The Murder of Thomas Becket

 On 29th December 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who had driven Henry II to the point of distraction with his stubbornness, was murdered in quite brutal fashion in Canterbury Cathedral. 4 knights, thinking they were acting on behalf of the king after overhearing another of his furious outbursts, armed themselves and went to confront the Archbishop. These four men were named Reginald Fitzurse, William De Tracy, Hugh De Morville and Richard Brito. On arriving in Canterbury, they attempted to reason with Becket, urging him not to be so headstrong in his relations with the king. For years, Becket and Henry had been at loggerheads as the king tried to impose royal control over the church with Becket absolutely refusing to comply. Discussions between Becket and the four knights on this cold winter’s night rumbled on and it became clear to Fitzurse, De Tracy, Morville and Brito that they were making little headway.

The conversation had gradually become more heated and the four knights stepped out into the courtyard. Becket perhaps thinking they had gone to cool off. This was not the case. Evidently, the knights had been prepared for the eventuality of a deadlock with Becket and now they prepared to turn up the heat on the Archbishop. They removed the garments they had put on to disguise the armour they were wearing and stepped back inside the Cathedral, in what was a clear show of intimidation. Those around Becket realised that the situation was becoming dangerous and urged him to back down. Becket was not for turning and would not be bullied into submission. He prepared to take Mass, knowing full well that the anger of the knights had now reached boiling point.

They began to sack the place, rushing through Becket’s living quarters with swords drawn. Fitzurse briefly became separated from the rest of the group. Bumping into one of the others, Fitzurse, clearly becoming more and more agitated, demanded to know where Becket had gone. Before his fellow knight could respond however, a voice from behind Fitzurse said “Here am I, Reginald. I have conferred many a benefit on you, Reginald; and do you now come to me with arms in your hands?” Fitzurse, in response, called Becket a traitor and made obvious threats with his sword. Becket, however, remained steadfast with Fitzurse showing signs of losing his nerve. He demanded Becket flee the scene, a clear indication that Fitzurse wished the episode to be over. At this point, Fitzurse was joined by his fellow knights which restored some of his confidence. Still Becket stood his ground and told the men facing him that he would willingly embrace death but, under no circumstances, were they to harm anybody else in the Cathedral. Fitzurse and the others finally snapped and they fell on the Archbishop with blow after blow raining down on Becket. The top of his head was sliced off and his brains began to seep out on to the cold Cathedral ground.

Before fleeing the horrifying scene, Fitzurse, De Tracy, Morville and Brito pillaged more of Becket’s belongings. As they rode off into the night, the reality of what they had done began to dawn on them. Initially, they may have felt jubilant in the mistaken belief that they had carried out the king’s wishes to be rid of a longstanding and highly bothersome problem. But there were two things wrong with that. The first being that the king certainly didn’t want Becket dead. Before the problems between Henry and Becket arose, which had begun not long after Becket’s appointment as Archbishop in 1162, they had been good friends. In his previous position as Chancellor, Becket had served the king nobly and England ,under Henry II and Becket, had started to flourish after years of trouble during the reign of King Stephen. Secondly, Becket was a man of God and this crime would stun not just England but the whole of Europe. 

For the four knights, soon made fully aware of the public reaction to their heinous crime, the only thing for it was to lay low for a while before humbly begging for forgiveness from the pope. All four were ordered to travel eastwards to the Holy Land to fight the enemies of Christianity. Such a pilgrimage, or even a crusade, was the only way of winning back God’s favour. As for Henry II, when news of Becket’s death was brought to him, his reaction was one of absolute horror. Whilst he performed very public acts of penance at Canterbury, it wasn’t enough to undo the damage. His reign, it can be argued, never fully recovered. In the years following Becket’s death, the king’s sons went into open rebellion against him and would plague him until his own death in 1189. In this age, some would say that this was divine punishment for Henry’s furious outburst that had led to such a disastrous murder.