Henry had in the meantime sent an embassy to desire the King of France not to shelter "the late Archbishop;" but it met with no favorable reception from Louis. "He is a noble-minded man," said he; "if I knew where to find him, I would go with my whole court to meet him."
"But he did much harm to France," said the Earl of Arundel, "at the head of the English army."
"That was his duty," said Louis; "I admire him the more. If he had been my servant, he would have done the same for me."
Nor did the embassy meet with much better success on going to Sens, where Pope Alexander III. then was. The Bishop of London began to abuse the Archbishop virulently, saying that he had fled, "as the Scripture saith. 'The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth.'"
"Nay," interrupted the Pope, "spare. I entreat you, spare-"
"I will spare him, holy father," said Gilbert
"Not _him_, but _yourself_, brother," said Alexander; and Gilbert was silenced.
Finding how favorably both Pope and King were disposed toward him, Becket left his retreat at St. Omer, and was received with much respect by Louis at Soissons, after which he proceeded to Sens. There he was treated with high honor by Alexander, and almost his first measure was to confess, with deep grief, that he considered his election uncanonical, "the handiwork of men, and not of God," and that therefore these troubles had fallen on his Church. He therefore gave up his see; but the Pope would not accept his resignation, and assigned to him the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny as his dwelling-place. Here he remained two years, while the King persecuted his adherents and banished his kindred. Four hundred poor creatures were stripped of their goods, and turned adrift in Flanders, where they must have perished, had not the Count and the Empress Maude taken pity on them.
CAMEO XXI. DEATH OF BECKET.
(1166-1172.)
_King of England._
1154. Henry II.
_King of Scotland_.
1165. William.
_King of France._
1137. Louis VII.
_Emperor of Germany_.
1152. Friedrich II.
_Pope_.
1159. Alexander III.
In 1166, Pope Alexander III. returned to Rome, after many vain attempts to reconcile the King and Archbishop, and it was determined that Becket should pronounce sentence of excommunication on the King and his chief followers in his uncanonical proceedings. Henry was at this time seriously ill, and Becket therefore did not include him under the sentence; the others were excommunicated, and this so exasperated Henry, that he intimated to the monks at Pontigny that he should seize all the possessions of the Cistercians in England, if they continued to harbor his enemy.
The poor monks were much distressed, and laid the letter before their guest, who could, of course, do no other than depart. "He who feeds the birds of the air, and clothes the lilies of the field, will provide for me and my fellow-exiles," said he; and he soon after received an invitation from the King of France to choose any castle or convent in his dominions for his abode. He selected the Abbey of St. Columba, a little beyond the walls of Sens, and took leave of the brethren at Pontigny, with such a burst of tears that the abbot remarked them with surprise, and begged to know their cause. "I feel that my days are numbered," said Becket; "I dreamt, last night, that I was put to death."
"Do you think you are going to be a martyr?" said the abbot. "You eat and drink too much for that."
"I know that I am too self-indulgent," said the Arch bishop; "but God is merciful, albeit I am unworthy of His favor."
Legates were sent by the Pope to negotiate, and many letters were written on either side, but without effect. The difference was said to lie in a nutshell; but where the liberties of the Church were concerned, Becket was inflexible. At the Epiphany, 1169, he was put to a severe trial; Henry himself, who had long been at war with Louis le Jeune, came to Montmirail, to hold a conference and sign a treaty, and he was summoned to attend it. By the advice of the legates and other clergy, Becket had agreed to give up the phrase which had formerly given the King so much offence at Clarendon, "Saving the privileges of my order," but not without inserting in its stead an equivalent, "Saving the honor of God," which, as being concerned in that of the Church, meant the same thing.
Yet on this the clergy of France, who were always extremely submissive to the crown, were by no means of Becket's opinion, and tried so hard to persuade him, for the sake of peace, to suppress this clause altogether, and make no reservation, that the bold and faithful Herbert de Bosham began to fear he might give way, and, pressing through the crowd as the Archbishop was advancing to the presence of the two kings, he whispered in his ear, "Take heed, my lord-walk warily. I tell you truly, if you leave out the words, 'Saving God's honor,' as you suppressed the other phrase, saving your own order, your sorrow will be renewed, and the more bitterly."
The throng was so dense, that Becket could only answer him by a look, and he remained in great anxiety as he watched his master advance and throw himself at the feet of King Henry; then, when raised up by the King, begin to speak, accusing himself of being by his unworthiness, the cause of the troubles of the English Church. "Therefore," said he, "I throw myself on your mercy and pleasure, my lord, on the whole matter that lies between us, only _saving the honor of my God._"
Henry burst out in rage and fury, heaping on Becket a load of abuse; declaring, to the King of France that this was all a pretence and that he himself was willing, to leave the Archbishop to the full as much power as any of his predecessors, but that he knew that, whatever the Archbishop disapproved, he would say was contrary to God's honor. "Now," said Henry, "there have been many kings of England before me, some of greater power than I am, some of less; and there have been many archbishops of Canterbury before him. Now let him behave to me as the holiest of his predecessors behaved to the least of mine, and I am satisfied."
There was apparent reason in this, that brought over Louis to Henry's side, and he said, rather insultingly, "My lord Archbishop, do you wish to be more than a saint?"
But Becket stood firm. He said there had indeed been holier and greater archbishops before him, each one of whom had corrected some abuse of the Church; and had they corrected all, he should not have been exposed to this fiery trial. Besides, the point was, that Henry was not leaving the Church as it had been under them, but seeking to bind a yoke on her that they had never borne. Almost all the French clergy and nobles were now against him; they called him obstinate and proud; the two kings mounted their horses and rode away together, without bidding him farewell; and some of the last words his clerks heard from the French nobles were, "He has been cast out by England; let him find no support in France."
Dreading what might come next, and grievously disappointed in their hopes of returning to their homes, even his clerks were out of humor, and blamed his determination. As they rode back in the gloom toward St. Columba, the horse of one happened to stumble, and in his vexation he exclaimed, "Come up, saving the honor of the Church and my order."
The Archbishop looked grieved, but was silent, and Herbert took this moment for riding up to him, and saying, "Heaven be praised, my lord, that through all to-day's tribulation you have been sustained by the Lord, and have not suffered that slippery member to betray you into anything against the honor of God."
The great ground of anxiety was the displeasure of Louis, who had hitherto not only allowed the exiles to take shelter in his dominions, but absolutely maintained them; and if he was won over by their persecutors, what was to become of them?
Their alarm increased as they heard nothing from him of his usual messages of kindness and friendship, and they were consulting together on their plans if they should be turned out of St. Columba.