consecrated king if it may bee termed a consecration which is ministred by the Excommunicate who are odious to the holy Ghost and enemyes to the Church and this with the notorious iniury of the Church of Canterbury and of my Lord the king of France whose Daughter that aduersary of God and man would not admitt to bee partaker of this consecration This consecration or rather execration was ministred by yorke and as they say with your authority where London some others named Bishoppes whose memoryes are buryed in malediction assisted him Haue a care therfore ô father heereafter of this Church which hath perished iâ your handes least the bloud thereof bee required of you which wee thinke cannot bee otherwise done for the redemption of your fame and soule vnles with your Apostolicall power you confound the foresayde Malefactors Thus wrote Senon to the Pope There are letters yet to bee seene written in the Popes name to the Archbishop of Roane for absoluing London on certaine conditions Cod Vat. l. 3. Epist 16. and others likewise sent by Roane to his holines signifying how hee was absolued on Easter day but there is the letter of saint Thomas to Roane affirming the absolution to bee voyd Ihid Ep. 19. beecause the Popes conditions were neuer proformed Ibid. Ep. 24 And moreouer beesides all these an other letter of saint Thomas wherin hee complayneth to the Pope concerning these abuses Yet bee assured all this was but a slaunderous reporte And first as it was false that the Archbishop of Yorke euer consecrated the king by the Popes authority as the letters before recyted written both by the Pope and also by a frind to saint Thomas apparantly declare soe make no doubt it is as manifest a falshood that London and his Associate were euer absolued by the Popes Mandate and therfore loe heere the Epistle of Apologie sent by his Holines to the Bishop of Senon Wee haue gratefully receaued Ibid. Ep. 26. and with dilligente care and attention considered the letters which your deuotion sent as concerning the busines of our venerable brother the Archbishop of Canterbury The Pope purgeth himselfe of a false imputation But in regard the Bishop of London is not yet come vnto vs wee haue determined nothing in the cause If hee had appeared before vs wee would haue endeauored to preserue the iust tytle of the Archbishoppe of Canterbury soe far forth as wee might haue done with the safety of our conscience But yet how far wee haue proceeded in that controuersy wee suppose wee haue made sufficiently knowne to him in parte and also to our most deere sonne in Christ Lewes the famous king of France in such sorte as wee enioyned you by word of mouth to deliuer for wee haue therin altered nothinge since your departure nor haue wee thought good to change any thing heereafter allthough the foresayd king of England did sollicite vs most earnestly by the Consuls of Lumbardy beeing present before vs with his agents as also by the Embassadors of our most deere sonne in Christ Emmanuel the illustrous Emperour of Constantinople to graunt him a longer tyme of repite And in regarde wee esteeme the Archbishoppes cause as our owne and the Churches cause wee command your brotherhood by these our Apostolicall letters that you admonish carefully and instantly exhorte by worde of mouth or otherwise by letters if they are not personally present the Archbishop of Roane and Bishop of Niuers dilligently and speedily to execute our commandement and if as yet they haue no way proceeded in the busines omitt not in any case to reprehend them sharpely and seuerely reproue them But if they haue allready pronounced according to our commandement the sentence of interdiction vpon the sayde kings lands then doe you firmly and streightly obserue this sentence and cause as far as it lyeth in your power the same to bee obserued without any partiality at all throughout the kinges landes which are knowne to ly in your Prouince setting all excuse and appeale a syde Thus far Pope Alexander purged himselfe to Senon and allthough the Pope commanded excommunicated London to bee absolued to the end hee might bee an instrument of peace as in an other place hee sayth what offence was this especially considering hee commanded the same to bee done vpon certayne conditions Nay did not saint Thomas himselfe this very yeere at such time as the Pope commanded the excommunication to bee reiterated on London and Salisbury beeseeche his Holines to forbeare the same for feare of disturbing the peace now vndertaken Soe as it appeareth not only Alexander but also saint Thomas himselfe did vpon diuers occasions command and perswade the Excommunicated to bee bound and loosed for these are his owne wordes Allthough the Bishop of Lomdon hath bin the cheife Leader of this sedition that wee may forbeare to call it Scysme wee neuerthelesse beeseech it may bee lawfull for vs to haue coÌpassion on him and Salisbury if they cannot bee punished according to your commandement without renewing of Scisme But the modesty of Pope Alexander was vndoubtedly admirable who although hee felt himselfe ouerladen with soe huge a burden of wrongfull accusations yea and was most vniustly afflicted with the coÌplayntes of this soe Saintly a man signifyed by the Apostolicall Legate as also those of the king people and Clergy of France allmost wholy with clamors inueyghing against him beeing made neuerthelesse as a man not hearing nor hauing any refutations in his mouth hee handled his cause with that vnspeakeable myldnes as hee abstayned absolutely from retorting reproofes or any other spytefull replication allbeeit hee was gauled with the spurres of most sharpe letters soe as it may without all controuersy bee affirmed of him which was once sayde of Moyses that hee was of all men the meekest But whence will you say arose then this reporte so bruted in the mouthes of all that the Bishoppe of London was absolued by the Pope It is layde open in the Epistle of Iohn of Salisbury Secretary to saint Thomas wrytten to the Archdeacon of Excester and dated this yeere where among other occurrents ãâã this tyme hee inserteth this of this same It was commonly giuen out that the kinges Agents had then obtayned absolution for the Bishoppe of London and all others Cod. Vat. lib. 5. Ep. 18. and how the Archbishoppes authority for proceeding against the kingdome with the persons of his realme was withdrawne But they were presently refuted as manifest vntruthes by letters sent from his Holines yea before such tyme as the Bishoppe of London vndertooke his iourney to the Courte who doubtles would haue spared that labor and cost if as some fayned hee might haue bin absolued without soe greate difficulty Thus sayth Salisbury for clearing Alexander from the iniurious slanders raysed of him by the king of Englands Agents Whereunto may bee added the testimony of saint Thomas expostulating with king Henry thus My Lord if you hasten
the planting of your sonne in your place with the accomplishment of his consecration why are you not carefull to exclude from the solemnity of soe greate a Sacrament those who are apparantly and namely excommunicated by the sentence of my Lord the Pope and vs Can a consecration bee perfected without a participation But if London and Salisbury had bin absolued beeing excommunicated beefore as well by the Pope as saint Thomas these obiections could neuer haue bin made by saint Thomas himselfe in that assembly where none stood excommunicate but only the sayde Bishoppes For answer moroeuer of the other flaunder concerning the Popes consent to the consecration of the king of England by the Archbishop of Yorke reade heere the Popes letters wrytten to saint Thomas in these wordes Considering deeply the constancy of your vertue and fayth Ibid. Ep. 34. with the resolution of mynde which you haue apparantly shewed for defence of your Churches liberty wee doe willingly giue you as our deerest brother the best counsell and assistance wee can for obtayning those thinges which wee knowe conuenient for the conseruation and augmeÌtation of the same Church and will with diligent endeauor affoarde the defence of the Apostolicall power against all such as contend to diminish and disturbe the rightes and dignityes herof Wee heare of certaynty how the Archbishop of Yorke contrary to our prohibition and interdiction hath crowned in your Prouince Henry sonne to the famous king of England wherfore in regarde you affirme the same to bee an exceeding great derogation to the right and dignity of your Church beeing desyrous on this beehalfe to succour both your selfe and Church wee ordayne by our Apostolicall authority that the sayde Archbishoppes acte shall no way heereafter by any meanes preiudice you for diminishing your right in the Coronation and vnction of the kinges of England but that you may haue it in as ample manner as your Predecessors and Church haue bin knowne to haue enioyed the same forty yeeres now past Thus far in refutation of the scandall concerning the Archbishoppe of Yorke and heereto is agreable an other Epistle wrytten to the Bishoppes who were present at the Coronotion and that letter especially which the Pope sent to the same Roger Archbishop of Yorke and Hugh Bishoppe of Duresme indighted thus Alexander Bishoppe seruant of the seruantes of God to his reuerent brethren Roger Archbishoppe of Yorke and Hugh Bishoppe of Duresme sendeth greeting and Apostolicall benediction Allthough yee are many wayes commendable and gratefull to vs and wee on the other syde embrace yee with the armes of vnfayned charity neuertheles wee ought not therfore to ouerpasse but call yee to accompt and with the zeale of rightuousnes to correct such offences as beeing committed by yee and left vmpunished engender death Our Lord speaking by the Prophet thus If I saying to the wicked thou shalt dye the death thou dost not declare it vnto him nor tell him thereof hee shall dye in his sinne but I will require his blood at thy handes The oppression truly of the Church of England with the diminishing of her liberty which is knowne to bee caused by your king bee it either of his owne motion or else by the suggestion of others hath now long since very much afflicted our mynde and bred vs noe small care and greife for wheras it behoued him to deuyse how to correcte those abuses which were brought in wickedly by his Predecessors hee rather heaping sinnes vppon sinnes constituted and established with the coullor of à royal tytle those vnlawfull customes by which the Churches liberty perished and the decrees of Apostolicke men as far as hee could infringe them were depriued of their power neyther did hee thinke it enough if vnder his Dominion the Diuine lawes in his kingdome of England were put to silence and made voyd vnles hee should also cast à descent of sinne vpon his heires and make his kingdome for long tyme sit solitary without Ephod without Superhumerale without preistly dignity Thence came it to passe that hee procured those vsurpations to bee confirmed without any exception by the oathes of your selues your brethren and the Bishoppes your Associates and condemned him to bee punished as à Traytor who woulde not yeelde consent to these wicked customes This appeareth manifestly in the exile of our reuerent brother the Archbishoppe of Canterbury this is openly declared in the miserable banishment of his Clearkes and kindred and of those who sucking their mothers breasts cryed as yet in their cradles yea the terror of death is threatened to all such as dare resist the same and prefer the lawes of God beefore those synnefull Statutes Wee our selues by whose iudgment those offensiue lawes ought to bee corrected and amended were vnder coullor of this vnquiett tyme most earnestly sollicited to confirme the same and were not meanely labored and prouoked to strengthen with Apostolike power those vsurped customes before wee were fully informed of them and this in their very first beeginning and in processe of tyme the sayde Archbishoppe remayning in exile for executing the office of his Pastorall function and very often requiring from our authority the wonted assistance of the Romane Church wee sent to the same king the cheifest and worthyest of our brethren wee sent also other Ecclesiasticall persons supposing the hardnes of his harte would bee softened with our humility and meekenes and that as Salomon sayth The Prince will bee mollifyd with patience Prouerb 25. Ibid. 15. and a gentle tongue will asswage anger But hee deluding our sufferance with the seuerall deuises of sundry Embassadors seemeth soe far to obdurate his mynde against our admonitions as neither hee relenteth any whitt in his wrath against the forenamed Archbishop nor yet endureth that any one of his peruerse lawes should bee diminished yea damnifyeth the Church of Canterbury it selfe very much in her possessions and spoyleth her of her ancient dignity in her Ecclesiasticall administration for when hee was disposed of late to haue his sonne crowned contemning the Archbishop of Canterbury to whose office the same in tymes forepast is sayd of right to beelong hee caused him to bee inuested with the Crowne by you brother Archbishop and that in this Prouince noe whit appartayning to your iurisdiction Moreouer in his Coronation there was not according to the ancient custome any condicion made or as they say requyred of him for the preseruation of the Churches liberty but as the reporte goeth hee was rather bound by oath to obserue during his raigne inuiolably the royall customes as they call theÌ of his ancestors wherby the Churches dignity is endangered Wherin allthough the sayde kinges violence doth greatly trouble vs wee may neuertheles bee much more incensed with the imbecility of yee and your Associates the Bishoppes who not without greife wee speake it are made like Rammes without hornes Thren Ierem 1. and flye away without strength before the face of the Pursuer For allthough brother
being very bitterly incensed beegan to vexe him with more greiuous and exquisite molestations in such wise as it was apparant to all vnderstanding men the blood and life of the Archbishop was thirsted after Among other matters the king soe wrought The King incensed against Saine Thomas sendeth an embassage to the Pape as hee sent messangers to Pope Alexander and required two thinges at his hands first that hee would grant the legantine authority which was vsually committed to the Archbishop of Canterbury vnto the Archbishop of Yorke then that the Pope would confirme the artickles of the customes published in the Parliament of Claringtonne Vpon receipt of which message Alexander beeing on all sides beesieged with exceeding extremities seeing this warre now turned on the Apostolicall Sea laboured with his best and most ready endeauours to calme and appease the king and soe to yeeld to him insome what which neuerthelesse should with no preiudice derogate from the Chuch of Canterbury and thereupon did write in this sorte to the Archbishop Lib. 1 epist 4 The Popes epistle to S. Thomas coÌcerning the Kinges dedemandes Although in regard of the wisâdome of your minde and sincerity of your faith wee would euer loue your persââ with a more plentifull sweetnes of châritie and a more enflamed desire and with a fare more feruent affection seeke the honour and exaltation of you as our most deare brother it is notwithstanding beehoofefull to vs and you who are a greate pillar of the Church warely to weigh the qualityes of the times and with a prouident moderation and dispensation to mitigate the wrath of the incensed king You on whom God hath beestowed a large talent of wâsedome and grace doe truly see in your discretion in what sorte our most deare sonne in Christ Henrie the renowned king of England maintaineth an outragious course in the gouerment of his kingdome and desireth to haue the same vnlawfull proceedinges strenthned witâ the authority of the Church of Rome whereby they may obtaine the greater confirmation and fauour Whereupon when in times past hee more instantly required of vs and our brethren by our reuerent brother the Bishoppe of Lyons and our beeloued sonne the Archdeacon of Poyters that hee might haue the power Legantine of all England graunted to the Arrchbishop of Yorke and beesought alsoe that wee would command as well you as all the Bishops vniuersally to keepe and conserue the ancient customes and dignities of his kingdome because wee did not yeeld to his desire according to his owne will instantly vpon returne of his embassadors scarce hearing the answer receaued from vs hee sent our beeloued sonnes Geffry his Archdeacon and Master Iohn vnto our presence and by them most earnestly required at our handes not only the former but also other far more vnreasonable demands and to the end wee should yeelde an easyer way to his desire hee procured letters vnto vs from your brotherhood and also the foresaid Bishop of Yorke For as hee prayed vs beefore that the ancient customes and dignitys might by our command bee conserued soe now againe of late hee most earnestly requested that in like sorte as your selfe and others had promised to obserue them they might in the same manner bee assured to him and his posterity Hew far the Pope graunted or denyed the Kings requests by the Sea Apostolicke But wee reiected his petition Notwithstanding least wee should incite him to ouermuch bitternes and more passionate trouble of mynde against vs and you least also it might bee suspected that this was any way hindred in regard of your selfe moreouer fearing hee might breake out into a more furious rage against you and beeing therefore desirous to bee more prouident for you and our selues with consideration of the dangerous times wee yealded so far to the king as to grante the Legantine letters to the aforesaid Archbishop And for that subiectes are truly bound to submitt themselues to their Princes desires and obey their wille wee aduise counsail and by all meanes exhorte your wisedome that as a prouident and discreete man measuring the necessity of the time and with faithfull consideration foreseeing what aduersityes may happen by reason thereof to you and your Church you would endeuour to yeelde to your King in all thinges sauing euer the honour of your Ecclesiasticall dignity and instant labor to recouer to your selfe his grace and fauour least in doeing otherwise you disquiet him to the hurte of you and our selues and they who are transported with an other spirit might thereby purchasse power to insult ouer you and vs. And wâe truly as oportunity shall serue will diligently and carefully treate with your King for your honor and augmentation and will employ all necessary trauell for conseruation of the lawes and dignityes of your Church and with all conueniency bee watchfull and prouident therein Dated at Senon the third of the Nones of March Reader you beehould Pope Alexander beesett with extremityes either to loose the kinges good will or grante his requestes and yeeld to him who laboureth to extorte a petition against the Churches liberty these two soe intangleing him the one of the kings demaundes hee satisfyed giuing the Legantine authority to the Bishop of Yorke the other hee absolutely denyed beeing the confirmation of the recited customes yea to the end this Legantine power conferred on the Bishop of Yorke might no way preiudice S. Thomas hee thought good soe to restrayne the same in his later letters that hee should vnderstand this Legation of his for England to bee confined with condition that notwithstanding hee should haue no authority graunted him ouer the Archbishop or Dioces of the Church of Canterbury Lib. 1. epist 5 Lib. 1. epist 3â 40. Pope Alexanders letters importing this restraint are extant which for breuity wee omitt thinking it sufficieÌt if wee leaue them heere noted with their numbres in the margent It is alsoo apparant in the same letters of Pope Alexander that hee soe gaue the legation for England to the Bishop of Yorke as neuerthelesse hee would not suffer the Bishopps to bee exempted from the obedience they owed vnto the Archbishop of Canterbury to whom in very true right they were subiecte which rather enkindled the Kinges greater indignation who desired the Apostolicall Legantine authority for the Archbishop of Yorke of purpose to depose the Archbishop of Canterbury For Alexander hereupon inclined more to the cause of Sainct Thomas The Pope endeauoreth to succour S. Thomas and was soe far of from graunting to pleasure the King against him as hee most carefully watched to supporte his prosperity with the libertys of his Church commanding also the principall Monasteries of France to pray for him vnto allmighty God which is witnessed by a messinger sent from S. Thomas to his Holines in the conclusion of whose letter are these wordes worthie of memory Last of all wee petitioning his Holines that hee would commaund you to make your repaire
which the world witnesseth wee neuer deserued at his handes malitiously to depraue and derogate from vs and our renowne But if the sayd Archbishoppe as of his owne accord hee departed the land soe of his owne free will would returne againe and beare him selfe to vs in such sort as he ought to behaue himselfe to his Lord and king wee then would likewise so deale with him as according to the counsell of our Clergie and Layetie as well of our kingdome as our Prouinces beeyond the seas should bee thought conuenient but wee thinke it vnfitting to call him backe whom wee neuer enforced to flye our dominions Wherefore if it ââall appeare to vs that wee haue any way offended or exceeded our boundes wee will with the aduice of our Clergie and Barons according to the customes dignityes and excellency of our kingdome willingly satisfy as wee are bound But if any one will attempt to trouble or diminish the lawes customes and dignityes of our crowne wee will esteeme him the publicke aduersary and open enemy of our name honor and kingdome and wee so long as wee liue will neuer endure the least detriment to the dignityes and customes of our regality which the renowned men our Predecessors haue held and inioyed in the raignes of the holy Popes of Rome Lastly in that hee commanded yee to insinuate vnto vs that wee should not afflict the Churches or Ecclesiasticall persons of our kindome or Prouinces nor yet suffer them to bee afflicted God and our Conscience doe witnes that to this very day wee neuer did nor Permitted it to bee donne Hetherto the kinges Apologie to the Cardinalls But as the image of a foule deformed and horrible Monster beeing ouercast with coulors may bee transformed into the showe of a most faire and chaste Virgin and not with standing there lurketh vnderneath what to the eyes would bee dreadfull to beehould yet outwardly it appeareth delectable Soe shall yee playnly see his detestable crymes with a deceytfull style transformed into vertues But what estimation is to bee had of him that which hath allready bin sayd and what heereafter shall bee written will apparently declare There are also other letters extant which passed this yeere in the cause of controuersy beetwene the king of England and sainct Thomas beeing writings truly of great moment and principaly that which Pope Alexander sent to the Bishop of London and is recyted by Roger in these words Alexander Bishop seruant of the seruantes of God to his reuerent brother Gilbert Bishop of London sendeth greeting with an Apostolicall Benediction In that you haue beestowed singular care and diligence about the busines wee enioyned your brotherhood and for that your haue faithfully sollicited and effectually admonished our most deare sonne in Christ Henry the renowned king of England concerning the encrease and exaltation of the Church and vs wee receaue the same as a thing most gratefull and acceptable and thereupon rendring you abundance of thankes wee doe for that cause highly commend and prayse in our Lord your watchfull and endeauouring wisedome And beecause wee loue with a more intire charity this your king as a famous Prince and our dearest sonne therefore wee haue thought good often yea very often to sollicyte and excite him by all meanes to deuotion towards the Church as well by your reuerent brethren the Archbishop of Roane and Bishop of Hereforde and also by our most deare daughter in Christ his mother sometymes the illustrous Empres of Rome And now reioyce and are greatly comforted in our Lord for the godly zeale of the same king signifyed to vs by your letters But beecause wee would haue him as intirely affected to the Church of God and to vs as in the beeginning her was accustomed to bee wee intreate admonish yea command your brotherhood that you will againe and againe both by your selfe and others carefully and diligently stirre vp exhorte and by all meanes perswade him to procure after his wonted manner with his best endeauors the honor and exaltation of the same Church and foster mayntaine and defend with all courage the cause therof that hee would loue and reuerence Churches and Ecclesiasticall persons and conserue their rightes and franchises Likewise that hee would restore to his grace and fauour our reuerent brother the Archbishop of Canterbury and for our parte if hee yeeld to sainct Peeter and vs the respect and honor which heeretofore hee hath done wee will loue him with a most tender affection and labour by all meanes as beeseemeth vs to magnify and aduance him and preserue the kingdome committed to his charge for wee had rather vanquish him with patience and mildnes then any way agreeue him soe long vs wee can possibly forbeare him Dated at Gradus Mercurii XI Kalend. Septemb. Thus wrote Alexander to the Bishop of London who in this manner answered him To his father and Lord the most high Bishop Alexander Brother Gilbert seruant of the Church of London sendeth his dutifull seruice of sincere charity and humble obedience Hauing receaued most deere father in Christ your commandement with dew reuerence wee instantly heard that your sonne our most beeloued soueraigne Lord was leading his army in the confines of France and taking with vs our venerable Brother Robert Bishop of Hereford according to your direction with all attentiue dilligence wee treated with him and laying beefore his eyes whatsoeuer you signifyed to vs by letter partly entreating and as far as beecame subiects to the Maiestie of their king also reprouing wee constantly and instantly perswaded him that hee would bee certifyed in all these pointes and if hee had swarued from the path of reason hee would returne to the way of truth and iustice beeing called backe by your admonition deliuered him by our mouth and beeing piously aduertised by his father ãâã absolutly desist from wicked actions loue God witâ a pure harte respect his Mother the holy Church of Rââe with his wonted reuerence and neuer forbid those whâ were willing to visit her nor hinder appeales made vnto her and reducing charitably from exile our father the Lord of Canterbury hee would remayne constant and vnmoueable in the obedience of sainct Peeter and your Holines and wholy bent to the workes of deuotion would not any way afflict Churches or Ecclesiasticall persons of his kingdome or dominions nor suffer them to bee in any sorte iniured by himselfe or others but with loue defend them vnder his royall protection that hee by whom kinges doe raigne may in this world prosper his temporal Dominion and beestowe on him in heauen an eternall kingdome Otherwise if hee obeyed not your godly and wholsome admonitions your Holines who had hetherto with patience indured could no longer contayne your selfe within the compasse thereof Heereunto wee added that hee was iustly to feare least if hee corrected not his offences hee shoulde shortly incurre the wrath of Allmighty God through which his kingdome would not long continewe nor his bee
the vertue of obedience and vpon the perill and hazard of your order that yee denounce them publickly excommunicate and cause them soe to bee declared through out your Dioceses who lay violent handes on the Clergie and that yee command your neighbouring Bishoppes by the authority of our Lord the Pope and also of vs to performe the same likewise in thier Bishopprickes Moreouer in the same manner and vnder the same payne wee command yee to denounce to such as hinder Appellantes or Penitents from trauailing to our Lord the Pope or vs that they incurre the sentence of accursing as well as they who doe it in proper person as also the kinges officers who constrayne others to this heynous offence And for such as beeing enforced thereunto haue taken vnlawfull oathes to hinder these aforesayd passengers wee absolue them from their oathes whereby they may heereafter desist from soe greate à sinne and beeing penitent for their offence learne rather to obey God then man If any one in seeking to right his Church and conserue the integrity of his faith to the Apostolicke Sea dreadeth ensuing discommodityes let him remember how the Church with far more safety and profitt purchaseth vertue then temporall treasures and that Christ who raigneth ouer the Church of Rome restrayneth the powers of his aduersaryes and hee who shall punish the mighty mightely will chastise likewise all disobedience not only bringing the poore to iugdment but also humbling the glorious of this world to the ministry of the Church against which the very gates of hell shall not preuayle Bee ashamed most deerely beeloued to put in practise vniust iudgmentes in such sorte as the peeres of the kingdome insulting vpbrayd yee saying If a poore man committeth a light offence hee is presently excommunicated by yee and your officers but if a rich person transgresseth hee is not so much as with a word chastised whereby scandalls may on euery syde bee retorted on such iudges And can greate powers against the poore soe rage Looke therefore to your selues and your Churches least if yee dissemble the iniuryes of the Romane Church yee may bee iustly thought to conspire with the impious against her and to haue forestalled the wayes of those who walked that yee might raise your commodityes vpon the Churches losse Remember rather how our fathers atchiued saluation by what meanes and how great tribulations the Church hath encreased and bin dilated what huge stormes the ship of Peeter hath escaped hauing Christ for her Pilot. Thus did saint Thomas write to his Clergy ANNO DOM. 1167. Now beeginneth the yeere of our redemption 1167. with the xv Indiction when Pope Alexander vnderstanding as well by the letters of the king of England as also from others beeing Bishoppes the Suffraganes of saint Thomas that was persecuted by them and his most worthy proceedinges condemned as hideous offences to the end hee might rayse him aboue his aduersarys and humble them to his obedience hee ordayned a king most worthie of prayse which was to make the holy Archbishop with most ample authority Legate of the Apostolicke Sea The Popes letters are yet extant indighted for that purpose in these wordes Alexander seruante of the seruantes of God to this beeloued brother Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury sendeth greeting and his Apostolicall blessing The most holy Church of Rome hath bin euer accustomed to embrace with greater charity Saint Thomas made Legate à latere ouer all England excepting only the Proumea of Yorke and prefer in glory and honor persons of eminent worth and them especially whom she knoweeh to bee most renowned for honesty wisedome lerning and excellency of vertues Considering therefore the constancy of your deuotion and faith wherin you haue persisted as an vnmoueable pillar for the Church of God and weighing withall the singular prudence of your integrity lerning and discretion wherin you are knowne to surpasse others wee thought it worthie to loue and honor with a certaine peculiar priuiledge and more excellent prerogatiue your person soe adorned with the insignes of such high vertues and with our vsuall hounty to prouide and with a more tender care to procure your good and commodity This is the cause that with our louing fauor wee grant and beestowe on you the Legantine authority ouer all England excepting only the Archbishoppricke of Yorke to the end that within your iurisdiction in our place and authority you correct what you find worthie amendment and that to the honor of God and of the holy Church of Rome and for the saluation of soules you doe constitute buyld and plant whatsoeuer is to bee setled and planted wherefore wee admonish yea wee command your brotherhood that you dispose all thinges extirpate vices and plante vertues in our Lordes vynyeard with that prudence and discretion which Allmighty God hath beestowed on you Dated at Auigni on the seauenth of the Ides of October Heereunto were also added other letters of Pope Alexanders beeing written for the same purpose to the Clergy of the Prouince of Canterbury And others likewise for gathering of saint Peeters Pence which the king had beefore as wee see forbidden all which were caryd into England and receaued by the Bishop of London who certifyed the king of all wryting in this sorte vnto him Lib. 1. Epist 116. Lib. 1. Epist 131. To Henry King of England Gylbert Bishop of London The Bishop of Londons letter to king Henry concerning the Popes Mandates So bige a weyght of commandementes doth my Lord at this tyme oppresse vs soe great an authority beeseegeth vs as coÌpelled by extreame necessity wee are enforced to beeseech counsell and with all assistance from your Maiestie for what the Apostollicall authority commandeth cannot with Appeale bee suspended neither can there bee any remedy against his Mandate since wee must needes fullfill his precept or incurre the offence of disobedience For beeing on saint Pules day in London at the Altar wee receaued from the handes of a certaine Messinger altogether vnknowne to vs our Lord the Popes letters whereby was graunted and by authority confirmed vnto the Lord of Canterbury the Legantyne power ouer all England excepting only the Archbishoppricke of Yorke Moroeuer all wee the Bishops of the kingdome were by the same authority inioyned with all humility to obey him as the Legate of the Apostolicall Sea and at his calling without any contradiction to assemble our selues together to yeelde him an accompt of all thinges appertayning to our office and absolutely vndertake to obserue whatsoeuer hee shall decree and lastly that wee shall enforce all who by your commandement haue receaued the reuenues and goodes of the Clearkes beelonging to the Archbishop in their absence to make full restitution and satisfaction to the owners within two monthes otherwise to bee denounced accursed without any appeale at all to the contrary S. Peeters pennyes Wee are beesides required to gather of our brethren the Bishoppes saint Peeters pence and to deliuer the
of our letters they neuer heereafter for that reason repute him Deane Wee haue likewise denounced excommunite and haue excommunicated Richard de Iuecester for his fall into the same damned heresie for communicating with Reynold the Scysmaticke of Colen and for deuising and practising all mischeefes by combining with the Scysmatickes and those Allmaynes to the ouerthrowe of God and his Church and especially the Church of Rome and by contracting couenantes beetweene our Lord the King and them Wee haue in like sorte excommunicated Richard de Lucy and Ioceline de Baliol who haue bin the authors and framers of those wicked deuises and Raynulph de Broc who possessed and with houldeth the goods of the Church of Canterbury which are by right the almes of the poore and hath apprehended our followers as well of the Clergy as Layety and detayneth them prisoners Wee excommunicate moreouer Hugh de Clare and Thomas Fitz-Bernard who haue also seized on the goods and possessions of the Church of Canterbury without our conniuence and as yet with hould the same wee haue lastly inuolued in this sentence of excommunication all such as shall heereafter lay violent handes without our will and consent on the possessions and goodes of the Church of Canterbury Afterwardes hee inserteth the decrees of the Bishoppes of Rome wherein such as these are sayde to bee condemned for excommunicate and wherby the sentence pronounced by him is approued All which beeing rehearsed hee addeth thus And wee inioyne you Brother and Bishop of London in the vertue of obedience that presently you manifest and shew these our letters to all our reuerent brethren and associate Bishoppes of our Prouince Farewell in Christ and instantly pray for vs. Thus wrote hee to London and other Bishoppes of his Prouince Saint Thomas did also certify the Archbishop of Rome of this excommunication soe denounced Beesides hee sent a letter to Pope Alexander of the same subiecte beeseeching him to confirme the sentence which hee had published against them Also to Hyacinth and Henry of Pysa Cardinalles And other letters are extant which were directed to the Bishop of London and the like to the Chapter there And to the same effect did hee write to Robert Bishop of Hereforde concerning this excommunication which Roger recyteth in the Annalls of England the yeere following But the letters to Pope Alexander for excommunicating the king of England are thus indighted To his most deerely beeloued Father Alexander by the grace of God high Bishop Thomas the humble seruant of the Church of Canterbury sendeth his dewe and deuoute obedience Long and ouerlong haue I endured most beloued father expecting the reformation of the king of England nor reaped any fruite at all of my patience but rather exceedingly encreased the losse and vtter ouerthrowe of the authority and liberty of the Church of God while I haue thus vnaduisedly forborne often haue I admonished him by religious and conuenient messingers and many tymes inuited him to make due satisfaction I haue also made knowne to him by letters the coppyes whereof I haue sent to your holines the diuine and seueere iustice and reuenge of God vnlesse hee amended his life But hee neuerthelesse waxed still worser and worser treading more vnder foote and depressing the church of God and continuing his persecution against my selfe and those exiled with mee in such sorte as hee attempteth by threates and terrours to beereaue of their benefittes and coÌmodityes the seruantes of the Allmighty who for Gods sake and yours prouyde vs sustentation For hee did wryte to the Abbot of the Cistercians that as hee tendred the Abbeyes of his order which were within his dominions hee should banish vs from all benefitt and society of his sayd order What neede I more wordes The hard and cruell dealinges of the kinge and his officers haue encreased to that heygth by our endurance as by reporte of religious men who if it pleaseth your holines shall affirme the same by oathe shall bee in order deliuered vnto you And I wonder if your holines will giue credit to soe strange a thing soe constantly declared Considering therefore in great streightes and grefe of mynde and weyghing the danger as well of the king as of your holines I publicky condemned those pernitious not customes but subtell deceyptes and wicked deuises by which the Church of England is disturbed and confounded together with the instrument it selfe and the authority of the obligation the ground of their confirmation And did generally excommunicate as well the obseruers as the Exactors together with the Patrons fauorers counsellore and abettors of the same of what estate soeuer they were either of the Clergie or Layety And absolued our Bishops from that oathe whereby they were violently bounde to the obseruation of them And these are the thinges which in that wryting or obligation I haue especially condemned 1. That they shall not appeale to the Apostolicke Sea without the kings licence 2. That it shall not bee lawfull for Bishops to question any man of periury or violating his faith 3. That it shall not bee lawefull for a Bishop to excommunicate any man houlding of the king in cheife or to inderdict his land or the landes of his officers without the kinges licence 4. That Clearkes or Religious men bee drawne to the secular Iudgments 5. That the Layety the king or any others handle causes concerning the Church or tythes 6. That it shall not bee lawfull for an Archbishop or Bishop to departe the laÌd and come at the calling of our Lord the Pope without the kinges licence With others of this fashion The names of the excommunicated And namely I haue excommunicated Iohn de Oxeforde who communicated with that excommunicated Scysmaticke Reynold of Colen and contrary to the commandment of your holines and vs vsurped the Dearny of the Church of Salisbury and made oath in the Emperors courte for renuing the Scysme Wee haue also denounced for excommunicate Richard de Iuecester beecause hee fell into the same condemned heresy by communicating with that infamous Scismatick of Colen deuysing and contriuing all mischeises with the Scismatick and those Allmaynes to the destruction of the Church of God especially of the Roman Church by meanes of couenantes contracted beetweene the king of England and them Wee haue pronounced likewise the same sentence on Richard de Lucy and Iocelin de Baliol who were fauorers of the kinges tyrany and framers of those hereticall offences with Raynulph de Broc Hugh de sainct Clare and Thomas Fitz-Bernard who vsurped without our licence and consent the possessions and goodes of the Church of Canterbury and lastly wee haue excommunicated all who contrary to our will and assent lay handes on the possessions and goods of the Church of Canterbury Concerning the king himselfe wee haue not as yet personally excommunicated him expecting awhile his amendment whom neuerthelesse wee will not forbeare to excommunicate vnles hee speedely reforme himselfe and receaue discipline for
on our beehalfe with our beeloued sonne that noble Earle of Flanders and instantly perswade him that considering the necessity of vs and the Church hee would endeauor with his liberality somewhat to succor vs for wee doe not thinke hee can doe a more acceptable seruice to Allmighty God then to labor at this present to comforte vs with the worthy supply of his bounty for the defence of the Churches liberty Thus wrote Pope Alexander vnto Saint Thomas and to king Henry of England by the same Legates in this sorte Yeelding gladly to the requestes of your Maiestie and desiring as far as with God and his iustice wee can to satisfy your will in all thinges and showe due respecte to you and your honor wee haue thought good to sende vnto your excellency as Legates into your dominions on this syde the seas our beeloued sonnes William of the tytell of Saint Peter ad vincula Preist with Oddo of Saint Nicholas in carcere Tulliano Deacon Cardinalles men of learning discretion vertue beeing of great authority in the Church of God and well affected to you and your kingdome and whom among the rest of our brethren wee esteeme as very deere and acceptable to vs giuing them absolute power to vnderstand those causes which in former letters wee haue declared to you with all other matters likewise which shall seeme conuenient for them to knowe whom wee haue in all things authorized as vice gerents so far in our steede as euer the Church of Rome was accustomed heeretofore to constitute them or any other Legates of the Apostolike Sea Wherefore wee doe by our Apostolical letters request admonish and in our lord exhorte your Highnes that you will honorably and benignly receaue and as it beeseemeth your royall dignity courteously entertayne them in such sorte as is meete for men of that eminency and Legates of the Apostolicall Sea Soe as the holy Church of Rome may in your beehauiour to her sonnes acknowledge your ancient deuotion to her and your Maiestie together with the landes committed to your gouerment through the goodnes of God reape therby encrease of all thinges and for those matters which they shall propose to your excellency on our behalfe wee doe wish you soe diligently to admitt and promptly to obey them as our lord and his Church may bee therin worthily honored and you with the realmes subiect to your regiment may also thereby gayne abundance of benefits with rewardes from God and prayse and glory beefore men Shewe not the coppy of this letter to any but only Master Gunter because I haue passed therupon as stricte a promise to Master Walter as hee desired Thus wrote the Pope to the king sending likewise an other letter of the same effecte to the Bishops of England which beeginneth it is reported to our eares c. Dated the last yeere in the Kalends of December By all which is euidently apparant that Pope Alexander perswaded a peace in such sorte as no detriment might therupon accrewe to the Church Pope Alexander did wryte withall by the same Legates to the king of France to whom among other thinges hee openeth the desire of his mynde for honoring Saint Thomas with all worthy respectes and decreeing to this holy man the Legantyne authority ouer the whole Church of France if the Bishoppes of that kingdome were soe pleased The letters of his Holines were thus indighted Amonge other renowned tokens of your magnificence and deuotion wee esteeme as cheifest that you haue with so many and soe great honors entertayned our reuerent brother Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury a man most religious discreete and vertuous and to vs and the vniuersall Church in euery respect most deere and acceptable and that out of your bouÌty you haue vouchsafed pleÌtifully to beestowe soe large and royall benefittes out of your humanity on him for which wee render your Maiestie the greatest and worthyest thanks wee may and for your clemency therin commend you with most exceeding prayses in our lord And this as it is most gratefull to God to whom in his person you haue consecrated the same soe wee accept it as deerely as if you had donne it to our selues and because with all our affections wee desire the peace of the same Archbishop wee haue thought conuenient to send our beeloued sonnes William of the tytell of saint Peter ad vincula and Oddo of Saint Nicholas in carcere Tulliano Cardinalls to our most deere sonne in Christ Henry famous king of England to reforme by the helpe of God all matters beetweene the sayd king and Archbishop indifferently for the honor of them both and for the conclusion of perfect concord and peace and that they may in the same kinges landes on this syde of the seas heare and vnderstand all araysing controuersyes and there inioy the Legantine authority of the Apostolike Sea Wherefore by our Apostolicall letters wee beeseech admonish and in our lord exhorte your Maiestie that for the reuerence of the Church of God and the honor of Saint Peeter and vs you would effectually doe your parte as well with the sayd king as Archbishop and carefully labor in such sorte as to the honor of God and his Church and likewise to the benefit and commodity of them both they may frindly and peaceably agree together and bend their myndes and willes wholly therunto soe it bee donne without impeachmeÌnt of the Archbishops and the Churches reputation And if by endeauour and labor of the same Cardinalles with your trauell they may returne to peace and agreement the Church which next vnder God is supported with your speciall assistance shall receaue thereby no small encrease and you in the blessed retribution of the iust obtayne of Allmighty God for this a speciall reward But if otherwise which God forbid they cannot accorde soe it may stand with your royall likeing and good pleasure it would bee to vs in euery respect a singular pleasure and very gratefull and acceptable if it may bee without great scandall of the persons of your kingdome that wee might endowe the sayd Arbishop with a particular honor aboue others and make him our Legate vice-gerent in those your partes and therefore doe most earnestly entreate your Highnes if hee cannot a cheyue a peace with reseruation of the honor of himselfe and the Church beeing the thing wee most desire then that you will with all speede signify vnto vs your mynd heerein and in the meane while conceaue this as an exceeding secret Thus wrote the Pope to the king of France The Legates therefore as soone as they touched FraÌce presently saluted saint Thomas with their letters and William did in this sorte wryte vnto him Allthough thorough the variable alteration of tymes for doubt least the Church of Rome Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 9. beeing distempered with a Scysme should sustayne the greater damages wee seeme in the conceipts of some to decline from you to the aduerse parte hee knoweth notwithstanding who is the
vnlike that infamous Scysmaticke the oppressor of your selues Fredericke wee meane who laboreth vtterly to rent out the very bowels of the Church if this bee suffered to passe vnpunished in our king what will not his heires presume what shall your successors endure Consider how mischeifes daylye encrease and the occasions inuentions of mischeifes encrease withall Good God and shall hee doe all this without controulement This was not the way of Christ nor yet of his Apostles whose imitators yee ought to bee c. By reason therfore of these letters sent as well to Pope Alexander as the Cardinalls of the sacred Roman Church beeing then at Rome and likewise by the authority of a man of that worth and aboue all by the truth it selfe his Holines with the Colledge of Cardinalls was moued to call home with all speede these Legates who were accused by so many complayntes of this saintly man and his messinger and agent who resyded at Rome especially also procuring the same whom S. Thomas as it appeareth admonished to followe the matter effectually with his Holines wryting among other thinges vnto him thâ Wherefore in all respectes it is expedient Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 104. yea most necessary that you employ all yours endeauors and with your vttermost power worke our Lord the Pope to call backe the often recyted Cardinalls and cause them to bee compelled vpon a payne to ensue if they should refuse presently to departe out of all the kinges dominions Soe wrote saint Thomas for recalling the Legates who as wee haue sayde was euer fauorably heard of his Holines for the Pope by his letters recalled them presently backe to the Citty abrogating all their authority who beefore they departed thought good to see the king of England wherof and concerning the passage beetweene them Ibidem epist 6. a relation then written discourseth in this sorte The next Thursday after the Octaues of Saint Martin the Cardinalls came to the Monastery called Bec The repârte of the last conference beetweene the Legates and the Kingâ on the morrowe to Ligieux the next day to Saint Peters vpon Dyue and thence the wednesday before the first Sunday in Aduent to Argenton on which day the king gaue them meeting two leagues before they entred the towne entertayning them with a pleasant countenance and accompanyd both the Cardinalls to their lodging the second day ensuing after Masse beeing called early enough in the morning they came and entred the kinges chamber to consult with the Archbishoppes Bishoppes and Abbots there assembled and continuing in counsell the space of two hours they passed on farther the king accompaning them to the outward dore of the Chappel and as they went the king in the hearing of them and all others sayde that hee wished his eyes might neuer more beehould any Cardinal and dimissed theÌ soe hastily as their lodging beeing neere at hand yet could they not expecte the comming of their horses but were enforced to ryde on such as they could by chance finde without the Chappell Thus departed the Cardinalls with noe more at the vttermost then foure attendantes The Archbishoppes Bishoppes and Abbotts remayned with the king and entred the Chamber to sitt in counsell where hauing continued vntill euening they went thence to the Cardinalls with discontented countenances and staying awhile with them returned to their lodginges On the morrow after they had remayned with the king six houers they went to the Cardinalls and thence backe to the king with returning againe to the Cardinalls and soe continued carying secret messages to and fro At their meeting being on Saint Andrewes Eue the king rising early went on hunting and as it was certainly supposed did it of purpose to absent himselfe the Bishoppes came beetymes to the kinges Chappell and thence to the counsell chamber where after deliberation of matters they departed to the Church neere the Cardinalls lodginge where the Cardinalls beeing sate they were called in to heare what they would propose the Archbishoppes of Roane and Yorke taking their places after them the Bishops of Worcester Salisbury Bayon London Chichester and Angolisme with many Abbottes and a company of the Layety London rose vp whose idle and ill digested oration was a manifest argument of his distempered mynde and beeginning yee haue seene c. And rehearsing the Appeale made by the Bishoppes of England and declared formerly by the relation of the Legates hauing concluded hee sayde since now they had appealed they desired of the Cardinalle a Letters of appellation sent from one iudge to another Apostles which as it is supposed was giuen them as proper to their appeale So the Cardinalls departed from the king on the Tewesday after the Sunday wherin is sung Ad te leuaui but in taking leaue the king with great humility beesought the Cardinalls to be intercessors to his Holines that hee would absolutely deliuer him from vs and with those wordes before the Cardinalls and all the company hee wept and my Lord William was seene with his teares to accompany him But my lord Oddo could hardly forbeare laughing Now for the substance of the busines thus it is My Lord William of Papia sendeth a certayne Chaplayne of his kinsman as it thought to Master Lumbard in Pâste to my Lord the Pope and with him the king sendeth likewise two messingers the one appertayning to the Bishop of London called Master Henry Pixim the other Reynold sonne to the Bishop of Salisbury Moreouer on Satturday before the second Sunday of Aduent there went from the Cardinalls beeing then at Sureux Master Iocelin of Chichester and the Chantor of Salisbury towards you to denounce that there was an appeale made against you by the persons of England And somewhat after my Lord Oddo the Cardinall certifyeth my Lord the Pope in secret that hee would neuer bee author or any way guilty of your deposition although the king seemed to desire nothing else but your head in the dish This was the relation sent by a frind of Saint Thomas vnto him And yet there is an other reporte made by Iohn of Salisbury in his letter to Iohn Bishop of Poytiers where it is set downe thus of the kings imaged mynde in their last departure The Cardinalles found the king in such an excessiue fury as hee complayned openly that hee was beetrayed by my Lord the Pope Cod Vat. lib. 2. epist 20. and threatened to forsake him vnles hee would cause iustice to bee executed on the Archbishop of Canterbury And afterwardes concerning what followed when they had appealed hee declareth it in these wordes The Bishoppes sent also two messingers beeing of the messingers beelonging to the Legates one called Walter the Chauntor of Salisbury the other Iocelyn the Chancellor of Chichester to declare the Appeale made in this sorte and to renew the same before the Archbishop But the Archbishop admitted not the Messingers from the Bishops to speake in his presence because among others they came
Church except the Deane and send them ouer who should sweare how âheir Bishop had authorized them to make an oath wherby they shall protest in the name and place of their Bishop that he shall satisfy for his iniury and contumacy against the Archbishop Wherby it may bee probably gathered that my Lord the Pope did either neuer knowe of the Legates sentence for absolution of the sayd Bishoppe Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 7. or otherwise hee neuer estemeed it of any validity The same Bishop had obtayned before letters allmost purporting as much wherin neither hee nor his were obliged to any oathe but as yet hee hath made no vse of them either beecause they displeased the king or in regarde they were not soe effectuall What will be the successe on either side was vncertaine at the returne of the bearer heereof but my Lord the Pope hath answered the most Christian king that hee will not fayle to succor the Church of God and his frind of Canterbury as long as with iustice hee can releiue them Now let vs passe to the parlee which was beetweene our kinges c. in such sorte as was described this selfe same yeere wherby you may perceaue that both agree in tyme yeere and month being the same wherin this author wrote these letters Lastly towards the end of this yeere besides other Embassadors formerly sent the king of England addressed two more ouer to Pope Alexander which were Reynold and Iohn the Deane of Salisbury and the same tyme also Saint Thomas directed his agents to his holines their names were Alexander and Iohn whom afterwardes by letter he admonished of the trecherous falshood of Reynold saying Haue a continuall eye and watch vpon our aduersaryes and especially that Bastard of fornication the enemy of the Churches peace the sonne of a Preist Reynold of Salisbury Lib. 3. epist 66. who euery where as much as in him lyeth defameth and slaundereth our person exclayming wee are traytors and that wee gaue him our promise not any waâ ãâã lest his father And a litle after Hee affirmeth ãâã ouer if our Lord the Pope should departe this world hee would cause vs to bee blotted out of the booke ãâã life vaunting that in the court of Rome all thinges ãâã soe sett to sale as with the bounty of rewardes he could purchase any thinge Hee likewise moued the king of England to beecome sutor to our lord the Pope that his Holines would graunte authority to any Bishop in England to crowne his sonne and consecrate Bishoppes to the end hee might were it but in this deceaue the Pope and when the king answered that as hee thought hee could neuer obtayne these demandes of his holines Reynold replyed the Pope should deale like a foole if hee would condescend to your requestes Thus much of the kinges Embassador wherby you may see reader what manner of fellowes they were who accustomed to back-byte and detracte the high Bishoppes of Rome Concerning the other his associate Iohn deane of Salisbury that which hath before bin spoaken plainly declareth him to be a maÌ of greater villany What these the kinges demandes were and how instantly hee sued for them and how many and greate men were his mediators shall bee declared heereafter in place conuenient It is besides apparant that the king in the end of this yeere did by his Agentes solicite all the Cittys which were ioyned in league to Pope Alexander beestowing a hugâ masse of money among theÌ and carefully endeauored to winne the king of Cicillie and the nobility of Roââ to bee his that all might bee intercessors to the Pope to procure the accomplishment of his requestes agaiâââ Saint Thomas but how Pope Alexander beehaueâ himselfe you shall heare in the beeginning of the ãâã yeere Meane while the king of France The king of France laboboring a peace beetweene the king of England and Saint Thomas bringeth them to a parlee after the Legates were departed dispatching this busines taking vp the matter soe fallen to the grownde endeauored to bring the king of England and Saint Thomas to a mutuall parlee in his presence hoping by these meanes to reunite them in a league of peace What the passage of that meeting was is exactly sett forth in Quadrilogus in the end of the second booke and in regarde this seemeth to bee omitted in the epistles the Register of them beecause his epistolary history may not bee defectiue heerin hath soe placed in this volume this discourse before the epistles as they ensuing and following in order one after an other doe manifest the whole proceedinges euen to the very end by reason wherof there wanteth no assistaÌce of any history in the epistles but only this of the parlee written on this wise in Quadrilogus or the Quadriparte history out of Hubertus My Lord the king of France seeing his Holines carefull to conclude a peace himselfe as the sonne of peace and obedient to the Apostolike prelate interposed his endeauors with all labor and attention whervpon at diuers parlees which passed betweene him and the king of England hee brought thither with him the Archbishoppe placing himselfe as an arbiter of peace beetweene them Among all which there was one meeting where it was reported to the king of England that the Archbishop of Canterbury would referre thâ whole cause to his owne will and therfore the king entertayned this his comming more gratiously Many of both sydes assembling to see the end my Lord of Canterbury fell downe at the king of Englandes feete saying I committ to your discretion the whole controuersy which hath bin the grounde of dissention betweene vs with reseruation only of the honor of God The king hearing the addition of these last wordes was offended beeyond measure abusing him ãâã âny reproches vpbrayding him much castiâ ãâã thinges in his teeth condemning him for a ãâã insolent and vngratefull man who forgot ãâã royall bountifull liberality soe often extended to him Alanus added Hee sayde beesides to the king of France marke my Lord if it pleaseth you this man let any thing not fit his owne humor hee presently condemneth it as contrary to the honor of God wherby he will challenge not only his owne but also whatsoeuer beelongeth to mee and that it may appeare I withstand not the honor of God nor yet of him in any thing this is myne offer There haue binne kinges of England my Predecessors who haue raygned beefore mee of greater or lesser authority then my selfe and in Canterbury haue bin many Archbishops beefore him of great worth and holines what therfore the more eminent and vertuous of his Predecessors haue done to the least of my predecessors let him but giue the like to mee and the controuersy shall be concluded Wherupon followed an acclamation on all sydes that the king had sufficiently humbled himselfe The defence of Saint Thomas and his cause Here must I needes say I meruayle greately how the king
against mee are all these forces bent and I once taken away there will bee none left to pursue yee further c. Bee therfore comfortable and feare nothing Nay rather quoth they wee take pitty on you not knowing which way you caÌ turne your selfe beeing a man of soe greate authority and thus left by your cheifest and last frindes To Allmighty God answered Canterbury I committ the care of my selfe and since the dores of both kingdomes are now shutt against me ah other way is now to bee taken I haue heard that about Araris a riuer of Burgundie and from thence to the countrey of Prouince men are of a more liberall and free disposition to these will wee all trauell on foote who perhaps vpon sight of our afflictions will take compassion of vs and furnish vs with victualls for a tyme vntill our lord shall better helpe vs for God is able euen in the deepest pitt of distresse to releiue vs hee is worse then an infidell who despayreth of Gods mercy And Gods mercy was instantly at hand for a certaine seruante beelonging to the king of France comming to them hastely sayde my lord the king calleth yee to his Courte That hee may quoth one of them banish vs the kingdome you are noe prophet answered Canterbury nor the sonne of prophet doe not then foretell euill tydinges Comming therfore they found my lord the king sitting with a sad countenance and not according to his custome rysing to my lord of Canterbury which was vpon the first sight an vnluckly presage where they sate still after this cold inuitation and remayned long in silence the king hanging downe his head as if with greife and against his will hee deuysed which way hee might dispatch them out of his kingdome and they no lesse fearing the king who breaking out into teares and with sobbing rysing vp on the subdaine did prostrate himselfe at my lord of Canterburys feete all there present being amazed and my lord of Canterbury bowing low to lifte him vp The king of France repenting greatly humbleth himselfe to Saint Thomas the king in the end hardly comming to himselfe soe greate was his greife sayde Truly my lord and father you only did see and redoubling his sighes with sorrowe truly father quoth hee you only did see for all wee were blind who gaue you counsell against Allmighty God that in your cause yea in his diuine cause you should at the pleasure of man neglect the honor of God I repent mee father I repent mee withall my harte pardon mee I beeseech you and absolue mee wretch from this offence and heere I cast at the feete of God and you my kingdome and from this tyme forward doe promise neuer to bee wanting to yoâ and yours in any thing so long as God willing this life shall last My lord of Centerbury therfore absoluing the king and giuing him his benediction returned ioyfully with his followers to Senon where the king of France maintayned them royally vntill their teturne into England Vpon reporte wherof the king of England sendeth worde to the king of France that hee maruelled very much how or with what reason hee could in iustice maintayne Canterbury against him seing in his owne presence hee soe humbled himselfe with readynes to endure all course of iustice neyther yet that hee was any impediment to hinder Canterbury from recouering his peace which hee proudly and contumeliously reiected wherfore quoth hee the king of France ought not heereafter to yeeld any releife to the disgrace and reproche of his liege man Whereunto the king of France replying sayde Goe messingers and reporte this to your king The renowned answer of the king of France to the king of England that if the king of England will not endure the customes which hee calleth ancient though as some affirme not agreable to the law of God yet as appertayning to his royall dignity to bee any way abrogated much lesse can I of right ouerthrowe that lawe of liberality which together with the inuesture of my Crowne falleth to mee by inheritance for France hath bin of ancient tyme accustomed to receaue all distressed and afflicted persons especially them who were banished for iustice and vntill they recouered peace to fauor protect and defend them the grace of which honor and excellency shall neuer by Gods helpe during my life vpon the request of any man bee diminished or denyed to Canterbury beeing thus exiled And soe far concerning the speech that passed beetweene the king of France and the Agents of the king of England which euery wise man will accompt worthie to bee written in letters of Golde ANNO DOMINI 1169. Now ensueth the yeere of Christ 1169. with the second Indiction when Pope Alexander refusing absolutely to yeeld to the king of Englands requestes propounded in his last Embassage and constantly perseuering in the restitution of Saint Thomas vnto his Church determined yet againe to send other Nuntios for regayning Saint Thomas his Archbishoppricke Whereof meeting to treate it is first necessary to lay open what the king demanded of the Pope which consisted of two principall pointes one that Saint Thomas beeing remoued out of France might bee called by his holines to Rome the other that hee might bee translated to an other Sea But with what trauaile and exceeding cost the king endeauored to bring his purpose to passe and winne the Popes good will certaine letters secretly written to Saint Thomas doe in this sorte declare Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 79. In regard that through the Allmighty worke of God the cause of Christe and of his Church is now restored to that security as it cannot heereafter bee endangered because the Ring-leaders of this Scysme are quayled and the hammer of the Church of England beeing taken captiue in the workes of his inuention cannot as now find any on whom hee may relye beeing driuen to the last cast The new and terribâ attempts the king of England âgainst Saiâ Thomas hee made these dangerous attemptes when by solliciting as well the courte as the Scysmaticke Friedricke with his complices hee sawe hee could not that way any whit preuayle against our Lord and his anoynted hee fledd by his Embassadors to the Cittys of Italy promising to those of Millane three thousand mearkes towardes the strong reparation of their walls if they together with the other Cittys which they attempted to corrupt could obtayne at the Popes hands the deposition or traslation of the Archbishopp of Canterbury for the same purpose did hee likewise promise to Cremona 2000. mearkes to Parma a thousand and as much to Bononia But to my lord the Pope hee made offer to deliuer him with a larges of money from the exactions of all the Romans and giue him more ouer ten thousand Mearkes granting beesides that hee should ordayne at his owne pleasure Bishoppes as well in the Church of Canterbury as in all other vacant Seas through out England But beecause his greate
your neerest seruantes beesides your tyme of respitt is very shorte Thus wrote Viuian to the king of England And soe concluded this Legantine office executed this yeere by Gratian and Viuian being Nuntios sent by Pope Alexander to the king of England Moreouer when in the middest of this serious busines Pope Alexander vnderstood how the king of England would not suffer Bishoppes to bee chosen for the vacant Seas he sent comminatory or threatening letters of great importance vnto the king in the conclusion whereof hee threatened thus And if truly you will as you are bounde haue a care to accomplish that which by our admonitions in the spirit of meekenes and with all humility wee haue forewarned you you shall vndoubtedly procure therby your glory and saluation and performe that which to God and vs is most gratefull and acceptable otherwise allthough wee desire earnestly to loue you as our deerest sonne and a most Christian prince and to augment the greatnes of your glory yet can wee no longer withhould the handes of Saint Peeter and vs from inflicting punishment on you but as wee ought dreading rather God then men wee wil endeauor with the authority graunted vs from heauen to preserue the lawes and honor of the Catholike Church pure and vntouched Dated at Beneuent 7. Ides of Octobr. The Pope beesides did this yeere publish a constitution against such as receaued of the Layety inuestitures of Churches or their goodes dated in the moneth of May and indighted in those wordes to all the Bishops of England Wee haue receaued as well by a vulgar reporte as also the relation of many how since the miserable contention which for your greiuous sinnes was raysed and yet continueth beetweene our most deere sonne in Christ Henry the renowned king of England and our reuerent Brother Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury a certayne wicked custome hath growne in those partes for lay-men to beestowe on any at their pleasures throughout the kingdome of England Churches and Ecclesiasticall benefices and to inuest Clearkes by their owne authority wherfore because this is knowne to bee soe contrary to the institutions of the holy fathers as both the giuer and receauer from the lay hand incurreth Excommunication and also in regarde it redoundeth vndoubtedly very much to the ouerthrowe of the Churches liberty wee by the authority of Saint Peter and vs doe abrogate absolutely and denounce for voyde all such Collation made in this turbulent tyme by lay men to any persons of any Churches whatsoeuer and therfore wee seuerely command and in the vertue of obedience streightly enioyne yee all by these our Apostolicall letters that with all care yee admonish diligently and instantly exhorte all such as haue receaued from the handes of the Layety any Churches Prebendaryes or other Ecclesiasticall benefices whersoeuer throughout England especially in this troublesome season to resigne without contradiction or appeale into our handes the sayd Churches Prebendaryes or Benefices together with the profites therof receaued and to leaue the same to their dispositioÌ vnto whose ordination by the Ecclesiasticall lawes these appertayne which if vpon our commonition or warning they refuse to doe within fourty dayes after the receipt of these our letters then yee by our authority setting asyde the remedy of Appeale and not respecting the feare fauor or forbidding of any doe presently pronounce the sentence of Excommunication against them and cause them throughout your parishes as persons excommunicaed to bee eschewed of all men vntill they shall resigne the foresayde Churches and Ecclesiasticall Benefices freely vp to them vnto whose collation and ordination they appertayne leauing them peaceably and making sufficient satisfaction for the Churches profittes soe taken by them and if yee are negligent or remisse in the execution heereof then wee our selues by the authority wee inioy denounce the sentence of Excommunication against them all and charge that they bee auoyded of all men as excommunicated by vs because they are knowne to receaue as aforesayd Churches or other Ecclesiasticall benefices from the hand of the Layety without assent of the Bishoppes to whom their donation appertayneth vnles they obey our cammandementes within the former appointed tyme. Dated at Beneuent 14. kalend Iunij And foure days after hee wrote to the king of England first commonitory letters of admonition and then comminatory or threatening letters by certaine Nuntios chosen for that purpose called Symon Pryor of Gods-Mount and Bernard of Corilo who were appointed to deliuer vnto the king first the comonitory letters and that done if neede requyred the cominatory Both which to the king of England are yet extant dated this yeere on the eight of the Kalends of Iune the which his holynes coÌmended first to the Bishop of Belleten and the Pryor of the Carthusians as it appeareth by the letters but beeing vncertayne whether they wovld cary them to the king or noe hee made choyse of Symon a most reuerent man and Bernard his associate vnto whom the letters are yet remayning wrytten by his holines concerning this Legantyne office imposed on them Ibid epist 1. where hee mentioneth in this sorte of his letters written to the king Deliuer him our commonitory letters instantly adding withall in the spirit of fortitude and lenity our admonition if soe hee will not harken vnto yee but rather continue still in his hardnes and obstinacy giue him then our cominatory letters declaring to him with all constancy on our beehalfe that wee will no longer any way shutt vp the Archbishoppes mouth nor vnles beefore the beeginning of Lent a tyme now neere at hand hee will fullfill what beefore wee haue sayde will wee grant heereafter any inhibition but that hee may by vertue of his office with the swoard of Ecclesiasticall seuerity bouldly reuenge with rigor the iniuryes offered to himselfe his Churches and followers For the king ought not to beelieue or thinke with himselfe that our Lord who is yet sleepeing will neuer bee awaked or Saint Peeters swoard is soe outworne with rust but that it may bee drawne to worke a due reuenge Lastly wee command yee as wee haue sayde diligently to execute these our designes vnles our reuerent Brother the Bishop of Belleten and our beeloued sonne the Prior of the Carthusians doe performe the same in such sorte as wee required them Giuen at Beneuent 8. Kalend. Iunii On which day also were deliuered as wee reade the cominatory letters sent by the Pope to the king of England that are likewise registred in the same booke and dated 11. Kal. Iunij which Roger in his Chronicles recyteth in these wordes Alexander Bishoppe seruant of the seruantes of God to his beeloued sonne Henry the renowned king of England health with Apostolike benediction Your royal wisedome is not ignorant how fatherly and mildly wee haue often perswaded and by sundry letters and Nuntios diuers tymes exhorted your Maiestie to reconcile according as you are bounde our reuerent brother Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury vnto your
and successe heereof answered it was forbidden in his order that any brother should write to you or others about any affayres but promised to declare beefore your Nuntio Master Lumbard who deliuered him your letters the whole state and processe of the cause that hee may signify the same vnto you as faythfully and amply as if himselfe had bin there present And thus did Symon wryte to the Pope But what ensued afterwardes the sayde Nuntio in another relation sent also to Pope Alexander layd open in these wordes According to the commandement of your Holines wee deliuered to the renowned king of England your Comonitory letters doing our vttermost labor and dilligence to perswade him Cod. Vat. lib 4. Epist 10. according to your admonition to receaue my Lord of Canterbury into his fauor agayne to restore him his Archbishopricke with peace and suffer him freely to dispose of his Church wee long expected hoping and praying that Allmighty God would molify his harte But when by our forbearaÌce wee profited nothing we preseÌted vnto him in the next parle of the kinges your cominatory letters which hauing at the last with great difficulty receaued vpon the instant entreaty of vs and many noble personages after many wordes too loÌg heere to rehearse hee answered thus I neuer banished my Lord of Canterbury out of the kingdome neuerthelesse for the reuerence I owe to my Lord the Pope if hee will performe to mee what hee ought to doe aÌd obserue to mee what his Predecessors haue obserued to my Progenitors yea what himselfe hath promised hee may returne into England and enioy his peace And after sundry diuersitys of answers hee lastly sayde Hee would assemble together the Bishoppes of England and take their counsell but appoynted no day nor more could wee gett at his handes wherby wee might bee assured of my Lord of Canterburys peace or the execution of your Mandate And beecause wee found him often altering in his answers wee demanded of him if my Lord of Canterbury might returne to his Archbishoppricke and vse it in peace Wherupon hee replyed That the Archbishop should neuer come within his land before hee did to him accordingly as hee ought to doe and had vndertaken to obserue what others had obserued and what himselfe had allready promised Lastly wee beesought him hee would wryte and signify by his letters patents his answer beecause wee ought to declare vnto you a certaynty which hetherto wee had not in regarde hee varyed soe often in his answers wherunto hee would not agree But the Archbishoppe when wee deliuered thus much vnto him sayd hee would bee euer ready to obey the king wherin hee ought and obserue whatsoeuer was observed by his Predecessors soe far forth as hee could with reseruation of his order but to intangle himselfe in new obligations that were neuer offered to his Predecessors and vndertake to performe any such without preseruation of his order was alltogether vnlawfull for him without my Lord the Popes authority first beecause it is pernicious to bring a new forme into Gods Church and then in regarde hee was forbidden by your Holines euer to make any such promise but with the reseruation of Gods honor and of his order And sayde moroeuer your Holines with rebuking tould him that hee ought not for safegard of his life to binde himselfe to the obseruation of such customes but with preseruation of his order Yet if the king would according to your Mandate restore to him his fauor with peace and the free inioying of his Church together with such thinges as were wrongfully taken away from him and his hee would most willingly performe at his pleasure whatsomeuer hee could possibly doe without offence of God and breach of his order and will endeauor most dilligently and deuoutly to serue him with all his power Please it therfore your Holines to succour the afflicted Church and to perseuer in that which to your great commendation you haue allready beegunne beecause as wee haue heard of many and doe certainly beelieue if you perseuer the peace and redresse of the Church is euen now at hand Thus wrote Simon of Gods-Mount after hee had worthily performed his charge and to the same purpose did the Archbishop of Senon who was there present and saint Thomas also Cod. Vat. lib. 4. Ep. 7. Ibidem Ep. 6. signify to his Holines Meane while the king of England dealt by his two agents with Pope Alexander that the authority of faint Thomas might bee suspended vntill this matter were handled by the Popes Nuntios as it appeareth by the Popes letters to the king which Roger in his Chronicles of England recyteth in this yeere beeginning thus Your Maiesties AgeÌtes our beeloued sonne Iohn Cumin c. and written in secret as the Pope witnesseth in his owne wordes which neuerthelesse the king with great vaunting diuulged For as wee see in the first conference of the kinges the king of England protracted the peace least hee should otherwise loose the priuiledge which as hee sayd hee receaueth from the Pope to wit that the Archbishops authority should bee suspended vntill hee had obtayned the kinges peace vpon occasion of which graunt you may conceaue the Pope was hardly spoaken of by many the king of England who was the only procurrer thereof in kindling hatred and wrath against him by showing publickly with great ostentation and kingly pryde the Popes letters and causing them especially to bee read in the last royall conference whereof saint Thomas wrote thus to Conrade Archbishop of Mountes Ibidem Epist 15. The king of England publickly boasteth of our suspension by proclayming the same in the open streetes of either kingdome and for a testimony of my confusion and to make mee more burdensome and odious to the world hee layeth open the Apostolike letters Hee gloryeth also of the terme of the prerogatiue assigned him beeing vntill hee receaueth mee into fauour which if it remayneth in his power shall bee at the Grecian Kalendes I meane neuer c. Wherof hee vaunted vpoÌ this only reason beecause Pope Alexander beeing importuned and deceaued by the king did wryte that saint Thomas should suspend his authority so long ouer the king and kingdome vntill hee purchassed the kings peace which benignity of the Pope the king abusing did of set purpose deferre the peace beecause vntill that was concluded the Archbishoppes authority was suspended by reason whereof the Pope was inueyghed against Cod. Vat. lib. 4. Epist 14. Ibidem Ep. 18.22 Ibidem Ep. 19. Ibidem Ep. 20.23 25.2 Ibidem 16 8 not only by the Archbishoppe himselfe but likewise by the king of France as also his Queene and many others beeing incensed with the zeale of iustice Pope Alexander therfore assaulted with so many and soe greate complayntes by his letters to S. Thomas excused himselfe thus Wee suppose your wisedome is not ignorant how Henry the famous king of England sent his Agents vnto vs and with what vnreasonable and
iniurious demandes which afflicted much our mynde the vrged vs on his beehalfe breathing out terrible threates vnles wee would condescend to his will wherupon wee in regarde the stormy persecution of the Church is not yet layde nor the fayre calme of peace as it was expedient hath hetherto shined on vs allthough wee would not graunt his requestes were neuertheles carefull to temper and asswage the fury and outrage of his mynde dreading greatly least hee should as once hee did ioyne in any league of society with Fredericke the Emperor that tyrant and wicked enemy of the Church to the hindrance and disturbance of her peace or picke any quarell to departs from the Church and our deuotion this was the reason that wee considering the malice of the tyme did with the ioynt counsell of our brethren by our Apostolicall letters command your brotherhoode vpon the conceyte of a certayne hope and confidence hee would receaue you into his fauor and restore the Church of Canterbury to your free disposition that you should not publish against him or any persons of his kingdome or against the kingdome it selfe any sentence of Interdiction Excommunication or Suspension vnles you first receaued from vs other letters wherin should bee signified that if the king would not reconcyle himselfe in peace vnto you you should haue leaue to execute your office against him and his Wherfore in regarde we desire to conserue by all meanes to you as our deere brother also to your Church due honor and liberty if hee shall not effectually fullfill before the beeginning af Lent what wee hope hee will doe as we haue propounded to him but perseuer still hardened in his obstinacy wee doe theÌ restore to you againe your authority to haue fre liberty without any barre of Appeale to execute the power of your office as well against the persons as also the kingdome yea the king himselfe if you shall iudge it conuenient and expedient for your selfe and your Church Cod Vat. lib. 4. epist 17. 51. to the king reseruing euer that grauity and Pontificall discretion which beehoueth you Thus wrote Alexander to Saint Thomas sending an other letter vnto him also to the same purpose and certifying likewise the king of France to the sayd effecte And soe the Pope reformed that which the king of England vsed not for establishing of peace but abused for the prolonging of discorde I meane this priuiledge of tyme graunted without limitation Cod Vat. lib. 3 epist 1. 23. These letters of reuoking this suspension Alexander this yeere commanded to bee deliuered by the aforesayde two Nuntios vnto the king who perusing them was exceedingly moued exclayming against his holines that hee had within the compas of one yeere published two decrees contradicting one an other one beeing for him the other against him vnles hee would agree presently to a peace What ensued afterwardes wee will in place conuenient declare the next yeere ANNO DOMINI 1170. The last Legates sent by the Pope to Henry King of England on the beehalfe of S. Thomas Now followeth the yeere of our Lord 1170. and the third Indiction When Pope Alexander addressed yet once againe certayne Bishoppes as Legates to Henry king of England For which purpose he selected Rotroche Archbishop of Roane with Bernard Bishop of Niuers to whom was after added William Bishop of Senon a prelate of approued fidelity and assured integrity For the better executing of which office Pope Alexander directed his letters which are yet extant to either of them seuerally Cod Vat. lib. â epist 2. 4. Ibid epist 5. dated after Viuians returne beesides others to them ioyntly contayning their treaty to bee had with the king which was that S. Thomas should returne to his Church and receaue all the possessions taken away from his Church that others exiled for his sake should euery one bee restored to his owne the king should grant him a perfect peace in a holy kisse if hee would not yeeld therunto beecause hee had sworne the contrary hee should performe it by his sonne according as hee had promised hee should abolish and absolutely condemne the wicked customes contradicting the Churches liberty and the Legates should absolue from their promise the Bishops who vndertooke to obserue them if there were any hope of peace they should then absolue the Excommunicates but vnder this condition that if the peace succeeded not they should fall backe againe into their former excommunication without any remedy of Appeale all which couenantes hee commanded precisely to bee performed within the compas of 40. dayes And if the peace could not bee perfected within that limited tyme nor these condicions accomplished they should presently interdict the Prouince on this side the seas where the king as then remayned This was the charge imposed by Pope Alexander on the Legates as appeareth by his Apostolicall letters dated this yeere at Beneuent 14. Kalend. Februarii The Pope sent also diuers letters to others concerning the same Legation and especially to king Henry himselfe Whilst this busines was in hand there brake forth à new discord king Henry would haue his sonne crowned king by the Archbishop of yorke beeing an office appertayning to the Prime seate of England which is Canterbury wherfore the Pope vnderstanding theerof directed his letters to the Archbishop of yorke and all the Bishoppes of England in this sorte Cod. Vat. lib 4. Ep. 42. In regarde wee are long since certifyed by the relation of many that the Coronation and vnction of the kinges of England appartayneth to the Archbishop of Canterbury as an ancient custome and dignity annexed vnto his Church wee doe by these presentes our Apostolicall authority streyghtly inioyne your brotherhood that if the renowned king of England will haue his sonne crowned and annoynted king during the tyme our reuerent brother Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury remayneth in exile none of yee attempt to impose handes on him or presume any way to intermedle in the busines which if any of yee shall bee soe bould as to doe let him vndoubtedly knowe that it will highly redounde to the perill of his office and order for heerin wee will cut of all remedy of Appeale and exclude all occasion of malignity Dated at Cisuinary 4. Kalend. Martii Hee wrote also seuerally to the same Bishoppes of England and likewise to saint Thomas Ibid epist 44 Ibid. epist 3. Ibidem epist 42. 4â the priuiledges of whose Church should bee heerby infringed Sainct Thomas moreouer wryting in the name of the high Bishop of Rome to the Archbishop of yorke and other Bishoppes of England in like manner forbad the same to bee donne Vpon receipt of which letters the king of England and his followers were soe far inraged as they caused them all to take an oath not any way to obey the constitutions of the Pope and Archbishop forbidding this same which soe heynous offence saint Thomas presently reproued by these his letters
of Frances daughter being left at Cane to the reproach and contempt of her father as one reiected This childe whom wee haue named will when wee haue named bee vndoubtedly crowned vnlesse our Lord stay his intended passage by sea or restrayne the handes of yorke or the king of France represse it with some manner of prohibition For the sonne hasteneth to the sea and is expected by the father on the contrary shoare and by the kinges commandement the Bishoppes of Bay on and Segien attend his childe And concerning the Popes letters forbidding this same hee addeth thus For my Lord the Popes letters forbidding this consecratioÌ it was long ere they passed the seas then absolutely cast away to no purpose and perishing in the handes of him to whom they were committed they were shewed to none much lesse diuulged to all how therfore could they preuayle that were thus concealed c. But in regarde of some occasions arysing the new kinges coronation was deferred till saint Iohn Baptistes natiuity whereof William in Quadrilogus wryteth thus in the end of the second The feaste of sainct Iohn Baptist beeing now at hand the king vnder pretence of establishing his kingdome assembling together the nobility of his realme committed to his eldest sonne the raynes of his kingdome And there wanted not some who aduised him to bee very carefull vpon what conditions hee thus admitted his heire and successor others answering and affirming all this was done in hatred of the Archbishop and derogation of the Churches dignity But the Archbishop of yorke imposed handes on him in the Prouince of Canterbury beeing in sainct Peeters Church at Westminster contrary to the dignity and ancient custome of the Church of Canterbury the Bishoppes of London Salisbury and Rochester as suffraganes assisting him nor euer opening their lippes in protestation of the right of Canterbury to whose dignity and prerogatiue the coronation of the kinges of England is of ancient tymes knowne to appertayne In the celebration of the feast after the coronation the king vouchsafed to serue the king the father the sonne and protested that now hee ceased to bee a king But according as God complayneth They raigne and not by mee so how manifestly was it in the end declared that this yong king by this bastardly consecration vnlawfully acted by an excommunicated and accursed person purchassed not a benediction Wheruppon this Author addeth by and by afterwardes thus But let vs a litle consider how profane this vnction was how odious how offensiue this consecration if it may bee termed rather a consecration then an execration beeing absolutely destitute of any Apostolicall benediction yea absolutely done in transgressing against the Apostolicall man which only proceeded out of meere hatred wrath and indignation deuysed by a carnall father in despight of his spirituall father All which is proued by the lamentable euentes that beeing soe detestable to all ensuing ages sprung out of this consecration I meane the Suspension and Excommunication of Preistes the murdering of an Archbishoppe the sundry battayles between the father and sonne and lastly the notorious miserable and vntymely death of this yong Prince soe consecrated beeing cutt of in his prime and left an example for all tymes to come c. This same freind of his sent him alsoe the reporte of the Coronation in these wordes On Sunday last the king beeing at London endowed his sonne with the girdle of knighthoode Cod. Vat lib. 5. Ep. 2. 3. and yorke instantly anoynted him king There the king distributed his landes to his sonnes all men wondering what hereafter hee would doe Hee causeth his iourney into Normandy to bee coÌtinually talked of to the end hee may bee the more dreaded but hee will not goe vntill hee hath decently furnished the king of France his daughter remayning now in the company of the Queene at Cane with apparell horse and family conuenient to passe the seas at his appointment and this of purpose that the king of France hearing hereof may somewhat bee pacifyed in regarde of the indignation conceaued for contempt of his daughter c. This beeing done saint Thomas hauing certayne intelligence of all matters which had passed in derogation of himselfe and his Church of Canterbury wrote as the same author reporteth vnto Pope Alexander mournfull letters replenished with complayntes intermingled also with other discontentes which is to say that the cheife Ringleader of all this Scysme together with the Bishop of Salisbury not inferior to the former beeing both excommunicated before by the Pope himselfe were to the reproach of the whole Church loosed from the bands of excommunication by the Bishop of Senon Legate of the Apostolike Sea Heereof saint Thomas especially complayned to Cardinall Albert beeginning thus in bitternes Cod. Vat. lib. 5. Ep. 20. I would my hee loued your eares were open to the tongues of our complayntes that they might then heare what is often sung in the publicke passages of Ascalon to the reproofe of the Romane Church Our last Messingers seemed to bring vs some comforte from the Sea Apostolike in my Lord the Popes letters but their authority is made absolutely voyde by letters sent from the Legate a latere for absoluing Sathan to the Churches obloquy There are now absolued by the Apostolicall Mandate the Bishoppes of London and Salisbury of whom the first is knowe to bee from the very beeginning the firebrand of this Scysme and contryuer of all this malice and to haue drawne as well Salisbury as all others whom hee could into the offence of disobedience I knowe not in what sorte our Lordes cause is handled in the Courte that Barabbas escapeth free and Christ is crucifyed Now for six whole yeeres hath our banishment and the Churches calamity bin prolonged by the Courtes authority c. But how iniustly all this was deliuered allthough to the holy man it seemed most certayne the letters of Pope Alexander to the Bishop of Senon the Apostolicall Legate declare But first let vs heere reporte what the Legate setting downe the same did wryte to that purpose vnto his Holines bIid Ep. 25. Let your excellency most holy father heare with patience what wee say beecause our soule dwelleth in bitternes and as well your devoute sonne the most Christian king of France as also the whole Church of France is troubled with the scandalls which in the days of your Apostolike authority flowe from the Apostolicall Sea For why as our country sayth Sathan is there set loose to the whole Churches destruction Christ is crucifyed againe and the sacriligious wretch and murderer let goe Wee haue laboured with your Holines on the behalfe of the Church of England and supposed in our departure shee obtayned some reliefe But when you caused the Bishop of London without our priuity to bee absolued the matter fell out cleane contrary and hornes are giuen to the sinner For loe that king whom you haue ouer much fauored hath caused his sonne to bee
a Bullwarke for the house of Israel that hee argueth for the meeke of the earth wee haue him as now the only and eminent man amonge the children of the patient in tribulation In place of our fathers wee haue a sonne borne unto vs who according to the example of the Apostles doth as now put in execution reuenge among nations reproofes among people and as those Princes of the people who beeing now gathered together with the God of Abraham for the iustice of Christ are as strong goddes of the earth mightely aduanced so shall likewise the honor of this man if hee perseuereth on in administration of iustice bee highly exalted For wheras hee liueth now exiled 2. Cor. 4. wheras many thinges are attempted to his reproache all this by the benefit of patience will bee turned to his glory This of our tribulation which is light and momentary sayth the Apostle worketh in vs a maruailous weyght of glory Showe therfore your selues as the seruantes of God in singular patience For widdowelike doth vertue stand when patience sheildeth not her hand And who from the first infancy of the Church hath euer tryumphed without patience Truly allthough your Lord hath abundance of the spiritt of fortitude yet neuertheles it is reported that in regarde the new king of England was crowned by Yorke and for some priuiledges obtayned by stealth to his derogation hee is soe molested as by the pusillanimity of spiritt and that tempest his feete are allmost moued his steppes well nigh discomforted But you who are the bandes and eyes of the Archbishop see that with your holy exhortations you comforte his dissolued handes you strengthen his weakened knees It is no maruaile if hee bee shaken with tribulation and oppressions but if hee relyeth wholly and cleaueth to him who deepely rootethin his electe hee will rest secure in all stormes of temptation and boysterous disturbance The ancient fathers vndoubtedly beeing sometimes in the pressure of tribulation were often wearyed with tediousnes wherupon they seemed for a tyme to waxe fainte and feeble from that resolute enduring of passions which they had with singular feruency in our lorde vntill beeing inspired with vertue from aboue they returned againe to themselues in the spirit of fortitude Elias flying away from the face of Isabell 3. Reg. 29. and beeing wearyed of his life cast himselfe downe vnder a Iuniper bush and desired his soule might bee seuered by death It sufficeth mee quoth hee take away my life The Apostle alsoe pyning away with the like tediousnes complaining saith Wee are laden with greife aboue measure 1. Cor. 1. in soe much as wee are weary of our life The Prophet hauing often experience of this tediousnes speaketh thus Psalm 38. I haue fainted by the strength of thy hand and thou haste made my soule pine away as a spider But the spirit of Charity reuyued in them out of these ashes of tediousnes and fortititude sprung from our infirmity A thing perhaps incredible to some had not the Apostle whoe read it often in the booke of experience giuen testimony therof saying For when I am weaker then growe I stronger And to him it is also tould 1. Cor. 1â Thy vertue is perfected in infirmity If therfore in regarde of the swelling seas of mishappes which my Lord endureth bee it either for the desolation of his frindes or the long continuance of his exile you see any sluggish dullnes by stealth to surprise his mynde steppe in presently to comforte him least hee despaire or bee any whitt wauering For the tyme of his visitation is at hand And if the mounting surges of the seas are maruailous God is also maruailous in the deepe who conuerteth stormes into calmes Psalm 92. and the kinges indignation into fauor I vnderstood by the Legates of the Apostolike Sea with whom I trauailed from the courte of Rome to Bononi that your Lord shall bee very shortly reconcyled vnto the intire fauour of the king of England or else translated and made a more eminent Patriarch but howsoeuer hee shall bee disposed of by our Lord if hee perseuereth as hitherto hee hath donne let him expect with security the end of his combate let him not therfore listen to the wordes of flatterers but followe the spiritt of God which dwelleth in him and whether-someuer hee goeth the spirites and wheeles of Ezechiel will allso accompany him Ezech. 10. I knowe the end of his agony will bee glorious if hee continue in the same course of fortitude and constancy which hee hath allready vndertaken for who so fighteth lawfully shall bee crowned And wheras all other vertues runne towardes the goale yet only perseuerance is crowned Wherfore I entreate you as my Lord and Master that you will let mee often vnderstand of your estate and alsoe of his for since I canne affourde yee nothing else I doe not cease daily to pray for yee that by Gods assisting grace yee may obtayne the king of Englands fauor and the free disposing of your owne estates I haue perused your booke of The trifles of the Courte which delighted mee exceedingly for it contayneth an excellent forme of learning and for the artificiall varyety of sentences it is a matter of inestimable delight God speede yee well Hetherto Peeter And for the tyme wherin hee wrote it appeareth by this that hee departed from the Citty towardes the king of England after the coronation of his sonne was finished by the Archbishop of Yorke The king of EnglaÌd terryfyed by the Pope Meane while the king of England receaued from his Holines sharper letters commanding him peremptorily to grant saint Thomas his peace within the prescribed tyme or if hee contemned to obey then to expect the same sentence which hee had pronounced on Fredericke the Emperor where with the king of England beeing terrifyed wryting from England to the Apostolicall Legates hee beegan to moue them importunately to peace beeing vrged therunto by Alexanders comminatory letters which letters though they are lost are often mentioned in other Epistles of S. Thomas The king therfore thus stroken with feare and dealing carefully for obtayning peace wrote these few lynes for that purpose to the Archbishop of Roane one of the Legates By the aduice of your selfe and other my faythfull Barons Cod. Vat. lib. 3. Epist 14. I haue signified as well by messingers as letters vnto my Lord the Pope a forme conceaued for reformation of peace beetweene mee and the Archbishoppe of Canterbury The Pope as hee certifyed mee by his letters receaued withall thankfullnes the same in such sorte as it was deuised by your counsell and made knowne to him on your beehalfe openly commanding admonishing entreating and attentiuely perswading that I should performe the same with the consent of your selfe and the Bishop of Nyuers And therfore I will fully and freely accomplish the same according as yee two shall arbitrate not violating in any thing the order which shall bee proposed
was likewise necessary for his owne saluation with the good of his children and for the establishment and prosperitie of the authority graunted him from Allmighty God to recompense the holy Church of Canterbury for that most greeuous wrong wherewith hee had lately damnifyed her for hee caused his sonne to bee without all order crowned contrary to the most ancient custome and priuiledge of our Church c. Hee setteth downe in like sorte a matter of long debate beetweene the king and himselfe concerning this whom in the end hee perswaded soe farre as hee promised to make voyde and frustrate the Coronation which was solemnized by the Pope and especially executed by the Archbishoppe of Yorke and to cause againe a Canonicall consecration to bee celebrated wherin the Archbishoppe of Canterbury should crowne the kinges sonne together with his Queene and wife But of this heereafter Hee dilated also of other particulars which happened in that in meeting to bee donne by the king as where hee speaketh thus When I therefore alighting from my horse did humble my selfe at his feete hee catching my stirrop inforced mee to get vp againe and seeming to shedde tearres sayde what needeth any more my Lord Archbishoppe let vs renewe our old mutuall freindshippe and doe all the good wee can one to an other forgetting cleane this forepassed discorde but this let mee entreate you to doe mee honor beefore the company who beehould vs a farre of Beeing Saules wordes to Samuel when hee sayde Honor mee beefore the people 1. Reg. 15. Hee proceedeth And in regarde wee sawe some there present whose name this bearer will deliuer you that had bin louers of debate and sowers of discorde passing to them hee sayde If I seeing the Archbishoppe ready to right mee euery way should not on the other syde bee likewise good to him I may truly bee esteemed worser then others and shall verify the ill reportes which are raysed of mee neither can I conceaue any counsell to bee more honest and profitable then to endeauor to surpasse him in curtesy and exceede him in Charity and benefittes Which wordes of the king were receaued by allmost all there present with very greate congratulation whereupon hee sent this Bishoppes to aduise vs to make our petition in that publicke assembly and if wee woulde haue followed the Counsell of some of them wee should haue referred to his owne arbitrement our selues absolutely and the whole cause of the Church For from the beeginning to this very day iniquity hath issued from his Scrybes and Pharises and gathered strength from the authority of Seniors who ought to gouerne the people but blessed bee God who hath not suffered our soule to passe thorough their counsell nor permitted vs to expose the Churches liberty and Gods iustice to any creatures will Dismissing them and aduising our selues with my Lord of Senon and the poore of Christe the Associates of our peregrination wee resolutely determined not any way to submitt to his will the controuersy of the customes or the dammages which hee had donne to our Church or the iniury offered vs by the vsurped consecration or the losse of the Ecclesiasticall liberty with the ecclipse of our honor And soe comming to the king and his Lordes Concerning restitution of possessioÌs to the Church of Canterbury wee did with all humility beeseech him by the mouth of my Lord of Senon who was our speaker that hee would vouch-safe to restore vs his fauor with peace and security to vs and ours together with the Church of Canterbury and her possessions which beeing set downe by vs in wryting his Maiestie had read and that hee would mercifully reforme what was presumtiously downe against vs and our Church in the consecration of his sonne promising him all loue and honor with whatsomeuer seruice may bee performed in our Lord by an Archbishoppe to his king and Prince The king accepting all in good parte yeelded vs our request receauing vs with all ours there present into his fauor and in regarde your Holines commanded vs not that hee should restore what was wrongfully taken from vs and ours wee would not require it neither on the other syde by Gods grace could wee bee content to remitt it Soe according to your Mandate those thinges were for the tyme put of but not put away for had you absolutely written as in your last letters you signifyed that they should bee restored without doubt satisfactioÌ had bin also made with an exaÌple for all ages heereafter very profitable to the whole Catholike Church and especially to the Apostolike Sea The king therfore hauing had much and long conference with vs after wee two had continewed in talke alone according to our ancient accustomed familiarity vntill allmost the Euening wee agreed in one that hee beeing departed wee should returne to reÌder due thankes vnto the most Christian king and others our benefactors and vpon the setling of our busines to come backe to his Maiestie and remayne a while with him before wee passed into England to the end the world might take notice into how great and intire fauor hee had receaued vs. Wee intend to expecte in France the returne of our Messingers whom wee haue sent to receaue our possessions for wee are determined not to repaire to our king so long as hee detayneth one foote of Ecclesiasticall landes for by the restitution of our landes wee shall easily perceaue how sincerely hee meaneth to deale with vs. And thus farre concerning their meeting wherin a peace was concluded There is also in the same booke of Epistles an other reporte of this meetinge which beeing only gathered from the beare sayings of others and not testifyed by an eye wittnes seemeth to bee of lesse credit then the former Cod Vat lib. 3. Epist 46. And what king Henry promised saint Thomas in wordes the same did hee also performe in wryting by sendinge these letters vnto the king his sonne Ibid Ep 43 The king writheth to his sonne about the peace coÌcluded betwene him and S. Thomas Knowe yee that Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury hath ratifyed his peace with mee according to myne owne desire wherfore I command that hee and all his inioy this peace and that you cause the Archbishop and all those who departed the land with him to haue restitution of all their estates as fully quiety and honorably as they possessed the same three monethes beefore the bishop departed out of England And that you call beefore you some of the most ancient and sufficient knightes of Lyore and Salts kind and make them vpon their corporall oathes to certify what is there heald in Fee of the Archbishoppe of Canterbury and what shall bee founde to bee of his fee you cause to bee rendred to the same Archbishoppe agayne Thus wrote the king to his sonne And with these letters did saint Thomas send his Agents into England but how many aduersaryes they found there they signifyed by their letters backe
king hearing before of the Archbishoppes comming sent some of his Courte vnto him passiing alsoe himselfe out of the Citty towardes him and meeting together not the eyes but the countenance of the king as it may bee sayde was setled on him Wherupon a thing noted by many of the Archbishoppes trayne neither did the king nor any of his vouchsafe to visite the Archbishop that night in his lodging but rather early in the morning caused a Masse for the deade to bee celebrated in his Chappel fearing as it was reported least if the Archbishop were there present hee would otherwise offer him at Masse the kisse of peace which then to refuse were not the parte of a Christian but Christes enemy When the Masse was ended the king departed the Citty hastening to the Parlee c. The Parlee with the Earle beeing finished saint Thomas speaking with the king beesought him that before his returne into England his possessions might bee restored which the king denyed saying hee should first returne and afterwardes haue restitution of his possessions And thus much concerning this encounter at Towers Saint Thomas came afterwards to the king as Herbert continuinge this history sayth at the Balde Mountaine neere Bloys where hee could obtayne nothing of the king but only promises without any performance Wherupon saint Thomas returning to Senon and taking his leaue of the king of France trauelled to the hauen of Whitesand there to take shippe for England and there sayth Herbert the Archbishop before hee embarked himselfe sent ouer first my Lord the Popes before rehearsed letters of the generall suspension of the English Bishoppes together with the Excommunication of some certaine of which number beeing Roger of Yorke Gilbert of London and Ioceline of Salisbury comming thether for passage into England did euen in the porte receaue their letters of Suspension and accursing But allthough the Archbishoppe had warning as well by the Earle of Boleyne as also by those who arriued from England that nothing but chaynes prysons and treasons were prepared for him in England Hee neuertheles answered Neither yet if I should bee torne peece-meale in sunder would I desiste from my intended iourney no force no torture shall retayne mee dastard-like any longer it sufficeth that our Lordes flocke hath now seauen yeeres mourned for their Pastors absence And what hee professed in wordes the same did this Saint also confirme by letter wryting to his king these his last lynes worthie an Apostolike man who dreaded not to suffer death for his flocke beeing these wordes It is knowne to Christ the searcher of hartes the iudge of soules and reuenger of sinnes ChaÌ Vat. li. 5. Ep. â4 The last letter of saint Thomas to the kinge of England with how great purity of mynde and sincerity of affection wee concluded our peace with your Maiestie beeleiuing you would haue proceeded plainly and iustly with vs for what else most excellent Lord could wee conceaue of your wordes which either in arguing or courtesy out of your fauorable goodnes you communicated with vs The letter moreouer you directed to my Lord and king your sonne for restoring to vs and ours all the possessions wee held before our departure from England what could it pretend but good will peece and security but loe that which God knoweth wee accompt more greeuous for the edangering of your renowne then the losse of our commoditie the want of performance beareth no coulor of simple meaning or faythfull dealing for the restitution you willed to bee made to vs and ours was put of for fifteene dayes in regarde of Raynulphe with whom beeing of counsell to my Lorde your sonne they thought conuenient in the meane time to conferre about the accomplishment of this your commandement What manner of persons these are and how and with what iustice this busines is caryed you at your pleasure may examine For vs wee are perswaded all this is donne to the dommage of the Church with the danger of your saluation and renowne vnles with diligence you reforme it For the sayde Raynulphe meane while maketh hauocke of the Churches gooddes and euen now carryeth openly away in greate abundance our house-hould prouision as wee heare by their reporte who if it pleaseth you will bee ready to iustify the same and lastly hath vaunted in the presence of many that wee shall not long inioy your gratious peace beecause wee shall not eate a whole loafe in England beefore as hee threateneth hee beereaueth vs of life You knowe most excellent Lord hee is accessary of an offence who when it is in his power to correct an others sinne neglecteth to amend it And what can that Raynulphe doe but by your leaue and armed with your authority And what answer hee will make to the letter of my Lord and king your sonne wryting to him on this occasioÌ your wisedome will heare and iudge therof as it liketh you And beecause it is now manifed by apparant proofes that the holy Church of Canterbury mother of the Britanns perisheth for the very hatred of our life to the eÌd she may not dye but be freed of daÌger we will by Gods grace in her quarrell expose our life as well to the sayde Raynulphe as other his coÌfederates the Churches persecutors beeing prepared not only to dye but also to suffer a thousand deathes and all tormentes whatsomeuer for Christes sake if hee of his grace wouchsafe to graunte vs the fortitude of patience I determined my Lord ãâã haue returned vnto you but that necessity draweth me a wretch to my wretched Church repayring to her with your fauor and licence and it may bee perishing least otherwise shee perisheth vnles your piety vouchsafeth to yeelde vs presently some other coÌforte but whether wee dye or liue wee are and shall euer bee in our Lord yours and whatsoeuer beecommeth of vs and ours God euer blesse you and your issue And thus the good Shepheard beeing now ready to offer his life for his sheepe deliuered himselfe most Christian-like as the follower of Christ out of the purity of his conscience and the sincerity of his fayth which had bin able to haue melted Pharaos most hardened harte But in regarde as it is allready sayde beefore euer hee sett foote in England hee sent ouer the Popes letters of Excommunication and Suspension against the Bishops let none impute it to any rashnes of his for disturbing the publick peace but that whatsomeuer hee did was by the kinges counsell and approbation as hee often professed openly when his aduersaryes in England did on that occasion rise against him whose wordes soe many times recyted by Herbert in Quadrilogus are these Concerning the Bishoppes whom yee alleage to bee suspended or excommunicated by mee or thorough my procurement bee yee in your discretion without all doubt certifyed that whatsoeuer was done was by the kinges consent and counsell For when on the feast of saint Mary Magdalene a peace beeing concluded beetweene vs hee receaued mee into
THE LIFE OR THE ECCLESIASTICALL HISTORIE OF S. THOMAS ARCHBISHOPE OF CANTERBVRY COLLONIAE M.DC.XXXIX TO THE MOST REVERENT FATHER IN GOD RICHARD SMYTH BISHOPE OF CHALCEDONE c. MOST Reuerent and my most honored good Lord I haue alwayes apprehended the life and Martirdome of that most excellent Prelate and vndaunted Champion S. Thomas Archbishope of Canterburie a most perfect Paterne of a good Pastor yea and of a good subiect too as one wisely discerning Gods part from Caesars and giuing to ether their owne without which there can be no Christian iustice Take his owne golden and last words for it written to King Henry his soueraigne Prepared I am not onely to die but also to suffer a thousand deathes and all torments whatsoeuer for Christ's sake Yet whether I die or liue Cod. Vat. l. 5. Epist 54. I am and shall euer be yours and what euer becomes of vs and ours God euer blesse you and your issue So that I haue iudged no tyme mispent in culling the peeces out of the most authenticall and best Authors which haue concurred to the making vp of this litle bulke or Epistolarie processe of his life and death which I hope will appeare most contentfull and satisfactorie to all and fittest to frame a right iudgment in any as not being crooked and fitted to selfe endes by artificall amplifications but furnished by knowne fact and made good by so many and so irâeprochable witnesses as it cannot indeed be suspected to be in any part disguised or forced by corruption or malice but to deliuer a naked truth Now amongst all those whom I duely reuerence and honor in earth I could find none to whose patronage this poore worke of myne might laye a more iust clayme then to your Lordship like as in my iudgment your Lordshipe can pretend no Patrone in Heauen to whom you may haue a more confident recourse or with whom you might haue more sympathie being considered such as he liued in this earthly habitation for Religiousnesse zeale contrie cause constancie None which comes more home to your vse in respect of your long delay in banishment and the opposition you haue found euen amongst some of your children and those domesticalls of faith In a word in reading it you will not fayle before your death to reade a great part of your owne renowned life May it I beseech almightie God be long contentfull prosperous in earth and followed out with an eternally blessed one in heauen These are and euer shall be the zealous wishes of all good men and in particular of Your Lords. most humble and deuoted seruant A. B. THE PREFACE TO THE Epistolarie and Ecclesiastical History of sainct Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury INTENDING to present vnto your viewe out of that reuerent an renowned author Cardinall Baronius the great controuersie beetweene the Church and kingdome of England wherein the cheife actors in this our disturbed nation were that mightie King Henry the second and our Metropolitane sainct Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury and in forraine countryes that most holy wise Pope Alexander the 3. and Lewes the pious king of France with many Catholicke Princes and among the Scismatickes the potent Emperour Fredericke with his idoll Octauian seeking by all meanes to intrude themselues and put their sickles into this haruest where the Diuel the father of their execrable scysme like a deepe polititian taking aduantage of their hellish discord had in this vnfortunate Iland sowed the cockle of dissention I thought best in regard this canker soe spreade it selfe through the Christian world and this history was collected out of the Epistles written by the cheifest rulers in that age to lay open briefely the state of the westerne Church and kingdomes vnited therein whereby your mindes receauing light may better discouer thinges otherwise obscured First therefore to delineate the time I must somewhat touch the raigne of Pope Adrian Alexanders predecessour who being the only man of our English nation that euer steered saint Peeters ship and was not only for his singular vertues wisedome and learning preferred to the Apostolike Sea but also himselfe the Apostle who conuerted the Norwegyans to the Christian faith I thinke it no vnnecessary digression to treate of his origine progresse and most high preferment At Abbotts Langley in the County of Hertford neere kinges Langley Nicolas Breakespeare afterwards Pope AdriaÌ borne in England where Edmund of Langley receaued his first breath from whom all the kinges of England and Scotland haue these many yeeres descended was borne Nicolas Breakespeare who afterwarde exalted to the gouerment of the Church of Rome and called Adrian the fourth ruled in matters of faith and Religion the whole Christian world His father was Robert Breakespeare a yonger brother of the family of Breakespeare whose place concurring with the name is seated neere Vxbridge in Middelsex now in the possession of Ashby His father saith Iohn Stowe after the death of his wife and before the departure as I conceaue of his sonne out of the realme professed a Religious life in the Monastery of saint Abbans wherein Stowe ignorantly not maliciously ran into an errour for Pope Adrians mother as shall bee afterwards showed ouerliued him It appeareth in a Counsell celebrated in Normandie by Pope Alexanders Legates with the Archbishop of Roane and Bishops of the same Prouince anno Dom. 1172. how before that time men might enter into religion leauing their wiues in the world for there was made a Canon afterwards prohibiting it And so might Robert Breakespeare in this precedent age as it is affirmed bee a Monke in saint Abbans and his wife as it is certaine ledd a retyred life vnder the Archbishop in Canterbury The name of Breakespeare beeing truly English and about the time of the Conquest inuincibly proueth they were of the Saxon not of the Norman race Breakespeare it selfe was in the raigne of king Iames the inheritable mansion of a knight and how great in forepassed dayes God knoweth But as sainct Thomas sayth in his Epistle to Gylbert Bishop of London what hath a priest a religious man to doe with these worldly flourishes I will descend to his humiliation which was his ascent first to honor then to heauen All that followeth is collected out of Card. Baronius Leauing as Abraham his countrey and kindred hee trauelled in his youth to pourchase learning and comming to Arnulate professed religion in the Monastery of saint Rufus where hee was called first to bee Prior then Abbot of the house whereupon it fortuned that for serious occasions of the Church commended to his charge hee went to the Apostolike Sea and hauing fully finished all his busines and now intending to returne Pope Eugenius of blessed memory retayned him there and by consent of his brethren Pope Eugenius Adrian Bishoppe of Alba. did consecrate him Bishop of Alba. A while after seeing his vertues and wisedome hee designed him Legate a Latere of the Apostolike Sea into
the poore He was a father to poore people and a conforter of those that mourne Hee reproued liberally the sinne of the nobility knowing that where the spirit of God is there is alsoe liberty yet that hee might not seeme to cast holy things to dogges or pearles before swine hee would first prudently considere the nature of those hee did admonish or reprehend and being conducted by the spirituall vnction his communications and sermons did seeme wonderfully lerned to all sortes of hearers Hee was both learned and eloquent both in the weight of matter and eloquent deliuery After meales and his necessarie sleepe vntill his busines called him away hee passed the time in reading of the scripture or else in honest communication lest the enemy should take occasion there at to deride his Sabaoth All the time which hee could without the great detriment of his body hee did bestowe in prayer teares and holy meditation keeping chastity in his body cleanesse in his harte modesty in his wordes and iustice in his workes that hee might moue those by his example which hee was to teach by his doctrine Hee did without ceasing impugne scysme and heresie Hee greatly impugned scysme and heresies and would neuer bee induced to keepe companie with excommunicated persons for whosoeuer was an ennemy to sound doctrine hee did esteeme him as his enemy in Christ and beeing feruent in the zeale of iustice hee endeauoured that euery man should enioy his owne without respect of persons or receauing of bribes S. Thomas retourneth into EnglaÌd from the Counsel at Towers And though at his returne from the counsell of Towers into England being the second yeere after his consecration hee was receiued of the king as a father of his sonne with fauourable countenance a good respect and esteeme yet soone after discontentments beegan to arise whilst Saint Thomas without any offence offered to the king exercised the office of an Euangelicall pastor in vndergoing which charge whilst hee endeauoured to recouer the Graunges of the Church vsurped by the layety and wrongfully alienated from his predecessors hee incurred the displeasures of many and mightie meÌ Yea wheÌ he touched the kinges exchecker to the quicke by litle and litle the king himselfe was moued to indignation against him For in England had the same vnconscionable custome preuailed that the exchecker couetously challenged to it selfe the reuenues arysing from the vacancyes of Churches Wherefore S. Thomas required that for two seas of Bishopprickes beeing now long vacant there might bee speedily Bishops ordeyned The ground of the discord beetweene the king and S. Thomas It did also somewhat trouble the kinges mind when S. Thomas beeing created Archbishop gaue absolutely ouer the office of Chauncellorship according to that of the Apostle no man fighting vnder the banner of God intangleth himselfe in temporal businesses 2. Timoth. 2 For the king desired to retaine him still in his seruice And for a greater addition of dislike Thomas moreouer forbad the vnlawfull exaction of a Tribute Heerewithall at the same time concurred that hee deliuered not ouer to the secular Courte a Preist condemned of murder but beeing degraded committed him to a Monasterie The like hapned concerning one Phillip a Cannon and yet a greeuous offendor whom the Archbishop enforced not to suffer punishment in such sorte as the king would haue it but only chasticed him with Ecclesiasticall censures The king by reason heerof beecommeth wrathfull The causes of the kinges indignation because there was according to the direction of the holy Cannons à milder proceeding with those of the Clergy whoe offended where vpon they might growe more insolent in wickednes Hee beegan to demanund instantly of Thomas the Archbishop that Clearkes committing such crimes might after the Canonicall punishment inflicted on them bee deliuered ouer to the secular Tribunal But this motion of the king was gainsayed by S. Thomas and many other Bishopps associate with him all of them humblie beeseeching his Maiestie to abstayne from these attemptes but hee was rather more enflamed with anger Whereupon Robert writeth in these wordes but the king somewhat moued heerewith yet much more incensed because hee sawe the Archbishop and Bishoppes with mutuall assent as hee supposed bent against him asked of them presently beeing thus constantly vnited whether they would obserue the customes beelonging to his crowne adding that these beeing in the raigne of his grandfather formerly obserued by Archbishops and Bishoppes by priuate and priuiledged persons ought not by tracte of time with a seuere sentence to bee condemned Whereupon the Archbishop hauing first consulted with his brethren answered Hee and his brethren would obserue them sauing the prerogatiue of theire order and the same euery Bishop being asked one by one did turne by turne seuerally answer only Hilarie Bishop of Chichester hearing the king more enraged for these wordes soe vttered alike by them all without aduise of the Archbishopps altered some saying hee would absolutely obserue in good faith the customes of the kingdome and for a seeming good intent truly as I thinke hee said it that hee might yet soe appease the kinges mind But the king was nothing at all calmed yea he waxed more wroth and turning himselfe to the Archbishop and Bishops vpon the hearing of this vniforme and one answer of them all said A battell was ranged against him and that poyson lurked in this captious word Sauing the prerogatiue of their order Wherefor hee required that absolutely without addition they would promise to obserue the customes of the kingdome The Archbishop answered they had sworn to him fidelitie that is to say life limme and earthly honour sauing the prerogatine of their order and that in this earthly honour the customes of the kingdome were comprehended and hee would not binde himselfe to the obseruation of them in any other sorte then they had formerly sworne Now when a great parte of the day was in this fashion passed The Kinges intemperate anger the king beeing all the while vexed without any farwell to the Bishops suddenly departed the Courte in great wrath and indignation The King was accustomed in the disturbance of his minde through the passion of anger to bee vnreasonably and outragiously altered and transported as by an example or two I shall heere laye open beefore you whereby in the very entrance of this controuersie now raised you may vnderstand how difficulte and dangerous it was to contend with him in any case were it neuer soe iust For in the 44. epistle written to S. Thomas concerning the King thus wee reade The King on a certaine day when hee was at Cane and a busines which hee had with the King of Scottes dealte seriously against Richard de Humet whoe seemed to defend the cause of the King of Scottes brake out into disgracefull wordes and openly called him Traitor and heereupon enflamed with his wonted furie threwe his cap from his heade vngirte his belte
hurled away his cloake and garmentts where with hee was apparelled cast of with his owne handes a couerlet of silke from his bedd and sitting as it were in a dunghill of strawe beegan to chewe the strawes And these tokens not soe much of wrath as of madnes hee then vttered Of whom in the nept epistle is written thus A boy whoe deliuered a letter to his Maiestie incurred a great danger the king endeauouring with his fingers to plucke out his eyes soe far as it came to the effusion of blood And moreouer Peeter of Bloyes in his epistle to Roger the Deane concerning the kings conditions saith thus Bee carfull in this Peeter of Bloys Epistola 75. that you come not to our lord the king to treate of your busines vntill you make your way by mee or some other whoe is acquainted with his customes for hee is a lamb soe long as his minde is pleased but a lyon or more cruell then à lion when hee is vehemently angreed It is not a light matter to procure his indignation in whose power is honour and confusion inheritance and banishment life and death And in his epistle to the Arch-Bishop of Panorma hee hath these words in describing the kinges countenance His eyes are round while his minde is appeased milde as a Doue and simple but in wrath and the garboyle of his harte they are as it were sparkeling with fire and lightning with fury and after whom hee hath once hated hee scarce euer receiueth into grace and fauour gaine Thus far Bloys Heereby reader I say you may conceiue with how great a danger these Bishop were now to withstand him What followed hereuppon Robert proceedeth to recyte When they departed from the King Thomas the Archbishop seuerely reprehended the afore mentioned Bishop beecause without his and the other Bishopps consentes hee presumed to alter from the answere generally made by them all The next day the King demaunding it were deliuered into his handes the Charters and honoures which the Archbishop helde from the time of his Chauncellorship and neither saluting nor beeing saluted by the Bishops yea without their priuity hee secretly and before day remoued from London which was vndoubledly an apparant proofe of his excessiue wrath and displeasure What followed heereupon shall bee declared the next yeere wherin it hapned The king dissolued the vnion of the Bishoppes Matters standing in this sorte the king through the wicked counsail of the malicious beegan to endeauour howe this vnited body I meane the ioynt agreement of mindes betweene the Archbishop and Bishoppes whereby they were made absolutely inuincible might bee rent a sunder and soe dissolued bee easily vanquished by him Whereupon it came to passe that to pleasure the king the inferiour members rebelled against theire head aÌd if at any time the Archbishop would atteÌpt with Canonicall authority to represse them they would presently appeale to the Apostolicall Sea And verely the Saint beeing in regard heereof entangled in extreame streyghtes of his minde certifyed the same to Pope Alexander sending together with his letter a messanger The Pope compassionating his estate returned to him this consolatorie answere beeginning in the booke with this inscription Alexander Pope to Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury Lib. 1. Epist 17. in the first onsett of his tribulation was this epistle written the selfe same yeere in the end of the month of October Pope Alexander to S. Thomas We haue with attentiue diligence heard the letter sent to vs by your brotherhood together with that which your Messanger deliuered by word of mouth and withall considered the greiuous streights and bitter sorrowes wherewith your mind is continually afflicted vpon the hearing and vnderstanding whereof our spirit is moued and exceedingly troubled whose comforte is to bee gladly dilighted in your prosperous successe and contrarewise in your aduersityes to partake by all meanes with you in aggreiuances as with our dearest brother wherefore as a constant and wise man calling oft to mynde how it is said that the Apostles went reioyceing from the sight of the Counsaile because they were made worthie to suffer reproach for the name of Iesus Actes of the Apost cap. 9. Vndergoe with patience the burden of these extremities and let not your spirit bee encumbred more then is conuenient but recouer to your selfe worthie consolation that wee together with you may bee ioyntly recomforted in him whoe hath reserued you in this instant of necessitie for streÌthning the fertresse of the Catholicke and Christian truth and whose good pleasure it is to wash away and chastice with sundrie afflictions the spottes and blemmishes of the offence by you vnlawfully committed that they may not bee seene to bee reserued for punishment in the last seuere examination What remayneth let it not bee troublesome nor as wee vnderstand in your letter sent by your Clearke any whit dreadfull vnto you in that they appeale against you to the Apostolical Sea because as a thing gratefull and acceptable to vs our pleasure is that if they whoe bring the appeale against you perchance appeare before vs you your selfe if you thinke good setting asyde all doubtes and delayes shall prosecute the appeale Neither yet can euer any man vnder pretence of the Roman Church affright with feare or doubt your constancy because wee by the grace of God will bee carefull with all diligence to conserue as fare as with iustice and reason wee can the rightes and dignities of the Church committed to the charge of your selfe as the party whom indeed wee haue found a constant and couragious defender of the same Moreouer wee inioyning coÌmauÌd your brotherhood that you retire your selfe vnto your Church of Conterbury and retayning with you some few and those most necessarie atteÌdaÌtes you doe as litle as may bee trauaill through the countrey And lastly wee commend this especially to your prouidence that you neuer suffer your selfe to bee enforced vnder any pretence of feare or aduersitie which may possiblie beefall you to renounce the rightes and dignities beelonging to your Church Dated at Senon the 7. of the Kalendes of Nouember These were the words of Pope Alexander in the beeginning of this persecution soe prepareing his souldier to the incounter of the next ensueing battel Vpon the receipt of which letters Thomas returned these againe to Pope Alexander by Henry his familiar friend being for that purpose sent to the Courte of his Holynes The letter of S Yhomas to Pope Alexander lib. 1. epist 78. The letters of comforte which your Fatherhood vouchsafed to send vs may truly imparte an ample remedy to a mynde intaÌgled in ordinary troubles or at least if our incuÌbred thoughtes were only bent against one mischeife wee might conceiue thereby some hope of relaxation But in regard that malice encreaseth daily in power iniuryes are likewise multiplyed not to vs but to Christ yea because to Christ therefore rather to vs and stormes like waues succeding one after an other
wee see nothing but shipwracke tbreatening instantly to deuoure vs nor any aduise lefte but that with our vttermost ability awakeing Christ Matth. 5. as it were sleeping in the ship wee crye out Lord saue us wee perish And heerin truly iniquity hath got a more fit occasion to vent her malice because hee seeth the state of the Roman Church as now more weakened whereby appeareth that whatsoeuer it bee good or ill sweete or sower which floweth downe on the head the same descending by the beard leaueth not the lowest hemme of the garment vntouched Iesus Christ is despoyled of that which by his blood hee purchased The secular power hath layd hands on his very patrimony Soe as neither the decrees of the holy fathers nor the constitutions of the Cannons whose very name among vs is growne odious are as now of force to patronise the Clergie whoe in tymes past haue bin by speciall priuiledge exâmpted from this secular iurisdiction and because it is long and tedious to rechearse or prosecute in writting the iniuryes wee endure wee send to your Fatherhood Master Henry a man both to your Holynes and vs faithfull and familiar to whâse relation wee haue commended all things in such sorte to bee declared particularly vnto you as hee hath s ene and heard them and if it pleaseth you credit him as much as you would our s lfe Know you neuerthelesse that if it might bee wee would far rather visit you in peâson then by an other wee speake confidently to you as to our father and lord and what wee say wee humbly beeseech may bee concealed in all silence Nothing remayneth safe to vs since allmost all thinges are disclosed to the King which are spoken in our priuate chamber or whispered in our eare Woe bee to vs whoe are râsârued to these times in whose dayes these mischeifes are beefallen whoe in our former estate haue enioyed sâe great a liberty which now is recompenced with a hard and most vile slauery Wee would at the least haue fledd that wee might not see the patrimony of the crucifyed giuen ouer to spoyle but whither we knowe not vnlesse vnto him who is our refuge and vertue Concerning the Welshmen and Owen who calleth himselfe a prince wee beeseech your Lordship to bee prouident beecause our lord the King is heerewith wonderfully disturbed and moued to indignation And soe deere father and lord wee wish you all felicity To the same purpose and by the same Messinger Lib. 1. epâst 19. 20. 21. 82. did hee writte to Humbald Cardinal and Bishop of Ostia hee sent alsoe letters to Bernard Bishop and Cardinall of Portua and likewise to Albert Preist and Cardinall with an other to Hyacinthe Deacon Cardinall all which are reserued intire in the same booke Alexander afterwards somewhat foreseeing these combates to come prepareth himselfe for resistance admonishing as well the Archbishop as all other Bishops of England not to yeeld a whit to the king against the Ecclesiasticall liberty and not to obserue whatsoeuer they had promised theyr prince in derogation of that immunity which was signifyed in writing to Thomas and all the Bishops of England with these words Lib. 1 epist 91. Wee would haue yee knowe that yee haue vndertaken the burden of your pastorall authority to the end yee should gouerne the Churches committed vnto your charge to the honour of God and the profit and saluation of your flockes in such sorte as the Francises of the same Churches should not by your defaultes in any wise bee impaired but conserued still in their estates by your studyes and endeauours whereupon wee will and command your brotherhoode by our Apostolicall letters and enioyne you in the vertue of obedience that if the renowned King of EnglaÌd shall at any time require of yee any thing contrary to the Ecclesiasticall liberty yee presume not in any case heerein to satisfy his minde nor yet beecome in any sorte bound vnto him especially against the Church of Rome neither yet bee yee soe bould as to bring in the fârme of any new deuised promise or oath but only to obserue that which Bishops haue bin accustomed to sweare vnto their Kinges And if yee knowe that in any thing of this nature yee haue tyed your selues vnto your King obserue not by any meanes this your promise but bee rather carefull to recall it and endeauour to bee reconciled to God his Church for the lapse of this vnlawfull promise Thus wrote Alexandâr the most vigilant keeper of the sacred Cannons admitting nothing that was vsurped against them in fauour of the king allthough otherwise hee were very much beehoulding to the same prince for late receiued benefittes The rest followeth the next yeere Heere followeth the yeere 1164. and the 12. indiction A yeere to the Catholike Church in regard of many aduersities shee susteyned therein replenished with greifes and troubles And first concerning the state of English affaires more dangerous floods were daily there raised tending not only to ouerthrowe the Primate of Canterbury together with the whole Church of England but also to drowne if it had bin possible the holy Catholike Church it seife together with her high Bishoppe Alexander For Henry king of England prosecuting S. Thomas with an obstinate mind turned all his endeauours against the same Pope Alexander to remoue him from his sea But how all these deadly attemptes were managed receiue heere the relation After this turbulent encounter betweene the Bishops and the king and the departure caused by the kinges inraged fury for eschewing the imminent mischeifes whose forces daylie encreased and auoyding farr greater ruines which threatned the ouerthrow of the Catholicke Church S. Thomas is beesieged with the often and sundrie perswasions of many Bishops and Abbotts that hee should not in regard of one only word vnseasonably and vnreasonably cast himselfe together with the whole Church into soe open and apparant danger one Abbot among the rest affirming this to bee the opinion of Pope Alexander himselfe Thomas at lenght perswaded these by reasons sayeth Hubertin Quadrilogus charity enforceing him thereunto came to the King at oxford and promised hee would alter the word which the King tooke so offensiuely Whereupon the King his anger beeing now somewhat asswaged shewed the Archbishop a more pleasing countenance though inferiour to his wonted fashion the King moreouer sayd hee would haue according to this forme an instrumeÌt or obligation made for the obseruation of the royal customes in the publicke sight and hearing of the bishops and nobility of the kingdome But when Thomas was aduertised of the gathering together of a general assembly foreseing the ensuing mischeifes hee beegan to recall his consent yet againe hee is assaulted by the intreaty of many whereby hee is enforced for that instant to yeelde Galat 2. by the example of Peeter conforming himselfe to the Iewes with the Iewes at Antioch and of Paule often exercising the same A congregation of Bishoppes is appointed
to bee called at Claringtone concerning the time of which conuocation thus much is rehearsed in the first booke of Epistles The detestable âonueââckle at Claringtonne after the eleuenth epistle In the yeere of our lords Incarnation 1164. the fifte yeere of Pope Alexander and the tenth of the m st famous king of England Henry the second concerning the day this is added in the end These thinges wâere handled the fourth day before the Purification of S. Mary tâe perpetuall Virgin to wit the 30. day of Ianuarie For those whoe were present at this assemblie they are recounted to bee all the Bishoppes of Engâand together with the Earles Barons Magistrates and nobility For the matteâs then in action receiue them thus from the wordes of Vvilliam in Quadrilogus Tâe king ââerefore as iâ sâemed feruently thirsting after an âgâeement beetweene âhe kingdome and the preistâood but lesse prouideÌt for the state of himselfe and his Archbishoppe 1 ParliameÌt summoned at Claringâonne a Parliament of the whole nation Whither when the Bishopes and peeres were come the King importunately required that thinges promised to him might bee performed But the Archbishop allthough hee promised to consent to the King beeing neuerthelesse suspitions of the promise which the King exacted and beecause Kinges very often exceeding all measure extend their power to thinges vnlawfull rather made choyce to hazard the kinges indignatioÌ then to offend the law of God and to breake the brazen serpent in peeces rather then wickednes should bud out among the people of God Now although hee feared banishment and imprisonnement yet preferring God beefore these hee absolutely withstood it The King threateneth he refuseth the King raueth the other in secret craueth Gods assistance In the meane while the Bishoppes of Salisbury and Norwich fearing a new punishment for an old grudge and dreading much by reason of this distempered tyme with weeping words beesought the Archbishop to haue compassion on his Cleargie to relent from the willfullnes of his minde least himselfe should incurre imprisonment his Cleargie banishment themselues the iudgment of an opprobrious death And withall two Earles the mightiest of the kingdome assayling him said that vnlesse hee would conforme himselfe to the kinges pleasure they themselues by his Maiesties commandment should bee constreyned to that violence which would brand the King and themselues which an eternall infamie This man therefore of inuincible constancy The frailty of S. Thomas and grownded in the worke of Christ moued neither with the sunshine of flattery nor the stormes of terrors is notwithstanding in the end pulled away from the bosome of truth and the brest of his mother vnto whose liberty hee had soe louingly cleaued and lest beeing a conquerour in these listes hee should bee puffed vp with pride of mynde fainting then when hee sbould cheifely haue fought is lefte for an hower to fall that after a faulting fall hee might rise againe that falling hee might acknowledge humane frailtie and r seing vnderstand the deuine mercy towards him In like sotte because no man should haue confidence in his owne strength Peeter the prince of the Apostles and holy Dauid fell and soe S. Thomas is lefte destirute to his temptation for a tyme that afterwards beeing mindefull of his frailty hee might arise with more courage to the combate Wherefore beeing the third tyme admonished by Richard a man of great accompt and Prior as then of the Temple of Ierusalem to haue a care of himselfe and compassion on the Clergie hee endured no longer their submissiue petitions their often kneeleinges for they seemed to crye out as if euen now they sawe the very swoardes threatening ouer his head and lamented the intended murder as a present death Whereupon moued rather with commiseration on the Clergie then on himselfe hee consented by perswasion of their counsail to submitt himselfe to the Kinges pleasure And therefor beefore all the rest the Archbishop bound himselfe first in that prescribeb forme that is to say hee would obserue the custome of the Crowne in good faith suppressing those wordes sauing the prerogatiue of his order Adding allso this caution with an oath that hee promised to performe this in the word of truth soe heapeing sin vpon sin And all the Bishops seuerally in semblable manner sware the same And incontinently an obligation beeing drawne in this forme The Recognition and ângrossement âf the Royal âustomes by certaine Peeres of the realme who as their offices required were lerned in such proceedings there was made a Recognisance of the royall customes that as publickly soe they might expressely bee recited But when many were now rehearsed and more yet as it seemed to bee set downe the Archbishop interrupting said that hee neither was one of the auncientes of the kingdome whereby hee could knowe the old customes of the Crowne neither had hee continued long in his Archbishoppricke and therefor said hee was in these matters ignorant Moreouer because the day was soe far spent it was conuenient a busines of soe great importance should bee referred vnto the next morning His motion was liked and thereupon they retired themselues to their lodginges Returning on the morrowe to prosecute the busines beegunne the customes of the Crowne which were lefte the day before vnrecited were recounted expressed and reduced into a writing made after the manner of an obligation and styled with the name of the kings customes NotwithstaÌding many of them as it is said were not the kinges but the vomite of emulation and poyson of enuy for hatred of the Archbishop and to bring the Church into bondage yea the king himselfe beeing absolutely ignorant of them because some men intended by this sinfull suttlety to sowe the cocke of dissention betweene him and the Archbishop Neither yet the king who was yet but a yong man nor the Archbishop who was lately elected could know the customes of the kingdome but by their relation And if any one is desirous to see what these kingly customes were hee shall finde them sett forth in the end of the history Wherevpon a litle after hee saith and wee heere will declare them Then hee thus proceedeth in his intended discourse The customes beeing therefore written and drawne into the forme of an obligation the king requireth of the Archbishop and Bishops that for the more surety and confirmation of them they would sett to their seales But the Archbishop allthough exceedingly moued with greife neuerthelesse dissembleth it beeing as then vnwilling to discontent the the king nether absolutely denying said it was awhile to bee delayed and albeeit they were ready to doe it Eccles 32. hee affirmed notwithstanding in reguard of the weightines of the busines it was conuenient to bee deferd a tyme. Since according to the wise man without counsell no matter of importance is to bee performed And afterwards some deliberation beeing had hee and the Bishops might more decently bee required to accomplish it Notwithstanding bee tooke
with him one parte of the deede conteyning the afore said customes to the end hee might cary with him his cause the other parte of this obligation the Arrchbishop of Yorke receiued the third the king himselfe reteyned to be enrolled among his royall Charters And soe that day they were dismissed Heere first of all you may disproue that which Roger writeth in the Chronikles of England to witt that S. Thomas promised those vnlawfull thinges to the king by Pope Alexanders perswasion for if hee did it not only by the consent but also by the perswasion of the Pope why did hee pennance beefore the said Pope for the same as a most heynous sinne if the Pope himselfe should bee the author of his offence but let vs heare what remayneth Beesides the history of Quadrilogus mentioned by vs there is added in the end thereof a more exact narration of all thinges which hapned after the dissolution of the same detestable conuentickle held at Claringtonne vntill the departure of Pope Alexander out of Fraunce from whence wee haue inserted the history heere to bee recited beeginning with the pennanââ of S. Thomas in these words And hee departing from âhe Courte of the king his followers by chance beegan to âurter among themselues some affirming according to âhe custome that in regard of this distressed tyme matters âught to bee thus caryed others disdaining that for the âleasure of a man the authoritie of the Ecclesiastical liberây should perish Among whom one instantly pressing more earnestly said The publick power disturbeth all âniquitie rageth against Christ himselfe the Sinagog of Saâhan profaneth Gods sanctuarie princes haue sate and assembled in one against Christ our Lord no man is safe who âoueth equity in the iudgement of the world they are accounted wise and are at this time worshipped who flatter Princes in following their pleasures yea this tempest hath shaken the very âillars of the Church while the Pastor is fled the scattered sheepe are subiect to the wolfe to conclude what place remaineth now secure for innocency who shall fight in defence of this Bullwarke or who shall triumphe in this battell the general beeing ouercome And thus hee expostulated the matter who caryed the Crosse beefore my lord of Canterbury the rest beeing silent for sorrowe and with great libertie hee added assumeing in this sorte a parable what virtue saith hee hath the man reserued to himselfe who hath lost his constancy and renowne whom meane you by this my sonne quoth the lord of Canterbury Euen your selfe answered bee it concerneth you because this day you haue for euer lost both conscience and fame hauing left beehind you to âosteritie an example odious beefore God and contrarie to âonesty while your handes consecrated to almightie God were stretched out to obserue those accursed customes and âour selfe conniued with the Ministers of sinfull Sathan for âhe confusion of the Ecclesiasticall liberty This was assuâedly the Cocke at whose croweing Peeter awakeâed did weepe bitterly For the Author proceedeth my lord of Canterbury therefore wayled and lamented S Thomas recouereth his laps imposeth pennance on himselfe and with sighes and groanes said I repent mee yea greiuously and trembling with the horror of mine offence I comdemne my selfe as vnworthy to serue heereafter aâ a Preist at hiâ altar whose Church I haue soe basely sould I will rest silent therefore sitting downe to sorrowe vntill Allmightie God shall visit mee from aboue that I may deserue from our lord himselfe or from my lord the Pope to receaue absolution And presently thereupon hee sent a messinger to the Sea Apostolicke Pope Alexander had lerned all this beefore by the relation of others Libr. 1 epist 20. and moued with exceeding compassion did write these letters to S. Thomas whereby hee recomforted him now drowned thus in sorrowe and absolued him from the oath The letters are these Pope Alexander absolueth S Thomas froÌ this sinne Your Brotherhood vnderstandeth how wee haue heard and by the reporte of some bin certifyed that in consideration of a certaine offence you haue determined to forbeare the celebration of Masse and abstayne from the consecration of the body and blood of our lord Which truly of what importance it is especially in a man of your eminency and how great a scandal may ensue thereupon I would haue you with carefull consideration to ponder and weigh the same with your watchfull discretion For you ought with prudence diligently to conceaue that there is very great difference where sinnes are wilfully committed with deliberation and where on the other side they are donne out of ignorance or necessity For it is apparant that wee ought to proceed in one sorte with these which are acted by a mans owne free will and in an other manner with those which as it is sayd are of ignorance or the compulsion of necessity and one way the first an other way the last are by men of iudgment and wisedome to bee handled and measured as by the testimonyes of holy Scriptures wee are taught Your intention giueth the name to your worke for as in an other place wee reade Sinne is soe far voluntarie as if it bee not voluntarie it is no sinne and our allmighty Lord respecteth not the action of the worker but rather considereth the intention and discerneth the will If therefore you call to minde that you haue committed anything whereof your owne conscience ought to accuse you whatsoeuer it is wee aduise you to confesse it in the Sacrament of Pennance to a Preist of discretion and prudence which beeing performed our mercifull Lord who looketh much more to the harte then to the facte will through the commiseration of his accustomed pitty forgiue it you and wee beeing confident of the meritts of S. Peeter and S. Paule his Apostles doe absolue you from what is committed and release your brotherhood thereof by the Apostolicke authority counselling and commanding that heereafter you abstayne no more in this respect from the celebration of Masse Dated at Senon the Kalends of Aprill Thus wrote Alexander But Iohn of Salisbury in his epistle to Peeter the writer I thinke of Bloys which beeing omitted in the often recited booke of epistles is afterwards placed in the end of the volume affirmeth the sinne of S. Thomas not bee excused but rather declared to bee purged by pennance for hee saith I cannot excuse his promise at Claringtonne whereunto hee was drawne by the counsell of the Bishopps because such a promise was not to bee made but confession washed away the offence hauing receiued soâemne pennances from the Popes holynes who in the presence of many by the Apostolical authority condemned those peruerse customes Soe writeth Iohn Now the former recited history proceedeth thus The King in the meane time perceaued that my Lord of Canterbury would flie of from this promise especially in that hee openly refused to seale the charter of these customes according to the agreement Whereupon his Maiestie
to him and direct his letters to you for that purpose hee seemed with greife and great affliction of mynd to answer saying God forbid let vs rather dye then beehould him soe departing his countrye and leauing his Church in that sorte soe desolate And a litle after By the mediation of my lord the Pope there is continual prayer made for you and the Church committed by God to your charge at Clareualle and Pontiniacke Monasteries of the Cistercians Pope AlexaÌder in the meane time cherished Thomas comforted him with his letters and reuiued his minde when it was depressed with extreme greife Many of his letters remayne worthie of soe noble a Bishop among which receaue you these beeing in contents the shortest Lib. 1. epist 43. How hee ought to proceede with the King Because the dayes are euill and many thinges are to bee suffered in regard of the quality of the time wee entreate aduise counsell and perswad your discretion that in all actions as well of your owne as those appertaining to the Church you beehaue your selfe warely prouidently and circumspectly and that you doe nothing hastely or rashly but all thinges deliberately and grauely whereby you may recouer the fauour and goodwill of the renowned King of England as much as possibly you may without derogation to the liberty of the Church and the honor of your office and authoritye And that by all meanes you endeauour and labour to endure the violence of the same King vntill the next Easter in such sorte as you deuise not to put any thing in execution against him or his land vntill that perfixed tyme for then our lord will graunt à better and milder season whereby as well you as wee may more safely and securely proceede in our affaires Thus Alexander to Thomas of whom as wee haue sayd it is extant that hee did write other letters to the same effect vnto him But in that the Pope did so certainly promise that times would bee calmer at the next ensueing Easter it is apparant hee did with a Propheticall spirit foreknowe the death of the Antipope which at that time hapned as wee shall heereafter declare But Alexander who soe counselled S. Thomas to forbeare the outragious king did not himselfe forbeare to admonish by his letters the same king in season and out of season instantly reprouing rebukeing and beeseeching him as Reader you may vnderstand by this letter written about the same tyme. ALEXANDER THE SERVANT OF THE seruantes of God Lib 1. Epist 42. to Henry illustrous King of England health and Apostolicall benediction ALlthough the deuotion of a dutyfull childe as well towards vs as your holy mother the Church The Popâ admonishâtâ the King by writing seemeth of late to weare somewhat cold in you neuerthelesse wee haue not at any time omitted our fatherly affection towards you and the kingdome commended to your gouerment wherefore your excellency diligently weighing that the stripes of a freind are better then the kisses of an enemy may more carefully consider and attentiuely vnderstand that as Clearkes are in life and habit distinguished from secular persons soe the iuditial proceedinges with Clearkes are approoued to bee absolutely different from the iudgmentes of the Layetie and therefore if you desorder these otherwise then it beecommeth and vsurping vnder your power those thinges which beelong to Iesus Christ doe at your owne pleasure ordaine new lawes for the opprâssion of Churches and Christes poore flocke and bring in also those customes which as you tearmed them beelonged to your Progenitors your selfe without all question Prouerb 13 will beefore the last terrible Tribunal which you can no way auoyd bee in like sorte adiudged and the same measure whereby you haue measured others bee returned vpon you But least our admonitions may seeme tedious and rigorous to the eares of your excellency remember how it is written that the father chastiseth the sonne whom hee loueth knoweing assuredly that with how much more ferrent charity wee loue you in our lord and by how much more often and carefully wee call to mind the monuments of your most sincere deuotion many ways and most royally heeretofore shewed to vs and the Church of God soe much the more earnestly wishing with the deuoted affections of our harte your spiritual and eternal saluation wee signifie these vnto your vnderstanding For if the last iudgment bee any ways terrible to you or the crowne of rewards in the eternal rest delightfull it is not only beeseeming but also necessarie for your Maiestie to reuerence truth which is God himselfe and also Iustice to giue euery man his right to leaue to the managing of Ecclesiastical persons all matters Ecclesiastical especially criminal which spring from the breach of faith or periury to yeeld to men of the Church the decisioÌ of causes concerning goods and posessions of Churches and not to confound the kingdome with the preisthood for if you would bestowe on the reliefe of the poore or other workes of Charity all the substance which by such compulsions you wrest wring from the treasures of the Church vnto your owne vse you should doe no more acceptable an acte in the sight of God then if you should rob one Altar to garnish an other or crucify Peeter to saue Paule from death for you ought to recount and for an exemple of such proceeding to set before your eyes how king Saul because after the ouerthrowe of Amelech Lib 1. Reg. cap 14. hee would contrary to the precept of God reserue the prey when as for his owne excuse hee pretended to retaine the same for sacrifice was as a reprobate reiected by our Lord and hee yet liuing another chosen vnto his honor and kingly dignity Soe whom the sinnes of the people made a gouernor his owne offânces depriued of the kingdomes gouerment And it is conuenient for your soules health to call to minde how alsoe King Ozias 2. Par. cap. 26. whilst hee would offer incense and vsurpe to himselfe the office of a priest was by the iust iudgment of God strooke with a leprosie If truly you attribute your happie successes to your owne forces and power and not to Almighty God and doe not withdrawe your minde and attemptes from oppressing Ecclesiastical persones and Churches hee doubtles whâ placed you in gouerment ouer others and ordeyned you a great prince in this world for ruling and not for the wrongfull depression of his faithfull people will with a greiuous vsury demand of you againe the talentes committed to your charge and as it is written of Roboam the sonne of Salomon who for his fathers offence 3. Reg 14. was cast out from his kingdome will transferrre and poure out vpon the heires the vengeance of the fathers sinne Harken not therefore to euery ones wicked suggestions nor open your eares to those who murmur euer mischeifes into your head but diligently attend those thinges which are expedient for saluation and endeauour to
because if I shall say that wee ought to leaue the care of soules receaued by vs from God at the threatening and pleasure of a king my mouth should declare againste my conscience to the condemnation of my soule if on the other side I censure that the king in this case ought to bee resisted Loe heere his followers will heare mee by whose relation his Maiestie will bee thereof certifyed and I shall presently bee cast out of the Sinagoge and hereafter ranked with his publicke and condemned enemyes wherefore I neither say this nor counsell that These thinges thus handled The first acte of this conuentiklâ they sate awhile in silence neither was there a man who spoake a word more and deuising a way to haue a free passage out of the roome for they were locked in I would quoth my lord of Canterbury speake with two Earles who are with the kinge aad named them both And they beeing called opening the dore entred hastely in and beeing greedy to heare somewhat that might satisfy the kinges desire my lord of Canterbury vsed these wordes in their presence Wee haue consulted about those matters for which my lord the king assembled vs heere and in regarde wee haue not with vs now those persons who more cleerely vnderstand this cause wee therefore craue respite vntill to morrowe determining to answer then as our lord shall inspire vs. The Bishoppes of London and Rochester were sent to deliuer this message to the king but London like a crafty fox corrupted the busines commended to his charge telling the kinge that my lord of Canterbury beesought only at his Maiesties handes a truce of time for making ready the wrytinges as one prepared at the determined day to yeelde accompt in answer of his accusations and this hee sayde to the end my lord of Canterbury might bee thereby the more ingaged to fullfill the kinges request The Earles therefore were directed to the Archbishop for graunting him on the kinges behalfe this respite of time if hee would ratifying confirme what the Bishops on his parte had certifyd his Maiestie Whereunto Canterbury replyed hee gaue the Bishoppes no such commission neyther would alow what they had signifyed to the kinge but would the next day God willing appeare and as it was inspired vnto him from aboue soe answere Gilbert of London was therefore with shame confounded seeing himselfe fallen into the snare which hee layed to intaÌgle his father The couÌsell beeing thus dissolued for the present they seuerally departed S. Thomas left by his knightes entertaineth the poore the troopes of knightes and others who attended the Archbishop to the place terrifyed for dread of the kinge left him which Sainct Thomas seeing commanded some to seeke about the hedges villages and inuite the poore lame impotent to come vnto him saying hee might with such an army more easily obtayne the victory then by those who in tyme of temptation fledd shamefully away with these poore guestes was his house and feaste furnished and the day spent with contented delight in our lord without any open mention afterwardes made of the forepassed trouble The next day early in the morning was my lord taken with the Hiake passion a disease that followed him and as then helde him in such sorte as hee could not lifte himselfe out of his bedd whereupon making the longer delay which the malicious supposed to proceed of an vnwillingnes to appeare in the kinges Courte some were seÌt to coÌmand him more sharpely and pereÌptorily to goe on with his answere Who replying sayd if this sicknes will suffer mee I will god willing to morrow appeare That day passed away and the office of the insuiâg night beeing finished with great deuotion arysing early to solemnize Masse and hauing according to the custome vested him calling to God for his assistance through the merittes of the blessed S. Stephen hee commanded the entrance of the Masse to beegin with Etenim sederunt Principes aduersum me loquebantur The preparation of S. Thomas and Princes haue sate also and against mee haue they spoken And soe with extraordinary deuotion ended the whole office with all thereunto appertaining the kinges seruantes who were present in silence aduisedly marked all who suspected that this signifyed somewhat Masse beeing donne hee layd asyde his Pall and Miter hauing on his other sacred ornaments and ouer all a Cope It is sayd in Quadrilogus that S. Thomas celebrated as then the Masse of S. Stephen the first Martyr by the aduice of a certaine holy and religious Monke and not in regard it was any feast of Sainct Stephen and that otherwise then his wonted order was hee performed the same in his Pall and caryed also with him secretly the Blessed Sacrament after the ancient customes but openly bore only his Crosse the Sainte thus preparing himselfe to Martyrdome because that day hee supposed hee should dye But the a fore recyted history proceedeth thus Entring the kinges chamber where his Maiestie expected him taking at the very dore the Crosse hee boare it in his owne hande the Bishoppes following and interpreting this his Acte otherwise then beeseemed them Yet Robert Bishop of Hereford offering himselfe sayd Father stay and in place of your Chaplaine I will cary the Crosse before your presence for soe is it conuenient With more iustice answered Canterbury the cariage heereof beelongeth to mee vnder whose protection I remayne more securely and that Banner appearing there is no doubt vnder what Prince I fight London replyed if the king seeth you entring in armes hee will drawe his swoard beeing of greater force then yours and strike at your heade and then you shall trye what these your armes will auayle you All this quoth Canterbury wee coÌmend to God Yea answered LondoÌ you haue bin hetherto a foole and this folly I see you will neuer leaue Soe went they forward But the king hearing the Bishop came in thus armed forgetting or leauing of his swoard mentioned by LoÌdon withdrewe himselfe speedily into his priuy chaÌber Canterbury taking his place on the one syde a parte with some very few his followers the Bishoppes sate on the coÌtrary syde in place and mynde vnited against him At the laste are the Bishops called into the kinges counsell Canterbury beeing left to the slaughter The tyme is protracted while they sifte out the matter for condemning the innocent Canterbury with a confideÌt looke put on Constancy Roger Archbishop of Yorke comming forth sayd to his Clearkes present beeing Master Robert surnamed Crosse and Osbern a Rondell let vs departe hence wee ought not to beehould what will here bee instantly executed on Canterbury Master Robert replyed I will not forsake the place vntill I see what God hath determined herein if hee will fight for God and his iustice to the very death hee cannot more nobly and more worthily finish his dayes The Archbishop of Yorke departing thus Barthelmewe Bishop of Excester comming out from the kinges
endeauour for her deliuery Vnlesse perchance you will imagin hee leaueth the shipp who entreth the Cock-boate to drawe her into the hauen This and much more in the beehalfe of saint Thomas wryteth his defendant Iohn of Salisbury But heare what the King of England did Cod Vatis lib 1 epistola 23. vpon the reporte of his departure Henry thus deluded hearing by some that saint Thomas was escaped by flight published his Edictes in this sorte against him and the Clearkes his followers Henry King of England to the seuerall Bishoppes ordayned in England Yee are not Ignorant in what euill sorte Thomas Archbisoppe of Canterbury hath proceeded against mee and my kindome and in what bad manner hee is departed And therefore I coÌmand yee none of his Clearkes who after that his flight accompanyd him not any other Clearkes who derogated from the honor of mee and the honor of my kingdome receaue any renttes beelonging to them in your Bishoppickes otherwise then by my permission nor haue any assistance or aduice from yee Hee set out also an other proclamation for sequestring the reuenewes of the Archbishoppricke of Canterbury into the kinges handes Likewise hee published other decrees signifyed to S. Thomas from his friend by wryting in these wordes Please iâ you to vnderstand Ibid epist 15 ibid. ep 14. Lawes on asted after the flight of S. Thamas that this is the tenor of the commissions sent by King Henry into England to wit That euery hauen bee most carefully guarded least any letters of interdiction bee any way brought into the land and if any Reguler person bringeth them in let his feete bee cut of if hee bee a Clearke let him lose his eyes and priuy members if a laye man let him bee hanged If a Leper let him be burned and if any Bishop for dread of this interdictioÌ will trauell out of the realme let him cary nothing with him beesides his staffe It is also his will that all schollers bee compelled to returne into their countrey or else to bee depriued of their Benefices and they that stay shall remayne without euer hope of returne likewise for those Priests who refuse to sing let them lose their priuy partes And let all who rebell bee depriued of their Benefices Thomas in the meane while hauing suffered this banishment sent these letters to Pope Alexander which Roger in his Chronickes of England recyteth the yeere following yet truly appertayning to this present S Thomas concerning hiâ appeal to the Pope written with these wordes I flye for refuge most holy father vnto your audience that you who with soe greate a hazard of your selfe haue rescued the Churches liberty may now consider the only or cheifest cause of the persecution of my selfe who haue followed your example For I greeued to see the state of the Church by litle and litle to perish and her lawes infringed by the Auarice of Princes and thought this danger of sicknes was to bee preuented and by how much I knewe my selfe more bound to that lord of myne vnto whom next vnder God I am most ingaged soe much the more securely I supposed his vniust attemptes were to bee resisted vntill they preuayled who clowded from mee the cleere beames of his fauor Afterwardes as it is accustomed with Princes they raysed against mee slanders and false accusations whereby they might prosecute mee and I rather chose banishment then to yeelde to iniustice and to multiplye these mischeifes I was as a laye man called beefore the King to makâ satisfaction and where I hoped in my resistance for most assistance there was I especially deceaued for I found my lordes and fellowe brethren the Bishoppes prepared at the pleasure of the Courtiers to punish mee Thus allmost strangled with the inuasions of soe many I haue fled for succour to the audience of your Holines who neglecteth not those who are plunged in extremityes and vnder whom I stand ready to make good that I am nether to bee iudged there nor by them for what is this else father then to diminish and withdrawe from you the authority of your lawes yea what else then to submit spirituall Power to temporal iurisdiction this once suffered would open an example to many and therefore I iudged Christ fauoreth Caesar not a tia tirant it was with more constancy to bee withstood because the headlong way to doe hurte is to see but a weake resistance But they will say Those thinges are to bee giuen to Caesar which are Caesars yet allthough in many matters the king is to bee obeyed hee is neuerthelesse not to bee obeyed in those by which hee ceaseth to bee a king for such appertayne not to Caesar but to a Tyrant wherein the Bishoppes if not for my sake yet for their owne should haue resisted him For if the last iudgment is reserued for him who hath power to iudge both body and soule shall the highest Tribunal among men bee attributed to him who iudgeth according to his owne sense if these Bishoppes mayntaine the parte of iustice why did they assault mee why doe they reproue mee for appealing vnto him to auoyde whose determination of controuersyes is either vnlawfull or not expedient wherefore they haue vniustly accused mee or distrusted of your iustice for otherwise it were a double confusion to mee to bee conuicted before your Holines And haue I deserued persecution at their handes for whose cause I defended the bullwarke against soe greate a battery and had won the victory if only they would haue assisted but in all case is the head beeing left destitute by the members for how would it bee if the eyes should vse the tongue against thâ head if they had well foreseene it they deuisâd but mischeefe to their owne confusion and our principall aduersaryes abused their assistance to bring them into slauery Because they haue accomplished all this How many wayes the Bishoppes of England offended against S. Thomas vpon soe greate a malice that to vndoe mee they would withall ouerthrowe themselues they haue herein neglected spirituall treasures for temporall trifles and fayled in the end of both Againe what an offence was it that when I cryed out against this iniustice and appealed to your audience they durst in iudgment comdemne mee their father what if they conspire with the Prince our aduersary against the whole Catholicke Church and truly most holy father you might haue bin suspitious thereof Yet wille they say they were bounde to their king as their temporal lord but to him in their bodyes to mee in their soules and to whom could they bee more obliged then to themselues Is it not better to lose corporall then spiritual riches But they will againe reply the king was not in this perilous tyme to bee prouoked O how subtilly doe they argue for their owne slauery yea they prouoke him who by their excesses giue winges to his will and pleasure For they might haue bin quiet had they not to quietly
assented And when is constancy more required then in the midst of our persecutors Are not Christes frindes tryed with persecutions If continually they yeelde when shall they ouercome Of necessity sometimes they must resist Condescend therefore most holy father to succour mee in my flight and persecution and remember that once I was in your age an eminent man but now for your sake wearyed out with iniuryes Put your power in execution restrayne them at whose instance the cause of this persecution came slilie creeping in Neither let the fault of any of these bee layde on my lord the King who is rather a practiser then inuentor of this wicked deuice Hetherto Roger but Pope Alexander heareing heereof declared first that S. Thomas was no waye bounde by his condemnation in this Conuenticle writing thus Cod Vatican lib. 1. epist 49. Pope Alexander to Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury That the inferior cannot iudge his superior and him especially to whom in the right of Prelacy hee is knowne to bee subordinate and helde bound in the chaynes of obedience as welle diuine as humane lawes doe showe and this especially in the decrees of the holy fathers is more manifestly declared Wherefore with carefull consideration weyghing this wee to whom it beelongeth to reforme errours and amend that which for want of correction may leaue a pernicious example to posterity and moreouer beecause the Church ought not by reason of the offence of any particular person to sustayne any losse or discommoditie doe adiudge the sentence to bee absolutely voyde and declare by the Apostolical authority the same to bee of no force which by the Bishops and Barons of England in reguard you appeared not vpon the Kinges first summons was presumptiously pronounced against you whereby the sayd Bishops and Barons depriued you of all your moueable goods as well against the forme of law as contrary to the Ecclesiasticall custome and that especially since you had noe moueables but only of the Churches goods Alsoe wee determine the sayd sentence to bee hereafter of no power nor any ability to preiudice or indammage you your successors or the Church committed to your gouermeÌt Thus wrote Pope Alexander whoe likewise by other letters commanded restitution to bee made of all thinges taken away from the Archbisgop or any others Ibid. epist 32. vpon any occasion concerning him But that the state of the Church of England may appeare more playnly I would haue you vnderstand how these letters which by the kinges Embassadors where returned backe to his Holines agayne were first imparted to the Archbishop of Yorke vnto whom at the kinges request was decreed the Legantine authority for England but in reguard Pope Alexander had in his later letters as wee see confined him that hee should not by reason of his iurisdiction challenge any power to himselfe either ouer the person of Saint Thomas or the Archbishoppricke of Canterbury the king as frustrate of his intention who was only bent by prerogatiue of this Legate to depose S. Thomas commanded the letters of legation now vnprofitable for his purpose to bee remaunded backe to the Pope by his Embassadors designed thereunto Concerning this there are other letters extant declaring soe much in these wordes To his most beeloued lord his assured sendeth greeting and euer wisheth him well to fare THrough the mercy of Almighty God who neuer forsaketh those Lib. 1. epist 6. who repose theire trust in him it soe fell out as the same day wherein my lord the Pope was certifyd of Octauians death the Imbassadors of the kinges L and H to witt Lewes and Henry came to the Court the English truly pretending on their kinges beehalfe a shewe of exceeding humility both in open wordes and letters consonant to their speech seemed soe far to moue my lord the Pope and some of his Cardinalls that as by reporte of those who fauoured you I vnderstood they hardly could abstayne from teares wherefore after many allegations in what sorte and with what affection the kinges Maiestie receaued Pope Alexander and how great reuerence hee euer shewed to him the which hee would continew during his life these flourishes finished they returned vnto his Holines many letters concerning the legantine power which your Archdeacon obtayned dishonestly for England during the tyme I remayned with you but the condition wheruppon hee procured the same letters my lord the King by the mouth of his Embassadors absolutely renounced as neuer made or desired by him The Popes Holines soe willingly and gladly receaued the same letters back againe as if a thing most wished were now offered him in such manner as some there present maruelled very much You perceaue reader in all thinges hitherto haÌdled before Bope Alexander in the case of S. Thomas how hee fauored euer his side Lib. 1. epist 24. and was from the first in the passage of this busines inclined to asist him in regard wherof let Iohn of Salisbury reprou himselfe who in the beeginninge of these tumultes wryting to S. Thomas beecoÌmeth soe bad a prophet of Pope AlexaÌders proceedinges saying many thinges make against you fewe for you for mightie persons will come who are bountifull in the largesse of money which Rome neuer despised and will bee supported not only with their owne but alsoe my Lord the kinges authority whom the courte ought in no case to displease c. You may see therefore how vntruly and rashly hee censured of Pope Alexanders constancy supposing hee might bee conquered with gould who was stronger then steele Another imbassage also ensued The imbassage of the Bishoppeâ of England âhainst Saint Thomas addressed from the keng to Pope AlexaÌder by the Archbishops aÌd Bishops of EnglaÌd who were all admitted to publicke audieÌce wherein the CoÌsistory first of theÌ all the Bishop of LoÌdon houlding the first place did first beegin thus to speake Vnto you Father appertayneth the care and watchfull eye ouer the Catholicke Church that both the discreete may by your wisedom bee fostred vp to the exaÌple of manners aÌd the vnaduised by the Apostolical authority suppressed and chasticed to reduce them to wisedom But in the depth of your discretion the man cannot bee conceaued to bee wise who presuming in the strength of his owne witt endeauoreth to disturbe the band of vnion among his brethen the tranquillity of the Church and the deuotion of the king A dissention hath lately sprung in England beetweene the kingdome and the Preisthood vpon an occasion but light and of litle importance which might haue bin easily extinguished had a moderate medicine bin thereunto applyed but my lord of Canterbury being herein singular in his owne conceyte and not guided by our counsel insisted seuerely beeyond reason neuer considering this ill affected time or what manner of mischeife may ensue vpon such a headlong entreprise and soe weaued intangling snares for the destâuction of himselfe and his brethren and had but our assent fauored his designes the
breath of life shall last in this our body But hauing hitherto flowed in delights that you may heereafter learne to bee as you ought the comforter of the poore neither yet can you bee taught that lesson but by the instruction of pouerty it selfe the mother of Religion wee haue heere thought good to commend and commit you ouer to the poore of Christ I meane this Abbot of Pontiniack for hee was there of purpose present not I say to receaue sumptuous but simple education as best beefitting a banished man and Christes Champion Among whom it behoueth you with a few and those necessary attendantes the rest of your followers beeing distributed among your freindes to conuerse for a tyme vntill the day of consolation shall beegin to dawne and the season of peace shall from aboue descend vpon vs. In the meane while bee of a constant courrage and manfully resiste such as disturbe tranquillity Thus far Alexander and soe the assembly was dismissed Saint Thomas departing went away with the Abbot of Pontiniack where willing to liue among the Monkes in a Monastical habit hee desired the same might bee sanctify'd with Pope Alexander's blessing and cloathed therein hee perseuered a MoÌke among the Monkes absolutely obseruing all the rules of Monasticall perfection But what the kinge did when hee heard heereof you shall not only see reader but maruaile thereat To the open iniury of Pope Alexander then resydent at Senon in FraÌce hee published new artickles worser then the first which hee commanded to bee obserued in his Prouinces beeyond the seas beeing Aquitayne and other places vnder his subiection and among other letters hee directed one concerning the same to the Bishop of Poyteeres who as he wittnesseth in his Epistle to sainct Thomas receaued it after the feast of the Apostles Lib 1. Epist 1. Idem postea Epist 16. And what these Edictes were is heere to bee layd downe out of the sayd booke of the Vatican where wee read in this wise These are the Constitutions which King Henry ordayned in Normandy and gaue in command to his Iustices 1. If any man bee found carrying our Lord the Popes letters or the Archbishop of Canterburies mandate contayning Interdiction of Christianity into England let him bee apprehended and iustice without delay executed on him as a traitor to the king 2 Moreouer let no clearke nor Monke nor conuertite nor any of any conuersion bee suffered to passe ouer the seas or returne into England vnlesse hee haue letters of iustice for his passage and the letters of our Lord the kinge for his returne if any man bee found to doe otherwise let him bee apprehended and imprisoned 3. Let no man appeale to the Pope or Archbishop 4. That no plea bee held by the commandement of the Pope or Arch-bishop or any Mandate of theires receaued in England of any man if any one bee found doeing otherwise let him bee apprehended and imprisoned 5. It was also generally forbidden that no man should cary any Mandate of Clearke or Lay-man to our Lord the Pope or Archbishop if such should bee found let him bee apprehended and imprisoned 6. If Bishoppes Clearkes Abbottes or Lay-men will defend any sentence of interdiction let them and all theyr whole kindred without delay bee banished the land in such wise as they carry none of theyr chattells with them 7. That the chattells of all such as fauour the Pope or Archbishop and all the possessions of them and all such as appertayne to them of what degree order sex or condition soeuer they are bee seized and confiscate into the soueraigne hand of our Lord the king 8. That all Clearkes who haue rentes in England bee admonished through-out all countryes that within three monthes they returne into England to theyr rentes if they loue theyr rentes and if they retourne not at the appointed time let theyr rentes bee seized into the kings handes 9. That saint Peeter's pennys bee not payd any more to the Apostolike Sea but carefully gathered and reserued in the king's treasury and disbursed at his commandement 10. That the Bishoppes of London and Norwich bee at the mercy of our Lord the king and summoned by the Shyriffes and Bayliffes to appeare before the kinges Iustices to satisfy the kinge and his Iustices for that contrary to the statutes of Claringtonne they interdicted by the Popes commendement the landes of Earle Hugh and diuulged the excommunication which our Lord the Pope pronounced against him in theyr parishes without the kinges Iustices Hetherto are the kinges constitutions which were sent into Normandie Nor yet king Henry contented heere withall for the hatred hee bore to saint Thomas caused the whole estate of the Saint and his followers to bee confiscate and all his kindred and familiar freindes to bee transported out of England and sparing neither sex nor age made an exceeding showe of extreme cruelty All this is declared at large in Quadrilogus a booke compiled of saint Thomas And all this was written to him by one affected to the kinge yet detesting this tyranny vnworthie soe great a Prince And beecause sainct Thomas himselfe was not able to relieue the miserable necessityes of soe many distressed persons hee deuised to send theÌ into Cecill to bee there mayntained where they were receaued by Margarete Queene of that Iland a right pious woeman Moreouer the Archbishop of Siracusa beecame their good benefactor both which by letters saint Thomas gratefully thanked But this soe great a cruelty beeing not able to satisfy the kinges inraged mynd Lib. 1. Epist 27. 28. hee wrought beesides by decree to depriue sainct Thomas of Spirituall benefittes commanding that noe man vnder his Episcopall iurisdiction should presume to pray for him This William witnesseth in Quadrilogus Now concerning sainct Peeters pennyes Concerning the forbidding of paying S. Peeters pennys which were appointed by Pope Alexander to bee gathered by two Priors of the Cistercians who gaue it ouer and durst not gaynesay the kinges commandement to the contrary Peeter of Bloys one tf his Maiesties courte plucking vp a couragious spiritt contested with his Soueraigne and enforced him to leaue the payement thereof free to his Holines and this himselfe witnesseth in his inuectiue against the deprauer of his actions with these wordes I speake not this for vaine glory but for refutation of thyne impudency for thou art transformed vnto the browe of an harlot by the testimony and affirmation of very many peeres of England King Henry of worthy memory did once coÌcerning the collection of the pennys of saint Peeter not induring then to bee won by intreaty or recalled by reason inueygh exceedingly against two Priors of thyne order no man durst oppose himselfe on the contrary parte I only attempted to make a breach and way for them and in time of wrath beecame their reconciliation At myne instances God assisting his royall hand full often poured out bountifull and magnificent almes and to this day the Church of
Saintes recounteth his charitable benignity Thus fare Peeter who although hee were the king's faithfull seruante yet seeking rather the honor of God then men omitted not as much as in him lay to defend vnder hand the cause of saint Thomas AN. DOM. 1165. Now followeth the yeere of our Lord 1165. with the xv Indiction according to times computation An Embassage to the Pope from mawde the Empresse in the beeginning whereof an Ambassag was sent from Mawde the Empresse mother of Henry king of England to Pope Alexander wherin shee beesought his Holines to ioyne in league the kinges of France and England which if hee could accomplish a peace was likely to ensue beetweene the king of England and saint Thomas When Iohn of Salisbury who was resident in Alexanders courte had notice heereof hee certifyd saint Thomas thereof by letter beeginning thus When as lately I sollicited my Lord the Pope incouraging him and carefully insinuating a way which meethought I vnderstood for reducing to him and you the tranquillity of peace hee answered that hee conceaued a hope of peace from wordes of the Empresse who vpon a vowe sent then the Abbot of saint Martyrs thither promising the king of England could easily bee perswaded to what soeuer my Lord desired if his Holines would as hath bin long wished confederate the two kinges wherein beecause my Lord the Pope is forward the king of France as surely it semeeth will easily inclyne vpon the Popes conference with the kinges and that his Holines had allready inuited the king of France to keepe the feast of the Purification with him Thus far concerning the conceaued hope of Peace and added moreouer That hee spoake with the king of France whom hee found very fearefull least vpon such occasion hee should bee withdrawne from the communion of the Church of Rome and leauing Pope Alexander cleaue to the scysmaticall faction These thinges thus signifyed Salisbury beeseecheth saint Thomas to employ himselfe rather in prayer then the study of learning from whose letters receaue these notes which in Quadrilogus are recyted out of Herebert concerning sainct Thomas while hee remayned as yet in the Monastery of Pontiniacke hee was so much affected to the reading of holy scriptures as daily after the CaÌnonicall houres the sacred bookes were scarce euer out of his handes whereupon by reason of his loue to the Scriptures and labour employed therein hee did in shorte tyme soe profit as most often in the nice and obscurest sentences hee excelled his instructors themselues moreouer hee bestowed his life in studying the Ecclesiasticall Cannons which endeauours of his in these dangerous tymes were no whit pleasing to Iohn of Salisbury whom saint Thomas held in no smale estimation as well in reguard of his singuler honesty as also his learning who confident of his credit with this saint admonisheth him in the same letters of these thinges worthie remeÌbrance saying My counsel my desire my instant intreaty is that you wholly conuert your mynd vnto our Lord Cod Vat. lib. 1. Ep. 31. and the suffrages of prayers beecause as it is written in the Prouerbes the name of our Lord is the strongest tower whereunto if any man flye Prouerb 18. hee shall bee deliuered out of all extremities Put of in the meane time as much as you may all other businesses The ptofitable admonition of à friend to S. Thomas beecause allthough they seeme maruilous necessary yet what I perswade you is more highly to bee preferd in regarde it is farre more necessary The lawes and Cannons ef the Church doe profit but beelieue mee this other woorke is now of more importance those ornamentes are not sutable to this season for they are not soe much the procurers of deuotion as of curiosity Doe you not remember how in the distresse of the people as it is written the Preists and Ministers poured out their teares beetweene the porch and the Altar Ioel. 2â Psal 76. ibidem saying Spare ô Lord spare thy people I was exercised sayd the Prophet and I sweeped my spirit in the day of tribulation seeking our Lord with my handes Which teach vs that spirituall excercise with cleansing and examination of the conscience turneth away the scourge and obtaineth the mercy of God Who riseth with compunction from perusing the lawes and Cannons Nay I say more these exercises in schooles doe sometimes puffe vp knowledge to swell in pride but seldome or neuer inflame vs with deuotion I had rather you would meditate on the Psalmes and spend your life in saint Gregorie's Moralles then beecome a Philosopher after the Scholastical fashyon it is farre better to confer with aspirituall father for amendment of manners by whose example you may bee incensed then to sifte and discusse pointes of controuersies appertayning to secular literature our Lord knoweth with what intent with what deuotion I suggest these thinges Accept them as you please but if you performe this God will euer assist you that you shall neuer haue cause to feare what soeuer man deuiseth against you our Lord seeth that in these instant streightes of afflictions wee are not to hope as I thinke in any mortal creature c. Thus Iohn aduised saint Thomas very conueniently In the meane time S. Thomas oppressed with extreme afflictioÌs although absent yet with letters doth prosecute his busines writing as well to the king of England as also to the Bishoppes who ought to exhorte and admonish their Prince To the king hee directed these letters which Roger in his Cronicle deliuereth in these wordes To his Dread Soueraigne Lord Henry by the grace of God the famous king of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Eearle of Anioue Thomas by the same grace the humble seruaÌt of the Chuch of Canterbury The letter of S. Tomas to the king of England sendeth greeting and all wishes of well-doinge To speake of God is the parte of a free and well quieted mynde which causeth mee soe to speake to my Lord And I would wee might treate peaceably I humbly beeseech you my Lord to endure with patience some litle admonition concurring with the grace of God which was neuer voyd for the saluation of your soule and deliuery of myne I am on all sides beeset with extremityes for tribulation and perplexities haue found mee in the midst of two most weyghty and fearefull matters plunged I say beetwene these two important thinges dreaded silence and Admonition Let mee cease to speake death is then threatened mee nor can I auoyd the hand of our Lord saying If thou shalt not showe the offendor his fault and hee thereby dyeth in his sinne Ezech. 3. I will require his blood at thy bandes On the other side let mee admonish I see not how to eschewe which God forbid my Soueraignes indignation fearing moreouer least that should beefall which the wise man foretould saying when hee who pleaseth not commeth or sendeth to make intercession or motion it is to bee
you but to forewarne you to bee watchfull that supported with the authority of almighty God and of vs you may bee heereafter able and willing with more strength and power to parforme the dutys of your charge In breife this only thing I would haue you now to knowe that through the mercy of God they shall neuer wrest from mee the Churches confusion All this not with standing I giue you thankes in reguard you would at this tyme visite and refresh mee with your consolation What say I more more one thing there is which without greeuous sorrow of mynde I cannot ouerpasse I lament truly my dearest beeloued Lord the kinge for feare and trembling haue fallen vpon mee Psal 54. and darknes couered mee round about in reguard I see tribulation and extremityes hang ouer my Lord and Prince neither yet is it strange for hee hath shaken the Church of God and disturbed the same shewing hard measure to the Cleargie of the land and giuing them for drinke the wine of sorrowe wherefore our Lord saith to him where are now thy wise Counsellors who haue giuen thee foolish aduise who said Isai 1â thou art the sonne of the prudent the sonne of anciâââ kinges whose customes are to bee obserued in England and whose lawes whosoeuer shall refuse to obey hee is not Cesar's freind but enemy to the Crowne guilty of iudgment yet neuertheles which is of worth hee is afreind to the Crosse of Christ beecause woe bee to them who enact lawes of iniquity and writing haue indighted iniustice whereby they may oppresse the poore in iudgement and commit violence on the cause of the humble of the people that Churches and widowes may bee their prey and they themselues waste the gooddes of the Clergy and others what will they doe in the day of visitation and calamity approching a far of to whom will they flye for refuge and where will they relinquish their gloryes to the end they bee not depressed with iudgment and falling dye with the murdered where are now his wise ones let them come forth declare to him and showe what our Lord of Hostes hath thought of England his graue counsellors are beecome fooles and his Princes haue withered away they haue deceaued England the Angle and Corner of the world our lord hath intermingled among them the spirit of giddynes they haue made England erre in their workes as the drunken man erreth with vomiting and trembling and it shall not bee Englands worke either to make head or tayle beecause they haue deuoured Iacob and made his place desolate Psal 78. and sayd let vs possesse for our inheritance the sanctuarie of God with vphraiding Priestes and their Princes saying whither will yee flye out of our handes And in whom is reposed your confidence why haue yee resisted and withstood our preceptes O how vaine are thâse conceptes and how extreme vyle are these workes in the sight of our Lord Hee seeth truly that all these things are idle for hee will deride him who deuiseth thus and him who doeth thus foreseeing that his day is euen at hand yea entring at the very dore and hee will say Loe heere the men Psal 51. who haue not setled their succour in God but haue planted their hope in the abundance of their riches and preuayled in their vanity and yet to no purpose are these their workes Our Lord leaueth not his Church and Clergie without a defendor nor without a most terrible reuenge for she is founded vpon a strong rocke yea the rocke is Christ himselfe who hath built her with his owne proper blood Assuredly vnlesse they reforme these sinns they will not passe vnreuenged beecause they haue trampled vnder their feete the holy of holys the house of God by afflicting his preistes with iniurys and reprochfull wordes for his Preistes are they to whom our Lord himselfe speaketh thus Psal 21. Luc. 10. I haue said yee are Goddes and all the sonnes of the highest And in another place who heareth yee heareth mee and who contemneth yee contemneth mee and who toucheth yee toucheth the aple of myne eye Let them returne to their hartes and cast these mischeefes away from them let them doe pennance in the depth of humility otherwise it is to bee feared least our Lord which God forbid will come bring vpon theÌ and their land greeuous tribulation and the most heauy reuenge of retribution Behould our Lord will come and will not delay but hee will saue vs yea hee neuer forsaketh such as trust in him for the Prophet sayth Hope in our Lord and doe righteousnes and thou shalt bee fed in his riches And in another place Psal 26. Psal 36. Expect our Lord and deale manfully and let thy harte bee comforted and endure our Lord and quickly shalt thou bee deliuered from the hunter's nât and the bitter word And that I may finish all the rest with a worthie conclusion In regard our Lord declareth vnto vs what and how great aduersityes wee must suffer for his name and defence of his Church it is requisite yea most necessary that both you the whâle Church committed to your charge pray instantly for ãâã that what by our owne merrits wee are not able to atcheyue wee may obtaine to accomplish by your intercession the suffrages of the holy men who liue in your Dioces and thereby come to purchase eternal grace Farwell and bee of good comfort yea farwell the whole Church of England and bee comforted in our Lord that wee may all together fare-well Thus wrote saint Thomas out of France where hee then liued into England But what in the meane time did the king of England The requestes of the âing of England Embassadors to the Pope Before Alexander departing out of France vndertooke his iourney towards Rome which hapned in Easter this present yeere the King of Englands Embassadors came to Pope Alexander But what their Embassage was you shall now heare out of Alan in Quadril In the meane time were messangers sent of all sides yea from my lo the Pope himselfe to establish peace In the end it was on all hands agreed that my Lo the Pope the King should at an appointed time place meete together to the end by their intercourse of speech the way for peace might bee more easily deuised The King assenteth to bee there present so as the Archbishop would not as then appeare in place beecause hee would not in the sight of saint Thomas behould the face of my Lord the Pope The Archbishop on the other parte forewarned his Holines not in any case to entertaine this parlee with the King but in presence of himselfe who was best acquainted with his fashoÌs for hee sayd the piety of the Apostolicke Sea may soone bee deceaued by the subtill varyety of the kings words if there were not a skillfull interpreter ready at hand who were able to sifte the depth and intent of his mynd out of the
darke clowdes of his speech Thus did saint Thomas write to the Pope Whereupon saith Alan my lord the Pope modestly answering the kinge affirmed how it was neuer in any age heard that the Church of Rome at the command of any Prince whatsoeuer forbad any person her presence especially beeing banished for the cause of iustice But that it was a priuiledg authority granted from aboue to the Apostolike Sea to succour the exiled oppressed yea from the fury of their soueraignes the violent rage of their malitious enemys The Embassadors therfore repining departed to deliuer this message to their king and my lord the Pope determining to returne to Rome vndertooke his iourney Thus Alan whom saint Thomas followed as far as Bituricum where taking leaue receauing his blessing hee departed backe to Pontiniake neuer after seeing Pope Alexander in this world AN. DOM. 1166. The yeere 1166. ensueth and the 14. indiction When Frederick the Emperour seeing the prosperitie of the Catholicke Pope Alexander daily more and more to encrease and that his holines was now peaceable setled in Rome beeing enraged with anger and enuie commanded a Conuentickle in Witemberge otherwise called Herbolis at the feast of Penticost where hee meant with his Bishops and Princes to assemble for coÌfirming the power of this Antipope Guido Wherefore the king of England beeing by the Emperour inuited to this scysme beecause experience taught him that Pope Alexander inclined to the parte of saint Thomas taking aduantage of this fit oportunitie for his excuse sent an ambassage vnto the Citty to Pope Alexander determining if hee refused to yeeld to his demands then to fall off from him to Guido for the better accomplishment whereof hee wrote these letters to the Archbishop of Colen the cheife ring-leader of the scysmatickes for procurring a safe conduct for his Embassadours I haue long since desired to find out some iust occasion for leauing the parte of Pope Alexander and his vnfaithfull Cardinalls whoe presume to maintaine that Traytor Thomas sometimes Archbishop of Canterbury against mee whereupon by the aduice of all my Barons and consent of the Clergie intending now to send to Rome men of great accompt in my kingdome namely the Archbishop of Yorke the Bishop of London the Archdeacon of Poyters Iohn of Oxenford and Richard de Lucy who openly and manifestly on the beehalfe of my selfe and my whole kingdome with all other landes vnder my dominion shall propound and denounce to Pope Alexander and his Cardinalls that they shall no longer defend my Traytor but soe absolutely discharge and free mee of him as I with the counsail of my Clergie may establish an other in the Church of Canterburie and shall moreouer require that they reuoke and make voyd whatsoeuer Thomas hath done and likewise demand that the Pope in their presence cause it to bee sworne publickly that hee and his successors shall conserue for euer as far as to them appertaineth to mee and all my successors the royall customes of Henry my grandfather inuiolable and vntouched and if by chance they will gainsay any one of my demandes that then neither I nor my Barons nor yet my Clergie will euer heereafter yeeld him any obedience yea wee will openly withstand him and his and whosoeuer vnder my gouermeÌt shall bee found heereafter to follow his parte shall bee banished out of my kingdome I entreate you as my dearest frend all excuses set aparte to send mee speedily brother Ernold or brother Randulph of the hospitall of saint Iohn whon may on the beehalfe of the Emperour and your selfe giue safe conduct to the afore said Embassadors as well in their goeing as returne through the Emperour's dominion This was the kinges letter An Embassage was also sent to Pope Alexander which London and Oxford only executed But soe far was Pope Alexander from beeing any way moued either by the terrors of the kinges thundering letters or other threates vttered by the Embassadors in the kinges name as hauinge rebuked their rashnes hee returned to the king himselfe againe an answer fraughte with sharpe reprehension wherewith beeing terrifyd hee desisted from his wicked intention and gaue therfore great thankes to his Holines promising heereafter to obey euer readily in all thinges whereof the Bishops of England in their epistle sent the next yeere to Pope Alexander are apparant witnesses which afterwards in place conuenient wee determine to declare Meane while sayth our Author Colen requireth the Emperors aduise in what sorte hee should aÌswer the king of England whereunto the Emperor replyeth that hee ought to satisfy the kinges desire in reguard with how much the more solemnity this matter is accomplished soe much the greater shall bee the Popes confussion if hee condescendeth to the kinges request and it may bee that secretly by some one of the Temple or Hospital or any other whom they could not preuent the king by corruption of money may otherwise obtayne the same Wherefore brother Randolph of the Hospitall was addressed to the king of England who safely conducted the Embassadors whom the king intended to send to the courte of his Holines through the Emperors dominion Thus much there But soe it beefell that the same Embassadors came first into Germany where they were present at the Conuentickle of Witemberge but what matters were there handled the letters patents of Fredericke the Emperor dated at that place declare where among other thinges is thus written of this Embassage Moreouer the honorable Embassadors of our renowned freind the king of England directed from him to vs Cod. Vat. Epist 70. did on the beehalfe of the same king in the presence of the whole court vpon the reliques of Saintes make their publicke oath to vs that the king himselfe together with all his kingdome should continew faithfull to our side and ioyning with vs should euer defend the Lord Pascall whose parte wee take and neuer heereafter intermedle in mayntaining Rowland the Schysmaticke Beccause also wee who haue euer hitherto bin ready to abyde the examinatioÌ of the vprighteousnes of our cause which the aduersaries of the Church of God and vs bee it either out of their pride or the distrust of their cause haue auoyded are now by reason of their manifest obstinacy compelled to vnacustomed oathes Let therefore heereafter euery man and estate carefully eschew the Communion of Scyfmatickes for their fury allthough it hath seemed hitherto in some sorte pardonable it will heereafter bee alltogether intollerable c. Moreouer in an other letter written by one affected to Pope Alexander is sayd That Fredericke the Emperor gloryeth in the assistance of the king of England whose Embassadors were sworne to the parte of the Antipope c. In an other place likwise Fredericke Couloreth his busines with false prophesies that Pope Alexander should bee taken captiue whereunto not only the vulgar sorte but the king of England expecting the euent hath allmost giuen credit c. And out of Salisbury The
king of England is confident in the Emperor aÌd the captiuity of my Lord the Pope which the Prophetts of Belial haue tould him But whereas the kinges Embassadors did sweare in his Maiesties name to followe the Scysmaticall factioÌ the Arch-bishop of Roane excuseth the same as no way done by the kinges commandement which appeareth in his letters directed to Henry Preist and Cardinall of the title of the Saintes Mereus and Achilleus written thus Concerning the king of England wee certainly secure you that neither by himselfe nor by his Embassadors hee euer gaue oath or promise to leaue the Church and cleaue to the Schysmaticke yea wee are assured that in those couenants of Maryage whatsoeuer they were allthough for three dayes the Almaynes indeauoured to peruert him hee would neuer accord to any thing but with preseruation of his fidelity to our Lord the Pope the Church and the king of France and as well our lady the Empresse as our selues haue by our letters inioyned him to cleere himselfe with all expedition from this aspersion For our partes beeing at Roan allthough the kinges Embassadors were then also there wee only heard of them but sawe them not c. But for these Embassadors who faulted soe fouly wee find that sainct Thomas excommunicated them as his letters to his suffraganes in the yeere following doe signify which heere after in their turne wee will declare These thinges beeing thus layd open concerninge this passage with Fredericke the Emperour against Pope Alexander it remayneth that wee likwise know what were the actions of this yeere concerning saint Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury When Pope Alexander was certifyed of the king of Englandes Embassadors in the conuenticle of Witemberge The Pope reproueth the King of England wherby they bound themselues with their king to the Scymaticall Antipope Pascall it pleased him to admonish the king thereof by letters from the sacred Colledge of Cardinalls the letters themselues are not extantâ but only the letters of Apologie written by the king in his defence to the holy Colledge of Cardinalls in these words Cod. Vat. lib. â Ep. 41. King Henrys Apologie written to the Cardinalls As touching that which our Lord the Pope hath signifyed vnto vs to wit the alienation of our mynde and intention from our loue and deuotioÌ to the Roman Church wee doe first answer that your wisedome is fully informed with how sinceere an affection wee haue euer loued as well the Romane Church as also the person of our Lord the Pope what great attemptes wee haue vndertaken for him and what affronts wee haue sustayned for his sake for to passe ouer other thinges in silence when the question and controuersie arose for receauing him wee did not only accept of him our selues but also drawe yea inforce diuers others allthough vnwilling to doe the like nor yet did wee euer estrange our mynde from the fullnes of our affection But hee as wee manifestly knowe who hath in former tymes bin most troublesome to vs as the euents of his actions many way declare euen now especially with word worke and writing which cheefely incenseth the myndes of Princes perseuereth to defame our person terming vs as well in letters as speech the Persecutor and oppressor of the Church Now let our Lord the Pope consider how fatherly this mans proceedinges are towardes vs who first signifying vnto vs that Princes ought to haue especiall caution and care to preserue their fame vnspotted neglecteth heere this fatherly affection towards vs and with word and worke disgraceth our fames renowne Wee doe therefore make it knowne to your whole reuerent Colledge that whatsoeuer honor eminency and power our kingdome possesseth aÌd all other thinges subiect vnto our gouerment these and euery one of these wee acknowledg and professe to bee giuen and bestowed on vs by our Lord and Creator and to him wee render most humble thankes although not such vs mee ought beeing thereunto altogether vnable but such as our power can afford and would to God our Lord the Pope would beeseech allmighty God in our beehalfe that wee might offer vp and vnderstand how to yeeld to our God and Creator all dutifull deuotion and reuerence and that wee may with that intire and inward portion of our soules which wee owe him feare and loue him only for truly although wee cannot loue and adore him soe much as in duty wee are bound vnto neuerthelesse haue wee an affection and desire to serue him in euery thing to please him in all thinges and wholy to obey him Wee intend truly and desire willingly to perseuer in the integrity of the grace and loue of our Lord the Pope if his Holines will in like sorte mayntaine vnto vs and our kingdome the same honor and preseruation of glory and dignity which holy and reuerent Popes of Rome haue shewed to noble and potent Princes our Predecessors But concerning appeales which hee supposeth wee prohibite affirming also that wee restraine the subiects of our kingdome from visiting the Courte of Rome wee would not haue this concealed from your wisedomes that wee haue neuer at any time hindred either visitations or appeales but only require they should bee in such manner such course and such fashion ordered as they haue bin formerly performed according to the customes and dignity of our kingdome in the tyme of our progenitors who were illustrous Princes and according to the ordinations and constitutions of the grauest and wisest persons as well of the Clergie as Laytie of our dominions In that hee reproueth vs for entring into leage with the excommunicate wee suppose not wee haue heerein either offended God or proceeded against reason for as wee receaued from our Lord the Popes owne mouth his Holines neuer held the Lord Fredericke the Emperour of Roââ excommunicate neither yet haue wee heard by relation of any that hee was afterwardes excommunicated Neither although wee graunted our daughter in mariage to the Emperours sonne doe wee beelieue wee haue committed any offence therin Beecause that wee may receaue example from the like as the same was in our knowledge lawfull to the most excellent and mighty king Henry our grandfather who intermaryed his daughter with Henry of late memory Emperour of Rome so wee by the same reason deduced from our ancestors beeing aduised also by our graue Counsellors did condescend to a contract beetweene the Emperors sonne and our daughter Whereas moreouer hee admonisheth vs by his letter to recall the Archbishop of Canterbury whom hee saith wee haue expulsed our kingdome vnto the dignity from whence hee fell and restore him againe vnto his Sea wee apparantly knowe how euident it is vnto the eyes of yee all that wee neither banished nor yet inforced him to departe our dominions but hee rather by the instigation of his owne light and peruerse disposition then vpon any mature deliberation indueeing him thereunto beetooke himselfe to flight with an intent and purpose to rayse enuy against vs and
of an Idoll nor yet will there fayle some who possessing our seates and vsurping our chaires will with all the deuotion of their myndes obey him Many there are who doe now foretaste this wishing that scandalls would once arise and playne ways bee peruerted to crooked pathes Wherfore father wee doe not lament or bee wayle our owne misfortunes but vnles you preuent these mischeifes wee doe forseeing dread a foule subuersion to threaten and hang ouer the Church of God neither sooner would wee wish a day of this loathed life to perish then that wherin wee were borne to see such manner of spectacles Allmighty God deare father in Christ preserue you long in health and prosperity And thus wrote the Bishop of London to Pope Alexander But Pope Alexander who sought by the Bishop of Londons meanes the kinges recouery desired much more by his owne pastor sainct Thomas to perfect the same who neuer fayled of his office and as at all tymes hee admonished him by his letters soe now more amply in wryting hee thought good to perswade his king in manner following To his beeloued Lord Henry by the grace of God King of England Duke of NormaÌdy and Aquitayne and Earle of Anioue Lib. 1. Epist 65. Thomas by the same grace the humble seruant of the Church of Canterbury sometimes temporally his but now much more wisheth him in our Lord all true repentance with amendment Expecting wee haue expected that our Lord would looke vpon you The Epistell of sainct Thomas to King Henry and that beeing conuerted you would doe pennance departing from your peruerse wayes and that you would cut off from you the wicked by whose suggestestion and counsell as it is tought you are now fallen downe allmost into the depth But God forbid it should bee into that depth whereof it is sayde Prouerb 18. The sinner when hee commeth into the depth will contemne And allthough wee haue hetherto forborne in vayne considering in silence and with all affection expectin if any messinger would come and reporting say your sonne king and Lord beeing now long inueagled with deceiptes and drawne on to the Churches destruction by the inspiration of the heauenly clemency in the abundance of exceeding humility hasteneth himselfe for the Churches deliuery with making all satisfaction and amendes Allthough there is yet no such thing wee not withstanding will neuer cease with humble and daily deuotion to beeseech Allmighty God that what wee haue long and earnestly wished both of you and for you wee may with a speedy and fruitefull effect obtayne And beehould thereupon it coÌmeth to passe that the care of the Church of Canterbury ouer whoÌ our Lord hath at this present placed our preistood though vnworthie while you doe there rule the temporall estate doth not soe neerely touch vs in regard of our continued discommodious exile as otherwise moue vs to direct to your Maiestie letters of admonition exhortation and correction that wee bee not to great a dissembler of your offences if any there bee which in verie deede are beeing the ground of our no smale greife those yea cheefely those wee say which concerne the Church of God and his Clergie beeing diuers ways committed by you without regarde of person or dignity and that wee appeare not theerin too negligent to the hazard of your soules saluation For hee is doubtlesse guilty of the facte who forbeareth to amend what hee ought to correct It is written Not only they who doe but those who consent are adiuged partakers of the crime And truly they consent who when they may and ought resist not or at the least reproue not the offendor for the error beeing not resisted is allowed and truth beeing not defended is oppressed neither auoydeth hee suspition of secret association who forbeareth to withstand a manifest offence For as most excellent Prince a small Citty cannot lessen the prerogatiue of a potent kingdome soe ought not your royal power to disturbe or alter the bounds of the Churches religious gouerment It is euer consonant to the rules of iustice that iudgment bee ministred to the preistes of God by a preistly councell The iurisdiction of the Preisthood distinguished from the iurisdiction of the kingdome For Bishopps whatsoeuer they are although as men they run astray yet if they fall not from their faith neither can nor ought they to bee censured by the secular power It is the parte of a good and godly Prince to repaire ruinous and decayed Churches to build them anew to honor the preistes of God and supporte them with all reuerence like Constantine that vertuous Emperor of most famous memory who sayd when a cause of the Clergie was brought beefore him yee ought not to hee iudged by any secular authority who are only reserued to the iudgment of Allmighty God And wee reade that the holy Apostles and their successors whose power is warranted by the word of God himselfe doe command That no persecutions nor disturbances bee raised nor yet that any should enuy them who labour in the feild of our Lord nor that the stewardes of the eternall king should bee banished from their Seas For who maketh question but that Preistes are the Masters and fathers of kinges and all faithfull beeleiuers and is it not then a point of miserable madnes for the sonne to endeauour to bring his father into subiection or the scholler his Master and with vniust lawes to reduce him vnder his rule who as hee ought to beelieue hath power to loose and bind him not only in earth but in heauen alsoe If you are a good and Catholike king and soe will remayne as wee beelieue and hope you will let vs say vnder your Maiesties correction you are a chylde and not a Bishop of the Church and ought to learne of Preistes and not to teach them and in matters Ecclesiasticall to follow them not to guyde them You haue the priuiledges of your power which you haue obtayned from God for administring your temporall lawes to the end that beeing not vngratefull to him for his benefitts you should vsurpe nothing contrary to the disposition of his heauenly order but that with a more sober mynde you should vse those things which now rather perchance through the counsell of the malitious then the inclination of your owne mynde you abuse against his ordinance yeelde therefore speedely with all humility and all manner of satisfaction least otherwise the hand of God beeing bent against you shoote his arrowe at you as at a marke for the Allmighty hath bent his bowe to strike you openly with his arrowe if you repent not Bee not ashamed whatsoeuer the malignant suggest in your mynde and the Traytors not only to you but also to God himselfe doe whispering murmer in your eares to humble your selfe vnder the mighty hand of God for it is hee who exalting the humble throweth downe the prowde who in reuenge for iniuryes offered to him and his beereaueth Princes of their
liues beecause hee is terrible and who can resiste him You ought neuer to forget in what state God did first finde you then how hee promoted honored exalted you how hee blessed you with royal issue confirmed the throne of your kingdome and in despight of all your enemyes inriched you with ample possessions in soe much as to this very houre all men with admiration pronounce This is hee whom our Lord hath chosen And what shall you yeeld or what can you render for all these bountyes beestowed by him on you Will you at their instinct and instance who persecute aboute you the Church and Ecclesiasticall persons and haue euer to their power afflicted them repay euill for good with oppressions tribulations iniuryes vexations to Churches and their Cleargy Are not these the persons of whom our Lord sayth Who heareth you heareth mee who contemneth you despiseth mee who toucheth you toucheth the aple of myne eye If truly leauing all you possesse you take vp your crosse and follow our Lord Iesus Christ hardly shall you yea neuer shall you bee found faithfull and gratefull enough to recompense these his benefitâs receaued Search out the Scriptures of such as knowe them and you shall finde that Saul although chosen by our Lord 1. Reg. 15. 2. Paral. 20. yet neuertheles beecause hee wandred from his wayes was punished with the ouerthrowe of himselfe and his family Ozias also king of Iuda whose fame was spread both far and wyde and was soe highly renowned for the many victoryes beestowed on him by our Lord had to the downefall of his owne destruction his harte so puffed vp in regard that God did at all tymes assist and strengthen him that contemming the reuerence due to our Lord hee would needes vsurpe to himselfe a matter no whit appertayning to his office but only to the preisthoode which was to offer incense on the altar of our Lord and therefore was strooken by our Lord with a leprosy and by the handes of the preistes cast out from the temple of our Lord and soe remayned till his dying day a foule Leper in respect whereof hee was banished the house of Allmighty God In like sorte many other kinges who mightely abounded in riches beecause they walked aboue themselues in the maruelles of this world presuming to rebell against our Lord perished and in the last gaspe found none of their riches left in their handes Moroeuer king Azarias wrongfully intruding himselfe likewise into the preistly office Reg 15. was punished with a leprosie 2. Reg 6. Lastly Oza though not a king but for touching the Arke of our Lord and vphoulding it beeing in danger to fall by reason of the Oxens stumbling yet beecause this appertayned not to his charge but to the offices of the temple beeing wounded by Gods indignation fell headlong dead hard by the Arcke of our Lord A king according to the common prouerbe chastised by the misfortune of an other looketh more narrowly to himselfe For you are neere an euill turne When as your neighbours house doth burne Allmighty God most deere soueraigne would that thinges appertayning to the disposition of the Church should beelong to preistes and not to secular powers who if they bee Christians his deuine pleasure is they should bee subiectes vnto the preistes of his Church Challenge not therefore to your selfe an others office or right neither rayse contention against him by whom all thinges are ordayned for feare least yee seeme to fight against the benefitts of him from whom you receiue your authority It is not the will of Allmighty God that the Clergie of the Christian religion should bee either ordered or censured by publicke lawes or secular Princes but by Bishpps and priestes Christian kinges ought to submitt the excecution of their designes to Ecclesiasticall Pastors and not preferre their customes beefore them For it is written that none ought to pronounce iudgment against preistes but the Church nor doth it beelong to temporall lawes to giue sentence ouer such Christian Princes were wont to obey the Canons of the Church and not to ouerpoyse with their power Ecclesiasticall Constitutions to humble their crowned heades vnto their Bishoppes not to determyne ouer their Bishoppes for two states there are in which doth principally consist this worlds gouerment the Bishoppes sacred authority and the kingly power wherein the worthynes of preisthood is of farr greater weyght beecause they must in the day of iudgment render an accompt of kinges themselues Yee ought truly to knowe that yee are bound to depend on their iudgmentes and not to haue them reduced to your wills For many Bishoppes haue excommunicated some kinges others Emperors and if you would knowe any particulers concerning the persons of these Princes Innocentius excommunicated the Emperor Arcadius beecause hee consented to haue saint Iohn Chrisostome banished out of his Sea Saint Ambrose for one fault which in the eyes of other preistes appeared not so heynous excommunicated and cast out of the Church the Emperor Theodosius the great who hauing made condigne satisfaction obtayned absolution And many others such like are to this purpose 2. Reg. 12. Dauid also hauing committed adultery and murder Nathan the Prophet was sent to him by God to reproue and correct him admonished hee was and soone amended for the king laying asyde his royall Diadem and casting away his Imperiall Maiesty was not ashamed to humble himselfe beefore the face of the Prophet to confesse his synne and craue pardon for his offence what shall I say more conducted by pennance hee beesought mercy and obtayned forgiuenes Bee it so with you o deerest beeloued sonne most renowned king most honored Lord according to the example of most excellent Dauid that most godly king of whom our Lord sayd 1 Reg. 13. I haue found a man according to myne owne harte Bee you in like sorce with a contrite and humble hart conuerted to our Lord God and doe seuere pennance for your sundây excesses for you haue falleÌ downe headlong and erred in many thinges which as yet I conceale expecting if soe bee it our Lord will inspire you so as you may say with the Prophet Haue mercy on mee ô God according to thy great mercy Psal 24.50 Psalm 33. beecause I haue much offended thee and committed sin in thy sight for God is at hand to them who are righteous of harte and will saue the humble in spiritt Thus for this tyme my Lord I write vnto you suppressing the rest in silence vntill I see whether my speech may fasten on you and bring forth of you fruites worthy of pennance that I may heare by the reporte of others and congratulate with them who shall tell mee your sonne and king was dead but is reuiued was lost but is found againe If soe bee that you will not heare mee who was accustomed to pray for you with abundance of teares and exceeding sighes beefore the Maiestie of the body of Christ I will assuredly in
these his disorders To the end therefore most blessed father the authority of the Apostolicke Sea and liberty of the Church of God which in our partes are allmost wholy perished may howsoeuer bee againe able to bee restored it is necessary and by all meanes expedient that what wee haue doââ may by you bee absolutely ratifyed and with your letters confirmed And soe wee wish your Holines long to prosper and flourish The reason why saint Thomas did not excommunicate the king which hee was prepared now to doe and was of the king soe much feared is thus declared by Iohn of Salisbury in his Epistle to the Bishop of Exceter Hauing lately assembled to a counsell at Chynon his peeres and familiars who are knowne to haue the sleyght and practise for contriuing mischeefes and are wise to deuise and effecte wickednes hee carefuly inquired many wayes with forerunning threates protestations what wâre best to bee aduised to preiudice the Church greeuously complayning not without groanes and many sighes yea very teares as the standers by reported of the Archbishop of Canterbury saying that Canterbury would depriue him both of body and soule in the end hee affirmed they were all traytors who would not with their vttermost endeauors and diligence seeke to deliuer him from the molestation of this one man HeereupoÌ my Lord of Roane was somewhat moued in regard of these wordes reprouing him but mildy according to his fashion in the spiritt of lenity whereas the cause of Allmighty God required rather the spirit of seuerity aÌd the authority of à Bishop to bee applyed to his wound who languisheth both in reason and in faith for the greife was the greater by the pressure of the feare conceaued out of the letters written by Canterbury to him and his mother the coppies wherof are sent you for hee feard and not without cause least by the authority and commandement of the Popes holines the sentence of Interdiction should bee instantly pronounced against his land and the like of Accursing against his person Caught therfore in these streyghtes the Bishop of Lexouin sayd there remayned one remedy which was to stay this sentence now ready to strike him with the barre of Appeale So I knowe not how but that truth the more it is resisted the more it excelleth and iustice the more resisted the more preuayleth While the king endeauored by his ancient customes to ouerthrowe Appeales added greater strength vnto them beeing himselfe for his owne safegard constrayned to flye to the refuge of Appeales And therefore from this Parliament as from the face of God and their king were dispatched in all haste the Bishop of Lexouine and likewise Sagien to the often named Lord of Canterbury to the end that by the interposition of an Appeale they might suspend the sentence vntill the Octaues of Easter The Archbishop of Roane vndertooke this iorney also with them not as an Appealant as hee professed but as mediator for peace a thing hee much desired But our Archbishop beeing euen now in hand to deliuer this sentence trauelled to the citty of Swesson to the end hee might there commend the care of this controuersy by prayers to our Blessed lady whose memory is there renowned to saint Drausius The Pilgrimage of S. Thomas to Swisson vnto whom men in their fightes haue refuge and to saint Gregory the Apostle of the Church of England who lyeth in the same towne intombed saint Drausius is a most glorious Confessor who as they of France and Loraigne beelieue maketh the Champions that watch and pray all night at his reliques inuincible soe as both out of Burgundy and Italy men in such necessityes haue recourse vnto him For Robert de Mount-forte beeing to incounter with Henry of Essex vsed there the same deuotion wherefore by this chance through the worke of Allmighty God was made frustrate the diâânt exployte of these king-pleasing Bishoppes beecause comming to Pontiniake they found not the Archbishop whom they should appeale but deluded of their purpose they returned with complaynte that they beestowed their money and trauell and profited nothing The Archbishop hauing watched three days nightes before the reliques of these Saintes the morrow after the Ascension hastened his iourney towardes Vizelliac to the end that there hee might on Whitsonday proceede to the sentence of Accursing against the king and his adherents But by the prouidence of God it hapned beeing in the Church at Regitane the fryday before the same feast it was reported to him as a thing most certayne that the king of England was taken with a desperate sicknes soe as hee could not come to a Parlee with the king of France beeing a matter hee greatly desired and deerely purchased but was enforced to send Richard de Poyters and Richard de Humec to make his excuse who proferd by oath to auerre this the cause of his absence by reason therefore of this beeing deliuered to the Archbishop by a Messinger from the king of France hee deferred the denouncing of this sentence against the king Thus far Iohn of Salusbury concerning the delay of this sentence against the king Then hee proceedeth to speake of the excommunication of them whom wee reade to bee specifyed by name in the letters to the Bishoppe of London and of the accursed customes there condemned by him and how with other letters yet againe hee sent his last and peremptory admonition vnto the king But for the king sayth Salisbury whom hee had beefore as well by letters as Messingers with respect of his regality according to the customes of ãâã Church inuited to satisfaction hee summoned ãâã now with a publick citation to the fruites of pâânance threatening hee would shortly pronounce against him the sentence of excommunication vnles hee reformed his abuses and made satisfaction for these soe greate and wicked attempts against the Church which neuertheles hee would not doe but by constraynte against his will neither was any of his seruantes inclyning to bee the Messinger of his sentence as yet suspended saint Thomas in his Epistle to Pope Alexander writeth thus Wee haue not yet pronounced our sentence on the kings person Cod. Vat. lib 1. Epist 138. but it may bee wee will doe it vnles hee conuerteth his errors and vpon these our admonitions embraceth discipline Thus much saint Thomas Cod. Vat. lib. 1. Epist 116. But how the king dreading this interposed an Appeale is declrared in a letter written by Iohn of Salisbury to the Bishop of Excester where hee beeginneth from the Appeale of the Bishops in this sorte How as touching the publicke estate this was afterwardes diuulged by the affirmation of many how all the Bishoppes of England assembled by the kinges commandement The Bishops interpose an Appeale to the end the sentence promulged by my Lord the Pope might not take place they appealed against their Archbishop who for their safety and the liberty of the Church was neither ashamed nor afrayd to expose his
preferred to his seruice the Archdeanonry of Canterbury the Prouosty of Beuerly the many Churches together with some Prebandaryes and other possessions beeing of no smale value which wee inioyed from our Ancestors disproue that wee were as then soe meane as you say in the worldes reputation But if you ayme at the stemme of our stocke and our parentage They were assuredly of the Citty of London liuing without taynte of credit in the middest of their fellow Cittyzens neither rancked in the lowest degree But that the miste of these wordly conceyptes beeing once vanished wee may with the light of truth bee more rightly discerned which is more glorious eyther to be borne of meane yea the poorest parents or of great and glorious persons since the Apostle saith Weâ cloathe the basest partes of our body with more abundant honor 1. Cor. 12. What auayle our high desentes quoth the Gentil Poet. What hath a Christian a Bishop a Scholler a Religious man to say heerein If you labour by ripping vp the memory of our pouerty to brand vs with confusion how great an offence it is then to confound your father consider in the commandement of our Lord which you haue receaued for honoring your parents Exod. 20. Concerning the fauor of the king soe highly commended to vs through the remembrance of his bestowed benefitts you needed not to haue labored so much therin for wee call the Allmighty to wittnes that wee hould nothing vnder the sunne soe deare as his fauor and prosperity sauing euer to God and his holy Church their freedomes and immunityes for otherwise he can neuer raigne either happely or securely But let it passe since soe it is benefittes towardes vs farre more and more ample then all these your wordes haue yet expressed ought wee for all these yea were they twise soe many to beetray the liberty of Gods Church How far lesse should wee then doe it for the preseruation of a blast of fame which often varyeth from the truth If towards others wee haue proceeded with more leuity yet in this wee will neither spare you nor others nor yet an Angell if he descendeth from heauen but strayght as wee heare him mouing or mentioning this hee shall haue this answer from vs Auant backe Sathan thou doest not relish what appertayneth to God Far bee from vs this franticke folly deliuer vs Lord from this extreme madnes to be perswaded euer through any trecherous falshoode to make a marte of the body of Christ wherin wee may bee compared to Iudas the Traytor and our Soueraigne to the Iewes who chafered for Christ As touching this our high preferment wherunto as you wryte wee were raysed although the mother of our Lord the king disswaded it the realme cryed out against it the Church of God as far as she durst sighed thereat As for the realme wee heard not her exclamations against vs but rather her acclamations of ioy Touching the disswasions of our kinges mother if any such were they neuer passed to the publicke notice of the world it may bee some Ecclesiasticall persons aspiring as is accustomed to this promotion of ours sighed when they perceaued themselues to bee frustrated of this conceaued hope who perhaps at this day in reuenge of this their defeatement are procurers and counsellors of this present dissention But woe bee to him through whom scandal aryseth Yet against these impedimentes with which you formerly taxe vs or against others if any there were the diuine dispensation as now you may plainly see hath preuailed Wee are tryed beefore him who is iustice it selfe and found to preferre none before him who out of his singular mercy hath setled vs in this degree That also which you seeme to propose for the iustification of the kinges Maiestie wee haue not thought meete to bee lightly ouerslipped or without mature examination and wee would to God hee had neuer frayed from iustice and that our complaint against him might haue appeared lesse iustifyable You say hee is and was euer ready to giue satisfaction this you confidently affirme this you proclayme Forbeare heere a litle and answer our demandes In what sence vnderstand you as you call it this preparation to satisfaction See you these of whom God termeth himselfe the father and Iudge wee meane Orphanes widâwes children Innocents yea such as are absolutely ignorant of this our controuersy now in question cast into banishment and are you silent Clearkes rooted out of their countrey and cry you not against it Others spoyled of their goodes and contumeliously abused and doe you not reproue it Our seruantes throwne into prisons and bouâd in fetters and doe you not open your mouth against it Your Mother the Church of Canterburyes possessions with hauocke wasted and doe you not resist it Your father hardly escaping the swoardes euen now threatening to murder him and are you not sensible of sorrowe And what is farre worser are you not asham'd to ioyne with our persecutors against vs God and his Church and that not in secret Is this satisfaction not to correct offences committed and daily to heape more greeuous mischeifes on mischeifes But perhaps you vnderstaÌd this on the will of the wicked Deutro 32. according to the sentence I will imbrewe myne arrowes with blood But you will replye what lay you father to my charge I will answer all in a worde I am a afraide of my coate True sonne too truely you answer and therefore you want a swoard Whereas you wryte hee is ready to stand to the iudgement of his owne kingdome as if this were a worthy satisfaction who is there in earth or in heauen it selfe that can presume to iudge of the diuine dispensation Let human matters bee adiudged but for such as are diuine let them remayne and bee left absolutely vntouched How much better were it brother how much more profitable to him how much more secure for you if you would by all meanes endeauor to incyte to perswade him to fullfill the will of God towardes the conseruation of the peace of his Church not to couet after these thinges which are not committed to this gouerment to honor the preistes of God nor yet to consider what they are but whose seruantes they are You lay to our charge that wee haue abused our selues in a preiudicate proceeding against the Bishop of Salisbury and Iohn of Oxeforde not a Deane as you tearme him but an vsurper of a Deanry wherin you ought to remember that some manifest certaintyes did forerun this iudgment and withall you say you are moued what else A man is afrayd when his neighbors house is on fire and would to God you were well moued from that wnherin you haue vnlawfully stood Let therefore our Lord the king knowe and vnderstand by your relation that hee who raigneth in the Empyre of men and also of Angells hath ordayned two powers vnder him Princes and Preistes one earthly an other spirituall one ministring an other more excellent one to
Acolythy killing some famous man renowned for Religion or dignity should escape free with the losse only of this Order The Clergie therefore vphoulding the Order established from heauen and our Lord the king persecuting only the offence as hee hopeth with a iust hatred and intending to plant his peace more deepely a certaine holy contention arose among vs which wee trust the playne intention of both partyes will excuse with your Holines Heereupon not with any ambition of larger dominion not with any concept of oppressing the Churches liberty but with an affection of confirming peace our Lord the king passed soe farre as hee would produce to light the customes of his kingdome and dignityes anciently obserued and quietly and reuerently yeelded by persons Ecclesiasticall to former kinges in the kingdome of England and to the end no longer thread of contention might heereafter bee spunne hee would haue the same to bee openly knowne Wherefore the most ancient Bishoppes and greatest peeres of the realme beeing first adiured by their faith and the hope which they had in Allmighty God and then making search into the state of forepassed tymes the dignityes of the crowne being sought were layd open and by the testimonyes of men of the greatest accompt in the kingdome were published Loe heere the cruelty of our Lord the king against the Church of God which fame hath soe spread ouer the whole world Lo heere his persecution These are his workes soe diuulged for wicked both heere and euery where Yet neuertheles in all these proceedings if there bee any thing contayned either dangerous to his soule or ignominious to the Church hee hath long since with a most sacred deuotion promised and doth still most constantly continewe in the same mynde especially being admonished and moued with your authority for the reuerence of Christ and the honor of the holy Church whom hee professeth to bee his mother and for the redemption of his soule to reforme the same accordingly as hee shall bee aduised by the Counsell of the Church of his owne kingdome And truly father our solicitation had long since as wee hope obtayned the desired end of this wished peace had not our Father the Lord of Canterbury's bitter prouocations stirred vp anew this discorde now layd asleepe and allmost absolutely extinguished For hee from whose patience wee hitherto expected peace from whose modesty the recouery of the kinges fauor assayled him afresh and without respect of his Maiestie at such time as lately hee led his army against the Peace breakers with seuere and terrible letters no whit sauoring of fatherly deuotion or Pastorall patience but most bitterly threatening him with the sentence of Excommunication and his realme with the payne of interdiction Where as on the other side hee rather ought with admonitioÌs to haue mollifyed him and with meritts and meeknes ouercome him whose humility if it bee soe requited what will bee then determined against the stuborne and contumatious if the ready deuotion of obedience bee esteemed soe slightly in what manner shall willfull obstinacy bee reuenged Yea to these soe greuous threates are yet added matters far more greeuous for hee inuolued in his Excommunication some of his Maiesties Liege men most inward with our Lord the king the principall of his priuy counsell who managed the mysteryes of the kinges estate and the affaires of his kingdome and denounced them publickly excommunicate beeing neuer cyted nor defended neyther as they call it guilty of any cryme nor conuicted nor confessing any thing Yea hee stepped farther in soe much as hee suspended our reuerent brother the Bishop of Salisbury beeing absent vndefended neither confest nor conuicte from his Preistly and Episcopall Office beefore euer the cause of his suspension was approued by the aduice of those of the same Prouince or any others If therefore this course of proceedinges in iudgmentes soe preposterous I spare to say inordinate bee followed concerning the king and kingdome what will bee the end considering the time is euill and yeeldeth great occasion of exceeding malice but that the band of grace and fauour whereby the kingdome and preisthood haue bin hetherto vnited will bee rent a sunder and wee with the flocke committed to our charge bee dispersed into exile or which God forbid falling of from the faith wee owe to you into the miseryes of Scysme bee cast downe headlong into the bottomles pitt of iniquity and disobedience for this is the ready way to the ruine of all relligion and the subuersion and ouerthrowe as well of the Clergie as Layety In regard whereof least in soe miserable a tyme of your Apostolicall raigne the Church bee ouerthrowne least our Lord the king with the people subiect to him fall away which God forbid from your obedience least what someuer our Lord of Canterbury by the counsell of priuate men deuiseth bee in his wrath executed on vs wee haue as well by word as wryting appealed to your excellency against him The Bishoppes appeale to the Pope against their Archbishoppe and his Mandates importing any detriment to our Lord the king and his kingdome vs and the Churches committed to our care and haue designed for the day of our Appeale the day of our Lordes Ascension chusing rather to humble our selues before your Holines in all thinges which shall bee pleasing vnto you then to bee daily according to the lofty motions of his mynde whyle our merittes deserue nothing lesse tediously afflicted Wee beeseech our Allmighty Lord most beeloued father in Christ long to preserue your health to his Churches prosperity Thus farre the Bishoppes Pope Alexander neuerthelesse perseuering in his opinion when hee perceaued the Appeale of the Bishoppes to bee voyde by reason the Appellants appeared not at the designed day confirmed the sentence which saint Thomas pronounced against them which is wittnessed by Salusbury in his letter to saint Thomas saying As it is signifyed to mee from the Citty soe I remember I certifyed you by wryting that my Lord the Pope hath now confirmed your sentence yea hee hath challenged it as an iniury offered himselfe There are also extant Pope Alexanders owne letters written to Saint Thomas to the same purpose after hee perceaued the Bishops did not prosecute their Appeale His wordes are these Wee haue had intelligence as well by your letters as alsoe the certaine relation of many that you pronounced the sentence of Interdiction against Ioceline Bishoppe of Salusbury in regard hee was disobedient to you and hee notwithstanding hee appealed heereupon to our audience and assigned for the tyme of his appeale the Sunday wherin is sung Ego sum Pastor bonus next ensuing neither himselfe at that instant appeared neither sent any one vnto vs to answer for him wherefore wee refusing absolutely to maintayne him in his disobedience and rebellion against you will by Gods grace ratify and confirme the sentence which vpon this occasion you haue giuen against him and haue thought good to leaue the whole busines concerning
away hath wherewith to restore Whereupon Saint Augustine saith If the thing taken away when it may bee restored bee not restored Pennance is not donne but dissembled And in an other place I haue sayd this most confidently that hee who maketh intercession for a man to this purpose that hee may not restore thinges vniustly taken away and hee who compelleth not as farre as honestly hee may the party that in this case flyeth to him to make restitution is partaker of his deceipte and offence for with far greater mercy doe wee forbeare to helpe such men then assist them Bee assured therefore of this make no doubt at all thereof and if any man preacheth contrary to this yea bee it an Angell from heauen let him be accursed and soe shall hee as long as hee perseuereth in this opinion See therefor renowned Lord that in this case you walke warely least the detayning of a thing euill gotten which is but dust and wormes dryue you headlong which God forbid into impenitency and make you subiect to that danger from which you can neuer be cleansed by fasting and prayer In discretion moreouer you ought to vnderstand that allthough all Bishoppes are not Saintes yet possesse they the places of Saintes and allbeeit they shine not with such meritt of life yet ought they to imitate those who haue shyned before them as farre as Gods mercy will giue them grace Because therefore holy men haue fought for the law of their God vnto death and haue not feared the wordes and threates of their persecutors for hee is absolutely more to bee dreaded who is able to cast soule and body into hell fire wee likewise are of necessity bound as far as God will inspire vs to keepe foster and defend his lawes neyther is this to bee imputed to vs as pryde or malice but is imposed on vs as incident to our office For soe sayth our Lord Keepe my lawes And againe in thee Gospell Hee that breaketh one of these least commandements shall bee called the least in the kingdome of heauen Wee beelieue noble Lord you are sufficiently endowed with wisedome and therefore wee humbly beeseech you as our deerest Lord and that in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that you will vouchsafe to heare vs yea with mercy and to heare vs throughly as God may heare and fully heare you at the day of iudgment and receaue you among his elected when assuredly neyther strengh nor power nor empyre nor riches nor secular lawes nor customes can helpe any man nor any thing else but the mercy of Allmighty God with the fruytes of forerunning workes which would to God it might euer remayne fixed in your mynde and thence neuer to departe Let our Lord and king willingly admitt and heare the counsellors who aduise him heerein that God may prosper him and lengthen the life of him and his heires with the blessings of peace for many yeeres neither let them passe in this world vnpunished who with their falshood and exquisite deceiptes haue endeauored to vndoe and disturbe the worthie and vertuous designes of our Lord and king which from the beeginning of his raigne hee conceaued and continued as wee thinke with a iust sincere deuotion for the honoring of Churches and Ecclesiasticall persons God send our Lord euer to florish and that his Church and wee may thereby liue more blessedly God send him long life And thus Saint Thomas not as a iudge threatening with seuere censures but as a father exhorteh and admonisheth his sonne whom hee desireth to deliuer from the sentence of condemnation allthough in vayne his wicked counsellors withstanding it Cod. Vat. lib. 1. Epist 140. And like to this complainte of the kinges counsellors made by Saint Thomas as you haue heard doth Iohn of Salisbury inueigh also against them wryting to Nicholas de Monte of Roan who was to Saint Thomas a most entire freind which shorte epistle because it containeth much matter appertayning to this time wee thought conuenient to bee heere inserted being thus Our Lord disperseth those nations that would haue warres and they who estrange themselues from the peace of God shall vndoubtedly perish What one of the Persecutors of Gods Church hath bin read to haue eschewed the reuenging right hand of our Lord who punisheth the mighty mightely In regarde whereof which without greife I cannot speake our Lord the king of England whom with his heires God if it bee his blessed will preserue is much to bee feared least their kingdome bee rent asunder and the power weakened which they haue abused against the Churche If reuenge bee deferred for the correction and probation of his children whom the mercifull father chasticeth first that hee may afterwardes crowne it is not therefore taken away but that after the patience of the holy it beecommeth more bitter and terrible against the wicked Why then I pray you doth not this most wise man endowed by God with soe greate vertues soe large a dominion and allmost all singular guiftes returne vnto his harte And why cannot the coÌqueror of soe many and mighty cittyes coÌquer his owne intemperance Why doth hee persecuting the Church the only beeloued spouse of Christ inkindle him to wrath who taketh away the spirit of princes and with his owne propper power trampleth on the neckes of the potent Vndoubtedly if hee were aduysed hee would turne the fury of his indignation against them who with their guiles and abuses haue thrust him headlong into this not counsell but downefull and would at the least imitate the king of Babilon that hee might not bee found more cruell then hee who cast them into the Lyons denne by whose counsell hee threw Daniel a prisoner thither that the guilty counsellers might suffer the paynes they deuised against the guiltles Then addeth hee examples of Bishoppes restored by kinges to theire proper Seas wryting thus The Archbishop of Saint Iames who liued long in banishment is now restored by his king The king of the Danes calling home his Archbishop gouerneth by his aduice subdueth his enemyes and honoreth him as his father The Archbishop of Lyons hath receaued againe his Sea and reduced his prouince to the Catholike vnity The cittyes of Italy abandoning Fredericke the Scysmaticke haue entertayned their Catholicke Bishoppes God is my witnes vnles our Lord and king recalleth againe his Archbishop I dread to vtter the feare I conceaue of him but if hee will send for him and render peace to the Church of God I doe assuredly hope that in him and his the glory of his former successes will through the Churches prayers flourish againe what say I more There resteth yet for him one apparant aduice which is that hee banisheth his wicked counsellors the Churches aduersarys and endeauoreth to appease Allmighty God whom hee hath offended against whose diuine pleasure hee can neither raigne nor rule God hath yet endured him with vnspeakeable patience but vnlesse hee beeware as the woeman in labor hee will
it was no lesse greiuous to him that your Holines sent Legates for managing this cause then if you had designed them for depriuing him of his Crowne Neither were they wantinge who ministred fewel to his enflamed mynde Weertupon was occasion giuen of malice and mischeiuous attemptes against vs and the Church of God to them who from the beeginning had myndes and meanes to hurte vs whose wicked purpose your clemency hath nothing changed although your authority repressed their assaultes All this I receaued from a Clearke who is faithfull and deuoted to your Holines who beeing then present did afterwards pruily deliuer the same to mee This one thing most holy father I assuredly know which I wryte not without teares that the glory of your name is somewhat eclipsed because the detraction of your fame is as it were meate and drinke to backbyters and slanderers who like men intoxicated and drunke with wyne teare in peeces your renowne and deuoure it with the iawes of misreportes and these are not the fauorers of my Lord of Canterbury but also his professed foes and that especially since the tyme of his victory and yours as many beeleiued was now at hand for the day of the Appeale beeing past the king was in that feare to see himselfe excommunicated and his whole dominion interdicted as hee sayd openly Hee neither perswaded nor compelled his Bishoppes to appeale and therefore would not intermedle in the matter the Bishoppes themselues were soe mightily troubled and feared soe much to bee interdicted as some of them sent messingers to my lord of Canterbury others were ready to appeare at his summons When Iohn of Oxeforde as your Legate assembling the Bishoppes commanded them by authority from you as it is reported in France that they should not come to the Lord of Canterbury vpon his citation Whereupon Master Robert Bishop of Hereforde beeing at the seas syde ready to passe ouer was recalled againe as in way of excuse was deliuered from him to the Lord of Canterbury by his Messingers beeing religious men and well knowne I beeing then present and therefore soe great a trouble hath inuaded the myndes of many vpon the feare they conceaue of the kinges subtell deuises to the ruine of the Church of EnglaÌd and all Churches within his Dominion together with the ouerthrowe of the Ecclesiasticall liberty and the longer and stronger persecution of the Archbishop For whereas it is sayde by many and that very often that the king hath set vp the rest of his hope on your misfortune and deathe which Allmighty God out of his most mercifull clemency long deferre affirming constantly as it is reported by many that hee will neuer admitt your successor vntill hee hath confirmed all the dignityes and customes of his kingdome It is therefore supposed that craftily and fraudulently hee requesteth the Legates for accomplishing his owne endes and desires as well against the lord of Canterbury as all other Bishoppes of his land or if that fayle yet at the least that hee may put of the excommunication against his person and the interdiction of his dominions and thus winning tyme hee may soe auoyde the authority of the Bishop of Canterbury as if in your Popedome hee bee not bounde hee neede not feare the power of your successor since as many say hee hath resolued not easely to receaue him Wherefore most wise father such as thirst after the spirit of God and peace of the Church desire with all the affection of their myndes that our Lord will styrre vp in you the spirit of Daniel to search out the sleyghts of Bell Daniel 14. and to kill the Dragon For which they beseech God with their deuoute and continual prayers God prosper your Holines with many yeeres Thus far Lumbard whom one reporteth to haue bin the renowned diuine who flourished in Paris and beeing properly called Peter Lumbard liued in these dayes You haue heard the complayntes of the king of France and others expressed in Lumbardes letter Heare now the exulting and insulting of the king of England deriued from this vnfortunate fountaine beeing no litle cause of lamentation to all well disposed myndes For there is extant to this purpose an epistle of Iohn of Salisbury written to Iohn Bishop of Poytiers wherin after other thinges hee sayth thus of the king of England Moreouer the king himselfe toulde the Bishop of Worcester that hee and all other Bishoppes were now exempt from the Lord of Canterburys power and commanded him not to feare any threates for hee had now my Lord the Pope and all the Cardinalls in his purse and soe far hee vaunteth as hee sayth openly hee hath now at last obtayned the priuiledge of his Grand father beecause in his owne land hee was a king a Legate a Patriarcke and Emperor and what hee list Cod vât lib. 1. epist 1â8 and soe would he bee wherin as it is probable hee aymed at the Church of Rome For what could Octauianus or the Archhereticke of Crema haue don more for him How could their Cardinalls haue pleasured him more then the forenamed Cardinalls sent from Pope Alexander who whetted the tongues of England and made them spitt fire and poyson to terrify the Pope and subiect him to their will This will bee regestred in the Chronickles of the Roman Church and doubtlesse God permitting it there will not want Historiographers to recorde that at the petition and threates of the king of England whose intollerable excesses hee had soe long endured the Champion of liberty the preacher of iustice now liuing with an infinite number of Innocents for the cause of Allmighty God as yet foure yeeres in banishment without any respect of reason or lawe as a man guilty was depriued by the Pope of his office not vpon any offence of his but only to please a Tyrant And yet neuerthelesse vnder his letters patents remayning with vs was granted him to exercise in his ample right the power of his office wherein is expressed that hee neither gaue nor restrayned the mandate for the kings excommunication O good God what a nouelty haue wee heere Isaia 58. The holy Ghost biddeth in his lawe Crye out cease not and loe an other spirit of what fashion I knowe not issuing out from the Citty into the world sayeth to the Preachers cease crye not 2. Tim. 4. The Apostle instructing a Bishop commanding biddeth Accomplish thy ministery And lo the Apostolicall man willeth saying desist from the ministery of thyne office Yet perchaÌce hee supposeth hee can with patience mollify his mynde but hath hee not a sufficient tryall to the contrary in the Bishoppe of Canterbury who hauing bin allmost foure yeeres depriued of his Sea hath felt the remisnes of the Sea Apostolicke and the Tyranny of the king beeing all this while exposed to windes Let therefore I pray you my Lord the Pope bee ashamed of such a conscience and haue a care of his fame honor and preseruation of the Church
and intimate this vnto him with more diligence and perswade my Lordes the Cardinalls to remember the iudgment of Allmighty God to which Tribunal the poore of Christ doe with their prayers dayly flye against all the Aduersaryes of the Churches liberty Thus sayeth Salisbury who somewhat too boldly carpeth the estimation of soâ noble a Pope whom in his epistles hee often commendeth excuseth defendeth But to the end reader you may vnderstand that it is dangerous to speake euill and rashly to iudge of the high Bishop heare I pray you the true defence of Pope Alexander without which it is vnworthy I should inserte all this in the Chronickles of the Church of Rome For I shall not discharge the parte I vndertake for bringing to light the truth of the history if I shall not vntwyning set it free out of the intangling errors and false assertions with which hee and his actes are wronged while thinges layd vniustly to his charge are accepted as certaine without a dilligent axamination of the truth which I will make appeare out of the epistles of diuers persons whereby these reportes blazed abroade by Iohn of Oxeforde will bee reiected as vntrue Marke therefore reader You haue seene for the space allmost of foure yeeres beeing fully three yeeres and a halfe the Controuersy of the Ecclesiasticall liberty beetweene the king and Saint Thomas and together with him the Church of Rome beeing tossed in delaye daylie declyning to the worse the king or Bishoppes neuer con descending to submitt themselues to the iudgment of the Archbishop of Canterbury from whom as you haue heard the king together with the Bishoppes appealed to the Roman Sea and by their deputyes prosecuted the same Appeale desiring by them that a Legate a Latere might bee sent into England In which petition of theyrs it is first a falshood that as it is affirmed the king requested onely a Legate for England which was the Cardinall of Papia For heare the same Salisbury Our king saith hee requireth that WilliaÌ of Papia and another Cardinall bee sent as Legates c. And the Pope fearing least one of them beeing the kings frind there might come any damage thereby to the contrary parte his Holines chose such an one to bee his associate as by his eminent vertue might withstand him if hee would attempt any thing against right and equity whom also hee knew to fauor the Bishop of Poytiers treating of both the Legates in his letter to saint Thomas wryteth to this William of Papia sayth hee as it is reported my Lord Oddo the Deacon Cardinal de Carcere Tulliano is associate and I wish it soe for a fauorable and well disposed starre may by coniunction if it cannot extinguish the malice of an euill affected starre yet at the least temper and extenuate the same Moreouer that his Holines designed the same legates not to decyde the controuersy as it was publickly reported according to Iohn of Salisburyes saying but to compose a peace the letters of the same Pope Alexander yet extant doe playnly witnes But to the end saint Thomas might rest secure of any feare from the sayde William the Legate Alexander aboue all other thinges made him promise not to attempt any matter against the Archbishop of Canterbury I will relate the very wordes of Pope Alexander in his epistle to Saint Thomas and truly sayth hee you may remayne absolutely confident in the Cardinalls neyther ought you any way to doubt of the mentioned William because wee haue streyghtly and precisely inioyned him to employ his whole power to worke your peace and hee made vs soe faithfull a promise thereof that wee haue no doubt of the contrary And more that hee might very much preuayle in procuring the peace the matter beeing throughly considered by reason of his intire familiarity with the king the same Salisbury conceaued in his mynde and expressed in wryting to the Legate in these wordes but in the meane tyme I hope this your familiarity with the king which to many is soe suspicious will bee profitable to the Church necessary to you gaynfull to him and to vs glorious Beesides this Alexander endeauouring to make a peace beetweene the Archbishop and the king commanded not as the kings messinger lying fouly sayd that this should bee accomplished with detriment to the Churches liberty but contrarywise would haue aboue all thinges a speciall prouision for the Ecclesiasticall lawes soe as in this pointe saint Thomas had no cause of doubt that the liberty of the Church should heerein sustaine any damage at all as in the same letters the sayd Bishop deliuered Againe that there was nothing granted by Alexander to the Bishoppes excommunicated by saint Thomas as Oxeford falsly affirmed but that at the houre of death they might bee absolued with a caution confirmed by oath as the letters which his Holines wrote by the same Legates to the Bishops of England doe manifest Neither yet was that true which with excessiue boasting Oxeforde did lying spread abroade among all men Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 3. how the king was exempted from the Archbishoppes authority but that his power ouer the king was only suspended while the Legates treated as the peace in like case and space as there is beetweene aduerse armys an abstinence of warre during a parlee And if peace tooke no place that Saint Thomas might then vse his authority against the king Alexander in his letters sent to S. Thomas thus playnly declareth But if perchance which God forbid the king shall determine with a hardened harte to persist in his obstinacy nor yet will as now yeeld any thing to the will of Allmighty God our admonition and his owne honor in his reconciliation to you and yours with the peace of the Church If afterwardes you thinke conuenient to execute the seuerity of a due reuenge vpon the kingdome and the persons of the same subiecte to your iurisdiction bee it either in regard of your Primacy or Legantyne power you shall reuenge the iniuryes offered to your selfe and your Church as you shall thinke fitting with reseruation of grauity and maturity of iudgment becomming your Pontificall dignity And to the pointe that Pope Alexander dealte bountifully with Iohn of Oxeforde the kinges messinger at his comming to Rome beestowing on him the Deanry of Salisbury which beeing extorted from his Bishop hee surrendred vp into te handes of his Holines and that done the wretched and alltogether vnwortthie maÌ receaued the same from the Pope againe For the Popes excuse heerein Iohn of Poytiers wryteth thus in his letters to saint Thomas Iohn of Oxeforde woon the more grace in the Popes sight in regard hee suggested to his Holines that a peace might bee concluded beetweene you and the king if there were but one to deale faithfully in the busines and promised to doe his owne vttermost endeauor for the performance thereof And addeth hee was absolued from his excommunication by the Pope in respect hee abiured the
kinges customes the very ground of all this terrible discord Thus therefore by reason of the faire promises and a false pretence of contriuing a peace Pope Alexander was deceaued by him who is found a notorious lyar in this that vpon his returne hee publickly reported how by priuiledge of his Holines hee wââ exempted from the iurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury For that the Archbishoppes authority was only suspended during the continuance of the Lâgantine power and no way abrogated what beefore is sayd doth playnly showe And Pope Alexander wryting the next yeere to the Legates against this Iohn of Oxeforde who had dispercing sowed such falshoodes in the myndes of all commanded him to bee punished with a most seuere iudgment And these letters shall also in their proper place bee recyted All this haue wee sayd to wash away the fowle slanders which Iohn of Oxeforde bruted in England against Pope Alexander and which Iohn of Salisbury too credulous relished soe ill for a tyme for although as you haue seene hee spoake hardly against Pope Alexander yet afterwardes againe hee commendeth and in parte excuseth him in regarde what hee did was vpon constraint of necessity For writing to saint Thomas hee sayth Neither haue I any greate confidence of the Courte of Rome whose manners and necessitys are well knowne to vs Pope Alexander indeede is a holy and iust man but his extremityes are soe many and soe greate is the couetousnes and wicked dealing of the RomaÌs as sometymes hee stretcheth to the vtermost of his power and procureth by dispensation that which is sayd to bee profitable to the common wealth allthough vnprofitable to Religion And againe neyther bee yee discomforded if yee see in the Roman Courte somewhat worthy of reprehension remeÌbring in the Gospell how the faithfull are commanded not to imitate the workes of them who fit in the chaire of Moyses but to followe their doctrine But hee corrected absolutely this and all the rest of his last letters written vpon this occasion after better discouery of the busines handling the whole matter from the very first comming of this most vilde man Iohn of Oxeforde and wryting to Myles Bishop of Moryn in this sorte If any man will dilligently consider the preceedinges at Rome hee shall apparantly see how the Pope albeeit circumuented yet neuertheles most faythfully handled the cause of the Church and vs. For the often recyted Iohn of Oxeford beeing in the end vpon his oath according to the custome absolued swoare againe publickly that hee did nothing in the aforesayd Conuentickle of Scysmaticks against the faith of the Church and the honor and commodity of my Lord the Pope And I would to God hee had not bin periured Afterwardes hee deliuered letters of commendation and Petition from the king wherin was written that credit should bee giuen to him in all thinges as to the king himselfe Then boulstred out with soe greate an authority hee submitteth the cause in controuersy betweene the king and the Archbishop for the wicked customes to the arbitriment of his Holines that at his pleasure they should bee either confirmed or cancelled and binding this also with another oath hee preuayled soe farre as the Pope yeelded to send his Legates to this purpose Thus sayth Salisbury whereby you may see that a man promising soe much and that not idely but fortifyed with the letters of a king and mayntayned with oathes ought not to passe vnrewarded from the Pope which rewarde his Holines beestowed as the same Author witnesseth in the Epistle next ensuing for hee sent him backe into England endowed with a Ring and preferred to the benefice of a Deanry whereupon hee grew to falsify with more confidence and had far better occasions to coulor his deceyptes And I would to God I could excuse as well as the Pope some of the Cardinalls who were corrupted with golde but God forbid I should purge with excuse that which deserueth exceeding reprehension yea I haue euer sayde these deade flyes loosing the odor of their oyntmentes are to bee prosecuted with most bitter inuectinnes The king of England endeauoreth to corrupt the Cardinalls with bribes The king of England sent therefore by the Embassadors to Rome certayne poundes of gould to bee distributed among the Cardinalls Many entertayned fowly these giftes others to their great commendation absolutely refused them beecause they beelieued these rewardes of kinges turned to the reproach of the Apostolicke Sea which assuredly soe happened for by reason heereof were raysed most greeuous scandalls and the face of the holy Church the spouse of Christ was much darkened for marke I pray you heereupon the iust complaynte of saint Thomas vttered in his epistle to the Archbishop of Mountes I speake sayth hee with greife a thing much to bee lamented Ibidem epist 21. the Citty of greate renowne which hath conquered allmost the whole world is surprysed beeing ouerthrown with the couetousnes of earthly fauor and shee who could neuer perish with the swoard yeeldeth thorough the infection of an accidentall poyson O greife in her fall is euery where found the losse of the Churches liberty for the grace of a temporall commodity A breach is made to her ruine by the subtell sleyghtes of riches shee practiseth dishonestly as a harlot who lyeth openly in the streete to the lust of many euery mighty man committeth fornication with her These and other the like with great bitternes of his mynde did Saint Thomas euen now at the poynte of his glorious Martyrdome poure out into the eares of his faithfull frind vpon occasion of this gould so sent by the king of England to corrupt the Courte of Rome Heare you also the complayntes of the Bishop of Poytiers wryting there of to Lumbardâ in this sorte Ibidem epist 32. The king moreouer vaunted that hee had such frindes in the Courte as could quashe all the attemptes of the Archbishop of Canterbury and were so diligent in following all his busines as the Arbishop could not deliuer a petion nor obtayne the least fauor but hee had present intelligence thereof by his frindes yea wee knowe they re names whose assistance he vseth and haue lately dealt in courte that the cause of God and the power of Christ might be soulde at a vylde rate neither truly was there a multitude in the commutation of them and was it possible there should bee such ounces of golde as could enforce them to fall who should haue bine the very pillars of the Church And the king is soe puffed vp with this tryumph as they cannot conceale in his Pallace but must needes blab what Cardinalls they were who would not taste of that pestiferous and infamous gold and on the other syde who they were who disposed of the money in what sorte it should bee distributed to some more to some lesse according as euery of them did more or lesse deserue in this worke of the subuersion of iustice Thus wryteth hee of
the matter Concerning those who scorned they re gold The Cardinalls who abhorred those bribes Ibidem epist 54. among others were Humbald and Hiacinth most renowned Cardinalls of the sacred Roman Church the frindes of saint Thomas of whom an epistle is extant written by the Saint wherin is most honorable mention made of their contempt of gold because to their eternall commendation they not only forbare to touch the kind of Englands golde but alsoe bountefully and charitably beestowed their owne on the English being poore banished men suffering for the Churches cause For Saint Thomas sayth others comfort vs with wordes but your bounty releeueth vs with your substance and your workes you haue lamented our misfortune and the Churches calamity and esteemed heere as your owne the miserys of the poore banished for Christ the most iust Iudge âender you in that day the rewardes of your brotherly Charity and the ãâã of your true coÌpassion which promiseeth to the mercifull abundance of mercy you haue not wandred after gold with the bayte whereof to our exceeding huâââe and the confusion of the Apostolike Sea some haue bin caught by whose procurement the king of England hauing receaued the Apostolicall letters which hee caused to bee read in the streetes of either kingdome vaunted that hee had tryumphed ouer the Church of Rome nor without cause for hee hath obtayned his desire and now at his owne pleasure hee maketh hauocke in the Church of God without controulment of any hoping my lord the Pope which God forbid or my selfe should according to his owne wish in the meane tyme dye And afterwardes hauing rehearsed his lamentable distresses hee wryteth thus againe of the gold bestowed at Rome our Lord knoweth who are his and the Church now partly knoweth who are not hers For the king of England boasteth openly who are his neither is it concealed to how many and to whom his gould was giuen but his bounteous giftes were the spoyles of vs the spoyles of the poore of the crucifyed the spoyles of Christ himselfe yea soe great was the least portion of their spoyles And therefore thus beecause the king heereupon sacriligiously vsurpeth the most ample reuenues of the Archbishopricke of Canterbury wee cannot I say nor ought to excuse these offences soe foule and detestable for who are in this sorte enthralled with the royall golde are become therby leaden and in estimation deformed beeing for their leuity flexible they are in the burden of their conscience heauy to God hatefull exposed to the derision of men and to bee troaden vnder foote as salte wanting taste which is afterwards of no value Destroy them ô Goâ before they infect the holy Church which is without spott or wrickle Confound them ô God beefore they beetray the Church into the handes of the Layety let these errors of their Predecessors bee a greater example and warning to their Successors ANNO DOMINI 1168. The yeere 1168. Legates sent to the King of England together with the first Indiction now followeth in the beeginning of which yeere and the Kalends of Ianuary the Legates a latere designed to goe from the Citty to the king of England vndertooke theyr iourney the exacte tyme of this their voyage is signifyed in the letters written by Iohn Bishop of Poytiers to Saint Thomas in these wordes Cod. Vrt. lib 1. epist 163. these two Legates I meane William of Papia Preist Cardinall of the tytell of Saint Peter ad vincula and Oddo Deacon Cardinall of Saint Nicholas in carcere Tulliano passed on their way in the Kalends of Ianuary making haste to our partes but although they departed ioyntly together out of the Citty yet went they not one but seuerall wayes deuyded in their trauailing vnto France determining to meete together at the Citty of mount Pessulan But beefore wee proceede farther in the history let vs see what letters Pope Alexander deliuered to the Legates that you may perceaue to what purpose hee sent them the letters of the Legacy are yet extant of which some were directed to S. Thomas others to the king of England which heere wee are to recyte out of the same written booke add first these letters to S. Thomas in these wordes Eib. 2. epist 1. The Popes letters to S. Thomas That wee haue not often with our letters visited your owne person the reason as you may vnderstand was in regarde wee haue bin often carefull to make knowne to you by messingers and word of mouth such thinges as wee thought not conuenient to commit to wryting But now wee would haue your discretion to bee certifyed that wee with all our harty affection desiring your peace haue sent our beeloued sonnes William of the Titell of Saint Peeter ad vincula Preist with Oddo of Saint Nicholas in carcere Tulliano Deacon Cardinalles vnto our most deere sonne in Christ the famous king of England to exercise the office of Legates in his Dominions on this syde the seas which is done especially to make a finall conclusion and agreement beetweene you and the king and by the grace of God to bring all to a charitable end Wherfore in regarde wee esteeme your peace to bee all one with that of the Church neither doe for any cause more desire the same then in that wee suppose the vniuersall Church shall receaue greater vtility therby wee doe by these our Apostolicall letters entreate admonish counsell and command your brotherhood carefully to consider how dangerously the state of this presente tyme standeth and how much the Church committed to your charge wanteth your presence and councell and therefore to endeauor a peace and inclyne your mynde and will to lay a sure foundation of concord beetweene you and the a foresayde king as far as may stand with the reputation of you and your Church And although all thinges doe not heerein succeede according to your hartes desire yet wincke at them for a season intending by godes grace in processe of tyme to reduce to the former state such matters as are to bee amended Neither yet in regarde of the worde which according to your petition wee signifyed to our most deere sonne in Christ the renowned king of Fraece doe you in any case fall of or estrange your mynde or will from peace and the benefit of concord so long as in the couenaÌtes thereof you may preserue as wee haue sayde the honor of your selfe Church vntouched because you may heereafter by litle and litle with discretion roote out many misdemeanors which if you should at this instant attempt would bee matters of greate moment And concerning these two Cardinalls you may bee confident in them nether ought you any way to mistrust the aforesayde William because wee haue streyghtly and seuerely commanded him to bend his whole power to the compassing of your peace and this hath hee so faithfully promised as wee can neuer misdoubt the contrary Moreouer wee entreate and admonish your brotherhood that you would carefully deale
searcher of hartes how wee conserue still in our breastes a tender affection vnto you For truly as to our remembrance wee haue signifyed often to your wisedome wee haue with all the care wee could labored to eschewe the suspicion of the king of England to the end wee might in processe of tyme bee a more effectuall meane for composing a peace beetween him and you and with all retayne still the deuotion and zeale of soe greate a prince to the Apostolike Sea And beeing now designed together with our reuerent brother Oddo a Cardinall Deacon to passe into his Signioryes for determination of the matters in controuersy beetweene you and him in such sorte as wee shall see most expedient for the Church of God wee exhorte earnestly and perswade your discretion that setting a syde as much as in you lyeth those thinges which are accustomed to beeget the causes of greater dissention you would with dilligent care bee atteÌtiue to that which can best procure a concord For wee will bend our myndes as much as by Gods grace wee may to deale without any respect of persoÌs for this peace and your profit leauing nothing vndone as the proofe God willing shall make playne which wee can possibly effect for the honor of God and his Church Thus wrote William the Cardinal and Legate to saint Thomas who answered as followes To his reuerent Lord and freind worthy of loue Vvilliam by the grace of God Preist Cardinall of the tytell of Saint Peter advincula and Legate of the Apostolike Sea Thomas by the same grace the humble seruante of the Church of Canterbury wisheth health and courage against the insolency of Princes Ibidem epist The hater letters of Thomas to William the Legate Wee yeelde thankes to your charity for vouchsafing now at the last to visite with your excellencyes letters our poore afflicted person which is measured of many by the state of our present fortune not by what is paste yet God may heereafter out of his mercy when it pleaseth him and to him shall seeme conuenient restore vs agayne to better In that you say wheras many suppose you are not soe throughly affected to vs the reason heereof is the Churches greate vtility least otherwise beeing held in suspicion by the king hee should bee therby lesse deuoted to the sacred Roman Church and not soe much encline to composition of a peace with vs God the searcher of hartes best knoweth and the euent of thinges will declare If at this instant you come into his dominions as your letters signify for decyding the controuersyes beetweene vs and him in such sorte as to the Church you shall see most profitable it is a thing possible But wee are of opinion that wee certainly knowe to what intent you are come and how wee ought to receaue you whereupon wee desire in our lord most instantly to exhorte your wisedome foe to bee haue your selfe in this busines as therby God may hee honored the Church relieued and wee restored to glory amyd the people and in our nation If any fauor or peace fall to vs by your labor and industry wee shall therfore thanke God and your diligent care And wee wish you would weygh with a tender affection and compassion how greate agreiuances wee and the Church of England haue sustayned and doe as yet endure and how much the vniuersall Church is impeached in our sufferance On this busines we cast the eyes of all and all expect the conclusion thereof the insolency of Princes will eyther exalte their hornes or as they worthily deserue bee suppressed And I wish they may rather by this your comming sustayne losse then recouer strength God send you now and euer well to fare that wee and the Church may thereby fare the better Thus saint Thomas But in regard William the Legate not only in his letters to saint Thomas and others but also in wordes did openly vaunte that hee came as a Iudge of this controuersye and did vsually with greater pride and insolency vnaduisedly boaste in this sorte saint Thomas sending a messinger to Rome Saint Thomas complayneth to the Pope against Vvilliam the Legate Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 22. did presently complayne thereof to Pope Alexander by his letters wherin after hee had first set beefore his eyes howe far forth God had assisted him in conquering the pryde of the Emperor who was dreadfull to the whole world hauing experienced thereby that the helpe of Allmighty God was on his syde for the defence of the Church against any Tyrants whatsomeuer hee had now as hee sayde learned not to feare Then hee descendeth to William of Papia I would moreouer haue your Holines vnderstand that what wee dreaded is beefallen vs and what wee foretould is now apparant concerning the pryde and presumption of the lord William of Papia as you may well perceaue by these letters hee sent vs instantly vpon his comming from whom wee expected according to the tenor of your mandate to my Lord the king of France and vs rather comforte for the recouery of peace then confusion for decyding of controuersyes beetweene the king of England and vs. For hee is not the person vnto whose authority in this case wee ought to be subiect especially since hee was rather procured to come vpon the kinges instant intreaty to you then any way compelled or sent by you Wee suppose truly it is not agreable to lawe wee should bee enthralled to the iudgment or examination of him who seeketh to make his commodity of our blood let him not therfore goe about to purchasse to himselfe by the prize of our life the name and glory of iniquity Thus hee wrote because as it appeareth out of other letters it was helde for certayne that the king of England had promised William the Archbishoppricke of Canterbury if hee could depriue Thomas of the same Hee proceedeth Wee doe therfore earnestly beeseech you father if as yet you haue care of vs to abrogate his authority at leaste soe far as it concerneth vs and our causes in controuersy But let vs see what Oddo the Deacon Cardinall the other Legate à Latere did wryte to Saint Thomas who signifyed somewhat though not much by letters of greate note concerning his iourney leauing matters of more secrecy to the relation of the messinger hee sent The letter hee wrote was thus To the worthyly beloued father and his most deare brother Thomas by the grace of God Archbishop of Canterbury Oddo by the same grace Deacon Cardinall of the sacred Roman Church and Legate of the Apostolike Sea sendeth greeting The letter of Oddo the Legate to S. Thomas Ibidem epist 4. Wee certifye your dearely beeloued selfe that after our iourney vndertaken vpon our Lord the Popes commandement passing through hazardable places of exceeding greate danger wee arriued in the end by the conduction of Allmighty God in Venice our enemyes the Scysmatikes lying on euery syde in ambushments ready to intercept vs
of peace establshed at Easter but vpon new occasions broke out a rupture of warre againe whereupon it was necessary the couenantes after our Lordes Ascention should once more bee reuiued sauing the king of France would not bee obliged to beestowe his daughter on Richard the king of Englands sonne Thus is it there related at large And yet although Pope Alexander as hath bin sayde admonished by letters his Legates who were sent into France that setting other busines a parte they should only bend their forces to reunite the kinges soe rent in warres neuertheles one of the Legates William of Papia not performing as it was beeseeming the office of a Mediator far from indifferency which declineth in affection to neither parte beecame presently an absolute partaker with his frind Henry king of England Vvilliam the Legate taketh partâ with the king of England Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 32. The discourse of the incounter of the two kinges whereupon the king of France was somewhat moued against him There remayneth a perfect declaration of all this in wryting contayning other thinges worth the knowledge and is set downe in the letter of Iohn of Salisbury sent to Master Lumbard in these wordes When the kinges were come to the place appointed for conference Ewdo earle of Britane and Rowland of Dynamen broke into many and greeuous coÌplayntes to the king of FraÌce against the king of England but Edwo especially beewayled that his daughter who beeing yet a virgen was deliuered into his handes for a pledge of peace was afterwardes gotten with child by him beeing therin a Traytor adulterer and intestious For the king and Ewdoes wife were borne of two sisters But the Earle of Angolysme and Marche with the Vice-count of Doway Robert de Sylly Geffrey de Licimacke Henry de Rancore and the Abbot of Caroffy pleaded for restitution of losses they incurred by the king of England and his subiectes after the truce was taken For the Abbot affirmed his Monastery appertayned to the Dominion of the king of France since the tyme of Charles the greate who was their founder And a little after The king of France hauing there vnderstood that the Cardinall sate in the king of Englandes counsell incensed sayde hee had not deserued of the Church of Rome that the Cardinall as hitherto hee had euer donne should fauor his enemyes and that at this instant hee woulde not receaue any thing for the loue hee bore to the Earle or Cardinall but only for his owne right c. And after many matters hee addeth that the parlee of the kings beeing ended the king of England with greate ostentation vaunting shewed the Popes letters wherby hee had enioyned Saint Thomas not to publish any excommunication or interdiction against the king or any of his English soe long as the Legates remayned there suspending him thus from his authority and boasted that hee had with tryumph in a sorte obtayned of the Church of Rome whatsomeuer hee desired of the Pope The procurer of these letters was one of the Legates William of Papia Iohn of Salisbury openeth and deliuereth the whole matter in his epistle to the Archdeacon of Excester where wee thus reade It is apparant the letters whereby the king gloryeth that hee hath restrayned my Lord of Canterburys power vntill hee reconcyleth himselfe vnto his royall fauor were purchased by this deuice The often mentioned Papia knewe how my Lord of Canterbury had obtayned authority from the Apostolike Sea to publish against the king the sentence of excommunication and against his kingdome the like of Interdiction vnles the kinge within a tyme limited by the letters made full restitution to the Church of all thinges taken away with ample satisfaction wherfore hee wrote to my lord the Pope beeseeching him with a lamentable petition to proceede with the king in a milder fashion otherwise the king to the shame and eternall disgrace of the Church of Rome according as hee hath resolued if hee were more rigorously handled would caste as well himselfe as his Associate Oddo into chaynes and prisons where they should passe a life abridged with miseryes yea a tyme more terrible then death it selfe perswading thefore his Holines that the king intended thus to tyrannize hee obtayned for contenting him and continuing the free liberty of himselfe and his associate whereby they might the easyer trauell in these affaires this Apostolicall letter which hath so much afflicted the myndes of you and all other true Catholikes Soe wryteth Salisbury of this letter so fraudulenty procured from his Holines by William of Papia one of the Legates By reason heereof the king of France grewe wonderfully discontented with Pope Alexander which the elected Bishoppe of Charters perceauing certifyed his Holines thereof wryting thus of the king of France Among all the kingdomes of this world in my opinion there is not one which hath continually shewed a faith more sinceare a charity more feruent a deuotion more plentifull to the Sea Apostolike then that of France There is not one among the kinges and princes who obeyeth your Mandates with more humility honoreth the Church and Ecclesiasticall persons with more deuotion and defendeth them with greater endeauors then our most Christian king There is not a Church which hath bin more seruiceable to the Church of Rome in all her distresses then that of France This Church of France and the king himselfe beecame sutors to your Holines on the beehalfe of my Lord of Canterbury who hath for the Churches liberty and defending the dignity of your Maiestie continued a banished man in exile now fower whole yeeres There pleadeth against him before your Holines a Tyrant a persecutor of the Church and to the kingdome of France open enemy whose iniquity is notorious to all men And yet notwithstanding which I am ashamed to speake and greiue to see malice hath hetherto preuayled in vanity For why when as hee lately came to a parlee with the most Christian king where by the mediation of the Earle of Flanders who inuited my Lord of Canterbury thither The king of England vaunteth of the suspeÌsion of S Thomas from proceeding against him there was earnest endeauoring to renew a peace to the Church hee caused to bee read in the hearing of his Bishoppes and Peeres the Apostolicall letters wherin was decreede that the aforesayde Canterbury should not publish any sentence against him or his land nor yet any way molest any person vnder his Dominion untill hee were reconcyled to the king Vpon the hearing whereof the most Christian king was confounded and the whole realme together with all the children of the Church conceaued exceeding greife to see a iust man a reuerent Bishoppe suspended without cause and that there proceeded from the Apostolike Sea a wryting that would proue soe pernicious a President Cod Vat. lib 2. epist â0 Thus wrote William the Elect of Charters whose singular commendation Iohn of Salisbury in his letter to Iohn Bishope of
Poytiers setteth forth in these wordes A man assuredly of greate hope of high fame of eminent authority And a little after There is not in the Clergy of France I sperke it from my harte who excelled him for wisedome and eloquence Moreouer the king of France sent letters importing as much to his Holines And saint Thomas himselfe hath his letters yet extant which hee wrote to Manfred the Cardinall to Bernard Bishop of Portua and to Humbald and Hiacinth Cardinalles Ibidâm epist 52. all tending to that purpose But this concerning the suspencion was graunted by the Pope beefore hee vnderstood the aforesayde deceiptes of Iohn of Oxeforde Ibidem epist 54. Ibid epist 55 which beeing once discouered hee was incensed with such a zeale against this trechery that hee suspended presently the Legates from approaching to the king and with his letters comforted Saint Thomas all which is witnessed in the letters of Iohn of Salisbury to Syluester where first hee wryteth of the most magnificent intertaynement of sainct Thomas by the king of France in these wordes The most Christian king of France receaued my Lord of Canterbury at Senon with royall magnificence in the Church of S. Columb Ibid epist 90 and in all respectes doth soe honor and reuerence him as beeseemeth the Christ or anoynted of our Lord to bee entertayned by a most Christian man yea in the eyes of that most faithfull Prince as himselfe confesseth the dayes seeme few and the expences small in comparison of the great loue which hee beestoweth in the seruice of the Preist of Christ and of this Apostolicall man and therefore this faith which with humility hee practiseth I beeseech God with worthy retribution to rewarde whose bounty it is that liuing in the middest of his enemyes without blood or war hee prospereth in all thinges and which most highly hee esteemeth is beloued and greatly respected by his subiectes 2 Reg. 6. as Obededon the Gethean vpon receauing the Arcke of God found the fruites of a diuine benediction in the fertility of his hand-maydes and flockes together with the multiplying of his whole possession 2. Paral. 34. 35. ibidem 20 and as Olela for receauing the same Arcke being cast out of the Temple of our Lord by Achaz obtayned in the silence of the Bishoppes and Preistes the grace of Prophesy This most Christian king receauing into his realme the Church of Rome in the person of Pope Alexander had by his wife a sonne and by Gods grace heyre of his faith and kingdome a thing which aboue all others he most earnestly desired and now for his charity to the afflicted Church of England hee confidently expecteth an other reward which God of his goodnes giue him My lord the Pope hath of late as well by message as letters recomforted the Archbishoppe of Canterbury and I would to God the world vnderstood with what sleyghtes and deuices the notorious swearer procured that whereof the Aduersaryes of the Church doe soe gloriously vaunte And a littel after These thinges are yet vpon the necessity of obedience concealed from the world but our hope is that all will bee shortly published beecause as wee certainly heare the comming of the Legates which hath by them binne soe gladly expected is now suspended or rather frustrated vpon the discouery of Oxeforde the swearers falshood Thus Salisbury Yet indeede the comming of the Legates to the king of England beeing for a tyme suspended was not suffered to proceede vntill almost the later end of Autumne But Pope Alexander receauing soe many complaintes by the letters of sundry persons for suspending Saint Thomas somewhat moued thereat wryting to the Legates signifyed how hee nothing at all abrogated the authority of Saint Thomas but rather suspended the power of the Legates themselues from intermedling any way as iudges in decyding these controuersyes For the letters hee sent to the Legates à latere Dated 9. Maij are these After your departure came heauy tydinges to our cares how our beeloued sonne Iohn Deane of Salisbury publickly declared that in regarde wee exempted Bishoppes and other Ecclesiasticall and teÌporall persons of the kingdome of England from the Iurisdiction and authority of our reuerent brother Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury wee did all this to satisfie the will and pleasure of the king of England and to depose and condemne the Archbishoppe and that wee sent yee purposely to that end It is also insinuated to vs that Iohn Cunim of Oxeforde shewed to Guydo the Antipope of Crema all the letters hee procured of vs whereupon the Archbishop beeing confounded with shame and greife our most dearly beeloued sonne in Christ Lewes the renowned king of France together with his Princes through these reportes are very much troubled and extreamly moued for allthough it was suggested to vs by many and made in a sorte to seeme credible that the aforesayde Iohn did only and so faithfully labor for the honor and aduancement of the Archbishoppe with his Church and for the liberty of the same pretending that at his returne home hee would with his labor and industry procure the deliuery of Ecclesiasticall persons from restraint of imprisonment which they endured vpon the kinges Commitment and last allbeeit the forementioned Iohn signifyed to vs by his letter how the king in the presence of many did publickly say Hee would conserue vntouched to the Clergie of England the selfe same libertyes which they had in the raigne of his Grand-father king Henry yet neuertheles in regarde the fame heereof is soe farre spread as it causeth our good name in those partes to bee consumed with infamy wee admonish and command your wisedomes that yee haue instantly a speciall care to recomforte the sayd Archbishoppe with your letters and clearing his mynd from all sorrowe and suspicion yee endeauor by all meanes to reconcyle him to the king and worke a perfect peace among them and that hereein yee spend all the care and diligence yee possibly can prouyded allwayes that yee preserue pure and vntouched the ancient lawes and libertyes belonging to him and his Church neither doe yee any thing else of importance within the kinges principalityes enter not in any case into his kingdome although himselfe doth neuer soe much entreate yee vnles the Archbishop bee first accorded vnfaynedly with him because it will contract to yee and vs a wonderfull infamy whereby the voyce of the people will rent in peeces your honor with slanderous detractions but for Iohn Cumyn if yee finde the allegations to bee iustified against him censure him with seuerity that hee bee made an example heereafter to terrify others Wee also will that in all your actions and affaires yee beehaue your selues aduisedly grauely and prouidently to the end no cause of reproch bee any way found against yee but that the deuotion of both kingdomes by your trauell and conuersation bee continually encreased as well to vs as the Church wherby yee may gayne to your selues an
world allmost France only excepted was assayled and oppressed with aduersityes scarse tollerable and many other wordes they vsed of the mighty power of our prince his loue and reuerence to the Church of Rome his fauor grace and benefitts bestowed on vs aggrauating withall excellency the accusations of iniurys done by vs and ours wherewith hee complayned that he was wonderfully wronged affirming wee procured both the king of France and Earle of Flanders to make warrs against him then they perswaded vs to endeauor with great humility and ample showe of deuotion and moderation to appease his indignation if soe extreme a fierce nature may by any meanes bee reclaymed and so rough and vnbridled a disposition broken yea they asked counsell of vs who in tymes past weere accustomed to knowe him more inwardly how they might soften the hardnes of his harte for hee shewed himselfe more distastefull to them after hee perceaued how they could not according to the promises made by Iohn of Oxeforde contrary to God and all lawes pronounce against vs at his pleasure the sentence of condemnation but what hee sayde in the hearing of his Bishoppes shall by Gods assistance bee deliuered you more commodiously by word of mouth then by wryting And for vs wee yeelde thankes to your Holines that you are soe carefully of the Churches peace and ours which ours if the Churches peace and yours Wee auoyded the suspitions by which the king labored to taxe vs with true and probable reasons and the king of France himselfe the next day followinge did as farre as concerned him in the presence of the Cardinalles cleere our innocency with his oathe being as the searcher and iudge of hartes knoweth guiltles of this faulte neither are wee so dull and slowe to beeleiue the lawe prophetts and Gospell that in a point of this great importaÌce laying asyde our spirituall weapons and the sheildes of Apostolike discipline wee should suppose armes of the flesh to be vsed especially by preistes for we knowe we are not to trust in princes and accursed is hee who maketh flesh his arme Ierem. 17â and to the end they might not falsly deuise any such thing against vs wee long abstayned from hauing conference with the king vntill at the last vpon his coÌmandement wee came that wee might present to him the letters of our excuse and obtayne a free passage and safe conducte for my lord Oddo the Legate who sent to vs for that purpose his Chaplayne Papia for hee had procured the like from the king of England the king of France also as then vnripped vnto vs an old iniury as hee sayde offered him by them at such tyme as hee accepted you as his father and lord and lastly hee tooke worst of all the vainglorious boasting of Iohn of Oxeforde with those of his faction After his hauing gratiously admitted our excuse and graunting the passe wee desired wee returned to the place of our poore aboade expecting with patience reliefe from our Lord. And beecause our Lordes the Legates required at our handes all humility and showe of modesty wherby so magnificent a prince might bee appeased and pleased wee answered wee would according to their counsell render vnto him as to our Lord and king most willingly and deuoutely all humility seruice and reuerence sauing euer to God and the Apostolike Sea their honor to the Churches her liberty to vs respect of our person and to Churches their possessions and if any thing seemed according to their opinion to bee heerin added lessened or altered wee beesought them to certify vs in regarde it was our desire to obey theÌ so far as stood with our condition professioÌ they replying they would not consult hereof nor came to vs then to giue aduice but aske counsell of vs essaying vs they demanded that wee may vse my lord Williams wordes in regarde wee were not better then our forefathers we would in their presence promise our king to obserue all the customes which his ancestors helde in the tyme of our Predecessors and so all controuersyes on both sydes beeing layd asleepe if they could bring this aboute which would not bee done as they thought without difficulty for vs to receaue our Archbishoppricke againe and to recouer his grace and fauor Whereunto wee sayde that none of our predecessors were euer by any king constrayned to make this protestation neither wee God willing would euer professe to obserue the customes which vtterly destroy the liberty of Gods Church pluck vp by the rootes the priuiledge of the Apostolike Sea and are open and absolute oppugners of the lawe of God from the which of your mercy you absolued vs at Senon in the presence of themselues and many others whenas you vsed withall these wordes worthy of your Apostolicall mouth which by Gods grace shall neuer departe out of our mynde that wee ought rather yeelde out neckes to the swoard of the executioner then consent to such wicked customes and for a filthy and base commodity of our temporall estates and greedy purchase of a frayle life to neglect our pastorall office There were read in their presence those reprobate customes some of which wee had allready condemned yea which the whole Catholicke Church had in many Counsells before our age together with the obseruers of them accursed wee asked them if it were then any way lawfull for a preist without perill of his order and danger of his soule to obserue them yea or to wincke at them wee sayd moreouer wee had formerly sworne our fealty vnto the king with reseruation of the honor of our order and that we would euer willingly obserue the same so far forth as wee doe not frustrate our faith due to Allmighty God wherupon one whom as your Holines knoweth wee haue held and euer ought to haue in suspition vrged vs thus that better it was absolutely to yeelde then the Church to bee in this sorte disturbed and to this effect were multiplyed many perswasiue speeches which will better be deliuered by word of mouth then otherwise to whom wee replyed that in this cause wee would neuer yeelde in regard it would proue a pernitious example and turne to the ruine of the Ecclesiasticall liberty yea perhappes to the damage of the Christian faith for who heereafter would then euer dare to open his mouth what is hee who when the Pastors shall thus runne away will rise against them to oppose himselfe as a wall for the house of Israel wee sayde moreouer neither your Holines nor any Apostolicall men instructed euer the Church of God with such examples Did not vpon the flight of the Pastors as it is famousely reported in Historyes all Egipt returne to Idolatry where at the first Religion so exceedingly flourished Then running to an other matter they demanded if wee would abyde the iudgment of the Legates in the controuersy beetweene the king and vs and that if heerin we refused iudgment wee seemed to iustify the kings syde and in the eyes
of many to diminish the credit of our cause wher on the other parte if it standeth with your pleasure wee are not bound to admitt our aduersary for a iudge neither can wee bee confident of any heerein but only in your presence for by reason of the banishment of vs and ours the king soe frighteth and terrifyeth all men with the vexation and losses of others as none knowing it dareth once affoarde vs a good word Considering deepely all this wee tempered our answer soe as wee neither refused nor accepted this iudgment and dangerous tryall For wee sayde whensoeuer wee who were thus beerefte of Archbishoppricke gouerment and all our goodes were restored agayne to what wee lofte wee would then gladly and when wee ought submitt our selues to your determination or the iudgment of him or them whom by your mandate you should appoint nor could wee nor would wee flye from iustice in the meane tyme wee could not with any reason bee constrayned to a contentious course of lawe neither were our poore meanes able to supporte it neither could the liberality of the most renowned king without molestation extend it selfe soe far as to mayntaine vs with the poore of Christ our banished breathren vpon his expence vnder the roofes of strangers especially since hee aboundeth not at this instant with money for where hee hath plenty of victualls there can he more tollerably defray our charges Then descended they to the third question demaunding if wee would admitt the proces of the Bishoppes who appealed against vs beefore those iudges But wee answered wee receaued no mandate of yours concerning this busines nor yet that our pouerty was able to vndergoe the expences of such a controuersy forth at was the drifte of our Aduerssaryes as wee vnderstood by them who could not bee ignorant heerin to giue a taynte to our person vpon any occasion in the presence of the Legates therby to worke vs any wrong For they coniectured that none of the prouince durst assist vs against the king in regarde wherof they might the sooner procure our ruyne and the king called out only those to this conference who beeing our Aduersaryes from the first raysing of this storme were knowne to bee the inuentors of soe greate a mischeife which were the Archbishop of Yorke with the Bishoppes of London and Chichester the Bishop of Worcester beeing also sent for with them that vnder the vayle of his worthines the malice of the rest might bee shadowed But as your wisedome may remember these who now soe applaude the kinges pleasure and aboue the rest as it is openly knowne thirst our bloud are they who sometymes soe much extolled in their letters full fraught with our prayses the procuring of our Pall and the forme of our election together with our person but now contradicting both truth and themselues through an impudency of lying and flattering they beecome contemptible whilst at the pleasure of the Prince like the slaue in the Comedy now they say now they gaynesay these are they o father who giue hornes to the sinner and if hee bee not made enough incense him more laying softe cushons vnder his elbowe and lulling a sleepe on daynty pillowes the heade that languisheth with sinnes Since therfore they who ought with their counsell assistaÌce and authority to bee the pillars of the Church doe now with their flattery and expences animate and arme the persecutors of the diuine lawe and of our selues against her and vs it is not safe nor possible for vs to subiect our selues to iudgment but only in the presence of your Holines and to bee examined by your selfe For although the Church may conceaue a great hope of the sinceare proceeding of one of the Legates and wee are confident in him especially in matters appertayning to God neuertheles there is not any man but your selfe to whom wee dare coÌmitt this cause of our Lordes and for the other God make him the man who may saue his soule and beeseeme the place of a preist Cardinall of the Romane Church yet let that neuer come to passe which pleaseth it you to remember wee forewarned and feare will yet happen if it should fortune the wisedome eloquence and authority of my Lord William should concurre with the power and willfull disposition of the king of England wee doubt wee saye they will demaunde of vs by their counsell and consent those thinges which either bee greeuous for you to heare and impossible to bee effected or otherwise displeasing to God and odious to the world And because the charge of all Churches resteth on your shoulders turne if it please you your eyes on the west marke and see in what sorte the Church is there handled let it bee tould by the lord Oddo whom wee beeleiue the spirit of God guydeth let him declare what hee behouldeth what hee knoweth concerning the Church and Prouince of Towers what hee heard reported in England what hee hath by experience found in Normandy and wee beeleiue you will say with teares there is no greife like to the greife of this For to let passe the Churches of Canterbury and Towers which hee houldeth in his handes as you haue heard and wee wish you would heare it more fully hee hath now of long tyme retayned to himselfe seauen vacant Bishopprickes in the prouinces beelonging to vs and Roan nor suffereth any pastors to bee ordayned in them the Ecclesiasticall state of the kingdome is giuen his followers to bee trampled vnder their feete and made their prey If wee looke not to this most holy father how shall wee answer Christ in the day of iudgment who will resist Antichrist at his comming if wee suffer thus the vices and offenses of his forerunners with such induring as this Potentates growe prowde the kinges of Nations turne to bee Tyrantes and imagine the Church ought to haue no right no priuiledge but depending only on their pleasure but blessed is hee who houldeth and dasheth the litle ones on the rocke For if Iudas beeing commanded by the lawe rooteth not out the Cannonytes they will growe vp to bee perpetually his Aduersary and his stinge Bee therfore father of good comforte and bee a couragious commander wee haue more on our syde then they haue on theirs God hath broken in peeces Fredericke the hammer of the impious beeing ready also shortly to strike others vnles they amend and haue peace with the Church of God And to conclude wee only expect the sentence of your mouth or of his who hath bin accustomed to beereaue Princes of their spiritts and deliuer the poore from the potent You shall receaue more by word of mouth which wee thought inconuenient to committ to wryting Let your excellency bee thus perswaded that if wee would from the beeginning haue giuen way to these wicked customes wee needed not now intercession of any Cardinall nor yet of any man liuing In vayne God willing doe they lay beefore our eyes the examples of the Cicilians or
Hungarians which at the day of Iudgment cannot excuse vs if wee preferre the barbarisme of Tyrantes before Apostolicall constitutions and beeleiue the vsurping pryde of wordly powers to bee rather a rule to directe our life then the Eternall Testament confirmed with the bloud and death of the sonne of God To frame therfore a lamentable end to our former discourse let your Holines now consider if this ought to bee the fruite of our labour trauayle and exile thus to bee iudged naked miserable depriued of our whole estate and these extremityes in our tryall only beecause wee attempted for the liberty of the Church to withstand a most fierce oppressor of the same Yea wee who daylie expect comforte from this desolation ioy for this misery with a iust reuenge from God and you against the Churches Aduersaryes for their iniury done to Christe Could it not sufficiently satisfy them who sought our life that they haue murdered some of vs nor yet could they content themselues with our pouerty and calamity beeing scarse able to liue by releife from the almes of strangers but that wee must moreouer with this Legantyne authority which would it had neuer bin bee in vayne protracted and delayed from yeeres to yeeres from greife to greife from misery to confusion Yea our right and iustice to be turned to the ruine of vs and our wretched Associates Good God what will bee the end of this dolor Aryse ô Lord adiudge thy cause reuenge the bloud of thy seruantes thus impiously killed together with those who through intollerable afflictions doe euen now fainte since there is none but our Lord the Pope and some few left with him who will deliuer vs out of the handes of our enemyes God grante your Holines for many yeeres well to liue and prosper that wee with our vnfortunate fellowes may liue and recouer This was the reporte of Saint Thomas vnto the Pope In the meane while the Legates Cardinalls signifyed to Saint Thomas how the king of England had obtayned from his Holines which as wee see by all meanes possible hee bruited abroad that the authority of Saint Thomas concerning the affaires of the English Church was wholy interdicted There is extant a restraynte in this manner which was sent by them to Saint Thomas written in these wordes To our reuerent and most beeloued brother the Archbishop of Canterbury William and Oddo Cardinalls send greeting The king was certifyed of your answer as well concerning the agreement as alsoe the cause Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 29. if soe it pleased him to proceede against you and wheras hee was before hy reason of your other actions as hee sayde incensed enough and too to much hee beecame now enraged with a greater and more vehement indignation accusing peremptorily the erection of your mynde against him and our Lord the Popes nrglect of his affaires Moreouer the Bishoppes and Abbottes of the kingdome of England hearing you would haue noe dealing with them nor yet stand to our iudgment read openly in our presence our Lord the Popes letters wherin as hee sayth hee commandeth you to forbeare interdicting the land They demanded alsoe of vs if they might by vs or either of vs thorough this our Legantine authority bee defended against these your molestations of them in England wherunto when wee answered wee had no power at all concerning any matters in the realme of England they appealed there instantly both for themselues and the whole kingdome vnto our lord the Pope sheilding themselues and the realme vnder the protection of his Holines and vs assigning for their day the feast of Sainct Martin wherfore wee command your dearly beeloued selfe and enioyne you on the beehalfe of the Pope and our selues that answering the foresayd Appeale and respecting the restraint which our Lord the Pope as hee affirmeth hath layn vpon you you attempt no interdiction or excommunication against the realme of England before you haue appeared in the Apostolike presence and vnderstood the pleasure of his Holines and the Church of Rome heerein The Bishoppes likewise and Abbottes themselues haue sent their especiall messangers to denounce to you this their Appeale made in our presence together with the determined day This was the Mandate of the Legates But when this newes of the inhibition or restraint of the authority of Saint Thomas was not only by letters signifyed vnto him but also as before you haue heard reported euery where to the scandall of all good men who fauored the Churches liberty S. Thomas beeing heerewith exceedingly afflicted did wryte lamentable letters replenished with complaintes heereof as well to Pope Alexander himselfe as also to all the Cardinalls of the Romane Church wherin hee discouered the bitter sorrowe of his mynde all which especially wee can readylie declare beeing extant in the end of the same often recyted booke of Epistles and were by error of the wryter omitted in the second booke after the 45. epistle as the corrector of that error hath admonished vs. The epistle of Saint Thomas to Pope Alexander is in this wise To his most beeloued lord and holy father Alexander by the grace of God high Bishop Thomas the humble seruant of the Church of Canterbury a wretched and miserable banished man together with his exiled Associates wisheth prosperity and all felicity Saint Thowryteth to the Pope expressing his sorrowe We send to your holines the bearers heereof beeing two persons faithfull to vs and fellowes of our miserable exile such at this instant as wee could gett and them whom wee haue assigned to deliuer in your presence the certayne and pittifull relation of matters concerning vs now lately acted and withall the necessity of our calamityes beeing assuredly aboue measure that wee may thervpon receaue if it please you with speede redresse by your meanes from this oppression of the Church and vs which helpe though most due is yet too long delayed and obtayne withall through the hand of your mercy releife in our greiuous distresses least being otherwise cruelly and abouer sure depressed we fainte in this tribulation a greater then which we haue not since the first beginning of our long continued afflictions endured For we are deferred the tyme is now tedious as your excellency vnderstandeth we are put of and prolonged no lesse cruelly then vniustly from yeeres to yeeres in misery and dolor that if perchance by that way in length of protracted tyme our life may perish through tribulation and we thus worne out altogether be extinguished and fall to dust as absolutely spent in the extremitys of our disasters while death in the meane tyme which God forbid may depriue you of authority whose power through the mercy of God shall before it expireth redeeme vs and ours out of this lake of misery and breake the snares of the malitious coÌtrary to the desire of the wicked BeÌd downe therfore ô Lord thyne eare and heare open thyne eyes and see if there hath bin an iniquity equall to
following as appeareth by what hath byn sayde for before that tyme was not the Pope certifyed theereof Which letters from his holines when the Legates had receaued by the messanger of sainct Thomas wryting backe to the Sainct they excused themselues with saying that while they remayned with the king they could not put these matters in execution against them on whom the king had beestowed the goods and how this was also the Popes intention that during the tyme they remayned Legates there with him they should endure thereupon at his handes any thing vnworthy of the Apostolike Sea But let vs followe the Legates in their returne homeward wherof Iohn of Salisbuây sayth this in his Epistell to the Archdeacon of Excester The Cardinalles returne Cod. Vat lib 2. Epist 105. called backe not without confusion repeÌtance and complayntes that to pleasure the king they depressed to much the cause of the Church for one of them which was Papia obeyed his will in all thinges the other also dealing more remissely then beeseemed a man of so great expectation and hope Thus Salisbury who againe after many other things declareth how farre Oddo the Legate peruailed with the king in these wordes I was like to haue let passe what is not to bee passed ouer which is how my Lord Oddo a fewe dayes before hee departed from the king dealt more seriously with him to conclude a peace with the Archbishop wherunto hee answered that for the loue hee bore to the Pope and Cardinalls hee would permitt the Archbishop to returne in peace to his Sea and to dispose of his Church and all thinges thereunto beelonging And because there hath bin long contention about the customes hee sayde hee and his children would bee contented only with those which his Ancestors had and ãâã should bee made apparant they soe enioyed by the oathes of a hundred men of the realme of England a hundred of Normandy a hundred of Anione and his other principalityes and if this condition of peace displeased the Archbishop hee affirmed hee was prepared to stand to the arbitrement as well of the Bishoppes of England as those beyond the seas of Roane Bayon and Cenoman and if this were not enough hee would submit himselfe to the iudgment of my Lord the Pope with this reseruation that hee would not impeach his childrens right for during his owne life hee was contented my Lord the Pope should abrogate what hee listed Then demanded the Cardinall how hee would deale with the Archbishoppe and his associates concerning restitution which was due and required of him wherunto hee answered swearing with many exquisite oathes that hee had beestowed all the commodity whatsomeuer hee reaped therof vpon Churches and the poore But let the Iewe Appella beeleiue this for I will neuer The Cardinall replyed vnles hee changed his course and dealt more mildly with the Church of God as well Almighty God as his Church would sooner then hee expected require all these more seuerely at his handes and soe taking his leaue hee departed Afterwardes came William of Papia to him almost in the same manner but the seede of his wordes fell on the sandes Then making their returne by the most Christian kinge of France they recouered his fauour vpon condicions which this bearer shall reporte vnto you Hetherto Salisbury who concerning matters which afterwardes ensued signified moreouer in other letters thus Now doe I endure the first yeere of my exile and wheras I wanted heeretofore nothing now behould I finde abundance of comforte beecause the liberty of the Church seemeth euen now at hand and now hath partly set her foote in the Iland for the king hath renounced as Messingers from the Cardinalls protest certayne most wicked customes which neuertheles hee was beefore accustomed to challenge detesting with an oathe both them and their first authors agreeing withall that heereafter it shall bee lawfull to appeale to the Apostolike Sea that Clearks shall not bee drawne before the secular Tribunalles with the like which I wish hee would soe approue by deede as hee affirmed in worde Thus wryteth hee concerning these affaires And this was lastly the conclusion of this Legantine Embassage other matters ensue in the end of this present yeere Salisbury in an other Epistell hauing discoursed of the state of the Church beeing then imbroyled by Fredericke the Emperour and Paschall the Antipope Cod. Vad. lib. 2. Epist 62. descendeth to the troubles of sainct Thomas Pope Alexander beeing then at Beneuent where sayth hee the Embassadors of the king of England and the Arbishoppes agents mett together in the presence of his Holines and both partyes were gratiously and honorably entertayned and for those appertayning to the king as the iustice of their cause was lesse soe was their pompe with ostentation of their riches much greater But when they were not able with their flatterys and faire promises to winne my Lord the Pope then turned they to threates fayning that their king would rather embrace the errors of Norandinus the chiefe ringleader of the Mahometanes and bee a fellowe of that profane Secte then endure Thomas any longer to enioy the Archbishoppricke of Canterbury But the man of God could neither bee shaken with feare nor seduced with flattery and laying beâ ãâã two ways the one of life the other of death ãâ¦ã they might easilie as they had beegune contâââââ the grace and patience of God make choyse of the way of perdition but hee by our Lordes assistance would not forsake the way of righteousnes Their hope therfore in shorte tyme beegan to quayle and seeing they could not in this course preuayle against iustice they sent into Cicilie the kinges Embassadours and letters for they came armed with these to the end that by the assistance of the king and queene of Cicilie they might obtayne somewhat of my Lord the Pope against the Church But the most Christian king of France seeing this flattery of the malitious commended to the elect of Panorma the cause of the Church and of my Lord of Canterbury as his owne Meane while came the messingers of the Legates whom the king of EnglaÌd had procured disagreeing each from other for whatsomeuer one sayde in the Courte the other denyed and of these likewise is it yet vncertayne what they shall relate backe to their Lordes Supplication was therfore made on the beehalfe of the king and the Legates with the assistance of many other intercessors to my Lord the Pope for the Bishop of Salisbury and in the end they obteyned that his Holines forgaue him the iniury and offence donne to himselfe and did alsoe wryte to the Archbishop of Canterbury entreating and conselling him to remitt the wrong the Bishop had offered him and releasing him of the sentence of suspension receaue him into his fauour and freindship allwayes prouided that either in his owne person hee should giue him security for sufficient satisfaction or else disigne two beeing the cheifest of the Clergie of his
discreete and worthie Aduocate of the Romane Church And how far the commission extended which they receaued from Pope Alexander is thus sent in a secret relation of a certayne frind before rehearsed vsing these wordes in the Conclusion Notwithstanding all this the Pope restrayned these Nuntioes with the obligation of an oath to a precise and confyned forme of peace in such sort as they should not exceede their limited boundes commaunding also seuerly that they should abstayne from receauing any rewardes of the king or burdening him with expences vnles the Churches peace were first procured nor yet make any longer stay beeyond the setled day assigned them Concerning the forme of peace as it was expressed for the Bishoppe it contayned nothing dishonorable or derogating either from the Church or his person or in any respect diminishing his authority but that hee might freely without impediment of any occasion or Appeale excercise the Ecclesiasticall seuerity on the king himselfe the kingdome or any persons of the realme in such sorte as hee knewe expedient for the Church of God vsing neuertheles therin the counsell of his freindes and men of discretion that while the treatis of peace continued hee should more mildly proceede and wincke at many thinges but if afterwardes which God forbid they preuayled not for peace hee should arise as one returning to his former strength to prostrate with greater power the Churches persecutors And this was there written concerning the commission giuen by Pope Alexander to his Nuntioes by whom hee sent this letter to Saint Thomas Ibid. epist 1. Wee haue receaued lately the Embassadors and letters of the renowned king of England and wheras hee demanded therin of vs crtayne greate and difficult matters for obtayning wherof they laboured earnestly and vehemently with vs yet neuertheles they could not incline our mynde to satisfy their desire But that they might not haue any reason or occasion to complayne of rigorous proceeding on our parte or that wee refused in any thing to yeeld vnto them following the steppes and examples of our Predecessors who wee doubt not are Saintes wee determined with all kindnes modesty and sweetnes to recall the king from his peruerse purpose to mitigate his mynde and asswage his cruelty wherupon it came to passe that wee by the graue aduise and counsell of our brethren decreede to send to the kinges presence our deerely beeloued sonnes Gratian the Subdeacon our notary an honorable and learned person whom for the memory of our holy father of sacred remembrance our Predecessor Pope Eugenius and in regarde of his owne most sincere fidelity and ready seruice wee esteeme euery way deare and acceptable and with him Master Viuian who for his long experienced frindshippe wisedome and learning wee loue most intyrely by whom and also by our letters wee admonish his Maiestie with all care and dilligence as much as in vs lyeth that restoring to you his peace and fauor hee would recall you honorably to your Church and suffer you and yours to rest in all peace and tranquillity Wherfore wee entreate you and aduise your brotherhood that carefully weyghing the difficultyes and malice of the tyme and considering with your selfe how our forefathers haue beehaued themselues for auoyding such stormes as these in dayes of like extremity you would endeauore by all meanes as far as with preseruation of the honor of your place and office may bee donne to recouer the fauor and good-will of your kinge and labour to mitigate his mynde in shewing such patience gentlnes and meekenes as none may iustly say your selfe was in faulte wherby his loue and kindnesse was not fully obtayned wee request alsoe your wisedome yee wee warne counsell and command you that before the departure of our Nuntioes you proceede not in any sentence against the king or any persons of his kingdome or against the realme it selfe and if perchance which wee beeleeue not you haue allready pronounced any you doe now suspend the same vntill that tyme bee expired all which wee say to the end wee may take away from him all occasion and matter of complaynte and by such meanes ouercome the hardnes of his harte But if it fall out otherwise which God forbid wee will by no meanes depriue you of your authority but rather preserue the same intire and carefully affourd you therin our assistance and counsell The rest which remayneth wee haue left to bee declared by our Nuntioes to whose words wee wish you to giue creditt and also to yeeld to their counsells and exhortations Thus did Alexander wryte to Saint Thomas Ibidem epist 3. The Popes letter sent by his Nuntios to the King of England and likewise to the king of England other letters in these wordes We haue receaued with fatherly loue your Maiesties letters which you sent vs by our beeloued sonnes Reynold of Salisbury and Randulphe Archdeacon of Lauâ beeing both of them wise and discreete men and withall carefull and diligent in the busines committed to their charge and with attention and consideration haue wee heard the contentes of the same And when wee had fully vnderstood your royall demandes as well out of the substance of your letters as the relation of your Embassadors and had together with our brethren taken long aduice therupon it could not appeare to vs that wee might with our honor and the estimation of the Church yeelde to any of them in such sorte as you required notwithstanding to the end wee may in all thinges so far as standeth with the glory of God and his Church assent to your Maiestie and that you may bee resolued that what wee doe proceedeth not any whitt out of obstinacy but necessity wee haue sent to your royall presence our beeloued sonnes Gratian the Subdeacon our Notary together with Master Viuian beeing both of them graue and discreete men and most deare and acceptable as well to vs as the whole Catholike Church by whom wee haue at large signifyed to your Maiestie our pleasure and will and with all what shall concerne your honor and aduancement and ought truly to bee most conuenient for your royall dignity And wheras wee vnderstood out of your Maiesties letters that you haue soe farre ouercome your will and mynde in the busines concerning our venerable brother Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury as for the reuerence you beare to the Church and vs you will suffer him to returne home and quietly enioy his pastorall office in peace yeelding to you what of duty hee oweth wee embrace the same as a thing most gratefull and acceptable to vs giuing therfore the greatest prayse and thankes wee can vnto the diuine clemency which hath heerin vndoubtedly inspired your harte instantly beeseeching your Maiestie yea and inioyning you for the remission of your sinnes that in this importunate matter you will respect rather God then man and submitt your selfe heerin only for the loue of our Allmighty Lord. Concerning that you sayde was signifyed to your Maiestie of
vs and the alienation of our affection from you it is not conuenient your discreete wisedome should credit euery spirit since there are many detractors and slanderers in whose wordes howsoeuer they seeme there is neuertheles no trust to bee had and for our partes wee haue a will and desire to loue you with all our harte as our most deare sonne in Christ nor any way to proceede seuerely against you vnles which God forbid your selfe enforce vs therevnto Dated at Beneuent the day beefore the Kalends of March. Wherby you may concture what tyme the Nuntioes vndertooke their iourney Cod. Vat. lib. 3. epist 2. But the same Pope wrote an other letter to the sayde king in substance like although somewhat longer on the sixt Ide of May or March for the word to the reader seemeth vncertayne Concerning the tyme when the Nuntios descended into France wee may well coniecture the same by the letters of Iohn of Salisbury wrytten to the Archdeacon of Excester who thus declareth in what sorte hee mett them Ibidem epist 5. I came lately in the feast of Saint Mary Magdaleine to Viziliake where I encountred my Lord the Popes Nuntios vpon occasion to learne what my Lord of Canterbury might heereby either hope or feare for these newes as it is thought posessed the tongues and eares of both kingdomes and not only those of the Clergie but for the most parte alsoe the Layety I desired to see the man who boare my name for he was called Iohn which signifyeth grace wheÌce GratiaÌ is deriued aÌd which is more my CouÌtrymaÌ and in a sorte my brother Gratian to whom as you remeÌber you were assigned to be Tutor and Teacher at Ferentyne by Eugenius the Pope of late holy memory I name him confideÌtly my brother with whom I obserue the same lawes of fayth and society and allthough wee had not both our originall in one Citty yet no man will question but wee are both of one countrey who calleth to mynde the countrey of Christes souldiers a place common to vs both and wherunto charity directeth vs. Beeing therfore receaued kindly and with respect as well by him as his Associate Viuian they declared in familiar sorte vnto mee that my Lord the Pope and the Church of Rome did fauor greatly the Archbishop of Canterbury yea soe far forth as vnles the king according to the counsell of his holines did conclude a peace with my Lord of Canterbury they were to denounce to his Maiestie that hee should not only bee yeelded vp into the Archbishoppes handes but that the Pope himselfe would also proceede seuerely against him And a litle after And truly the Nuntios haue a forme prescribed them the limitts whereof they dare not attempt to breake beecause they are by an oath bounde therunto in such sorte as they are commanded vnles peace bee established to forbeare soe precisely from receauing any of the kinges rewards as they were not permitted to take any thing for defraying their charges Now as touching the proceedings of the Nuntios afterwardes there is a most exact relation of a secret freind I suppose by all likelyhood it was Peter of Bloys who remayning with the king did by priuie letters signify to sainct Thomas whatsomeuer hee sawe Ibid. Epist 6 The meeting beetweene the king and the Popes Nuntios which wee will heere set downe word by word for thus it was On the day of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady were deliuered at Argenton vnto the king my Lord âhe Popes letters concerning the Nuntios vpon perusall whereof the king was much troubled On the morowe hee sent Iohn Deane of Salisbury and Reynold to meete the Nuntios On saint Bartholmewes Eue the Nuntios came to Danfront whose approach wheÌ G. Rydell and Nigell de Sackeuylle vnderstood they suddainly and speedyly departed from Danfront why they conueyed themselues away in this manner is sufficiently knowne vnto you On the feast it selfe late towards the Euening the king comming from the woodes before he would goe to his owne lodging weÌt to the Nuntios receauing them with honor and while he stood as yet discoursing with them my Lord Henry the kinges sonne accompanyd with a troope of the nobility euery one of them winding a horne as the fashion is at the fall of a Stagge came and presented the Nuntios with the same entyre which they did to fill the eares of the Nuntios and make a showe to the people On the morow about one of the clocke came the king to the Nuntios lodging and with him the Bishoppes of Sagia and Rodon entred their chamber after a littell pause Iohn Deane of Salisbury and Reynold the Archdeacon were admitted to the conference and euen presently also the Archdeacon of Landaff where standing vntill nyne of the Clocke they talked together sometymes in peace sometymes in anger and tumulte My Lord the kinges intention was that the excommunicated Clearkes should not bee sworne A little before sun-set the king departed mightily enraged greiuously complayning on my Lord the Pope that hee would neuer yeeld to him in any thing and in a disdaynfull fashion sayde answer Gratians By the eyes of God I will take an other course To whom Gratian gratiously replyed My Lord threaten not for wee dread noâ threates beecause wee are of that Court which hath bin accustomed to rule ouer Emperors kinges Then were called together all the Barons and white Monkes I meane Cistercians beeing there present with all those of the Chappell and my Lord the king requested them that when tyme required they would witnes in his beehalfe what and how greate offers hee made for restitution of the Archbishoppricke and confirmation of peace seeming in the end with some contentment to departe and assigning the eight day following for his resolute answer At which appointed tyme vpon summons came the Bishoppe of Roan and by chance hee of Burdeux to Cenoman together with all the Bishoppes of Normandy the Bishop of Worcester was not there on the day when these thinges were to bee haÌdled and treated of but beeing expected on the morowe came thither excusing himselfe in regarde of a Prouincial counsell that hee held of Poytiers which beeing once determined hee profered then his ready attendance The day after the Kalends of September the Nuntioes presented to the king at Bayos my Lord the Popes letters wherin his Holines beesought him to graunt restitution and peace The king making a preamble of all such matters wherewith hee was accustomed to charge you sayde if I doe any thing for this man vpon my Lord the Popes entreaty hee is bound to render mee great thankes therfore On the moroW assembling with the Nuntios all the Bishoppes at a place called Lebur and as soone as they came the king entred into a place called Parte together with the Bishoppes none else but such as were especially called by name being admitted and presently the king went to counsell with the Nuntios alone beeseeching
them to absolue the Clearkes without âendering any oath which when they resolutely denyed to doe my Lord the king hasted to horse and getting vp swoare in the presence of all there that hee would neuer dureing life harken againe to my lord the Pope or any other for your peace or restitution Whervpon all the Archbishoppes and Bishoppes there present came to the Nuntios beeseeching them for Gods loue to accomplish his requestes wherunto with great difficulty they assented which beeing graunted the king alighted and beeganne againe to consult with them and presently after calling all who were in peace together the king beegan to discourse saying Hee would haue them all vnderstand that you departed not out of England at his instance and that he had often recalled you backe againe to returne and giue him satisfaction for such matters as hee alleadged against you and you euer refused but now the case soe stood that hee vpon the entreaty and commandement of my Lord the Pope did fully restore vnto you your Archbishoppricke and peace to all those who for your sake departed his dominion This graunte of peace the king confirmed about nyne of the clocke remayning afterwardes very pleasant and causing certaine other matters to bee handled in his presence which beeing finished hee returned again to the Nuntios desiring them that the Bishoppes might goe ouer into England for absoluing them who were there excommunicate Which when they absolutely denyed the king grew angry and made a new request that at the least one of them would passe ouer while the other remayned there and if that were distastefull to them they would send but one of their Cleakes whom hee would enrich with reuenues beefore his returne all which when Gratian who as wee hope is the sonne of grace againe denyed my lord the king beeing very much inraged departed away saying in their hearing Doe what you like I weigh neither you nor your excoÌmunication nor prize them the value of an egge and with these wordes hee mounted on horsebacke to gett him thence but the Archbishoppes with all the Bishoppes followed telling him that hee spoake impiously Afterwardes hee alighted and consulted with them in which counsell was concluded that all the Bishoppes should wryte to my Lord the Pope certifying him how the kinge in their hearing offered you peace and was in euery point ready to obey my Lord the Popes commandement but the Nuntios were in fault wherby it was not performed Afterwardes hauing wasted a little tyme in indighting these letters and the king as one enflamed with a wonderfull fury leauing them often the Bishoppes comminge to him sayde what would these Nuntios haue And showing him my Lord the Popes Mandate inioyninge them to accomplish the Nuntios commandement the king answered I know I know they will interdict my land but cannot I who am euery day able to take a most strong Castle take one Clearke who shall interdict my land Yet when in the end they yeelded in some degree to satisfy his desire the tempest of his anger was layde and returning to himselfe hee sayde vnles yee conclude this night a peace yee shall neuer come so neere this point againe and when they had awhile trauelled in the busines assembling them all together hee vsed these wordes It is conuenient I should doe very much at the intreaty of my Lord the Pope beecause hee is our Lord and father in regarde wherof I restore to the Archbishoppe his Sea with my peace and the like to all those who for his sake haue departed the land Wherupon the Nuntios and all there present thanked his Maiestie and then the king moreouer added If I haue not as now donne sufficiently I will to morowe by your aduyse supply what is yet wanting On the morowe beeing the Kalends of September about twelue of the Clocke they assembled together ad hauing long treated aboute absoluing the Excommunicate without obligation of oath it came to that passe as G. Rydell with Nigellus de Sackeuyle and Thomas Fitz-Bernard laying their handes on the Bible there present sayde that in the word of truth they would accomplish the Nuntios commandement Then was it required of the Nuntios that all they vpon whom my Lord the king in this tyme of disturbance had beestowed your Churches might enioy them according to the tenor of his Maiesties guifte but as wee heard the conclusion was that they should bee left free to your disposition Afterwards it was determined the Bishoppes should set downe in wryting the forme of peace which the king had granted And this did the king to the end that one of the Nuntios should passe ouer into England for absoluing the excommmunicate And beeing departed vpon these termes after three howers within night the king sayde hee would haue inserted in the articles of peace these wordes with the reseruation of the dignity of his kingdome wherunto as wee heard Gratian absolutely denyed euer to yeilde and vpon this word as yet they differ determining to returne on the Natiuity of Saint Mary the Virgen to Cane there finally to conclude more fully the whole busines Thus farre concerning the meeting of the Nuntios with the king Gratian is highly commended who would neuer condescend to admitt this forme of wordes coÌcerning which Iohn of Salisbury wrote in this sorte to Iohn Bishop of Poytiers Many conceaue a hope that the sonne of grace whose name agreeth with his actions the Nephew of blessed Eugenius will sincerely proceede according to the Euangelicall truth the glory of the Apostolicall Maiestie and the honor and peace of the distressed Church for hee knoweth assuredly that taking this course hee shall purchase to himselfe eternall glory beefore God and men And in regarde hee findeth but few vpon whom hee may boldly rely I beeseech you to coÌfirme and strengthen in our Lord his constancy The king by Gods fauour is well able to pay and for penitents it is certayne the sinne shall not bee forgiuen vnles what is wrongfully taken away bee restored c. For wheras hee thought there was no reconciliation of peace without restitution of the goodes taken away from the Church Salisbury praysing these his proceedinges sayth The king God willing is well able to satisfy and penitents may bee assured they can neuer obtayne remission of their sinnes if what they haue taken away bee not restored when they haue ability to doe it for otherwise it is not pennance but a fayned Hypocrisy And hee againe as touching absolution giuen without promise of satisfaction and also concerning that clause with preseruation of the dignity of the kingdome beeing the wordes which Gratian reiected sayth moreouer If the king haue his will to inserte in the articles of agreement The preseruation of the dignity of his kingdome hee hath the victory for confirmation of his customes with only alteration of the wordes and hath banished cleane out of England all the Authority of the Roman Church But God forbid that euer assent should
bee giuen to any of these and I am assured my Lord of Canterbury will rather make choyse of banishement during life then for recouering his peace the Church of God should sustayne damage or the Apostolike Sea bee depriued of her priuiledge Perswade therfore my Lord Gratian to proceede warily in all affayres but aboue all in these Articles least which God forbid hee bee deceaued by the suttle wittes of lurking Foxes You see his vnaduised arrogancy hee who the last yeere as you haue heard scorned peace beecause sainct Thomas endeauored to mayntayne that forme of speech which was I commend the whole cause to your disposition with the reseruation of the honor of God for which only wordes hee reuyled the sainct with slanders and reproches now extolling himselfe aboue all whatsoeuer is worshipped hee would not haue the reseruation of the honor of God but the preseruation of his kingdomes dignity concluded in the conditions of peace Beecause therfore the Bishoppes who were elected by the king to penne the forme of peace could not perswade the Nuntios to admitt the forme aforesayde they deuysing with theÌselues an other forme of peace A new forme of peace deuised by the Bishoppes did by the Bishop of Roane signify the same to the king in these wordes Wee could by no meanes obtayne of the Nuntios to admitt that forme of peace which you left with vs in regarde of the Clauses that as well by you as them were set downe on either syde both manifould and doubtfull Cod. Vat lib. 3. Epist 13. and for them to departe abruptly and with despaire of peace seemeth neither agreable to your honor or profitt hauing therfore considered many wayes with our selues wee happened in the end on such a forme of wordes wherin there is not the least derogation to your dignity and honor nor yet can bee ministred heereafter to Canterbury any cause of contention which is thus That for the loue of God and respect to our Lord the Pope you giue the Archbishop leaue to returne into England and cause him to haue his Archbishoppricke as amply as hee enioyed the same beefore his departure and also restore to them who either with him or for his cause left the kingdome their owne againe For this shorte and playne forme of wordes pleased vs best because it seemeth not enwrapped in any suttell deuises or suspitions wherupon wee consell and perswade you that you question not to yeeld your assent therunto And thus much Roane deliured to the king But the king vnderstanding by the Bishoppes that the Nuntios would in no case admitt the former clause which was The reseruation of the dignity of his kingdome beeing greatly incensed with anger did instantly heerupon send away two Embassadors to Pope Alexander with letters farced with complayntes requiring also the Bishoppes whom he assembled for this purpose to wryte by the same Embassadours to his Holines word by word to the same effecte all which are yet extant Ibid. Epist. 19.20.21.22 But Viuian one of the Popes Nuntios perceauing how the king addressed Embassadours in this sorte to his Holines fearing they should any way vndermyne him determined instantly to send a messanger Post by whom hee certifyed the Pope in wryting the true and faythfull relation of all their proceedinges hitherto out of the contents whereof besides the fore recyted dealinges let vs heere lay open such occurrences as beefell after the Nuntios fayling of their purpose departed from the king These are the wordes The Bishoppes beeing very earnest on the kings beehalfe that wee would admitte these wordes Ibid. Epist 26. with reseruation of the dignity of the kingdome Wee answered wee will agree to the wordes of the king so as yee will consent to the wordes of our Lord wee meant with preseruation of the liberty of the Church which they would not allowe neither yet the king allthough hee knewe that the liberty of the Church consisted in the honor of God as hee sayd would neuertheles in any case subscribe therunto and beeing not able to preuayle against vs in these formall wordes they made rather choyse that the Archbishop as before is sayd should safely returne to his Church and with good peace and security receaue the same in as ample manner as hee inioyd it before his departure without mention of any condition either on the one syde or the other and his followers in like sorte restored to their owne and at their instance wee condescended therunto Lastly beeing called by the king to Roane wee came thither with a laboursome iourney and to conclude hee signifyed to vs by his Agents in the Courte of the Archbishoppe that hee would neuer bee disswaded from those wordes Sauing the dignity of his kingdome soe as neither the first nor second nor yet the third forme of wordes deuysed by the foresayde persons could on all partes bee approued and in this sorte most blessed father wee departed wherupon wee commanded the Archbishoppes by their obligation of fidelity wherin they stood bound vnto vs to denounce to them whom wee had absolued vpon assurance of the oath which they swore to vs and to declare to their Lord the king that if peace ensued not before our departure they should loose the benefitt of their absolution and bee inuiolably subiect to the sentence pronounced against them by the Archbishop of Canterbury And thus far concerning our proceedinges with the king in these matters Wee signifyed afterwardes the kinges formall wordes to the Archbishop of Canterbury who enduring all with patience was willing also to preserue the dignity of the kingdome so far as it might stand with the conseruation of his order and his fidelity to the Church of Rome and if any one shall certify you to the contrary concerning this busines bee your Holynes perswaded neuertheles that it is no otherwise then wee haue reported neither yet in regarde my Lord Gratians name is not subscribed to these letters doth it therfore followe that hee sawe them not nor carefully perused them but that happened in respect hee hastened to returne and required these letters might bee more breifely contryued All which wee wryte that your Holines may giue no credit to the kinges Agents against vs before our returne And addeth lastly that in the end hee sent a Messinger to the king named Peter Archdeacon of Papia who beeing kindly entertayned by the king but nothing prevayling in his motion of peace was in his returne spoyled of all hee had and one of his campany beeing endangered for his life was hardly rescued The determined day appoynted by Pope Alexander for conclusion of the peace was the feast of saint Michael the Archangell which beeing once passed they who were absolued vpon this expectatioÌ of peace must now fall backe againe into their former sentence of excommunication inflicted on them by Canterbury Cod. Vat. lib. 3. Epist 36. concerning which the letters are yet extant which Gratian did wryte to the excommunicated
But why after this prefixed day when Gratian did according as hee was commanded presently returne Viuian remayned neuertheles behinde why Viuian remayned beehânde after Gratians departure is heere to bee shewed out of the letters of saint Thomas The expected tyme prescribed by Pope Alexander beeing expired not only Gratian but alsoe the Archbishop of Senon who was called in as a Mediator of peace betweene the king and the Archbishoppe departed both together from the king which taynted him with no smale disgrace for redemption wherof not knowing what to doe hee deuysed as his last refuge to retayne Viuian in the trafficke of peace with a certayne assurance of accomplishing the same who not suspecting any deceypt or falshoode to lurke vnder the Maiesty of a king reposing all confidence in him as one secure of peace did congratulate with his freindes for his prosperous successe therin indighting also these letters to saint Thomas the Archbishop of Canterbury To Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury Master Viuian wisheth health with victory to ouercome this instant trouble to the honor of God and his Church To the end wee might with my Lord of Towers or his Messingers make our speedyest returne to the Courte wee left Towers and on the fourth of the Kalends of Nouember receaued the letters of the king of England the Archhishop of Roane and the Archdeacon of Canterbury by the handes of the Prior of Bee and an other beeing a noble Gentleman the copys whereof wee sent to your blessed selfe beeseeching you not to listen to any Clearkes suggestion allthough hee bee most eminent in dignity vnles you haue first the kinges letters patents which as it hath bin often proposed beeseemeth best your honor and we entreate moreouer that you send instantly to vs a Poste or some Clearke by whom if you please you may signify your will to vs neither yet bee you soe much addicted to Master Gratian as to contemne in our person the honor of your most deere freind the cheife Aduocate of the Roman Church Thus far to saint Thomas after the receypt of the kinges letters for his returne to the Courte But vpon Viuians comming to the king how hee proceeded with his Maiestie his letters to saint Thomas fully declare congratulating with him more openly for the conclusion of peace in theââ wordes Blessed bee God and the father of our Lord Iesus Christ Ibid. Epist 9. Viuian deluded with a vaine hope who beeyond the opinion of many is now euen ready to vnite in the surest band of charity the walls that were disioyned by the suggestion of the wicked Beeing recalled wee returned to his Maiesties presence where by the operation of the diuine grace wee found those proceedinges wherin the honor of God and his Church was no whitt violated If therfore you haue now receaued any message from the most Christian king of France and my Lord of Roane as wee certaynly suppose you haue wee are very gladd therof for soe was it appointed and if Master Iohn of Salisbury your Clearke and our most deere companion is returned to you as wee hope hee is wee reioyce therin beecause hee hath a message to you But reuerent father whatsoeuer it is wee beeseech you and beeseeching counsell you on the beehalfe of our Lord the Pope and the Roman Church that setting all feaâes a syde you would bee willingly present at saint Denises the first Sunday after the feast of saint Martyne beeing the place and day appointed for confeâence beetweene the two kinges beecause you shall âhere God-willing heare the Angelicall Hymne Glory bee to God on high and peace on earth to my Lord of Canterbury c. And thus far Viuian concerning an assured peace But sainct Thomas knowing more inwardly the kings suttlety neither yet as it was conâenient hauing any confidence heerin and beeing âuspiciously fearefull answered with this letter beeing âf greater weyght as well for wisedom as grauity Thomas by the grace of God the humble seruant of the Church of Canterbury and Legate of the Apostolike Sea Ibid. Epist 10. to Master Viuian his faythfull freind and Aduocate of the holy Roman Church wisheth health and in all thinges rightly to consider vnderstand Weyghing with my selfe the Legantyne power committed to your charge and the busines imposed on you I see nothing hath yet miscaryed in the substance of the mater by your trauail to my Lord the king of England ãâã dangers hath hitherto bin to the authority of him who sent you nothing attempted sayde or donne to our discommodity for soe far forth as this action extendeth it selfe hauing accomplished the office coÌmended to your care were the successe either good or ill the prefixed tyme which limiteth your Legantyne boundes ought to make you beeing a man learned in the lawe and professing the knowledge therof on all sydes sufficiently circumspect Be ware therfore that you are well aduised and proceede wisely least you bee made a fable and derysion among the nobility But if of your selfe you haue vndertaken a new created Legantyne authority let him obey the same who is interessed in it and him vndergoe the burden to whom the profit appertaineth for myne owne parte that Iurisdiction no way commandeth mee And thus hee wrote because the tyme of his Legantyââ power was now expyred and himselfe bound no longââ to obey but whatsomeuer hee did was of his owne fâââ will and therupon addeth afterwardes But in that yoââ exhorte vs to descend to a parlee appointed between the kinges on the next Sunday at Saint Denyses ãâã wee cannot out of your mandate vnderstand with whââ certainty what reason or what hope of peace you require it thus instantly soe on the othersyde wee very much wonder how you are in this sorte inuited to summon vs yet for the reuerence wee beare to the sacred Roman Church and for the loue wee owe you wee will allthough wee are suspended in vncertaintys and feares vpon your request giue you meeting God willing on Fryday at the Castell of Corbule that wee may better learne from your owne mouth what fruyte wee may reape by your labor and trauaile and what honor and grace your selfe may gayne therby God be with you and blesse you soe as you be not taken in the trappe which hardly any can auoyde who traffickes with them Thus Saint Thomas and truly no false prophet as will appeare by the sequell But concerning the proceedinges from the tyme of the recalling of Viuian vntill his departure being after the meeting of the kinges at Paris there remayneth an ample relation in the letter of Saint Thomas written to the Archbishop of Senon in these wordes To the reuerent father and his most deere freind William by the grace of God Archbishop of Senon Thomas the humble seruant of the Church of Canterbury wisheth as much as the deuotion of a banished and distressed person can It is impossible the mynd of the wicked should rest beeing continually gauled with the
wrongfully with houlden from vs vnto the Church for discharging the debtes of vs and ours for repayring dilapidations ordering our Graunges and deliuering from diuers necessitys the Church which hath bin by the wastefull spoyle and deceyptes of his officers cast into the depth of calamityes and that our petitions might not seeme to exceede reason and the couenantes for auoyding the kinges wauering vncertainty beeing set downe in wryting might remayne more authenticall wee caused to bee presented to him this supplication which you shall heere withall receaue beeing temperately corrected according to his owne Agents desire to the end the world may knowe that wee will refuse no condition of peace which is any way tollerable in the Church of God But the king hauing heard our petition read which was approued by all in regarde of our moderate demandes answered in his mother tongue couching his ambiguous wordes in that obscurity a thing vsuall with him as to the simple hee seemed to graunt all our requestes but to the iudgment of the wiser intermingled all with tedious and insufferable conditions yet they all agreede in one which was that hee no way consented to receaue vs in the kisse of peace and this made the Christian king say that hee would not for all the gold our king was worth counsell vs to sett footing in his land without hauing first receaued the kisse of peace And Count Theobalde added that to doe the contrary were a most foolish presumption many of the assembly discoursing much amonge themselues and calling to mynde what beefell to Robert de Silliacke beecause not this very kisse appeared in him a sufficient warrant for the maintenance of his peace and security nether yet would hee afforde vs this answer vpon the mediation of the foresayde Bishoppes the Arbiters of peace as wee hoped neither vpon the instance of any others yea while wee awayted his resolution hee turned away towards Medantan Then was presented to him on the way my Lord Phillip the blessed sonne of the most Christian king whom as they say who brought him our king sowerly beeheld slenderly saluted and hastily dismissed Moreouer hee sayth the king of France who accompanyed him on his iourney departed from him discontented hauing apparantly seene the disposition of his mynde subuerting all thinges with suttletyes And afterwards hee wryteth thus of his attempting Viuian with brybes And thus wee returned without any answer from the king to the place of our repose which Allmighty God had prouyded for vs casting our hope on him who neuer forsaketh such as trust in him and attending the comforte wee expect from your charity But for the king of England he sent a messinger with twenty Mearkes to Master Viuian intreating him yet once agayne to vndertake this reformation of peace which money as wee certainly heare hee refused answering him by letter the copy wherof wee haue heerewithall sent you nether is there any thing soe much vrgeth him to seeke for peace as the feare hee conceaueth of the iourney intended by your selfe and my Lord Gratian to his Holines nor yet doth he insinuate himselfe with Viuian for any other end but to preuent that hee fall not into the Lord Gratians handes and yours Moreouer wee vnderstand hee hath sent Gyles Archdeacon of Rone Iohn of Oxeforde and Iohn of Segia to the Courte of purpose to worke that wee may not haue any Legantyne authority granted vs ouer his land nor any thing else which may bee incommodious to him or the Earle of Flanders you partly knowe the messingers but perchance are better acquaynted with vs who by your fauor are conuersant with you Since therfore the king of England is stroaken with so greate a feare by reason of your sanctity and the faithfull dealing of my Lord Gratian whereof hee haâh had experience it is most euident that if my Lord the Pope had at the first rather terrifyed with the power of a high Bishoppe then indured him with the charitable loue of an indulgent father the Church of God had long before this bin cleered of her stormes and the fury of the man asswaged who prosecuteth without pitty such as flye and are feeble and yeeldeth to them who manfully resist him But beecause Saint Thomas highly commended Gratian in regarde of his returne to Rome For an example to them who on the beehalfe of the Apostolicall Sea shall vndergoe matters of that importance with great princes we haue set forth here a few lynesout of the Saintes letter written to Gratian in these wordes The endeauors of sinners cannot in the end any way hurte the children of Grace Cod Vat. lib. 3. epist 63. because God suffereth them not to bee tempted aboue their power directing all things for the benefit of his elect and drawing miraculously out of the seuerall euents of matters a glorious profitt and God vndoubtedly respected your faithfull dealing who conuerted Master Viuians stay and the managing of his busines in France after your returne to the glory of your name making you a God to Pharao And afterwardes Whosoeuer beeheld the end of the exceeding familiarity which passed beetweene the king and Viuian or heard Viuian discoursing therof protested openly that among them all who were employed by the Pope to the king of England Gratian only proceeded aduisedly Ihid epist 65. Ibid. epist 61. c. Saint Thomas wrote also thereof to Pope Alexander and Viuian himselfe certifyed his Holines to that purpose But for the letter which Viuian sent to the king of England vpon refusall of his money the copy wherof the Bishop of Senon and Gratian as you haue heard receaued from Saint Thomas wee doe heere present it vnto you To the most renowned Lord Henry by the grace of God king of England Master Viuian Aduocate of the holy Roman Church wisheth health with a true assent to sound aduise Ibid. epist 62. How much I haue labored for your honor how far I haue endeauored that you should to the glory of God conclude your peace with the Church God himselfe knoweth and your wisedome ought not to bee ignorant For I haue bin soe forward on your behalfe as I haue therby lost the fauor of many and greate persons and am beecome the fable of detracting tongues which causeth mee to wonder that you haue a will to make mee infamous by corruption of money whom you would not heare when I counselled you for your honor and profitt But in regarde I beegan to respecte you with my best obseruance and seruice and am not accustomed easely to forsake my freindes I beesech you and by all meanes possible counsell you to returne to your selfe and confirme with your Charter the petition which my lord of Canterbury preferred to you and withall to receaue him in the kisse of peace sending to him and recalling him backe againe before your land bee interdicted and excommunicated whose names are allready conceaued in the booke of their condemnation for they are many and
written to them into England Ibid. Ep. 47. Knowe yee my deerest that wee haue wrytten in great tribulation and anxiety of harte not any way to heape sorrowes vpon yee but that yee may vnderstand what manner of charity wee beare abuntantly vnto yee for God is our witnes how wee couet yee in the very bowells of Christ Iesus wherupon seeing the dangers that neerely touch the body and soule yee to their iniury and which beeing neuer heard of in these our dayes are yet now beefallen wee are not a litle greiued and confounded in regarde of your selues For it is apparant by the publicke reporte of all men that yee haue abiured my Lord the Pope who representeth the person of Christ himselfe and as also who allthough vnworthy are neuertheles appoynted the father and Bishop of your soules yea this is it which aboue other thinges that wee haue many yeeres according to the example of the iust iudgment of Allmighty God indured increased exceedingly the abundance of our sufferinges for that soe detestable so wicked an oath how great a scandall doth it breede to the world what offence to God what a synne to your selfe what affliction to vs For why to abiure them whom God hath ordayned ouer yee is an iniury to him who hath ordayned them and likewise to vs who are placed in authority by him nay rather the power of him who soe exalted vs is dishonored the band of his obedience broken which vice vndoubtedly with confidence I speake it but for your sakes with teares is like and equiualent to Idolatry for sayth the prophet to resist is the synne of Southsaying and not to obey is the offence of Idolatry wherupon such by the ordinance of the old lawe as were Idolatrers sustayned the sentence of corporall death And seeme yee not to your selues to haue incurred a far greater cryme in that yee doe not only rebell but alsoe bynde your selues with an oath heereafter to rebell and that moroeuer what a thing is it for sheepe to shake of their sheapheard Verily for such as forsake their shepheardes the Wolfe hath allready inuaded them and vnles the shepheard whom they haue now abiured defendeth them hee will in the end deuoure them Many testimonyes of Scriptures and examples of Saintes may bee produced for detestation of your offence but that the excesse of such an enormity lyeth open to the eyes of the meanest vnderstanding Yet if yee were not voluntarily but vnwillingly drawne hereunto the sinne were excused in parte but not in all for better it is to suffer the body's destruction then take an abhominable oath wherby yee are beecome the children of death beecause as the prophet sayth of the people yee are stroken with the stripe of the enemy with a cruell chastisement But to manifest the watchfull care wee haue beefore Allmighty God for yee wee haue endeauored to apply to soe greeuous a wound the salue which now only remayneth and doe therfore by the power of saint Peter the Apostle the authority of the Bishop of Rome and of vs absolue from an oath soe vnlawefull all such as are penitent especially those who sweare imparting to our reuerent brethren the Diocesan Bisshoppes and preistes of lesse quality in the vacancy of Bishopprickes our power for inioyning externall satisfaction to the afore sayd Penitents Admonishing yee all who are willing to vnderstand it that yee are no way bound by such an oath nor obliged to obey it least as Herod vnder pretence of piety yee become impious and excuse with an oath an offence exceeding the swearing according to him who sayth That oath is not to bee obserued wherby a sin is vnaduisedly promised And againe In promises which are euill infringe your fayth breake your vowe change your decree doe not performe what you haue vnaduisedly vowed And many other sentences which I ouerpasse are consonant heereunto And now to conclude I who am bound in our Lord doe heere beeseech yee yea I beeseech yee as my children whom I euer ought to embrace in Christ that yee walke worthy of the vocation wherunto God hath called yee that obseruing first of all the fayth of Christ yee doe next obey his Prelates submitting your selues vnto them for they are the Parties who keepe watch ouer yee as the persons who must yeeld an accompt for your soules For brethren I would haue yee vnderstaÌd how as well these vnlawfull oathes as also many other enormious crymes which through wicked sugestions are committed in our cause for the oppression of iustice and truth truth so fauoring it selfe will turne in the end to the benifitt thereof fore truth may bee imprisonned or entralled but can neuer bee vanquished beecause shee is contented with the smale number of her follwers and neuer caught with the multitude of men and let the spirit of counsell and wisedom inspire yee all with that discretion one to an other as being all of one mynde yee may with one mouth honor the Pastors and Bishoppes of your soules whom that great Pastor of flockes Iesus Christ hath ordayned in the blood of his eternall testament and that by the Charity of the holy Ghost yee stretch out the handes of your prayers to helpe mee your father in this âây extreme perill wherby I may bee deliuered from those Infidells who forbid that in this my restraynte I should bee assisted with prayer a suffrage commonly beestowed both on the faythfull and vnfaythfull The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ bee with yee all who haue corrected your error concerning this wicked oath and bin worthily and humbly contryte therfore for the contrary syde I beeseech God either instantly to conuerte them or temporally to punish them vntill they amend and doe condigne pennance for their offence Thus wrote saint Thomas vnto his Cod Vat. lib. 3. Ep. 18. But it appeareth by the testimony of Iohn of Silisbury that all did not equally condescend to this oath and that persecution was threatned from the higher powers against such as refused to sweare For hee sayth It is a publicke reporte that the aboue mentioned Archdeacon of Canterbury perswaded the king to passe ouer into England and there to torture the Bishoppes with those of the Clergy who would not sweare against my Lord the Pope and their mother Church of Canterbury on euery syde is feare perplexitys on euery syde c. The king meane while did with all dilligence possible hasten to accomplish the Coronation at whitsuntyde but concerning such thinges as foreranne the same there is extant the relation of a faythfull freind who remayned with the king and often certifyed saint Thomas by letters of these and other occurrents but now in this sorte Ibid Ep. 10. The king must bee needes at London on Sunday next for hee hath then summoned thither out of all partes of the land the Archbishop of yorke together with all other Bishoppes and Barons that day will yorke assuredly crowne the kinges sonne his wife the king
by your discussion Wittnes Richard de Lucy at Westminster Cod. Vat. lib. 5. Epist 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. Thus wrote the king In the meane tyme saint Thomas sent his letters of Interdiction which are yet extant into England vnto the Bishoppes to bee published within xv days vnles peace ensued But the king preuenting the tyme promised the Legates to confirme the peace referring the articles therof to bee composed by their discretion Wherupon the Apostolicall Legates offered Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury hymselfe to deuise the Articles of his owne peace which hee did collecting them out of the former conferences had with the king and also out of such conditions as the Apostolicall letters appoynted the king to performe There is yet to bee seene an Epistle of saint Thomas written to the Bishoppe of Niuers aÌd the Legate his Associate concerning the whole busines wherin hee first admonisheth them in what sorte they ought to proceede with the king whose manners hee doth exactly describe wryting thus Ibidem Ep. 12. S. Thomas admonisheth the Legates how to proceede with the king in the treaty of peace Allmighty God direct your steppes that in the cause of his Church the managing wherof is now in parte committed to your charge yee neither stray on the right or the left hande but passe on the high way so as neither by faire promises nor yet by threates nor by any exquisite deceyptes hee whose snares no man with whom hee hath had intercourse could euer yet auoyde may as now preuayle against your wisedome and sincerity and vnles I am deceaued yee are exposed vnto the fight of beastes since hee will bring forth Bishoppes Abbottes and discreete men that by them hee may conquer your constancy if hee perceaueth hee cannot surprise yee with proffers and faire wordes Beecause therfore yee cannot easily discouer these manifould and prodigious deceiptes whatsomeuer hee sayth whatsomeuer forme hee vndertaketh yet bee yee euer suspicious of all his showes and let all bee imagined full of guylded falshoodes those only excepted whose truth is approued by the touchstone of their workes for if hee perceaueth hee cannot corrupt yee with large offers or terrify yee with threates or wrest any thing from yee against your wills and against the iustice of the cause your authority will presently vanish as blowne vp in his concept and your selues held in contempt scorne and derision by him and his And if hee seeth hee cannot bend yee from your setled course hee will seeme to grow furious against yee for first hee did sweare aÌd deepely protest theÌ turne as Proteus to sundry shapes and after all at the last come home to himselfe againe and then vnles the fault bee yours you shall euer beethe God of Pharao These and the like did saint Thomas insinuate to them teaching the Legates how to ouercome the king beeing a necessary lesson for such as shall heereafter bee appointed Legates to treate with Princes Afterwardes hee addeth the articles as hee calleth them for establishing the peace with the king But what was the coÌclusion The Legates thus instructed with the admonitions of saint Thomas beeing now to conferre with the king brought saint Thomas also along with them his Maiestie expecting them in a place of exceeding pleasure named by the inhabitantes as it is written in Quudrilogus in the history of saint Thomas Traytor 's meadowe that the name it selfe might soe bee answerable to the effecte the blood of the iust beeing there beetrayde Where after many contentions and debates it was brought aboute that the king with a pleasant countenance in outward showe freely graunted saint Thomas his peace But how the busines was handled is set downe playnly in a discourse concerning the same written by saint Thomas vnto Pope Alexander which beeing tedious wee will heere only declare such thinges as are necessary and worthie of knowledge Cod Vat. lib. 5. Ep 45. The Epistle beeginneth thus God with his eye of mercy hath beeheld our Church And after For loe vpon receypte of your last letters wherby you let him vnderstand that you would noe longer forbeare him more then you spared Fredericke called Emperor perceauing his lande should bee subiected to interdiction without any remedy whatsomeuer and the Bishoppes if any of them perchance disobeyed suspended and excommunicated hee concluded instantly with vs a peace to the honor of God and as wee hope the Churches greatest vtility For concerning the customes hee was wont soe willfully to maintayne hee durst not speake now one worde hee exacted not an oathe of vs or any of ours hee graunted vs the possessions which by reason of this dissention hee had taken away from our Churches in such sorte as wee expressed them in a certayne wryting hee promised all ours peace and security with the kisse also if wee would vrge him soe farre so as hee seemed in all his actions not only absolutely ouercome but that hee was also taxed as periurd by those who heard him the same day sweare hee would not receaue vs with the kisse For wee by the aduice of many discreete persons and especially of my Lord of Senon who furthered our peace more carefully and effectually then the rest came together with him to the conference had with the kinge Whom by the goodnes of God who remoued all those that were accustomed with sundry deceptes to intrappe your Holines wee found soe much changed as his mynde to the greate admiration of all the beehoulders appeared willingly to embrace all counsells of peace For as soone as hee sawe vs approaching a farre of breakeing out from the company hee mett vs speedely and vnkeevering his heade as wee hastened to salute him hee saluted vs first and after a fewe wordes had with my Lord of Senon and vs Senon withdrawing himselfe a syde to the maruaille of all hee tooke vs apparte and discoursed with vs a long while soe familiarly as it seemed not there had euer bin any discord beetwene vs. Wherupon well nigh all the company there present euen astonished with a most ioyfull admiration yea very many of their eyes slowing with teares glorifyed God and blessed saint Mary Magdalene on whose feast the king was conuerted from his former wayes soe as hee reduced a day of delight to his whole dominioÌ and restored to the Church her ancient peace againe Wee reproued him but with such moderation as was necessary wee layde open to him the ways in which hee had erred with the dangers which on euery syde threatened wee beesought and exhorted him to returne to himselfe and doeing the fruites worthie of pennance with satisfying by manifest restitution of her goodes the Church whom hee had not a little iniured to cleere his conscience and repaire his reputation for rather misseledde by wicked counsellors then of his owne inclination hee had greatly wronged both and when hee had heard all this not only patiently but also fauorably with promise of reformation wee added moreouer it
againe to saint Thomas beeginning thus Ibid. Ep. 53. Wee haue accomplished as farre as wee could your command c. And vpon this conclusion of matters saint Thomas wrotte these letters to Pope Alexander Ibid. Ep. 52. S. Thomas writeth again to the Pope After the trompet of your Apostolicall Cominatory holy father had throughly sounded in the king of Englands eare and that the seuerity of the Church threatened as well himselfe as his dominion hee concluded his peace with vs assuredly promising hee would not omitt one iott or title of the whole contents of your commandement but absolutely fullfill the vttermost and hauing soe auoyded the blowe of this imminent sentence in some articles hee flewe of from the agreement withoulding from vs as yet certayne possessions of the Church which our Predecessor inioyde without controuersy all the days of his life and wee also afterwardes vntill the violence of this tempest arose against the Church of England And somewhat after wee truly will endeauor to winne the fauor of the man as far as wee can possibly with the preseruation of the liberty and reputation of the Church together with the testimony of a good conscience that wee may therby make tryall if all this can as yet recall him to a gentle temper Your clemency vouchsafed to send vs letters for the correction and chastisement as well of the Archbishoppe of Yorke as other our associate Bishoppes which lynes were vndoubtely inspired conceaued by the holy Ghost and are such as reproue the kinges enormityes with an authority beeseeming Peeters successor and Christes vicar Cod Vad li. 5. Epist 60. These letters as yet remayne beeing registred in the proces of the worke and are treated of in their place To these letters S. Thomas likewise added the letters which hee receaued from his agents sent into England for recouering the Churches goodes and are to bee seene in the same booke And to that purpose may you there reade also the complaintes of S. Thomas made to the king Ibid. Ep. 53. beeing seasoned with very greate modesty and sweetned with mildenes Ibid. Ep. 54. In the meane while before Pope Alexander receaued the letters of S. Thomas coÌcerning the peace coÌcluded with the king of England the Pope departing from Beneuent towardes Rome The Popes returne to Rome and his letters written on the way Ibid Ep. 65 and comming to Verula a Citty of the Hernicians hee directed his letters from thence to Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury beeginning thus Amonge the manifolde c. And excusing afterwardes himselfe in regarde hee did not according to the desire of saint Thomas seeme to proceede more speedily in this cause hee addeth these wordes Whereupon most deare brother if wee haue in the eye of the world proceeded more remissely in the matter concerning your selfe and the Church of England nor yet haue answered your petitions according to your owne will the reason was not in regarde wee reputed not the cause of your selfe and the Church of England to bee our owne and as neerely touching our selues as you or that wee would any way bee wanting to you therin but that wee thought conuenient to vse all patieÌce to the end wee might coÌquer euill in doeing good Wee feared also least if there grewe any greater breach in the Church it might bee imputed vnto our rough proceeding But now in respect the disturbers of the peace and the oppressors of the Churches liberty are not as it seemeth moued with any contrition at all to amend their fore passed abuses yea extending their sinnes as a long rope insulte more and more as well to your vexation as the depression of the Church of Canterbury soe far forth as they appeare in your case to bee past well-nigh all hope of repentance wee doe heere pronounce the Canonicall sentence and suspend from Apostolicall dignity your brother Roger Archbishop of Yorke with the other Bishoppes who haue bound themselues by oath to obserue the customes and doe still blowe the coales of so greate a mischeife And for the Bishoppes of Salisbury and London who seeme indebted in a greater band of gratuity and yet neuertheles are reported to repay for thankfullnes nothing but ingratitude if so they haue with their presence and ministry furthered the coronation of the new king against the prerogatiue of the Church of Canterbury wee recall them into the sentence of Excommunication from which they were absolued And last hee thus mentioneth the tyme and place where the letter was dated Datum Verulae 4. what the Pope did Verule Id. Septemb. Departing from Verula hee came to Ferentine a Citty seauen myles distant from Verula towardes Rome Cod. Vad. 5. Ep. 66.67 where the letters of Excommunication were dated vnto these English Bishoppes beeing London what ãâã wrote ãâã Ferentine Ibid. Ep. 5â Salisbury and the rest there mentioned with an other letter aparte to the Archbishoppe of Yorke concerning his suspension both beeing dated as appeareth in their conclusion at Ferentine 16. Kaled Octob. These are the letters which saint Thomas in his to Pope Alexander concerning the same commendeth as written with an Apostolicall zeale But in the letter to the Arcbbishop of Yorke hee alleageth the cause of his suspension not to bee only the coronation of the the kinges sonne but that also in the same coronation hee omitted the accustomed caution and condition for defending the Churches liberty or at the least in place therof to make him take another oath vsuall then to bee sworne and which is worser that an oath was there giuen for an exact conseruation of his ancestors customes directly opposite to the Church Going from Ferentine his Holines with a shorte iourney of fiue myles lodged at Anagnia which is declared by diuers Epistles to the same purpose wrytten thence as first for the recalling as well of Clearkes as lay-men into the excommunication from which they were absolued if according to their promise they made not satisfaction in restoring possessions taken away from Churches limitting a terme of xv dayes for performing the same Dated as wee sayde at Anagnia 8. Octobris with other Bishoppes of England for continuing the interdiction vntill the Church were satisfyed Cod Vat li. 5. Epist 40. The morow following also were letters dated at the same place to the Bishoppes of Roane and Senon where after some other matters were these wordes for obseruing such thinges as were promised by the king in his couenants of peace Wee will and command and in the vertue of obedience by our Apostolicall letters inioyne your brotherhoode Ibid. ep 31. that within twenty days after the receipte heereof yee doe with all dilligence conferre with the king in our beehalfe and carefully admonish and instantly exhorte him sincerely to accomplish the peace which hee hath as yet in wordes only concluded with the Archbishoppe and withall that yee incite him afterwardes to restore all thinges wrongfully taken away rapaire the dammages
donne by him and absolutely abolish those wicked and destable customes But if hee will not within thirty days after your commonition ratify the peace according to his appointment and promise doe yee then forbid all diuine offices beesides Baptisme of infantes and pennance at the point of death to bee ministred in all his Dominions on this syde on the seas and that without any obstacle of Appeale and cause this sentence to bee most strictly obserued vntill hee shall giue condigne satisfaction And if either of yee by reason of extreme necessity cannot bee present at the execution heereof beeing a thing if it should soe happen much against our willes let then the other neuertheles doe this our command Dated at Anagnia 7. Id. Octobris Moreouer there and then hee sent other letters to Roane and Nyuers against such as detayning possessions of the Church and would not restore them whom hee commanded to bee excommunicated vnles they made within xv days full satisfaction The Pope remouing from Anagnia to Signia a citty seauen myles thence where 3. Ibidem 32. Id. Octob. hee directed his letters to all the Prelates of the Prouinces beelonging to the king of England on this syde the seas for putting the interdiction in execution vnles the king made againe to saint Thomas together with a perfect peace restitution of his possâssions hee the same day at the sayd place wrote also a letter to saint Thomas in these words Wee are oppressed with greife and bitter sorrowe so often as wee recall to mynde and carrefully consider the troubles Ibid. ep 29 burdens and afflictions which for the zeale of iustice and maintenance of the Churches liberty you doe with patience and an vndaunted courage indure But in regarde you haue atcheiued the perfection of vertue you cannot bee ouercome with aduersity nor remoued from the resolution of your constancy wherin wee commend your admirable magnanimity and congratulate with you in our Lord for this your singuler patience And beecause wee haue long expected with patience and fauor our beeloued sonne in Christ Henry the famous king of England and haue often admonished him seeking sometimes by sweete and pleasing wordes otherwhiles by rough and bitter threateninges to reclayme him now if hee performeth not really as well to you as yours the peace concluded with you nor yet restore you your Churches possessions together with your depriued honors wee giue you heere ample authority to exercise your Ecclesiasticall iustice beelonging to your office notwithstanding any obstacle of Appeale vpon the persons and places subiect to your iurisdiction excepting only the king the Queene and their children wishing you euer therin to vse the wisedome and consideration beeseeming all preistly modesty Dated at Signia 3. Id. Octob. Alexander leauing Signia came to Tusculan where with longer stay hee remayned awhile which is apparant by his letters Dated there 8. Ibid. ep 68. Kalend. Decemb. wherein hee cyteth the Bishoppes of London and Salisbury to Rome for making satisfaction and this vnles the peace were absolutely in all respects concluded Hee wrote also theÌ by the same messinger vnto whom hee deliuered his former letters to the king of England in these words Ibid. ep 55. Vnderstanding by the letters of our reuerent brother Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury that laying asyde all disturbance and malice The Popes letters to the king of England you haue restored him to your grace and fauor wee haue conceaued therin so much the more ioy and gladnes by how much wee consider the same to bee more gratefull and acceptable to God honorable to your selfe and profitable to your soule For wee knowe the Archbishoppe soe farre to excell in Religion wisedome honesty and the vertue of fayth as wee doubte not but hee will bee faythfull and deuoted to you and your kingdome able in power and ready in mynde for your honor and augmentation and euer truly and carefully vigilant to encrease your glory and exalte your magnificence Yet beecause the offence is not remitted vnles restitution bee made of thinges wrongfully taken away allthough the Archbishop himselfe in respect of his patience and for the tender loue hee beareth you forbeareth to require the same wee neuerthelesse who couet especially your saluation ought not to bee silent therin nor yet doth it beecome your Maiestie whom God hath made soe mighty and poteÌt to withhould the rightes and goods beelonging to the Church of Canterbury Wherfore with all intreaty wee admonish and earnestly exhorte the clemency of your royall excellency that following the example of Zacheus who sayth in the Gospell Beehould Lord halfe of my goodes I giue to the poore and if I haue defrauded any one I restore foure-foulde you would endeauor to render to the Archbishoppe and his Church what is wrongfully taken away and speedyly to recompense the dammages and detriments they sustayned by your meanes that you may soe appease the wrath of Allmighty God wherin you haue offended him and wee forgiue you absolutely soe greate a sinne and the Archbishoppe bee for euer bound to rest most ready at your seruice and deuotion and encrease the renowne of you and your heires Moreouer that you fauorably listen to such as haue furthered and performed this peace beetweene yee not heereafter harken to them whom you knowe to haue kindled the coales of this dissention beesides that you warne and perswade your sonne to giue due satisfaction to the Archbishoppe and his Church concerning the article of his oathe omitted by him for conseruation of the priuiledge and liberty of the Church of Canterbury in such sorte as kinges and Princes of England haue heertofore sworne making him to performe what is hetherto let passe and that as well your selfe as your sonne doe freely and quietly resigne the ordinations of Churches with other matters appertayning to Ecclesiasticall persons vnto the same Archbishop and other Ecclesiasticall men That in soe doing you may offer to our Lord a worthie sacrifice of prayse aÌd purchasse to your selfe an eternall kingdome Thus wrote Pope Alexander to the king who added alsoe theerunto other letters to the Clergie and people of England Cod Vat. li. 5. ep 56 The meeting of S Thomas with the king at Towers admonishing them all in any case not to disturb this setled peace But how matters proceeded in the meane time beetweene the king and saint Thomas let vs heere declare out of Quadrilogus the history of saint Thomas wryting thus The king inclining to alteration yea rather denying to make restitution of the possessions taken away from the Church of Canterbury and this comming to the eare of saint Thomas by the relation of Iohn of Salisbury Quadrilogus lib. 3. cap. 3. whom together with Herbert hee sent to treate with the king The Archbishop vnderstanding that a parlee was shortly to bee held beetweene the king and a noble man called Theobald Earle of Bloys the day beefore the conference went to the king at Towers The
his former fauor I theruppon complayning before his Maiestie of the iniuryes and insolencyes committed against mee and myne especially by the Bishoppes who in despight of their Mother Church of Canterbury beelonging to my charge were not afrayde to vsurpe hee graunted mee most gratiously his leaue âo obtayne from my Lord the Pope any censure whatsomeuer to repaire my wronged right soe as not only hee enclined to consent but vouchsafed also to promise mee his assistance And thus publickly professed saint Thomas beefore those cruell kinghtes of the kinges Guarde But let vs pursue the history and especially concerning the tyme when hee tooke shipping for England wherof Herbert in Quadrilogus of the life of S. Thomas discourseth thus In the yeere therfore of our Sauiours Incarnation 1170. and the seauenth yeere of his exile beeing now beegune on the second and third day of our Lordes Aduent the glorious frend of God and most constant defender of the Church Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury with his followers beeing imbarked in the night launched forth and hauing a prosperous wind according to their desire landed in England Soe much concerning his sayling and arriuall And Iohn of Salisbury whom saint Thomas had seât before into England perswaded the people by his letters yet extant Cad Vââ li. 5. ãâã 65. to meete their Pastor according to the example of their ancestors who mett saint Anselme in his returne from exile But therin were they hindred by the enuy and hatred of his aduersaryes Now for the passage of matters after his comming into England thore remayneth a large relation of Iohn of Salisbury to Peeter Abbot of saint Remigius Ibid. âp 6â yet let vs neâertheles heare a more certaine reporte of these occurrents written by saint Thomas himselfe to Pope Alexanâââ beeing the last of all his Epistles for not many dayes after was hee murdered by the kinges Guarde This of his to Pope Alexander was indighted in these wordes Vppon how iust and honorable condicions weâe concluded our peace with my Lord the king of England I suppose your Holines is certifyed as well by The ãâã âââstle of saâââ Thomââ to the Pope the relation of vs as diuers others who haue trauelled beetweene neither yet doe wee thinke you to bee ignorant how my Lord afterwardes flewe of from these his conuenants and promises which neuertheles wee beelieue not to bee soe much his faulte as the faulte of the Preistes of Baal and the children of the false Prophetts who from the beeginning haue bin the fewell of this dissention But the cheife leaders of these are that Yorke and London who sometimes when you were at Senon vppon their returne from you hauing neither seene our king nor heard him speake were not afrayde to beereaue vs of our possessions beeing then present in the Courte of your Clemency allthough it was vndoubtedly knowne to them as beeing the parties appealed how mee prosecuted two appeales before your Holines When therfore these Ringleaders of the Baalamites were aduertised of the peace wee made with my Lord the king ioyning to them Salisbury and other their confederates they sought by sea and land to cutt in sunder this knott of vnited peace perswading as well by themselues as others my Lord the king and his counsell how vnprofitable and dishonorable this coÌcord should bee to the kingdome vnles the indowments of our Churches which his Maiestie had made should remayne stable and wee also bee enforced to obserue the customes of the kingdome beeing the cause of all this controuersy Wherupon they preuayled soe farre in their peruersityes as my Lord the king by their instigation tooke from vs and ours all our rents from the time of the peace which was concluded on saint Mary Magdalens day vntill the feaste of saint Martin yeelding vs then at last empty houses and ruinated barnes and yet notwithstanding his clearkes G. Rydell and Nigell de Sackeuylle doe at this day withhoulde froÌ vs two of our Churches which they receaued from a lay inuesture and the king himselfe denyeth vs many possessions of our Bishoppricke which in the reformation of this peace hee vndertooke to restore But albeeit as it is knowne to many hee beehaueth himselfe otherwise then it beeseemeth against the artickles of peace considering neuertheles the outragious and irreuocable spoyles of the Church and for preuentioÌ of farre greater hauing also taken aduise with my Lordes the Cardinalles wee resolued to returne vnto our torne Church thus troaden vnder foote which if wee cannot as wee would rayse againe and repaire yet at the least dying with her wee may more confidently in her presence spend our life for her sake which determination of ours when these our enemys did more certaynly vnderstand I knowe not vpon what feare they consulted with the kinges officers and that most sinfull childe of perdition Raynulphe Broc who abusing the power of the publicke gouernment against the Church of God hath now for these seauen yeeres made hauocke more freely therof Wherupon they concluded to keepe most carefully with armed men and a continuall guarde of scoutes and souldiers the sea coastes and hauens where they supposed wee would arriue that wee might not land beefore they had searched all our lading and taken away all such letters as wee obtayned from your Maiestie But by the goodnes of God it soe fell out that all their attemptes were made knowne to vs by our freindes who suffered not their impudency builded vpon presumption to lurke concealed For these armed scoutes did scoure the sea coastes running heere and there according as the foresayde Bishoppes of Yorke Londom and Salisbury directed them and they made choyse for execution of their malice of such as were knowne to bee our greatest enemys beeing Raynulphe de Broc Reynold de Warrenne and Geruase shyreefe of Kent who threatened openly to cutt of my heade if wee presumed to arriue These afore recyted Bishoppes came often to Canterbury that if this armed route were not outragious enough they might yet more incense them Hauing therefore more thoroughly vnderstood their determination wee sent away your letters a day before wee toke shipping excepting for the suspension of Yorke and the recalling of London and Salisbury into their former sentence of Excommunication which were deliuered to their handes On the morrow wee went to sea and sayling prosperously arryued in England taking a long with vs according to the kinges commandement How saint Thomas was vsed at his landing in England Iohn Deane of Salisbury who not without sorrowe and shame beeheld these armed troupes posting to our shippe of purpose to assault vs in our landing wherfore the Deane fearing least if any wrong should bee offered to vs and ours it would redound to my Lord the kinges dishonor mett the souldiers and charged them in the kinges name neither to hurte vs nor ours because it would taynte the king himselfe beetweene whom and vs a peace was now concluded with some note of trechery and
therfore conselled them that laying armes asyde they would come peaceably to vs. Yet they in regarde wee brought with vs Symon Arch-deacon of Senon who came ouer to visite his freindes in England requyred him to take the oath of fealty to our kings the father and sonne and that against all men not soe much as excepting your Holines vs or any other But wee would not suffer any such oath to bee tendred fearing least the Clergy of the kingdome should bee enforced to sweare in like sorte if those of our owne househould should bee thus intangled in these bandes which Yorke London and Salisbury together with their confederates to the dammage of the Apostolike Sea endeauor to the end the authority therof may bee blowne vp or at the least diminished in the kingdome But the officers who exacted this oath beecause they were not accompanyd with many were not able in that place to inforce vs to any thing otherwise then wee would for the people reioycing at our returne could easily haue ouermatched them if they would haue stood vpon their strength Passing thence vnto our Church wee were with great deuotion receaued both of the Clergie and Layety allthough the intruded incumbentes doe as yet violeÌtly possesse our Churches among which are chiefest as well for the plague as vexation of the Church Gaufride Rydell our Archdeacon and Nigel de Sackeuille his Clearke of whom the one I meane Gaufride Rydel houldeth the Church of Otforde and the other Nigel de Sackeuyle the Church of Berges which together with the fruytes reaped thence they were by your Mandate bounden to restore to vs and our Clearkes the true owners of them for you commanded my Lord of Roane and the Bishop of Niuers to absolue them hauing first according to custome receaued the Sacrament of the Church and then beeing enioyned by your authority to restore vs our Churhces with their commoditys Beeing come to our Church there were presently with vs the kinges officers demanding on his beehalfe as the Lord of Yorke and the Bishoppes of London and Salisbury informed vs that wee should absolue the suspended Bishoppes and the excommunicated beecause whatsoeuer was donne against them redounded to his Maiesties iniury and withall to the ouerthrowe of the regall customes promising how the Bishoppes of our Prouince after this absolution should repaire to vs and with reseruation of the kinges honor willingly obey our iurisdiction Wherunto wee answered that it was not the parte of an inferior iudge to dissolue the seÌtence of his Superiour and how noe man could infringe what the Apostolike Sea had decreede Yet neuertheles in regarde they vrged more instaÌtly and threatened that my Lord the king vnles wee assented to them would attempt such matters as would amaze and astonish vs wee tould them if the Bishoppes of London and Salisbury would sweare beefore vs according to the forme of the Church that they would obey your commandement wee would then for purchasing the Churches peace and for the reuerence wee bore to the king with the aduice of himselfe my Lord of Winchester and others our breathren by making a tryall vndergoe the danger and doe therin what possibly wee could with preseruation of your reuerence and moreouer loue them as our deerest brethren and vse them with all sweetenes and gentles which beeing declared by Byshoppes who passed beetweene Yorke seeking occasion of dissension answered together with others who blewe the coales of Scysme that such an oathe was not to bee taken but with the kinges consente especially by Bishoppes beecause it was contrary to the Princes dignity and the customes of the kingdome wherunto on our parte wee replyed That wheras the same Bishoppes were beefore excommunicated by vs they could not by vs bee absolued but with the assurance of an oathe after they had with earneste sutes sollicited vs and then if our sentence could not bee loosed but with the caution of an oathe much lesse could yours which is far stronger and without comparaison exceedeth vs and all mortall men in authority Vppon which our speeches as some tould vs who were present the Bishoppes were so far moued as they determined to come to vs and receaue absolution according to the manner of the Church not esteeming it safe to oppose themselues against the Church and impugne the Apostolicall decrees for preseruation of the royall customes But that man the Aduersary of peace and disturber of the Church Yorke I meane disswaded it aduising them rather to flye to our Lord the king who euer hetherto patronized theÌ and likewise to send Messingers to our new kinge who might perswade him that wee intended to depose him wheras God is our wittnes soe it might bee to the Churches auayle wee had rather hee should possesse not only this one kingdome but also the most and most ample dominions of the world The cheifest medler in this message was our Archdeacon For Yorke with the other two forenamed Bishoppes passed speedily ouer the seas that which God forbid they might inueagle our Lord the king and incense him to bitter wrath against the Church They caused also to bee summoned out of the land six persons of the vacant Churches to the end they might there with their counsell contrary to the Cannons before our king in an other kinges dominioÌ the rest of their brethren being absent celebrate the electioÌ of the Bishoppes of our Prouince which Bishoppes soe elected if wee refused to censecrate then seemed they to haue occasion enough for sowing dissention beetwene our Lord the king and vs For there is not a thing which they more feare then the Churches peace least then their workes should bee discouered and their enormityes corrected The rest beeing much more wee referre to his Messingers relation which least it should bee tedious wee forbeare to wryte What appertayneth to your Holines if it pleaseth you vouch safe with clemency to heare our petitions This was his last Epistle written to Pope Alexander taking leaue for euermore to speake by letters Wherin especially beecause there remayneth with such ample notes soe precisely pourtrayted forth the wickednes of most vnworthy preistes and principally of Yorke his most potent and impudent aduersary Cod Vat. lib. 3. Epist 94. the fire and fewell of all these mischeifes A narration of the Archbishop of Yorke to whose counsell and suggestions the king consenting was drawne headlong thorough the craggie rockes of discord to all miseryes and distracted from all peace and tranquility wee intend heere before wee enter farther into this deadly discourse to lay downe of him to the world what his beeginning was all which you are to receaue from the relation of Iohn of Salisbury the most exact wryter of that tyme out of that Epistle I meane which hee sent to the Bishop of Senon after the Martyrdome of saint Thomas where first rehearsing the same hee vseth afterwardes these words The cheife leader of all these was that Yorke whoÌ you beeheld and hearde
for that cause his name exalted in the heauenly countrey Soe the Masters our brethren the Cathedrall Monkes now left as Orphans without a father Allmighty God who raysed from the deade the great Pastor of his stocke our Lord Iesus Christ in the bloode of his eternall testament prouyde a man that I may vse the worde of Moyses to bee ouer this multitude Num. 27. For many complayne and indure it most impatiently that Christes coate without seame is now rent beetweene them and the Bishoppes of the Prouince The Scysme raised in the Church of CaÌterbury and that not only the Cowe and the Ramme but also the Turtle and the Doue are deuyded and seperated one from an other That Mistrisse of discorde that mother of hatred that presumptious occasion of scandalls that vsurpation I meane of syding and singular election hath presumed to breake in euen to the very professors of Religion so as contemning and casting away the generall counsell of the Bishoppes and Abbottes they haue made a secret and stollen election contrary to customes enemy to lawes condemned by Decrees reproued by practise All others who accompt now this election made by the Monkes to bee to their derogation and disgrace would willingly and with one consent without any diuision or scandall haue conferred their voyces on the person by them named but as this case standeth I feare least this election which God forbid proue his deiection and this attempting of a fayned liberty turne to Christes Church into a matter of thralldome This plague truly and many others doe at this day generally infecte and corrupt the body of the Church Lay-men intrude themselues into the holy Sanctuarys and the stones of the Sanctuaryes are dispersed apparantly in all high streetes Cloysters are now conuerted to Castles and Market-places Religious men to Ethnickes Pastors to Wolues Lillyes to thornes Gould to drosse Corne to Tares Wine to Vinager Oyle to Lees. Let Allmighty God yet cast an eye backe on the face of his Testament neither let him giue ouer to bee troaden vnder foote the Vyne which hee hath planted with his right hand the Church which hee hath purchased with his pretious bloode let him stirre vp the spiritt of Moyses and erect the horne of that Vnicorne that only high Bishoppe and without comparison most vniuersall soe as his hand may execute iudgment that with his horne hee may blowe ouer Siria thunder against Edom send out lightning against the Calfes of Bethel against the Idolls of Egipt against the fatt Cowes of Samaria against the Preistes of Baal against Shepherdes who feede themselues against iudges who enact vniust lawes against dumb dogges which are vnable to barke against the earthen pott of Zacharie against the vessells of the foolish Pastor against the ambition of Simon Magus against the tyranny of the world against the presumption of the Cloyster against deceytfull dealers against oppressors of the poore against disturbers of the Churches peace against the subuerters of fayth Thus wrote Peeter the rest wee refer to their propper place AN. DOM. 1171. Now followeth the yeere of our Lord 1171. with the fourth Indiction When the horrible murder of the most holy Martyr Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury beeing spread farre and neere all the Westerne world was astonished and the sighes of all deuoute people euery where breathed out especially by letters from all partes and those replenished with lamentations and sent to Pope Alexander from sundry persons beeing such and in such sorte as you may well say they were soe many glorious trumppetts and renowned Epithapes to celebrate the funeralls of this most worthie Martyr Among which receaue heere first what the king of France wrote to Pope Alexander To Alexander by the grace of God High Bishop Lewes by the same grace king of the French sendeth salutations with due reuerence The king of Frances letter to the Pope about the death of saint Thomas The childe reuolteth from the lawe of humane pietie who disgracefully abuseth his mother neither are they myndfull of their Creators benefitts who are not moued with sorrowe for the abuses offered to the holy Church whereuppon wee haue now an especiall cause of lamentation and a new cruelty neuer heard of beefore beegetteth a new sorrowe beecause malice rising against the Saint of God hath run her swordes point into the very aple of Christes eye and no lesse cruelly then fowly slaughtered soe great a light of Gods Church Styrre vp therefore some kinde of exquisite iustice and vnsheath saint Peeters sworde for punishing the murder of the Martyr of Canterbury beecause his blood cryeth out for the whole Church not soe much exclayming reuenge for his owne particular as for all And beehould at the Tombe of this Champion as it is reported to vs the diuine glory shyneth with mirackles and God sheweth from heauen where hee resteth on earth who in his quarrell so couragiously fought The bearers of these letters who are beereft of this their father will relate the whole matter to your Holines yeelde therfore a most gentle eare to the testimony of this truth and as well heerin as otherwise beelieue them as you would beelieue our selues God prosper you euer Thus the king The Earle of Bloyes also wrote to the same effect vnto his Holines More ouer the Bishop of Senon then Legate for the Apostolicke Sea sent two Epistles to the Pope about the death of saint Thomas But omitting these as teÌding all to one purpose let vs see the rest the messingers I meane sent by the king of England to Rome who offered the vndergoeing of pennance for killing the martyr as also of the diuers and excellent mirackles now beegun to bee published at the Martyrs sepulcher with other things appertayning therunto The Martyr thus killed in the end of the last yeere there was presently great recourse to the Pope lying in Rome of some as you see detesting and complaying of this damnable sacrilege the accusers were pious princes as the king of France the Earle of Bloys and Bishoppes who were Legates especially hee of Senon others excusers beeing an assembly of Bishoppes among whom hee of Lizieux in all their names wrote thus to Pope Alexander At such time as beeing gathered together with our king The assembly of Bishoppes excusing the king of England wee determined to handle great matters concerning both the Church and kingdome a rumor on the suddaine ouerwhelmed vs all in a lamentable confusion of sorrowe concerning our Lord of Canterbury soe far forth as in a moment our calme was turned in to a turbulent tempest our consultations into sighes For by some returning from England wee were assuredly certifyed that some of his enemyes beeing as they say with his sundry and seuere preceedinges against them prouoked to anger and madnes rashly assaulted his person and what without greife wee cannot nay ought not to speake cruelly persisting did strike and murder him This vnhappy reporte came in the end by the
relation of some to the kinges eares beecause it was vnlawfull to conceale from him what by the right of his power and sworde appertayned to him to punish who instantly in the first vttering of this deadly discourse as one changed and giuen ouer to all sortes of compassionate lamentation quite altering his royall Maiestie into haire-cloth and ashes shewed himselfe more truly a freind then a king beeing sometimes astonished and from astonishmentes falling into more greiuous sighes and bitter sorrowe then allmost three days solitary retyred in his chamber hee neither endured to receaue sustenance nor admitt consolation but seemed willfully by a more deadly greife to designe himselfe to a voluntary death Miserable was the face of our mischeifes and our inward greifes fraighted with care beecause wee who first lamented our Preist beegan now therupon to dispaire the recouery of our king and beeleiued that in the death of one both would pittifully perish But his friends and principally the Bishoppes complayninge especially that hee would not suffer himselfe to returne againe to himselfe hee answered hee was in feare least the Authors and complotters of this horrible acte vpon confidence of the olde discorde promised themselues pardon of the cryme allthough himselfe by fresh iniurys and sundry bad turnes had heaped new dissentions and therfore thought the fame and glory of his renowne might bee clowded with the slaunders of his aduersarys and so falsly bruted that this matter proceeded from his owne will But hee protested as Allmighty God should iudge his soule that this accursed deede was neither acted by his will nor consent nor wrought by any deuise of his vnles heerin were perhaps his error that as yet hee was thought too litle to affect him but in this also hee absolutely submitted himselfe to the Churches iudgment and would humbly vndergoe whatsoeuer for his soules health should bee imposed and inioyned him Consulting therfore together wee accorded all in this that his Maiestie should referre himselfe to the wisedome and authority of the Sea Apostolike which the Christian fayth professeth more amply to abound with the spiritt of sapience and fullnes of power and indeauor there by lawfull and canonicall meanes to approue his innocency Wee therfore humbly beeseech that according to the spiritt of counsell and fortitude beestowed by God on you you would with seuerity punish the Authors of soe heynous an offence according to this their enormious deserte and your Apostolike piety would with more singular affection conserue our kinges innocency in his former estate Allmighty God preserue your person very long in health to his Churches vtility Hetherto the Bishoppe of Lizieux in the name of these assembled Bishoppes With these letters were messingers allso sent to Pope Alexander from the Bishopps and others aparte from the king and some likewise beefore these from the Bishoppe of Yorke to sue for absolution from his excommunication of all which there remayneth a relation from the kinges Messinger the Archdeacon of Poytiers in these wordes Who were the first Messingers from the Bishoppes and king of EnglaÌd to Pope Alexander and who the second Embassadors of the king and what as well these as these petitioned and in what sorte they departed from the Courte I will as breifely as I can rehearse First were Iohn Cumin and Master B. sent to seeke absolution for the Bishoppes but Iohn Cumin came to the courte fifteene dayes beefore Master B. and after great importunity hauing first made a promise of 500. Marcks was admitted to audience the Clearkes of the Archbishop of Yorke aÌd the Nuntio of Durhame partaking with him and alleaging much in excuse of the Bishopps and they had I thinke obtayned absolution had not the rumor of the Archbishoppes death come on the heade of it which absolutely disgraced all for my Lord the Pope was therewith soe exceedingly troubled that for allmost eight dayes not so much as his owne followers could haue conference with him and it was generally conceaued that no Englishman should haue accesse vnto him and so all their busines remayned in suspence The next Messingers were the Bishoppes of Worcester and Ewreux the Abbot of Valace the Archdeacons of Salisbury and Lizieux S. Robert of Newborough Richarde Barre Master Henry Pichim and one of the Templars beeing all sent to excuse the king that Canterbury was neither killed by his commandement nor will yet was it not denyed but that the king had giuen cause of his death and spoken somewhat wherupon those Murderers tooke occasion to kill him neither did those Messingers come together to the courte nor yet were admitted by my Lord the Pope nor could appeare in his presence Afterwards vpon sute of some Cardinalls the Abbot and Archdeacon of Lizieux were receaued Thursday before Easter approaching it was generally sayde in the Courte that my Lord the Pope would that day pronounce senteÌce of excoÌmunication against the king and kingdome Wherupon the Messingers stroaken with feare by the intercession of some Cardinalls signifyed to my Lord the Pope that they had receaued commandement from my Lord their king to make oathe in his presence that the king should obey his Mandate and that the king should in his owne person sweare as much The same Thursday about nyne of the clocke as well the kinges messingers as the messingers of the Bishoppes were called in the generall Consistory The kinges Messingers beeing the Abbot of Valace and the two afore recyted Archdeacons Henry and Richarde Barre were sworne that the king should stand to the Popes iudgment and that when his Holines should commande him hee should take thereupon his Corporall oathe Neuertheles the Pope generally excommunicated the same day the Murderers of saint Thomas and all that gaue counsell ayde or assent therunto and all who should receaue them into their land or any way abett them After Easter came the Bishoppes of Worcester and Eureux with Robert de Newboroughe The RelatioÌ of the Messingers proceedinges with the Pope and whether the sayde oath were required of them I knowe not but that they swore not I am certaine and when they had attended the Courte xv dayes and more they were called in to receaue their answer for they with others agreede as well in excusing the king as in accusing according as hath bin sayde And when it was supposed they should haue caryed backe a happie doome my Lord the Pope confirmed the sentence of interdiction giuen by the Bishoppe of Senon against the kinges dominions on this syde of the Seas with the sentence of suspension and excoÌmunication which was denounced against the Bishoppes of England adding withall that hee would send his Legates to the king to see and vnderstand his humility Afterwardes at the great instance of the Messingers by the intercession also of some Cardinalls and large sommes of money as it is sayde this was obtayned our Lord the Pope should wryte to the Archdeacon of Bitureux that if within one moneth after these Messingers
comming into Normandy hee hearde not his Legates had passed the Alpes then hee should absolue the Bishoppes of London and Salisbury from excommunication first taking of them an oathe to obey our Lord the Popes Mandate they and the rest remayning neuerthelesse still in suspension Thus departed our Lord the kinges Messingers from the courte neither yet caryed they backe any thing else But when they shall come or who shall vndertake this iourney I thinke it is hetherto vnknowne to the Cardinalls Only now as I beelieue you neede not feare the Interdicton of England soe as the king will submitt himselfe to the Legates And our Lord the Pope wryteth to him and inuyteth him to humility yet hardly could hee bee wrought to wryte to him Hetherto is the relation of one of the kinges Messingers But these letters of Pope Alexander to the king of England are lost Now let vs heare a more faythfull and certaine reporte made by other the kinges Messingers vnto the king himselfe where no mention of money either offered or receaued as the other vpon his false coniecture rehearsed is made although it contayneth a most exacte recytall of all and singular matters and wordes that passed for thus it is To his dearest Lord Henry the renowned king of England Duke of Normandy and Aquitayne and Earle of Anioue R Abbot of Wallacia R Archdeacon of Salisbury R. Archdeacon of Lizieux Richard Barre and Master Henry send greeting with due obedience in all thinges and euery where These are to certify your Maiestie that when Richard Barre going beefore vs had with great danger and trauaille come to our Lord the Popes courte wee foure with the two Bishoppes the Deane of Eureux and Master Henry with much difficulty attayned Sene where for some dayes wee were constrayned to stay for Count Macarius had on all sydes soe beeset the wayes as there remayned no passage for any When wee foure together with the Bishoppes who earnestly desyred to departe could not as wee would in regarde of these exceeding difficultyes consulting in one at midnight with all secrecy wee sett forwarde and so by craggy mountains and places allmost unpassable with extreme feare and danger wee came in the end to Tusculan There found wee Richard Barre allthough as beeseemed him carefull of your honor and labouring discreetely and instantly for your commodity yet much troubled and confounded in regard neither our Lord the Pope had yet receaued him nor others had courteously and gently entertayned him And for vs at our comming the Pope would neither see vs nor receaue vs at his feete yea many of the Cardinalls would hardly afforde vs a worde Remayning therfore long and anxiously troubled in the bitternes of our soules wee by all meanes huÌbly besought those who more eÌtirely affected to you that our Lord the Pope by their intercession would some way vouchsafe vs a hearing The Lord Abbot of Wallacia R. Archdeacon of Lizieux as men least suspected were first receaued to audience But when they in salutation on your beehalfe beegan with your name inâytleing you the most deuoute childe of the Roman Church The name of the king of England now hatefull at Rome The whole courte cryed out forbeare forbeare As if it were abhominable to the Pope to heare your name Soe comming from the Courte in the euening they returned agayne to our Lord the Pope deliuering to him by the aduice of vs all what by your Maiestie was commanded vs declaring also distinctly the suÌdry benefittes beestowed by you on CaÌterbury with the diuers excesses and importunityes committed by him against your dignyty and all this first in secret then before our Lord the Pope and the whole Colledge of Cardinalls where Alexander of Wales and Gunter of Flanders Clearkes of the Church of Canterbury contested and contended against you Thurseday before Easter beeing now at hand on which day according to the vse of the Roman Church our Lord the Pope was accustomed to absolue or excommunicate in publicke whereas wee were certayne that with greate attention they had long handled this weyghty cause which soe neere touched your selfe aÌd your kingdome wee aduysed with those who as wee knewe most fauored your Maiestie wee meane the Lords of Portua and Hyacinth The Cardinalles who fauoured the king of England the Lordes of Papia and Tusâulane with Peeter Lord of Mirle for the Lord Iohn of Naples was absent importuning them with all labor and instance to lay open vnto vs our Lord the Popes intention and what hee determined to decree concerning your selfe But they on the other syde reporting nothing but disasters and matters disgracefull to your renowne wee perceiued out of the sights and sorrowfull relation of theÌ all especially of your faythfull well wisher brother French that our Lorde the Pope had that day resolued absolutely with the ioynt consent of all his brethren to pronounce the sentence of interdiction against your selfe by name and your dominions as well on this syde as beyond the seas and also confirme the same sentence which was allready diuulged against the Bishoppes Besett therfore with these extremityes wee attempted with our vttermost endeauors as well by the Cardinalls as those our Associates who had accesse to his holines and likewise by his inward freindes to make him desist from this purpose or at the least deferre it vntill the comming of your Bishoppes which when it could no way be obtayned wee according to our bounden duty to you beecause wee were neither able nor ought to endure the great disgrace of your person with the agreiuances of all your principalityes consulting in the end with our Associates beefore certayne Cardinalls deuysed à way good and secure for your state and honor profitable to all your dominions and necessary for your Bishoppes whereby wee auoyded that ignominy and danger euen now threatening your person subiectes and Bishoppes and exposed our selues wholly to the vttermost perill for this your deliuery beelieuing and hauing a singular hope that it is according as wee thinke to your wished desire For astonished with feare wee signifyed to our Lord the Pope by the intercession of the same Cardinalls that wee had receaued à commandemeÌt from you to sweare in his presence that you shall obey his Mandate and how your selfe in person shall make the sayde oathe The same thursday about nyne of the Clocke were the Messingers called in as well yours as the Bishoppes The Messingers sworne in the kings name and in the generall consistory were wee sworne the Abbot wee meane of Wallacia the Archdeacons of Salisbury and Lizieux Master Henry and Richard Barre that you shall stand to the Popes Mandate and take your corporall oathe at his appointment to this effecte Then the Messingers of the Archbishop of Yorke and of the Bishoppes of London and Salisbury swoare in like sorte that their Lordes should subiecte themselues to the Popes commandement and take an oath to that purpose Neuertheles the same day hee
generally excommunicated all them who murdered Canterbury and all who gaue counsell ayde or assent therunto and all who should wittingly receaue them into their landes or any way foster them Our Lordes the Bishoppes of Worcester and Eureux Robert of Newboroughe of Eureux and Master Henry were presently to follow vs whom wee lefte exceedingly igreeued and troubled that they could not according to their desire come to dispatch your busines and it was their aduyce that wee should by all meanes make haste before to hinder and auoyde the disgrace and calamity which your aduersaryes had prepared against you For wee were assured the sword was ready in the courte to strike you and wee feared that days woÌted custome God send your Maiestie loÌg to prosper and florish Bee comforted in our Lord and let your harte reioyce beecause after this present clowde a faire calme will to your glory ensue On Sattursday before Palme Sunday wee came to the Courte and the Bearer of these letters departed on Easter day from vs. Afterwardes Easter beeing passed Alexander adressed Legates to examine the king of England Concerning this legation from the Pope Herbert in Quadrilogus treateth wryting in these wordes But beecause confession as it neither can nor ought to bee made by letters soe neither can nor ought it to bee made by Messingers and the liuely voyce of the penitent by how much the more it encreaseth deuotion soe much the more hath it of vertue the Apostolicke man Alexander sent two Cardinalls a latere Master Theodinus of holy memory preist of the tytle of saint Vitalis or Vestina for it hath both names and Albert of saint Laurence in Lucina preist Cardinall Chancellor of the Church men truly endowed with all sanctity and knowledge of Religion But what was done by them shall heereafter in the proper place bee declared Legates to the king before the death of S. Thomas Meane while this same yeere an other Legation sent by Pope Alexander to the king of England beefore any thing was knowne of the death of saint Thomas came to vrge with Ecclesiasticall censures the king who as hee vnderstood by the letters of saint Thomas reuolted from his promise What the Legates were and how the king handled matters to euacuate their authority Roger thus deliuereth this yeere In the meane tyme came from Pope Alexander into Normandy two Cardinalles Legates a latere who beefore as hath bin sayde exercised the same Legatine office Gratian I meane and Viuian who assayled the king of England with greate and diuers vexations intending to cast him and his countrey into interdiction But the king forewarned and thereby armed did before their entry into his land appeale to the Popes presence and soe kepte himselfe and his dominions free from aggreiuance but fearing yet the seuerity of the Apostolike Sea hee hasted to the seas syde and passed ouer from Normandy into England giuing a streight command that none who brought any breife from the Pope of what condicion or order someuer hee was should bee suffered to passe from Normandy into England or from England into Normandy vnles hee first entred into good security that hee sought noe hurte nor molestation to the king or his kingdome Hetherto concerninge this Legation sent beefore the Martyrdome of saint Thomas This Author proceedeth to the kinges iourney this yeere into Ireland Ireland yeelded to the king of England which kingdome hee challenged as yeelded to him by the consent of the whole countrey where there was a counsell celebrated of foure Archbishoppes and 28. Bishoppes all which receaued the king and his heires for their kinges confirming the same with their Charters A Counsell in Ireland This Counsell held at Casselen decreed many thinges coÌmodious to the Church as for Baptisme Tythes and Mariages which the king sent to Pope Alexander The Pope confirmeth the kinges tytle who confirmed to the king and his heires the kingdome of Ireland according to the tenor of the Irish Bishoppes Charters All which Baronius recyteth out of Roger the king remayned in Ireland from the feast of saint Martin vntill the beeginning of Lent AN. DOM. 1172. Heere ensueth the yeere of our Lord 1172. with the fifte indiction Legates soâe to the king of England When the Legates of Pope Alexander sent the last yeere to king Henry the father concerning the murder of that most holy man Thomas Archbishop of Chanterbury came into Normandy whom the king returning lately from Ireland into England and thence sayling into Normandy receaued and performed what beeseemed a true penitent king and a most pious Christian obeying in all thinges the cheife Bishoppe of the vniuersall Church who by most choyse persons for soe greate a worke beeing Cardinalls of the sacred Roman Church and most blessed men Theodinus I meane preist Cardinall of the tytle of saint Vitalis called also saint Vestine and Alberinus preist Cardinall of the tytle of saint LaureÌce in Lucina Chancellor of the holy Roman Church most happily finished the whole busines Intending therefore to treate heerof and how these matters soe passing difficult were managed with so great facility God disposing the kinges harte to pennance first of all the tyme wherin it was handled is to bee discouered beeing this very yeere whenas it was accomplished according as Roger an Author of that age hath in his Chronicles of England exactly declared In the yeere one thousand one hundred seauenty two was all this busines concluded after the kinges returne out of Ireland beeing the tyme when hee receaued the same into his subiection as in the former yeere out of the sayde Author is rehearsed As touchinge the passage of matters beetweene the Legates and the king beeing first intangled with difficultyes and after by the inspiration of the holy Ghoste absolutely ended according to the Legates desire there is a relation lefte in wryting among the Epistles of saint Thomas and Pope Alexander sett downe in the often recyted booke of the Vatican The relation of the proceedinges with the kinge in these wordes The king and the Legates first mett at Gorna on wednesday before the Rogation and there mutually were receaued in the kisse of peace On the morrowe they came to Sauiniacke where the Archbishop of Roane withall the Bishoppes and Nobility assembled And after long debate for conclusion of peace beecause the king absolutely denyed to sweare to their Mandate hee departed with indignation from them vsing these wordes I will returne into Ireland where I haue many weyghty occasions to bee dispatched as hee meant for your partes take on your iourney in peace at your pleasures throughout my land and performe your Legation according as yee are commaÌded where with hee departed Then the Cardinalls hauing more aduisedly consulted called backe the Bishoppe of Lizieux Iohn of Poytiers and the Bishoppe of Salisbury by whose endeauors it was agreede that on Fryday following the king and Cardinalls should meete againe at Abrincke where was a
finall conclusion made betwene them soe as the king very mââdely vnder went and performed whatsomeuer the Cardinalls on their partes proposed to him But in regarde the father would haue his sonne there present that whatsomeuer the father promised the sonne should also make good the determination of the busines was deferred vntill the next Sunday following beeing the Sunday beefore our Lordes Ascention Then in an open Audience The kinges oathe the King laying his hand vpon the Euangelists made oathe that neither by his commandement nor his will the Archbishoppe of Canterbury was killed and that hearing of his death hee rather sorrowed then reioyced Hee added moroeuer on his free will that hee neuer so much greeued for the death of his father or mother as for his and lastly sware that what pennance or satisfaction someuer the Cardinalles would enioyne him hee would amply fullfill Hee sayde beesides before that great assembly that hee was not ignorant hee was the cause of the Arch-Bishoppes death and that whatsoeuer was doâââ ãâã donne for his sake not that hee commanded it but thââ his freindes and familiars seeing the disturbance of his countenance and lookes vnderstanding likewise the greife of his harte and hearing often his words breaking into complayntes against the Archbishoppe prepared to reuenge his iniury without euer acquainting him therwith And therfore hee professed hee was most ready with all humility and deuotion to accomplishe whatsomeuer the Legates should command Then the Legates declared to him that hee should maintayne vpon his coste 200. knightes for a whole yeere The conditions of the kings absolution giuing euery knighte 300. crownes in the land of Ierusalem against the Paganes in such sorte as the Templars should dispose Secundly hee should absolutely disannull the wicked statutes of Claringtonne beeing the place where they were enacted with all other ill customes which were in his raigne intruded on Gods Church and if there were any vnlawfull ordinances beefore his tyme hee should according to our Lord the Popes Mandate and by the Counsell of Religious men mitigate them Thirdly that hee should restore to the Church of Canterbury all her whole and entire right in landes and other thinges as fully as it was the yeere beefore the Archbishoppe incurred the kinges displeasure and hee should amply render his peace and loue with all their possessions to all those with whom hee was offended for the Archbishoppes sake Fourthly that if neede required and our Lord the Pope commanded him hee should goe into Spaine to deliuer that land from the Infidells They inioyned him also secretly fastes and almes and other thinges not publickly knowne To all these the king with singular meekenes gaue his assent soe as hee sayde in the hearing of all Beehoulde my Lordes and Legates my body is wholly in your handes and bee assured whatsomeuer yee command bee it either my going to Ierusalem or to Rome or to saint Iames or whatsoeuer it bee I am resolued to obey In soe much as scarce any there present seeing his humility and deuotion could abstayne from teares These thinges ended that nothing might bee wanting for the full accomplishment of his good the Legates did leade the king yeelding therunto of his owne accorde out of the dores of the Church where vpon his knees without laying asyde his garmentes and without any showe of disciplining roddes hee was absolued and soe againe brought into the Church And that some of the kingdome of FraÌce might knowe their proceedinges heerin they appointed that the Archbishoppe of Towers with his Suffraganes should personally atteÌd on him at Cane on the nexte Wednesday after our Lordes Ascension What the king did sweare the king his sonne coÌfirmed with his haÌd in the haÌd of my Lord Albert the Cardinall that hee for his owne parte would obserue aÌd if the king preueÌted with death or other casuall meanes could not performe his pennance that hee himselfe would doe it Hetherto this relation Wherunto accordeth the Cardinalls letter concerning this matter and beeginning in these wordes That thinges now hanled may not bee called in question c. Heerunto was added That on the nexte feast of our Lordes Natiuity hee should vndertake the Crosse and for three yeeres make warre in the holy land vnles Pope Alexander or his lawfull successor thought it vnfitting Now for the Oathe it selfe made by the king and his sonne in the hands of the Legates it is reserued intirely among the actes of Pope Alexander in these very wordes I King Henry doe heere take myne oathe vpon these holy Euangelistes of our Lord God That I neither thought of nor knewe nor euer commanded the murder of Thomas Archbishoppe of Canterbury And when I vnderstood the same to bee committed I more greeued therefore then if I had heard of the slaughter of myne owne sonne But heerein I am not able to excuse my selfe that vpon occasion of my turbulency and wrath which I conceaued against that holy man hee was killed In regarde whereof for this offence beeing as it seemeth the cause of his death I will out of hand send to Ierusalem vpon myne owne charges 200. souldiers to serue there for one whole yeere in defence of Christianity or giue soe much money as may there maintaine soe many souldiers for a Twelue moneth I will alsoe vndertake till three yeeres bee expired the signe of our Lordes Crosse and in myne owne person goe thither vnlesse the Pope licence mee to stay I doe absolutely abrogate all those vnlawfull customes which I haue in my raigne ordayned thorough out my land and from this tyme forward decree that they bee neuer obserued I will likewise heereafter suffer all Appeales to bee freely made to the Apostolike Sea and heerein I will not prohibite any man These and other the like are rehearsed out of Roger saying all these matters Actes iterated in the Prouinciall Councell soe handled about our Lords Ascention were recyted in the Councell of the whole Prouince which was helde in the moneth of September where the Legates and both the kinges the father and sonne mett together with the Bishoppes For thus hee wryteth Henry king of England and king Henry his sonne Rotrude Archbishop of Roane with all the Bishoppes and Abbottes of Normandy assembled together at the Citty of Abryncke in the presence of the Cardinalles Theodine and Albert in whose hearing the king of England the father on the fifte Kalends of October beeing Wednesday and the feast of Saintes Cosmus and Damianus Martyrs in the Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle declared his innocency before the aboue named Cardinalls Clergy and people by taking his oathe on the Reliques of Saintes and only Euangelistes that hee neyther commanded nor wished the Archbishoppe of Canterburys death c. As before Adding thereunto the publicke instrument made then to that purpose beeginning with these wordes And that these may bee euer retayned in the memory of the Roman Church the king the father caused his seale
also in the name of the Bishop of London whom the Archbishope held for excommunicate and therfore signifyed to the Cardinalls that they who were employed in this message had communicated with those whom hee had excommunicated although to delude the Apostolike Mandate they seemed to the ignorant absolued for our lord the Pope yeelded at the last only to this that in danger of death they might bee absolued taking first an oath to submitt themselues to the Popes Mandate if they recouered wherupon they fayning themselues to bee in hazard of their liues because sometymes by their lordes commandement they were to crosse the seas or other whiles to trauayle into Wales obtayned absolution from a Welch Bishoppe Llanesua a man vnexpert allmost in both lawes and who as one wise in making his bargaine had receaued at the kinges handes the Abbey of Abeedon for a Bishoppricke and to the end no question might bee had of the Popes Mandate the Archbishoppe sent to the Legates the Apostolicall letters wherby they were straightly commanded to reduce all such as were soe absolued into their former sentence of excommunication vnles they fully restored vnto the Archbishoppe and his Associates their possessions with all other thinges by them vniustly taken away and that no obstacle of any Appeale should euer hinder this Apostolicall Mandate And afterwardes Hee therfore instantly beesought the Legates that according to my Lord the Popeâ Mandate they would vrge these persons excommâââcated by him to make satisfaction or to returne theâ backe to their censure of accursing c. saying withall that Legates were inuited to this busines who were weake on this beehalfe to the end they might bee bowed with euery blaste But concerning them who stole out an absolution in regarde they were to passe the seas Cod. Vat. lib. 2. epist 98. the epistell of Iohn of Salisbury is extant written to Pope Alexander wherin hee doth manifest that they could in no case bee accompted for absolued After William the Legate vnderstood Saint Thomas had not admitted the Bishoppes messingers in respect they were not duely absolued from the excommunication they had incurred hee himselfe as well in his owne as his associate Legates name sent these letters to the Bishoppes of Norwich and Chichester both of England who had the matter by him committed to them for absoluing the excommunicate Ibidem Wee doe by these our letters command your wisedomes that vpon sight heereof yee absolue such persons as are sayde to remayne in your handes intangled in the chaynes of excommunication by the Archbishop of Canterbury taking first of them a promise to stand to our awarde and that this occasion beeing sett aside either of yee to whom these our letters shall first come doe endeauor to prosecute and accomplish whatsomeuer shall seeme moderate in your iudgmeÌt and after they haue receaued your Mandate then signify that vpon their oath they are absolued These were the letters written in the name of the Legates Salisbury mentioneth these letters in his epistle to the Archdeacon of Excester in this sorte Ibidem epist 101. For hee shall receaue shortly if hee hath them not yet letters from the Legates commanding him to absolue those who stand excommunicate by the Archbishop of Canterbury notwithstanding the Legates themselues haue therin no power to command but are by the Apostolicall letters forbidden to come within England or any way to intermedle with the affaires of the kingdome vnlesse a most perfect peace bee first concluded And after And let them bee tould that they shall haue no beenefit of absolution for obtayning saluation vnles pennance confession and satisfaction doe forerun it c. This and other thinges did Salisbury wryte out of whose other letters to Alexander receaue heere againe the complaints of such as were banished for the Ecclesiasticall liberty in these wordes Cod Vat. lib. 2. epist 100. Our soules ô father are drowned in bitternes in soe much as I feare exceedingly in your sight least the surpassing force of sorrowe should beereaue our wordes of modesty and patience in regarde the wonderfull depth of our miserys knoweth not how to confine our complayntes For some of our fellowes dying for the defence of iustice expect from God and the Church reuenge of their innocent blood others are afflicted with sundry tortures wee are all banished The complaintes of the banished English-men to the Pope and haue long lingred in exile but ther is one only remedy left to the faithfull in their tribulation incessantly to solicite the diuine Maiestie with their prayers and to reueale to him the secretts of their inward myndes that they may soe moue their father to mercy and obtayne comforte in their calamityes As often as the children of Israel vsed this soe often wee reade they were deliuered out of their necessityes and extremityes they had recourse to the Tabernacle of truce where the holy of holyes was reserued that is to say the commandementes of God which far excell all iustifications in their greatest difficultys they did flye to Moyses and Aaron the holy of our Lord and to whom shall the wretched of Canterbury runne to bee Mediators beetweene God ãâã them but to the Roman Church where flourisheth the conseruation of the diuine lawe and primacy of all Preisthoode for next vnder God if hee resolueth to saue vs wee shall bee presently deliuered if you lifte vp your handes Amelech shall bee destroyed and hee who hath made you a God ouer Pharao will ouerthrowe all the Churches Aduersaryes before your face Thus far hee complaining afterwardes of the excommunicated who were vnduely absolued as wee haue before declared But Pope Alexander vnderstanding this wrote thus to the Cardinalls Legates against those who were absolued without forerunning satisfaction Wee are let to vnderstand that some of those whom our reuerent brother Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury hath excommunicated IbideÌ Epist 99. The Popes letter coÌcerning the absolution of the excoÌmunicated doe still presume to withhould the goods and possessions of his Church and Clergie and make their commodity of them wherfore beecause it is vnworthy that while they retayne these goodes and possessions they should bee released of their accursed bandes wee doe by these our Apostolike letters command your discretion that if as wee haue heard they are absolued by any yee doe streightly on our beehalfe enioyne them vpoÌ their oathes instantly to yeelde vp the possessions and goods soe wroÌgfully vsurped vnto the persons and Churches to whom of right they beelong and that heereafter they attempt not vpon any occasion what someuer to keepe them or intermedle with them and if they will not obey your commandement that then all delay and appeale sett a syde yee recall and cast them backe into their former sentence of excommunication vntill they haue made full satisfaction yea although they haue bin absolued by your selues yet neuertheles accomplish yee this our commandement Thus wrote Alexander but the next yeere