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From The Annals of Roger de Hoveden, Comprising the History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201, Translated from the Latin with Notes and Illustrations by Henry T. Riley, Esq., Volume I, London: H.G. Bohn, 1853; pp. 279-295.
The Letter of pope Alexander to Henry, king of England.
“Alexander the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearly beloved son Henry, the illustrious king of England, health and the Apostolic benediction. Although your great devotion towards us and your mother the Holy Church seems in some measure to have waxed cool, still, at no season do we relax our paternal feelings towards you and the kingdom entrusted to your government. Inasmuch, then, as the stripes
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of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy, your highness ought diligently to advert thereto, and, seriously giving it your consideration, observe that as the clergy are distinguished in their lives and habits from the laity, so also are the tribunals of the clergy bound to be entirely different from the tribunals of the laity. Wherefore, if you confound the same in an unseemly manner, render subject to your power that which belongs to Jesus Christ, enact, at your own good-will, new laws for the oppression of the churches and of the poor of Christ, and introduce customs which you style those of your grandfather, then, without doubt, at the last judgment, which you will not be able to escape, you yourself will be judged in a similar manner; ‘With the same measure with which you mete, it shall be measured to you again.’1 But, lest our admonitions may appear in some measure tedious or harsh to the ears of your highness, recollect the words of the Scripture, that ‘the son whom the father loveth he correcteth,’2 knowing this for certain, that the more ardently we love your person with all brotherly love in the Lord, and the more frequently and thoughtfully we recall to mind the marks of your most sincere attachment to us and to the Church of God, which you formerly so frequently and so bounteously showed, the more readily do we make these intimations to you, to whom, with all the yearnings of our heart, we wish spiritual and eternal welfare. But if the future judgment is in any way to deter you, or if a crown of glory, as a reward in your eternal rest, has any delights for you, then does it befit you to worship true justice, which is God; to concede to every one his rights, and to leave to the ecclesiastics all ecclesiastical matters, and especially those of a criminal nature, which arise from breaches of faith or of oaths, and all cases relative to the property and possessions of churches. In fact, it would neither befit, nor, indeed, be expedient for your serene highness to confound the offices of king and priest. For, if the whole of the property of the Church, which by means of oppression of this nature has been converted to your use, were to be expended by you in the relief of the poor, or in other works of piety, you would therein be paying a mark of respect not more pleasing to God than if, after offering one alms-dish on the altar, you were to cover up another, or,
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if you were to crucify Peter, that you might deliver Paul from peril of death. For you ought to recollect, and have it as an example on this occasion before your eyes, how king Saul, who, after he had conquered Amalek, wished, against the commandment of the Lord, to reserve the spoil, was reproved by the Lord when he made it his excuse that he had reserved it for sacrifice; and how, while he was still alive, another man was appointed to the royal honors and dignities. The sins of the people had raised him to be king, but his own offences deprived him of the government of the kingdom. How king Uzziah,3 also, when he attempted to sacrifice and to usurp the office of priest, was, as a worthy punishment, smitten with leprosy, it would be for your well-being to recall to mind. If, however, you shall ascribe your successes to your might and prowess, and not to God, beyond a doubt He who has set you over others, and made you a great prince in the world, for the governance of the faithful, and not for their oppression, will, with rebuke, require of you the talents which have been entrusted to you; and, as we read of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who, for his father’s sins, was driven from his kingdom, so will God visit the sins of the father upon the children. Do you, then, give no heed to the evil suggestions of any person, nor incline your ear to those who are always whispering mischief, but diligently attend to those things which concern your salvation. Wherefore, make it your endeavour to govern to the honor of God and the peace and tranquillity of the Church, for which alone you have received the government of your kingdom, and study to rule it to the best of the power that God has given you, to the end that God may preserve for you your temporal kingdom, and, after that, may give you one to endure world without end.”
The Letter of pope Alexander to Gilbert, bishop of London, in behalf of the blessed Thomas.
“Alexander the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brother Gilbert, bishop of London, health and the Apostolic benediction. Inasmuch as, in relation to the matters which we have enjoined to your brotherhood, you have shown efficient zeal and diligence, and have made it your care faithfully to solicit and advise our most dearly beloved
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son in Christ, Henry, the illustrious king of England, upon the increase and exaltation of the Church and of ourselves, we deem it every way pleasing and acceptable, and, returning you most abundant thanks for the same, with extreme praise, do commend your prudent anxiety in the same unto the Lord. And, inasmuch as we do love the said king and illustrious prince with the greatest affection, as a most truly beloved son, so both through you and through our venerable brethren, the archbishop of Rouen and the bishop of Hereford, as also through our most dearly beloved daughter in Christ, his mother, the former illustrious empress of the Romans, have we often and often, in divers ways, tried to induce and encourage him to observe his duty to the Church. Wherefore, we do rejoice and exult in the Lord at the dutifulness of the said king, of which in your letter you have informed us. But, inasmuch as we wish him to continue in his duty to the Church of God and to ourselves, as from the beginning he has been wont to do, we do ask of your brotherhood, enjoin, and command that, anxiously and diligently, you will often and often advise him, both yourself and by others, and exhort him by all means, and prevail upon him, after his usual manner, to use his best endeavours for the honor and exaltation of the said Church, and manfully to support and maintain and defend her cause. Let him, also, love and honor the churches and ecclesiastical persons, and preserve their rights. Our venerable brother, also, the archbishop of Canterbury, let him receive again into his love and favor. And we, if he shall continue to pay to Saint Peter and to ourselves that honor and respect which he has begun to do, will love him with sincere affection, and will use our endeavours in every way, as will be our duty, for the exaltation of himself and the preservation of the kingdom entrusted to him. And, indeed, we would prefer to outdo him in patience and long-suffering, so long as we can possibly endure so to do, rather than cause him vexation in any way. Given this Wednesday, the eleventh day before the calends of September.”
The Letter of Gilbert, bishop of London, to pope Alexander, upon the answer of the King on the business of the archbishop of Canterbury.
“To his father and lord, Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, the brother Gilbert, servant of the church of London, the debt
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of sincere affection and the service of humble obedience. Your mandate, dearest father in Christ, has been received by us with due veneration, immediately on which, we presented ourselves before your son, and our dearest lord, the illustrious king of the English, who is now at the head of his army in the French territory; and, in conjunction with our venerable brother, the bishop of Hereford, we diligently and carefully admonished him according to the tenor of your mandate. We set before his eyes all the particulars of your letter, and, beseeching him and expostulating with him as far as was becoming towards his royal majesty, we constantly and incessantly exhorted him that he would satisfy us as to his purposes, and that, if he had in any way departed from the paths of reasonableness, he would not delay, at your admonition, through us, to return to the ways of truth and justice; that, following the pious admonition of his father, he would desist from all evil actions, would love God with purity of heart, and would regard with his usual veneration his holy mother, the Roman Church; that he would neither impede those who wished to visit her, nor prevent appeals being made to her; that benignly recalling and restoring our brother, the lord archbishop of Canterbury, to his see, he would remain firm and immoveable in his reverence for Saint Peter and yourself, and that, giving his entire attention to works of piety, he would not oppress either the churches or ecclesiastical persons in his realm or in his territories, nor yet allow them to be oppressed by his means or those of another; but, on the contrary, diligently preserve them under his royal protection, to the end that He, through whom kings reign, might preserve for him his temporal kingdom while on earth, and bestow on him an eternal one in heaven: that otherwise, if he would not listen to those wholesome counsels, your Holiness, who has hitherto patiently borne with him, could no longer bear with him in your long-suffering. We further added, that we greatly feared for him, that if he did not correct his faults, he would before long incur the wrath of Almighty God; so much so, that his kingdom would not be of long continuance, nor his family allowed to prosper; but that He who had exalted him when humble, would now, when exalted, hurl him down with a heavy fall from the summit of the throne. On this, he received your admonition
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with much thankfulness and with much forbearance, and with great meekness made answer to each part of it in order. In the first place, he asserted that his feelings were in no way estranged from you, and that he had never had in his mind any other intentions, provided you showed a paternal solicitude towards him, than to love you as his father, to support and cherish the Holy Church of Rome as his mother, and humbly to obey and follow your holy commands, saving always the dignity of himself and of his kingdom. But that, if for some time past he has not looked upon you with reverence, he asserts that the following is the reason for the same: that although he maintained your cause in your need, with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, your Holiness did not return him the like, according to his deserts, in his time of need, when he had recourse to you through his envoys; but he complains, and feels ashamed to say, that in almost every request he has made of you, he has met with a repulse. Trusting, however, in a father’s love, which, when it shall think fit, will listen to his son, hoping for and expecting a more cheerful countenance, he remains firm and constant, as we have already said, in his attachment to Saint Peter and to yourself. For this reason it is that he will not attempt to prevent any one who may wish to visit your Holiness, and neither, as he affirms, has he hitherto prevented them. As regards the question of appeals, by the ancient institutions of his realm, he claims it as his privilege and duty that no clerk shall go out of his kingdom for any civil suit, unless he has first made trial whether by the king’s own authority and mandate he can obtain justice. But if he shall be unable to obtain this, then, the king making no opposition whatsoever thereto, any person whatsoever shall be at liberty to appeal to your excellency, whenever he shall think fit. And if upon this point your rights or dignities have been in any way prejudiced, he promises that he will speedily correct the same, with the help of God, in a synod of all the clergy of his dominions. As regards the emperor, although the king knew him to be a schismatic, still until this day he has never heard that you had excommunicated him. But if on our information he shall come to know that such is the case, if he has entered into any unlawful compact with him or with any other person, this he also promises he will have similarly corrected by the judgment and counsel of the Church of his realm. The
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king also asserts that he has by no means expelled our father, the lord archbishop of Canterbury, from his kingdom; as he has left it entirely of his own accord, so when he shall have a mind so to do, he will be entirely at liberty with his entire sanction to return to his church. Provided always, that while he receives satisfaction on those points upon which he makes complaint, he shall be willing that the royal privileges should be faithfully observed to which he has been sworn. And, if any church or ecclesiastical person shall make proof that they have been wronged by him or his people, he will be prepared to make full compensation, according to the judgment of the whole Church. This is the answer which we have received from our lord the king, although we could have wished that we had received something more entirely according to your wishes. This answer, however, we have determined upon notifying to your highness, that from his reply your wisdom might be enabled to form a judgment how to put an end to these matters. But our lord, the king, seems in especial to justify his cause, upon the fact that on all points which have been mentioned, he will abide by the judgment and counsel of the Church in his dominions; and he promises that he will in nowise prevent the return of our father, the lord archbishop of Canterbury, as we have previously mentioned. Wherefore we have thought proper to supplicate your excellency, keeping this always before our eyes, ‘A bruised reed shalt thou not break, and the smoking flax shalt thou not quench.’4 Moderate for a time, if so it please you, within the bounds of discretion that zeal which is kindled by the flames of the Divine Spirit to avenge each injury done to the Church of God; lest by pronouncing an interdict or the extreme sentence of excommunication, you may have to lament that numberless churches are subverted, and so, which God forbid, irrevocably alienate from your allegiance both the king himself, and numberless people with him. For it is as good for the limb to be joined to the head, even though wounded, as to be cast away from the body when cut off. For wounded limbs return to a state of healthfulness, whereas, when once cut off, they have great difficulty in adhering to the body. To cut off a limb, is to entail desperation; whereas the cautious treatment of the surgeon will very frequently heal the wound. Wherefore, if so it please you, it were
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better that, at the present moment, you should use your endeavours in healing the wound, if any such there is, than that, by cutting off the most noble portion of the Church of God, you should bring to utter confusion that which, for this long time past, has been in a state of confusion beyond what can possibly be expressed. For, suppose that as yet your words have not taken their full effect, or have been entirely appreciated. Is then the Divine grace to be despaired of? At an acceptable time, they may both have their full effect, and be entirely appreciated. Is the hand of God so shortened, that it cannot save? Or is his ear stopped, so that it cannot hear? Those words are swift in their course: God, when he wills it, with a high hand works changes in all things, and gives unhoped-for accomplishment to the prayers of his Saints. Royal blood, then only knows how to be overcome when it has been successful; nor is it ashamed to yield when it has gained the victory. By kindness is it to be mollified, by advice and long-suffering is it to be overcome. But what if this long-suffering, when manifested, or needed for a time to be manifested, causes some loss of temporal possessions? Is there nothing to be rescued from the wreck when the fate of multitudes is threatened? Are not many things needed to be thrown into the deep when the confusion of land, sea, and waves is threatening destruction? Foolishly, but still in charity, do we address you in no fictitious language. If this should be the termination of the matter, that, losing everything, the lord archbishop of Canterbury should submit to continual exile, and, which God forbid, England should no longer obey your commands, it would have been much better patiently to have endured this for a time, than with such zeal to have insisted upon acting with severity. For, suppose that your vengeance shall not be able to separate still more of us from our obedience to you — still, there will not be wanting some to bow the knee to Baal, and without regard to religion and justice, to receive the pall of Canterbury at the hands of their idol. Nor will there be wanting persons to occupy our sees, and, seated in our seats, to show him obedience with all feelings of duty. Many are already prognosticating such things, hoping that offences may arise, and that the straight may be made crooked. Wherefore, father, we do not mourn or lament our own misfortunes; but unless you meet these evils, we see
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that a shocking subversion of the Church of God is threatened, and that, becoming weary of our lives, we may curse the day on which we were born to behold such a sight as this. Beloved father in Christ, may Almighty God preserve you in safety for long to come!”
The Letter of the blessed Thomas to King Henry.
“To his most revered lord, Henry, by the grace of God, the illustrious king of the English, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, Thomas, by the same grace the humble servant of the church of Canterbury, health and best prayers for his prosperity in all things. To speak concerning God stands in need of a mind utterly free and unbiassed; upon this subject it is that I address my lord, and, I trust, with peace towards all men. I beseech you, my lord, that with patience of mind, you will endure some little advice, which, by the grace of God, which is never ineffectual, will contribute to the salvation of your soul and to my acquittal. Difficulties beset me on every side; even tribulation and difficulties have come upon me, who am placed between two most grave and fearful alternatives. When I say between two most fearful alternatives, I mean a dangerous silence on the one hand, and admonition of you on the other. If, on the one hand, I am silent, it will be death to me, and I shall not escape the hands of the Lord, who says, ‘If thou dost not warn the wicked from his wicked way, and he shall die in his iniquity, his blood He will require at your hands.’5 If, on the other hand, I admonish you, I fear, which God forbid, that I shall not escape the wrath of my lord. And I trust that it may not befall me, according to what the wise man says, that when a person sends to intercede or to admonish a person who is not pleased thereat, it is to be feared lest, becoming angered, his mind may be provoked to do what is worse. What, then, am I to do? Am I to speak, or am I to be silent? In either alternative there is danger, no doubt. But inasmuch, as it is safer to fall under the indignation of men than into the hands of the living God, trusting in the mercy of the Most High, in whose hands are the hearts of kings, and who will induce them as He shall think fit, (and I trust that He will, to take the better part), I will speak to my lord, inasmuch as I have once begun so to do. For often are good
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things provided for those who are unwilling, and especially when the safety more than the will is consulted. In your land is kept in captivity the daughter of Sion, the spouse of a great king, oppressed by many, insulted by those who long have hated her, and by whom she ought rather to be honored than afflicted, and in especial by you. Keeping, therefore, in your recollection each of those blessings which God has bestowed upon you in the beginning of your reign, in the middle thereof, and almost unto the present moment, do you release her, and allow her to reign jointly with her husband, to the end that God may bless you, and that your kingdom may forthwith begin to recover its strength, and this reproach be taken away from your generation, and that unbroken peace may reign in your days. Believe me, most serene prince, my much-loved lord, the Almighty is slow in retribution, long-suffering in His patience, but most severe in His vengeance. Hear me, and do that which is right. But, if otherwise, it is greatly to be feared that (and I trust that so it may not be) He will gird His sword upon His thigh, and will come in His might and with a strong hand, armed with many woes, to set free His spouse, and that not without heavy oppressions and servitude, attended by tribulation. But if you listen to me, then the Lord will of necessity be sensible forthwith of your duteousness, as acting the part of a valiant soldier on His side, and in such case He will bless you, and will add glory unto your glory, even unto the issue of your sons and of your daughters, down to distant times. But if otherwise, I fear, and may God avert it from you, that the sword will not depart from your house, until the Most High shall have come and avenged the injuries done to Him and His; just as it did not depart from the house of Solomon, although God had made choice of him, and had conferred upon him such great wisdom, and such an enjoyment of peacefulness, that it was said by all, ‘This is the son of wisdom and of peace;’ yet, inasmuch as he departed from the path of the Lord, and proceeded from wickedness to wickedness, God divided asunder his kingdom, and gave it unto his servant; and, in especial, because, after the commission of his sin, he did not instantly seek to appease the Lord, as his father David had done, who immediately after his offence humbled himself before the Lord, corrected his fault, sought for mercy, and obtained pardon; and
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would that, with the grace of God, you would do the like. These words I write unto you at present, the rest I have placed in the mouth of him who bears these presents, a pious man, one of great credit, and, as I believe, a faithful servant of yours. In them, I pray that so it may please you to place full belief; still in preference, with your favour, I could wish to enjoy the condescension of an interview with you. Once and always to my lord, farewell!”
The Letter of the blessed Thomas to Robert, bishop of Hereford.
“Thomas, by the grace of God, the humble servant of the church of Canterbury, to his venerable brother Robert, by the same grace, bishop of Hereford, health and blessings in all things. If so it is that my letters have caused anxiety in your brotherhood, would that it were the case that I had not found you slothful in feeling, and not watchful in the due performance of the duties of the office you have undertaken. I have chosen to be cast out and to become accursed on behalf of you all, a reproach before men and a scorn before the people, that I might not behold the evils of the holy ones, and keep silence upon the injuries done to my nation; and anxiously did I wish that perchance some one of you in his zeal for the law of God, and his love of the liberties of the Church, would follow and come after me, that so we might not give horns6 to the sinful. And behold! you, whom I believed to be given unto me by the Lord, that with me you might build, and weed, and plant, are suggesting encouragement amid ruin, and solace in despair; inasmuch as you are preaching humility, nay, even abject submission, and are announcing tidings of good, while, on every side, confusion prevails, to the injury of God and of the clergy: and this, at the moment when you ought to be strengthening the constancy of my mind amid its vacillation, and, with me, sustaining the attack, in order to defend our inheritance of the cross and repel and crush the enemies of the church, to be suggesting counsel to my ears, to be breathing fresh life into my spirit, to the end that I might entreat with the more firmness, that I might argue with the greater cogency, and rebuke with the greater severity. And, if they should refuse to hear me, then, undoubtedly, ought you to have exclaimed, ‘Why dost thou sleep?
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Unsheathe the sword of Saint Peter, avenge the blood of the servants of Christ that has been shed, the injuries of the Church which are being daily committed against us and ours.’ Has it entirely escaped your memory with what injuries I have been afflicted, with what insults persecuted, when, in my own person, against all authority, and against all semblance of right, Christ was brought to be judged before a lay tribunal? Still, I will not recall to your mind the injury done to my own person but to the Church. Consider with thoughtfulness, and deeply reflect upon it in your mind, what was done before my departure, what was being done at my departure, what has been done since, what, in fact, is being done every day in your country, in relation to the Church of God and its servants. With what conscience can you possibly conceal these things from yourself; you, of whom hopes were entertained that you would be the redeemer of Israel, the liberator of the Church, from bondage? And, now, because you have so long held your peace, I am always in affliction for you, my own begotten son, lest he should come after you who shall take away your birthright, and shall deprive you, which may God forbid, of the blessing of the first-born. But, though even thus far you have held your peace, resume your might (my most dearly-beloved son) and cry aloud — it is your duty so to do — lift up your voice against them, inspire them with fear, awaken their contrition, banish their self-satisfaction, that so the anger of God may not descend upon them, and the whole people perish; or even, which may God forbid, the rulers with the people. For, even now, Divine vengeance is at the gates. These things do I write unto you, not for your confusion, but to put you on your guard; to the end that, relying upon the authority of God and of myself, for the future you may be strengthened and may be willing more manfully and more boldly to perform the duties of your office. This one thing in especial I wish you to be assured of, with the mercy of God, confusion to his Church shall not be extorted from me. In addition to what I have said, I give you thanks for this, that even now you have visited me, and have comforted me with your solaces. Further — there is one thing which I am not able to endure without the greatest bitterness of soul — verily, I weep for my most beloved lord the king. For fear and trembling have come upon me, and the shades have overwhelmed me, since I have seen that tribulation and difficulties are threatening
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my lord the king. And no wonder. For he has vexed the Church of God, and has put her to confusion, and has made hardships the lot of his clergy, giving them the wine of sorrow to drink. Therefore, thus saith the Lord to him, ‘Where now, simple man, are the wise counsellors who used to say to thee, “Thou art the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings, whose customs must be observed throughout England; which if a person shall not observe, he is not a friend to Cæsar, but an enemy to the crown, a criminal at the judgment-seat.” ’ But, assuredly, that person is rather the friend of the cross of Christ; for, ’Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed, to turn aside the needy from judgment, and take away the right of the poor of my people,’7 that churches and widows may be their prey, and that they may plunder the possessions of certain of the clergy. What shall these persons do on the day of visitation and of calamity that approacheth from afar? To whose aid will they fly for refuge, and lay aside their vaingloriousness, that they may not be bowed down under judgment, and fall with the slain? Where, now, are his wise men? Let them come forth, and let them disclose to him and say what the Lord of Hosts has determined as to England. His wise men are become fools, and his nobles have come to nought; they have deceived England, and into the midst of the people of England its lord has introduced a feeling of stupefaction. By their deeds they have made England to go astray, even as a drunken man goes astray, vomiting and staggering; and for England help there will be none. Who shall know the beginning or end8 hereof? For they have devoured Jacob, and have laid waste his dwelling-place,9 and have said, ‘Let us take possession of the holy place of God,’ and have reviled the priests and their chief men, saying, ‘Whither will ye fly for refuge from our hands, or in whom do ye put your trust? Why have ye fled, and proved disobedient to our commands?’ Oh, how empty are these thoughts! how shameful these deeds in the sight of the Lord, who beholds how vain they are! For He will laugh to scorn him who
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thinks thus, when He shall see him acting thus; because His day is near at hand, even now He is at the gates, and will say, ‘Behold the men who have not placed reliance in their God, but have put their trust in the multitude of their riches, and have waxed strong in their vanity.” But it is in vain that they do thus; the Lord will not leave His church, nor His clergy, without a defender, without the heaviest vengeance. For it has been founded upon a firm rock; and that rock is Christ, who has founded it with his own blood. Assuredly, if they do not make amends herein, they will not escape with impunity, inasmuch as they have trodden under foot the Holy of Holies, the house of God, and have afflicted His priests with injuries and abusive words. These are those to whom the Lord himself has said, ‘I have said, ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High;’10 and also, in another place, ‘He that hateth you, hateth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye.’11 Let them then return to their senses; let them avert evil from themselves; let them with the greatest humility show repentance. But if they do not, then it is to be feared, and, oh may it be averted! that the Lord will speedily come, and will bring upon them and their land great tribulation and the most heavy vengeance of His retribution. Behold! our Lord shall come and shall not delay, and He shall save us; inasmuch as He will never forsake those who put their trust in Him. For the prophet saith, ‘Trust in the Lord, and do good, and thou shalt be fed upon his riches;’12 and, again, ‘Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart;’13 and, ‘put your trust in the Lord, and He shall soon deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.’14 And, that I may end all that I have said herein with a becoming conclusion, inasmuch as the Lord has shown what and how great things we ought to endure for His name and in the defence of His Church, I hold it necessary for you to pray, both you and the whole Church entrusted to your charge, continually for us; to the end that, what through our own merits we are unable to endure, by your intercession and that of the holy men who are subject to you, we may be enabled to endure, and that thereby we may deserve to obtain
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everlasting grace. Farewell, and be comforted; farewell, likewise, to the whole of the Church of England, and may she be comforted in the Lord, that so we likewise may fare well.”
In the same year Henry, king of England, after his return from Wales, crossed over from England into Normandy, whither he was followed by William, king of the Scots. In the same year died earl Cospatric, in Albany, and was succeeded by his son Waltheof.
In the year of grace 1167, being the thirteenth year of the reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said Matilda, formerly empress of the Romans, and mother of the above-named king, departed this life, and was buried at Rouen, at the abbey called Saint Mary de Pratis. In the same year, Frederic, emperor of the Romans, went to Rome, and by violence and with an armed band, thrust Guido of Crema, the antipope and schismatic, into the Apostolic See. On his departure, a deadly plague immediately broke out among his people, and Reginald, the archbishop elect of Cologne, who was the head of the whole schism, perished on the Alps; in order that his bones might be separated from the flesh and taken to Cologne, the whole of his body was boiled in water.
The Letter of the blessed Thomas, the archbishop, to Pope Alexander.
“To his most loving father and lord, Alexander, by the grace of God, Supreme Pontiff, Thomas, the humble servant of the church of Canterbury, due and dutiful obedience. I have endured enough and more than enough, most loving father, while waiting for the reformation of the king of England, and yet have gathered no fruits whatever of my long suffering; but, on the contrary, while unthinkingly submitting thereto, I have incurred the loss and utter destruction of the authority and liberties of the Church of God. I have oftentimes by messengers, religious and fitting men, called upon him, and have frequently invited him to make due satisfaction; as also by letters, the copies whereof I have sent unto you. I have announced to him the Divine wrath and vengeance, if he fails to come to his proper senses; whereas he more and more persists in his evil courses, treading under foot and depressing the Church of God; both persecuting myself personally and those who are in banishment with me, so far as even to attempt to deprive me, by threats and menaces, of the kindnesses of the servants of God, who for the sake of God and of yourself
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provide us with food. For he has written to the abbot of the Cistercians,15 that as he loves those abbeys of his order which are in his power, so must he withhold from us all services and attentions on part of his order. But why enlarge? For, notwithstanding my long suffering, to that degree has the harshness of the king and his officers proceeded, that even if any number of religious men whatsoever were to inform you thereupon, even upon oath, I should be much surprised if even then your Holiness would give any belief to their assertions. Reflecting, therefore, upon these things with great anxiety of mind, and the danger ensuing therefrom, both to the king and to yourself, I have publicly condemned these pernicious, I will not say customs, but perversions or corruptions, by which the Church of England is disturbed and confounded, together with the writing and the authority of the writing by which they were confirmed; as also the observers, enforcers, and defenders of the same. I have also in general terms excommunicated his abettors, advisers, and coadjutors, whosoever they may chance to be, whether clergy or laity, and have absolved my bishops from the oath by which they have been violently forced to the observance of the said customs. But these are the points which, in this writing, I have especially condemned: ‘Appeal shall not in any case be made to the Apostolic See, except with the king’s permission. It is not lawful for a bishop to take cognizance of perjury or breach of faith. It is not lawful for a bishop to excommunicate any person who holds aught of the king in capite, or his lands, or to lay an interdict upon any of his officers without the king’s permission. Clerks, or those of the religious orders, are to be brought before secular tribunals; laymen, whether the king or other persons, are to take cognizance of causes as to churches or tithes. It is not lawful for an archbishop or bishop to depart from the kingdom, to attend the summons of our lord the pope, without the king’s permission;’ and other enactments to a like effect. By name also I have excommunicated John of Oxford, who has held communion with that schismatic and excommunicated person, Reginald of Cologne; and who, contrary to the mandate of our lord the pope, and of ourselves, has taken unlawful possession of the deanery of the church of Salisbury, and, at the court of the emperor, has administered the oath for the
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supporting of that schism. In like manner also, I have denounced and excommunicated Richard of Ivechester, because he has fallen into the same damnable heresy, by holding communication with that most notorious schismatic at Cologne, and inventing and contriving all kinds of mischief, with those schismatics and Germans, to the destruction of the Church of God, and more especially of the Church of Rome, according to the treaties agreed upon between the king of England and them, and Richard de Lucy and Jocelyn de Baliol, who have been the encouragers of the royal tyranny, and the fabricators of these heretical corruptions. I have also excommunicated Ranulph de Broc, Hugh de Saint Clair, and Thomas Fitz-Bernard, who, without our license and consent, have seized the property and possessions of the church of Canterbury. I have excommunicated all besides, who, contrary to our will and assent, have laid hands upon the property and possessions of the church of Canterbury. The king, however, I have not as yet personally excommunicated, being still in expectation of his reformation; him, however, I shall not delay to excommunicate, if he does not speedily recover his senses, and submit to discipline for what he has done. To the end, therefore, most holy father, that the authority of the Apostolic See, and the liberties of the Church of God, which in our country have almost perished, may be enabled to be in some measure restored, it is necessary, and in every way expedient, that you should entirely ratify, and by your letters confirm, what I have done. Farewell, and may your Holiness enjoy all happiness.”
1 St. Matt. vii. 2.
2 Prov. iii. 12.
3 2 Chron. xxvi. 20.
4 St. Matt. xii. 20.
5 Ezekiel iii. 18.
6 Give them cause to raise their horns, or exult.
7 Is. x. 1, 2.
8 In the text, ‘Quis faciet caput aut caudam,’ literally, “Who shall make head or tail?” This portion of the letter is in a most corrupt state.
9 Psalm lxxix. 10.
10 Psalm lxxii. 6.
11 Partly from Zech. ii. 8.
12 Psalm xxxvii. 3.
13 Psalm xxvii. 14.
14 Psalm xci. 3.
15 At Pontigny.