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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Thomas Becket
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(also known as Thomas à Becket and St Thomas Becket, c.1118–70)
The king's chancellor 1154–62, and archbishop of Canterbury 1162–70. Born in London of Norman-French parents, he established a reputation in the household of the previous archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald, and was selected as chancellor by Henry II in 1154. A close friendship developed between the two men, but it did not long survive Henry's appointment of Thomas, against his will, to succeed Theobald at Canterbury in 1162. This was a period of constant friction between royal and ecclesiastical power, and Thomas's insistence on the rights of the church made it necessary for him to flee to France in 1164. He remained abroad for the next six years, upholding the papal cause by such measures as excommunicating those bishops in England who collaborated with the king.
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In 1170 Thomas returned to Canterbury, to be greeted there with acclaim. According to verbal tradition, the king then asked the dangerous question 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?'. It was answered on 29 December 1170 by four knights (Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, Reginald Fitzurse and Richard le Breton), who murdered Thomas in the north transept of his own cathedral. He was rapidly canonized (1173), and in 1174 the king did public penance at his tomb. His shrine turned Canterbury into one of medieval Europe's most popular places of pilgrimage, and in the 20C his martyrdom was made the subject of a major poetic drama, *Murder in the Cathedral. His feast day is the date of his death, December 29.
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