Saint Thomas Becket

December 29 is the feast day of Saint Thomas Becket. It is the anniversary of his murder in 1170. Becket is a powerful example of a person who courageously battled for the church and followed his beliefs in a time when most around him were being steamrolled by secular authority.

Thomas was recommended for service to King Henry II and was an able administrator and good friend to the king. He is one of those saints who had lived a life of merriment followed by a conversion that led him to a heroic life. His friend, King Henry II, saw to it that fun-loving Becket was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162 thinking that Becket would help him solidify his control of the Catholic church in England. Henry was opposed to certain independent actions of the church and was taking actions to suppress certain practices that he felt contrary to his interests as King of England. Henry expected Becket's support, but found himself in constant conflict with his new Archbishop who grew in courage, faith and determination. Becket had become a better man--there were many conflicts between the Kind and the Archbishop. When it became dangerous to stay in England, Becket went to France in exile, but continued to lead his flock. The Kind eventually convinced his old friend to return to England. Becket's excommunication of the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of London and Salisbury for their support for Henry's attacks on the rights of Becket and the church set the king off. His refusal to back down further angered the king who apparently underestimated Becket's determination to stay the course. Becket had changed his total allegiance from the King to the Pope and the Church.

At one point, Henry became so enraged, he is quoted as saying "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" Four knights overheard the King's words and on December 29, 1170, they entered the Cathedral. They insisted he absolve the excommunicated Bishops. Upon his refusal, they brought weapons into the church and hacked Becket to death as monks watched in horror. According to one monk, Edward Grim, Thomas Becket told the Knights that "for the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death."

Three days after his death, the first in a series of miracles took place in the Cathedral associated with Becket's martyrdom. These miracles would later be depicted in stain glass windows called miracle windows. In 1173, Becket was canonized and pilgrims began to flock to Thomas' shrine in the Cathedral. The repentant King would make the pilgrimage himself a year later.

Canterbury was on the medieval pilgrim route to Rome, but the Cathedral became a pilgrimage site itself after Thomas Becket's canonization. Geoffrey Chaucer used the pilgrimage treks as the backdrop for his Canterbury Tales. Becket's martyrdom would help create a tradition of faith expression that in England that survives to this day. Although Becket's shrine and his bones were destroyed in 1538 on the orders of King Henry VIII. Pilgrims continue to vist Canterbury as a sacred site.

Our new book, Pilgrimage, looks mostly at traditional religious sites like Canterbury and provides information that readers will find  useful and interesting.