by Jean Plaidy
And now in death you play this trick on me!
A great deal depended on what he did now. First of course he must insist that the knights had misconstrued his words. He must show everyone that no one mourned the death of Thomas à Becket more deeply than the King.
He would shut himself into his chamber; he would let it be known that so stunned was he by the news that he must be alone to mourn. He would not come down to eat; he would take only what was necessary to keep him alive – he had never been a great trencherman so that was no difficulty – he would wear nothing but his robe of sack-cloth and all must understand that he wished to be left to prayer and meditation.
Fortunately the position of Pope Alexander was not very secure and the Papal Court was at Tusculum. Alexander had to be careful whom he offended and he would not wish to arouse the enmity of the King of England.
First Henry would send the messengers back to Canterbury with the news that the King’s one-time Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury was to be given burial worthy of his rank.
How to approach the Pope needed a great deal of consideration. It was no use pleading complete innocence. No one would accept that. That there had been friction between himself and Thomas was a well-known fact. Yet there must be no delay in writing to Alexander before others got in with their accusations.
He took up his pen and wrote:
‘To Alexander by the Grace of God Supreme Pontiff, Henry, King of the English, Duke of the Normans and Aquitainians and Count of the Angevins sends greetings and due devotion.’
There was no harm in reminding Alexander of the power he held over so many territories.
‘Out of reverence for the Roman Church and love for you … I granted peace and the full restitution of his possessions, according to your order, to Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, and allowed him to cross over to England with a fitting revenue.
‘He, however, brought not peace and joy but the sword, and made accusations against me and my crown. Not being able to bear such effrontery from the man, those he had excommunicated, and others, rushed in upon him and, what I cannot say without sorrow, killed him.
‘Wherefore I am gravely concerned, as God is my witness, for I fear that the anger I had formerly conceived against him may be accounted as the cause for this evil deed. And because in this deed I fear more for my reputation than my conscience, I beg Your Serenity to encourage me with your advice in this matter.’
He despatched messengers to Tusculum and waited.
How quickly life could change. He had just been congratulating himself on having control of his subjects, of having rid himself of Eleanor; he had been delightedly planning a little domestic peace with Rosamund, and Thomas à Becket must be murdered! Why could not Thomas have died of some flux, some bodily disorder? No, he could not do that, though it seemed he was ailing. He had to die in the most spectacular fashion from the sword thrusts of the King’s knights.
Trust Thomas to plague him to the end.
He thought of Eleanor who would very soon hear the news, for he was sure it would be ringing across the length and breadth of Europe. He could picture her sly smile, for she would know how discomfited he would be. In her malice she would doubtless feed the rumours with tales of his quarrels with Thomas, for at one time he had confided in her a great deal. She had never liked Thomas. In the days of the great friendship between the King and his Chancellor when Eleanor herself was still a little enamoured of her husband, she had been jealous of Thomas because she had known that the King preferred his conversation to that of anyone else.
‘A curse on the Queen,’ cried the King.
He must not give way to anger now. He needed all his wits about him. He thought of all his vassals, those who unwillingly accepted him as their suzerain. They would be ready to whisper against him, the man who must surely be cursed because he was guilty of shedding the martyr’s blood.
He stayed in his room most of those days. He was not seen at the table. His servants and knights spoke in whispers. ‘The King is deeply affected by the death of Thomas à Becket,’ they said.
When messengers arrived they were summoned immediately to his presence.
They had stories to tell of what was happening in Canterbury. On the night of the murder, it was said, there had been a violent storm. The lightning was horrifying and many were terrified of the thunder which broke right over the Cathedral. A blind woman had stooped and kissed the stones which were stained with Thomas’s blood and lo, her sight was restored.
People were flocking to Canterbury, the sick and the maimed. It was said that Christ had given Thomas the power of healing.
It was worse than Henry had feared.
There was news too from Tusculum.
The Pope had shut himself away as soon as he had received the news of the murder. For eight days he had remained in seclusion that, as he said, he might mourn his beloved son. When he emerged he gave orders that no Englishman should be admitted to his presence.
Meanwhile the Archbishop of Sens had denounced Henry King of England as the murderer and the King of France joined the Archbishop in his accusations.
Henry knew that it was only a matter of time before he would be excommunicated.
This was disaster. But he was not a man to give way in adversity. In fact it was at such times that he showed his greatest skills. He had done what he could. He had written to the Pope honestly stating what had happened. He could only plead his sorrow and show that he mourned the death as sincerely as did everyone else.
There was nothing more he could do to convince the world of his innocence; and if they refused to believe him then he must make them aware of his might.
He had ever sought to add to his dominions and for long had had his eyes on Ireland.
This seemed an appropriate time to show the world that it would be unwise for any to underestimate him. His knights had murdered Thomas à Becket and he might be thought responsible, but let none of them forget that he was the great grandson of the Conqueror.
He decided to spend his days in planning an invasion of Ireland.
The young King Henry received the news in the old Saxon Palace of Winchester.
He was feeling somewhat displeased with his lot. It had been a great experience to be crowned King of England and he would never forget that ceremony which had taken place last June, some six months before. How wonderful it was to be a king! Those about him feared to offend him; they remembered that his father could not live for ever and that one day there would only be one king of England. He was very surprised that his father had allowed him to be crowned and had made a king of him when it was quite clear that so many people liked the son better than the father.
Young Henry knew that he was more handsome than his father. They told him he resembled his paternal grandfather, the Count of Anjou, who had been known as Geoffrey the Fair. Looks were important, although his father would never accept that. Young Henry would never get his hands chapped and rough because he refused to wear gloves. He liked to see them adorned with rings. He was not like his father at all; he tried to charm people, something the older Henry never bothered with. But it was important, reasoned Henry the younger; it made people like one, it bound them to one; they were likely to be loyal if they had an affection for a ruler. No one had a great affection for his father. They might respect him as a great ruler and fear him, but love him? Never!
He knew how people were with him. They flattered him because he flattered them; there had been many a hint that those about him would be happy enough when there was only one king to rule England.
Not that he had been allowed to do much ruling yet. He had quickly realised that his father had had no intention of giving him power, only a crown. He was in fact becoming more and more disgruntled every day.
He wished he could see his mother, but of course she had always been more fond of Richard than she was of him; as for his father, it sometimes seemed as though he wanted his affection. Let him do something to get it then. Let him give
the son he had made King some land to rule over; let him be King in fact as well as in name. As if the old man would give up anything he once laid his hands on!
‘Your father is the most acquisitive man on earth,’ his mother had said to him. ‘He’ll never take his hands from anything once they have held it.’
What hatred there had been between those two! He and his brothers had sensed it; in secret they had ranged themselves on their mother’s side against him. She had loved them and although Richard was her favourite she had shown that she cared passionately about them all. It seemed that the more she hated their father, the more she loved them.
The King had treated her badly. He had had no right to bring his bastard Geoffrey into the nursery! The son of a common whore who had followed the camp and borne the King a son – and that son was brought up in their mother’s nursery! It was too much for any proud woman to endure and when that woman was Eleanor of Aquitaine, naturally there would be trouble.
She had said to him: ‘Henry my son, your father has made a king of you. He did it only to spite Thomas Becket, I’m sure. He knows that old fellow will be beside himself with rage because he was not here to crown you. He’ll regret it, but his regrets will be your blessing. As he has made you a king, he must not be surprised if you act like one.’ And she had laughed loudly at the thought; and ever since he had resented his father’s parsimony; because of his mother’s words he had come to dislike his father even more than he had at first. His mother had always pointed out to them all their father’s shortcomings; and the only one who didn’t listen to her was Bastard Geoffrey. He worshipped the King; and when their father came to the nursery he would try to get his attention, which he invariably did, for the King always listened to what Geoffrey the Bastard had learned and nodded his approval.
Now young Henry believed he had done it to annoy their mother. There was so much one understood as one grew older.
‘Your father will use you all like pawns in a game of chess,’ said their mother. ‘Look how he has married you without your leave!’
It was true. Young Henry had a wife, Marguerite, the daughter of the King of France. At this time she was in Aquitaine with his mother, being brought up by her until the time when she should come to him and share his bed, roof and crown. She herself had not yet been crowned and the King of France was very angry about that, but his father had promised that she should be, and when she was, he supposed their married life would begin.
He had so few opportunities for displaying his kingship that when he did get one he was determined to use it. He had done so quite recently when Thomas à Becket had come to see him.
He had refused to see the old man. He had felt a little uneasy about that but he had persuaded himself that he could do nothing else. Roger, Archbishop of York, had arrived to see him and to tell him that the Archbishop of Canterbury was on his way.
Young Henry had been pleased to hear this for he had had a great affection for his old teacher. He and young Marguerite had been put in his care many years ago before Thomas’s exile. He had been stern and they had had to spend long sessions on their knees. Marguerite used to say her knees were sore with praying, but they had loved him in spite of his strictness and the stern talks he used to give them, for there was a merry side to his nature and suddenly it would burst forth and they would all be very gay together.
He remembered that day when they were told that Thomas à Becket would no longer instruct them because he had quarrelled with the King and as a consequence he had fled to France.
That was long ago. Marguerite had broken down and wept; and Henry had almost done the same. And no other teacher had been quite the same.
But Roger of York had scorned Thomas à Becket.
‘My lord King,’ he had said, ‘you cannot receive that man. Had he had his way you would never have been crowned.’
‘And why not?’ he had demanded in his new arrogance.
‘Because the Archbishop of Canterbury did not believe you should be crowned. He is a man who thinks he knows best on every matter.’
‘It is because he did not perform the ceremony.’
‘Mayhap that had something to do with it, but he has declared his disapproval and is threatening to excommunicate all those who took part in it.’
‘That’s insolence,’ Henry had cried, for he was very sensitive about anything that touched his pride in his new office.
‘He’s an insolent fellow. If you receive him he will preach to you. He will tell you to give up your crown.’
‘I will tell him to be gone.’
‘Better to tell him not to come. My lord King, if you will allow me to express an opinion, for the sake of the dignity of your crown you cannot receive a man whose aim is to snatch it from you.’
‘Indeed I cannot.’
‘Then you should have him warned that you will not receive him.’
‘I will,’ declared Henry, and had done so, but almost immediately he regretted it. It seemed so churlish to turn his old teacher away.
But Roger of York was right. Now that he was King he could suffer no indignity.
He let his mind dwell on the glory of the coronation when the crown had been placed on his head in the solemn ceremony and later at the banquet his father the King had served him.
Men looked on amazed at such a sight. The idea of a king – and such a king – bowing to his own young son was incongruous.
One of them had said to him afterwards: ‘What a sight it was. The King himself to kneel to you!’
‘Why should not the son of a count kneel to the son of a king,’ retorted Henry; and the remark was repeated for it was indeed true that young Henry was the son of the King of England and the King of England was only the son of the Count of Anjou.
Ever since, he had been deeply aware of his title, and with each day his resentment grew.
Six months a king and still treated like a child! It would not do. He would speak to his father. So he said now. It would be a different matter when he stood before him. Then he would be afraid as all men were, be they prince or serf, that the dangerous colour would flame into the face and the whites of the eyes redden and the terrible temper rise up like a roaring lion ready to destroy all those who crossed him.
‘One of these days when your father is in one of his rages it will be the end of him.’ That was his mother’s voice, quiet, mocking, putting thoughts into his head which would not otherwise have been there.
Messengers at the castle. They always excited him. What news were they bringing? A message from his father? Was he to join him in Normandy or wherever he was? Was he to place himself at the head of a troop of soldiers? Was he going to be given land and castles of his own at last?
‘My lord,’ said one of his knights, ‘there is a messenger from Canterbury.’
‘From Canterbury, but my father is across the sea.’
‘He comes not from your father, my lord.’
‘From Canterbury! From the Archbishop! But I will not see the Archbishop. I have said I will not receive those who do not please me.’
‘My lord, he has doleful tidings.’
‘Then bring him to me.’
The messenger came. He bowed low. ‘My lord, this day I bring you sad tidings. The Archbishop of Canterbury has been murdered in his Cathedral.’
‘Murdered!’ cried Henry. ‘How so?’
‘Four of your father’s knights have killed him.’
‘Killed him … in the Cathedral!’ The boy’s eyes were misty. It could not be so. And yet he might have guessed it. Thomas had quarrelled with his father and the King allowed none to do that with impunity.
‘Tell me in detail,’ he commanded; and the story was told.
Henry went to his bedchamber. He could not shut out the terrible sight those men had conjured up. Thomas à Becket lying on the stones of the Cathedral in a pool of blood.
‘I refused to see him,’ he said to himself, ‘but I did not wish this to happen. Oh, God, how thankfu
l I am that I had no part in it.’
Then he thought of the old days when Thomas had taken him into his household and given special attention to the son of the King. The Archbishop had told him stories of his father, how they had been great friends and roamed the countryside together before he had become Archbishop and was merely the King’s Chancellor. Pleasant merry stories, showing the King in a different guise. It was clear from the manner in which Thomas had talked of Henry that he had loved him. He had been as much aware of Thomas’s love as he had of his mother’s hatred. And yet his father had murdered Thomas.
Oh yes he had. Young Henry knew that everyone was thinking it even if they dared not say it. Four knights had struck the blows but the whole world would know on whose instructions.
‘It will be remembered against him,’ he mused. ‘The people will turn from him because of it. And to whom will they turn? Surely to the one whom he himself had crowned their King.’
Eleanor Queen of England was content to be in her beloved city of Poitiers. This was the land she loved; the land of mild breezes, warm sun and song. It was here that the Courts of Love belonged; it had been impossible to transplant them in the colder climate of England with a people who had little patience with the laws of chivalry and dreams of ideal love. The king of that country was typical of the people he ruled, thought Eleanor scornfully – lusty, unimaginative, seeing something decadent in lying in the sun and making beautiful verses in honour of lovers.
This was where she belonged and she never wanted to see England again. She might tell herself that she never wanted to see Henry also, but that was not true. He stimulated her as no one else could; he probed her emotions to their depth; she could never be truthfully aloof from him. Once she had loved him fiercely and now as fiercely she hated him.
Often in her gardens she would be thinking of Henry when handsome troubadours strummed on their lutes and gazed at her with love and longing which must be feigned, for she was nearly fifty years of age and although she had been an exceptionally beautiful woman and still was, she had lived her life adventurously and time had left its mark on her. She remembered those early days when they had loved passionately and she had divorced Louis King of France in order to marry him. He had been as eager for the match as she was, but that may have been because she could bring him Aquitaine and he was a glutton for land. Sometimes she thought that he dreamed of conquering the whole world. Still if Aquitaine had been the main attraction he had hidden the fact and those early years of their marriage must have brought some of the satisfaction to him that they had brought to her. The strong physical attraction had been there – there was no doubt of it; but he, the lusty King, who all his life had taken what he wanted when he wanted it, had soon been unfaithful. She could laugh now at her fury when she had discovered it through the little Bastard Geoffrey he had brought into her nurseries.
