Document I

The events leading up to the murder of Thomas Becket (December 1170)

1. As described by William fitz Stephen

(Early in December, Roger, Archbishop of York, Gilbert, Bishop of London, and Jocelyn,
Bishop of Salisbury joined the king in Normandy and brought him the news that they had again
been excommunicated by the Archbishop. After hearing their story, and during the discussions
which followed, the king in great anger uttered the fatal words which were the direct cause of the
murder of the Archbishop. The four knights who were to kill him, left the king on 26 December.
They arrived at Saltwood Castle in Kent, belonging to the de Broc family, who were among
Becket's bitterest enemies. On Christmas day Becket had preached his famous sermon at high
mass in the cathedral.)

The archbishop of York and the bishops of London and Salisbury, accompanied by
the archdeacon of Poitiers - the archdeacon of Canterbury having been delayed by
stormy seas, had not yet caught up with them - were on their way to the court of the
king overseas. By chance they met the king as he was on his way to visit the
archbishop of Tyre. They related the story of their excommunication, which, however,
so it was reported, he already knew. They laid all the blame on the archbishop of
Canterbury: they charged him with treason, they accused him in his absence, when he
could not defend himself, fearing lest he should be summoned to a hearing. . . . Their
evil accusations were doubled by falsehood. It was reported to the king that the
archbishop was careering about England at the head of a strong force of armed men.
The king asked the bishops for their advice. The archbishop of York replied, "Take
counsel from your barons and your knights; it is not for us to say what should be
done." At length one of them said, "My lord, while Thomas lives, you will not have
peace or quiet, nor see good days." At this such fury, bitterness and anger against the
archbishop seized hold of the king that they were manifest in his countenance and in
his gestures.* Observing his agitation and eager to win his favour, four knights of his
household, Reginald fitz Urse, William de Traci, Hugh of Morville and Richard Brito,
having sworn, it is said, to encompass the death of the archbishop, thereupon quitted
the court. . . . The four knights, Reginald fitz Urse and his fellows, sailed from dif-
ferent ports. With the devil, the arch-enemy as their guide, they met at the same hour
in England at the castle of Saltwood belonging to the family of de Broc. Ere this,
however, the blessed archbishop had received sure intelligence of the imminent
approach of his murderers. Finding great consolation in the Lord, he played the man
and put on the whole armour of God, that he might be able to stand in the day of the
Lord;' but, so far as he could, he kept the matter secret, to avoid an uproar at the
festive season. . . . On Christmas eve he read the lesson from the gospel, "the book of
the generation", and celebrated the midnight mass. Before high mass on Christmas
day, which he also celebrated, he preached a splendid sermon to the people, taking for
his subject a text on which he was wont to ponder, namely, "on earth peace to men of
good will". When he made mention of the holy fathers of the church of Canterbury
who were therein confessors, he said that they already had one archbishop who was a
martyr, St Alphege, and it was possible that they would shortly have another. And
because of the shameful injury inflicted on the horse of a certain poor peasant of his, a
servant of the church of Canterbury, by cutting off its tail, he bound Robert de Broc
with a sentence of excommunication. He had previously threatened him through
messengers, while inviting him to make reparation. But Robert, being contumacious,
had returned answer by a certain knight, David of Romney, that if the archbishop
excommunicated him he would act like an excommunicate. Also, those who had
violently taken possession of his two churches of Harrow and Throwley and had
refused to admit his officers, he involved in the same sentence. On St Stephen's day he
again celebrated at high mass and on the next day, the feast of St John, Apostle and
Evangelist, he sent away secretly to France two of his clerks, Master Herbert and
Alexander the Welshman, his cross- bearer. A third, Gilbert de Glanville, was
dispatched to the pope: two others, Richard, his chaplain, and John Planeta, were sent
to the bishop of Norwich to absolve conditionally certain priests on the lands of Earl
Hugh who, being excommunicate, had presumed to celebrate the divine offices.

* Edward Grim, describing the scene, records the king's words: "I have nourished and promoted
in my realm idle and wretched knaves, faithless to their lord, whom they suffer to be mocked
thus shamefully by a low-born clerk."

Document II
2. As described by Herbert of Bosham

On the day of our Lord's Nativity, which was, if I mistake not, about the twenty-
seventh** day after our arrival in England, the archbishop mounted the pulpit and
preached to the people. At the end of his sermon he predicted that the time of his
departure drew near and that shortly he would be taken from them. And when he said
this concerning his departure, tears rather than words burst from him. Likewise the
hearts of his hearers were beyond measure moved with grief and contrition, so that
you might have seen and heard in every corner of the church weeping and
lamentation, and the people murmuring among themselves, "Father, why do you
desert us so soon, and to whom do you leave us so desolate?" For these were no
wolves but sheep who knew the voice of their shepherd and grieved when they heard
him say that he would so soon leave this world, although they did not know when, or
where, or in what way this would come to pass. . . . Truly, had you witnessed these
things, you would have said that you heard with your ears and saw with your eyes that
beast of the prophet's vision whose face was that of a lion and of a man. The service
ended, the archbishop, who had shown himself so devout at the Lord's table that day,
afterwards made merry, as was his wont, at the table of this world. Moreover, as it
was the feast of the Nativity, although a Friday, he ate meat, as on other days, thereby
demonstrating that on such a festival it was more religious to eat than to abstain. . . .
On the morrow of the Nativity, that is, on the feast of the blessed martyr Stephen, he
called apart the disciple who wrote these things, and said to him, "I have arranged to
send you to our lord, the king of the French, to our venerable brother, the archbishop
of Sens, and to other princes of that land, to tell them what you have seen and heard
concerning this peace, how for us it is a peace which is no peace, but rather turmoil
and confusion." The disciple, unable to restrain his tears, made answer, "Holy father,
why have you done this? Why act in this way? I know for certain that I shall see you
in the flesh no more. I had determined to stay faithfully at your side; truly, so it seems
to me, you are seeking to deprive me of the fruit of your consummation, me who have
hitherto continued with you in your temptations; nor shall I be, as now I see, a
companion of your glory, who have been partner in your pain." Then said the
archbishop amid a flood of tears, "Not so, my son, not so; you will not be deprived of
the fruit, if you fulfil your father's commands and follow his counsel. Nevertheless,
what you have said is indeed true, that you will see me in the flesh no more. Yet I
wish you to go, especially since the king holds you in greater suspicion than the
others, where the cause of the Church is at stake." So, on the second day after
Christmas, being the feast of St John the Evangelist, in the darkness of the night, for
fear of being waylaid, I took leave of my father with lamentation and many tears,
again and again begging and receiving his blessing. As he himself had foretold, I
never again saw him in the flesh, nor shall see. Yet, and with this I end my history, I
pray with my whole heart, with all my soul and all my strength, that him, whom I
shall not see again in time, I may be accounted worthy to see in eternity, and may be
made partner of his crown, as I was his comrade in the battle.

** This is wrong. Actually it was the twenty-fourth•