St Thomas Becket
St Thomas Becket (1118-70), English churchman and martyr. A skilled administrator, he was chosen as chancellor by Henry II in 1154. In this post he invariably put the king’s interests above everything and in 1162 Henry had Becket elected Archbishop of Canter-bury, expecting him to continue in this style. To his annoyance Becket took his new religious duties very seriously and resigned as chancellor. Henry and Becket quarreled and Becket was forced into exile. In 1170 a reconciliation took place and Becket returned to Eng-land, only to anger the king again by asserting the rights of the Church and papacy. He was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four of the king’s knights; according to tradition they carried out the bloody deed after hearing their king ask in a rage, “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest!” Soon miracles were re-ported at Becket’s tomb and he was canonized by the pope in 1173. The king did public penance at his shrine, which became one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in Europe. Becket’s feast day is 29 December.
“Thomas a Becket won for himself an outstanding place in history by his genius for manoeuvring other parties into the wrong. John Harvey, The Plantagenets (1949)”
