2. Thomas Becket.-In those days civil offices were only given to persons who could speak French, and as Becket when a lad showed himself to be possessed of high intellectual talents, his father, a wealthy London merchant, sent him to Paris, so that he might become accomplished in all the learning and arts of his time. It was also necessary to success in life for a man to be either a knight or a

cleric. Thomas preferred the Church,

although at times he did not disdain

the battlefield.

His

admission into the service of the archbishop of Canterbury brought him in contact with the important men of the time. His fascinating manners gained him the affection of a large circle of admirers, and the rest were made to fear his vigorous mental powers. Everything he was set to perform he successfully accomplished, and as a reward for his many services he received a number of valuable Church preferments. Archbishop Theobald

did not appreciate his own position as a subordinate to Henry de Blois of Winchester, and Thomas Becket was commissioned to Rome to obtain from the pope a transference of legatine powers to the see of Canterbury in perpetuity, which he did. It was through the diplomacy of the same young man that the pope was induced to support the claims of Henry to be king of England, so that Henry at once pro

moted him to the position of chancellor, which, though not then by any means the highest post in the king's council, was soon made to be so by Becket's remarkable powers of administration. The king was fond of social pleasures, and so was Becket; they treated each other with fraternal familiarity, and were constant companions in peace and war. If an army was to be raised Becket's numerous benefices enabled him to put a larger number of knights and mercenaries in the field than any other noble, and he himself led them to victory in battle. He also superintended the education of the king's son, and many other noble youths, and was foremost in promoting the judicial reforms which alleviated the oppressed condition of his countrymen. In short, he was the most popular man in the kingdom, beloved by the poor for his benevolence, and by the rich for his ability. He dressed as a layman, and took part in all secular amusements and social pursuits, exercising an unbounded hospitality, living in a style of magnificence which few kings of the time could rival. If he went on an embassy for the king he took with him so vast a retinue and made so brave a display that people said, "What must the king be whose chancellor is so rich?" Yet, withal, he is said to have been not unacquainted with the hair-shirt and the scourge, as a penitential antidote to his luxurious life. In 1162 Archbishop Theobald died, and the king desired that Becket should succeed him, although the latter was only in deacon's orders.

3. Becket becomes Archbishop. - Henry and Becket were both in Normandy when the vacancy occurred, and the Chancellor pointed out to the king how unsuitable his past life and present secular attire were to recommend him for such a position in the eyes of the monks and clergy whom he would have to rule. "Besides," he protested to one of his friends, "I know the very heart of the king; he would desire authority in church affairs to which, as archbishop, I could not consent. I should either have to lose the king's favour, or that of God." The bishops objected to a deacon being suddenly set over them, but the king's mind was made up, and on the Eve of Whit-Sunday, 1162, Thomas was admitted to priest's orders, and eight days after consecrated archbishop of Canterbury by Henry de Blois of Winchester, thirteen bishops of the province assisting in the ceremony. And now the life of Becket was completely transformed; the once luxurious chancellor became an austere Benedictine monk, eating the coarsest food and drinking decoctions of bitter herbs. To the king's dismay he resigned the chancellorship and proceeded to adopt an independent attitude as ruler of the English Church, bestowing on objects of charity the immense revenues he had once lavished in social entertainments. For awhile the king patiently bore the disappointment of losing his friend and chancellor. There were not wanting courtiers to misrepresent the primate's actions; but the king did not at once provoke open hostilities, and was outwardly friendly with Becket for a year. Both attended a council of Pope Alexander III. at Tours, and then a storm began to brew. Thomas Becket proposed that the council should add the name of Anselm of Canterbury to the calendar of saints, and the prevailing tone of the whole assembly was adverse to any exercise of secular authority; so that when they returned to England Henry knew that he would have to make a firm stand for the supremacy of the Crown, while Becket, on the other hand, determined to maintain the power of the Church and concede nothing to the king. The archbishop claimed certain temporal rights and possessions that had been withheld from his see, and the king retorted by demanding Becket's resignation of certain benefices which he had continued to hold. Further the archbishop set the laws of William the Conqueror at defiance by excommunicating the Baron of Eynesford (a tenant-in-chief of the Crown, who had refused to allow a man whom Becket had nominated to be admitted to a living of which the baron was patron), without previously acquainting the king with his intentions. But the first open hostilities occurred at the national council of Woodstock in July, 1163, when the king desired to have the Danegeld (see page 130), which had been hitherto collected by local sheriffs, enrolled as royal revenue. Becket resisted the claim, and the king swore "by the eyes of God" that he would have his way. Becket retorted in a similar oath that not a penny should thus be paid from the lands of the Church. There was henceforward a public quarrel between the sovereign and the archbishop.

4. Restriction of Church Privileges. - The question which brought their ill-feeling to a crisis was the right of the clergy to be tried before civil courts for criminal charges. The king demanded that when clerics were accused of civil offences they should be tried and punished by the royal courts; but Becket looked upon this as an infringement of the liberties of the Church, and desired to uphold the arrangement of William the Conqueror, who separated the civil and ecclesiastical courts. A great council was held at Westminster, in October, 1163, to determine the matter. The Church stood to the realm in much the same position as the Jews did to the Romans in New Testament times; it had a law, but could not put a man to death. The ecclesiastical courts only degraded a man from his office and benefice, which the king and barons considered an inadequate punishment for gross crimes. The Church advocates said that it was unfair to try a man twice over for the same offence, in the Church courts and afterwards in the secular courts; but as the immunity of the clergy from punishment for heinous offences often amounted to licence, Henry was firm in his demand that they should now be put upon an equal footing with other estates of the realm by being handed over to the secular authorities after

degradation by the Church. This

was agreed to by the bishops, but Henry still further pressed his

claim for national justice by

stipulating that a Crown officer FUGITIVE CLAIMING SANCTUARY

should be present in the Church

courts to see that no criminous

cleric was allowed to escape punishment. Becket protested that this restricted the liberty of the Church, and by his earnest advocacy brought the bishops over to his side. At last, the king asked "Whether the bishops were willing to observe the customs of the country?" After deliberation, they vaguely replied, "That they were willing to observe the known customs, without prejudice to their order." The king indignantly demanded the withdrawal of this qualifying phrase, he would have "Yes" or "No"; and as the bishops would not give an unconditional assent, he angrily withdrew, and Becket wrote to Rome for advice. The king also sent an embassy to the pope, and, as at other times, the papal court encouraged the prelate to fight against the king, but advised a conciliatory policy rather than provoke a quarrel between the papacy and the English court. Another important

forfeiture of Church privilege occurred about this time. The principle of the law of refuge (Joshua xx.) had been transferred to the Christian church at a very early period of its history, under the name of "right of sanctuary," and adopted by the Anglo-Saxon races. Fugitives who had unwittingly committed offences fled to the churches, and if they could but reach the door of a religious house and knock thereat they were free from capital punishment, and even goods that had been forfeited by the misdemeanours of their owners were held sacred if they could be placed in care of the Church. This privilege was abused at times, and in the days of king Stephen when holy places were no longer held in reverence, offenders were dragged even from the foot of the altar. This privilege of sanctuary was now repealed so far as confiscated property was concerned.

5. Constitutions of Clarendon, 1164. --- When the messengers returned from Rome the king summoned the prelates to meet in council at Clarendon, near Salisbury, to decide upon the laws which Henry proposed to substitute for existing customs. There were sixteen articles, and their general tenour was to restrain the authority of the Church and make the clergy amenable to the civil courts. The following were some of the provisions:

Rule 3. Clergy charged with crimes to be tried in the civil courts, and a king's justice be present in Church courts.

Rule 4. No prelate to quit the kingdom without the king's permission, or do evil and mischief to the realm when abroad.

Rule 11. The prelates, as barons, to be subject to the feudal burdens.

Rule 12. The king to hold all vacant benefices, and to receive their revenues till the vacancies were filled.

Rule 14. Forfeited goods not to be protected by sanctuary. Becket refused to affix his official seal to these Constitutions, and the other bishops stood by him in his decision. The council broke up in confusion. Becket went to his lodging, but the other bishops were confined together in one room for three days; after which the most influential barons announced that they had determined to support the king, and Becket was implored to give way. The council was hastily called together again, and Becket said "It is God's will that I should perjure myself. For the present I submit and incur perjury, to repent of it hereafter as best I may." Still he refused to sign the