What came of that? The first archbishop fled,
And York lay barren for a hundred years.
Why, by this rule, Foliot may claim the pall
For London too.
FOLIOT.
And with good reason too,
For London had a temple and a priest
When Canterbury hardly bore a name.
BECKET.
The pagan temple of a pagan Rome!
The heathen priesthood of a heathen creed!
Thou goest beyond thyself in petulancy!
Who made thee London? Who, but Canterbury?
JOHN OF OXFORD.
Peace, peace, my lords! these customs are no longer
As Canterbury calls them, wandering clouds,
But by the King's command are written down,
And by the King's command I, John of Oxford,
The President of this Council, read them.
BECKET.
Read!
JOHN OF OXFORD (_reads_).
'All causes of advowsons and presentations, whether between laymen or
clerics, shall be tried in the King's court.'
BECKET.
But that I cannot sign: for that would drag
The cleric before the civil judgment-seat,
And on a matter wholly spiritual.
JOHN OF OXFORD.
'If any cleric be accused of felony, the Church shall not protect him:
but he shall answer to the summons of the King's court to be tried
therein.
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