William of Newburgh (Rolls Ser. i. 170). The king, he says, sent honorable envoys with pacific messages, asking on a father's authority for the return of his son. The French king at once put the question, 'Who sends me such a message as this?' 'The king of England,' was the reply. 'But,' said he, 'that is not so: for the king of England is here, and he sends me no message by you. If it is his father, the late king of England, whom you still are calling the king, you must know that that king is dead.' It is this scene which is judiciously covered up by the words of the formal report, in which the envoys speak of their inability to extort any response to the king's salutation. The two documents which alone record this unlucky embassy corroborate each other in a remarkable way, and we may learn from this instance that the letters of Peter of Blois are a source of information which the historian cannot afford to neglect.
Four other letters were written by Peter for Archbishop Rotrou at this critical time (Epp. 28, 33, 154, 155). In Ep. 33 he urges the young king to return to his allegiance; and in Ep. 154 he reprimands Q. Eleanor for leaving her husband, and threatens her with the censures of the Church unless she returns to him and ceases to excite the young princes against him. The queen shortly afterwards endeavoured to join her sons, but she was intercepted in her flight, and was thereafter held in captivity for many years.
The bishopric of Bath had now been vacant for nearly seven years. When Bishop Robert died, 31 August 1166, the king was in Brittany and Thomas the archbishop was in exile at Pontigny. There was no prospect of filling this or other sees which presently fell vacant, so long as the great quarrel lasted. But towards the end of 1170, as soon as a reconciliation had been effected, the king summoned six persons from each of the widowed churches to come to him in Normandy, in order that elections might be made without further delay. This method of procedure was regarded as a serious breach of custom, on the ground that the elections of bishops ought not to take place 'in another kingdom'. The project was in any case frustrated by the murder of the archbishop at the close of the year.
At length in May 1173 Peter's forecast for his friend proved correct, and Reginald the archdeacon of Salisbury was elected to the see of Bath. Peter declared that on the second Sunday after Easter he had an extraordinary dream, in which this promotion was foretold.[1] Then on 3 June Richard, the prior of Dover, was elected to the vacant see of Canterbury; and when the young king, who was now in open rebellion, appealed to the pope against these and other
- ↑ Ep. 30, of which there are two variant texts, pointing to some re-editing.
