Why is thomas becket called thomas a becket
Who was Thomas Becket?
Thomas Becket was an English archbishop and martyr, famously murdered by knights of Henry II at CanterburyCathedral. After his death, his tomb and relics became a focus for pilgrimage and he was made a saint.
Read more about Becket below, or use our timeline and story map resources to explore his life - and afterlife - visually.
Life and Legend
Thomas Becket was born in Cheapside, London, to reasonably affluent Norman parents who had settled in England some years earlier.
He was given a good primary education at Merton Abbey and in Paris, becoming a financial clerk.
In around he entered the service of Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury. He was then sent abroad to Bologna and Auxerre to study canon law. In Becket was ordained as a deacon and became Archdeacon of Canterbury.
Theobald was evidently impressed with Becket's work in this important administrative role, and used him as a negotiator in his dealing with the English monarchy.
Henry II succeeded Stephen on the throne in , and the following year he raised Becket to the position of Chancellor of England. Becket was on excellent terms with the King and served him for seven years as a statesman and diplomat, and even as a soldier, leading troops into battle against the French during the attempt to regain the lands of Henry's queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
He had the outward appearance of a worldly cleric who fitted in with the extravagant tastes of the royal court, and even supported the King in his disagreements with the Church. It seems that Becket may have taken on a role of a particular advisor to the King, who was twelve years his junior, and may have been the true originator of many royal reforms of administration.
Archbishop Theobald died in , and Henry proposed that Becket should be appointed as his successor.
Becket initially resisted, warning the King that their friendship would be compromised and that he would not be able to accept the reductions of ecclesiastical privileges that he knew Henry was seeking. However, after encouragement from Cardinal Henry of Pisa, who urged him to accept the new role as a service to religion, Becket eventually agreed to become the senior churchman within England.
Still only a deacon, he was ordained as a priest on Saturday 2 June , and consecrated as bishop the following day.
Thomas becket short biography wikipedia
St. Thomas Becket (born c. , Cheapside, London, England—died December 29, , Canterbury, Kent; canonized ; feast day December 29) was the chancellor of England (–62) and archbishop of Canterbury (–70) during the reign of King Henry II.Despite Becket's warnings, Henry evidently expected that the new archbishop would continue to be a strong ally.
However, a sudden change came over Becket and he reformed himself, as he said, from 'a patron of play-actors and a follower of hounds, to being a shepherd of souls'. He took his new responsibilities seriously, lived very austerely and was generous in almsgiving.
He quickly came into conflict with the King when he resigned the chancellorship. There were many points of issue between them, such as taxation and the state of the King's soul, but crucially they differed over the relative rights and responsibilities of Church and state over clergymen who were convicted of crimes, and the freedom of the English Church to appeal to the Pope against the monarch's wishes.
The positions of King and archbishop became entrenched; the other bishops were divided in their views.
In , following a difficult royal council at Northampton, Becket took refuge in France.
Thomas becket short biography St. Thomas Becket (born c. , Cheapside, London, England—died December 29, , Canterbury, Kent; canonized ; feast day December 29) was the chancellor of England (–62) and archbishop of Canterbury (–70) during the reign of King Henry II.He was offered help by the King of France, lived initially in the Cistercianabbey at Pontigny and then, from , at Sens. Both sides appealed to Pope Alexander III, himself living in exile from Rome at Sens. The Pope sought hard to find an appropriate solution, and Becket came increasingly to the view that the issue was a matter of deep principle.
He even attempted to resign his post, although Alexander refused to allow this.
Matters reached a head when Henry arranged for his son to be crowned by the Archbishop of York, in contravention of the tradition that the role of crowning English monarchs is reserved to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Becket, the Pope and the French King were outraged.
In the case of the King this was because his own daughter, Margaret of York, was daughter-in-law to Henry and had not been present at her husband's coronation. The Pope threatened to interdict Henry's French provinces. This left Henry with little option other than capitulation, and he met, and was apparently reconciled with, his Archbishop of Canterbury in July Becket returned to his see on 1 December and was received with acclamation by the monks of the cathedral as well as the local people.
Becket also went to London to meet with the crowned heir to the English throne, an event which seems to have particularly angered Henry.
The King was in Normandy at the time, and when told of Becket's doings he flew into a rage. This was the point at which he uttered reckless words which, almost certainly unintentionally, led directly to the murder of Becket, as he asked who would rid him of this turbulent priest. Four knights secretly hurried across the Channel to England, believing they were doing the King's will.
Arriving in Canterbury during the early evening of 29 December , they came upon the archbishop in a side chapel of the cathedral.
They demanded the absolution of the excommunicated bishops, but Becket refused. It seems that the knights left the cathedral for a short time, then returned with a band of armed men and tried to drag the archbishop outside but could not manage it. They eventually killed him where he stood.
Thomas becket short biography for kids This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 14 January Archbishop of Canterbury from to , Christian martyr "Thomas a Becket" redirects here. Not to be confused with Thomas à Beckett (disambiguation). For the school in Northampton, see Thomas Becket Catholic School. For other uses, see Thomas Beckett. This article contains too many.Becket is said to have died like a true saint. According to his cross bearer, Edward Grim, who was an eyewitness to the crime and was himself wounded in the struggle, Becket commended his cause to God and accepted death 'for the name of Jesus and in defence of the Church'.
Cult
The murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket stunned the whole of Christendom.
All across Europe he was acclaimed as a martyr, and in Pope Alexander III - who had never been unqualified in his support of Becket's position against the King - canonised him. Within ten years of his death healing miracles had been recorded at his tomb. Representations of his death appeared all over Europe, with extant examples from places as diverse as Iceland, Sicily and Armenia.
Becket's shrine at Canterbury, which displaced interest in a number of earlier local saints, rapidly became one of the most important three or four European pilgrimage centres.
The shrine, which was destroyed during the Reformation, was of unparalleled splendour, and was perhaps the richest tomb of any saint. It was apparently covered in considerable quantities of gold and jewels. The pilgrimage routes from London and Winchester to Canterbury can still be traced, and Chaucer's pilgrims, who journeyed to this shrine, form one important literary example of medieval pilgrimage (see Chaucer's Canterbury Tales).
Other shrines to Becket are also known, usually based around relics.
Thus, for example, his chasuble was venerated at Sens, and a fragment of his tunic and some of his brain at Sta Maria Maggiore, Rome.
Short biography format: Thomas Becket (/ ˈ b ɛ k ɪ t /), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London [1] and later Thomas à Becket [note 1] (21 December or – 29 December ), served as Lord Chancellor from to , and then as Archbishop of Canterbury from until his death in
The earliest extant representation of Becket is at Monreale in Sicily and dates from before Monreale seems to have been especially important in the propagation of the cult, perhaps because William II of Sicily's wife was the daughter of Henry II of England. Meanwhile, even secondary relics of the saint were powerful: Caesarius of Heisterbach (c) relates a miracle allegedly performed by the bridle of the saint's horse.
Although the life of Becket before he became archbishop was not notable for its sanctity, this aspect has been glossed over in much hagiographical writing.
Some legends have attached themselves to his early life, perhaps in an effort to make him appear more like a 'typical saint'. For example, it is sometimes said that his father was a crusader and his mother a Saracen princess who helped him escape from captivity in Palestine.
She followed him to England knowing only two words of English, 'Gilbert' (his name) and 'London'. She was ultimately baptised under the name Matilda and married her crusader in Old St Paul's Cathedral. It is also said that his mother Matilda used to weigh her growing son each day and give the same weight of bread - or bread, meat and clothing - to the poor.
These types of stories link Becket's origins to concepts of charity and conversion. They also provide him with a romantic aspect that is often associated with saints, for example the picaresque narratives of the virgin martyrs.
Although Henry II was pardoned by the Pope for his part in the events in May , it was not until 12 July that he underwent public penance at the tomb.
He was scourged by monks as part of a ceremony where he formally recognised that his enmity had led to the crime, and spent a day and a night in prayer before the saint's relics.
Write short biography Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury from until his assassination in and was also popular as Saint Thomas of Canterbury or Thomas of London. He was the son of Gilbert and Matilda Becket.He also returned (almost) all of the lands he had seized from the see of Canterbury and agreed to build a monastery at Witham (Somerset) as part of the penance. The King now admitted the freedom of the English Church to make appeals to Rome, but in most areas of his disagreement with Becket the Crown ultimately retained power.
This historical reality does not significantly impinge on the reputation of the saint, who is still revered as a true martyr of the Christian faith.
Sam Riches