So little precision was there at
that time in the government and constitution!
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 honors 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 repairs
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
sureties for it. In the subsequent meeting, the king demanded five
hundred marks, which, he affirmed, he had lent Becket during the war at
Toulouse; and another sum to 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.
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