THe king then tooke his iornie from Ha|uerford homewards along by the sea side, euen the same waie as before he came thi|ther; and foorthwith in all hast he taketh shipping, and sailed into Normandie: and immediat|lie vnderstanding where the popes legats were, he repaired vnto them, and presented himselfe in most humble maner before them. Where & before whome after sundrie altercations passed to and fro betwéene them, he purged himselfe by his oth, that he was gilt|lesse of the death of the archbishop Thomas: neuer|theles he was contented to doo the penance inioined him. For although he did not kill, nor yet know, nor consent to the murthering of him, yet he denied not but that the same was doone for his (1) sake. The am|bassadors & legats hauing thus ended with the king, with much honour returned backe, and homewards to Rome. And then the king trauelled and went to the marches of France, there to talke and haue con|ference with Lewes the French king, betweene whome then was discord and debate. But after sun|drie speeches past betweene them, at length by the meanes and intercession of sundrie good men, and especiallie of Philip earle of Flanders (who was but then returned from Compostella, where he had bene in pilgrimage vnto saint Iames) the same was en|ded; and the displeasure which he had conceiued about and for the death of the archbishop of Canturburie was clerelie released. And by these means, the great malice and secret conspiracies of his sonnes and their confederats was for this time suppressed and quailed, and so continued vntill the yeare following.
(1) They which doo write and intreat of the life and death of this archbishop, doo affirme that the king af|ter the death of this man, did send his ambassadors to pope Alexander at Rome, to purge himselfe of this fact. And notwithstanding that he tooke a corporall oth, that he neither did it nor caused it to be doone, nor yet gaue anie consent, or was priuie thereof, nor yet was giltie in anie respect, sauing that he confessed he did not so well fauour the bishop as he had doone in times past: yet could not his ambassadors be admit|ted to the presence and sight of the pope, vntill he had yéelded himselfe to his arbitrement and iudgement: which was that he should doo certeine penance, as al|so to performe certeine iniunctions which were as followeth. That the king at his proper costs and char|ges Iniunctions by the pope to the king of England. should kéepe and susteine two hundred souldiers for one whole yeare, to defend the holie land against the Turke. That he should permit, and that it should be lawfull to all his subiects as often as them listed to appeale to the sée of Rome. That none should be ac|counted thensefoorth to be lawfull king of England, vntill such time as he were confirmed by the Roman bishop. That he should restore to the church of Can|turburie all such goods and possessions as were taken and deteined from the same since the death of the archbishop. That he should suffer all such people as were fled or banished out of the realme for his sake, to returne home without delaie or let, and to inioy and haue againe all such goods and lands whatsoeuer they had before. Other things this Romish anti|christ did demand, and which the king was compelled to grant vnto before he could be released: whereby it dooth appeare how much they doo varie from the cal|ling of Christs apostles; and how that (contrarie to the rule of the gospell) their onelie indeuour was to make and haue princes and kingdoms subiect to their becke and tyrannie.