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As regards the message which my lord the pope has sent, in which he asserts that we have alienated our mind from the Holy See, we answer, in the first place, and you can substantiate from your own knowledge my assertion, that we have always loved his person, and have endured much in his behalf. To omit other instances, we would remind you that we were not persuaded by others to take his part, when the question of his succession was first raised, but did so voluntarily, and persuaded others also. And we have never changed these feelings of devotion towards him, but he has been most troublesome to us for a long time past, as his acts show; for he tampers with our nobles, tried to cover our person with infamy, and now, both in his speeches and writings, he calls us the persecutor and assailant of the church. Let his lordship consider whether it is consistent of him to advise us to preserve a fair reputation, that chief object of a king’s solicitude, and to endeavour himself, both by word and deed, to throw aspersions upon it. We wish you to believe whatever honours, dignity or power we possess, 14 as well as our kingdom itself, and everything else committed to our care, we hold as the gift of our great Creator, to Whom our gratitude is given, not as much as He deserves, but as much as we are able to bestow. May our lord the pope pray God that we may be enabled to thank Him, and to reverence Him as we ought.
It is our wish also to continue in favour and love with our lord the pope, if he will have the same regard towards us, whether as concerns our person or dignity, which his predecessors had towards my ancestors. He says that we prevent appeals being made from our kingdom to the Roman court, but we wish your prudence to be informed that we have never thrown impediments in the way of appeals being made, as they were made of old in the time of our ancestors, according to the customs and dignities of our kingdom, as the ancients and learned men of our kingdom, both clerks and laymen, have received them. Whereas he accuses us of having corresponded with excommunicates, we do not think that we have in this offended God, or acted contrary to reason; for, as we heard from our lord the pope’s own mouth, he never looked on the Emperor Frederic as excommunicated; and whereas we have given our daughter in marriage to his son, we have no doubt that we have acted lawfully, 15 for our grandfather Henry gave his daughter also to marriage to Henry the emperor, of excellent memory, and we, by the advice of our councillors, have followed his example.
Moreover, he has written to us that we should recall the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he says we have banished, and reinstate him in his see. Now we wish your fraternity clearly to understand that we did not banish him; but it was his own perversity and folly which led him to flee of his own accord, and to do all he could to derogate from our honour, and to injure us. But if the same archbishop is willing to return and to pay us that obedience which is due to his lord and king, we also, with the consent of our people on both sides of the sea, will act towards him as we ought. But we will not recall him, for we have never banished him. Also we will, with the consent of our clergy and barons, willingly redress whatever we have done amiss: but if any one attempts to impede or abate the rights, customs, and dignities of our sovereignty, we will not put up with any diminution of these dignities and customs, which we have received from our predecessors of excellent memory, as they were in the days of former Roman pontiffs.
Lastly, whereas he has informed us through you, that we do afflict, or cause to be afflicted, certain 16 ecclesiastical persons in our dominions, God is our witness, and our own conscience, that we have never done so, even to this very day, nor have we allowed the same to be done by others.
1. Henry II to the Cardinals (1166). Latin. Robertson, vi. 78, trans. Giles. This letter, written later in the year, shows that Henry, when his wrath had run off him, had no intention of supporting the schism. The question of appeals to the Roman Court was always a ticklish one to deal with: purely ecclesiastical questions, of course, could be dealt with, but in practice all such questions involved matters in the jurisdiction of the King, or affecting him intimately. The letter defines Henry’s position towards Becket — a position he consistently maintained.