Thomas Becket

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born December 21, c. 1118 and died on December 29, 1170. His life and death were a testimony against encroachments on the liberties of the English Church.

His life and death also left their mark on English literature, as in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral.

 

[Plimoth Thom]

Thomas Becket was recently nominated as one of the 10 worst Britons in history along with the likes of Jack the Ripper and King John.

The "greedy" Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was nominated by Professor John Hudson, of St Andrews University, as the 12th century's worst villain.

"He divided England in a way that even many churchmen who shared some of his views thought unnecessary and self-indulgent," he said.

"He was a founder of gesture politics.

"Those who share my prejudice against Becket may consider his assassination in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December, 1170, a fittingly grisly end."

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