EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY Discovering New Worlds Edited and Ineroduced by Robert Fox From ail dpe the quar teen hing ond primate expanded ‘nt a profound and bite rug ocr cansttatonal principe, exace tue povonal ns Re ant hee shor Hoy eri ‘ues experi Who il id me ofthis arent o the Sort dy after Chinas, n 17, lle Bake’ vp rere “rom Prone to England, our highs gathered o mal fre of armed mon at Saloood Caste and merc 10 Canterbury, dcrmine 1 force an auince with the arebshop From tho on thins happened ‘ey fact cain, ar feStphon deci, ath the ety ef the armed men no the cated ee ‘They entered the church self The monks, trembling and aston ished a so strange and great a tumult, broke of singing veers ‘without completing the ofc, and came out ofthe chor to meet the achbishop he catered the church, rejoicing and ging ‘thanks to God that they saw him yet alive, after he had already ‘been reported slain withthe sword. While some of them were sweeping for joy o fear, and some were advising one thing and some another ~ ike Peer saying to Our Lord, “That be ft from ‘hee’ —he himself as one not afd odie forthe fredom and the cause of God's Church, bade them withdraw from him and depart, that they might cn no account hinder his passion, which hae had foretold as destined to come and now saw was imminent, He was proceeding towards the star higher up the church, where he was wont to hea privte Masis andthe canonical hours, nd had already mounted four steps, when lo! at the door from the cloister, through which we had come [from the palace, there appeared frst Reginald ftzUrse, clad in suit of mall and with drawn sword, shouting Hither now to me king men!” A moment Inter he was joined by is dhree caraades, imal clad, head and body in fll armour, everything covered but their eyes, and with naked swords in thet hands. There were a great many other, without suits of mai, but armed, thei retainers and friends, and some fom the city of Canterbury, whom they had compelled to ‘come along with them A the sight of these armed men, I say, the monks wished 10 «lose and bol the door of the church. Bu the good archbishop, putting his whole ust inthe Lord and refusing oe exried aay by sudden panic atthe onrush ofthe powers of evi turned bac and came down the steps forbidding the monks to clot the door, Saying, "Far bet from ato tar the church of Go ino a fortress Le all come into the church who wish to do 30, God's will be done” Justashe was inthe act of descending the steps tsrards the door to prevent i being closed, John of Salsbury and his ther lets ~ all except Robert the canon, Wilkam fittephen and Edward Grim, who had newly some to hin ~ forsook him and fled, making i ther only care to place thesmcives in safety ome at various altars, others in hiding-places. Indeed, had he $0 60wished the archbishop might easily have turned aside and saved himself fig, for bath tne and place offered an opportunity of| ‘scape without being found, Irwas evening, te long winter night twas appreaching, and the crypt as neat at hand, where there were many dank and winding passages. There was also anothes oor near by, through which fe could hve climbed by a spiral ircase to the arched chambers in the roof of the church Pet= hance he miaht not have been discovered or in the meantime Some diversion might have occurred. But none of thete way of ‘scape would he take. He nether turned aside nor stooped to sup- plicate his murderers, nor ucered a murmur of complain in the whole ofhis agony. But, patently avating his ast hour, which was row drawing nigh, he showed, in the cause of Christ and the Church, a strength and constancy of mind, body and speech reser than that of any other martyr we have ever hear tll of, ght upto the Binal consummation By this ime thse executioners came running in furious haste ‘trough the church door, nding it unexpectedly open. One of| ‘hem said tothe monks who Were standing by withthe archbishop, "Stay where you are Indeed, on catching sight ofthe archbishop, ‘hese eu throats at fist drew back as though confused and bev. dered and abashed by his countenance. Then someone shouted, ‘Wheres the ator? To this the archbishop, possesing is oul patience, made no repli. Then someone ete sid, "Where i the srchbishop?" wo whom he made answer, “Here am I, no witr, but 2 priest of God and I marvel that you have entered the church of| GGod in such anise. What do you want with me? One cut-throat made reply "Your death; itis imposible hat you shoul live & moment longer." submit to death’ replied the archbishop inthe fame of the Lord, and [commend my soul andthe cause ofthe (Church to God and St Mary and dhe patron suit of this church Far be it from me o fle from your swords, Bur wth the authority ‘of God forbid you wo touch any of these servants of mine One of ‘them ad a two-edged axe and a sword 00 forthe purpse of bat- tering down the door ofthe church if it had been bared aginst them: But, retaining the sword, he laid down the axe [0M the round), and i remins there this da 6 ‘A certain one track hin with the fat of his word between the shoulders, saying, Fly, you ae a dead man’ But the archbishop Stood unmoved, and efering his neck (for blow) commended himself to God, while hs lips repeated the names ofthe oly arch- bishops who had been martyrs before him, St Denis and St Alpheae of Canterbury. Some ofthe enemy cred, "Yu are our Drsones, come with us and laying hands upon him, they would Ihave dragged hign out ofthe church, but for fear dat the people might rescue him from their laches. The archbishop made fnswer, Twill ot go hence. Here shall you work your wil and obey your orders!’ He struggled might and main against them, while the monks to held him beck With them also was Master Edward Grim, and he, putting up his arm [to ward off the blow] received the fst stoke ofthe nord smd by William ‘de Trac” atthe archbishop’ head By this same rroke the archbishop was ‘wounded in the head ashe Bent forward, and Grim inthe et severely ‘Wiping off with his arm the blood that streamed from his head, the archbishop gave thanks to God, saying, La thy hands, © Lord, I commend my spirit” As he knelt down, clasping and stretching out his hands 19 God, «second stoke was dealt hin on the head, at which he fll a om hi face rd by an altar there ‘dedicated wo St Benedict. He took care, however, and was granted {race t9 fll in honourable fshion, covered down to the ankles ‘with is pallium, as though i the at of prayer and adoration. On the right hand he ells one proceeding othe righthand of God, ‘While he lay there stricken, Richard Brito smote him with suc force that the sword was broken against ie head and the pave~ ‘ment of the church: “Take that sid he, “or love of my’ ond Wiliamy the king's brother Four wounds in all dd the saintly archbishop recive, and all of them in the head: the whole crown of his head wat lopped off ‘Then it was seen how his ibs obeyed the motions of hi spit For,as in mind 90 10 in body.t was manifest that neither by pars ing blows noe in evading them di he strugsle against death, For he acceptedit of is own free wil and fom sitet be with God ‘The aight who srackthe low van acl Reina Ue,‘ther than as violent death from the knights swords A ceca “Hg of Horsea nicknamed Mavcleré pat is foot onthe neck of| the allen marie and extracted the blootand brains fom the el- low of the severed crown with the point af his sword. A sorry spectacle, an unheard-of cruelty onthe par of so-called Chistian ‘mea! O truly blessed and constant Thomas, God's holy mary ‘who allowed himself o be sain rather than yell Indeed, a of ol, ‘when Christ suffered in his oun body, so now oo when he wat ‘again suffering inthe person of Thomas, hs tre Right, the ns {zac wos averted, ras iden from the earth and the ds veiled in darkes lst it should behold this crime; a terble ror-loud ‘overhung the firmament, sudden and swift fel the rain and the thunder rolled round the heavens." After this the sky turned a ‘deep re i oken ofthe blood which ad been shed and in horror ‘ofthe outage Gea of Wate (145-122) eas me ofthe mort dvamic and colour ‘churchmen in tecfhecentury Britain. He hye abet exrsone tert ning nv his day ~ popes kings, prelates and Wh princes Wes nash pasion ~he trad den seal Bishopric in the hope thar he might one day bacome bishop of St Davids ~ and in 198 he ‘eet ona preaching tour trough the ouney wid Archbishop Balin ‘f Cantabury 9 poi upp forthe Third Crusade War wa and ‘ep in supersiton, s Gea obser Only show 3 miles fom Pembroke Castles the fortified mansion known as Manorbier, hat the house of ene Pyrus."The same ‘man alse owned Caldy Island, called bythe Welsh Vays By, which ‘means the Island of Pyrus. There the house stands, visible from far because of is tore and crenellations, om the top of i ‘which ie quite near the sea and which on the western side reaches ts far as the harbour To the north and north-west, just Beneath the was there isan excellent fsh-pond, well consructed and remarkable forts deep waters On the same side there i a most tractive orchard, shut in between the fsh-pond and a grove of| * Wiliam SeStephen, rally elable witnes seams wo have bees ea Fe ana atts point Nother Doge mesons the sora %