfonso VIII king of Castile.[Las Huelgas in Castile]

On 18 November a conference was held between King Louis VII of France and King Henry II of England near Paris, which

discharge anything in the name of restitution. Nor was he obliged to declare invalid the possession of vacant property which he had already given to certain persons. But so that he could profess himself to be a ruler bound by laws, he was prepared, before the king of France, to satisfy the archbishop in all respects, or if he had decided to dispute the matter, to submit to judgement in the palace at Paris, with the nobles of France there, or with the French Church using its influence, or with scholars from the different provinces examining the business fairly.

Thus the king of England, who previously had excited the hatred of many against himself, with these words turned many in his favour. In this way the king of England and the archbishop would have come to some sort of agreement, if the king had not absoulutely refused to give the archbishop the kiss of peace.

1170

On Christmas Day the king held court at the town of Nantes, with the attendance of the bishops and barons of the whole of Brittany, who swore allegiance to him and his son Geoffrey all together. In Lent he returned to England, and when many of his retinue were endangered by a sudden storm at sea, he himself escaped unharmed by virtue of his great gift of piety

dismounted and mounted their horses, the king twice held the stirrup for the archbishop. And again at Amboise, to put it briefly for easier understanding, the king and the archbishop entered an agreement, this time peace being procured by Rotrou archbishop of Rouen.

"Henry king of England, to his son Henry king of England, greeting.

May you know that Thomas archbishop of Canterbury has made peace with me in accordance with my wishes. Therefore I order that he and his followers may have peace and that you see to it that he and his followers, who on his behalf left England, should have their possessions in peace and with honour, as they did three months before they left England. Summon before you some of the best and oldest knights of the honour of Saltwood and on their oath you should make an inquiry as to what of the fief of the arbishopric of Canterbury is there, and make sure that the archbishop gets what has been recognized as part of his fief.

Witness Archbishop Rotrou of Rouen, at Chinon."

On this security the archbishop therefore returned to England, and landed at the port of Sandwich on 1 December.

Thomas archbishop of Canterbury, after he entered England,

mounted the pulpit to give a sermon to the people. When that was done, and he had made the customary prayers to the Lord for the pope, the king and the salvation of the populace, with candles lit he solemnly excommunicated Nigel de Sackville, a violent oppressor of the church of Hardres, and the vicar of the same church, and also Robert de Broc, who had himself mutilated a certain horse of the archbishop himself which was carrying victuals, to his disgrace and ignominy.

On the fifth day of Christmas around dusk, while the archbishop was residing in his chamber with his clerks, as if carried by a fury, William de Traci, Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Moreville and Richard Brito, four knights who had come from Normandy, burst into the chamber, and threatened on behalf of the king, who was staying in Normandy, that the archbishop should restore the suspended bishops of England to their offices and absolve those excommunicated. He replied to them that it was not for a lesser judge to dissolve the sentence of a superior, and that it was not for any man to undermine what had been decreed by apostolic see; however, if the bishops of London and Salisbury would swear that they would obey his command, he would absolve them for the peace of the Church and through reverence to the king. They, while with anger hurrying to bring the wicked crime which they had conceived, to its execution, rapidly withdrew.

The archbishop, despite the warnings of his clerks, entered the main church, since it was nearly time to sing vespers. And

the archbishop stood unmoved, and offering his neck [for a blow] commended himself to God, while his lips repeated the names of the holy archbishops who had been martyrs before him. Some of the enemy cried, 'You are our prisoner, come with us,' and laying hands upon him, they would have dragged him out of the church, but for fear that the people might rescue him from their clutches. The archbishop made answer, 'I will not go hence. Here shall you work your will and obey your orders.' He struggled with might and main against them, while the monks too held him back. With them also was Master Edward Grim, and he, putting up his arm [to ward off the blow] received the first stroke of the sword aimed by William de Traci at the archbishop's head. By this same stroke the archbishop was wounded in the head as he bent forward, and Grim in the arm severely.

Wiping off with his arm the blood that streamed from his head, 'Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.' As he knelt down, clasping and stretching out his hands to God, a second stroke was dealt him on the head, at which he fell flat on his face hard by an altar there dedicated to St Benedict. He took care, however, and was granted grace, to fall in honourable fashion, covered down to the ankles with his pallium, as though in the act of prayer and adoration. On the

Robert de Broc and his accomplices plundered the property of the archbishop, the clothes of the clergy and servants, and even the utensils from the workshop. They swiftly made off with all the horses which they found in his stables, as spoils.

The body of the archbishop, which had sunk onto the pavement to the right-hand side of the altar of St Benedict, was carried and placed in front of the main altar at twilight. There, what had been known only to his chamberlain, became evident to bystanders. For although the archbishop had quite secretly concealed a monastic habit, which he had worn for a long time, by covering it with his canonical garb, he had also taken care to tame his flesh with undergarments of haircloth. The following day, Wednesday, early in the morning, a wicked rumour became prevalent: that the wicked excutioners had conspired to drag away the body of the archbishop from the holy place, and to cast it outside the walls of the city to be torn by dogs or birds. So the abbot of Boxley and the prior and convent of the church of Canterbury wisely decided that they should give the body a somewhat late burial; it seemed not to need washing with water, especially since it had been purged by the long abstinence of the archbishop, and wiped by the haircloth, and purified by his own blood.

1171

King Henry of England was at this time staying in Normandy,

said day the pope had decided immutably to impose the sentence of interdict against the king of England by name, and against the whole of his land on both sides of the Channel.

On the same day, the pope generally excommunicated the most evil murderers of the archbishop of Canterbury, and all those who provided assistance or assent, and all those who might help or shelter them. The murderers nonetheless stayed at Knaresborough in the province of Northumbria for a year.

Aroung Easter, Lord Jesus Christ, who is always present in his saints and elsewhere, miraculously began to shine on the praiseworthy life of his most glorious martyr. Thomas archbishop of Canterbury, and his insuperable constancy in death, by means of frequent miracles, so that he who put up with the proscription of himself and his followers for so many years to protect the endangered liberty of the Church should be recognized by all to have won a worthy victory.

On 6 August the elder king arrived in England, and on his journey he visited Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, who was on his deathbed; the king was reproached for the death of the glorious martyr by the bishop, who predicted that he would suffer much because of that death. So the bishop, an old man and full of days, died on 8 August.

indulgence, nor hurriedly sentence anyone to death, when summoned by an edict they met him to discuss peace. Because there was no publicly constituted power among them which would give them safety, through fear of punishment and since they very often had grieved that their fathers killed each other in civil wars, they transferred their jurisdiction and power to him and in him so that because of the king, they should have peace.[England and Aquitaine]

Since various matters of business called him, Henry boarded ship at twilight and the next day arrived in Wales near Saint Davids. From there he went directly, turning neither to the left nor right as if post-haste, to Portchester, where, boarding a vessel, he said goodbye to England and after a fair crossing arrived in Normandy. When this came to the notice of the king of France, he sharply remarked, 'At one moment the king of England is in Ireland, the next in England, the next in Normandy -- he must fly rather than travel by horse or ship.'

When Henry arrived in Normandy he at once hurried to visit Albert and Theodin, the cardinals and papal legates. Finally, after protracted dealings, firstly at Savigny, then at Avranches, the king swore in the presence of the legates that the death of the most glorious martyr Thomas was not perpetrated with his wishes, nor with his knowledge, nor brought about by his planning; but since the villains had taken the opportunity of killing a holy man because of words which he had very

'Lackland' [because he had received nothing when Henry II divided his estates in 1169], then barely seven, to the eldest daughter of Humbert count of Maurienne whom the widow of Duke Henry of Saxony had borne him. And since the count had no hope of male children, four of his castles reputed to be the best fortified by man or nature were, as the king wished, handed over into his custody.

King Henry the king's son, following wicked advice, turned away from his father; and leaving Argentan by night, the servants of his father who looked after his needs knowing nothing about it, he went on 23 March via Mortagne, a castle of Theobald count of Perche, to his father-in-law, King Louis of France. That same night his father, sleeping at Alençon, was woken and told of his son's flight. With only a few companions he mounted his horse and, riding along the borders putting his castles in a state of defence, with many changes of mount came at dawn to Gisors, which King Louis had given to the Young King as the dowry of his daughter Margaret. Richard duke of Aquitaine and Geoffrey duke of Brittany, the king's younger sons, chose to follow their brother rather than their father -- in this, so they say, following the advice of their mother Eleanor. Everywhere there was plotting, plundering and burning. And to take an omen from the seasons, the son took up arms against his father at just the time when everywhere Christians were laying down their arms in reverence for Easter. Dissensiions

their prior, Gilbert bishop of London rising before them all heaped praise on prior Odo but with the agreement of the bishops came down on the other side, saying, 'We elect Prior Richard.' All this happened in St Catherine's chapel, in the presence and with the agreement of the king's justiciar. On the same day that the council about the election to Canterbury was held, the following letter from the pope was read out in public:

"Pope Alexander to his venerable brothers the archbishops and bishops, his dear sons the prelates of other churches and all the clergy and people of England, greeting and apostolic blessing.
England emits the frangrance and virtue of those miracles which almighty God works through the merits of the holy and reverend Thomas, formerly archbishop of Canterbury. His praiseworthy life shone with much meritorious glory, and at length was closed in the glorious battle of martyrdom. No one who hears of his admirable life, and considers his glorious passion can have any doubt of his sanctity. Being told constantly by all the faithful of the great and innumerable miracles worked through his merits, and according due credence to the testimony of many, we do hereby solemnly, before a great Lenten gathering of clergy and laity, canonize the said archbishop and decree him to be inscribed in the catalogue of saints. We therefore advise, and by our authority

When King Henry heard that Philip count of Flanders had left Normandy, he immediately collected together as large an army as he could, so that if he met the king of France within the borders of Normandy he could engage him in battle.

On hearing this the king of France, knowing that the king of England was very powerful and had bitter feelings towards him, like a bear whose cubs have been stolen and who is raging in the forest, decided that the best course of action for his men, and for himself, was flight. Mounting a swift horse, he retreated with all speed into France. The baggage which belonged to the French was left to be plundered by the besieged, and other Normans who had arrived. All the supplies of food which had been brought in for the French army by wagons, carts, or packhorses, were pillaged by the Brabançon mercenaries, on 9 August.[Mirebeau Castle]

William king of Scotland demanded that Henry II should restore to him the estates in Northumberland which had been a gift to his grandfather King David, confirmed to him in a formal charter, and which King David had in fact occupied for years, but his claim was rejected. So he gathered an army from the large number of Galwegians at his disposal, light-armed, agile men, easily recognized by their bald heads, who carried a knife at their sides, enough to frighten any soldiers, and who were skilled at hurling spears long distances; they lifted a long lance as a signal as they marched into battle.

de Vavaci and Geoffrey Esturmi, as a test of their loyalty to him, and on 30 April entered Maine. The inhabitants flocked to him from all directions and offered him their allegiance in every way, whether against the threat of war, or any other crisis, even at the risk of death.

So he travelled through the country, surrounded by large numbers of soldiers, strengthening their confidence in him and exhorting the local nobles to defend and protect their country. When he reached the border with Anjou, he dismissed everyone, except for the two men named above. The Angevins welcomed the king sooner and in greater numbers that the inhabitants of Maine, for they submitted to all his wishes with more devotion and readiness.

Now that everything had worked out according to plan, Henry II celebrated Whitsun at Poitiers. When he heard that the army of his son Richard was occupying the city of Saintes, he took the inhabitants of Poitiers with him and went quickly to relieve it. His soldiers, showing no reverence for God or the Holy Church, entered the great church with torches and lanterns and immediately turned it into a fortress, filling it with weapons and supplies of food. The king approached the city sooner that the soldiers expected, and was told that it was defended by three fortifications; he concentrated on attacking the city. To begin with he captured the first fortress, which

count of Flanders swore, by placing his hands on some sacred relics, that within fifteen days after the coming feast of St John on 24 June, he would invade England with a strong force and make her subject to the control of the Young King. Impressed by this display of loyalty, the Young King went to Wissant on 14 July to send Ralph of La Haie off the England with a large army. The count of Flanders sent three hundred and eighteen men on ahead for the crossing, not, it should be stressed, local men who happened to be available, but experienced soldiers selected from a large number of Flemings. After landing in England in Orwell on 15 May, at a time when their allies were for the most part in danger, they attacked Norwich from there, accompanied by Earl Hugh, and captured it on 18 June, pillaged it, carried off vast sums of money, took away large numbers of prisoners and forced them to pay a steep ransom.

King Henry II's justices, seeing how grave the state of affairs was in England, sent large numbers of messengers across the Channel, but received no certain news that Henry planned to return to England; as a last resort they sent Richard bishop-elect of Winchester to talk with the king, a man they knew for certain was a much closer friend than the others, much keener and more enthusiastic, and who could be relied on to point out to the king all the losses, difficulties and risks his people

Channel at Ouistreham. The king sped to the harbour on 8 July, the ships were unmoored and at midday he embarked. As they put to sea, the waves started to look rough. The wind rose and fell hourly and made the sailors hesitant about the crossing. They put on subdued expressions in front of the king, their faces betraying signs of doubt.

When the king learned that the wind was blowing directly against them, while the ship was taking a direct route to England, and that the strong gusts were steadily growing worse, he lifted his eyes to the sky and said in front of everyone: 'If peace among the clergy and the people is my mission, if the Lord of the heavens has ordained that peace will be restored when I arrive, then in his mercy may he grant me a safe landing. But if He is hostile to me, if He has decided to visit the kingdom with the rod, may if never by my fortune to reach the shores of my country.'

It could be assumed that his prayer was heard, since on the same day as he embarked he was blown at dusk to Southampton, with everything intact. There he ate a simple meal of bread and water, put off the business of restoring order and avoided meeting the citizens until he had fulfilled the promises made in his prayers by praying at the shrine of the glorious martyr Thomas.

After a short interval he made a hasty journey across England.

because a repentant spirit and a contrite and humble heart are the kind of sacrifice most pleasing to God, every time that in imitation of King David, he called out repeatedly, 'I have sinned against the Lord,' he deserved to hear from the prophet the words; 'The Lord also hath put away thy sin.'

There is no doubt that he had by now placated the martyr, and we can safely say that his sin was put away from him. That very sabbath day, when he prayed that Thomas should show mercy to him, God delivered William [the Lion] king of Scots into his hands, surrendered into his custody at Richmond, so that [Merlin's] prophecy was fulfilled which said: 'Between his jaws there will be found a bit which was forged in the bay of Armorica'; meaning by 'the bay of Armorica' the castle of Richmond, for it had been occupied by Breton princes by law of inheritance now as from ancient times.

In his metrical chronicle, written before 1183 and in French, Jordan Fantosme describes the joyful reaction of Henry II to William the Lion's capture.

Now return to Diceto's account of Henry II's campaigns against his enemies.

under the leadership of Ralph of La Haie, departed freely with their weapons and equipment. Thus, at a critical moment, through the intercession of St. Thomas the Martyr, the old king, who now had control throughout his kingdom, was able to embark on 7 August at Porchester, with the king of Scots in tow. On 11 August, after a prosperous voyage, he arrived at Rouen, which he found under siege.[Allies in heaven]

King Louis of France, the Young King and Philip count of Flanders collected forces from every region and amassed a huge army. Leaving the Seine on their left they besieged Rouen on 22 July, hoping that, if they took Rouen, this would remove the stain of ignominy which the breaking of an oath at the French siege of Verneuil and the act of treachery which was known to have played a part at the siege of Drincourt by the Flemings had caused. The Normans, of whom there were now few compared with the host which had arrived, resisted valiantly. Relying on the defences of the walls and using square stones, sharp stakes or long pieces of wood, they forced the enemy, who were attacking the outer walls in formation using siege engines, into headlong flight. But so that those who were under siege should have no respite, and so that they could put their own strength to the test with more energy and precision, the Flemings and the French alternated in the attack; as the French grew weary, the Flemings would stir themselves into action, using all their strength to undermine the walls. The Normans remained unperturbed by

efforts they decided to stop attacking the Normans and withdraw from the frontiers. Looking out for their own peace and quiet, they did all they could to heal the breach between the king of England and his sons. You may say the sons have incurred their father's curse, the hatred of the clergy and the imprecations of the people, but still they should be forgiven because of their youth.

The archbishop-elect of Canterbury set out for Rome, intending to avoid the ambushes of the schismatics. At the time the whole world was terrified by an infection deriving from a cloudy corruption of the air, causing a general coughing, a catarrh of the stomach, which was dangerous to all and led to many deaths. He arrived in Rome, and crossing beyond its boundaries, went to find Pope Alexander, who was then living at Anagni. There at the court he found agents of the Young King opposing him, doing all they could to black the characters of the bishops-elect. Finally the question of whose assent to the elections and subsequent proceedings was to be preferred, the elder of the younger king's, was raised at length and discussed in consistory and, as it appeared, fairly settled. Then, since a long tract had been put out concerning his birth, a number of wise men, of whom there were many on the archbishop's side, swore on the gospels that neither before nor during the election had they heard other than that he was conceived and born in legitimate wedlock. After this, on 2 April his election was confirmed.

enemies of this kind, through foreseeing the possibility of recalling his sons, whom almost everyone thought had gone seriously astray, to the fruits of a better life -- his sons whom he loved so much, whom he had made lords of so many nations, whom he had unceasingly tried to raise to the heights of honour, so as to curb the peoples and rule them wisely to the terror of tyrants and the extemination of his foes.

Since his enemies were speaking words of peace, and wanting to confer with him, he went to meet them on 11 October between Tours and Amboise. What emerged is revealed in the following document:

"The king of the English to all his faithful subjects, greeting.

Know that by the grace of God I have made peace with the French king, my sons and my men, for God's honour and mine. It is agreed that I shall give my eldest son Henry fifteen thousand pounds Angevin money per annum. To Richard I shall give half the revenues of Poitou, and two castles from which he cannot harm me. To Geoffrey, half the revenues of Brittany. All my men who left me have returned to my homage and allegiance, in my sons' presence and by their command, and have sworn fealty against all men. They shall have the lands they had when they left me. The king of Scotland and the earls of Leicester and Chester and others who have made agreements with me or who have given

consolation of being visited by a large crowd of his subjects; the bishops, abbots, earls and barons of his kingdom made peace with the English king at Valognes on 8 December.

The king of Scots did homage to Henry II and bound his heirs to do the same. He also promised that the Scottish Church would be subject to the English Church, and that the Scots would not harbour fugitives hostile to England. As a final sign of submission he handed over Roxburgh and Berwick castles to Henry II's men.

Geoffrey Plantagenet, Henry II's father, count of Anjou, as a result of a not altogether legitimate affair with a certain lady from Le Mans, had a daughter called Emma; David prince of North Wales, understanding her to be King Henry's sister, asked for her as his wife and only just obtained her by urgent pleading. He wanted to give the pride of descent from a royal house to his descendants, if he should have sons, and to strike terror into the other Welsh because of his new relations.

1175

William king of Scotland, having left hostages in Normandy, came back to England on 11 December [1174] and was kept in fairly free custody until the castles mentioned in the agreement should be handed over to the king of England's safekeeping as had been agreed.

complete, he ordered him to be publicly exposed to the gaze of all.[Wales on Wales]

John dean of Salisbury was called to the episcopate at Eynsham on 26 November, receiving the rule of the church of East Anglia with the agreement of the people from Norwich, the king's assent, the archbishop's connivance and with the cardinal's authority; he was consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth on 14 December.

The king, turning his fatherly gaze to the needs of his sons, paid the younger king's onerous debts. Whatever the elder king's ministers had taken for the younger king's use in the way of food and drink thoughout Normandy, Maine and Anjou during the previous three years was reckoned up. When the king's treasurers had paid in full for everything, the creditors were sent away.

1176

The king, with the advice of his son and the consent of his bishops, earls, barons, knights and other men who were present, appointed justices, three for each of six areas of the kingdom, who swore to give justice to everyone. This was done on 26 January at Northampton.

On the orders of Cardinal Hugh Pierleoni the clergy of all

council was abandoned. The cardinal made a speech to the clergy and people in the cloister court at Westminster and he requested leave to withdraw. But afterwards, soothed by the pleas of he king, he acquiesced in the wishes of the bishops.

"Pope Alexander:
Desiring to preserve entire the dignity of the church of York, and following in the footsteps of our predecessors of happy memory the pontiffs Calixtus, Honorius, Innocent and Eugenius, by apostolic authority we prohibit the archbishop of Canterbury from exacting any profession from York, and the archbishop of York from making any, neither should York be in any way subject to Canterbury, as was prohibited by St Gregory, but instead that distinction of honour should be perserved between them which was constituted by that father, so that what takes place should be what was ordered earlier."

The county on the borders of Anjou and Maine was suffering from lack of bread, and Henry II found sufficient food for ten thousand people every day from 1 April until there was enough of the new grain. Whatever had been reserved in England for the king's use, whether in barns, wine cellars or storehouses, was all given out on the royal command to our pious colleagues and to the poor.

[Part 3b]