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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. 337-357.
Thus it was that, at the beginning of the seventh year of his exile, the above-named martyr Thomas struggled even unto the death for the love of God and the liberties of the Church, which had almost entirely perished as regards the English Church. He did not stand in fear of the words of the unrighteous; but, having his foundation upon a firm rock, that is, upon Christ, for the name of Christ, and in the Church of Christ, by the swords of the wicked, on the fifth day of the Nativity of our Lord, being the day after Innocents’ day, he himself an innocent, died. His innocent life and his death, as being precious in the eyes of God, innumerable miracles deservedly bespeak, which, not only in the place where he rested, but in divers nations and kingdoms, were wondrously shown.
On the same day the passion of the blessed Thomas was revealed by the Holy Ghost to the blessed Godric, the anchorite, at Finchale, a place which is distant from Canterbury more than
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a hundred and sixty miles. The monks of the church of Canterbury, on this, shut the doors of the church, and so the church remained with the celebration of the mass suspended for nearly a whole year, until they had received a reconciliation of the church1 from our lord the pope Alexander. But the monks took up the body of their martyr, and the first night placed it in the choir, performing around it the service for the dead. It is also said, and with truthfulness, that when they had completed around the body the obsequies of mortality, and while he was lying on the bier in the choir, about daybreak he raised his left hand and gave them the benediction; after which, they buried him in the crypt.
As for the knights who had perpetrated this unholy deed, instantly becoming conscious of the heinousness of their conduct, and despairing of forgiveness, they did not dare to return to the court of the king of England, but retired into the western2 parts of England to Knaresborough, the town of Hugh de Morville, and there remained until they had become utterly despised by the people of that district. For all persons avoided any communication with him, and no one would eat or drink with them. The consequence was that they ate and drank by themselves, and the remnants of their victuals were cast out to the dogs, which, when they had tasted thereof, refused to eat any more. Behold the signal and deserved vengeance of God! that those who had despised the anointed of the Lord should be despised even by dogs.
However, a considerable time after this, the four knights above-named, who felt the accusation of their own consciences for having perpetrated this deed, went to Alexander, the pope of Rome, and, being enjoined by him to do penance, set out for Jerusalem. Performing penance according to the pope’s injunctions, they died at Montenegro, and were buried at Jerusalem before the doors of the Temple. The inscription on their tomb was to the following effect:3 “Here lie the wretched men who martyred the blessed Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury.
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It was in the year one thousand one hundred and seventy-one that the primate Thomas died by their swords.”
The Letter of Louis, king of the Franks, to pope Alexander, on the death of the blessed Thomas.
“To his lord and most holy father, Alexander, by the grace of God Supreme Pontiff, Louis, king of the Franks, health and due reverence. The man who commits violence upon his mother revolts against human laws, and he remembers not the kindness of his Creator, who is not saddened at violence offered to the Holy See. But more especially is there ground for condolence, and the novelty of a cruelty so unheard-of arouses a novelty in sorrow, in that wickedness, making an attack upon the holy one of God, has with the sword pierced the beloved son of Christ, and more basely even than cruelly stabbed him who was the light of the church of Canterbury. Let an unheard-of kind of retribution be invented. Let the sword of Saint Peter be unsheathed to avenge the martyr of Canterbury; inasmuch as, for the universal Church does his blood cry aloud, complaining not so much for himself as demanding vengeance for the whole Church. Behold! at the tomb of the martyr, as we have had revealed unto us, the Divine glory is revealed in miracles, and by Him are Divine manifestations made where his remains are deposited, for whose name he so valiantly struggled. We bid your Holiness, and your brotherhood, farewell in the Lord.”
The Letter of William, archbishop of Sens, to pope Alexander, on the death of the blessed Thomas.
“To his most holy father and lord, Alexander, by the grace of God, Supreme Pontiff, William, the humble servant of the church of Sens, health and due obedience with all duteousness. To your Apostleship, holy father, all power has been granted in heaven and upon earth. In your hand is a two-edged sword; over nations and over kingdoms are you appointed, to bind their kings in fetters, and their nobles in chains of iron. Behold therefore, my lord, and consider what vintage they have gathered in. For a wild boar from the wood has destroyed the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth, and a single wild beast has pastured thereon. The church of Canterbury, rather the Church universal, from the ends of the earth, in
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your presence is pouring forth tears that drop blood, and sprinkled with bitterness, because she has been set up as a mark for the arrow, and has been made a reproach unto her neighbours. And those who behold her, wag their heads at her and say, where is their God? But she weeping and turning back, is crying aloud in the ears of the Lord of Hosts, ‘Avenge, O Lord, the blood of thy servant and martyr, the archbishop of Canterbury, who has been slain, nay, crucified, for the liberties of the Church! Holy father! a thing horrible to be mentioned, a disgraceful crime, an enormous piece of flagitiousness has been perpetrated in your days; a thing at which both the ears shall tingle of each that shall hear of it, the like of which has not been heard in Theman,4 and has not been seen in Canaan. For another Herod, of the seed of Canaan and not of Judah, the offspring of vipers, sending his lictors from his side, has not been struck with horror at scarring with deep wounds the sign of the passion of our Lord, which he carried on his head, and at disfiguring with shameful marks the heavenly likeness. By reason whereof, as all the Church affirms, the cause and the penalty equally make him to be a martyr. The penalty is our grief, for the sufferings inflicted on him: the cause was the rigour of the ecclesiastical censure, because he contended for the law of his God even unto the death. It is therefore your part, O most merciful father, keeper of the walls of Jerusalem, to apply a remedy to what is past, and to employ foresight for the future. For what place is there that can be safe, if the rage of a tyrant is to stain with blood the Holy of Holies? And is it with impunity to tear in pieces the vicegerents of Christ, the foster-children of the Church? Let then the ecclesiastical laws arouse themselves, let ecclesiastical rights put on their armour. Let the vengeance for the blood of this glorious martyr, which cries aloud from England, enter into your presence. For cry aloud it will, and will arouse not only the earth but the heavens as well. And so consult for healing our sorrows, that you consult both for your own good name and the liberties of the Church. As to the rest, we have thought proper to inform the fatherly affection of your Holiness, that whereas you gave it as your command both to the lord archbishop of Rouen and to ourselves, that we should place under an interdict the
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lands that belong to the king of England on this side the sea, if he should not keep the peace which he had promised to our lord of Canterbury of glorious memory; adding also, that if either of us should be unable or unwilling to take part in carrying out the same, the other should nevertheless obey your commands; the above-named archbishop of Rouen, after we had caused your letter to be presented to him, signified to us that he would come to the city of Sens, and would act according to the tenor of your mandate. But when he had come thither, together with the bishops of Lisieux, Evreux, and Worcester, and very many others, both clergy as well as laymen, of the household of the above-named king, after many shiftings and excuses on his part, he made answer, that he was on his road to your presence and felt unwilling to pour forth too bitter a censure upon the above-named king. But we being sensible that whoever despises obedience to the Apostolic mandates, incurs the guilt of paganism, according to the tenor of your mandate, with the common advice of our brethren, all the bishops, and of the abbats of Saint Denis, Saint Germain de Pres, Pontigny, Vaucouleurs,5 Le Mans, and several other religious and wise men, have pronounced sentence against his lands on this side the sea, and have in your name enjoined the said archbishop and bishops to cause the same to be observed. For we know that he has neither, as he had promised, restored his possessions, nor had established security for him, as his death gives proof. Through a native of the diocese of Canterbury, whom we sent to him, he has also signified unto us that he had given cause for his death, and that he had had him slain. For this reason, we do supplicate your clemency, that you will ratify the sentence before-mentioned, and, as befits your majesty, and is expedient for the safety of the Church, will cause it to be in suchwise observed, that the honor of God and your own will may be preserved. And as for ourselves, who embrace your Holiness with that duteousness of which you are so well aware, we will by no means by reason hereof allow ourselves to be contemned. We wish you farewell, and as befits your majesty and holiness, so do.”
The Letter of Theobald, earl of Blois, to pope Alexander, on the death of the blessed Thomas.
“To his most reverend lord and father, Alexander, by the grace of God, Supreme Pontiff, Theobald, earl of Blois, and procurator of the kingdom of France, health and due obedience with filial subjection. It pleased your majesty, that between the lord archbishop of Canterbury and the king of England, peace should be restored, and renewed concord established. Wherefore, according to the tenor of your mandate, the king of England received him with a cheerful countenance, and with features that bespoke joyousness, and made promises to him of peace and restoration to favour. At this agreement and reconciliation I was present, and in my presence the lord archbishop of Canterbury complained to the king of the coronation of his son, whom with premature aspirations and ardent desire, he had caused to be promoted to the elevation of the royal dignity. The king of England, being guilty of this wrong, and being conscious of his guilt, gave to the archbishop of Canterbury, a pledge confirmatory of his right, and promising that he would make satisfaction. The archbishop also made complaint of those bishops who, contrary to the right and the honor of the church of Canterbury, had presumed to intrude a new king upon the seat of royalty; not through zeal for justice, not that they might please God, but that they might propitiate a tyrant. With regard to these, the king granted him free licence and authority to pronounce sentence against them according as might seem fit and proper to you and to himself. These things, in fact, I am prepared to attest, and to substantiate to you either upon oath, or in any other way you may think fit. Upon this, a reconciliation having been made, the man of God fearing nothing, returned, that he might submit his throat to the sword, and expose his neck to the smiter; and on the day after the day of the Holy Innocents, this innocent lamb suffered martyrdom; his righteous blood was shed in the place where the viaticum of our salvation, the blood of Christ, was wont to be sacrificed. Those dogs of the court, the people of the king’s household and his domestics, showed themselves true servants of the king, and guiltily shed innocent blood. The detestable circumstances of this monstrous crime I would give you in detail, but I fear, lest it
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might be ascribed to me as being done through hatred, and the bearers of these presents will recount it more at large, and with greater precision; from their relation you will learn how great an accumulation of grief, how vast a calamity has befallen the universal Church, and the martyr of Canterbury. This calamity, with due regard to her honor, the mother Church of Rome cannot conceal from herself. For whatever is dared to be done against an only daughter, the same extends to her parent as well, nor without injury to the mother is the daughter made captive. Unto you, therefore, does the blood of the righteous man cry aloud, demanding vengeance. May then, holy father, the Almighty Father aid and counsel you, who gave the blood of His Son to the world, that He might wipe away the guilt of the world, and cleanse the spots of our sins. May He both instil into you a wish for vengeance, and the power of obtaining it, that so the Church, put to confusion by the magnitude of this unheard-of crime, may have reason to rejoice at the condign punishment thereof.”
The Letter of William, archbishop of Sens, to our lord the pope, against the king of England, in relation to the death of the blessed Thomas.
“To his most loving father and lord, Alexander, by the grace of God Supreme Pontiff, William, the humble servant of the church of Sens, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, with all service of due obedience. While writing these lines, or rather before I had begun to write them, I stopped short and hesitated, being greatly in doubt in what kind of language I could present to the eyes of your clemency the atrocity of the crime lately perpetrated, and the enormity of the offence so recently committed. And, indeed, I believe that the outcry of the world must have already filled the ears of your Holiness, who have your seat upon the watch-tower of the world, how that this, not king of the English, but enemy rather of the English and of the whole body of Christ, has lately committed wickedness against the holy one, the son of your right hand, whom you had confirmed unto yourself. His departure from this world, and the mode of his departure, even though perchance you may have heard from the diverse or adverse relation of any persons, I will faithfully and conscientiously relate what has been signified unto me by those who were present, and, in
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a few words, explain the circumstances of the perpetration of this crime, the enormity of which can hardly be imagined. During the Nativity of our Lord, on the day after the Feast of the Innocents, towards sunset, and about the hour of vespers, the executioners having gained admission, the three, namely, who had been the first to arrive, approached this valiant champion of Christ in a most threatening and insolent manner; the names of whom, that their memories may be visited with everlasting maledictions, I here insert, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, and Reginald Fitz-Urse; these, on their first approach, on being saluted by the man of God, did not return the salutation, inasmuch as, having entered upon the ways of perdition, they manifestly rejected all that was salutary; but, on the contrary, contumeliously and malignantly thundered forth threats against him, if he did not, in obedience to the king’s mandate, absolve the bishops who were suspended or excommunicated. On his making answer that this manifestly pertained to your province, as being the sole judge thereon, and that he could not think of claiming any himself where so great an authority was concerned; they immediately, on the king’s behalf, denounced him as a traitor, and instantly went forth to their company of soldiers. As they went forth they also ordered, in the king’s name, those knights who belonged to the household of the man of God, upon peril of their lives and forfeiture of all their honors, to go forth likewise, and silently and patiently await the result. A similar proclamation of the king was published throughout the city. But this single champion of Christ has, in our days, despised the threats of princes, and was with the greatest difficulty, by the persuasion of the knights, compelled to go forth from the place where he had already, as it were, received a foretaste of death: and this was done that he might not seem unwilling to meet his end. God, therefore, providing the mother church, dedicated in honor of Christ himself, entering the same, the anointed of the Lord was deemed worthy to be sacrificed for the name of Christ in the spot where each day Christ as well is offered up. This priest of the Most High, standing before the altar, and embracing in his arms the cross which he had been accustomed to have carried before him, and praying, voluntarily offered himself as a peace-offering to God between the cross and the horns of the
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altar. For the hour of his passion was drawing nigh; on bended knees, with threat extended, and neck bowed down, he received the cup of salvation, and was beheaded by the three executioners above-named, having been first reviled with insults and many reproaches, that in no way he might be defrauded of the example which he had before him in the passion of our Lord. And that, still more, the form thereof might find a remarkable resemblance in his case, at the same hour he prayed for his murderers, adding thereto, and earnestly entreating, that his household might be kept unhurt by the present evils. Therefore, alone, and not without the shedding of blood, did the priest enter into the Holy place. And inasmuch as, since the death of the holy man we have heard, from the frequent relation of many persons, that certain wonderful things, by the working of the Lord, have taken place, they ought not to be entirely omitted. For, it is said, and is steadfastly affirmed, that, after his passion, he appeared in a vision to many, whom he informed that he was not dead, but living, and showed them, not wounds, but only the scars of wounds. Among these, he is said distinctly to have appeared to a certain aged monk, named Neil, but in what way I will not descant upon, in order that too long a narrative may be avoided; but the bearers thereof will faithfully and at large relate the circumstances. The story, too, about the blind man, who, immediately on his passion being ended, rubbed his eyes with the still warm blood and received his eyes and his sight, has been heard by all. There is also a story related by many, not unworthy of credit, relative to the tapers that were placed around his body, which, on being put out, afterwards were lighted again of themselves. And, a thing still more pleasing and miraculous, after all the obsequies of mortality had been performed around his body, while he was lying upon the bier in the choir, about dawn, raising his left hand, he gave the benediction. Arouse yourself, then, man of God, and put on the valour of those whose seat you hold; on the one hand let pity, on the other let indignation, move you to smite the smiter of your son; the one you owe to your son, the other to the tyrant: and so increase the glory upon earth of him whom God thus wondrously glorifies in heaven. But, to the other, award ignominy; who upon earth has so dreadfully persecuted God, and has smitten the sides of your own body, has torn
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forth your entrails therefrom, and has trodden them under foot on the earth; who has also, by the hands of I know not what uncircumcised and unclean wretches, so perfidiously, so inhumanly, slaughtered your son, whom alone you loved as though a mother; neither fearing to commit violence upon the father, nor taking compassion upon his age. Wherefore, those to whose ministry you have succeeded, to their zeal succeed as well. And, inasmuch as you see the wickedness of Ahab, let emulation of Elias move you. Ahab slew [Naboth] and took possession; but, if we carefully weigh all the circumstances of the crime perpetrated by Ahab, Ahab is justified before this man. For this crime is one that by far deserves the first place among all the crimes of the wicked that are read of or related; as, all the wickedness of Nero, the perfidiousness of Julian, and even the sacrilegious treachery of Judas does it exceed. For look at this, and consider — what a personage, in what a church, what a time, too, for perpetrating the crime did he make choice of; namely, the Nativity of our Lord, the day after the feast of the Holy Innocents; so that, since the old one, in our days a new Herod has risen up. The protection, too, that was publicly granted to him failed to recall the traitor from the commission of this wickedness. As though, too, of himself he was not sufficiently mad, he has had encouragers, who have given horns to a sinner, those false brethren, men to be detested by all churches throughout the world, namely, that devil Roger, the archbishop of York, Gilbert, bishop of London, and Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury, not bishops but apostates;6 who have not secretly sold your son, their brother, but, in truth, have slain him, fearing neither the curse of the aged father, nor having regard for his sorrows or his age. That their life, both now and always henceforth, may be passed in bitterness, and their memory may be visited with eternal maledictions, may, Holy Father, your authority and your severity equally effect. Holy Father, we bid your Holiness farewell.”
In the meantime, Rotrod, archbishop of Rouen, Gilles, bishop of Evreux, and Roger, bishop of Worcester, with Richard Barre, and some others of the clerks and household of the king of England, set out to wait upon the Roman Pontiff,
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in behalf of the king of England and his kingdom. But the lord archbishop of Rouen, being worn out with infirmities and old age, after having accomplished nearly half the journey, was able to proceed no further, but returned to Normandy to his see, and the above-named bishops, with the king’s clerks, proceeded on their journey. On arriving, they obtained with the greatest difficulty of the Supreme Pontiff that two cardinals, Theodinus and Albert, should come on behalf of our lord the pope to Normandy, in order to take cognizance of the dispute which existed between the king and the church of Canterbury, of the death of the martyr of Canterbury, and of other ecclesiastical dignities, and to give judgment thereon, according as God should suggest to them. On this, the persons who had gone to Rome wrote to our lord the king to this effect:—
“To their most dearly beloved lord, Henry, the illustrious king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, Robert, abbat of Vaucouleurs,7 the archdeacon of Salisbury, Robert, archdeacon of Lisieux, Richard Barre, and master Henry, health and fealty in all things, and in all places obedience. Be it known unto your majesty, that Richard Barre went before us, and, amid great danger and hardships, preceded us to the court of our lord the pope. We four, with the two bishops, the dean of Evreux, and master Henry, with great difficulty arrived at Sienna, where we were detained for some days, as the earl Macharius had closed the roads on every side, so that there were no means of egress for any one. As we four, together with the bishops, who greatly desired to proceed, were unable so to do, being beset with the greatest difficulty of judging how to act, by the common consent of all, we sallied forth secretly at midnight; and thus, over the ridges of mountains, and through places almost inaccessible, with great fear and peril, we at last arrived at Tusculanum.8 Here we found Richard Barre, anxious, as he expressed himself, to sustain your honor, and skilfully, usefully, and unceasingly striving for the promotion of your interests, but, nevertheless, in great trouble and sorrow, because our lord the pope had not received him, and other persons had not shewn themselves affable and hospitable towards him. As for ourselves, on
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our arrival, our lord the pope would neither see us, nor admit us to the kiss, nor at his foot. Indeed, most of the cardinals hardly deigned to give us a reception even with a word. In consequence of this, being long racked with anxious cares, in the bitterness of our spirit, we entreated those who were more faithfully attached to you, by every possible means, that, through their intervention, our lord the pope might in some way or other grant us the indulgence of an audience. At length, at their urgent request, the lord abbat of Vaucouleurs and Robert, archdeacon of Lisieux, who were not so strongly suspected, obtained a reception. But when they, on giving the salutation on your behalf, made mention of your name as being a most devoted son of the Church of Rome, the whole court cried aloud with one voice, “Forbear! forbear!” as though it were abominable to our lord the pope to hear mention made of your name. Upon this, they left the court, and returned at a later hour to our lord the pope, and gave him information as to the object of our mission, and what injunctions we had received from your majesty. They also related, in their order, each of the benefits you had conferred on the archbishop of Canterbury, and all the excesses and affronts he had been guilty of against your dignity. The whole of these matters were at first privately mentioned to him, and, afterwards, in the presence of our lord the pope and all the cardinals, they being confronted by two clerks of Canterbury, Alexander, and Gunther of Flanders. The fifth day of the week before Easter now drawing nigh, on which, according to usage of the Roman Church, our lord the pope is wont publicly to absolve or publicly to excommunicate, feeling certain that as to what regarded your grievances and those of your kingdom they had hitherto managed matters with the greatest foresight,9 we consulted those whom we knew to be faithful to your majesty; namely, the lord of Portuenza, the lord Jacinto, the lord of Pavia, the lord of Tusculanum, the lord Peter de Mirio (the lord John of Naples being absent), and begged them with the most urgent prayers and entreaties, that they would disclose to us the intentions of our lord the pope towards us, and what determination he purposed to form on our case. However, the information they gave us in answer was nothing but what was ill-boding and
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disgraceful to your highness; and we learned from their relation and that of brother Francis, a trustworthy man, interrupted as it was by sobs, that, by the common advice of his brethren, our lord the pope had immutably determined on that day to pronounce sentence of interdict upon you by name, and upon all your dominions on both sides of the sea, and to confirm the sentence that had been pronounced against the bishops. Being, consequently, placed in a position of the greatest difficulty, we made the most stringent efforts, both through the cardinals and through those of our companions who had access to him, and through the people of his household, to induce him to pause in this design, or at least defer it until the arrival of your bishops. When this could not by any means be effected, we, as became us, and as we are bound in duty to you, being neither able nor bound to put up with disgrace to your own person and calamity to the whole of your dominions, having convened all our companions before certain of the cardinals, at length discovered a way for the preservation of your safety and honor, safe, and becoming, and advantageous to the whole of your dominions, as well as necessary for the bishops.10 Hereby we averted from you, and from your dominions, and from your bishops, the disgrace and peril that were impending, and exposed ourselves for obtaining this liberation to the whole of the danger, believing and having an assured hope that the whole matter will proceed according to what we believe to be your wishes, and according to what we feel assured ought to be your wishes. The lords bishop of Worcester and of Evreux, together with Robert, dean of Evreux, and master Henry, were shortly about to follow, and, indeed, we left them behind, anxious and vexed beyond measure because they had not been able to come on according to their wishes, for the purpose of carrying out the business you had entrusted them with.11 However, it was their suggestion, as much as our own, that we should by some means or other precede them, in order to be enabled to prevent the disgrace and mischiefs which our adversaries were preparing
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for us; for we were assured that serious troubles were in preparation for you at the court, and were in dread of the usual custom of that day. With wishes for your lasting prosperity, we bid your highness farewell: be comforted in the Lord, and let your heart rejoice, inasmuch as, to your glory, the present clouds will be succeeded by serenity. On the Saturday before Palm Sunday we arrived at the court, and the bearer of these presents has left us on Easter Day.”
In the meantime, there came into Normandy two cardinals, Gratianus and Vivianus, sent as legates a latere by Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, who vexed the king of England by many and various annoyances, and wished to place him and his dominions under interdict. But the king of England being warned of this beforehand, had, before their arrival, appealed to the presence of our lord the Supreme Pontiff, and by these means kept himself and his dominions unhurt by the exercise of their severity.
Still, fearing the power of the Apostolic See, he hastened to the sea-shore, and crossed over from Normandy to England, giving orders that no person who should bring a brief, of whatever rank or order he might be, should be allowed to cross over, either from Normandy to England or from England to Normandy, unless he should first give security that he would seek to inflict neither evil nor injury upon the king or his kingdom.
After this, the said king, collecting together a great fleet of ships, caused them to be laden with provisions and arms, and ordered them to meet at Milford Haven, which is near Pembroke. In the meantime, he also collected a large army of horse and foot, and came to Pembroke, in order to meet his fleet. These being assembled and everything duly arranged, he embarked, with his army, on board the fleet at Milford Haven, on Saturday, the seventeenth day before the calends of November, and on the next day, with joy, effected a successful landing in Ireland, at a place which is called Croch,12 distant eight miles from the city of Waterford, at the ninth hour of the day; having crossed over with four hundred large ships, laden with warriors, horses, arms, and provisions. At the moment when he disembarked, a white hare sprang forth from a thicket, which was immediately captured and presented to him as an omen of victory.
On the day after the arrival of the king of England in Ireland, that is to say, on the fifteenth day before the calends of November, being the second day of the week and the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, he and the whole of his troops moved on to Waterford, an episcopal city. Here he found William Fitz-Aldelm, his seneschal, and Robert Fitz-Bernard, with some other persons of his household, whom he had sent before him from England. Here he also stayed for a period of fifteen days, and there came to him, at his command, the king of Cork, the king of Limerick, the king of Ossory, the king of Meath, Reginald de Waterford, and nearly all the principal men of Ireland, with the exception of the king of Connaught, who said that he was the rightful lord of the whole of Ireland. In addition to these, there came to the king of England, while staying here, all the archbishops, bishops, and abbats of the whole of Ireland, and acknowledged him as king and lord of Ireland, taking the oath of fealty to him and his heirs, and admitting his and their right of reigning over them for all time to come; after which, they gave their charters to the same effect. After the example of the clergy, the above-named kings and principal men of Ireland received Henry, the king of England, in a similar manner, as lord and king of Ireland, and did homage to him, and swore fealty to him and his heirs against all men.
It deserves to be known that, in Ireland, there are four archbishops and twenty-eight bishops, the names of whom, at this period, were as follows: — Gelasius was archbishop of Armagh, and primate of the whole of Ireland; under him he had eight suffragan bishops, whose names were as follow: — Odan, bishop,13 Maurice, bishop of Clogher, Malethias, bishop of Down, Nehemias, bishop of Derry, Gilbert, bishop of Raphoe, Thaddeus, bishop of Connor, Christian, bishop of Ardagh, and Eleutherius, bishop of Clonmacnoise. Donatus, archbishop of Cashel, had under him ten suffragan bishops, whose names were as follow: — Christian, bishop of Lismore, legate of the Apostolic See, the bishop of Emly, the bishop of Cloyne, the bishop of Ardmore, the bishop of Limerick,14 the bishop of Kildare, the
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bishop of Waterford, the bishop of Ardfert, the bishop of Ross, and the bishop of Kilfenora. Laurentius, archbishop of Dublin, had under him five suffragan bishops, whose names were as follow: — the bishop of Bistagh, the bishop of Ferns, the bishop of Leighlin, the bishop of Kindare, and the bishop of Ossory.15 The fourth, being the archbishop of Tuam, had under him five suffragan bishops, whose names were as follow: — the bishop of Kinferns, the bishop of Killala, the bishop of Moy, the bishop of Elphin, and the bishop of Aghadoe.
All the above, both archbishops as well as bishops, acknowledged Henry, king of England, and his heirs, as their kings and lords for ever; which they also confirmed by charter under their hands and seals. After this, the king of England sent Nicholas, his chaplain, and Ralph, archdeacon of Llandaff, his clerk, together with the archbishops and bishops of Ireland, to the city of Cashel, to hold a synod there, upon the ordinances of the Church.
At this synod it was ordained that children should be brought to the church, and there baptized in clean water, being thrice dipped therein, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And this was to be done by the hands of the priests, except in cases where fear of death prevented it, when it might be done by another person, and in any other place, on such occasion it being allowable to be done by any person, without regard to sex or order. It was also ordained that tithes should be paid to churches out of all possessions: and that all laymen who should think proper to have wives, should have them in conformity with the laws of the Church. The king of England also sent a copy of the charters of the whole of the archbishops and bishops of Ireland to pope Alexander; who, by the Apostolic authority, confirmed to him and his heirs the kingdom of Ireland, according to the tenor of the charters of archbishops and bishops of Ireland.
These things being thus completed at Waterford, the king of England proceeded thence to Dublin, and remained there from the feast of Saint Martin until the beginning of Lent; and here he ordered to be built, near the church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, without the city of Dublin, a royal
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POPE
ALEX-
ANDER
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BISHOP
OF
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palace for his own use, constructed, with wonderful skill, of peeled osiers, according to the custom of that country. Here with the kings and principal men of Ireland, he held the usual festivities on the day of the Nativity of our Lord.
In the meantime, Gilbert, bishop of London, and Jocelyn, bishop of Salisbury, sent to Rome and received letters of absolution, the tenor of which was as follows: —
The Letter of pope Alexander to the archbishop of Bourges.
“Alexander the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brethren, the archbishop of Bourges and the bishop of Nivernois, health, and the Apostolic benediction. We believe that it is not unknown to your brotherhood how Thomas of blessed memory, formerly archbishop of Canterbury, in obedience to our mandate, pronounced sentence of excommunication upon the bishops of London and Salisbury: which we took due care to have ratified and confirmed by the authority of the Apostolic See. Now, inasmuch as the aforesaid bishops, being worn out with old age and infirmity of body, and, one of them labouring under a malady, are not able to come to our presence: to you, in whose prudence and fidelity we have full confidence, we have thought proper to entrust their absolution, for which, envoys from Henry, the king of England, and the said bishops have made the most urgent application. Therefore, we do command your brotherhood, by these Apostolic writings, within one month from the time when the said messengers shall have returned home — (as to the approach of the legates whom we have thought proper to send into those parts to take cognizance of this atrocious crime and misdeed which has been perpetrated and of the forgiveness of the king, — that they have passed the Alps you are not unaware), that, after having publicly received their oaths according to the custom of the Church, that they are ready to pay obedience to our mandate, you will absolve them from the ban of excommunication, by pronouncing sentence of suspension for the same cause for which they were recently sentenced to excommunication, the said cause being still valid and of full effect. But if you shall be satisfied that the bishop of Salisbury, from labouring under the effects of disease, cannot come to you, then it is our pleasure that you shall attend upon him personally. Or if you shall be
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unable to attend upon him, then you are to send proper persons, in whom both you and we ourselves may be able to place full reliance, who, having publicly received his oath, in the presence of the church, that he is ready to pay obedience to our mandates, may thereupon absolve him. But if, brother archbishop, it shall not be in your power to give attention to this matter, then do you, brother bishop, together with the abbat of Pontigny, give your most diligent attention to the injunctions which we have given. Given at Tusculanum, on the eighth day before the calends of May.”
In the same year, Avigouth El Emir Amimoli, the emperor of the Africans, crossed the African sea and landed in Spain with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and, king Lupus, who was a pagan, being dead, took possession of his lands; namely, Murcia and Valentia, and many other cities; and then, by the advice of Ferdinand, king of Saint Jago, entered the lands of Alphonso, king of Castille, and took by storm the cities of Cuenca and Octa,16 and slaughtered all the Christians whom he captured therein, with the exception of a few, whom he doomed to perpetual slavery.
In the year of grace 1172, being the eighteenth year of the reign of king Henry the Second, the said king was at Dublin, in Ireland, on the day of the Nativity of our Lord, which took place on Saturday, and there he gave a royal feast. Having stayed there until the beginning of Lent, he proceeded thence to the city of Wexford, where he remained until Easter. While he was staying there, Theodinus and Albert, the cardinals who were sent as legates a latere by the Supreme Pontiff, came into Normandy. On their arrival being known, the king hastened to meet them; but, before he left Ireland, he gave, and by his charter confirmed, to Hugh de Lacy the whole of the lands of Meath, with all their appurtenances, to hold in fee and hereditarily of himself and his heirs, by a hundred knights’ service; and gave in his charge the city of Dublin, and appointed him justiciary of Ireland. He also gave in charge to Robert Fitz-Bernard the city of Waterford and the city of Wexford, with their appurtenances, and ordered castles to be built therein.
The festival of Easter approaching, the king’s household
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crossed over from Ireland to England, on Easter Day, and landed at Milford Haven, near Pembroke. The king, however, by reason of the solemnity of the day, was unwilling to embark, but embarked the day after, and landed in Wales, near Saint David’s. After this, the king repaired with all haste to Portsmouth, and, taking with him his son Henry, passed over from England to Normandy, and found the above-named cardinals at Caen, and, by their advice, made peace with Louis, king of the Franks, as to the coronation of his daughter; and accordingly, with the consent and advice of the above-named cardinals, sent back the king, his son, to England, and with him Rotrod, archbishop of Rouen, Gilles, bishop of Evreux, and Roger, bishop of Worcester, for the purpose of crowning him and Margaret, his wife, the daughter of Louis, king of France: on which, they crowned them in the church of Saint Swithin, at Winchester, on the sixth day before the calends of September, being the Lord’s Day. Immediately after the coronation had taken place, his son, the king, with the queen, his wife, and the archbishop of Rouen, and the bishops of Evreux and Worcester, crossed over from England to Normandy.
The Purgation of king Henry for the death of the blessed Thomas.
Henry, the king of England, the father, king Henry, his son, Rotrod, archbishop of Rouen, and all the bishops and abbats of Normandy, met at the city of Avranches, in presence of the cardinals, Theodinus and Albert. In their presence, the king of England, the father, on the fifth day before the calends of October, being the fourth day of the week, and the feast of Saints Cosmus and Damianus, the Martyrs, proved his innocence in the church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, by oath, in the presence of the above-named cardinals, and of all the clergy and the people, upon the relics of the Saints, and upon the Holy Gospels, and that he had neither commanded nor wished that the archbishop of Canterbury should be put to death, and that, when he heard thereof, he was greatly concerned. But, inasmuch as he could not apprehend17 those malefactors who slew Thomas,
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archbishop of Canterbury, of blessed memory, and he feared that they had perpetrated that profane deed in consequence of his agitated state of mind and the perturbation in which they had seen him, he made oath that he would give satisfaction in the following manner: —
In the first place, he made oath that he would not withdraw from Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, and his Catholic successors, so long as they should repute him to be a Catholic king.
He also made oath that he would neither prevent appeals nor allow them to be prevented, but that they should be freely made in his kingdom to the Roman Pontiff in causes ecclesiastical; yet so, that if any parties should be suspected by him, they should give him security that they would not seek the injury of him or of his kingdom.
He also made oath that, for a period of three years from the Nativity of our Lord then next ensuing, he would assume the cross, and would in the following summer go in person to Jerusalem, unless he should remain at home by permission of Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, or of his Catholic successors: provided, that if in the meantime, by reason of urgent necessity, he should set out for Spain to war against the Saracens, then for so long a period as he should be engaged in that expedition he might defer setting out for Jerusalem.
Besides this, he made oath that in the meantime he would give to the Templars as much money as in the opinion of the brethren of the Temple would suffice for he maintenance of two hundred knights, for the defence of the land of Jerusalem, during a period of one year.
Beside this, he remitted his wrath and displeasure against all those, both clergy and laity, who were in exile for the cause of Saint Thomas, and allowed them freely and peacefully to return home.
He also made oath that the possessions of the church of Canterbury, if any had been taken away, he would restore in full, in the same state in which they were one year before the blessed Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, had departed from England.
He also made oath that he would utterly abolish the customs which had been introduced in his time to the prejudice of the churches of his kingdom.
All these articles he made oath that he would observe faithfully and without evil-intent. He also made his son, king Henry, swear to observe these articles, those excepted which only related personally to himself. And, to the intent that the same might be retained in the memory of the Roman Church, the king, the father, caused his seal to be set to the writing in which the above-stated articles were contained, together with the seals of the above-named cardinals.
1 On the reconciliation of a church, it was consecrated anew by the bishop, and sprinkled throughout with holy water.
2 Knaresborough, in Yorkshire, can hardly be said to be in the West of England.
3 The latter part of the epitaph is couched in the following jingle: —
“Annus millenus, centenus, septuagenus,
Primus erat, primas quo ruit ense Thomas.”
4 A city of Edom, near Arabia Petræa.
5 The words in the text are “et Ponti magni Walcellensis;” it is not easy to say, with certainty, whether one or two abbeys are meant, and whether “Ponti magni” ought not to be “Pontiniaci.”
6 It is pretty clear that “postaticos” is a misprint for “apostaticos”.
7 Probably “Wallatiæ” is a misprint for “Valculeriæ.” It is, however, possible that Valency is the place meant.
8 Now Frascati.
9 It is pretty clear that “proni diutissime” is a misprint for “Providentissime.”.
10 Bribery is probably the method thus covertly alluded to.
11 There must be some mistake in this, as master Henry is one of the five by whom the letter is addressed. It appears, however, from the commencement, probable that master Henry was left behind at Sienna, and that he really did not take part in the letter.
12 Cork.
13 Probably bishop of Meath; but it is not stated in the text. Nearly all these names are mis-spelt, and it is next to impossible to trace some of them. They are in a state of almost hopeless confusion.
14 This prelate is probably meant under the title “Lucapniarensis episcopus.”
15 In the text “Erupolensis” is perhaps a mistake for “Ossorensis.”
16 Probably the place generally called “Octaviolca;” though it is a matter of dispute what is the present name of the place so called.
17 Roger of Wendover, however, says that they remained in the king’s castle, at Knaresborough, for a whole year after the murder of the archbishop.