Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

Empress Maud went on fighting for the crown year after year.

6. At last Stephen was taken prisoner, and Maud was proclaimed Queen of England; and if she had only been wise and kind she might have reigned peaceably. But as empress she had been treated as the greatest lady in the world, and she was very haughty and wilful, and behaved most violently to the citizens. The bishops saw that such conduct would not bring back peace to England, and began to think that Stephen was better after all. Then it was agreed that Stephen should come out of prison. He knew that he could hope for no peace until he had either captured the empress or driven her out of England. So he collected an army and besieged Oxford Castle, where Maud had taken refuge.

7. It was winter-time, and the ground was covered with snow, and the rivers were frozen over. So Maud dressed herself in white from head to foot, and her brother did the same, and they fled across the snow in the moonlight. Nobody saw them, and so they got safely away. For four years more the war went on, and no man would listen to the bishops when they tried to make peace. The empress ruled in the west of England and Stephen in the east, till at length the empress grew weary of the struggle and went home to Anjou. But her friends still fought on.

8. At last the bishops proposed a plan to which both sides agreed. King Stephen promised that Maud's son Henry should reign after he himself was dead, if only every one would cease fighting

and help him to bring back peace and happiness to the wretched people of England; and to this all sides consented. So the castles of the robber barons were pulled down, and there was peace again in the land.

15. THOMAS BECKET (B. 1118; D. 1170).

1. Amongst the bishops who brought about this peace, the first and foremost was Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury; and he had in his service a very clever and determined man called Thomas Becket. Becket was the son of a rich merchant of London, and he had travelled all over the world, to Paris and to Rome, to learn all that men could teach him. When the empress's son, Henry II., became king, Theobald told him that there was no man in the kingdom who could so well help him to make good laws for the people as Becket. So Henry made him Lord Chancellor, whose duty was to advise the king in all things; and they became great friends. Thomas grew rich, and lived in a palace like a prince; and when he rode to see the king, or went hunting, a great train of servants and soldiers rode behind him on horseback, all clad in glittering armour and gay clothes. And the king and the chancellor rode, and talked, and feasted, and hunted together like brothers.

2. Henry was a very strong and resolute king, and he had made up his mind that everybody in the kingdom should obey the laws he made, whether they

were barons or clergy or common people; and he thought that there was no man who could help him so well in this as Thomas Becket. So after seven years he made him Archbishop of Canterbury, that he might be over all the clergy in England, and lead them to do as the king wished in all things.

3. Then Thomas changed his habits. He gave up hunting and hawking and gaming; he renounced all rich food, and lived almost wholly on dry bread and bitter herbs. He wore rough sackcloth next to his skin, and every day he washed the feet of thirteen beggars who received alms of him. He lived no longer like a prince, but like an austere monk. King Henry ceased to find him a merry and pleasant companion, and wished that he had never made him archbishop.

4. But this was not the worst. The archbishop did not agree with the king in some of the new laws he made about the clergy, and resisted him with all his

power.

5. Then, when Henry found that the archbishop would no longer help him in his plans for the government of the kingdom, he grew very angry, and forgot his ancient friendship, and deprived Becket of all his riches. So Becket left England, and hastened to France. There he met the Pope, and asked his help against Henry, which made Henry more angry still; and the quarrel between them went on for six years, and all the time Becket lived a very holy life himself, so that all men thought it noble of him to give up all his wealth and power rather than yield to the king.

6. At length, however, Henry and Becket met to

gether, and they made peace; and Becket agreed to go back to England, and Henry gave him leave, hoping that thenceforth Becket would submit to the king's laws, and that all would be well.

7. But as soon as Becket was back at Canterbury he began to punish the bishops who had taken part with the king. When Henry heard this, he perceived that there would be no peace with Becket after all, but that he still meant to resist the laws which the king thought best for the kingdom. The king was extremely angry, and repented of having allowed Becket to return to England.

8. And whilst the king was in his rage and anger, an enemy of the archbishop's exclaimed, "You will have no peace whilst Thomas lives." And the king answered in haste and fury, "Is there not one among all my subjects who will rid me of this meddling priest?

دو

9. There were four knights standing by, and they thought to themselves, "If we slay Becket, we shall win the king's favour for ever." Without telling any one, they set off and travelled to Canterbury, where they found Becket praying in the cathedral.

10. They seized him, and began to drag him out. Becket, who had been a strong soldier himself once, dashed one of them to the ground; and then all four fell upon him, and struck him down on the steps of the altar, and slew him upon the floor of the cathedral. Then they fled from the place.

11. When Henry heard of this brutal murder he was filled with remorse. He shut himself up in his

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small]
« ÎnapoiContinuă »