Today is the anniversary in 1170 of the death of the most famous martyr of the Middle Ages.
Once upon a time, there were two bosom buddies who loved to party. Then one day, one of them became King of England. Henry II thought it would be a great idea for his friend to become Chancellor since they were as one. Thomas Becket was a good chancellor and the friendship was strengthened by common political interests. Then one other day, the Archbishop of Canterbury (the head of the Catholic Church in England) passed away. Henry had a bright idea. Wouldn’t it be neat if his best friend became the head of the Church. Henry was aggravated by the Church’s insistence on trying clergy in church courts instead of civil courts. This meant that murderers and rapists got the “benefit of clergy” and a slap on the wrist for their crimes. Archbishop Thomas would put an end to that injustice, right? Wrong. Almost as soon as he put the vestments on, Thomas was born again. He started wearing a hair shirt to punish himself and drinking water instead of wine! Henry must have said “I don’t recognize this dude”. Instead of doing what his best friend wanted, Becket became very protective of Church rights. The exact opposite of what Henry expected. The friendship was broken. It got so bad that Becket had to flee to France for six years. A shaky reconciliation was arranged and Becket returned in 1170. The detente was temporary. When Henry had his heir crowned by the other archbishop, a privilege allotted to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the past, Becket excommunicated the bishops involved in the coronation. Henry was incensed. When he heard the news at a banquet, he lost it. In his rage, he supposedly said “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” (Or more likely it was: “What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?”) It was probably a rhetorical question, but four knights took it as a command. They rode to Canterbury that very night. Arriving, they left their swords outside. They demanded Thomas return to Winchester with them to face the music, but he refused. They grabbed their swords and came back. Thomas had refused to allow his priests to lock the doors. “It is not right to make a fortress out to the house of prayer.” Thomas was in the church at the altar when they stopped with the talking and started with the hacking. One of the whacks took off the top of his skull and spilled his brains on the floor. His last words were “I am not a traitor and I am ready to die.” He was instantly recognized as a saint by the people and the Pope made it official in 1173. Henry had stepped in it and had to do penance by starving himself for three days and then making a pilgrimage in sack cloth and ashes to the cathedral to do penance.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Thomas-Becket/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-making-of-an-english-martyr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket
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