St Thomas of Canterbury

St Thomas of Canterbury, Bishop & Martyr

(Thomas à Becket, 1118 - 1170)

Feast Day 29 December

Thomas à Becket, was born on December 21, 1118, the son of Gilbert à Becket, an English merchant and at one time Sheriff of London, and a French Mother, Matilda of Caen in Normandy. He was educated at Merton Priory in Surrey and was later sent to Paris to study. After five years in Paris, Thomas returned to England where he joined the staff of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald. However, he did not remain in England for long and the Archbishop sent him abroad again to study law.

Following his return to England, Thomas was made Archdeacon of Canterbury because of his skills at administration. After the death of King Stephen in 1154, Archbishop Theobald recommended Thomas to the new King, Henry II (formerly Henry of Anjou) as Chancellor. Apparently, the two men, Henry and Thomas, took an instant liking to each other, maybe because they were both forthright and hot-tempered.

Archbishop Theobald died in 1161 and at that time, the King was the person to choose the successor. The decision took some time but Henry made up is mind that his friend, Thomas, would become the new Archbishop. As Thomas had been acting as Chancellor he had not risen in the Church as he might have and did not hold a particularly high 'rank'. Because of this, in 1162 he first had to be ordained priest and consecrated bishop on the next morning. He was then made Archbishop later on the same day.

No doubt King Henry believed that with his friend in the highest office in the Church in England there would be an easy alliance between Church and State. However, when Henry amended laws to place the State in a position to take charge of cases involving the clergy, the trouble started. Thomas originally agreed to the changes but subsequently changed his mind and did penance to show that he had been wrong in his original decision. This act, in those days, was taken as an insult to the King. As a result, Henry called Becket to Northampton and asked him to account for certain disputed sums of money that had passed through his hands while he was chancellor and later Archbishop of Canterbury. The conflict caused by these accusations was extreme and Thomas already well-liked by the general populace, was helped in October 1164, to flee England for France.

Thomas remained in exile in France for six years, with the support of the King of France, first at Pontigny and then at Sens. In 1169, while still in France, he excommunicated the Bishops of London and Salisbury who had stood against him and supported the King. In 1170, while Henry was in France himself, Thomas returned to England and landed at the Port of Sandwich. He was cheered by the local people from the time he landed to his arrival back in Canterbury.

Meanwhile, back in France, the most ardent opponent of Thomas, who was Archbishop Roger of York had the ear of the King. Archbishop Roger, who, as Archbishop of York, would have been number two in the hierarchy of the Church in England, suggested to Henry that, 'while Thomas lives, you will have neither quiet times nor a tranquil kingdom.' This threw Henry into one of his rages and he is supposed to have exclaimed, “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?” He was overheard by four of his knights who decided that they could gain great favour by dealing with the problem and left immediately for England. The knights were: Richard Brito, Hugh de Moreville, Reginald FitzUrse, and William de Tracy. They made for Canterbury and arrived there in the late afternoon of December 29th, 1170.

The knights' arrival and their cries so frightened the monks that they persuaded Thomas to flee from his residence towards the Cathedral where they felt he would be safe. Giving chase, the knights burst into the Cathedral as Vespers was being sung. Now flying into a rage himself, Archbishop Thomas shook off the Monks, and went into the transept the face the four knights.

The knights tried to seize him, but he fought back, actually knocking FitzUrse to the floor. At this point FitrzUrse, who had been called 'a pimp' by Thomas in this shoving match drew his sword and threatened the Archbishop. De Tracey also drew his sword and called out, “strike! Strike!” to the others and delivered the first blow. It took three more wounds before Thomas went down. It was Brito who delivered the death blow, slashing at this head, actually severing the top of the cranium, spilling the brains of the Martyr on the floor. The tip of the sword came off with the strength of the impact. It is said that there was a great storm within an hour of the death of the Archbishop and people flocked to the Cathedral to mourn for him. Three days after his there began a series of miracles which are depicted in 'the miracle windows' of the Cathedral and were attributed to Thomas. In 1173, the Archbishop was canonized by Pope Alexander III.

On July 12, 1174 Henry II came to Canterbury to perform penance at the tomb of the Saint, probably more as a result of public pressure than anything else but it would be nice to think that he was saddened by his part in the tragedy. It is said that he put on sackcloth and ashes at Harbledown and walked barefoot into the City where he was beaten with birch twigs by eighty monks. He then did penance at the tomb of the martyr in the crypt, remaining there for the night.

-The text is from the December 2000 number of Contra Mundum, the parish magazine of the Congregation of St Athanasius in Boston.

The picture is turning into something of a mystery. The notes in my file say it's from Wymondham Abbey. I googled their website - it's here - but found it not. I like it a lot; but where it came from, I couldn't say.

A collect for St Thomas:

O God, for whose Church the glorious Bishop Thomas fell by the swords of wicked men: grant, we beseech thee; that all who call upon him for succour may be profited by the obtaining of that which they desire. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.