573 ENG 
entroit to the communion fervice fhould begin with the 
words, princes fat and fpake againjl me, arrayed in tire fa. 
cttd veftments, and bearing the crofs before him, he en¬ 
tered tire royal apartments, and declared that he put both 
himfelf and his fee under the protection of the fupreme 
pontiff. This appeal to tire pope in a civil caufe, was a 
matter new and unprecedented ; but Becket perfevered 
in it. He refufed to hear.the fentencc which the barons 
and fheriffs had paffed on the king’s claim ; and, having 
in vain afked permiflion to leave Northampton, he with¬ 
drew fecretly-to the fea-coaft, and found a veffel which 
conveyed him to France, where he was received with 
every token of regard. 
To provide againft the confequences of the breach 
which was impending between England and the apoftolic 
fee, Henry inhibited, under fevere penalties, all appeals 
to the pope or archbifhop : he declared it treafonable to 
bring from either of them an interdict upon the king¬ 
dom, and punifhable, in fecular clergymen, by the lofs of 
their eyes, and caftration ; in regulars, by amputation of 
their feet; and in laics, with death. On the other hand, 
Becket not only iffued a cenfure, excommunicating the 
king’s chief mini iters by name, but alfo abrogated and 
annulled the Conftitutioris of Clarendon ; and declared 
that he fufpended the fpiritual thunder over Henry him¬ 
felf, folely that the prince might avoid the blow by a 
timely repentance. 
Henry eluded the immediate danger, by flattering Alex¬ 
ander with the profpeift of a fpeedy reconciliation between 
himfelf and Becket, which at length took place; and 
Becket was allowed to return, on conditions which may 
be conlidered both honourable and advantageous to that 
prelate. ,Be was not required to give up any rights of 
t he church, or refign any of thofe pretenfions which had 
been the original ground of the controverfy. It was 
agreed that all thefe quefiions fhould be buried in obli¬ 
vion ; but that Becket and his adherents fhould,, with¬ 
out making farther fubmifiion, be reflored to a]l their 
livings, and that even the polfelfors of fitch benefices as 
depended on the fee of Canterbury, and had been filled 
during the primate’s abfence, fhould be expelled, and 
Becket have liberty to fupply the vacancies. In return 
for concefTions which trenched fo deeply on the honour 
and dignity of the crown, Henry reaped only the advan¬ 
tage of feeing his mini iters abfolved from the fentence of 
excommunication pronounced againft them, and of pre¬ 
venting the interdict, with which his kingdom had been 
threatened. It was eafy indeed to fee how much lie 
dreaded that event, when a prince of fo high a fpirit, on 
one occafion humiliated himfelf fo far as to hold the ftir- 
rup of the haughty Becket, while he mounted his horfe ! 
Henry did not even gain a temporary tranquillity by 
this concellicn. While he daily dreaded the fentence of 
excommunication, he had thought it prudent to affoeiate 
his fon prince Henry in the royalty. The ceremony had 
been performed by the archbifhop of York; but Becket 
pretended, as archbifhop of Canterbury, that he had the 
idle right to officiate, and therefore, in tiie name of the 
pope, he fufpended the archbifhop of York, and excom¬ 
municated the bifhops of London and Salifbury, with 
others who had aftifted af the coronation of the prince. 
The king, who was then at Baieux, being extremely agi¬ 
tated on hearing of this new inftance of Becket’s malig¬ 
nant behaviour, bnrft forth into an exclamation againft 
his fervants, whole want of zeal, he laid, had fo long ex- 
pofed him to the arrogance of that ungrateful and impe¬ 
rious prelate,. Four gentlemen of his houfehold, Regi¬ 
nald Fitz-Urfe, William de Traci, Hugh de Moreville, 
and Richard Brito, taking thefe poignant expreffions to 
be a hint for the primate’s death, immediately commu¬ 
nicated their thoughts to each other; and fvvearing to 
avenge their prince’s quarrel, fecretly withdrew from 
court. Some menacing expreffions which they had drop¬ 
ped, gave a fufpic.ion of their defign ; and the king dif- 
patched a mefienger after them, charging them to at- 
LAND, 
tempt nothing againft the perfon of Becket: but thefe 
orders arrived too late to prevent their fatal purpofe. 
The four affaffins, though they took different roads to 
England, arrived nearly at the fame time at Saltwood, 
near Canterbury, and from thence proceeded to the ar- 
chiepifcopal palace. They found the primate, who trad¬ 
ed entirely to the facrednefs of his chara&er, very flen- 
derly attended ; and, though they threw out many me¬ 
naces and reproaches againft him, he was fo devoid of 
fear, that, without tiling any precautions, he immedi¬ 
ately proceeded to St. Benedict's church to vefpers. 
They followed him thither, attacked him before the al¬ 
tar, and having cloven his head with many blows, re¬ 
tired without any oppofttion. Such was the tragical end 
of Thomas a Becket, a prelate of the moft lofty, intre¬ 
pid, and inflexible, fpirit, who was able to mafk the en- 
terprifes of pride and ambition, under the difguife of 
fanCtity, and of zeal for the intcrefts of religion ; but 
who certainly was a bad fubjedf, and therefore could not 
be a good man. 
Henry, on the firft report of Becket’s violent meafares, 
had purpofed to have him arrefted, and had already taken 
fome fteps towards the execution of that defign ; but the 
intelligence of his murder threw the prince into great 
confternation ; and he immediately felt the dangerous 
confequences which lie had reafon to apprehend from fo 
horrible an event. An archbifhop of the higheft reputed 
fandtiry, affaffinated before the altar in the exercife of his 
function, and on account of his zeal in maintaining eccie- 
fiaftical privileges, could not fail to attain the higheft ho¬ 
nours of martyrdom ; while his reputed murderer would 
be ranked among the moft bloody tyrants of the age. 
Thefe confiderations gave the king the utmoft anxiety ; 
and, as it was extremely his intereft to clear himfelf from 
all fufpicion, lie took no care to conceal the depth of his 
affliction. He flint himfelf up from the light of day, and 
from all commerce with mankind ; lie even refufed, 
during three days, all food and fuftenance. The cour¬ 
tiers, apprehending dangerous effedts from his defpair, 
were at laft obliged to break in upon his folitude ; and, 
employing every means of confolation, induced him to 
accept of nourifliment, and occupied his leifure in taking- 
precautions againft the confequences which liefojuftly 
apprehended. 
The moft important point which Henry had to efta. 
blifh, was to convince the world and the pope of his in¬ 
nocence ; or rather to diffuade him from proceeding with 
his excommunications againft England. The archbifhop 
of Rouen, the bilhops of Worcefter and Evreux, with 
five perfons of inferior quality, were forthwith difpatciied 
to Rome ; they were with difficulty admitted to an audi¬ 
ence ; and tiie rage of Alexander was not appeafed until 
tliey made oath before the whole confiftory, of their fo- 
vereign’s innocence, and engaged that he would make 
every fubmifiion to tiie.holy fee, that fhould be required 
of him. Though the rage of the clergy was thus diverted 
from the king, their zeal for the memory of Becket found 
ample employment in extolling the merits of his martyr¬ 
dom. Endlefs were the panegyrics on his virtues; and 
the miracles wrought at his fiirine were more numerous, 
more ridiculous, and more impudently attefted, than 
thofe which ever filled the fuperftitious legend of any 
confefTor or martyr. Two years after his death he was 
canonized by pope Alexander; a folemn jubilee was efta. 
blifhed for celebrating his memory: his body was en¬ 
riched witli prefents from all parts of Ciirifiendom ; pil¬ 
grimages were performed to obtain- his interceffion witli 
heaven ; and it was computed, that in one year, above 
an hundred thoufand pilgrims arrived in Canterbury, and 
paid their devotions at his tomb. 
In the mean time Henry, thus delivered from the thun¬ 
ders of the Vatican, A. D. 1172, undertook an expedition 
againft Ireland. That ifiand, about the middle of tiie 
twelfth century, befides feveral fmall tribes, contained 
the principal fovereignties of Munfter, Leinfter, Meath, 
Ulfter, 
