t many an offering on his tomb in the
cathedral of Canterbury. It is hard to say for which of the two, the
father or the son, the citizens entertained the greater reverence. For
many years after his death it was the custom for the Mayor of the City for
the time being, upon entering into office, to meet the aldermen at the
church of St. Thomas of Acon--a church which had been erected and endowed
in honour of the murdered archbishop by his sister Agnes, wife of Thomas
Fitz-Theobald of Helles(137)--and thence to proceed to the tomb of Gilbert
Becket, the father, in St. Paul's churchyard, there to say a _De
profundis_; after which both mayor and aldermen returned to the church of
St. Thomas, and, each having made an offering of two pence, returned to
his own home.(138) St. Thomas's Hospital, in Southwark, was originally
dedicated to the murdered archbishop, but after its dissolution and
subsequent restoration as one of the Royal Hospitals, its patron saint was
no longer Thomas the Martyr, but Thomas the Apostle.

(M95)

Whilst the king and his chancellor were busy settling the kingdom,
establishing a uniform administration of justice and system of revenue,
and not only renewing but extending the form of government which had been
instituted by Henry I, the citizens of London, availing themselves of the
security afforded by a strong government, redoubled their energy in
following commercial pursuits and succeeded in raising the city, as
Fitz-Stephen has told us, to a pitch of prosperity far exceeding that of
any other city in the world.

They obtained a charter from Henry,(139) although of a more limited
character than that granted to them by his grandfather. The later charter,
for instance, although in the main lines following the older charter,
makes no mention of Middlesex being let to ferm nor of any appointment of
sheriff or justiciar being vested in the citizens. It appears as if Henry
was determined to bring the citizens no less than the barons of the realm
within more direct and immediate subservience to the crown. The concession
made by the king's grandfather had been ignored by Stephen and the empress
Matilda, each of whom in turn had granted the shrievalty of London and
Middlesex to the Earl of Essex. For a time the appointment of sheriffs was
lost to the citizens. Throughout the reigns of Henry II and his successor
they were appointed by the crown. Richard's charter to the citizens makes
no mention of the sherif