Thomas Becket

Who they were

Thomas Becket was born in London in 1118 to a family of Norman origin, studied at Merton, in France and at Bologna, and in 1154 became archdeacon of Canterbury. The next year King Henry II made him Chancellor of England; he became the king's most trusted friend, living in luxury yet generous to the poor.

In 1161 he became Archbishop of Canterbury at the king's urging, and changed: when Henry sought to limit the Church's freedom through the Constitutions of Clarendon, Thomas refused his seal. He spent six years in exile in France. Soon after his return, four knights, taking the king's angry words literally, killed him in his cathedral on 29 December 1170. Asked where the traitor was, he answered: 'Here I am, no traitor, but a bishop and priest of God.'

The miracles

His murder shocked all Christendom, and only three years later Pope Alexander III declared him a martyr and raised him to the altars.

Why that counted as sanctity

A man of power became a servant of Christ, defending the freedom of the Church against the king who had been his friend, and died saying: 'I accept death for the name of Jesus and for the Church.'

Connected on this site

• Anthelm of Belley Saint
  “Pope Alexander then commissioned Anthelm to travel to England to try to reconcile Henry II of England and Thomas Becket.” — Wikipedia
• Saint Margaret of England Saint
  “Saint Margaret of England (died 1192) was born in Hungary to an Englishwoman who was related to Thomas Becket, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury.” — Wikipedia
• Ælfheah of Canterbury Saint
  “Thomas Becket, a later archbishop of Canterbury, is said to have prayed to Ælfheah just before his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.” — Wikipedia