Today is the Fifth Day of the Octave of Christmas and is the Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Martyr and Archbishop of Canterbury, a champion of those in the Church that would resist the overreach of secular power into the sacred realm.
In AD1154, King Stephen of England died, and the young son of Queen Matilda, Stephen's rival, succeeded him as King Henry II (reigned 1154-1189). He ruled
When a vacancy in the see of Canterbury opened in 1162, King Henry II had Thomas Becket named to the post. The king had high hopes of his friend's ability to conform Church policy to that of the crown.
Henry II wanted complete submission of the clergy – but Thomas Becket refused, along with the other English bishops. Nevertheless, in a show of good faith, the Archbishop agreed that the bishops would abide by the customs of the Kingdom in good faith.
The King, however, demanded in January 1164 that the bishops sign the “Constitutions of Clarendon” which, among other things, made clergy subject to royal courts, made travel out of
Henry went after Becket, and began to trump up charges to break him. The Archbishop, for the sake of safety, departed for
By July 1169, Pope Alexander III demanded that King Henry II allow Archbishop Becket be allowed to return to his see and to England. Henry II ignored this command – and even crowned a son illegally that spring of 1170.
Pope Alexander III threatened immediate interdict that summer of 1170 if Henry did not reconsider. Henry did, then, finally gave way, stating that the “thief shall have peace” on July 21 1170. For his part, Louis VII, ruing the departure of the good Archbishop: “if only ours!”
That winter, four knights of King Henry would overhear him lamenting, "who will rid me of this meddlesome priest." Whether the king intended them to take his words so literally is a matter of some debate. What is not a matter of debate is that these men proceeded to Canterbury Cathedral to kill the Archbishop.
On 29 December 1170, the famous deed occurs: Thomas Becket was cut down at the altar of his cathedral of Canterbury.
The King, to his credit, responded on News Year’s day, 1171 with wails of lamentation and repentance. The Pope forbid him to enter a church on Holy Thursday. King Henry II went on a barefoot pilgrimage to the tomb of Becket in 1174 with a hair shirt, and was flogged by bishops, an abbot, and eighty monks. He was never the same again – he was a haunted man.
The murderers repented, too, and went to
Henry II’s family was a wreck – in 1173 his sons rebelled against him with the help of his wife, Eleanor. He captured her in that same year, and would keep her in prison for the next eleven years (to 1185).
When the schism of Henry VIII took place some centuries later, they made a particular point of visiting the tomb of St. Thomas Becket, and not for edifying purposes.
For more on St. Thomas, you might consult these links:
Old Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Thomas Becket
Catholic News Agency: St. Thomas Becket
Catholic Saints Info: St. Thomas Becket
Seasonal Customs (Fisheaters): St. Thomas Becket
In Italy, the city of Mottola has as its patron none-other-than St. Thomas Becket. Recently, they discovered a couple of relics of the saint: Vatican News: Relics of St Thomas Becket discovered in Italy
Interestingly, that city no longer has its own bishop and diocese -- since 1818 it is part of the Diocese of Castellaneta -- but there is a titular bishop of that title of Mottola (Motula in Latin). The current title-holder is the apostolic nuncio to Zambia and Malawi in Africa, Archbishop Gianfranco Gallone. Cf., Catholic Hierarchy: Titular Diocese of Motula
Merry Christmas & Live well!
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