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Durham E-Theses Durham E-Theses Intention and achievement in La Vie De Saint Thomas Becket by Guernes De Pont-Sainte-Maxence Littlefair, John Robert Siddle How to cite: Littlefair, John Robert Siddle (1980) Intention and achievement in La Vie De Saint Thomas Becket by Guernes De Pont-Sainte-Maxence, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7800/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ABSTRACT INTENTION MP ACHIEVEMENT IN LA VIE DE SAINT IHCMS EECiKET BY &UERNES IE FONT-SAINTE- MAXENGE by JOHN ROBERT SIDDLE LITTLEFAIR It is hoped to establish the motives and intentions of Guernes in undertaking his poem, to evali:iate his success in fulfilling his ambitions. Chapter one outlines the hiatcrioal background to the dispute between Henry II and Thomas Becket; in coinposing this chapter no attempt has been made to exclude any historical details which may originate frcm Guernes' poem, or from works which Guernes may have consulted. The aim here is to give a balanced picture of events, and to this end modern historians as well as mediaeval sources have been consulted. This may lead to accusations of historical inpirity in subsequent chapters, but it leaves the question of Guernes' sources open for discussion; this is a more important consideration in this study. Chapter two discusses the dating and sources of Guernes' poem, and considers the evidence and significance of the fragments of the first draft of the poem, recently discovered. Chapter three attempts to establish the intentions of the poet, by examining his own statements in the poem and attempting to establish to what degree they may be religious, devotional, panegyrical, historical or political. In chapters four to eight the poet's treatment of his material is studied; chapters four, five and six are concerned predominantly with the figure of Thomas Becket,. chapter seven with King Henry II and King Louis VII, chapter eight with the remaining figures in the poem. Where appropriate the poet's treatment is conipared and contrasted with that of his sources, and with the surviving fragments of the first draft. Consideration is also given to Guernes' consciousness of his audience and to how this may have infltienced his treatnent of material. In ohapter nine the poet's achievement and his success in ; fulfilling his stated ambitions are evaluated. INTENTION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN LA VIE BE SAINT THOMAS BECKET BY GUERNES DE PONT-SAINTE-MAXENCE A study of the aims of the poet in undertaking his work, of the means and methods by which he proceeded, and an evaluation of his success in achieving his aims in THREE VOLUMES VOLUME ONE % JOHN ROBERT SIDDLE LITTLEPAIR Submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in the University of Durham Department of French 1980 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 14. MAY 1984 TABLE OP CONTENTS VOLUME ONE Abstract of thesis 1 Title page 2 Table of Contents 5 Declaration 4 Statement of Copywri^t 5 Chapter one: The Historical Background 6 Chapter two: The Dating and Sources of Guemes' poem 83 Chapter three: The intention of the Poet 116 Chapter four; Becket before his Consecration 154 Chapter five: The Election 178 Notes to chapters one to five 216 VOLUME TWO Title page 1 Table of Contents 2 Declaration 5 Statement of Cqpywri^t 4 Chapter six: Becket in Adversity 5 Notes to chapter six 188 VOLUME THREE Title page 1 Table of Contents 2 Declaration 5 Statement of Cbpjrwri^t 4 Chapter seven: The Two Kings: Henry II and Louis VII 5 Chapter eight; Minor Characters in Guemes* poem 77 Chapter nine: , The Achievement of the Poet 176 Appendix: The Constitutions of Clarendon 231 Notes to Chapters seven to nine 237 Bibliography ' 242 DECLARATION None of the material contained in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree in this or any other University by me or by any other person. STATEMENT OP COFIWRIGHT The Copywright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. CHAPTER ONE THE HTSTORICAL BACK(2iOUND If we may judge from the actions and attitudes of the people living in the decades which followed the reign of King Stephen, we may deduce that few of them viewed those nineteen years of trouble and confusion with much affection, or their passing with much regret. No one would have presximed that the accession of Henry Plantagenet, the eldest son of Geogfrey Plantagenet of Anjou and the Enipress Matilda, was going to. solve of itself the problems caused and created during the uncertainties of Stephen's reign, but the grandson of King Henry I returned to England in late 1154 with three useful advantages; be was the undisputed successor to the throne; a year had elapsed since the agreement ensuring this succession had been made with Stephen on the death of Eustace, Stephen's son, and Henry had been able in some msasxire to prepare himself for the futvire; and, he knew that after the better part of twenty years, England had grown mare than weary with the 'tenipus werre'. Nevertheless, the English barons, vrtio. had grown in strength and stature as a resxilt of Stephen's rather irresolute and ill-advised policies, were ready to exploit the new king should they be offered the opportunity, aM Henry knew that he must quickly dispose of all the causes which the barons mi^t find far the renewal of warfare, and leave them with no reason to distrust him. Accordingly, having ordered the departure of the Flemish neroenaries who had lately been engaged in England, the king began to enstjre his position by otrdering the demolition of the remaining strongholds where opposition might otherwise become effective, and he boldly forced the barons to relinquish the custody of the king's castles, a move calculated to strike decisively at baronial control in the provinces, Henry may not have been surprised to encounter some resistance to this last plan, and he was openly defied at Scarborough by William Le Gros, Count of Aumale, who had been created Earl of York by King Stephen in 1138. Hsnry, taking prompt action, quickly forced Aumale's submission of the castle. Similar diffictilties arose with the hostility of Roger, Earl of Hereford, until he was persuaded by Gilbert Poliot, Bishop of Hereford, to submit, and with that of Hugjh Latimer, who persisted in his opposition until he was beaten by-the king. Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester and brother of the late king, fearing humiliation at the hands of the new monarch, retired to the Abbey of Cluny whilst his castles were destroyed. Having achieved his immediate objective, Henry II spent much time in hearing complaints, ani setting lands and castles back in the possession of the rightful owners, as far as he coiild ascertain with fairness, and taking, irtierever it was possible, the state of affairs as they had been in the 'time of his grandfather' to be of jjaramount importanoe. Quickly and efficiently, the new king, in sharp contrast to the mediocre efforts of his predecesscr|; had mastered the barons. But the barons had not been the only parties to assert themselves dtiring Stephen's reign. With the failure of the king's court to deal with all the oases due to come before it during the years of disturbance, the Church, perhaps not unwillingly, found that its own courts were being required to deal with more oases, especially those directly concerned with ecolesia3tioa3matters, than had been the case in the reign of Henry I. Stephen had made worthless promises to the Church concerning its power and position, and had been forced to grant some concessions to it in a charter of 1136. He was almost 8^ excommunicated for forbidding Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, to attend the Lateran Council of 1148, But the Church itself had come to realize the need for there to be a stronger king than Stephen had proved, if the possibility of detrimental effects of a necessary papal ijatervention were to be avoided in the future. The papal interdict placed on England had largely been ignored by the English bishops, 'preferring peace to duty' in this instance, but Theobald and probably his colleagues naist have known that the new king might undertake vigorous actions to clarify the Church's position, in much the same way as, in the event, he clarified that of the barons on his accession. Hence Archbishop Theobald, backed by Henry of Winchester, Philip, Bishop of Bayeux, and Arnulf, Bishop of Lisieux, recommended to the king's service a nan from whom they felt that the Church might escpeot a favourable representation and defence in the face of the king's policies concerning it, a man who should be readily acceptable to the new monarch not only because he was a prominent Londoner and as such might help to win oyer to the king a city which had shown itself to be less than friendly to the Angevin cause during Stephen's reign, and was as yet uncertain as to where its loyalties should lie, but also because he was a man of proven ability and potential, to whom,, the king's attention had been drawn in the past.
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