The murder that rocked the Middle Ages

Just over 850 years ago, on 29^th December 1170, a murder changed the course of history and marked the downfall of a monarch – here’s the story of Thomas Becket.

At one time, Thomas Becket was one of the most powerful figures of his age. His murder, which took place in Canterbury Cathedral, is something that remains just as shocking now as it was at the time. While you might have been visiting Canterbury Cathedral to enjoy the festivities at this time of year, let’s not forget what happened to Thomas Becket, former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Who was Thomas Becket?

Thomas Becket, later known as St Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and Thomas á Becket, was born in the Cheapside area of London in 1120. His parents and grandparents were Norman, and had come to London following the Battle of Hastings. His father, Gilbert Becket was a well connected merchant and it is believed that there was some relation to Theobald of Bec, Thomas’ predecessor as Archbishop of Canterbury. Despite having connections, the Becket family were not known to be particularly wealthy or powerful, though Thomas was of a high enough status to receive an education, studying at Merton Priory and attending a grammar school in London, possibly the one at St Paul’s Cathedral. While at school, he was known to have studied grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. He even went away to Paris for a year to continue his studies, though it was said that he never had any real education in church affairs and his Latin wasn’t the best.

His education was cut short when his father’s fortunes changed and Thomas had to return to England and find work. He began to clerk for Theobald of Bec, the Archbishop of Canterbury and was described as being intelligent and charming. Thomas was trusted with several important tasks for the Archbishop, including visiting Rome, and Theobald instructed him in the study of canon law. Not long after starting this work, Thomas was named the Archdeacon of Canterbury and held several ecclesiastical offices around England. Theobald became so impressed with him, that he recommended him to King Henry II for the vacant post of Lord Chancellor.

Henry II was also impressed with Thomas and appointed him Lord Chancellor in January of 1155. The pair became close friends, going hunting and gaming together. It is said that Thomas thoroughly embraced court life and his friendship with the king. He took on several residences, all of which were lavishly decorated and was known to throw huge parties.

But… What is a Lord Chancellor?

As Lord Chancellor, Thomas Becket’s main role collecting and administrating the money that the crown took from all landowners around England – this included the churches and bishopricks. That’s important, so keep it to hand for later.

During this time, Thomas became incredibly rich and powerful and was even trusted with the care of King Henry’s son, also Henry, who went to live in Becket’s household. Though the pair were friends, Thomas maintained his relationships with those he met through the church, so when Theobald of Bec passed and the position of Archbishop of Canterbury became available, Thomas was one of those nominated for the role. This pleased King Henry, who was keen to appoint someone who would allow him to exert more power over the church and on 23^rd May 1162, Thomas was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, something he would do alongside his role of Chancellor.

The great falling out

So, Thomas Becket is now Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, besties with the king and enjoying an elevated level of power and wealth. How did it all go wrong?

Well, for a time, it was all rosy. Thomas continued in his role as Chancellor and took on the duties of the Archbishop, however, he found himself leaning further into the church and began to pull away from the king. He wanted to protect church interests and against King Henry’s wishes, resigned as chancellor. This was the beginning of the end.

From the end of 1162 onwards, their relationship deteriorated to the point where Thomas was summoned to appear before the King’s Council and surrender all his property as punishment for upsetting the king. Thomas refused, choosing instead to flee the country, landing in France.

Thomas in exile

Thomas Becket remained in exile in France for the next six years, under the protection of King Louis of France.

While he was out of the country, King Henry continued to try and gain a stronghold in the church. At one point, he snubbed Thomas by having his rival, the Archbishop of York, crown his son, Henry – the very one that Thomas helped raise – early as a co ruler, making him Henry the Young King. This caused a whole load of problems – not just with the King and Thomas’s relationship, but that’s a story for another time. Having the Archbishop of York crown Henry the Young King, breached Canterbury’s privilege of coronation, something that soon became the business of the Pope himself.

Thomas appealed to the Pope, who put enough pressure on King Henry that he agreed to negotiate Thomas’ return to England. In the summer of 1170, the pair spoke for the first time in six years, with King Henry assuring that Thomas could come home and have his powers as Archbishop of Canterbury fully restored. Though Thomas took the olive branch offered to him, he was keen to have the last word, using his reinstated powers to excommunicate the Archbishop of York and the others that had been involved in the coronation.

The lead up to the murder

Thomas Becket returned to England on 1^st December 1170, apparently to cheering crowds. However, several members of the clergy were upset with his actions and complained to the king.

King Henry, who was in France himself at the time was outraged. It was here that he supposedly declared: “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” in front of a group of knights. Contemporary reports say what he actually said “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?” – a reference to Thomas’ humble roots. Though King Henry later claimed that this wasn’t an order, it prompted four knights, Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, Hug de Morville and Richard le Bret (or Breton)  to travel to Canterbury in search of Thomas.

The murder

Unlike most murders, there were a number of witnesses to Thomas’. One key account is from a man called Edward Grim, who was so close to the killing, he was actually wounded by one of the knight’s swords.

On the day of the murder, Thomas was at the Archbishop’s palace. The knights initially left their weapons outside and hid their armour under cloaks before entering the palace. They approached Thomas and told him he was to go to Winchester to give his reasons for the excommunication. He refused and the monks at the palace, advised him to go to the Cathedral for sanctuary.

With Thomas’ refusal to submit to the king’s will, the knights retrieved their weapons and followed him to the Cathedral. The monks tried to bolt the doors for safety, but Thomas reportedly said that it wasn’t right to make a fortress out of a house of prayer and refused to let them shut the doors.

The knights burst in and attempted to forcibly remove Thomas from the building. He again refused, holding to one of the pillars to prevent from being taken away. Realising he wasn’t going to come quietly, the knights drew their swords, FitzUrse appeared to be the ringleader and delivered the first, but non fatal, blow to Thomas’ head. This blow apparently sliced off the top of his head, and motivated the other knights to also begin to attack, which caused injury to Edward Grim, and leading the others in the cathedral to flee. The third strike, thought to have been dealt by Richard le Breton, was the killing strike and left him with a broken sword. At this point, the top of Thomas’ head had been completely removed, exposing his brain. A clerk who accompanied the knights was said to have put his foot on Thomas’ neck as he lay dying, kicking at his damaged head before saying: “Let us go knights, this fellow will not get up again.”

After the murder, the knights returned to the Archbishop’s Palace, plundering Papal Bulls, Charters, gold, silver, vestments, books and utensils.

A sidenote on the murderers

The four knights who set off in search of Thomas Becket were Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, Hug de Morville and Richard le Bret (or Breton).

These knights were all high ranking individuals. Hugh de Morville also held the title of Lord of Westmoreland and Knaresborough. His father was also the Constable of Scotland and offered them sanctuary following the murder. The four of them sought refuge at Knaresborough Castle, which was owned by the de Morville family, for some time.

William de Tracy lends his name to the town of Bovey Tracey in Devon, where his family seat originated. He also founded his own church at Nymet Tracey.

The aftermath

After the knights had left, the clergy at Canterbury were in shock. The body was left where it fell for several hours, with several people coming to the cathedral to collect vials of Thomas’ blood, under the belief that he would become a martyr. He was later moved to the high altar over night, before being buried the following day in the cathedral’s crypt.

Almost as soon as news of the death began to spread, people began to report witnessing miracles, which led to the monks being pressured to open up the crypt so that people could visit the tomb, which resulted in even more miracles being reported. Something that continued for several years.

The fact that an Archbishop was murdered, apparently by order of the king, in a holy place, is what made something that was already quite gruesome, even more so. There was increasingly public pressure on King Henry to acknowledge the murder and take accountability for it. He was threatened with excommunication and did public penance in several cathedrals, as well as being forbidden from attending Mass.

On 21^st February 1173, Thomas Becket was officially canonised by the Pope, one of the fastest canonisations in history. This meant that his reputation as a miracle worker spread quickly, with people coming from all over Europe in the hope that his spirit could heal them. Canterbury became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations, with visitors coming from all over to purchase bottles of Thomas’ blood mixed with water, that was sold by the monks as St Thomas’ Water.

The following year, in another act of public penance, King Henry visited the tomb.

And what about the knights that actually killed him? Well, the four of them fled first to Scotland where they were protected by Hugh de Morville’s father, the Constable of Scotland. From there, they made their way to Knaresborough Castle in Yorkshire, another of the de Morville’s residences.

All four were excommunicated by Pope and were ordered to undertake penitentiary pilgrimages to the Holy Land, where they were to spend 14 years. However, none of them were arrested and the crown did not confiscate their lands. However, he did refuse to help them when they sought his protection in the summer after the murder.

The four of them attempted to appeal to the pope, three of them, De Morville, le Breton and de Tracy built a church near Scunthorpe, but this did not impress anyone. They were ordered to go to Rome, though their departure was delayed by a rebellion against the king. Finally, after four years, they were all granted an audience in Rome and were banished to Jerusalem. There are conflicting accounts about what happened to each of the knights after this, it is thought that de Tracy died of leprosy before reaching the holy lands, but it is thought that le Breton completed his exile and eventually retired to Jersey. The others were believed to have died in Jerusalem, their remains were thought to have been sent to Brean Downs in Somerset.

In 1220, Thomas Becket’s body was moved from the crypt to a new purpose built shrine on the upper floor of the cathedral and continued to bring visitors to Canterbury until 1538 when Henry VIII ordered the destruction of the shrine during the dissolution of the monasteries. He also destroyed Becket’s bones and ordered all mention of his name to be removed from texts. Henrys clearly have it in for Thomas Becket.

There are several churches across the UK that are dedicated to Thomas Becket that you can visit, including:

Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth
St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Canterbury
Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Monmouth
St Thomas á Becket Church, Pensford
St Thomas á Becket, Widcombe
Church of St Thomas á Becket, Capal
St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol
St Thomas the Martyr’s Church, Oxford

So there you are, while visiting Canterbury to enjoy the festive season, spare a thought for the hideous murder of Thomas Becket, that took place in the cathedral itself.