Thomas Becket, The Archbishop of Canterbury, martyr 1170

On this date in 1170 Thomas Becket, The Archbishop of Canterbury was brutally murdered by four knights from the King’s court in the Cathedral at Canterbury. Over the centuries hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have journeyed to Canterbury, England to visit the tomb of Thomas Becket. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales which scandalized many of us when we read all or part of the collection in High School or College were a collection of stories written by Chaucer in which the author creatively offered the separate reflections of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to pay homage at the tomb of Becket. To this day the role of King Henry II in Becket’s death remains an open question. Henry for his part denied any role in the archbishop’s death.
Thomas Becket was believed to have been the son of Gilbert Becket, sheriff of London. Whatever his parentage, we know with certainty that the future chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury was born on December 21, 1118 (designated in the U.K as St. Thomas Day). He was descended from a prominent family and educated at a school operated by monastics that were canons regular at Merton Priory in Sussex. He later studied at the University of Paris where over a century later Thomas Aquinas would teach theology.

Early in 1155 Becket became chancellor to a young king Henry II (also known as Henry Curtmantle from the French: Court-manteau). Becket soon became Henry’s closest confidant and trusted adviser as Becket was given control of the secretariat for the King as well as chief finance officer charged with raising revenue for Henry’s wars. Becket accompanied Henry’s armies, conducted diplomatic negotiations, and was the appointed guardian for Henry’s eldest son, who took his father’s name. In May 1162 Henry submitted Becket’s name to the monks of Canterbury to be elevated to Archbishop and successor to Archbishop Theobald. Becket was consecrated archbishop on June 3 by the bishop of Winchester.

Henry thought he had a champion in Becket amid the king’s quest to challenge the authority of the Church. For Henry, the king not the ecclesial authorities held the greater power. Yet, if Henry thought Becket and would a willing puppet in the King’s quest to consolidate royal power against the Church, Henry would soon be proven very wrong. Henry was surprised and angered when Becket chose to resign from the chancery. Becket then demonstrated that he intended to support the independence and special privileges which had been granted to the clergy in England over the previous half century. Henry determined to reclaim all of the royal powers which had been the King’s privilege in the time of his grandfather King Henry I (Henry Beauclerc) directly opposed the new Archbishop, bringing both the King and Becket into open conflict. The first volley in their dispute was over the matter of how to deal with clergy who were accused of serious criminal offenses. The dispute was a matter of jurisdiction. Should such clerks (clergy) be judged and punished in the King’s courts or in those of the Church. If tried in the latter, these clerks would not face capital punishment.

In October 1163 the King called upon bishops in the realm to submit to the civil laws which had been in place for clerics during the reign of Henry I. The bishops resisted and Henry II issued a second attempt at Clarendon in January 1164. Again the bishops refused, although Becket was persuaded to give a verbal promise agreeing to the directives. But when the provisions were put into writing in the form in what would later be called the “Constitutions of Clarendon,” Becket refused to put his seal upon them. The King retaliated by initiating legal proceedings against Becket resorting to unrelated false and trumped-up charges. At Northampton (October 1164), Henry ordered the bishops and barons to convict Becket. Becket as Archbishop forbid the bishops and barons from acting against him and appealed to the Pope. Becket then secretly slipped away to France. He offered Pope Alexander III his resignation. The Pope directed Becket to retain the office of Archbishop and condemned the major portion of the “Constitutions of Clarendon.” Pope Alexander himself had been driven out of Italy and into France by both the Emperor in Rome and a pretender to the papacy. This meant that Alexander could only offer Becket tacit support.

Exiled for nearly six years, Becket lived in France, in exile with few supporters. Becket attempted to negotiate with the King, the bishops of England, and the Pope. The matter became more complicated when the bishop of London, the archbishop of York, and the bishop of Salisbury all actively supported the King. Supporters of Becket’s cause in England remained under tight control of the crown. Becket resorted to excommunicating those who opposed him, directing that their lands revert to the Church. But such efforts were difficult to enforce on the south side of the English Channel especially when few were willing to oppose Henry and to publish such sentences which Becket might impose. Even with the few interdicts for which Becket was able to find those who would enforce, often ended up being in Papal appeals by Becket’s enemies. The Pope even went so far as to forbid Becket from exercising his power, when Henry offered both promises and even threats to the Pope in exile. Always the negotiator, Becket attempted to bargain with his old friend the King. But both remained entrenched in their positions. The King insisted upon unconditional acceptance of the Constitutions of Clarendon. Becket on the other hand insisted on inserting the words “saving the honor of God and my order” as a precondition to accepting the “Constitutions.”

Only the Archbishop of Canterbury was given the authority to crown Kings and their sons. In June 1170 Henry defied this special privilege reserved for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the King called upon the Archbishop of York to crown the young Henry. This did not win for Henry II a friend in the Pope. The King after taking this action soon feared that he himself would face excommunication and that Papal interdict would be place upon not only on English realm but also the royal possessions across the Chanel. The King sought to publically make peace with Becket, although Henry slighted the Archbishop by not offering to Becket the kiss of peace. Despite the danger of returning, Becket came home to England on December 1. Then on this date, December 29, 1170 Becket was brutally murdered by four knights from the King’s court.

Becket was immediately regarded as a martyr, and miracles were soon associated with the slain Archbishop. On Feb. 21, 1173 Becket was canonized (made a saint in the Roman Catholic Church). Becket’s tomb began attracting countless pilgrims to Canterbury, resulting in great wealth to the monastery there. This was despite the fact the monks of Canterbury had done little to support Becket in his own lifetime. Ironically, under the rule of another Henry centuries later, this time Henry VIII who sought a wife who could produce a living male, tensions between the throne and the Church reached a boiling point. Since the Pope would not grant Henry VIII a divorce from Catherine of Aragon who was the widow of Henry’s older brother, Henry VIII broke with the Church of Rome and had the Parliament declare him and his descendants Supreme Head of the Church in England. The break with the Church of Rome formally established an Anglican Church under the authority not of the Pope, but the crown. Henry II’s descendant wanted to ensure that the name and image of Becket were greatly suppressed, since the cause for which Becket had struggled was the very cause over which Henry VIII felt he had finally completely overcome for the crown. Henry VIII ordered the monastery in Canterbury to be destroyed in 1538. At the same time, almost all representations of Becket’s likeness were to be destroyed by royal edict. The monastery of Canterbury like numerous monastic properties in England, during the rule of Henry VIII became property of the crown. The namesake of Henry II had managed to come as close to establishing an absolute monarchy in England. While Henry VIII would have a power over the Church of which Henry II could only dream, the lock on the power of the English crown over the Church would not last. Henry’s successors would come to discover that while the Church of Rome could no longer thwart the ambitions of English monarchs, the common people of the realm would put restriction on royal ambitions over the Church. In that sense, the sense of the spirit of resistance against the crown found in Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury would find common ground with the common people and popular piety of the subjects of English monarchs.  

 


   

Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-19

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Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And
     "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
          what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?"
Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God's will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.