 |
| Becket's death, Luttrell Psalter, British Library Add.42130, f.51 |
Extract from
William Holden Hutton (1889). S. Thomas of Canterbury. D. Nutt. pp. 234–.
Dec. 29, 1170.— The Murder of the Archbishop.
[The account of Grim, who was an eye-witness, is given ;
further details are recorded by the other writers.]
Therefore the said persons, no knights but miser-
able wretches, as soon as they landed summoned the
king's officials, whom the archbishop had excom-
municated, and by lyingly declaring that they were
acting by the king's orders and in his name they got
together a band of followers. They then collected
in a body, ready for any impious deed, and on the
fifth day after the Nativity of Christ, that is on the
day after the festival of the Holy Innocents, gathered
together against the innocent. The hour of dinner
being over, the saint had departed with some of his
household from the crowd into an inner room, to
transact some business, leaving a crowd waiting in
the hall outside. The four knights with one attendant
entered. They were received with respect as the
servants of the king and well known ; and those who
had waited on the archbishop being now themselves
at dinner invited them to table. They scorned the
food, thirsting rather for blood. By their order the
archbishop was informed that four men had arrived
who wished to speak with him from the king. He
consented and they entered. They sat for a long
time in silence and did not salute the archbishop or
speak to him. Nor did the man of wise counsel
salute them immediately they came in, that according
to the Scripture, " By thy words thou shalt be
Justified,' he might discover their intentions from
their questions. After awhile, however, he turned
to them, and carefully scanning the face of each
one he greeted them in a friendly manner, but
the wretches, who had made a treaty with death,
answered his greeting with curses, and ironically
prayed that God might help him. At this speech
of bitterness and malice the man of God coloured
deeply, now seeing that they had come for his hurt.
Whereupon Fitz Urse, who seemed to be the chief
and the most eager for crime among them, breathing
fury, broke out in these words, ** We have somewhat
to say to thee by the king's command : say if thou
wilt that we tell it here before all." But the arch-
bishop knew what they were going to say, and
replied, "These things should not be spoken in
private or in the chamber, but in public." Now
these wretches so burned for the slaughter of the
archbishop that if the door-keeper had not called
back the clerks — for the archbishop had ordered
them all to go out — they would have killed him,
as they afterwards confessed, with the shaft of his
cross which stood by. When those who had gone
out returned, he, who had before thus reviled the
archbishop, said, " The king, when peace was made
between you and all disputes were ended, sent yon
back free to your own see, as you demanded : but
you on the other hand adding insult to your former
injuries have broken the peace and wrought evil
in yourself against your lord. For those by whose
ministry the king's son was crowned and invested
with ihe honours of sovereignty, you, with obstinate
pride, have condemned by sentence of suspension,
and you have also bound with the chain of anathema
those servants of the king by whose prudent counsels
the business of the kingdom is transacted : from which
it is manifest that you would take away the crown from
the king's son if you were able.. Now your plots and
schemes you have laid to carry out your designs
against the king are known to all. Say, therefore,
are you ready to answer in the king's presence for
these things : for therefore are we sent." To whom
answered the archbishop, "Never was it my wish,
God is my witness, to take away the crown from my
lord the king's son, or diminish his power; rather
would I wish him three crowns, and would aid him
to obtain the greatest realms of the earth with right
and equity. But it is not just for my lord the king
to be offended because my people accompany me
through the cities and towns, and come out to meet
me, when they have for seven years been deprived of
the consolation of my presence ; and even now I am
ready to satisfy him wherever my lord pleases, if in
anything I have done amiss ; but he has forbade me
with threats to enter any of his cities and towns, or
even villages. Moreover, not by me, but by the lord
pope, were the prelates suspended from their office."
"It was through you," said the madmen, "that they
were suspended. Absolve them." "I do not deny,"
he answered, "that it was through me, but it is
beyond my power, and utterly incompatible with my
position that I should absolve those whom the pope
has bound. Let them go to him, on whom redounds
the contempt they have shown towards me and their
mother the church of Christ at Canterbury."
" Now," said these butchers, " this is the king's
command that you depart with all your men from the
kingdom, and the land which lies under his sway :
for from this day can there be no peace with you, or
any of yours, for you have broken the peace." Then
said he ** Let your threats cease and your wranglings
be stilled. I trust in the King of heaven, who for
His own suffered on the Cross : for from this day no
one shall see the sea between me and my church. I
came not to fly ; here he who wants me shall find me.
And it befitteth not the king so to command;
sufficient are the insults which I and mine have
received from the king's servants, without further
threats." "Thus did the king command," they
replied, " and we will make it good, for whereas you
ought to have shown respect to the king's majesty,
and submitted your vengeance to his justice, you
have followed the impulse of your passion and basely
thrust from the church his ministers and servants."
At these words Christ's champion, rising in fervour
of spirit against his accusers, exclaimed "Whoso
shall presume to violate the decrees of the sacred
Roman see or the laws of Christ's church, and shall
refuse to make satisfaction, whosoever he be I will
not spare him, nor will I delay to inflict ecclesiastical
censures on the delinquents."
Confounded at these words the knights sprang up,
for they could bear his firmness no longer, aad
coming close to him they said, "We declare to
you that you have spoken in peril of your head."
" Do you come-to till me ? " he answered, "I have
committed any cause to the Judge of all ; wherefore I
am not moved by threats, nor are your swords more
ready to strike than is my soul for martyrdom. Seek
him who flees from you ; me you will find foot to foot
in the battle of the Lord." As they went out with
tumult and insults, he who was fitly surnamed
Ursus, called out in brutal sort, "In the king's name
we order you, both clerk and monk, that ye take and
hold that man, lest he escape by flight ere the king
have full justice on his body." As they went out with
these words, the man of God followed them to the
door and exclaimed, "Here, here shall ye find me" ;
putting his hand over his neck as though showing the
place where they were to strike.
He returned then to the place where he had sat
before, and consoled his clerks, and exhorted them
not to fear; and, as it seemed to us who were present
waited as unperturbed — though him alone did they
seek to slay — as though they had come to invite him
to a bridal. Ere long back came the butchers with
swords and axes and falchions and other weapons fit
for the crime which their minds were set on. When
they found the doors barred and they were not opened
to their knocking, they turned aside by a private way
through the orchard to a wooden partition! which
they cut and hacked till they broke it down. At this
terrible noise were the servants and clerks horribly
affrighted, and, like sheep before the wolf, dispersed
hither and thither. Those who remained called out
that he should flee to the church, but he did not
forget his promise not to flee from his murderers
through fear of death, and refused to go ; for in such
case it were not meet to flee from city to city, but
rather to give example to those beneath that every-
one should rather fall by the sword than see the
divine law set at nought and the sacred canons sub-
verted. He who had long sighed for martyrdom now
saw that as it seemed the occasion was now come,
and feared lest he should delay it or put it away
altogether if he went into the Church. But the
monks were instant with him declaring that it were
not fit he were absent from vespers which were at
that moment being performed. He remained im-
moveable in that place of less reverence, for he had
now in his mind caught a sight of the hour of happy
consummation for which he had sighed so long, and
he feared lest the reverence of the sacred place should
deter even the impious from their purpose, and cb^at
him of his heart's desire. For, certain that he would
depart in martyrdom from this misery, he had said
after his return from exile in the hearing of many,
"You have here one beloved of God and a true and
holy martyr; another will the divine compassion
send you ; He will not delay." O pure and trustful
was the conscience of that good shepherd, who
defending the cause of his flock would not delay his
own death when he was able, nor shun the tormentor,
that the fur of the wolves, glutted with the blood of
the shepherd, might spare the sheep. But when he
would not be persuaded by argument or prayer to
take refuge in the church the monks caught hold of
him in spite of his resistance, and pulled, dragged,
and pushed him, not heeding his clamours to be let
go, and brought him to the Church.
But the door, through which was the way into the
monk's cloister, had been carefully secured some
days before, and as the tormentors were now at hand,
it seemed to take away all hope of escape ; but one
of them, running forward, caught hold of the lock,
and, to the surprise of all, unfastened it with as much
ease as if it had been glued to the door.
When the monks had entered the church, already
the four knights followed behind with rapid strides.
With them was a certain subdeacon, armed with
malice like their own, Hugh, fitly surnamed for his
wickedness Mauclerc, who showed no reverence for
God or the saints, as the result showed. When the
holy archbishop entered the church, the monks
stopped vespers which they had begun and ran to
him, glorifying God that they saw their father, whom
they had heard was dead, alive and safe. They
hastened, by bolting the doors of the church, to protect
their shepherd from the slaughter. But the champion,
turning to them, ordered the church doors to be
thrown open, saying, "It is not meet to make a
fortress of the house of prayer, the church of Christ :
though it be not shut up it is able to protect its own ;
and we shall triumph over the enemy rather in suffering
than in fighting, for we came to suffer, not to resist."
And straightway they entered the house of peace
and reconciliation with swords sacrilegiously drawn,
causing horror to the beholders by their very looks
and the clanging of their arms.
All who were present were in tumult and fright, for
those who had been singing vespers now ran hither
to the dreadful sight.
[As he descended the steps towards the door,
John of Salisbury and his other, clerks, save Robert
the canon and William FitzStephen, and Edward
Grim, who was newly come to him, sought shelter,
some at the altars, some in hiding places, and left
him. And, indeed, if he had wished, the archbishop
might easily have saved himself by flight, for both
time and place gave occasion. It was evening, a
very long night at hand, and the crypt was near
wherein are many dark recesses. There was also a
door near by which a winding stair led to the lofts
and roof of the church. But none of these ways
would he take.]
Inspired by fury the knights called out, " Where is
Thomas Becket, traitor to the king and realm" As
he answered not they cried out the more furbusly,
"Where is the archbishop?" At this, intrepid and
fearless, as it is written, "The just, like a bold lion,
shall be without fear," he descended from the stair
where he had been dragged by the monks in fear of
the knights, and in a clear voice answered "I am
here, no traitor to the king, but a priest. Why do
ye seek me ? " And whereas he had already said
that he feared them not, he added, "So I am
ready to suffer in His name. Who redeemed me
by His Blood: be it far from me to flee from
your swords, or to depart from justice." Having
thus said, he turned to the right, under a pillar,
having on one side the altar of the blessed
Mother of God and- ever Virgin Mary, on the other
that of S. Benedict the Confessor : by whose example
and prayers, having crucified the world with its lusts,
he bore all that the murderer could do with such
constancy of soul as if he had been no longer in the
flesh. The murderers followed him ; " Absolve,"
they cried, " and restore to communion those whom
you have excommunicated, and restore their powers
to those whom you have suspended." He answered :
" There has been no satisfaction, and I will not
absolve them." "Then you shall die," they cried,
"and receive what you deserve." " I am ready," he
replied, " to die for my Lord, that in my blood the
Church may obtain liberty and peace. But in the
name of Almighty God, I forbid you to hurt my
people whether clerk or lay." Thus piously and
though tfulr;, did the noble martyr provide that no
one near hiSi should be hurt or the innocent be
brought to d^ath, whereby his glory should be
dimmed as he hastened to Christ. Thus did it
become the martyr knight to follow in the foot-
steps of his Captain and Saviour Who when the
wicked sought Him said : "If ye seek Me, let these
go their way." Then they laid sacrilegious hands
on him, pulling and dragging him that they might
kill him outside the Church, or carry him away a
prisoner, as they afterwards confessed. But when he
could not be forced away from the pillar, one>of them
pressed on him and clung to him more closely. Him
he pushed off calling him "pander" and saying,
"Touch me not, Reginald ; you owe me fealty and
subjection ; you and your accomplices act like mad-
men." The knight, fired with terrible rage at this
severe repulse, waved his sword over the sacred head.
" No faith," he cried, "nor subjection do I owe you
against my fealty to my lord the king." Then the
unconquered martyr seeing the hour at hand which
should put an end to this miserable life and give him
straightway the crown of immortality promised by
the Lord, inclined his neck as one who prays and
joining his hands he lifted them up, and commended
his cause and that of the Church to God, to St
Mary, and to the blessed martyr Denys. Scarce
had he said the words than the wicked knight fear-
ing lest he should be rescued by the people and
escape alive, leapt upon him suddenly and wounded
this lamb who was sacrificed to God or the head,
cutting off the top of the crown which the sacred
unction of the chrism had dedicated to God ; and
by the same blow he wounded the arm of him who
tells this. For he, when the others, both monks and
clerks, fled, stuck close to the sainted archbishop and
held him in his arms till the one he interposed was
almost severed. Behold the simplicity of the dove,
the wisdom of the serpent, in the martyr who opposed
his body to those who struck that he might preserve
his head, that is his soul and the Church, unharmed,
nor would he use any forethought against those who
destroyed the body whereby he might escape. O
worthy shepherd, who gave himself so boldly to the
wolves that his flock might not be torn. Because he
had rejected the world, the world in wishing to crush
him unknowingly exalted him. Then he received a
second blow on the head but still stood firm. At the
third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering
himself a living victim, and saying in a low voice,
"For the Name of Jesus and the protection of the
Church I am ready to embrace death." Then the
third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay, by
which the sword was broken against the pavement,
and the crown which was large was separated from
the head ; so that the blood white with the brain
and the brain red with blood, dyed the surface of
the virgin mother Church with the life and death of
the confessor and martyr in the colours of the lily
and the rose. The fourth knight prevented any from
interfering so that the others might freely perpetrate
the murder. As to the fifth, no knight but that clerk
who had entered with the knights, that a fifth blow
might not be wanting to the martyr who was in other
things like to Christ, he put his foot on the neck of the
holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to say,
scattered his brains and blood over the pavement,
calling out to the others, " Let us away, knights , he
will rise no more."
Describing Privilegium Canonis reported in
(1911). Ecclesiastical Privileges. In The Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12437a.htm Summarising:-
Injuring or wounding of a cleric was punished by severe canonical penances, and on occasion by excommunication A person wounding a bishop incurred ipso facto excommunication.
The Second Council of the Lateran further decreed that whosoever laid a malicious hand on a cleric or monk incurred ipso facto anathema. This privilege was called the privilegium canonis.
Latin Text
Grim, Edward, Vita S. Thomae, Cantuariensis Archepiscopi et Martyris, ed. James Robertson, Materials for the Life of Thomas Becket, (London: Rolls Series, 1875-1885) Vol. II. pp. 430-8.
...
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k503197/f503.image
...
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k503197/f505.image
James Craigie Robertson. Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173). Cambridge University Press. pp. 430–40. ISBN 978-1-108-04926-9.
...
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k503197/f505.image
James Craigie Robertson. Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173). Cambridge University Press. pp. 430–40. ISBN 978-1-108-04926-9.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/Grim-becket.asp
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Edward_Grim's_account_of_the_Murder_of_Thomas_Becket
English Historical Documents Volume 2
EHD 152: narrative of the murder of Thomas Becket (29 December 1170) by Edward Grim p. 812.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Edward_Grim's_account_of_the_Murder_of_Thomas_Becket
Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Medieval Sourcebook
The Murder of Thomas Becket
Richard Hurrell Froude; James Bowling Mozley (1839). Remains of the Late Reverend Richard Hurrell Froude: v. 2.. The Martyrdom: J. G. & F. Rivington. pp. 550–.
Jon E. Lewis (2012). The Mammoth Book of How it Happened in Britain. Constable & Robinson Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78033-728-9.
Richard Hurrell Froude; James Bowling Mozley (1839). Remains of the Late Reverend Richard Hurrell Froude: v. 2.. The Martyrdom: J. G. & F. Rivington. pp. 550–.
Jon E. Lewis (2012). The Mammoth Book of How it Happened in Britain. Constable & Robinson Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78033-728-9.
BBC Cathedral Series
English Historical Documents Volume 2
EHD 152: narrative of the murder of Thomas Becket (29 December 1170) by Edward Grim p. 812.
The Martyrdom
The Murderers
History of the Christian Church, Volume V: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1049-1294. §33. The Matryrdom of Thomas Becket. Dec. 29, 1170.: CCEL. pp. 168–. ISBN 978-1-61025-044-3.
What Became of the Bones of St Thomas?. Section I: The Narratives of the Passion CUP Archive. pp. 3–.
Archive.org copy: What became of the bones of St. Thomas? by A. J. Mason,
Hartley Withers (1908). The Cathedral Church of Canterbury: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal See. Bell.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22832/22832-h/22832-h.htmhttps://archive.org/details/cathedralchurch02withgoog
William Woolnoth (1816). A graphical illustration of the metropolitan cathedral church of Canterbury: accompanied by a history and description ... of that venerable fabric ... : also comprising biographical sketches of the lives of the archbishops, and deans of Canterbury : and historical notices of the celebrated Convent of Christchurch .... T. Cadell and W. Davies. pp. 7–.
Archaeologia Cantiana - Volume VII 1868. The Architectural History Of The Conventual Buildings Of The Monastery Of Christ Church In Canterbury, By The Rev. Robert Willis, M.A., F.R.S.: Kent Archaeological Society. 1868. pp. 1–
Archaeologia Cantiana - Volume VII 1868. The Architectural History Of The Conventual Buildings Of The Monastery Of Christ Church In Canterbury, By The Rev. Robert Willis, M.A., F.R.S.: Kent Archaeological Society. 1868. pp. 1–
Canterbury Cathedral Waterworks drawing
David Charles Douglas; George William Greenaway (1996) .EHD 152: Narrative of the murder of Thomas Becket (29 December 1170) by Edward Grim English Historical Documents, 1042-1189. Routledge. pp.812-20. ISBN 978-0-415-14367-7.
James Craigie Robertson (1859). "Appendix XXIX: Place of Becket's Death". Becket, archbishop of Canterbury: A biography. J. Murray. pp. 351–.
Frank Barlow (1990). "Chapter Eleven: End of the Road". Thomas Becket. University of California Press. pp. 225–50. ISBN 978-0-520-07175-9.
Abbott, Edwin Abbott (1898), St. Thomas of Canterbury, his death and miracles
 |
Canterbury cathedral, plan (c.1180) |
The Conspirators and others
Michael Staunton (7 December 2001). The Lives of Thomas Becket. Manchester University Press. pp. 190–. ISBN 978-0-7190-5455-6.
Reginald Fitzurse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fitzurse, Reginald (DNB00) - Wikisource
Saltwood Castle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gervase de Cornhill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard le Breton - Wikipedia
Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland
William de Tracy - Wikipedia
The picture of Plymouth. 1812. pp. 32–.
George Bruner Parks; Parks George B. (1954). The English Traveler to Italy. Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. pp. 119–. GGKEY:9C9HD32S3A1.
Andrew Lythall (October 2009). How Did the Murder of St. Thomas Becket Affect the Relationship Between Church and State in England 1170-1215?. GRIN Verlag. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-3-640-45817-2.
Michael Green (2004). St Thomas Becket. Gracewing Publishing. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-0-85244-590-7.
Ancestry Library World Tree Project- Rodd-Burridge-Parham-Bennett
BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH- CATTESHILL AND ANOTHER USHER SERJEANTY IN THE PURCEL FAMILY - Brooks. - 2007 - Historical Research - Wiley Online Library
Reginald Fitz-Urse (1145–1173) - The Bowdlers
Page-Dictionary of National Biography volume 19.djvu-224 - Wikisource
Edward Foss (1870). Biographia Juridica: A Biographical Dictionary of the Judges of England from the Conquest to the Present Time, 1066-1870. John Murray. pp. 79–.
Gervase de Cornhill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard le Breton - Wikipedia
Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland
William de Tracy - Wikipedia
The picture of Plymouth. 1812. pp. 32–.
George Bruner Parks; Parks George B. (1954). The English Traveler to Italy. Ed. di Storia e Letteratura. pp. 119–. GGKEY:9C9HD32S3A1.
Andrew Lythall (October 2009). How Did the Murder of St. Thomas Becket Affect the Relationship Between Church and State in England 1170-1215?. GRIN Verlag. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-3-640-45817-2.
Michael Green (2004). St Thomas Becket. Gracewing Publishing. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-0-85244-590-7.
Ancestry Library World Tree Project- Rodd-Burridge-Parham-Bennett
BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH- CATTESHILL AND ANOTHER USHER SERJEANTY IN THE PURCEL FAMILY - Brooks. - 2007 - Historical Research - Wiley Online Library
Reginald Fitz-Urse (1145–1173) - The Bowdlers
Page-Dictionary of National Biography volume 19.djvu-224 - Wikisource
Edward Foss (1870). Biographia Juridica: A Biographical Dictionary of the Judges of England from the Conquest to the Present Time, 1066-1870. John Murray. pp. 79–.
The Murderers of Thomas Becket
By Thomas K. Compton
The Historian Volume 35, Issue 2, pages 238–255, February 1973
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.