A canterbury tale
A biography shedding new light on martyred archbishop of canterbury thomas becket has just been published, using contemporary accounts of his life and death.
Historian john guy tells the story of his rise to prominence and relationship with the man history holds responsible for his murder his onetime friend king henry ii.
Much of the emphasis of"Thomas becket:Warrior, priest, rebel, victim"Is on henry, a monarch whose inability to accept reality when it was in conflict with his own wishes seems to verge on the insane.
It shows a man who, in order to protect his own career prospects, refused to visit his former patron, the old archbishop of canterbury, on his deathbed.
It also shows a wellrespected royal court member who quarreled with the king over the trivial matter of a furred cloak and resigned from the chancellorship of england without consulting henry first.
Mr guy points out that some of the accounts he draws on were written by men who knew becket well, but were written after his death at a time when calls to make him a saint were in full cry.
Becket's story is a well known kentish tale, and the contemporary evidence is extensive, so it is pretty certain what happened.
He was appointed first chancellor, then archbishop of canterbury by henry, who believed that he could rely on his old friend to support his policy of curbing the powers of the church.
But becket stoutly defended the independence of the clerics and the supremacy of the papacy, in the face of an increasingly frustrated and angry king.
After many violent disputes, in december 1170 henry's patience snapped.He is supposed to have cried out, 'who will rid me of this turbulent priest?' leading four knights to ride to Canterbury to slay Becket.
Hugh de morville, reginald fitzurse, richard le breton and william de tracy are believed to have stayed at saltwood castle before the murder and hid out at tappington hall, denton, after their infamous deed.
The accounts of the monks present at the time paint the scene in gruesome detail as the knights leapt at the archbishop, slashing, hewing and stabbing with their swords.
Becket fell to his knees and offered his soul to the almighty before the final blow which sliced off the crown of his head, spreading blood and brains over the cathedral floor.
A clerk who had entered with the assassins placed his foot on the dead man's neck before calling out according to legend: "Let us away, knights this fellow will arise no more. "
"For the name of jesus and the protection of the church, i am ready to embrace death,"Were the final words of the murdered churchman according http://www.formalaudresses.com/evening-dresses.html
to the account of eyewitness edward grim, himself wounded in the attack.
The quarrel and murder became the centre of a story of religion against state and a power struggle between two men convinced of their righteousness
There has even been a suggestion of some sort of homoerotic attraction between the former friends, not least in the film"Becket"Which stars peter o'toole as the king and richard burton as the cleric.Mr guy's book, however, dismisses this.
Becket's road to sainthood was fast.The remorseful king prostrated himself at his tomb where miracles were reported to occur and he was canonised swiftly, in 1173.
This was great news for canterbury as the tombs of saints attracted crowds of pilgrims, bringing both alms and trade with them.
As well, relics of the saint could be sold to carry his sanctity across christendom.Becket was popular enough for many such dubious items to be on the market.Even at the time, critics asked whether there were enough small body parts or clothing to fill all the caskets supposedly containing his holy relics.
The canterbury tales by chaucer further cemented becket's place in british history and, as the scene of his murder, canterbury is the place most associated with him although he studied in paris and lived much of his life in london.
Christine powell, who works at the cathedral, is an expert on thomas becket and said visitors are fascinated by his story.
Pope john paul ii and archbishop robert runcie both prayed at the site of his murder on may 29 1982 and a sculpture showing two ragged steel swords and a broken sword point which throw a shadow behind a bare stone altar are an impressive memorial to the event.
Ms formalaudresses
powell said: "The place where becket was killed is now very different to how it would have looked in medieval times.We know the ceiling would have been very much lower and everything a lot darker, especially as the murder took place on a december evening.
"That would have been the case elsewhere in the building there would have been a lot of places the archbishop could have successfully hidden away (more Party Dresses UK here)
if he had tried to. "
The archbishop's remains were entombed in trinity chapel in 1220 with a separate repository for the top of his skull, cloven off by the slash of a sword.
But in 1538, during the reformation, the shrine was destroyed and the remains lost forever.
Ms powell said: "It was destroyed on the orders of king henry viii after his split from the roman catholic church.
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