III. CHAP. reply, framed by Becket, was: "We are willing, saving our own order." There was only one dissenting bishop: he was willing to give an unqualified answer in the affirmative, but Becket sorely upbraided him for his servility. The King, seeing what was comprehended in the reservation, retired with evident marks of displeasure, deprived Becket of the government of Eye and Berkhamstead, and all the appointments which he held at the pleasure of the Crown, and uttered threats as to seizing the temporalities of all the bishops, since they would not acknowledge their allegiance to him as the head of the state. The legate of Pope Alexander, dreading a breach with so powerful a prince at so unseasonable a juncture, advised Becket to submit for the moment; and he with his brethren, retracting the saving clause, absolutely promised "to observe the laws and customs of the kingdom." A. D. 1164. Constitutions of To avoid all future dispute, Henry resolved to follow up his victory by having these laws and customs, as far as the Clarendon Church was concerned, reduced into a code, to be sanctioned by the legislature, and to be specifically acknowledged by all the bishops. This was the origin of the famous "Constitutions of Clarendon." We Protestants must approve of the whole of them, for they in a great measure anticipate the measures which were taken when the yoke of the Church of Rome was thrown off at the Reformation; but, in justice to Becket, we must acknowledge that they were in various particulars an innovation upon the principles and practices which had long prevailed. Not only did they provide that clerks accused of any crime should be tried in the King's courts; that all suits concerning advowsons and presentations should be determined. according to the course of the common law; and that the clergy should no longer pretend to the right of enforcing payment of debts contracted by oath or promise, whereby they were drawing all questions of contract and property before their tribunals; but that all appeals in spiritual causes should be carried from the archdeacon to the bishop, from the bishop to the primate, and from the primate to the king, without whose consent it should go no farther; that no clergyman should leave the realm without the King's license; that, on a vacancy, the revenue of episcopal sees should belong to the Crown; that the members of each chapter, or such of them as the King might please to summon, should sit in the King's chapel till they made the new election with his consent; and that the bishop elect should do homage to the Crown.* Under these constitutions, Henry would have disposed of all ecclesiastical dignities by his own authority, would have prevented all appeals to Rome, and would have been himself "the Head of the Church." Being submitted to the great council called at Clarendon, they were unanimously and joyfully carried by the barons. The prelates were then called upon individually to set their seals to them, and to promise to observe them. No one ventured to oppose the King's will, except Becket. He for some time resolutely refused his assent, though urged to compliance by prelates as well as barons of the greatest authority in the kingdom. CHAP. III. swears to Constitu. Clarendon. What follows subjects him to the imputation of occasional Becket weakness or duplicity, and disregard of the sacred obligation of an oath. At a private meeting of the prelates, Richard de tions of Hastings, Grand Prior of the Templars, throwing himself on his knees before him, and with many tears entreating him that if he paid any regard to his own safety or that of the Church, he should yield. He exclaimed, "It is my master's pleasure that I should forswear myself, which I resolve to do, and to repent afterwards as I may." He then marched at their head to the King, and took an oath, "with good faith and without fraud or reserve, to observe the constitutions." They were immediately sent over to Pope Alexander, and it was hoped he would ratify them, thinking only of his recent obligations to the Sovereign of England; but he One of the articles shows that the right of sitting in the House of Lords, now belonging to bishops, and greatly prized by them, was originally forced upon them at a time when they thought it an indignity to sit in any assembly except by themselves, as a separate order. "That the archbishops, bishops, and other spiritual dignitaries should be regarded as barons of the realm, should possess the privileges and be subjected to the burthens belonging to that rank, and should be bound to attend the king in his great councils, and assist at all trials till sentence either of death or loss of members be given against the criminal." III. CHAP. plainly seeing that they went to establish the independency of England on the papacy, condemned them in the strongest terms, abrogated and annulled them, absolved all who had taken an oath to submit to them, and threatened with excommunication all who should presume to enforce them. A. D. 1164. Great council at Northamp ton. Trial of Becket, who had been overwhelmed with remorse from the moment of his weakness, followed Henry to Woodstock some think with the intention of abdicating the primacy; but, not being able to obtain an interview, and being encouraged by the spirited conduct of the Pope, he resolved to make ample atonement for the offence he had committed, and from this time to his death showed a fortitude, perseverance, and self-devotedness, which have never been surpassed. He refused to exercise any part of his archiepiscopal functions till he received the special pardon and absolution of the Pope, and proportioning his discipline to the enormity of his supposed offence, he redoubled his austerities to punish himself for his momentary consent. Much less with a view to his own safety than in the hope of more effectually embarrassing the King by his absence from the realm, he twice attempted to cross the Channel; but was driven back by contrary winds, and being brought into the royal presence, he was asked by Henry "if he thought that one island could not hold them both?" A great council was called at Northampton, where Henry planned to accomplish the utter destruction of his competitor. He was peremptorily summoned, and compelled to attend. When seated among the peers, various charges were brought against him, of which several were alleged to amount to high treason, and others sought to make him accountable for larger sums of money than it was possible for him to repay. This is the earliest state trial of which there is any account extant; and we have a very minute and seemingly very accurate report of it. It lasted a good many days, the court sitting on Sundays as well as week days. The judges were English prelates, and Norman as well as English barons. The high treason consisted in the Archbishop not having ap * State Tr. vol. i. p. 1. CHAP. III. peared when summoned in one of the King's courts, although he had sent four knights to appear for him. He was found guilty, and his person being admitted to be sacred, he was sentenced to forfeit all his goods and chattels, a penalty guilty. commuted for a fine of 5001. Found him. Judgment was then prayed against him that he might Further proceedrefund 3007. of the rents which he had received as warden of ings Eye and Berkhamstead. He coolly answered that he would against pay it; for although he had expended a larger sum in repairs, money should never prove a cause of dissension between him and his Sovereign. The next item was 500l. alleged to have been advanced to him when he was Chancellor, and lay before Toulouse. He maintained that it was a gift, but he was obliged to give sureties for the amount. Then followed a demand which testified a total disregard of justice, and a fixed determination to ruin him-44,000 marks alleged to have been received from vacant bishoprics and abbeys during his chancellorship. He pleaded that he had been publicly released of all such obligations under the King's authority, by the Earl of Leicester and the Prince when he was consecrated, and that it was well known that he had spent all these sums in the public service. His plea was overruled. The object was to force his resignation, and Foliot strongly (not disinterestedly) advised him to yield; but he would now sooner submit to martyrdom. The following morning, having first celebrated the mass of St. Stephen with the office beginning "Princes sat and spake against me," he proceeded to Court, arrayed in his pontifical robes, and bearing in his hand the archiepiscopal cross. The King, astonished at this parade, retired with the barons into an inner apartment, and was soon after followed by the bishops. Becket remained alone with his attendants in calm and intrepid dignity. Henry used the most violent language against him, in which he was joined by his courtiers. Bloodshed being dreaded, the bishops came to him in a body, and Hilary of Chichester said to him in an upbraiding tone, "You were our primate, but by opposing the royal customs you have broken your oath of fealty to the King. A perjured archbishop has no right to CHAP. He escapes tinent. our obedience." "I have," was his only reply. The bishops seated themselves on the opposite side of the hall, and solemn silence long prevailed. At length the door opened, and the Earl of Leicester, at the head of the barons, desired him to listen to his sentence. "My sentence !" interrupted the archbishop. "Son and Sir Earl, hear me first; you know with what fidelity I served the King, —how reluctantly, to please him, I accepted my present office, and in what manner I was declared by him free from all similar claims. For what happened before my consecration I ought not to answer, nor will I. Know, moreover, that ye are my children in God; neither law nor reason allows you to judge your father. I therefore decline your tribunal, and refer my quarrel to the decision of the Pope. To him I appeal; and shall now, under the protection of the Catholic Church and the apostolic see, depart." As he slowly withdrew, some courtiers threw straw at him which they picked up from the floor, and the voice of one whom he recognised called out to him, "Traitor!" A feeling of his ancient knightly prowess was for a moment excited, and as soon suppressed. Turning round, he rejoined, "Were it not that my order forbids me, that coward should repent of his insolence." At the gate the populace received him with acclamations, and he was conducted in triumph to his dwelling. He then asked permission to go beyond the seas, and being to the Con- told that he should have his answer next morning, concluded that a plan had been laid to assassinate him in the night. He pretended that he was going to seek sanctuary, and he had a bed prepared for himself in a church; but this was only to further his escape, against which they had taken great precautions. By the help of a disguise he eluded the vigilance of the guards stationed at the north gate of the town, and assuming the name of "Brother Christian," and travelling as a pilgrim, — after many adventures and perils he reached Sandwich, and was safely landed at Gravelines. Forthwith he visited the King of France, who was delighted to receive and encourage him, as an instrument to disturb the government of the King of England. He next proceeded to Sens, the court of Pope Alexander, whose |