Constitutions of Clarendon: Constitutions of Clarendon

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Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Garnier: Content of the Constitutions of Clarendon

Extract from

Emanuel Walberg (1922). La vie de Saint Thomas le martyr par Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence: poème historique du 12e siècle (1172-1174).. pp. 81-7
http://archive.org/stream/laviedesaintthom00gueruoft#page/81/mode/1up

Verses 479-512

Lines 2391-2560

479 If you would like to listen to the laws of king Henry which he wanted both to put in place and establish in his kingdom, and to make [force upon] holy church both to keep and hold to them, you can learn about them here, for I do not want to lie about them. [It is sufficient reason that] St. Thomas did so much hate them, [that] everyone should hate them [too].

480 If a plea [dispute] concerning a church arises between the laity and clergy [literate persons], [that is] between lay persons one of them being the defendant [advocate], or between clerics one of them being he who presented the plea [the plaintiff] in the king's court is the plea to be heard and concluded. The rights of holy church in this matter are forgotten [ignored].

481 Without the consent [the express written/official authorisation] of the king no one must give [away the benefice of] a church which lies in his [the king's] fief/fee. -- Well can you see clearly that the whole kingdom is his, that he is the governor of the whole of the said. By this law he could deceive everyone and all the churches [of his kingdom] are converted [transferred] into [ones in the power of] his gift. --

482 Clerics should answer all charges in the king's court; then afterwards be brought before the court of Holy Church [ecclesiastical court], where the king's justice should be present for the plea. Those who are convicted [attainted] should be degraded and dismembered [torn apart?/put to death?/mutilated?] -- It is wrong one must be put in peril [jeopardy] twice for one sole misdeed. --

483. Neither prelate nor parson [curate/person of the Church] may travel outside of England without the king's permission; And if obtained then they must swear that that will not seek to do any evil, neither to the king nor to the kingdom.— If this were so then a weak man could never win as king Henry would hold the power of St. Peter [himself] —.

484 Those who have been excommunicated should not give a pledge to [give money to] Holy Church to make amends for their misdeed, nor a large amount to be absolved of a great sin — Most would be free to sin even more if they were not otherwise restrained by the clergy. —

485 No clerk, no layman, no one may bring a plea against any laick, except before a bishop [in his ecclesiastical court]; neither should he reply to it there unless trusted lawful testimony has been heard against him, saving that the archdeacon does not lose his right. - (But according to this law, no one would gain anything by this.) -

486 If it were such that no one dared to accuse him then it was necessary for the bishop to take this up with the sheriff [viscount]. Then twelve men were to try the truth, how using their knowledge they could swear to this. — (From now on God must submit His claim [make His appeals] to St. Peter.) —

487 No one who holds his land from the king in chief [No tenant-in-chief], neither anyone of his ministers may be excommunicated, likewise their lands may not be put under interdict, without having discussed it with the king, if he was present in the country or the kingdom.

488 If one cannot find the king in the country then the prelate must go to the [king's chief] justiciar. That which concerns the king is to be settled in the king's court. That which pertains to the prelate to be decided in his court. He who judges sins well can he can hear the confession of them.

489 The archdeacon must hear the appeals before others; from there they must come before the bishop, and thence to the archbishop. If he cannot fulfil them then the king must bring them to the court of God for finalisation. They must not go out from his court without his permission..

490 — Then the court of king Henry would be the highest assize, placed well above that of the court of Rome. Then would all England be without divine justice: nor would she be taken to be one of the twelve tribes [of Israel] if Moses were not the supreme judge. —

491 If a cleric wished to quarrel with a laick over a holding which he wished to change from lay fee into elemosyne [free alms], or a laick wished to convert elemosyne into a lay fee [then] by [the testimony of a jury of] twelve is the rightness to be proved whether it ought to be lay fee or elemosyne.

492. If both agree it [the land in question] is held from one overlord, either cleric or laick, each is to go his [own] court. But if they accept that there are two overlords of this fee, in the court of king Henry both are to plead about it, but recognition of seisin [feudal ownership by physical occupation] will not be lost.

493 — This clause ought not to be tolerated by either cleric or laick. For Holy Church it can lead to a failure in justice. For both clerics and laicks it can lead to loss; the promissory oaths of [a jury of] twelve can take away fiefs, and in the case of overlords, even as much and his [the latter] having to give up his rights to his man [vassal]. —

494 If anyone from a castle, from a burgh, or from a city or from the manor of the king, anyone of his demesne, if anyone accused of crimes is brought before their prelates, if to their lawful summons and do not come of their own free will, then they are to appear before the officer [sheriff?] of king Henry.

495. And if he [the king's agent] could not fully well set this matter to right, he must lift the sentence, and make him [the accused] appear before the king at his mercy. And the prelates can then pass judgement on him because before this no one would have been allowed to excommunicate him, even one of whom could well have been dismissed from the Church.

496. All parsons and prelares of the realm who hold from the king lands and property, they all hold from him in chief as barons. They are present at his judgements like his other intimates, until they are condemned to death or mutilation.

497 — Clerics must not judge laicks, neither are laicks to judge clerics. For land held in free alms to no one must one be responsible for it other than to God. And if the king himself [thinks] he is equal to God, then well can he chase out all the saints in heaven from there; but I know not what part of it he would leave for God. —

498. If in the kingdom any [ecclesiastical] position falls vacant [that is it has been delivered up to the king], bishopric, priory, abbey or any archbishopric, the king will seize the rents and [income from its] fiefs; he will profit from.the possession of them and keep hold of them like he manacles his hawk, until the position is filled with an appointed pastor.

499. I have been in many places which have been seized by the king. In none of them were guests or the poor received. I was in front of the gate [of one of them] and the porter refused me entry. Charity was not there, this I heard by he said, [that] the king had taken away everything whence the place was furnished with.

500 Monk and cook [cou/queux] and servant, squire and servant boy [groom] each had his allowance by right of bread, because the servants of the king were in the house; when they left they pillaged it so that nowhere in the larder [store] could one find even the smallest capon.

501 Thus a great wrongdoing had been committed by the king against God, and against the place, and to the barons whose fathers had founded the church. For they devote themselves entirely to the service of their fief, and he takes their alms and puts it into his treasury. [money] which was meant for the poor and [such] well deserved ends.

502 When the king wants to invest a church [cathedral] with a pastor [bishop].

(Because all must agree to go along with his will) three persons from the Church [from its chapter] would be sent for, and he would summon them to meet together with prelates and barons in his [the royal] chapel.

503 How important it is that one must consult the Church in accordance with [the laws of] God. Those of understanding and those of noble rank should be kept distant from one another and be prevented from coming together, for the barons would deceive the wits, and those of noble rank and worth would violently clash against them [those of understanding]. Simony could [also] lead to the promotion of a person little merit.

504 The elected one does homage to the king without delay, [swearing] fealty and allegiance to his liege lord, with his body for his earthly estate. -- By doing this the servant of [Christ] the Saviour is having to perform homage which not one of them would ever do if it were not for [the investiture of] their crozier.

505 If no one is willing to enforce their right before prelates, then either the king will do this himself or this will be addressed through another [an intermediary]. If it happens that someone cannot bring a case to court against [versus] the king that he cannot obtain his rights, then he may receive justice from a prelate [in the church court] as if he were the king.

506 The King is duty bound [on oath] to uphold [protect] Holy Church and the clergy; therefore they should not bear arms, neither should they equip themselves for great wars. They must serve God, whoever they may be, night and day. They must not cause trouble with the king's enemies, neither the French nor Welsh, for this separates them from God.

507 If someone is in forfeit of his properties to the king, his goods [possessions] must not be kept in [on the land of] a graveyard [cemetery], nor [given sanctuary] in a monastery. But I know that if a robber or a felon enters, it is false they [that their person] can be seized from monasteries and graveyards.

508 Pleas which are for debt, either entered into by oath or without oath, such pleas must all be heard in the king's court. I [as Garnier himself was a cleric] ought not to plead in a lay court for a crime. Clerics, and all those whom live and are provided for from charity, shall have their own court and law for debt and other matters.

509 The son of a churl [or villein bound to a manor] is not to be and nowhere ordained without the assent of the lord on whose land he was born. (But yet God calls us to his service to everything. Of better worth is the son of a villein if he is gifted and wise, than the inadequate and repulsive son of a gentleman).

510 Such were the chapters [clauses] of the laws of king Henry. And I truly tell you that the good pope Alexander, and likewise St. Thomas, excommunicated all those who observed them from this moment on forever. One must not comply with those which are not friendly to God.

511 To fools and to felons they seem pleasing laws. Every man who has faith must contradict them, for throughout they upset the Celestial King. How exalted is His champion who took up the battle to vanquish this wickedness.

Teneur des articles de Clarendon

479. Se vus volez les leis le rei Henri oïr. 
Qu'il voleit en sun règne e mètre e establir 
E faire a saint' iglise e guarder e tenir, 
Ci les purrez aprendre; car jo n'en voil mentir. 
2395 Quant sainz Thomas les het, tuit les deivent haïr. 

480. Se plaiz sursist d'iglise entre lais u letrez. 
Entre les lais se cil u cil fust avoez. 
Entre les clers se cil u cil fust presentez. 
En la curt le rei fust li plaiz faiz e finez. 
2400 — Li dreiz de saint' iglise fu iluec oblïez. — 

481. Senz le congié le rei ne deüst nuls duner
Iglise en tut sun fiu. — Bien poëz veeir cler 
Tuz li règnes est suens, tut le deit guverner. 
Par celé lei poiist trestuz ensoffimer, 
2405 E tûtes les iglises a sun dun aturner. —


482. A la curt respundreient le rei clerc de tut ret; 
En curt de saint' iglise resereient puis tret; 
La justise le rei sereit iluec el plet. 
Desordené sereient li ataint e desfet. 
2410 — A tort deit um périr dous feiz d'un sul mesfait. — 

483. Prélat hors d'Engleterre ne persone n'alast 
Senz le congié le rei; e dunkes si jurast 
Que al rei ne al règne nul mal ne purchaçast. 
— S'ensi fust, fiebles hum dreit mais ne conquestast; 
2415 La poesté saint Piere li reis Henris guardast. — 

484. Ne dunassent pas guage li escumenïé 
Qu'a saint' iglise fuissent del mesfait adrescié, 
Ne mais a ço qu'il fussent asols del grant pechié. 
— Mult fuissent a pécher li pluisur deslïé, 
2420 Quant altrement ne fussent destraint par le clergié. — 

485. Ne clerc ne lais, ne nuls, lai en plait ne mesist 
Fors par devant l'evesque; n'ilec ne respundist, 
Se leaus testemonies contre lui n'i oïst, 
Si que l'arcediacnes le suen dreit ne perdist. % 
2425 — Mais selunc celé lei nul d'els rien n'i presist. ~ 

486. Se cil fust teus que nul ne l'osast acuser, 
Dune l'esteiist l'evesque al vescunte mustrer; 
A duze hummes fereit la vérité prover, 
Cum a lur escïent le purreient jurer. 
2430 — Des ore se deit Deiis a saint Piore clamer. — 

487. Nuls qui tenist del rei sa terre chevaument, (f. 21 r") 
Ne nuls de ses ministres, lur terres ensement, 
Ne fust mis en dévié n'en escumen^ement, 
Se li reis n'en ïust mis en araisunement, 
2435 Se il fust el païs u el règne en présent. 

488. S'um ne peûst le rei dune el païs trover, 
Le prélat esteûst a la justise aler, 
Ço qu'ai rei apartint en la rei curt finer, 
Ço qu'atainst al prélat en' sa curt terminer. 
2440 — Qui les péchiez justise, bien en puet confesser. — 

489. L'arcediacnes dut les apeaus ainz oïr; 
D'iluec durent avant a l'evesque venir, 
E puis a l'arcevesque. S'il nés poeit furnir, 
Li reis les dut puis faire en la curt Deu fenir; 
2445 Ne durent de sa curt senz sun congié partir. 

490. — Dune fust la curt le rei Henri mult haut asise, 
Quant sur la curt de Rume aveit la sue mise; 
Dune fust tut' Engleterre senz divine justise. 
Ne des duze lignées ne fust ele pas prise, 
2450 Se Moyses ne fust soveraine justise. — 

491. Se clers de tenement volsist lai quereler, 
Qu'il volsist le lai fiu a aumosne mener, 
U lais volsist l'aumosne a lai fiu aturner, 
Par duze le fesist la justise prover, 
2455 Se deûst a lai fiu u a aumosne ester. 

492. Se d'un seignur andui a tenir graantassent, 
U clerc u lai, andui en sa curt en alassent; 
Mais se dous seignurages a cel fiu avoassent,
En la curt rei Henri andui en plaideassent; 
2460 Mais pur reconissance saisine ne laissassent. 

493. — Cel capitle ne deit ne clers ne lais suffrir:
De saint' iglise en puet la dreiture périr, 
E as clers e as lais en puet perte venir; 
Li seremenz des duze puet bien le fiu tolir 
2465 Al seignur, quant l'estuet a sun humme guerpir. — 

494. Se nuls fust de chastel, de bure u de cité 
U de maneir le rei, de sa demaineté, 
S'a ses prelaz l'eiist-nuls de crimene acusé, 
S'a lur dreite somunse ne venist de sun gré, 
2470 Al ministre le rei Henri fust dune mustré. 

495. E se cil nel fesist del tut bien adrescier, 
De la merci le rei l'estetist alegier, 
E li prelaz peiist celui puis justisier; 
Car ainceis ne l'osast nuls escummenïer, 
2475 Mais qu'um li peiist bien faire iglise voidier. 

496. Persones e prelaz tut de la regiun 
Qui tenissent del rei terre e possessiun, 
Tuit tenissent de lui en chieî cumme barun; 
A ses jugemenz fuissent cum si autre drugun, 
2480 Tresque fust a mort d'umme u a desfacciun. 

497. — Clers ne devreit le lai, ne li lais clerc, jugier. 
D'aumosne ne deit nuls fors a Deu cheveier. 
E se li reis se puet a Deu parifïer, 
Dune puet bien tuz les sainz del ciel la sus chacier; 
2485 Mais ne sai de quel part il voldra Deu laissier. — 

498. Se delivrast el règne nuls lius, cum eveschiez, 
Priorez, abeïe u nuls arceveschiez,
Li reis en saisireit les rentes e les fiez; 
Les espleiz en avreit e tendreit en ses ^iez, 
2400 Tresque li lius sereit de pastur ( onseilliez. 

499. — ]o ving- en pluisurs lius que li reis out saisiz: 
N'i esteit nuls des hostes ne povres recuilliz; 
)o fui defors la porte del portier escundiz; 
Carité n'i fu pas, c'entendi par ses diz. 
2495 Li reis prist tut fors tant dunt li lius ert furniz. 

500. Muine e cou e sergant, escuier e garçun, 
Chascuns aveit sun pain a dreite livreisun; 
Kar li serjant le rei erent en la maisun, 
Qui al partir la mistrent en tel destructiun, 
2500 N'i trovisiez d'estor nis le menur chapun. 

501. La fait li reis vers Deu e vers le liu mesprise, 
E as baruns ki père establirent l'iglise. 
Car il funt de lur fiu tut plenier le servise, 
E il prent lur aumosne, en sun trésor l'ad mise, 
2505 Qui deiist estre as povres e en buen liu asise. — 

502. Quant li reis a l'iglise voldra pastur duner 
(Car tut après sun voil covendra a aler), 
Treis persones ferad de l'iglise mander, 
E prelaz e baruns i fera asembler 
2510 En sa chapele, cels qu'il voldra apeler. 

503. — Quant um devra l'iglise selunc Deu conseillier, 
Science e genterise en covient esluignier; 
Car les baruns voldreit li sens survezïer, 
Genterise e valurs encontre els ruisteier. 
2515 La puet le poi vaillant symonie eshaucier. — 

504. Al rei feïst humage li esliz senz demur, 
Feelté e ligance, cum a lige seignur, 
De ses menbres e de sa terrïene honur. 
— La fesissent humage li serf al salveiir, 
2520 Qui nul ne l'en fesissent senz la croce a nul jur. — 

505. Se nuls volsist lur dreit as prelaz esforcier, 
Li reis de lui e d'autre lur fereit adrescier. 
Se nuls par aventure peûst si reideier 
Vers le rei, que sun dreit n'en peust purchacier, 
2525 Celui durent al rei li prélat justisier. 

506. — Li reis deit saint' iglise e les clers maintenir. 
Ne deivent porter armes ne granz guerres furnir. 
Deu deivent, qui qu'il seient, e jur e nuit servir; 
Ne deivent pas al rei ses enemis grevir, 
2530 Ne Franceis ne Gualeis pur ço de Deu partir. — 

507. Se nuls îust el forfait le rei Henri chaiiz, 
Ne fust en cimetere sis aveirs retenuz, 
N'en mustier, puis que la justise i fust venuz. 
— Bien sai^ se lerre u îel i venist, u faiiz, 
2535 Mustiers e cimitiries li deiist estre escuz. — 

508. Plait qui fuissent de dete, u par fei u senz fei, 
Tel plait deiissent estre tuit en la curt le rei. 
— De crimene en laie curt par dreit plaidier ne dei. 
Clerc e de dete e d'el avrunt e curt e lei, 
2540 E tuit cil qui d'aumosne unt e vivre e conrei. — 

509. Fiz a vilain ne fust en nul liu ordenez 
Senz l'asens sun seignur, de qui terre il fust nez. 
— E Deus a sun servise nus ad tuz apelez! 
Mielz valt fiz a vilain qui est prouz e senez, 
2545 Que ne fait gentilz hum failliz e débutez. 

510. Tel erent li capitle des leis le rei Henri. 
Li buens pape Alissandres, saint Thomas altresi, 
Becket se retire à l'ontigny. Vengeance du roi Henri o7 
Les escumenïerent, tut pur voir le vus di, 
E tuz cels quis tendreient de cel' ore a nul di. 
2550 Nés deivent pas tenir cil qui sunt Deu ami. 

511. As tous e as feluns i out plasible lei. 
Contredire la deit chascuns hum qui ad fei, 
Car par tut desplaiseit al celestïen rei. 
Sun champiun en ad muit eshaucié, ço vei, 
2555 Qui enprist la bataille pur vaintre cel desrei. 

512. Mais quant li arcevesques ot a Sanz sujorné 
E entur l'apostolie bien un meis demuré, 
A Punteigni l'aveit la pape comandé, 
Od blans muines qu'i erent e od Guischar l'abé. 
2560 Quanque mestiers li fu, li aveit cil trové. —

References
Elizabeth M. Tyler (2011). Conceptualizing Multilingualism in England, C.800-c.1250. Bruce O'Brien: Translating Technical Terms in Law-Codes from Alfred to the Angevins: Isd. pp. 57–75. ISBN 978-2-503-52856-4.
(PDF) "Translating technical terms in law-codes from Alfred to the Angevins." | Bruce O'Brien - Academia.edu

Guernes de Pont Sainte-Maxence (1859). Célestin Hippeau, ed. La vie de saint Thomas le martyr: archevêque de Canterbury. Chez A. Aubry. pp. 84–.

Guernes (de Pont-Sainte-Maxence); tr Jacques Thomas (2002). La vie de Saint Thomas de Canterbury. Peeters. pp. 154–. ISBN 978-90-429-1188-8.

Guernes (de Pont-Sainte-Maxence); tr Janet Shirley (1975). Garnier's Becket: translated from the 12th-century Vie saint Thomas le martyr de Cantorbire of Garnier of Pont-Sainte-Maxence. Phillimore. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-0-85033-200-1.

A life of Thomas Becket in verse

by Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence ;

translated with an introduction and notes by Ian Short.

ISBN 978-0-88844-306-9 pp. 83-

Tools

Anglo-Norman Dicitionary online

Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500)

Online Dictionaries - DicFro

Wiktionary

Algirdas Julien Greimas (1969). Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle. Larousse.

Monday, 30 September 2013

A Cut Down Version of the Constitutions of Clarendon

The following abbreviated version of the clauses 1 to 7 of the Constitutions of Clarendon exists only in one 12th century collection of manuscripts, amongst a set of Becket's correspondence in the Bodleian library Oxford - Bodl. MS Rawlinson Q.f.8 (27836). This collection was in the Library of Ely Cathedral in the 14th century. It might be an abridged version of the full text , or an abstract compiled by the clerics who formed this collection. It is conceivable that it might even be a preliminary version of the Constitutions, made quite late on when they were being formulated.

Abstracted from

Dorothy Whitelock; Martin Brett; Christopher Nugent Lawrence Brooke (1981). Councils & Synods: With Other Documents Relating to the English Church. A.D.871-1204. Clarendon Press. pp. 883-5. ISBN 978-0-19-822394-8.

1. De presentationibus ecclesiarum placitum inter laicos sive inter clericos, sive inter clericos et laicos, in curia regis terminetur.

Concerning the presentation [advowson] of churches in legal proceedings between either lay persons, or between clerics, or between clerics and lay persons are to be decided in the king's court.

2. Elemosine (sic for Ecclesie) de feudo regis non possunt dari in elemosinam in perpetuum, nisi per licentiam regis.

Frankalmoign [lands held in free alms] (as thus by the Church) of the king's fee are not possible to be granted in Elemosina [free alms] in perpetuity, not without authorization from the king.

3. Clerici qui calumpniati fuerint et rettati de quacumque re, summoniti per iusticiam regis veniant in curiam regis responsuri ibia de hoc quod ipsi curie videbitur ibi respondendum, et inde ad curiam sancte ecclesie ibi ad respondendum vel faciendum quod iustum fuerit; et iusticia regis mittat in curiam ecclesie ad videndum quo iure res tractetur.

Clerics who have committed any calumny and who have been accused on any matter whatsoever, are to be summoned by the king's justice to come into the king's court to be seen in that court to answer, there to respond about this, and then [to be sent] to the court of the holy church there to respond and/or to do that which must be done, that which is right and just; and the king's justice is to be sent into the ecclesiastical court to see that justice is done.

4. Episcopis sive aliis personis non licet exire a regno Anglie nisi per licentiam regis.

Bishops or other parsons [vicars or ecclesiastical persons] are not allowed to leave the kingdom of England without the king's authorization.

3b. Clericum convictum et confessum non debet ecclesia tueri.

Clerics who have been convicted and have confessed must not be protected by the Church.

5. Excommunicati non debent dare pro absolutione sua pignus, nisi vadium et plegium standi iudicio ecclesie, nec prestare iuramentum.

Excommunicates must not give their own pledge for absolution, without bail and surety to stand trial in the church [court], nor proving an oath.

6. Laici non accusentur nisi per legitimes accusatores et legales testes et in presentia ipsius episcopi causa tractetur, salvo tamen iure archidiaconi.

Lay persons are not to be charged except by legitimate accusers and in the presence of lawful witnesses, and the case dealt with in the presence of the bishop himself, having regard, however, for the right of the archdeacons.

7. Barones regis vel servientes vel aliqui qui in capite de rege teneant non excommunicentur, donec domino regi prius ostendatur, et in curia regis quod ad iusticiam regis pertinet et in curia ecclesiastica sit quod ibi pertinet.

The king's barons and/or in his service, and/or anyone who is a tenant-in-chief [tenens in capite] of the king are not to be excommunicated, until it has been first disclosed to the lord king, and the case brought both before the king's court for that which pertains to the king's justice, and into the ecclesiastical court for matters which pertain there.

References

Two Early Collections of the Becket Correspondence and of other Contemporary Documents

A. Saltman

Bulletin of Historical Research

Volume 22, Issue 66, pages 152–157, November 1949

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2281.1949.tb00304.x

See 11b Variant text of the first seven Constitutions of Clarendon (unprinted).

Bodleian Library Catalogue Entry

Shelfmark MS. Rawl. Q. f. 8

Summary Catalogue no. 27836

Summary of contents Letters of and documents concerning Thomas Becket. From the library of Ely cathedral priory.

Language Latin

Origin English

Date 12th century, fourth quarter

Material parchment

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Empress Mathilda's Opinion of The Constitutions

Around about Christmas time in 1164, John of Oxford had, on his way back to England from the Papal Curia, at the time in Sens, where he had been on King Henry's business concerning Becket, passed by way of the Empress Mathilda, king Henry's mother, who held court at Le Pré near Rouen. There he tried to darken Becket's reputation before her. He had argued that Becket had done everything out of conceit. He claimed that the Liberty of the Church [Becket's central cause] was being used by the Bishops, not for the benefit of their flocks, but rather to fill their coffers, as in England accused persons when brought before and prosecuted in the Bishops' courts, were not punished by being forced to repent their deeds but were rather given fines to pay. He claimed that God cannot be on Becket's side, as since he had become archbishop, he had surrounded himself not with those of a humble religious nature, but rather with the intellectual sons of nobility. He asserted, that in dispensing benefices, Becket had looked to his own interests rather than to God’s, promoting persons of a notorious character. John of Oxford said that Becket's flight into exile had nothing to do with the Constitutions of Clarendon, but had arisen out of a money dispute between Becket and the King.

Pope Alexander III had also previously asked her to attempt to intercede between her son and Becket.

Defending Becket at the Empress Mathilda's court on this occasion was Brother Nicholas, Prior of the abbey of Mont St Jacques Rouen.

The Empress said that she had not been privy to the king's business concerning the Church. She asked for the Constitutions of Clarendon to be read out to her in Latin and then that each of its chapters should be explained to her in French. She approved of some of the clauses, for example the clause about not excommunicating the king's justices and servants without the king's permission. But she disapproved of many of the clauses. She particularly disapproved that they had been set down in writing. The bishops had not been required to give their approval to such laws in this manner before.

She defended her son skillfully excusing his zeal for justice and saying that it was the Bishops who were wicked. She identified the cause of the dispute as particularly arising from Bishops who had indiscriminately and recklessly ordained many persons without having first appointing them to a benefice or presenting them with a living, and who were, in consequence, poor, and who out of poverty were ready to commit crimes. Such persons were not afraid of losing their benefice, if they had none to lose. Nor would they fear punishment in the king's court as the Church protects such persons, Nor were they worried that they might be sent to the Bishop's prison, as which Bishop would want to bear the expense of keeping them locked up? Indeed, in contrast sometimes a single cleric can have the benefit from as many as four, or up to even seven prebends [benefices], yet Canon Law supposedly prohibits the holding of even two. The case of Richard of Ilchester was a clear example of the latter. It immediately occurs to one just how many disputes concerning presentation have arisen from these bad practices.

Nicholas urged Becket for the sake of God and the Liberty of the Church hurriedly to prepare a letter to the Empress which he would deliver, expressing in it just how much he shared her opinion, no matter distasteful to him this might be.

This line of diplomacy did not succeed. Empress Mathilda told Becket that in order to recover the king's grace he would have to show the greatest humility and the most conspicuous moderation.

Extract from

Patres ecclesiae anglicanae : Aldhelmus, Beda, Bonifacius, Arcuionus, Lanfrancus, Anselmus, Thomas Cantuariensis. J.-H. Parker. 1845. pp. 190–.

EPISTOLA CCCXLIV.
Nicolai De Monte Rotomagensi ad Thomam Cantuariensem.
Thomae Cantuariensi archi-episcopo frater Nicolaus de monte Rothomagensi.

...

Reversi ad dominam imperatricem, quae injunxistis, ex ordine cuncta narravimus iterato. Consuetudines regis verbo narravimus, quia magister Herbertus perdiderat schedulam. Hoc etiam adjunximus, quod consuetudinum quaedam contra fidem Jesu Christi, aliae fere omnes essent contra libertatem ecclesia). Propter quod timendum erat ei et filio suo de aeterno periculo, et etiam temporali. Tunc vero praecepit nobis mittere ad vos propter consuetudines illas. Volente Deo, ea ipsa die reperta est schedula, et die sequenti, omnibus ejectis a thalamo a conspectu suo, praecepit nobis eas Latine legere, et exponere Gallice. Mulier de genere tyrannorum est, et quasdam approbabat. Sicut est illud de non excommunicandis justitiis et ministris regis sine licentia ejus. Ego tamen alia exponere nolebam, nisi de hoc prius disceptarem, ostendens evangelicum praeceptum, quo dicitur ad Petrum: Dic ecclesice, Sfc. Non: Dic regi. Et alia multa. Quam plurima capitulorum improbavit. Et hoc modis omnibus ei displicuit, quod in scripturam redacta essent: sive quod episcopi coacti forent, ut aliquam promissionem facerent de ipsis custodiendis. Hoc enim a prioribus factum non est. Post multa igitur verba cum ab ea vehementer inquirerem, quae posset esse prima pacis occasio, hanc ei indicavimus, et assensit: si forte fieri posset, ut dominus rex mitteret se in consilium matris suae, et aliarum rationabilium personarum, quae taliter rem moderarentur, ut cessante promissione et scriptura antiquae regni consuetudines observarentur, adhibito tali moderamine, ut nec per judices saeculares libertas ecclesiae tolleretur, nec ita episcopi abuterentur ecclesiastica libertate. Scitote, quod domina imperatrix in defensione filii sui versuta est, eum excusans tum per zelum justitiae, tum per malitiam episcoporum; tum in deprehendenda origine conturbationis ecclesiae rationabilis et discreta. Dicit enim quaedam in quibus ejus sensum et laudavimus et adjuvimus. Episcopi clericos indiscrete ordinant, qui nullis ecclesiis titulantur. Ex quo fit, ut ordinatorum multitudo paupertate et otio ad turpia facta prolabatur. Non enim timet perdere ecclesiam, qui nulli titulatus est. Non timet pcenam, quia illum ecclesia defensabit. Non timet episcopi carcerem, qui mavult impunitum transire conversum, quam pascendi vel custodiendi sollicitudinem adhibere. De ordinatione illius, qui ecclesiae non titulatur, quod irrita sit ad injuriam illius qui eam fecit, testatur synodus Chalcedonensis, una de quatuor, quas Gregorius sicut quatuor evangelii libros tota devotione complectitur. Hoc et alii plures canones. Item uni clericulo quatuor aut septem ecclesiae tribuuntur aut praebendae, cum sacri canones ubique manifeste prohibeant, ne clericus in duabus ecclesiis connumeretur. Hujus iterum pravae consuetudinis occasione quantae de dationibus et praesentationibus ecclesiarum controversiae uascantur, attendite. Super hac re locuta est domina imperatrix occasione Ricardi de Ivelcestre. Verum taceant episcopi, qui hoc faciunt suis parentibus, quod laici sibi servientibus. Item quod multas pecunias suscipiant episcopi propter peccata apud eos excusatorum, satis canonibus non consentit. Quia licet pcena sacrilegii sit pecuniaria, non tamen semper erit: sed quibuscumque personis ad quas sacrilegii querimonia pertinet, juste persolvitur. Quia ergo ex his et similibus nascitur ecclesiastica perturbatio, mirandum valde est, cur securis episcopalis judicii non ad radicem arboris, sed ad ramusculos adhibeatur. Divina siquidem dispensatione actum est, ut ex tali radice fructus amaritudinis publice nasceretur. Quapropter libertatem ecclesiae propter Deum diligitis: quod praedicta vobis displiceant, verbis et factis ostendite. Et si literas ad dominam imperatricem miseritis, id ipsum ex aliqua parte significate. In verbo veritatis vobis dicimus, quod amore rectitudinis et salutis animae nostrae, quae praedicta sunt, scripsimus. Si quae insipienter dicta sunt, date veniam. Et sint occulta quae diximus. Festinantius ad vos mittere non potuimus. Siquidem eo tempore, quo consuetudines coram domina imperatrice legimus, cum omni festinantia literas istas praeparavimus, vobis mittendas. Nunc rogamus attentius, ut literas vestras nobis dirigatis, statum vestrum et propositum continentes. Quidquid injunxeritis, fideliter exequemur. Iterato veniam postulamus, et de prolixitate, et de audacia.

...

Extract from

P. Langlois (1851). Histoire du prieure ́du Mont-aux-Malades-les̀-Rouen et correspondance du prieur de ce monastère avec Saint Thomas de Cantorbeŕy 1120 - 1820 d'après les archives du prieuré et les manuscrits de la bibliothèque nationale; avec planches et pièces justificatives la plupart inédites. Fleury. Chapter II. pp. 19–78.

...

Unfortunately, he [prior Nicholas] was preceded at Rouen by the enemies of the archbishop, with John Oxford at their head, who beguiled Empress Mathilda's spirit and warned her against Thomas by their malicious misrepresentations. When listening to them, the prelate only took advice for his pride and ambition, and when defending the liberties of the Church, it was to enlarge its treasures, not to save souls . God could not be with him because from the very start of his episcopacy, he dismissed the godly surrounding himself with noble scholars; he distributed benefits to men of notorious infamy, to make them his creatures. At the bottom of it all, the articles concerning customs mattered little to him , but he would not have deserted his See, if his greed had not feared for his prey. Embittered by the treacherous speech, Mathilde saw Thomas as nothing but a greedy and ambitious prelate, who wanted the same throne as her son , and his friends as accomplices in his rebellion.

Three days after the departure of slanderers, Nicolas appeared before her. This haughty princess, whom a historian has described as the greatest women (maximum mulierum), but whom has retained all the pride of her [former] imperial position and as a daughter of the Conqueror, gave a severe reception to the Prior of the Mont-aux-Malades. Conceited words, bitter reproaches about his journey from Sens, an absolute refusal to hear excuses and receive the letters he was carrying [from the archbishop], were all he gained at his first hearing. A second attempt also failed completely. However, the faithful ventured the prior to return for a third time with his mission. Mathilda, touched by his perseverance, and gradually appeased, finally consented to receive the letter from the archbishop, but not in presence of witnesses and unseen from her clerics, as she feared the wrath of the king. She ordered Nicolas to read it to her.

In this message, Thomas complained about how the princess had spoken hostile words against him, especially those she said in public, and about letters she had written to the king contrary to the cause of the church. Mathilda denied all these facts; she was even sure that her son was concealing his thoughts, because he knew less devoted to her pleasure and freedom of the church, then she added:

"I sent him one of my clerics to learn about his plans regarding the status of churches and the person of the Archbishop of Canterbury. When I learn if I can expect any fruit from my intercession, I will use my skills to re-establish the peace."

Very pleased to have received this promise, Nicolas took his leave of the Empress , and rushed to Nonant manor near Bayeux, where Arnulf [bishop] of Lisieux lived. The latter prelate received him with open arms, and readily agreed to the secret letter of Thomas, and seemed to try hard all his envoy added that in its favour, has,

"It is true, he said, I am ranked among his opponents (at Sens in front of the Pope), but principally only because in secret, I was working for his interests. I highly recommended him and his cause to the sovereign pontiff. We asked the pope's approval for the customs, but only those which we knew repeal for which was impossible. If the king communicated to me his plans, it was because I had asked him for the freedom of the church and her good graces for the Archbishop, because I'm so sensitive to his misfortunes if I suffer for myself or for my own. No debt to the church binds me in Normandy, I would sooner share his exile."

Arnulf promised again to send an express message to England to sound out the opinion of the court and to inform Thomas by letter, and pointed out a few ways that might hasten the conclusion towards peace. But it is well known that his actions were never responded to in a delicate language. So long as there was war between the church and the kingdom, Henry II never consulted him ever again..

From Nonant, Nicolas returned immediately to the Empress, and began without delay to deal with the delicate matters concerning the customs. But unfortunately the copy of which had got lost. But he delivered from memory a schedule of those fateful items which placed the church at the mercy of the prince to the strife of the kingdom. Nicolas explained to Mathilda that they were mostly contrary to the faith and the freedom of the church, "that is why," he said, "that you and your son the king are threatened with the wrath of God in this world, and eternal torment in the next."

Rattled by a language so resolute, the princess, finally was able to decide for herself. She wanted Nicolas to dispatch an express message to Burgundy to get from Thomas a copy of Customs. Luckily they were found, and on the next day, alone with the Empress in a private chamber, he read her the Latin text then explained them in French. But, as he himself says, this woman, descends from a race of tyrants. She highly approved of several of the articles, and especially that which forbade bishops to denounce [excommunicate] the king's ministers, without his permission.

In an effort to show her the errors of her ways, Nicholas invoked many passages of scriptures, and emphasised this: "If your brother sins, go represent him his fault, in particular, if you are not heard, take with you one or two persons; and if they are not heard then tell it to the church, and if you were not heard by the church, let them be to you as a heathen and a publican". "Tell the church," repeated the prior, " but no, tell the King."

[Matt:18:15-20]

Bible Gateway. 1951.

Bible Gateway passage: Matthew chapter 18.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18&version=AKJV

Defeated on this one point, Mathilda immediately cut to another, and to the admission of her opponent, deployed in defence of her son a skill and penetration far superior than is usually shown by her sex. The discussion was on the sixteenth article, among others, which forbade bishops to ordain peasant children without the permission of their masters. This furnished the occasion for an easy triumph. In justification of this law the Pope himself had tolerated it. It raised itself as a constraint against those bishops who ordained a multitude of jobless clergy. From there, idleness, vagrancy, anguish and soon crimes committed by these ecclesiastics. Could they be made to fear the king's justice? The Church covered itself against its attacks. The loss of their church? They do not know how to clean it. Episcopal prisons? the bishops left unpunished sins to save themselves the trouble of keeping and feeding prisoners. And that did not include the matter mentioned by the princess about some of the monetary fines which are appropriated by some prelates contrary to the dictates of the Canon Law. And on the innumerable lawsuits raised by pretenders to benefits. And on the number of churches given away to the number of five or six, to underage clerics. They are silent these bishops who distribute stipends to their nephews, as secular lords give land to their vassals. Nicolas admitted that by doing so, the canons of the Council of Chalcedon haad been violated, one of the four, he said, that St. Gregory had revered as being equal to the four Gospels

Concerning the remainder, the victory was the prior's on almost all the points, and he extracted from Matilda an almost universal condemnation of the Customs. She especially blamed her son for having compiled the laws and forced the bishops to swear adherence, a process unknown to antiquity. It remained to restore the agreement between the king and the archbishop on these delicate matters, and that is what Nicolas urged the princess. As she hesitated on the means, he proposed a compromise on the following basis:

1 King to accept the mediation of his mother, and some other illustrious people;

2 The Customs shall cease to be written down as laws, and the bishops restricted to giving their oath;

3 However they will be observed, but that secular judges shall give them an unlimited extension, and without bishops abusing the freedom of the Church.

Mathilde approved the wise moderation which Nicolas wished to lay quarrel to rest, in managing at the same time both the rights of the Church and the emotional sensitivity of a shady monarch. But the project was not followed up. The will of Henry II was too lofty, his resentments too violent and he had to extinguish them with blood.

Travel, Nicholas' negotiations, conferences with Matilda, lasted until the end of December (1164). Towards the feast of the Epiphany, he rendered an account to the archbishop, who was confined by the pope in the abbey of Pontigny.

...

References

Saint Thomas (à Becket) (2000). "Letter 41: Nicholaus of Mont-Rouen to Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury". The Correspondence of Thomas Becket: Archbishop of Canterbury, 1162-1170. Volume 1. Oxford University Press. pp. 158–69. ISBN 978-0-19-820892-1.

James Craigie Robertson. Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Canonized by Pope Alexander III, AD 1173). Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–. ISBN 978-1-108-04929-0.

James Craigie Robertson (1859). Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. pp. 153–5

Richard Hurrell Froude (1839). Remains. pp. 131–6.
[This is a translation into English of the letter]

Archive.org.

S. Thomas of Canterbury. pp 103-6

William Holden Hutton (1899)

http://archive.org/stream/sthomascanterbu02huttgoog#page/n112/mode/2up

Harkin, Daniel V., "An Annotated Translation of the Correspondence of John of Salisbury: Letters 136-175" (1946). Master's Theses.

Paper 202.

http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/202

p. 6 Letter 136: John of Salisbury to Archbishop Thomas Becket
p. 25 Letter 140: John of Salisbury to Bishop Henry of Bayeux

p. 56 Letter 144: John of Salisbury to Archbishop Thomas Becket

p. 61 Letter 145: John of Salisbury to Archbishop Thomas Becket

In 1166
p. 90 Letter 155: Archbishop Thomas Becket to Nicholas, Guest Master of Mount St. Jacques
...

Under these circumstances, you may be certain, and may intimate to my lady Empress, that shortly -- nay, forthwith--as I live and God is my strength, I shall unsheathe against the person and domains of the king the sword of the Holy Ghost, more piercing than any two-edged sword, to overthrow stubborn flesh and save a spirit swooning and all but quenched. Persuade my lady, then, to hold me excused for the future in a matter which I may no longer disguise; let her be sure that, if her son comes again to life, hears the voice or God and accepts his mother's counsel, he will find me prompt for God's honor and his own wishes. Meanwhile, as God is my witness, I mourn her dying son with as much grief as I hopefully long and pray for his honor and salvation. I say this in sorrow, weeping, groaning, and sighing as though applying a fiery cautery to my own bowels, cut by keen steel from the bosom that housed them. God Himself knows this, and it is not right that I any longer practice an impious piety to His own injury by preferring to Him my earthly mother, father, sister, or even sovereign.l2 "There is no sorrow like to this sorrow, but "the charity of God," and the advantage and honor or Him Whom I serve, "presseth us" to endure this courageously. Farewell. Remember me to my brothers, and urge them to pray for me, that I may receive "the spirit of counsel and our forti tude"; and to pray for my lord king, that he may have "the spirit of knowledge and for godliness," so that he may make his peace with the church ot· God and with me ln the Lord.
...

Kuszynski, Casimir F., "Translations of Letters One-Hundred Seventy-Six to Two-Hundred Six of John of Salisbury" (1943). Master's

Theses. Paper 642.

http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/642

p. 45 Letter 179: John of Salisbury to Becket

p. 58 Letter 180: John of Salisbury to Becket

p. 136 Letter 196: John of Salisbury to Nicholas, Guest Master of Mount St. Jacques, Rouen