c]; and
that this triumph over the church might be carried to the utmost,
Henry, Bishop of Winchester, the prelate who had been so powerful in
the former reign, was, in spite of his remonstrances, obliged, by
order of the court, to pronounce the sentence against him [d]. The
primate submitted to the decree; and all the prelates, except Folliot,
Bishop of London, who paid court to the king by this singularity,
became sureties for him [e]. It is remarkable that seven Norman
barons voted in this council; and we may conclude, with some
probability, that a like practice had prevailed in many of the great
councils summoned since the Conquest. For the contemporary historian,
who has given us a full account of these transactions, does not
mention this circumstance as anywise singular [f]; and Becket, in all
his subsequent remonstrances with regard to the severe treatment which
he had met with, never founds any objection on an irregularity which
to us appears very palpable and flagrant. So little precision was
there at that time in the government and constitution!
[FN [a] Neubr. p. 394. [b] Fitz-Steph. p. 37, 42. [c] Hist. Quad. p.
47 Hoveden, p. 494. Gervase, p. 1389. [d] Fitz-Steph. p. 37. [e]
Ibid. [f] Ibid. p. 36.]

The king was not content with this sentence, however violent and
oppressive. Next day, he demanded of Becket the sum of three hundred
pounds, which the primate had levied upon the honours of Eye and
Berkham, while in his possession. Becket, after premising that he was
not obliged to answer to this suit, because it was not contained in
his summons; after remarking that he had expended more than that sum
in the repair of those castles, and of the royal palace at London;
expressed however his resolution, that money should not be any ground
of quarrel between him and his sovereign; he agreed to pay the sum;
and immediately gave surety for it [g]. In the subsequent meeting,
the king demanded five hundred marks, which, he affirmed, he had lent
Becket during the war at Toulouse [h]; and another sum in the same
amount for which that prince had been surety for him to a Jew.
Immediately after these two claims, he preferred a third of still
greater importance: he required him to give in the accounts of his
administration while chancellor, and to pay the balance due from the
revenues of all the prelacies, abbeys, and baronies, which had, during
that time, been subjected to his management [i]. Becket observed,