Thomas Becket didn’t start out as a saint. Far from it. In the mid-12th century, if you’d asked anyone in London about him, they would have described a tall, charming, and borderline-arrogant power broker who loved fine wine, hawking, and expensive clothes. He was the ultimate "king’s man." Then, everything shifted. The man who was Henry II’s best friend and most ruthless enforcer suddenly became his worst nightmare. Today, we call him St Thomas of Canterbury, but in his own time, he was a polarizing figure who split the English church and state right down the middle.
The Bromance That Broke England
You’ve probably heard of "troublesome priests," but the relationship between Henry II and Thomas Becket was deeper than just politics. It was personal. Henry didn't just like Thomas; he trusted him with the keys to the kingdom. As Chancellor, Thomas was the guy who made the King’s life easy. He raised taxes, led armies into France, and lived with a level of luxury that made the actual bishops of the time look like paupers.
Henry had a plan. He wanted to rein in the power of the Church. Back then, if a priest committed a crime—even a serious one like murder—they weren't tried in a regular court. They went to a "church court," where the punishments were notoriously light. Henry hated this. He thought it undermined his authority. So, when the Archbishopric of Canterbury became vacant in 1162, Henry had a "brilliant" idea. He would put his best friend, Thomas, in the job.
Thomas actually warned him. He literally told the King that if he became Archbishop, their friendship would end because he would have to choose between God and the Crown. Henry laughed it off. He shouldn't have.
The Great Pivot
The moment Thomas was consecrated, he changed. It wasn't a slow transition. It was an overnight flip. He traded his silk robes for a hairshirt—an incredibly itchy, uncomfortable garment made of goat hair worn against the skin as a form of penance. He started washing the feet of the poor. More importantly, he began saying "no" to the King.
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The big blowout happened over the Constitutions of Clarendon. These were a set of rules Henry drafted to limit papal authority in England. Thomas initially wavered, then dug his heels in. He refused to sign. To Henry, this wasn't just a political disagreement. It was a betrayal by his closest confidant.
Six Years of Exile and One Bloody Afternoon
Thomas spent six years in France. It was a miserable time of back-and-forth negotiations, excommunications, and petty bickering. Henry even punished Thomas’s family, seizing their lands and kicking them out of England. When Thomas finally returned to Canterbury in 1170, the crowds loved him. They saw him as a hero standing up to a tyrant. But the King’s men? They saw a traitor.
The climax of this story is the stuff of legend, but the historical reality is much grittier. Henry II, in a fit of rage at his court in Normandy, allegedly shouted some version of "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Four knights—Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, Hugh de Morville, and Richard le Breton—took him literally.
They crossed the English Channel and confronted Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170.
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It wasn't a clean execution. It was a brawl. Thomas refused to hide. He wouldn't let the monks bolt the doors to the cathedral, saying it wasn't a fortress. The knights tried to drag him out, but he was a big man and he fought back, clinging to a pillar. Eventually, they hacked at him with swords. The final blow was so violent it snapped the tip of a sword off against the stone floor. Thomas died right there, in front of the altar.
Why St Thomas of Canterbury Still Matters
Within days, rumors of miracles began. People claimed that dipping pieces of cloth in the blood on the cathedral floor could heal the blind and the sick. The Pope canonized him in record time—just three years later. Canterbury became one of the biggest pilgrimage sites in the world, famously inspiring Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
But beyond the religion, the story of St Thomas of Canterbury is about the limits of power. It’s the original "separation of church and state" battle. Even today, historians like Anne Duggan and Frank Barlow debate whether Thomas was a genuine martyr for religious freedom or just an incredibly stubborn man who enjoyed the drama of his own defiance.
There's a weird irony to his legacy. Henry II, the man who indirectly caused his death, ended up doing public penance at the tomb. He allowed the monks to whip him as a sign of his regret. Thomas won, in a way. The Church's power remained largely untouched for another 350 years, until Henry VIII—another King Henry with an ego—finally smashed the shrine and tried to erase Becket from history entirely. He failed.
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Modern Misconceptions
People often think Thomas was a lifelong monk. He wasn't. He was a clerk who enjoyed the high life. Another mistake is thinking he was "English." While born in London, his parents were Normans. He was part of the ruling class. Understanding this makes his shift to "defender of the poor and the church" even more radical. He wasn't an outsider fighting the system; he was the ultimate insider who decided the system was wrong.
How to Explore the History Yourself
If you’re interested in the real-world impact of Thomas Becket, you don't have to be religious to appreciate the sites. History is etched into the stone.
- Visit the "Martyrdom" at Canterbury Cathedral: There is a modern sculpture of four swords marking the exact spot where he fell. It’s a heavy, quiet place.
- Look for the "Becket's Crown": This is the eastern end of the cathedral, built specifically to house his relics.
- The British Museum: They occasionally run exhibitions featuring the "Caskets of St Thomas"—beautifully enameled boxes that once held his bones.
- Check out the London Connection: He was born in Cheapside. There’s a plaque, and the nearby church of St Magnus-the-Martyr has deep ties to his story.
To truly understand the man, you have to look past the stained glass. Read his letters. They show a man who was often stressed, sometimes petty, but ultimately committed to a principle he believed was higher than any king's whim. He wasn't a perfect person, which is exactly why his story stays so compelling nearly a millennium later.
If you want to dive deeper into the primary sources, look for the "Materials for the History of Thomas Becket," a massive collection of 12th-century eye-witness accounts. Reading the descriptions of his death from the monks who were actually standing in the shadows that night is a chilling experience. It reminds you that St Thomas of Canterbury wasn't just a figure in a book; he was a man who bled on a cold floor because he refused to blink first.