View source for Thomas Becket

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170}}
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{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Archbishop
| honorific-prefix = [[Saint]]
| name = Thomas Becket
| title = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| image = London. British Library, Cotton MS Claudius B II. f.341r (cropped).jpg
| alt = Miniature depiction of Thomas Becket; the bishop is wearing his ecclesiastical vestments, a chasuble and a mitre, conversing with a fellow monk whilst the four assassins stand outside of the cathedral.
| caption = Thomas Becket from the {{lang|la|Collectio Epistolarum Sancti Thome Cantuariensis}}, {{circa|1180}}
| church = [[Latin Church]]
| see = [[Archdiocese of Canterbury|Canterbury]]
| archdiocese = Canterbury
| appointed = 24 May 1162
| term_end = 29 December 1170
| predecessor = [[Theobald of Bec]]
| successor = [[Roger de Bailleul]] (Archbishop-elect)
| other_post = 
| ordination = 2 June 1162
| ordained_by = 
| consecration = 3 June 1162
| consecrated_by = [[Henry of Blois]]
<!---------- Personal details ---------->| birth_date = 21 December {{circa|lk=no|1119}}
| birth_place = [[Cheapside]], London, [[Kingdom of England]]
| death_date = 29 December 1170 (aged 50 or 51)
| death_place = [[Canterbury Cathedral]], Kent, Kingdom of England
| religion = [[Catholicism]]
| buried = Canterbury Cathedral
| parents = {{ubl|Gilbert Becket|Matilda}}
| previous_post = {{ublist|[[Archdeacon of Canterbury]]|[[Lord Chancellor of England]]}}
<!---------- Sainthood ---------->| feast_day = 29 December
| venerated = {{ubl|[[Catholic Church]]|[[Anglican Communion]]}}
| beatified_date = 
| beatified_by = [[Pope Alexander III]]
| canonized_date = 21 February 1173
| canonized_by = Pope Alexander III
| attributes = {{cslist|[[Sword]]|[[martyrdom]]|[[episcopal vestments]]}}
| patronage = {{cslist|[[Exeter College, Oxford]]|[[Portsmouth]]|[[Arbroath Abbey]]|[[secular clergy]]|[[City of London]]|[[St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford]]|semi=true}}
| shrine = Canterbury Cathedral
| suppressed_date = 1538 (by [[Henry VIII]])
| module = {{Infobox officeholder |embed = yes
|office = [[Lord Chancellor]]
|term_start = 1155
|term_end = 1162
|monarch = [[Henry II of England|Henry II]]
|predecessor = [[Robert of Ghent]]
|successor = [[Geoffrey Ridel (bishop of Ely)|Geoffrey Ridel]]
}}
}}
'''Thomas Becket''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɛ|k|ɪ|t}}), also known as '''Saint Thomas of Canterbury''', '''Thomas of London'''<ref name=ODNB/> and later '''Thomas à Becket'''{{refn|The name "Thomas à Becket" is not contemporary but was first used by [[Thomas Nashe]] in the 1590s.<ref name=Jenkins>Jenkins 'Who put the 'a' in Thomas a Becket'.</ref>|group=note}} (21 December 1119 or 1120&nbsp;– 29 December 1170), was an English cleric and statesman who served as [[Lord Chancellor]] from 1155 to 1162, and then as [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1162 until his death in 1170. He is known for his conflict with King [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. He was [[Canonization|canonised]] by [[Pope Alexander III]] two years after his death. He is venerated as a [[saint]] and [[martyr]] by the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Anglican Communion]].

==Sources==
The main sources for the life of Becket are a number of biographies written by contemporaries. A few of these documents are by unknown writers, although traditional historiography has given them names. The known biographers are [[John of Salisbury]], [[Edward Grim]], [[Benedict of Peterborough]], [[William of Canterbury]], [[William Fitzstephen|William fitz Stephen]], [[Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence|Guernes of Pont-Sainte-Maxence]], [[Robert of Cricklade]], [[Alan of Tewkesbury]], [[Benet of St Albans]], and [[Herbert of Bosham]]. The other biographers, who remain anonymous, are generally given the pseudonyms of Anonymous I, Anonymous II (or Anonymous of Lambeth), and Anonymous III (or Lansdowne Anonymous).

Besides these accounts, there are also two others that are likely contemporary that appear in the ''Quadrilogus II'' and the {{lang|is|[[Thómas saga Erkibyskups]]}}. Besides these biographies, there is also the mention of the events of Becket's life in the chronicles of the time. These include [[Robert of Torigni]]'s work, [[Roger of Howden]]'s {{lang|la|Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi}} and {{lang|la|Chronica}}, [[Ralph de Diceto]]'s works, [[William of Newburgh]]'s {{lang|la|Historia Rerum}}, and [[Gervase of Canterbury]]'s works.<ref name="Barlow3">Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' pp. 3–9.</ref> Another account appears in {{lang|la|Expugnatio Hibernica}} ("Conquest of Ireland", 1189) by [[Gerald of Wales]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Forester |first=Thomas |title=Giraldus Cambrensis – The Conquest of Ireland |publisher=In Parentheses Publications |year=2001 |location=Cambridge, Ontario}}</ref>

==Early life==
Becket was born c. 1119<ref>Butler and Walsh ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'' p. 430</ref> (or 1120 according to later tradition)<ref name=ODNB/> at [[Cheapside]], London, on 21 December, the feast day of [[Thomas the Apostle]]. He was the son of Gilbert and Matilda {{not a typo|Beket}}.<!-- Source spelling omits the "c"-->{{refn|There is a legend that claims Thomas's mother was a [[Saracen]] princess who met and fell in love with his English father while he was on Crusade or [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrimage]] in the [[Holy Land]], followed him home, was baptised and married him. This story has no truth to it, being a fabrication from three centuries after the saint's martyrdom, inserted as a forgery into [[Edward Grim]]'s 12th-century ''Life of St Thomas''.<ref>Staunton ''Lives of Thomas Becket'' p. 29.</ref><ref>Hutton ''Thomas Becket&nbsp;– Archbishop of Canterbury'' p. 4.</ref> Matilda is occasionally known as Rohise.<ref name=ODNB/>|group=note}} Gilbert's father was from [[Thierville]] in the lordship of [[Brionne]] in [[Normandy]] and was either a small landowner or a petty knight.<ref name=ODNB/> Matilda was also of Norman descent<ref>Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 11.</ref> – her family may have originated near [[Caen]]. Gilbert was perhaps related to [[Theobald of Bec]], whose family was also from Thierville. 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 of London|sheriff of the city]] at some point.<ref name=ODNB>Barlow "[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27201 Becket, Thomas (1120?–1170)]" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> Becket's parents were buried in [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]].

[[File:Thomas Becket Memorial Plaque on Cheapside.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Plaque marking Becket's birthplace on [[Cheapside]] in London]]
One of Becket's father's wealthy friends, Richer de [[L'Aigle]], often invited Thomas to his estates in [[Sussex]] where Becket encountered hunting and hawking. According to Grim, Becket learned much from Richer, who was later a signatory of the [[Constitutions of Clarendon]] against him.<ref name=ODNB/>

At age 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. Around age 20, he spent about a year in Paris, but he did not study canon or civil law at the time, and his [[Latin]] skill remained somewhat rudimentary. Some time after Becket began his schooling, his father suffered financial reverses, and Becket was forced to earn a living as a clerk; with the help of his father he secured a place in the business of a relative. Later Becket acquired a position in the household of [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] Theobald of Bec.<ref name=ODNB/>

Theobald entrusted him with several important missions to Rome and also sent him to [[Bologna]] and [[Auxerre]] to study [[canon law]]. In 1154, Theobald named Becket [[Archdeacon of Canterbury]], and other ecclesiastical offices included [[benefice]]s, [[Prebendary|prebends]] at [[Lincoln Cathedral]] and St Paul's Cathedral, and [[Provost (religion)|provost]] of [[Beverley]]. His efficiency in those posts led Theobald to recommend him to King [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] for the vacant post of [[Lord Chancellor]],<ref name=ODNB/> to which Becket was appointed in January 1155.<ref name=Handbook84>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 84.</ref>

As chancellor, Becket enforced the king's traditional sources of revenue that were exacted from all landowners, including churches and bishoprics.<ref name=ODNB/> King Henry sent his son [[Henry the Young King|Henry]] to live in Becket's household, it being the custom then for noble children to be fostered out to other noble houses.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==Primacy==
Becket was nominated as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, several months after the death of Theobald. His election was confirmed on 23 May 1162 by a royal council of bishops and noblemen.<ref name=ODNB/> Henry may have hoped that Becket would continue to put royal government first rather than the church, but the famed transformation of Becket into an [[Asceticism|ascetic]] occurred at this time.<ref name=Huscroft192>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' pp. 192–195.</ref>

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="300px" caption="'''Becket enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury from a [[Nottingham Alabaster]] in the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]]'''">
Image:StThomasEnthroned.jpg
Image:StThomasSens.jpg
</gallery>

Becket was ordained a priest on 2 June 1162 at Canterbury, and on 3 June he was [[Consecration#Ordination of bishops|consecrated]] as archbishop by [[Henry of Blois]], the [[Bishop of Winchester]] and the other [[suffragan bishop]]s of Canterbury.<ref name=ODNB/>

A rift grew between Henry and Becket as Becket 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, which accelerated antipathy between Becket and the king. Attempts by Henry to influence other bishops against Becket began in [[Westminster Abbey]] in October 1163, where the king sought approval of the traditional rights of royal government in regard to the church.<ref name=ODNB/> This led to the [[Constitutions of Clarendon]] in 1164, where Becket was officially asked to agree to the king's rights or face political repercussions.

==Constitutions of Clarendon==
{{Main|Becket controversy}}

[[File:Jindrich2 Beckett.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|14th-century depiction of Becket at centre with [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]] at left|alt=Manuscript illustration. The central man is wearing robes and a mitre and is facing the seated figure on the left. The seated man is wearing a crown and robes and is gesturing at the mitred man. Behind the mitred figure are a number of standing men wearing armour and carrying weapons.]]
King Henry II presided over assemblies of most of the higher English clergy at [[Clarendon Palace]] on 30 January 1164. In 16 constitutions he sought less clerical independence and weaker connections with Rome. He used his skills to induce their consent and apparently succeeded with all but Becket. Finally, even Becket expressed willingness to agree to the substance of the [[Constitutions of Clarendon]], but he still refused formally to sign the documents. 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. Convicted on the charges, Becket stormed out of the trial and fled to the [[Continental Europe|Continent]].<ref name=ODNB/>

[[File:Arbroath Abbey Seal 01.jpg|thumb|A [[Seal (emblem)|Seal]] of the [[Abbot of Arbroath]], showing the murder of Becket. [[Arbroath Abbey]] was founded 8 years after the death of St Thomas and dedicated to him; it became the wealthiest abbey in Scotland.]]Henry pursued the fugitive archbishop with a series of [[edict]]s, targeting Becket and all Becket's friends and supporters, but King [[Louis VII of France]] offered Becket protection. He spent nearly two years in the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] abbey of [[Pontigny Abbey|Pontigny]] until Henry's threats against the order obliged him to return to [[Sens]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hill |first=Bennett |date=1970 |title=Thomas Becket and the Cistercian Order |journal=Analecta Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensia |volume=26 |pages=64–80}}</ref> Becket fought back by threatening [[excommunication]] and an [[interdict]] against the king and bishops and the kingdom, 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.<ref name="ODNB" /> In 1170, Alexander sent delegates to impose a solution to the dispute. At that point, Henry offered a compromise that would allow Thomas to return to England from exile.<ref name=ODNB/>

==Assassination==
[[File:Reliquary Thomas Becket MNMA Cl23296.jpg|thumb|left|Becket's assassination and funeral, from a French enamelled [[chasse (casket)|chasse]] made {{circa|1190–1200|lk=no}}, one of about 52 surviving examples<ref>"V&A plaque", with latest count; Binski, 225, with a catalogue entry on one in the [[Burrell Collection]] in Glasgow.</ref>]]
[[File:Sculpture by Giles Blomfield - Martyrdom, Canterbury Cathedral 2024-12-29.jpg|thumb|Sculpture and altar marking the spot of Thomas Becket's martyrdom in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. The sculpture by Giles Blomfield represents the knights' four swords (two metal swords with reddened tips and their two shadows).]]
On 14 June 1170 [[Roger de Pont L'Évêque]], [[Archbishop of York]], was at Westminster Abbey<ref>Duggan; Thomas Becket page 182: Barlow; Thomas Becket p.206 </ref> with [[Gilbert Foliot]], [[Bishop of London]], and [[Josceline de Bohon]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]], to [[Coronation#Coronation of heirs apparent|crown]] the heir apparent, Henry the Young King. This breached Canterbury's privilege of coronation, and in November 1170 Becket excommunicated all three.<ref>{{cite book |last=Warren |first=W. L. |date=1973 |title=Henry II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1awwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA507 |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles, California |publisher=University of California Press |page=507 |isbn=9780520034945}}</ref>

On hearing reports of Becket's actions, Henry II is said to have uttered words interpreted by his men as wishing Becket killed.<ref name=Huscroft194>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' p. 194.</ref> The exact wording is in doubt, and several versions were reported.<ref name=Warren508>Warren ''Henry II'' p. 508.</ref> The most commonly quoted, as invented in 1740 and handed down by oral tradition, is "[[Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?]]",<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjab094 |page=370|doi=10.1093/notesj/gjab094 |title=The Origin of the Phrase 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' |year=2021 |last1=McGovern |first1=Jonathan |journal=Notes and Queries |volume=68 |issue=3 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> but according to historian [[Simon Schama]] this is incorrect: he accepts the account of the contemporary biographer Grim, writing in Latin, who gives, "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?"<ref name="Schama1">Schama ''History of Britain'' p. 142.</ref> Many other variants have found their way into popular culture.<!-- Please don't list more! -->

Regardless of what Henry said, it was interpreted as a royal command. Four knights<ref name=Huscroft194/>—[[Reginald FitzUrse]], [[Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland|Hugh de Morville]], [[William de Tracy]] and [[Richard le Breton]]<ref name=ODNB/>—set out to confront Becket. On 29 December 1170 they arrived at Canterbury. According to accounts by the monk Gervase of Canterbury and eyewitness Grim, the knights placed their weapons under a tree outside the cathedral and hid their armour under cloaks before entering to challenge Becket. The knights told Becket he was to go to [[Winchester]] to give an account of his actions, but Becket refused. When he refused their demands to submit to the king's will, they retrieved their weapons and rushed back inside.<ref name=APS>Stanley ''Historical Memorials of Canterbury'' pp. 53–55.</ref> Becket, meanwhile, proceeded to the Cathedral for [[vespers]]. The other monks tried to bolt themselves in for safety, but Becket said to them, "It is not right to make a fortress out of the house of prayer!", ordering them to reopen the doors.

The four knights, wielding drawn swords, ran into the room crying, "Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to the king and country?" They found Becket in a spot near a door to the monastic [[cloister]], the stairs into the [[crypt]], and the stairs leading up into the [[Choir (architecture)|quire]] of the cathedral, where the monks were chanting vespers.<ref name=ODNB/> On seeing them Becket said, "I am no traitor and I am ready to die." One knight grabbed him and tried to pull him outside, but Becket grabbed onto a pillar and bowed his head to make peace with God.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilkes |first=Aaron |title=Invasion, Plague and Murder: Britain 1066–1558 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-19-849464-5 |pages=114 |chapter=Crown vs Church: Murder in the Cathedral}}</ref>

Several contemporary accounts of what happened next exist; of particular note is that of Grim, who was wounded in the attack. This is part of his account:
{{blockquote|...the impious knight... suddenly set upon him and [shaved] off the summit of his crown which the sacred chrism consecrated to God... Then, with another blow received on the head, he remained firm. But with the third the stricken martyr bent his knees and elbows, offering himself as a living sacrifice, saying in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church, I am ready to embrace death." But the third knight inflicted a grave wound on the fallen one; with this blow... his crown, which was large, separated from his head so that the blood turned white from the brain yet no less did the brain turn red from the blood; it purpled the appearance of the church... The fifth – not a knight but a cleric who had entered with the knights... placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr and (it is horrible to say) scattered the brains with the blood across the floor, exclaiming to the rest, "We can leave this place, knights, he will not get up again."<ref name="Lee2012">Lee ''This Sceptred Isle'' p. 97.</ref>}}[[File:Ivory carving St. Thomas a Becket.jpg|thumb|An ivory piece portraying the knights involved in Becket's assassination. One knight holds an axe with which to break down the door of the cathedral.]]

==After Becket's death==
After his death, the monks prepared Becket's body for burial.<ref name=ODNB/> According to some accounts, it was found that Becket had worn a [[cilice|hairshirt]] under his archbishop's garments – a sign of [[penance]].<ref>Grim, Benedict of Peterborough and William fitzStephen are quoted in Douglas, et al. ''English Historical Documents 1042–1182'' Vol. 2, p. 821.</ref> 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]].<ref name=ODNB/> In 1173, Becket's sister Mary was appointed [[abbess]] of [[Barking Abbey|Barking]] as reparation for the murder of her brother.<ref>{{cite book |title='Houses of Benedictine nuns: Abbey of Barking', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 |year=1907 |pages=115–122 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39832 |editor=William Page & J. Horace Round}}</ref> On 12 July 1174, amidst the [[Revolt of 1173–1174]], Henry humbled himself in public penance at Becket's tomb and at [[St. Dunstan's, Canterbury|St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury]], which became a popular [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrimage]] site.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Becket's assassins fled north to de Morville's [[Knaresborough Castle]] for about a year. 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. Pope Alexander excommunicated all four. Seeking forgiveness, the assassins travelled to Rome, where Alexander ordered them to serve as knights in the [[Crusader states|Holy Lands]] for a period of 14 years.<ref name="Barlow pp. 257">Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' pp. 257–258.</ref>

This sentence also inspired the [[Knights of Saint Thomas]], incorporated in 1191 at [[Acre, Israel#Second Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1191-1291)|Acre]] and which was to be modelled on the [[Teutonic Knights]]. This was the only military order native to England (with chapters in Acre, London, [[Kilkenny]], and [[Nicosia]]), just as the [[Gilbertine Order]] was the only monastic order native to England. 

The monks were afraid Becket's body might be stolen, and so his remains were placed beneath the floor of the eastern crypt of the cathedral.<ref name="Barlow pp. 257"/> A stone cover over it had two holes where pilgrims could insert their heads and kiss the tomb,<ref name=ODNB/> as illustrated in the "Miracle Windows" of the [[Trinity Chapel]]. A guard chamber (now the Wax Chamber) had a clear view of the grave. In 1220 Becket's bones were moved to a gold-plated, bejewelled shrine behind the high altar in the recently built Trinity Chapel.<ref name="angl_Beck">{{cite web |title=Becket's bones return to Canterbury Cathedral |last=Drake |first=Gavin |work=anglicannews.org |date=23 May 2016 |access-date=23 May 2016 |url=http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2016/05/beckets-bones-return-to-canterbury-cathedral.aspx}}</ref> The golden casket was placed on a pink marble base with prayer niches raised on three steps.<ref>Jenkins 'Modelling the Cult of Thomas Becket', pp. 104–114.</ref> Canterbury's religious history had always brought many pilgrims, and after Becket's death the numbers rapidly rose.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==Cult in the Middle Ages==
{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2017}}<!-- Four paragraphs have no citations. -->
[[File:158 Santa Maria de Terrassa, cicle de Tomàs Becket.jpg|thumb|200px|right|St Thomas Becket's consecration, death and burial, at wall paintings in Santa Maria de Terrassa ([[Terrassa]], Catalonia, Spain), romanesque frescoes, {{circa|1180}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Sánchez |first=Carles |title=A painted tragedy The martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Santa Maria de Terrassa and the diffusion of its cult in the Iberian Peninsula. |publisher=Anem Editors |year=2021 |isbn=978-84-122385-7-0}}</ref>]]
[[File:Former site of Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.jpg|thumb|Former site of Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury Cathedral]]

In [[Dublin]], the [[Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr]] was built in 1177 for the [[Augustines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/monument-to-murder-an-irishman-s-diary-about-dublin-s-forgotten-abbey-of-st-thomas-the-martyr-1.3251261|title=Monument to Murder – An Irishman’s Diary about Dublin’s forgotten Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr|website=The Irish Times}}</ref> In Scotland, King [[William the Lion]] ordered the building of [[Arbroath Abbey]] in 1178. On completion in 1197 the new foundation was dedicated to Becket, whom the king had known personally while at the English court as a young man.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

The [[Translation (relic)|translation]] of Becket's body occurred on  7 July 1220, the 50th [[Golden jubilee|jubilee]] year of his death, and was "one of the great symbolic events in the life of the medieval English Church", attended by King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], the papal legate, Archbishop of Canterbury [[Stephen Langton]], and many dignitaries and magnates, both secular and ecclesiastical.{{cn|date=June 2025}} A "major new feast day was instituted, commemorating the translation... celebrated each July almost everywhere in England and in many French churches."<ref>{{cite journal |first=Sherry L. |last=Reames |title=Reconstructing and Interpreting a Thirteenth-Century Office for the Translation of Thomas Becket |journal=Speculum |volume=80 |number=1 |date=January 2005 |pages=118–170 |doi=10.1017/S0038713400006679 |jstor=20463165 |s2cid=162716876}} Quoting pp. 118–119.</ref> It was suppressed in 1536 with the Reformation.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Robert E. |last=Scully |title=The Unmaking of a Saint: Thomas Becket and the English Reformation |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=86 |number=4 |date=October 2000 |pages=579–602 |doi=10.1353/cat.2000.0094 |jstor=25025818 |s2cid=201743927}} Especially p. 592.</ref> The shrine was destroyed in 1538 during the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] on orders from King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]].<ref name="ODNB" /><ref name="cch">{{cite web |url=http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/conservation/history/ |title=The Origins of Canterbury Cathedral |publisher=Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral |access-date=10 November 2011}}</ref> He also destroyed Becket's bones and ordered all mention of his name obliterated.<ref name="cch" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=3927 |title=The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket (Getty Museum) |publisher=The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709071459/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=3927 |archive-date=9 July 2007}}</ref>

A cult began, which included drinking of "water of Saint Thomas", a mix of water and the remains of the martyr's blood miraculously multiplied. The procedure was frowned upon by the more orthodox, due to the similarities with the [[eucharist]] of the [[Blood of Christ|blood of Jesus]].<ref name="Harvey">{{cite journal |last1=Harvey |first1=Katherine |title=The Cult of Thomas Becket: History and Historiography through Eight Centuries {{!}} Reviews in History |journal=Reviews in History |date=January 2019 |doi=10.14296/RiH/2014/2303 |s2cid=193137069 |url=https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/2303 |access-date=13 January 2022 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The saint's fame quickly spread through the [[Normans|Norman]] world. The first holy image of Becket is thought to be a mosaic icon still visible in [[Monreale Cathedral]] in [[Sicily]], created shortly after his death. 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. Over 45 medieval [[chasse (casket)|chasse]] [[reliquaries]] decorated in [[champlevé enamel]] showing similar scenes from Becket's life survive, including the [[Becket Casket]], constructed to hold relics of him at [[Peterborough Cathedral|Peterborough Abbey]] and now housed in London's [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].{{cn|date=June 2025}}

As the scion of a mercantile dynasty of later centuries, [[The Mercers' Company|Mercers]], Becket was much regarded as a Londoner by citizens and adopted as London's co-patron saint with Saint [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]]: both appear on the seals of the city and of the [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]].{{cn|date=June 2025}} The [[Bridge House Estates]] seal has only a Becket image, while his martyrdom is shown on the reverse.{{cn|date=June 2025}}[[File:Martirio di Thomas Becket - chiesa di San Lanfranco.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Fresco depicting the murder of Thomas Becket; on the left is the figure of Saint Lanfranco in act of blessing. [[San Lanfranco, Pavia|Church of San Lanfranco, Pavia]].]]

==Legacy==
* In 1170 King [[Alfonso VIII of Castile|Alfonso VIII of Castille]] married [[Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile|Eleanor Plantagenet]], second daughter of Henry II and [[Eleanor]], Queen of England and Duchess of Aquitaine. She honoured Becket with a wall painting of his martyrdom that survives in the church of [[San Nicolás de Soria]] in Spain.<ref>[http://www.romanicodigital.com/documentos_web/pdf/PDF%C2%B4S_VISOR%20On-Line%20Abierto/SORIA/SORIA.swf Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León: Soria III.] Fundación Santa María la Real&nbsp;– Centro de Estudios del Románico, pp. 961, 1009–1017.</ref> Becket's assassination made an impact in Spain: within five years of his death [[Salamanca]] had a church named after him, Iglesia de Santo Tomás Cantuariense. Monumental frescoes with the martyrdom of Becket were depicted in the romanesque church of Santa Maria in [[Terrassa]].
* [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' features a company of pilgrims travelling from [[Southwark]] to Becket's shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.
* The story of Becket's life became a popular theme for medieval Nottingham alabaster carvers. One set of Becket panels is shown in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70796 |title=St Thomas Becket landing at Sandwich (Relief) |website=Victoria & Albert Museum |access-date=26 December 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70791 |title=St Thomas Becket meeting the Pope (Panel) |website=Victoria & Albert Museum |access-date=26 December 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O69836 |title=Consecration of St Thomas Becket as archbishop (Panel) |website=Victoria & Albert Museum |access-date=26 December 2018}}</ref>
* The arms of the city of Canterbury, officially registered in 1619 but dating back to at least 1380, is based on the [[attributed arms]] of Becket: ''Argent, three Cornish choughs proper'', with the addition of a chief ''[[gules]]'' charged with ''a lion passant guardant [[Or (heraldry)|or]]'' from the [[Royal Arms of England]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Canterbury (England)&nbsp;– Coat of arms|url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php/Canterbury_(England)|publisher=Heraldry of the World|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref>
* In 1884 [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] wrote ''[[Becket (Tennyson play)|Becket]]'', a play about Becket and Henry II that [[Henry Irving]] produced after Tennyson's death and played in the title role.<ref>{{cite DNB12 |wstitle=Irving, Henry |first=Harold Hannyngton |last=Child}}</ref> Modern works based on the Becket story include: [[T. S. Eliot]]'s play ''[[Murder in the Cathedral]]'', adapted as the opera {{lang|it|[[Assassinio nella cattedrale]]}} by [[Ildebrando Pizzetti]]; [[Jean Anouilh]]'s play ''[[Becket]]'', where Becket is not a Norman but a Saxon, adapted for the screen in 1964, and starring [[Peter O'Toole]] and [[Richard Burton]]; and Paul Webb's play ''[[Four Nights in Knaresborough]]'', which Webb adapted for the screen, selling the rights to [[The Weinstein Company|Harvey and Bob Weinstein]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1083473.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610212236/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1083473.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 June 2010 |title=Hollywood shines a light on geezers who killed à Becket |last=Malvern |first=Jack |date=10 June 2006 |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=21 June 2010 |location=London}}</ref> The power struggle between Church and King is a theme of [[Ken Follett]]'s novel ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]'', where a late scene features the murder of Becket. An oratorio by [[David Reeves (composer)|David Reeves]], ''Becket – The Kiss of Peace'', was premièred in 2000 at Canterbury Cathedral, where the event had occurred, as a part of the [[Canterbury Festival]], and a fundraiser for the [[The Prince's Trust|Prince's Trust]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Peter |title=Music festivals: We pick 10 of the best |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/722471/Music-festivals-We-pick-10-of-the-best.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516004148/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/722471/Music-festivals-We-pick-10-of-the-best.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2008 |website=Telegraph |access-date=3 July 2018 |date=26 May 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Reeves, David |author2=Bowman, James |author3=Wilson-Johnson, David |author4=Neary, Martin |author5=Slane, Phillip |author6=Novis, Constance |author7=Brink, Harvey |author8=Keith, Gillian |author9=Willocks, David |author10=English Chamber Choir |author11=English Festival Orchestra |title=Becket: The kiss of peace=Le baiser de la paix=Der Kuss der Friedens |date=1999 |publisher=English Gramophone/DRM Control Point; Australia: manufactured in Australia under license |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/17218963 |access-date=3 July 2018}}</ref>
* The [[Becket Fund for Religious Liberty]], a non-profit, non-partisan legal and educational institute in the United States fostering free expression for religious traditions took its inspiration from Becket.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.becketfund.org |title=Becket Fund |publisher=Becket Fund |access-date=17 January 2010}}</ref>
* In 2005 a poll of historians by ''[[BBC History]]'' magazine of the "worst Briton" in each century of the last 1,000 years selected Becket as the worst of the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web |first=Sean |last=Coughlan |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4561624.stm |title=UK &#124; 'Worst' historical Britons list |publisher=BBC News |date=27 December 2005 |access-date=21 November 2022}}</ref> The following year the magazine polled its readers which of the ten selected by historians was the worst of the last millennium. Becket came second behind [[Jack the Ripper]]. The editor of the magazine suggested that Becket and the Ripper had been chosen because they were the best known names, and few would have heard of most of the other candidates.<ref name="bbcworst">{{cite news|last=Coughlan |first=Sean |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4663032.stm |title=UK &#124; Saint or sinner? |work=BBC News |date=31 January 2006 |access-date=17 January 2010}}</ref>
* The many UK churches dedicated to Becket include [[Portsmouth Cathedral|Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth]], [[St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Canterbury]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.welcometoportsmouth.co.uk/portsmouth%20cathedral.html |title=Portsmouth Cathedral, St Thomas' Cathedral, Old Portsmouth |access-date=3 December 2018}}</ref> [[Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Monmouth]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.welcometomonmouth.co.uk/Things-to-do/Churches/St-Thomas-Church-Monmouth.html |title=Welcome to Monmouth, St Thomas Church Monmouth |access-date=13 December 2011}}</ref> [[St Thomas à Becket Church, Pensford]],<ref>{{cite web |title=South West England |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/heritage-at-risk-register-south-west-region/harsouthwestacc.pdf/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/heritage-at-risk-register-south-west-region/harsouthwestacc.pdf/ |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |work=Heritage at Risk |publisher=English Heritage |page=243}}</ref> [[St Thomas à Becket Church, Widcombe]],<ref>{{NHLE |num=1394116 |desc=Church of St Thomas a Becket |access-date=13 December 2011}}</ref> [[Church of St Thomas à Becket, Capel]],<ref name="cct_stb">{{cite web |url=http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/Church-of-St-ThomasBecket-Capel-Kent/ |title=Church of St Thomas a Becket, Capel, Kent |access-date=13 December 2011 |publisher=[[Churches Conservation Trust]]}}</ref> [[St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol|St Thomas the Martyr]], Bristol,<ref name="cct_stm">{{cite web |title=Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol |url=http://www.visitchurches.org.uk/Ourchurches/Completelistofchurches/Church-of-St-Thomas-the-Martyr-Bristol-Bristol/ |publisher=[[Churches Conservation Trust]] |access-date=13 December 2011}}</ref> and [[St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford]].<ref name="near">{{cite web |title=St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford |work=A Church Near You |url=http://www.acny.org.uk/venue.php?V=214 |access-date=13 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010426/http://www.acny.org.uk/venue.php?V=214 |archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref> Those in France include Église Saint-Thomas de Cantorbéry at [[Mont-Saint-Aignan]], Upper-Normandy,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mondes-normands.caen.fr/france/patrimoine_architectural/normandie/roumois/montstaignan/0308montstaignan/index.htm |title=Saint-Thomas de Cantorbéry |publisher=Mondes-normands.caen.fr |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref> 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),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/magazine/photo/benodet-un-port-de-charme-en-pays-bigouden/vestiges-du-xiiieme-siecle.shtml |title=Saint-Thomas Becket (Bénodet) |publisher=Linternaute.com |date=18 March 2008 |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref>
* Among his obligations in contrition to Henry, William de Tracy much enlarged and re-dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury the parish church in [[Lapford]], Devon, in his manor of [[Bradninch]]. The martyrdom day is still marked by a Lapford Revel.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}
* British schools named after Becket include [[Becket Keys Church of England School]] and [[St Thomas of Canterbury Church of England Aided Primary School]]. British hospitals include [[St Thomas' Hospital]].
* Part of the Hungarian city of [[Esztergom]] is named [[Szenttamás (Esztergom)|Szenttamás]] ("Saint Thomas"), on a hill called "Szent Tamás" dedicated to Thomas Becket – a classmate of [[Lucas (archbishop of Esztergom)|Lucas, Archbishop of Esztergom]] in Paris.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Györffy |first=György |year=1970 |title=Becket Tamás és Magyarország [Thomas Becket and Hungary] |journal=Filológiai Közlöny |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=153–158 |issn=0015-1785}}</ref>
* In the treasury of [[Fermo Cathedral]] is the [[Fermo chasuble of St. Thomas Becket|Fermo chasuble of Thomas Becket]], on display at Museo Diocesano.
* Becket is honoured in the [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|Church of England]] and in the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church]] on 29 December.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Calendar |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar |access-date=2021-03-27 |website=The Church of England }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEq7DwAAQBAJ |title=Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 |date=2019-12-17 |publisher=Church Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-1-64065-235-4 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:SouthNewington StPeterAdVincula StThomasBeckettMartyrdom.JPG|Wall painting of Thomas Becket's martyrdom painted in the 1330s in the parish church of [[St Peter ad Vincula, South Newington#Wall paintings|St Peter ad Vincula, South Newington]], Oxfordshire
File:Thomas Becket at Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania).jpg|Thomas Becket in clerestory of [[Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)]]
File:Lyngsjo church Sweden 6.jpg|[[Baptismal font]] depicting Henry II of England ordering the murder of Thomas Becket ([[Lyngsjö Church]], Sweden, late 12th century)
</gallery>

==Explanatory notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |title=Thomas Becket |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-520-07175-9}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Barlow, Frank |title=Becket, Thomas (1120?–1170) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27201 |access-date=17 April 2011 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/27201|url-access=subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book |author=Butler, Alban |editor=Walsh, Michael |title=Butler's Lives of the Saints |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |location=New York |year=1991}}
* {{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=David C. |author-link1=David C. Douglas |last2=Greenway |first2=George W. |title=English Historical Documents 1042–1189 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=1953 |edition=Second, 1981 |volume=2 |isbn=978-0-415-14367-7}}
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-56350-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Hutton |first=William Holden |title=Thomas Becket&nbsp;– Archbishop of Canterbury|publisher=Pitman and Sons Ltd |location=London |year=1910 |isbn=978-1-4097-8808-9}}
* {{cite journal |last=Jenkins |first=John |date=2020 |title=Modelling the Cult of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.2020.1771897 |journal=Journal of the British Archaeological Association |volume=173 |issue=1 |pages=100–123 |doi=10.1080/00681288.2020.1771897 |access-date=16 May 2024|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last=Jenkins |first=John |date=2023 |title=Who put the 'a' in Thomas a Becket? The history of a name from the Angevins to the 18th Century |journal=OLH: Open Library of Humanities Journal |volume=9 |issue=1 |doi=10.16995/olh.9353 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Knowles |first=Elizabeth M. |title=Oxford Dictionary of Quotations |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |year=1999 |edition=Fifth |isbn=978-0-19-860173-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Lee |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Lee (historian) |publisher=[[Constable & Robinson]] |year=2012 |title=This Sceptred Isle: The Making of the British |isbn=978-1-84901-939-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Robertson |first=James Craigie |author-link=James Craigie Robertson |title=Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury |publisher=Longman |location=London |year=1876 |volume=ii}}
* {{cite book |last=Schama |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Schama |title=A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? : 3000 BC–AD 1603 |publisher=BBC Books |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-563-38497-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Stanley |first=Arthur Penrhyn |title=Historical Memorials of Canterbury |publisher=John Murray |year=1855 |location=London}}
* {{cite book |last=Staunton |first=Michael |title=The Lives of Thomas Becket |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester, UK |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7190-5454-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Staunton |first=Michael |title=Thomas Becket and His Biographers |location=Woodbridge, UK |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84383-271-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Staunton |first=Michael |title=Thomas Becket and His World |location=London, UK |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2025 |isbn=9781836390701}}
* {{cite book |last=Warren |first=W. L. |title=Henry II |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-520-03494-5}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
===Biographies===
* [[Anne Duggan]], 2005, ''Thomas Becket'', London: Hodder Arnold
* John Guy, 2012, ''Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel'', Random House
* David Knowles 1970, ''Thomas Becket'', London: Adam & Charles Black
* Richard Winston, 1967, ''Thomas Becket'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf

===Historiography===
* James W. Alexander, "The Becket controversy in recent historiography", ''Journal of British studies'' 9.2 (1970): 1–26. in JSTOR
* Anne Duggan, 1980, ''Thomas Becket: A Textual History of his Letters'', Oxford: Clarendon Press
* Anne Duggan, ed., 2000, ''The Correspondence of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (1162–1170).'' 2 vols, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* Carles Sánchez Márquez, 2021, ''A painted tragedy. The martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Santa Maria de Terrassa and the diffusion of its cult in the Iberian Peninsula'', La Seu d'Urgell: Anem Editors

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{NPG name|id=64402 |name=Thomas Becket}}
* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/grim-becket.html Edward Grim's account of the murder of Thomas Becket] at [[Internet History Sourcebooks Project]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081013015823/http://paradoxplace.com/Photo%20Pages/UK/British%20History/Saint_Thomas/Beckets_Bits.htm Beckets Bits], photographs and locations of twenty of the surviving medieval Limoges enamel chasses for relics of Becket
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/29/day-1170-thomas-becket-murdered-canterbury-cathedral-becomes/ Daily Telegraph:On this day in 1170: Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, and becomes a martyr]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09hp2rm BBC In Our Time: Thomas Becket]
* ''[https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101253 The Passion and Miracles of St. Thomas Becket by Benedict of Peterborough]'', translated by Rachel Koopmans. Woodbridge, 2025, {{ISBN|978-1-83765-264-8}}. [Open Access].

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{{s-bef|before=[[Robert of Ghent]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Lord Chancellor]] |years=1155–1162}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Geoffrey Ridel (bishop of Ely)|Geoffrey Ridel]]}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef |before=[[Theobald of Bec]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] |years=1162–1170}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Roger de Bailleul]]}}
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{{House of Blois and Anjou Lord Chancellors}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury|state=collapsed}}
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