Herbert remained closely attached to Becket throughout the arduous and troubled years of his episcopacy and exile until almost the very eve of the final scene in Canterbury Cathedral.
Having returned to England with Becket in December 1170, he remained with him until sent back again on an errand to the French king; vainly he implored his master to let him stay for the end which both felt to be close at hand, and which in fact came two days after his departure.
On the other hand, he did not begin to write till 1184, many years after the events which he records, and Dom Albert L'Huillier gave reasons to doubt the accuracy of Herbert's reminiscences.
III of the Materials for the History of Thomas Becket (Rolls Series) edited by James Craigie Robertson; the volume also contains some extracts from the Liber Melorum.
Herbert was portrayed by actor Clive Currie in the 1924 silent film Becket, based on a play of the same title by Alfred Lord Tennyson.