State Trial of Thomas Becket Part 2.1

State Trial of Thomas Becket Part 2.1 - Roger of Hoveden

October 1164, Council of Northampton

English Lawsuits 421A. [pp. 433-5]

[R. C. van Caenegem, ed. (1991). English Lawsuits from William I to Richard I: Henry II and Richard I (nos. 347-665). Vol 2. #421A. pp.225-8. Selden Society.]

Roger of Hoveden Chronica i, 225-8

[ Rogerus (de Hoveden) (1868). Chronica. Vol. 1. Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer. pp. 225–8. ]

Quod cum regi constaret, ut eum magis affligeret, statim misit ad eum, et summonuit eum per bonos summonitores, quod in crastino venisset, paratus reddere illi rationem villicationis suae, quam habuit in regno suo ante consecrationem suam. Archiepiscopus autem, sciens quod grave ei immineret exterminium si in curia venire properasset, modis omnibus quaesivit dilationem: tum quia tempus summonitionis brevissimum erat, tum quia ipse graviter infrimabatur. Cumque rex vidisset quod archiepiscopus ad diem ilium non veniret, misit ad eum Robertum comitem Leicestriae, et Reginaldum comitem Cornubiae ad videndum aegritudinem illius. Qui cum venissent, invenerunt ilium in lecto jacentem infirmum, et ad petitionem illius dederunt ei respectum veniendi ad curiam usque mane. Eodem die dictum erat ei et nunciatum a familiaribus regis, quod si ipse ad curiam regis venisset, vel interficeretur, vel in carcerem mitteretur.

Super bis igitur archipraesul habito cum suis familiaribus consilio, per consilium cujusdam sapientis, in crastino antequam ipse ad curiam pergeret, cum summa devotione celebravit missam de Sancto Stephano protomartyre, cujus officium tale est: "Etenim sederunt.principes et adversum me loquebantur, etc.;" et causam suam Summo Judici, Qui Deus est, commendavit. Tamen pro celebratione illius missae, graviter accusatus fuit postmodum a Gileberto Lundoniensi episcopo, qui pro rege loquebatur. Imponebat enim illi Lundoniensis episcopus quod missam illam celebraverat per artem magicam, et in contemptu regis. Itaque post celebrationem missae arcbiepiscopus imposuit collo suo stolam, deinde induit cappam nigram canonicalem, et profectus est statim ad curiam regis. Et statim factus est undique magnus concursus populi, ut viderent finem. Ipse autem crucem suam portabat in manu sua dextra, cum sinistra vero tenebat lorum equi in quo sedebat. Et cum venisset ad aulam regis descendit, et ipse crucem suam bajulans, intravit domum regis. Deinde intravit exteriorem cameram solus portans crucem suam. Nullus enim suorum sequebatur eum. Et cum intrasset, invenit plebem multam in ea, et sedit inter illos. Rex autem erat in secretiori tbalamo cum suis familiaribus.

Tunc venit ex parte regis ad arcbiepiscopum Gilebertus
Lundoniensis episcopus, qui multum increpavit eum, quod sic cruce armatus venit in curia. Et voluit crucem a manibus ejus eripere, sed arcliiepiscopus cam fortius tenuit. Sed Henricus Wintonieusis episcopus dixit Lundoniensi episcopo, "Frater, dimitto archiepiscopum crucem suam tenere; ipse enim debet illam bene portare." Tunc Lundoniensis episcopus multum iratus adversus Wintoniensem episcopum dixit ei, "Male locutus es frater, et malum inde tibi continget, quia contra regem locutus es."

Deinde venit ad eum Rogerus Eboracensis archiepiscopus

"O quotiens vouit blandis accedere dictis
"Et molles adhibere preces,

Sed antiquum odii incendium repugnabat, nec permisit eum quicquam pacifice loqui, immo plurimum increpabat eum, quod sic armatus cruce ad curiam veniret: dicens quod rex gladium habebat acutiorem, et ideo si consilio suo acquiesceret, crucem suam tolleret. At quidam do circumstantibus sic ait,

"Crede mihi; si credis ei, tu decipieris:
"Fistula dulce canit volucres dum decipit auceps;
"Impia sub dulci melle venena latent.

Archiepiscopus autem Cantuariensis crucem suam deponere noluit, sed dicebat, "Si gladius regis carnaliter corpora caedit, gladius meus spiritualiter percutit, et animam mittit in gehennam."

Et dum ipse sederet expectans, dixerunt quidam secreto, quod mors ejus jurata erat a regalibus. Et ex ilia hora quaesivit occasionem recedendi a curia, et ut commodius recedere possit, appellavit ad praesentiam summi pontificis; et causam ecclesiae et suam posuit sub protectione Dei, et domini papae; et praecepit universis episcopis appellationem suam inviolatam servare.

Tunc omnes episcopi laudaverunt ei, ut ipse satis faciens voluntati regis, redderet ei archiepiscopatum suum in misericordia illius, sed archiepiscopus noluit eis inde credere. Tunc mandavit ei rex per milites suos, ut sine dilatione veniret, et redderet ei plenariam computationem de omnibus receptis, quae receperat de redditibus regni, quamdiu cancellarius ejus fuit; et nominatim de triginta millibus librarum argenti. Quibus archiepiscopus respondit: "Dominus meus rex scit, quod ego saepius ei reddidi computationem de omnibus his quae ipse modo a me petit, antequam electus fuissem ad archiepiscopatum Cantuariensem. Et in electione mea Henricus filius ejus, cui regnum adjuratum fuit, et omnes barones scaccarii, et Ricardus de Luci justitiarius Angliae, clamaverunt me quietum, Deo et sanctae ecclesise, de omnibus receptis et computationibus, et ab omni saeculari exactione ex parte domini regis; et sic liber et absolutus electus fui ad hujus officii administration em; et ideo amplius nolo inde placitare." Quod cum regi constaret, dixit baronibus suis, "Cito facite mihi judicium de illo, qui homo meus ligius est, et stare juri in curia mea recusat." Et exeuntes judicaverunt eum capi dignum et in carcerem mitti.

Tunc misit rex Reginaldum comitem Cornubiae et Robertum comitem Leicestriae ad indicandum illi judicium de illo factum. Qui dixerunt ei, "Audi judicium tuum." Quibus archiepiscopus respondit: "Prohibeo vobis ex parte Omnipotentis Dei, et sub anathemate, ne faciatis hodie de me judicium, qui appellavi ad praesentiam domini papae." Dum autem praedicti comites redirent ad regem cum responso illo, archiepiscopus exivit a thalamo, et progrediens per medium illorum venit ad palefridum suum, et ascendit, et exivit ab aula, omnibus clamantibus post eum, et dicentibus: "Quo progrederis, proditor; expecta et audi judicium tuum."

And when it became apparent to the king, so as to afflict him further, he at once sent to him a summons, by proper officers to present himself on the morrow, ready to render to him an account of his stewardship of the kingdom before his consecration. The archbishop, however, knowing that it would mean banishment if he were to hasten to come to the court, by all means ask the question of delay, both because it was a very short time of the summons, because he was seriously ill. And as the king saw that the Archbishop did not come, on that day, he sent to him Robert, Earl of Leicester and Reginald earl of Cornwall, to check upon his illness. And they came and found him lying on his bed, a sick man, and at his request, and because of that they gave him respite, saying that he was to come to the court in the morning. And on that same day it was told to him, as had been told by friends of the king, that if he himself had come to the court of the king that day, he would have been slain, or have been sent to prison.

Twice over the archbishop stayed, therefore, on the advice of his close friends and their wise counsel. On the morrow, before he himself went to the court, and with the greatest devotion, he celebrated the Mass of St Stephen Protomartyr, whose office and words are the following: "For princes sat and spoke against me, and so on.", committing his case to the Supreme Judge, Who is God himself. However, because he had celebrated this mass, he was later seriously accused by Gilbert, bishop of London, who was speaking on behalf of the king. who laid against him the charge that the mass had been celebrated as a means of invoking the art of magic, and in contempt of the king.

Thus, after the celebration of the mass, up to his neck he put on the stole of an archbishop , and then on top put on the black cope of a canon, and straightway made his way to the king's court. And immediately a great crowd of people gathered on all sides to see the outcome. But he, with his own hand, held up his cross, which was carrying in his right hand. In his other hand, the left one, he held the leash of the horse upon which he was sat. And when he had arrived at the court of the king he climbed down, and bearing his cross, entered the  house of the king. Then he entered the outer chamber alone, still carrying his cross, for none of his men followed him. And when he had entered there, he found a lot of people in it, and sat down amongst them. The king was in a  private inner chamber with his close friends.

Then Roger, archbishop of York, came up to him

 "O, how many times she wanted to approach him with sweet words and flatter him with soft prayers."

But the burning fire of an ancient hatred fought against this, and he was not allowed to speak peaceably to him any more; in fact, for the most part, he rebuked him, that he had come to the court with his cross armed in this manner: a sword, saying that the king had a sharper one, through his counsel, and so if he consented, take up his cross. But I will relate to you what some of them that stood by said,

"Trust me, if you trust him, you are deceived;

"The flute sounds sweet to birds while they are as deceived by hawks;

"A Wicked poison lurks hidden beneath sweet honey."

The archbishop of Canterbury, however, said that he did not want to put down his cross, and continued, "If  my body is struck carnally with the sword of the king, my sword will strike spiritually, and send lives to hell."

And, while he was sitting waiting, they whispered to one another saying, his death was sought by the regal jury. And from that hour forward he sought an opportunity to withdraw from the court, and better, for to be able to depart, he appealed the case to the most high Pontiff, and put his cause and that of the church under the protection of God, and the Pope, and he commanded all the bishops to keep inviolate his appeal.

Then all the bishops praised him, and that it was enough for him to do the will of the king, that he should render up his archepiscopate into the mercy of king, but the archbishop did not want to trust them about this.. Then, he was commanded by the king's soldiers to appear before him, that he should come without delay, and render up to him, in full all the revenues of the kingdom which he had received, during the time when he was his chancellor, and to the total of the thirty thousand pounds of silver.

To which the archbishop replied that:

"My lord the king, knows that I have surrendered to him more often sums that total more than all these which he himself now seeks from me, before I became elected as archbishop of Canterbury. And at my election, before Henry his son, to whom the kingdom had been adjured, and all the barons of the exchequer, and Richard de Luci justiciar of England, they declared me, before God and holy church, quit of all receipts and accounts, and from all secular exaction on the part of the lord king. And so I have been free and acquitted, and elected to the administration of this service, and therefore I do not want any more thence to plead."

And when this had become apparent to the king, he said to his barons, "Provide me quickly with the judgment of him who is my liegeman, and declines to stand correctly in my court." And they went out and judged him, that he should be taken and sent to prison.

Then the king sent Reginald, the earl of Leicester, and Robert, Earl of Cornwall, to him for the purpose of informing him of the sentence that had been decided. They said to him, "Listen to your sentence." To which the archbishop replied: "I ​​forbid you, on the part of the Almighty God, and under pain of anathema, not to pass sentence on me this day, when I have appealed the case to the lord Pope." In the meantime these prementioned earls, however, came back with his answer to the king , the archbishop left the chamber, and made his way through the crowd; coming to his palfrey, he mounted, and went forth from the hall,  all  called after him,  saying: "Where are you going, traitor; stay and listen to your sentence."

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Also another translation

Roger (of Hoveden); trans. Henry Thomas Riley (1853). The annals of Roger de Hoveden: Comprising the history of England and of other countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201. H.G. Bohn. pp. 263–266.

http://archive.org/details/annalsrogerdeho00rilegoog

or

http://archive.org/details/annalsofrogerdeh01hoveuoft

Also

Roger of Hoveden (1853). The Annals of Roger de Hoveden: Comprising The History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201. H.G. Bohn. pp. 262–.

https://archive.org/stream/annalsofrogerdeh01hoveuoft#page/262/mode/2up

http://elfinspell.com/Hoveden23.html

....

In the year of grace 1165, being the eleventh year of the reign of king Henry, son of the empress Matilda, the said king assembled a great council at Northampton, where he inflicted great annoyances upon Thomas, the archbishop of Canterbury. For in the first place, the king made his own horses take up their quarters at the archbishop’s lodgings, on which the prelate sent word to the king that he would not come to court until his lodgings had been cleared of the king’s horses and men. On the day after the council, archbishop Thomas came to the king’s court, attended by his suffragan bishops, and demanded his leave immediately to cross the sea to go to pope Alexander, who at this time was staying in France; this, however, he could not obtain; but the king said to him, “You shall first answer me, for the injustice you have done to John, my marshall, in your court.” For this John had made complaint to the king that when he had claimed in the archbishop’s court a certain piece of land against him, as held by hereditary right, and had for a long time impleaded him in respect thereof, he was unable to obtain any redress from him, and had appealed from the jurisdiction of the archbishop’s court upon oath, according to the customs of the kingdom. To this the archbishop made answer: —


“There has been no refusal of justice to John in my court; but he himself (whether by the advice of some one else, or whether of his own free will, I know not,) brought into my court a certain bundle, and took the oath upon it, that in consequence of denial of justice he withdrew from my court; whereas it appeared in the justices of my court that it was he who had done the injustice towards me, in thus withdrawing from my court; as it is one of the statutes of your kingdom which says, ‘If any person shall wish to appeal from the court of another person, he must make oath upon the Holy Evangelists.’ ”

However, the king, paying no attention to Thomas, when he had said these words, made oath that he would have both justice and judgment at his hands. The barons of the king’s court thereupon sentenced him to be amerced by the king, and although the archbishop endeavoured to appeal against this judgment, still, by the entreaties and advice of the barons he suffered himself to be amerced by the king, in the sum of five hundred pounds, and found security for that sum.

Upon this, he retired from the court and went to his lodgings, and, on account of the annoyance and vexation which he felt in his mind, took to his bed and fell extremely ill. When this became known to the king, that he might annoy him still more, he immediately sent to him, and summoned him by trusty summoners, to appear before him on the following day, prepared to give him an account of the stewardship, which he had held in the kingdom before his consecration. The archbishop, however, being sensible that a heavy sentence of banishment awaited him, if he should hasten to make his appearance at the court, sought every excuse for delay; both on the ground of the time given by the summons being extremely short, as also of his severe attack of illness. Upon this, the king seeing that the archbishop would not appear that day, sent to him Robert, earl of Leicester, and Reginald, earl of Cornwall, to be witnesses of his illness. When they came, they found him lying ill in bed, and at his entreaty granted him a respite from coming to the court until the following morning. On the same day it was told him, and word was brought to him by those of the king’s household, that if he appeared at the king’s court, he would either be thrown into prison or put to death.

In consequence of this, the archbishop, after conferring with his friends on these matters, by the advice of a certain prudent person, next morning, before going to the court, celebrated with the greatest devotion the mass of Saint Stephen, the Proto-martyr, the office of which begins to this effect, “Etenim sederunt principes, et adversum me loquebantur,” &c., and commended his cause to the supreme Judge, who is God. Still, for celebrating this mass, he was afterwards severely accused by Gilbert, bishop of London, who spoke in the king’s behalf. For the bishop of London made it an accusation against him, that he had celebrated this mass by means of the magic art, and out of contempt of the king.

After having thus celebrated the mass, the archbishop placed over his shoulders his stole, and then put on his black canonical cape, and forthwith set out for the king’s court. Immediately upon this, a great crowd of people collected together from all quarters to see what would be the end of it. He carried his cross in his right hand, while with the left he held the reins of the horse on which he was seated, and on coming to the king’s palace dismounted, and, still holding the cross, entered the royal mansion; after which, he entered the outer chamber alone, still carrying his cross; but no one of his people followed him thither. On entering the chamber, he found there a great number of the common people, on which he took his seat among them. The king, however, was in his private closet with the persons of his household.

On this, Gilbert, the bishop of London, came to the archbishop on the king’s behalf, and greatly censured him for coming to the court thus armed with the cross, and even tried to wrest it from his hands, but the archbishop grasped it too tightly for him; whereupon, Henry, the bishop of Winchester, said to the bishop of London, “Brother, allow the archbishop to retain the cross; for he ought himself to be well able to carry it.” The bishop of London, being greatly enraged at this remark, turned to the bishop of Winchester, and replied, “Brother, you have spoken to ill purpose, and evil will ensue to you therefrom, inasmuch as you have spoken against the king’s interests.”

Next came to him Roger, the archbishop of York. “Oh, how oft did he wish to approach him with bland requests, and soft entreaties to use!” But the old embers of hatred forbade him so to do, and would not allow him to utter a word in a peaceful way. On the contrary, he uttered the most severe reproaches against him for thus coming to court armed with the cross; saying that the king had a sword which was still sharper, and therefore, if he followed his advice, he would put aside his cross. On this, one of the bystanders made this remark: “Believe me, if you believe him, you will be deceived. The fowler plays sweetly on his pipe while decoying the birds. Beneath sweet honey noxious poisons lie concealed.” However, the archbishop of Canterbury refused to put aside his cross, but said: “If the king’s sword carnally slays the body, my sword pierces spiritually, and sends the soul to hell.” Now while he was sitting there waiting, some persons secretly told him that his death had been sworn by the king’s followers; in consequence of which, from that hour he sought an opportunity for withdrawing from the court, and, that he might more easily withdraw, appealed to the Supreme Pontiff, placing the cause of the Church and of himself under the protection of God and of our lord the pope; and gave orders to all the bishops inviolably to observe his appeal. Upon this, all the bishops advised him to comply with the king’s wishes, and, surrendering his see, throw himself upon his mercy; but the archbishop refused to trust them upon that point.

At this moment the king sent him word by his knights to come to him without delay, and render to him a full account of all the receipts of the revenues of the kingdom during the time that he had been his chancellor. And, in particular, he was questioned with reference to thirty thousand pounds of silver; on which the archbishop made answer: “My lord the king knows that I have often rendered him an account with the reference to all the demands he is now making upon me, before my election to the archbishopric of Canterbury. But, upon my election to that see, the king’s son, Henry, to whom the kingdom was bound by its oath, and all the barons of the exchequer, and Richard de Lucy, the justiciary of England, released me before God and the Holy Church from all receipts and reckonings, and from all secular exactions on behalf of our lord the king, and thus, free and acquitted, was I elected to the administration of the duties of this office; and for that reason do I refuse to plead any further.” The king, upon hearing this, said to his barons: “Make haste and pronounce judgment upon this person, who, being my liege-man, refuses to take his trial in my court;” on which they went forth, and pronounced that he deserved to be arrested and placed in confinement. On hearing this, the king sent to him Reginald, earl of Cornwall, and Robert, earl of Leicester, to inform him of the judgment that had been pronounced upon him; who accordingly said to him: “Listen to the judgment pronounced upon you.” To this, the bishop made answer: “In the name of Almighty God, and under penalty of excommunication, I forbid you this day to pronounce judgment upon me, insomuch as I have appealed unto the presence of our lord the pope.” While the above-named earls were carrying this answer to the king, that archbishop went forth from the chamber, and going through the midst of them, reached his palfrey, and mounting it, left the palace, all the people shouting after him and saying: “Where are you going, traitor? Stop, and hear your sentence!”

When, however, he had arrived at the outer gates, he found them shut, and was in great apprehension of being taken by his enemies, but Almighty God delivered him. For, Peter de Munctorio, one of his servants, espied a number of keys hanging on a nail near the gate, and taking them down, opened it, on which the archbishop sallied forth on horseback, the
king’s porters standing by, and uttering not a word. The archbishop made all haste to arrive at the house of some canons regular, where he was hospitably entertained, and commanded the tables to be set out and all the poor that were to be found before the gates to be introduced to eat and drink in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was accordingly done; and he, together with them and his people, becomingly partook of the repast in the refectory of the canons, and, when it was finished, made his bed in the church, between the nave and the altar.