Biography of Henry VII’s chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury, and his legacy

1. Saint
Thomas
Becket,
Bishop,
Martyr

2. Becket was born in
1120 at Cheapside,
London, on 21
December, the feast
day of St Thomas
the Apostle.

3. He was the son of Gilbert and
Matilda Becket. Gilbert's
father was from Thierville
in the lordship of Brionne in
Normandy, and was either a
small landowner or a petty
knight. Matilda was also
of Norman descent
– her family may have
originated near Caen.
Thierville, Brionne, Normandy CAEN

4. Gilbert was perhaps related to Theobald of
Bec, whose family was also from Thierville.

5. Gilbert began his life as a merchant, perhaps in textiles, but
by the 1120s he was living in London and was a property
owner, living on the rental income from his properties.
He also served as the sheriff of the city at some point.
Becket's parents were buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral

6. At the age of 10, Becket was sent as a student to Merton Priory south-
west of the city in Surrey. He later attended a grammar school in
London, perhaps the one at St Paul's Cathedral. He did not study
any subjects beyond the trivium and quadrivium at these schools.

7. Around the age of 20, he spent about a year in Paris,
but he did not study canon or civil law at the time and
his Latin skill always remained somewhat rudimentary

8. Gilbert Becket suffered financial reverses and the younger Becket was
forced to earn a living as a clerk. Gilbert first secured a place for his
son in the business of a relative – Osbert Huitdeniers.

9. Later Becket acquired a position in the household of
Theobald of Bec, by then Archbishop of Canterbury

10. Theobald entrusted him with several important missions to Rome
and also sent him to Bologna and Auxerre to study canon law.

11. In 1154, Theobald named Becket
Archdeacon of Canterbury, and
other ecclesiastical offices
included a number of benefices,
prebends at Lincoln Cathedral and
St Paul's Cathedral, and the office
of Provost of Beverley.
Beverley
St Pauls
Cathedral,
London
Lincoln
Cathedral

12. His efficiency in those posts led Theobald
to recommend him to King Henry II for the
vacant post of Lord Chancellor, to which
Becket was appointed in January 1155

13. As Chancellor, Becket enforced the king's traditional
sources of revenue that were exacted from all
landowners, including churches and bishoprics.

14. King Henry sent
his son Henry to
live in Becket's
household,
it being the
custom then for
noble children
to be fostered
out to other
noble houses

15. Becket was ordained
a priest on 2 June
1162 at Canterbury,
and on 3 June 1162
was consecrated as
archbishop by Henry
of Blois, the Bishop
of Winchester and
the other suffragan
bishops of Canterbury

16. Becket was nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1162, several months after the death of Theobald

17. the new archbishop resigned his chancellorship and sought to recover and extend the rights
of the archbishopric. - This led to a series of conflicts with the King, including one over the
jurisdiction of secular courts over English clergymen. - With the Constitutions of Clarendon,
Becket was officially asked to agree to the King's rights or face political repercussions

18. Henry summoned
Becket to appear
before a great council
at Northampton
Castle on 8 October
1164, to answer
allegations of
contempt of royal
authority and
malfeasance in the
Chancellor's office.

19. Convicted on the charges, Becket stormed
out of the trial and fled to the Continent

20. Henry pursued the fugitive archbishop with
a series of edicts, targeting Becket and all
Becket's friends and supporters, but King
Louis VII of France offered Becket protection.

21. He spent nearly two years in the
Cistercian abbey of Pontigny, until
Henry's threats against the order
obliged him to return to Sens.

22. Becket fought back by threatening
excommunication and an interdict against
the king and bishops and the kingdom,

23. but Pope Alexander III, though sympathising with him in theory,
favoured a more diplomatic approach. Papal legates were sent in
1167 with authority to act as arbitrators. A certain peace was
obtained preparing the way for Becket’s return to England

24. PAPAL LEGATE VISITS KING HENRY VII

25. In June 1170, Roger de Pont L'Évêque, Archbishop of York, was at
York with Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London, and Josceline de Bohon,
Bishop of Salisbury, to crown the heir apparent, Henry the Young
King. This breached Canterbury's privilege of coronation and
in November 1170 Becket excommunicated all three

26. “Will no one rid me of
this bothersome priest”?

27. Four knights, Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy and
Richard le Breton, set out to confront the Archbishop of Canterbury. On 29
December 1170, they arrived at Canterbury. - The knights told Becket he was
to go to Winchester to give an account of his actions, but Becket refused.

28. He said - "It is not right to make a fortress out of the house
of prayer!", and ordered the monks to reopen the doors.

31. "For the name of Jesus and the protection
of the church I am ready to embrace death."

33. After his death,
the monks
prepared Becket's
body for burial.
According to some
accounts, it was
found that Becket
had worn a
hairshirt under
his archbishop's
garments — a
sign of penance.

34. Becket's cousins
obtained refuge at
the Sicilian court
during their exile,
and King William II
of Sicily wed a
daughter of Henry II.
Marsala Cathedral
in western Sicily is
dedicated to Becket

35. Soon after, the
faithful throughout
Europe began
venerating Becket as
a martyr, and on
21 February 1173 –
little more than two
years after his death –
he was canonised by
Pope Alexander III in St
Peter's Church, Segni.

36. In 1173, Becket's sister Mary was appointed Abbess
of Barking as reparation for the murder of her brother.

37. On 12 July 1174, amidst the Revolt of 1173–74, Henry humbled
himself in public penance at Becket's tomb and at the church of
St. Dunstan's, which became a most popular pilgrimage site

38. Becket's assassins fled north to de Morville's
Knaresborough Castle for about a year.

39. De Morville also held
property in Cumbria
and this too may have
provided a hiding place,
as the men prepared
for a longer stay in the
separate kingdom of
Scotland. They were not
arrested and Henry did
not confiscate their lands,
but he did not help them
when they sought his
advice in August 1171.

40. Pope Alexander
excommunicated
all four. Seeking
forgiveness,
the assassins
travelled to
Rome, where the
Pope ordered
them to serve
as knights in the
Holy Lands for a
period of 14 years

41. This sentence also inspired the Knights of Saint Thomas, incorporated in 1191 at Acre,
and which was to be modelled on the Teutonic Knights. This was the only military
order native to England (with chapters in not only Acre, but London, Kilkenny, and
Nicosia), just as the Gilbertine Order was the only monastic order native to England

42. his remains were placed beneath the floor of the eastern crypt of
the cathedral. A stone cover over it had two holes where pilgrims
could insert their heads and kiss the tomb. A guard chamber
(now the Wax Chamber) had a clear view of the grave

43. Canterbury's religious history had
always brought many pilgrims,
and after Becket's death the
numbers rapidly rose further
On 7 July 1220, the 50th jubilee
year of his death, Becket's
remains were moved from his
first tomb to a shrine in the
recently built Trinity Chapel.
This translation was "one of
the great symbolic events in
the life of the medieval English
Church", attended by King
Henry III, the papal legate,
the Archbishop of Canterbury
Stephen Langton and many
dignitaries and magnates
secular and ecclesiastical

45. The shrine was destroyed in 1538 during the Dissolution
of the Monasteries on orders from King Henry VIII.

46. He also destroyed Becket's bones and
ordered all mention of his name obliterated

47. Becket was
much regarded
as a Londoner
by citizens and
adopted as
London's co-
patron saint
with St Paul:
both appear on
the seals of the
city and of the
Lord Mayor

50. Becket's Well",
in Otford, Kent

51. Over 45
medieval
chasse
reliquaries
decorated
in
champlevé
enamel
showing
similar
scenes from
Becket's life
survive,

52. the Becket Casket, constructed to hold relics of
him at Peterborough Abbey and now housed
in London's Victoria and Albert Museum

53. In 1170 King Alfonso VIII of Castille
married Eleanor Plantagenet,
second daughter of Henry II.

54. She honoured Becket with a wall painting of his martyrdom
that survives in the church of San Nicolás de Soria in Spain

55. within five years of his death Salamanca had a church named after
him, Iglesia de Santo Tomás Cantuariense. A monumental frescoes
with the martyrdom of Thomas Becket were depicted in the
romanesque church of Santa Maria at Terrassa

56. Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote Becket,
a play about Thomas Becket and
Henry II that Henry Irving produced

57. T. S. Eliot's play
Murder in the Cathedral

58. Jean Anouilh's play Becket, was
adapted as the opera Assassinio nella
cattedrale by Ildebrando Pizzetti),

60. Paul Webb's play Four Nights in Knaresborough,

61. An
oratorio
by David
Reeves,
Becket
(The Kiss
of Peace)

62. MONMOUTH
WIDCOMBE
CANTERBURY
BRISTOL
CHURCHES DEDICATED TO THOMAS BECKET - Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Monmouth, - St Thomas à
Becket Church, Widcombe, - Church of St Thomas à Becket, Capel, - St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol,

63. OXFORD
PENSFORD
CAPEL
St Thomas the Martyr's
Church, Oxford
Church of St Thomas
à Becket, Capel,
St Thomas à Becket
Church, Pensford,

64. in France include
Église Saint-Thomas de
Cantorbéry at Mont-
Saint-Aignan, Upper-
Normandy,
Église Saint-Thomas-
Becket at Gravelines
(Nord-Pas-de-Calais),
Église Saint-Thomas
Becket at Avrieux (Rhône-
Alpes), and Église saint-
Thomas Becket at
Bénodet (Brittany)
Bénodet
Mont-Saint-Aignan
Gravelines
(Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Avrieux

65. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty a non-profit,
non-partisan legal and educational institute
fostering free expression for religious traditions

66. LIST OF PRESENTATIONS IN ENGLISH
Revised 1-11-2022
Advent and Christmas – time of hope and peace
All Souls Day
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – In the Light of the Word
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – The Experiences and Challenges of Families
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 - Looking to Jesus, the Vocation of the Family
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - Love in Marriage
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Love made Fruitfuol
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Some Pastoral Perspectives
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Towards a better education of children
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Accompanying, discerning and integrating
weaknwss
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – The Spirituality of Marriage and the Family
Beloved Amazon 1ª – A Social Dream
Beloved Amazon 2 - A Cultural Dream
Beloved Amazon 3 – An Ecological Dream
Beloved Amazon 4 - An Ecclesiastical Dream
Carnival
Conscience
Christ is Alive
Fatima, History of the Apparitiions
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – Church and Family today
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - God’s plan for the family
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – family as a Community
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – serving life and education
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – mission of the family in society
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - Family in the Church
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Football in Spain
Freedom
Grace and Justification
Haurietis aquas – devotion to the Sacred Heart by Pius XII
Holidays and Holy Days
Holy Spirit
Holy Week – drawings for children
Holy Week – glmjpses of the last hours of JC
Human Community
Inauguration of President Donald Trump
Juno explores Jupiter
Kingdom of Christ
Saint Leo the Great
Saint Luke, evangelist
Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland
Saint Maria Goretti
Saint Mary Magdalen
Saint Mark, evangelist
Saint Martha, Mary and Lazarus
Saint Martin de Porres
Saint Martin of Tours
Sain Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Saints Nazario and Celso
Saint John Chrysostom
Saint Jean Baptiste MarieaVianney, Curé of Ars
Saint John N. Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia
Saint John of the Cross
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcuta
Saint Patrick and Ireland
Saing Peter Claver
Saint Robert Bellarmine
Saint Therese of Lisieux
Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Saint Stephen, proto-martyr
Saint Thomas Becket
Saints Zachary and Elizabeth, parents of John Baptist
Signs of hope
Sunday – day of the Lord
Thanksgiving – History and Customs
The Body, the cult – (Eucharist)
The Chursh, Mother and Teacher
Valentine
Vocation to Beatitude
Virgin of Guadalupe – Apparitions
Virgin of the Pillar and Hispaniic feast day
Virgin of Sheshan, China
Vocation – mconnor@legionaries.org
WMoFamilies Rome 2022 – festval of families
Way of the Cross – drawings for children
For commentaries – email –
mflynn@legionaries.org
Fb – Martin M Flynn
Donations to - BANCO - 03069 INTESA SANPAOLO
SPA
Name – EUR-CA-ASTI
IBAN – IT61Q0306909606100000139493
Laudato si 1 – care for the common home
Laudato si 2 – Gospel of creation
Laudato si 3 – Human roots of the ecological crisis
Laudato si 4 – integral ecology
Laudato si 5 – lines of approach and action
Laudato si 6 – Education y Ecological Spirituality
Life in Christ
Love and Marriage 12,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Lumen Fidei – ch 1,2,3,4
Mary – Doctrine and dogmas
Mary in the bible
Martyrs of Korea
Martyrs of North America and Canada
Medjugore Santuario Mariano
Merit and Holiness
Misericordiae Vultus in English
Moral Law
Morality of Human Acts
Passions
Pope Francis in Bahrain
Pope Francis in Thailand
Pope Francis in Japan
Pope Francis in Sweden
Pope Francis in Hungary, Slovaquia
Pope Francis in America
Pope Francis in the WYD in Poland 2016
Passions
Querida Amazonia
Resurrection of Jesus Christ –according to the
Gospels
Russian Revolution and Communismo 1,2,3
Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr
Saint Albert the Great
Saint Andrew, Apostle
Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Bruno, fuunder of the Carthusians
Saaint Columbanus 1,2
Saint Charles Borromeo
Saint Cecilia
Saint Faustina Kowalska and thee divine mercy
Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis Xaviour
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint James, apostle
Saint John, apsotle and evangelist
Saint John N. Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia
Saint John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla
Saint Joseph

67. LISTA DE PRESENTACIONES EN ESPAÑOL
Revisado 1-11-2022
Abuelos
Adviento y Navidad, tiempo de esperanza
Amor y Matrimonio 1 - 9
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – A la luz de la Palabre
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – Realidad y Desafíos de las Familias
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 La mirada puesta en Jesús: Vocación de la
Familia
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - El Amor en el Matrimonio
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Amor que se vuelve fecundo
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Algunas Perspectivas Pastorales
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Fortalecer la educacion de los hijos
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Acompañar, discernir e integrar la fragilidad
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – Espiritualidad Matrimonial y Familiar
Carnaval
Conciencia
Cristo Vive
Dia de todos los difuntos
Domingo – día del Señor
El camino de la cruz de JC en dibujos para niños
El Cuerpo, el culto – (eucarisía)
Encuentro Mundial de Familias Roma 2022 – festival de las familias
Espíritu Santo
Fatima – Historia de las apariciones
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – iglesia y familia hoy
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - el plan de Dios para la familia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – familia como comunidad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – servicio a la vida y educación
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – misión de la familia en la sociedad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - participación de la familia en la
iglesia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Fátima – Historia de las Apariciones de la Virgen
Feria de Sevilla
Haurietis aquas – el culto al Sagrado Corazón
Hermandades y cofradías
Hispanidad
La Iglesia, Madre y Maestra
La Comunidad Humana
La Vida en Cristo
San José, obrero, marido, padre
San Juan, apostol y evangelista
San Juan Ma Vianney, Curé de’Ars
San Juan Crisostom
San Juan de la Cruz
San Juan N. Neumann, obispo de Philadelphia
San Juan Pablo II, Karol Wojtyla
San Leon Magno
San Lucas, evangelista
San Mateo, Apóstol y Evangelista
San Martin de Porres
San Martin de Tours
San Mateo, Apostol y Evangelista
San Maximiliano Kolbe
Santa Teresa de Calcuta
Santos Marta, Maria, y Lazaro
Santos Simon y Judaa Tadeo, aposttoles
San Nazario e Celso
San Padre Pio de Pietralcina
San Patricio e Irlanda
San Pedro Claver
San Roberto Belarmino
Santiago Apóstol
San Tomás Becket
Santos Zacarias e Isabel, padres de Juan Bautista
Semana santa – Vistas de las últimas horas de JC
Vacaciones Cristianas
Valentín
Vida en Cristo
Virgen de Guadalupe, Mexico
Virgen de Pilar – fiesta de la hispanidad
Virgen de Sheshan, China
Virtud
Vocación a la bienaventuranza
Vocación – www.vocación.org
Vocación a evangelizar
Para comentarios – email –
mflynn@lcegionaries.org
fb – martin m. flynn
Donations to - BANCO - 03069 INTESA SANPAOLO
SPA
Name – EUR-CA-ASTI. IBAN –
IT61Q0306909606100000139493
Laudato si 1 – cuidado del hogar común
Laudato si 2 – evangelio de creación
Laudato si 3 – La raíz de la crisis ecológica
Laudato si 4 – ecología integral
Laudato si 5 – líneas de acción
Laudato si 6 – Educación y Espiritualidad Ecológica
Ley Moral
Libertad
Lumen Fidei – cap 1,2,3,4
María y la Biblia
Martires de Corea
Martires de Nor America y Canada
Medjugore peregrinación
Misericordiae Vultus en Español
Moralidad de actos humanos
Pasiones
Papa Francisco en Baréin
Papa Francisco en Bulgaria
Papa Francisco en Rumania
Papa Francisco en Marruecos
Papa Francisco en México
Papa Francisco – Jornada Mundial Juventud 2016
Papa Francisco – visita a Chile
Papa Francisco – visita a Perú
Papa Francisco en Colombia 1 + 2
Papa Francisco en Cuba
Papa Francisco en Fátima
Papa Francisco en la JMJ 2016 – Polonia
Papa Francisco en Hugaría e Eslovaquia
Queridas Amazoznia 1,2,3,4
El Reino de Cristo
Resurrección de Jesucristo – según los Evangelios
Revolución Rusa y Comunismo 1, 2, 3
Santa Agata, virgen y martir
San Alberto Magno
San Andrés, Apostol
San Antonio de Padua
San Bruno, fundador del Cartujo
San Carlos Borromeo
San Columbanus 1,2
San Esteban, proto-martir
San Francisco de Asis 1,2,3,4
San Francisco de Sales
San Francisco Javier
Santa Faustina Kowalska, y la divina misericordia
Santa Cecilia
Saint Margaret,Queen of Scotland
Santa Maria Goretti
Santa María Magdalena
Santa Teresa de Lisieux
San Marco, evangelista
San Ignacio de Loyola