Thomas Becket

by Frank Barlow

On 29 December 1170, Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury was brutally murdered in his cathedral by four knights from the household of his former friend and patron, King Henry II. The horror that the killing inspired and the miraculous cures performed at Thomas's tomb transfigured him into one of the most popular saints in Western Christendom, and Canterbury became one of the greatest pilgrim shrines in the West.

Yet these were unexpected results. Thomas's extraordinary career had been, and remains, controversial. The transformation of a handsome, attractive, and worldly courtier into a zealous prelate, a bitter exile and finally a martyr was for many hard to understand. In this brilliant new biography, based on the original sources and informed by the most recent scholarship, Frank Barlow reconstructs Thomas's physical environment and entourage at various stages of his career, exploring the nuances and irregularities in the story that have been ignored in other studies.

Genres: History, Biography, Medieval, Nonfiction, British Literature, Religion

366 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

A Fellow of both the British Academy and the Royal Society of Literature, Frank Barlow was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Exeter, where he taught from 1953 until his retirement in 1976. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1989 for his contributions to historical scholarship.

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Becket by Richard Winston was first published in 1967, being the first major study of Thomas Becket in almost a hundred years. This deeply researched biography is about one of the most colorful men of the middle ages, Thomas Becket, Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. This martyr and saint has fasciated poets, playrights and novelists for centuries. In fact, one of the most stunning plays I have seen was the story of the Archbishop of Canterbury played out in Denver's gothic Episcopal Cathedral downtown where the entire church was the stage in the portrayal of Thomas Becket's betrayal and subsequent murder. However, Richard Winston points out that there have been few definitive biographies that addressed Becket's complex personality and the pivotal age in which he lived. The author further notes:

"Thomas Becket has left no body of literary work. All that we have from his pen are the many letters he wrote during the controversy with Henry II. To judge by these, he must have devoted himself during his student years less to theology and philosphy than to obtaining a solid grounding in the classics and the scriptures. We find him quoting from Lucan, Juvenal, Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Terence, Sutonius, and Plutarch; but most frequently from the Old and New Testaments."

As the book jacket notes, Richard Winston after a lot of careful research offers a new theory of the motivations of Becket's murder; he shows that the assassins may have been acting more in their own interest than on behalf of King Henry II. So with that premise clearly presented, I found the book quite interesting as I read of the conflict between these two men, both men with volatile tempers. This was a great book about the medieval period where the assassination of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in December 1170 changed the course of history. Becket's death and subsequent miracles attributed to him transformed the Canterbury Cathedral into one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe.

"Thus the worship of the saint ended in the Church of England; but throughout the Catholic world his feast continued to be kept, and the following words sung in the Introit in honor of 'the Holy Bishop and Martyr Thomas:'

Guadeamus omnes in Domino, diem festum celebrantes sub honore Thomae Martyis; de cuius passione gaudent angeli, et colaudant Filium Dei."

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed study of the life and career of Thomas Becket, focusing on his conflict with with Henry II, which was a pivotal chain of events in the ongoing struggle between church and state for hegemony in the medieval European world.

[Andrew Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dense and scholarly. Entertainment was secondary to academic merit in this book's creation.

[Relstuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a slog/slow read.

One of those stories from the outside it's disappointing the two sides couldn't work things out as the king and Becket were once friends. The expectation seemed to be the worldly knight Becket was expected to do the king's bidding after being appointed to a high religious position. The problem for that plan, was Becket decided he was going to have to act in a morally correct way as the archbishop of Canterbury, and resist the king's desire to grow the king's authority in ways that detracted from the church. Years of strife ensued that culminated with Becket's murder and eventual sainthood.

Watching the Hollywood film with Peter O'Toole is on my list of things to check out eventually.

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool. Interesting. Only read it for a project, was super helpful, glad it’s done now so it got an extra star just for that.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Barlow set out to write the definitive Becket biography. Mission accomplished. Thomas Becket, the 12th century english politican/archbishop/martyr/saint, rose from semi-obscurity to become chancellor of england under Henry II and then became Archbishop of Canterbury. After becoming Archbishop, he promptly got into it with the King (his buddy) over whether religious clerks could be subject to the king's punishment (among other issues), fled to France and spend five years arguing with Henry II over who was right and who was wrong.

Upon his long awaited arrival in England to resume his position as Archbishop, he was promptly murdered by some over zealous nights. The rest, as they say, is history. He was soon made a saint because his blood had miraculous healing properties(eww.)

Barlow knows his primary and secondary sources. When the sources are unclear, he says so. When the sources are absent, he tells you. It is clear that Barlow is not overburdened with a love of Becket or King Henry. His understanding of 12th century politics and religion (really the two were inseperable) is unimpeachable.

In summation, I found this book just as interesting for its portrait of 12th century society (albeit the elite side of society) as for the story of Thomas Becket. I doubt I will ever read another book about Becket after reading this one.

[Taylor K · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best account of St Thomas of Canterbury from a more secular point of view. Barlow is sympathetic, but also points out Thomas’s many faults. Yet Thomas career illustrates that even at fault, there is victory to be had. It is, as the last line of the book says, “something to ponder.”

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Becket is beaky. Thomas Big-nose. He kept sticking his nose into Henry II's agenda, and ended up a saint. "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest"?
Becket was a 12th century civil servant. He worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury, and eventually for the Plantaganet monarchy, before becoming Archbishop himself. He became a father figure to Henry II's son, also Henry.
However, political moves into the ecclesiastical domain caused the simmering dispute between Henry & his Archbishop, with a rather gorey result in Canterbury Cathedral.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers the overall cause of the conflict well and tries to paint a portrait of Becket as a person.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

St Thomas a Becket - man of principle or celebrity opportunist? (a question asked in the title of a review I read of this book) and the answer is probably both at different times of his life.

This is the first genuine "life" that I've read of a christian saint - it's (definitely) not a hagiography, it's not an anti-religious attack and it deals very little with his post-death cult sainthood and goal of pilgrimages. Thomas is treated in this book as very much a human being, as if he had been a poet, a merchant or a courtier. And Barlow seems to do a good job, among the restrictions and problems that a life lived 900 years ago throws up.

The opening chapters are extremely confusing - names, locations and historical events are thrown at me with no regard for my very human brain to keep track. Eventually I had to just accept that it was the big story that I was following, not every side road and byway.

Thomas Becket came from merchant stock - successful, but not royal - and was a charismatic man. Older than his later king, he was taken on as tutor to the future Henry II and they became great friends and companions. When Henry took on the crown he made Thomas his Royal Chancellor and gained a reputation for pride and a love of power, wealth and ostentation. When the Archbishopric of Canterbury became vacant, Henry saw a way to install a friend, a yes man, right at the top of the English Church organisation itself and bulldozed through the inauguration of Thomas.

And that's when it all started to go wrong.

Having entered the church, Thomas took on a sudden urge towards piety, as if overcompensating for this earlier sinful and indulgent life. A schism occured between Henry and Thomas, two previous bosom buddies, who were now extreme frenemies - a schism that would never be healed in Thomas's life.

Exiled in France for about 8 years, a thorn in the side of everyone who had dealings with him - Louis king of France, Henry King of England, Pope Alexander - he was passed between Louis and Alexander and supported or dropped depending on how useful he was to their cause. But, much to the chagrin of many closest to him, Thomas refused to compromise on anything - leaving the English church leaderless and in a parlous state because his pride would not allow him to back down on the smallest detail of his demands.

Eventually a compromise was made, Thomas returned to England with foreboding and was dead within a month.

The martyrdom itself - which most would consider the climax of the story - is a bit of an anti-climax in the book, over with in 4 pages, which was disappointing. However, you can rest assured that Henry II did not say anything about ridding him of any meddlesome priests (although he may well have thought it, often). The murderers themselves all got off scot free and were never punished at all.

So, an in-depth - at times TOO in-depth for a dilettante like me - study of Thomas Becket (never "a Becket", a later affectation) that read in conjunction with a broader history and perhaps a more cheerleading view of Thomas should tell you everything you ever need to know about the man rather than the myth.

[Pedro Pascoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 9 of a short reading course recommended by Norman F Cantor.

While readily acknowledging the importance of this event in European medieval history, and the quality of this work in particular in giving an even-handed report distilled from various sources on the event, I must say that this volume was one of my least favourite so far in the reading course suggested by Norman F Cantor. Largely due to a lack of genuine interest in my part on delving this deep into the events surrounding the (spoiler alert) martyrdom of St Thomas Becket, and partly due to the dry rendering of the life of Thomas.

While I couldn't really fault Barlow's biography, his book is a fairly straightforward chronicle of the life and death of one of the more intriguing characters of the European Medieval period. I wasn't expecting, nor hoping, for a more glamourized sexed-up version, however it was, for me, something of a chore to bash through this volume. One criticism for my part is the brevity with which Barlow presents the aftermath of the martyrdom of St Thomas at the end of the book, concentrating mostly on the immediate handful of years afterwards, and leaving the greater historical and social significance to be covered by a scant few pages. Perhaps I have been spoilt by some of the choices in this excellent short reading course, perhaps my interests lie more in the sweeping overviews rather than the minutae of the life of a contentious figure (which Thomas most certainly was), so I'll lay that on myself and my expectations rather than levelling that as a deficiency of the book.

Having said all of that, its strengths do lie in exactly that focus, so for that, it is no wonder it comes highly recommended. Its detail, balanced reporting on Thomas, his adversary Henry, their mutual stubbornness born from a deep initial friendship torn apart by their respective dedication and duty to their stations in life, the pettiness of their demands, the friction caused between them and their supporters, all add up to an important read. Just not an engaging read for me, alas.

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be more accurately titled The Thomas Becket Affair. I'm not faulting Barlow at all for that; he's written a great book on the details available on St. Thomas, but the man himself hardly comes alive. The first half of the man's life is almost entirely missing (again, not Barlow's fault). If you are interested in said affair, this is a detailed read. Six years of slow moving negotiations centering around the Constitutions of Clarendon reads with as much excitement as diplomatic interactions read today. The chapter on the martyrdom itself is worth picking this book up, though. The often complicated relationship between ecclesiastical figures who doubled as feudal figures is an important check on those who would see the Medieval era as an unmitigated glory of integralist political philosophy, and I say that as someone increasingly sympathetic with that goal. Sts. Becket and More squared off against their respective Henries under that feudal system, and their stories are actually quite similar. Both were chancellors (Becket really made that office), both Henry's lacked stable dynastic foundations, both appealed to Pope's in straightened circumstances (Rome was invaded during each crisis).

I wouldn't put this on the top of just any reading list, but if the conflict between medieval church and state is of interest, this is a useful resource.

[John Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true story of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and the adversity which led to his brutal murder and martyrdom in his cathedral by four knights of King Henry II. Barlow superbly reconstructs the controversial events which led a worldy courtier and friend of the King to become a zealous prelate, bitter enemy of the King, and finally a martyred saint. This is an engaging history of the severe enmity that developed between King and Archbishop over the rights of the Church, finally ending in a horrible murder.

[Jodi McMaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Barlow's biography of Thomas Becket is considered by most historians as "the" authoritative biography, as a book, it is dense and difficult. Great reference; not something to curl up with on a rainy day.