The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain Read Free Page B

examination. It was obvious to the king that giving these officers extended powers could encourage corruption. When complaints reached him of sheriffs who had exceeded their remit or lined their own pockets Henry despatched the ‘Inquest of the Sheriffs’. His agents were to make enquiry: ‘As to whether anyone was unjustly accused under that Assize (Clarendon) for reward or promise or out of hatred or in any other unjust way, and whether any of the accused were released or a charge withdrawn for reward or promise of favour, and who accepted a bribe.’ 3
    Even the great men of the realm were not exempt from investigation. Reports came into Henry’s chancellery of barons abusing their tenants or defrauding the king of his revenues. The prodigious activities of the royal officers and the vigilance of the king and his councillors in reading and responding to the information that reached the itinerant court are remarkable, especially when we consider that Henry spent most of these years outside England.
    In January 1169 Henry and Louis VII met at Montmirail, between Le Mans and Chartres, to compose their differences. To allay the French king’s fears about the mighty Angevin empire Henry revealed his plan to divide his patrimonyamong his three sons, but in the midst of their discussions Thomas Becket turned up at Montmirail, asking to be reconciled to his king.
    1170–74
    In May 1170 the 37-year-old king made his biggest mistake, setting in train events that ended in tragedy and blackened his name for posterity. He had his eldest son, Henry, crowned by the Archbishop of York. This reinforced his promise to divide his inheritance, but it was also a deliberate sign of defiance to Becket and Louis. It angered Becket because to preside at coronations was the prerogative of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It annoyed Louis because his daughter, Margaret, who was the wife of the young Henry, was excluded from the ceremony. Henry II was making it clear that any reconciliation would be on his terms. Becket protested vigorously at his treatment and was backed by the pope, who threatened to excommunicate Henry.
    On 22 July 1170, Becket and the king met at Fréteval, on the road between Tours and Chartres, and some kind of reconciliation took place, but the personal animosity between the two men remained as strong as ever. Henry was in no hurry to let the archbishop return, and it was 30 November before Becket, on his own initiative, crossed the Channel. His attempt to restore his authority led to fresh conflicts with bishops and secular lords, and these were reported back to Henry at his Normandy manor near Bayeux. He gave vent to his anger in the presence of several of his retainers, thoughit is doubtful that he uttered the words, ‘Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?’ Be that as it may, four of Henry’s household knights took it upon themselves to be the king’s avenging angels. They hurried back to England and, on 20 December 1170, murdered Becket in his own cathedral.
    News of the outrage shocked Europe, and no one was more upset than Henry, who realized the negative effect it would have on his standing inside and outside his own dominions. It handed Pope Alexander III a propaganda initiative, and in order to recover the church’s goodwill Henry was obliged to negotiate. By the Compromise of Avranches (May 1172) he had to relax some of the Constitutions of Clarendon relating to the power of the bishops and their courts. In August he did public penance for Becket’s death and received absolution.
    It seemed to many of Henry’s subjects that the overmighty king, who had for years been increasing royal power at the expense of the barons and bishops, had, at last, overreached himself and been humbled. This was not Henry’s view of things. In fact, he spent the autumn and winter of 1171–2 extending his empire still further. In September he assembled an army of 4,000 troops on the Welsh coast for an invasion of