Saint Thomas Becket

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Becket, St Thomas (?1120–70), Abp. of Canterbury from 1162. He had been Chancellor and an intimate friend of Henry II, and accepted the archbishopric reluctantly. He resigned his chancellorship, and disputes with the king, notably over the trial and punishment of criminous clerks, led Henry in 1163 to require the bishops to sanction the ‘ancient customs of the kingdom’. When a code of these customs, the ‘Constitutions of Clarendon’, was promulgated in 1164, Becket submitted but soon repented his action. Henry then required him to account for money he had received as Chancellor, and charged him with breaking his promise to observe the Constitutions. His trial and condemnation in the royal court at Northampton led to his flight to France and appeal to Alexander III. In 1170 he unexpectedly made peace with Henry who promised to make amends for the coronation of his son by the Abp. of York, while Becket sent Papal letters of suspension to the bishops who had taken part in the ceremony. On his return to England he refused to absolve the bishops unless they would swear to accept penalties the Pope would impose. Henry, in a fit of rage, uttered words which inspired four knights to go to Canterbury and assassinate Becket in his cathedral. The murder provoked indignation and Becket's shrine made Canterbury one of the chief centres of pilgrimage in Christendom. Feast day, 29 Dec.; of his translation, 7 July.

Becket, St Thomas (?1118–70). Henry II appointed him chancellor and made him his intimate friend and companion. In 1162 Thomas reluctantly became archbishop of Canterbury, an office which required him to become the champion of the rights of the Church which Henry was attempting to curtail. In particular he opposed the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164) which re-imposed the relations between Church and State that had prevailed in the time of William I. Becket was exiled on the Continent for seven years; he returned to England in 1170 and after a brief reconciliation with Henry was assassinated on the king's orders in the cathedral at Canterbury on 29 Dec. 1170. The king claimed that his orders had been misinterpreted. Becket's shrine at Canterbury became the most famous in Christendom as a place where miracles were performed, and it was the objective of Chaucer's pilgrims 200 years later. The story of Becket has been the subject of plays by Tennyson and T. S. Eliot (Murder in the Cathedral). (See also Anglo-Latin literature.)