St. Thomas of Canterbury (Becket)

Merchant's Son and Royal Chancellor

St. Thomas Becket was born around 1119 in London to a family of Norman merchant stock. Able and ambitious, he rose in the household of Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury and in 1155 was named chancellor of England by the young King Henry II. As chancellor he was the king's closest companion and served the crown brilliantly, living in a splendor that matched his office.

Archbishop, Conversion, and Exile in France

In 1162 Henry secured Thomas's election as Archbishop of Canterbury, expecting a compliant ally. Instead, Thomas underwent a genuine conversion of life: he resigned the chancellorship, adopted personal austerity, and became a determined defender of the Church's rights. The clash came quickly, above all over the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), by which the king sought control over the clergy and appeals to Rome. Refusing to yield, Thomas fled to France, where he spent six years in exile in Cistercian and Benedictine houses.

Murder in Canterbury Cathedral

An uneasy reconciliation allowed him to return to Canterbury in December 1170, but the underlying conflict was unresolved, and his excommunication of bishops who had cooperated with the king enraged Henry. Four knights, taking the king's angry words as their warrant, entered Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170, and cut the archbishop down near the steps of the choir as evening prayers were being sung. His last words, as reported by eyewitnesses, commended his cause to God and the patrons of his church.

Canonization, Penance, and Pilgrimage

Christendom was horrified, and miracles were reported at his tomb almost immediately. Pope Alexander III canonized him in 1173, barely three years after his death, and in 1174 Henry II did public penance at his tomb. Canterbury became one of medieval Europe's greatest pilgrimage destinations — the goal of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales — until the shrine was destroyed under Henry VIII in 1538. A candle now marks the site of the shrine, and the place of his martyrdom in the cathedral still draws pilgrims. His feast is December 29, and he is venerated as a patron of the clergy and a model of costly fidelity to the Church's freedom.

Significance

Thomas Becket's journey from the king's worldly chancellor to a shepherd willing to die for the Church shows the real power of conversion. He refused to let the crown take control of the clergy and of the Church's ties to Rome, and he paid for that stand with his life. Clergy and all believers can look to him when fidelity to Christ and his Church demands courage that costs everything.