Murder In The Cathedral

(In the above article, published in The Tribune dated October 15, 1995, I have spotlighted the role of Saint Becket in defending the spiritual supremacy of the church over the State)

Whenever the name of Saint Becket Thomas (1118-70), the Archbishop of Canterbury, is mentioned Christians all over the world bow their heads in reverence because he chose to die defending the rights of the Church over the State.

The movement known as “Gregorian Reforms” had spread from Italy to France and the Holy Roman Empire had begun to inspire English churchmen. The leading points of that movement were free elections to the posts o clergy – men, inviolability of the church property and freedom of appeal to Rome. It was also against the right of the tribunals to try clergymen.

Henry II wanted a complete return to the practice of his father who had strict control over the church. Henry and Becket were friends and under the patronage of the King Becket occupied the eminent positions of Chancellor (1152-62) and the Archbishop of Canterbury (1162-70).

As Chancellor, Becket lived sumptuously ad maintained an establishment which excelled and outshone that of the King. But with his consecrations as the Archbishop, Becket spectacularly changed both his outlook and his way of life. He became devout, austere and embraced the integral program me of papacy and its canon laws. He seemed to have accepted at last the spiritual obligation which he had ignored as a Chancellor.

Once, virtually a servant of the King, Becket became the champion of the rights of the Church.

The ultimate breaking point was the “Constitutions of Clarendon” (1164) through which Henry II wanted global acceptance of the traditional royal and ancestral rights o the King over the Church in matters like clerical immunity, appointment o bishops, custody of vacant sees, ex-communication and appeals to Rome.

But Becket doggedly continued to defy the King and termed the royal stand as a breach of the church law.

As a result, Becket remained n exile for six years (2.11.1164 – 2.12.1170) but he maintained his antagonism towards Henry II. When Becket returned from France to England, he found himself the idol o the people and he persistently continued to champion and espouses popular rights and ecclesiastical privileges.

On December 29, 1170, four leading knights of Henry’s court misunderstood the King’s angry outburst as a command to kill the Archbishop. They entered the cathedral, and after an altercation, hit Becket with their swords killing him on the spot. Becket’s last words were the acceptance of death in the defense of the Church of Christ.

Within few days of Becket’s death, his tomb became a place o pilgrimage, while the image of the King was sullied. Becket was canonized (declared posthumously to be Siant) by Alexander III in 1173. In the following year, Henry II did penance at Canterbury and was absolved. Saint Thomas’s memory was commemorated by portraying him in illuminations and sculptures. Churches were dedicated to him throughout the western Christendom. In 1220, the Saint’s bones were placed in a chapel of the cathedral and became an object of reverence.                       

                                     Death of Becket