[14] "Plurimæ ecclesiæ, præbendæ nonnullæ." Among the livings were one in Kent, and St. Mary le Strand; among the prebends, two at London and Lincoln. The archdeaconry of Canterbury was worth 100 pounds of silver a-year.
[15] Epist. 130.
[16] Lord Lyttelton gives a full account of this transaction.—Book i. p. 213.
[17] This remarkable fact in Becket's history rests on the authority of his friend, John of Salisbury: "Erat enim in suspectu adolescentia regis et juvenum et pravorum hominum, quorum conciliis agi videbatur ... insipientiam et malitiam formidabat ... cancellarium procurabat in curiâ ordinari, cujus ope et operâ novi regis ne sæviret in ecclesiam, impetum cohiberet et consilii sui temperaret malitiam."—Apud Giles, p. 321. This is repeated in almost the same words by William of Canterbury, vol. ii. p. 2. Compare what may be read almost as the dying admonitions of Theobald to the king: "Suggerunt vobis filii sæculi hujus, ut ecclesiæ minuatis auctoritatem, ut vobis regni dignitas augeatur." He had before said, "Cui deest gratia Ecclesiæ, tota creatrix Trinitas adversatur."—Apud Boquet, xvi. p. 504. Also Roger de Pontigny, p. 101.
[18] Fitz-Stephen, p. 186. Compare on the office of chancellor Lord Campbell's Life of Becket.
[19] De Bosham, p. 17.
[20] See a curious passage on the singular sensitiveness of his hearing, and even of his smell.—Roger de Pontigny, p. 96.
[21] Roger de Pontigny, p. 104. His character by John of Salisbury is remarkable: "Erat supra modum captator auræ popularis ... etsi superbus esset et vanus et interdum faciem prætendebat insipienter amantium et verba proferret, admirandus tamen et imitandus erat in corporis castitate."—P. 320. See an adventure related by William of Canterbury, p. 3.
[22] Grim, p. 12. Roger de Pontigny, p. 102. Fitz-Stephen, p. 192.
[23] Fitz-Stephen, p. 191. Fitz-Stephen is most full and particular on the chancellorship of Becket.