of no less than three hundred golden pieces each. Over and above this they dictated him an unbroken fast of forty days with prayer. Unto all this the king consented meekly. And herewithal the cardinals ordered king Henry the young to enter a bail for the shriving, so that he should fulfil every clause therein, in case his father should fail to do so. The said legates absolved the three bishops, Robert, Gilbert, and Jocelin. A long pain they bore for their crimes, inasmuch as they were stripped of their bishopdom and holy office ever afterwards, and yet greater heaviness fell upon some of them, as will be related herein-after. The cardinals also received the four knights, who had murdered the blessed Thomas, in absolution, imposing upon them the penance of going out to Jerusalem. This three of them performed in repentance and goodwill, but William de Tracy, who had been the first to deal the archbishop a blow, was beguiled by the per 4 8 3 um, svá at hann sitr eftir.2 Ok því fær hann guðliga hefnd, svá at hann fúnaði kvikr, ok báðar hendr leysti brutt af honum í axlarliðunum. Sýndi hann í þessum kvölum sanna iðran, ok sagðist trúa, at heilagi Thomas byskup mundi honum líkna mega með 5 sinni bæn fyrir Guði. Ok þótt hann hafi myskunn fengit, var þó nytsamligt, at svá mikill glæpr❝ væri 7 opinberliga hegndr af Guði, öðrum til viðsjónar. Líka för 10 fengu margir, at í þeira föruneyti 11 höfðu fremstir verit, at skjótr ok skammr varð þeira endir. Sumir 10 urðu bráðdauðir án játning ok þjónustu, sumir ofverkjum lostnir, svá að 12 þeir bitu af sèr fingr eða tunguna or höfðinu. Sumir fúnuðu lifandi, svá til dauða færðir, einir vitlausir, aðrir djöfulóðir, sýnandi svá hver ódæmi 14 þeir höfðu 15 framit í föðurdrápe 16 með 15 fylgd ok samþykki. Enn þrír riddarar fyr greindir fóru því betr, at þeir börðust 17 fyrir Jórsalalandi ok fellu 18 þar. 13 Enn allar þær 19 skriftir 20 í Englandi, sem várr herra tók eigi til sín með bráðri hefnd, skipa kardi- 20 nales upp í sýslur byskupanna, sem hlotnast, ok ber þá Bartholomeus Exoniensis í því máli hæsta 21 raust, því at hann hafði skrifat til herra páfans, hversu skrifta 22 skyldi þess háttar mönnum, er á nokkurn suasions of evil persons to sit behind. And therefore he fell under God's revenge, inasmuch as he rotted alive, and both his arms were dissolved from his body in the shoulder-joint. Under these torments he showed true repentance, uttering his belief in the power of the holy Thomas to avail him for mercy before God. And although he may have found that mercy, yet it was necessary, that so great a crime should be openly avenged by God, for the warning of others. In a similar manner fared many who had been the foremost among the followers of the knights, their end being short and sudden. Some died a sudden death without confession, or the last rites; some were smitten with sudden fits, so as to bite off their fingers or the tongue out of their head. Some rotted alive and were thus brought to their death; some went mad, others became possessed by the devil, thus showing what abomination they had worked in giving their aid or consent to the murder of the father. But the three knights aforenamed fared better, inasmuch as they fought for the land of Jerusalem and there fell. But all penances in England, which our Lord did not inflict himself by sudden revenge, the cardinals prescribed throughout the dioceses of the bishops according to what was due to each; in which affair the voice of Bartholomew of Exeter is most chiefly heard, for he had written to the lord pope counselling, how such men should be shrived, who had in any way partaken in the heinous 1171. A vision. 3 4 hátt hafði samlagazt þeim háðuliga glæp,1 er varð í 8 KAP. LXXXV. MERKILIG VITRAN ER BAR FYRIR EIRN BRÓÐUR 20 Í CANCIA. Nú sem Heinrekr konungr gamli ok sjálfir manndrápsmenn virðuligs herra erkibyskupsins eru settir af sjálfum Guði eða 21 kirkjunnar lögum 22 hèr á jarðríki 20 crime, which was committed in the murder of the archbishop, whether by robbing or slandering, or by aid or assent. In answer thereto the lord pope had written to him a letter, which hereafter will be set forth in a clearer manner, because now it behoveth first to review unto end the manner in which these cardinals and legates of the apostolic see proved useful to the church of England by their visit. They absolved the bishops, who had dragged archbishop Thomas under the judgment of worldly lords, and had also sworn before the king to hold his condemned errors and abuses, and had been present at the coronation ceremony of his son for the purpose of bringing to shame both the archbishop and the laws of the church. Besides this they cleansed the church of Canterbury, and choose for archbishop thereof John of Salisbury, a lawful man, who had been in exile with the blessed archbishop Thomas. They also absolved the realm of king Henry from interdict, and after that these blessed messengers returned back to Rome. CHAP. LXXXV. A REMARKABLE VISION WHICH APPEARED TO A CERTAIN BROTHER AT CANTERBURY. Now that king Henry the old and the very murderers of the worthy lord archbishop were brought to repentance either by God himself or by the laws of the church here on |