must command the respect even of those who take the worst view of his previous life. With far more courage than his, knightly assassins, we see him refusing to attempt a flight, which might have shown a consciousness of guilt; preserving, in the face of death, a calm and undaunted brow; and, as we are told by one of the chroniclers, employing his last words in securing the safety of his friends and servants.[1]
Henry II doing Penance at the tomb of Thomas à Becket.
It is worthy of note that the only primate who, since the Conquest, and previously to the time of Becket, had placed himself in opposition to the will of his sovereign, was Anselm, who, although a Norman by birth, was essentially English in sympathies, and who exerted himself in the cause of the people against their oppressors. Anselm had attempted to revive the old custom of ecclesiastical elections, which had been abolished by the Conqueror. Being successfully opposed at Rome, as well as persecuted in England, the archbishop was compelled to take refuge in France. From his place of retirement he wrote, and Becket afterwards echoed the words, "Rome prefers gold and silver to justice; what counsel or redress can a man obtain there who has nothing to give?" The primates who succeeded Anselm were more easily moulded to the will of their sovereign; they were Ranulph (or Raoul), William of Corbeil, and Theobald, who was the immediate predecessor of Thomas à Becket.
- ↑ On being told that he must die, he replied, "I resign myself to death; but I forbid you, in the name of the Almighty God, to injure any of those around me, whether monk or great or small."— Vita R. T. Quadripart
