see from the outside what was going on.


Before the knights began the recital of their complaints, however,
Becket appears to have become alarmed at the demeanour of the four
men, who afterwards admitted that they thought of killing him then and
there with the only weapon that was handy--a cross-staff that lay at
his feet.

The monks hurried back, and Fitzurse, apparently calmed by
their presence, resumed his statement of the complaints of the
King. The complaints--which are given by the various
chroniclers in very different words--were three in number.
"The King over the water commands you to perform your duty to
the King on this side of the water, instead of taking away his
crown." "Rather than take away his crown," replied Becket, "I
would give him three or four crowns." "You have excited
disturbances in the kingdom, and the King requires you to
answer for them at his court." "Never," said the Archbishop,
"shall the sea again come between me and my Church, unless I
am dragged thence by the feet." "You have excommunicated the
bishops, and you must absolve them." "It was not I," replied
Becket, "but the Pope, and you must go to him for absolution."

[Illustration: THE CHAPEL OF "OUR LADY" IN THE UNDERCROFT OF THE
CATHEDRAL.
Being entirely above the ground this is not a crypt as it is so often
miscalled. The morning light in winter fills the spaces between the
massive Norman piers.]