[217] The Quarterly reviewer has the merit of tracing out the extraordinary fate of the murderers. "By a singular reciprocity, the principle for which Becket had contended, that priests should not be subjected to the secular courts, prevented the trial of a layman for the murder of a priest by any other than a clerical tribunal." Legend imposes upon them dark and romantic acts of penance; history finds them in high places of trust and honor.--pp. 377, _et seqq._ I may add that John of Oxford five years after was Bishop of Norwich. Ridel too became of Ely. [218] Diceto, p. 557. [219] This stipulation, in Henry's view, canceled hardly any; as few, and these but trifling customs, had been admitted during his reign. [220] The scene is related by all the monkish chroniclers.--Gervaise, Diceto, Brompton, Hoveden. [221] Peter of Blois was assured by the two cardinal legates of Henry's innocence of Becket's death. See this letter, which contains a most high-flown eulogy on the transcendent virtues of Henry.--Epist. 66. [222] On the effect of the death, and the immediate concourse of the people to Canterbury, Lambeth, p. 133. [223] Herbert de Bosham, writing fourteen years after Becket's death, declares him among the most undisputed martyrs. "Quod alicujus martyrum causa justior fuit aut apertior ego nec audivi, nec legi." So completely were clerical immunities part and parcel of Christianity. [224] The enemies of Becket assigned base reasons for his opposition to the King. "Ecclesiasticam etiam libertatem, quam defensatis, non ad animarum lucrum sed ad augmentum pecuniarum, episcopos vestros intorquere." See the charges urged by John of Oxford.--Giles, iv. p. 188. [225] Especially in Epist. 19. "Interim." [226] It is not just to judge the clergy by the crimes of individual men, but there is one case, mentioned by no less an authority than John of Salisbury, too flagrant to pass over: it was in Becket's own cathedral city. Immediately after Becket's death the Bishops of Exeter and Worcester were commissioned by Pope Alexander to visit St. Augustine's, Canterbury. They report the total dilapidation of the buildings and estates. The prior elect "Jugi, quod hereticus damnat, fluit libidine, et hinnit in foeminas, adeo impudens ut libidinem, nisi quam publicaverit, voluptuosam esse non reputat." He debauched mothers and daughters: "Fornicationis abusum comparat necessitati." In one village he had seventeen bastards.--Epist. 310. * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: The original book is an excerpt of the author's "History of Latin Christianity, Vol. IV.," chapter VIII, pages 309-424. A copy of that volume at http://archive.org/details/historylatinchri04milm was used to help correct typographical errors in this eBook. Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book or its source; otherwise they were not changed. Sidenotes are identified as: [SN: text of sidenote]