BEC KET, Tito NIAS A, archbishop of Canterbury, was the son of Gilbert Becket, sheriff of London,• and was born in that city A. D. 1119. Being des tined for the church, he prosecuted his studies at Oxford with great assiduity and success ; from thence he was removed to Paris, and then went to study the civil and canon law at Bologna. Endowed with great natural abilities, and possessing industry sufficient to bring them into exercise, he had attracted the regard of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, who, pleased with his great proficiency in knowledge, and his grace ful appearance, received him into his confidence, and gave him early testimonies of his affection and friend ship. He conferred upon him the prebends of Lon don and Lincoln, and afterwards promoted him to the archdeaconry of Canterbury. Becket had been em ployed by hispatron in some important negotiations at the court of Rome, which he conducted with such dexterity and success, that Theobald recommended bim in the strongest terms to the protection and fa vour of Henry II. That monarch, already prepos sessed in his favour, from his having been instrumen tal in procuring from the pope those prohibitory let ters against the coronation of prince Etistace, which tended so much to his advancement, listened with sa tisfaction to the recommendation of the archbishop ; and scarcely was Henry seated on the throne, than Becket was raised to the chancellorship of England, the first civil office in the kingdom. This sudden ex altation was only a prelude to farther honours. Be sides a number of ecclesiastical benefices, he had se veral baronies, which had been escheated to the crown ; lie was made provost of Beverley, dean of Hastings, and constable of the Tower ; and, to com plete his grandeur, he was entrusted with the educa tion of prince Henry, the heir-apparent to the throne. The whole weight of public affairs had devolved up on Becket, and he executed them entirely to the sa tisfaction of Henry. His extraordinary merit had gained him the confidence of his sovereign, and, by his lively conversation and agreeable manners, he had insinuated himself into his affection and esteem. In all his actions he appeared to have his master's in terest at heart ; and during his relaxation from busi ness, lie was in general the companion of his amuse-. ments. Becket had laid aside almost entirely the ha bit. and manners of an. ecclesiastic, He lived in the most sumptuous and luxurious stile. His house was daily crowded with the chief nobility of the kingdom ; and his magnificent entertainments, and pompous re tinue, had never been equalled by any subject. The greatest barons were proud of his attention and friend ship, and the king himself was frequently found at. the table of the chancellor. He entered with spirit into all the exercises which were practised by the most accomplished cavaliers. Horsemanship and hunt ing were his frequent amusements, and he even de lighted in military fame. He attended the king in his wars at Thoulouse with 700 knights at his own charge, and acquired considerable renown in the va rious actions in which he was engaged. In short, Becket was regarded as the gayest courtier of his time, the chief favourite of his prince, and the second person in the kingdom.
Henry had observed, with a jealous eye, the usur pations of the clergy, and from the commencement of his reign, had sheaved a fixed determination to main tain his authority, and to repress every encroachment. The death of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, appeared a favourable opportunity for setting bounds to their power, by appointing to that high dignity a creature of his own, upon whose devotion he could depend, and from whom he might fear no opposition to his measures. The eyes of Henry were immediate ly turned upon Becket, from whom he had received many proofs of attachment ; from whose gratitude he expected the most entire submission ; from whose abi lities he looked for assistance and support ; and whose freedom from superstition pointed him out as the fittest person for governing the church in tranquillity. Becket was accordingly nominated to the vacant see, and was consecrated at Canterbury, June 6th 1162.. But the flattering prospects of Henry received their death-blow from the very hands by which he expect ed they were to be realised. The ambition of Becket. had risen with his fortunes ; his high spirit had es caped from the controul of civil authority; and from being the dependant of his sovereign, and the creature of his will, he now arrogated to himself the powers of an equal. His accession to the primacy was im mediately followed by a complete change in his de meanour and conduct. The luxurious dainties of his table were excluded for the meagre diet of a recluse ;, bread and water with unsavoury herbs ; his splendid apparel was replaced by sackcloth and vermin ; and the gay exercises and sports of a cavalier, were ex changed for the conversation of monks, and the fla gellations of pennance. In imitation of our Saviour,
lie daily, on his knees, washed the feet of thirteen beggars, whom lie afterwards dismissed with pre sents ; and the vulgar were excited to reverence and admiration by the numerous charities, and the abste mious severity of the holy primate. His first step. was to break off all connection with Henry, by re turning into his hands the commission of chancellor ; and he entered upon the functions of his sacred office, with the fixed purpose of defending its prerogatives, and of resisting every measure which appeared dero gatory to his dignity, or subversive of hispower. Not content, however, with acting upon the defensive, he was the first who provoked hostilities, by his ar bitrary conduct, and illegal persecutions. The most scandalous irregularities prevailed among the lower order of ecclesiastics. Crimes of the deepest dye were daily committed with impunity ; and even in cases of rape and murder, the offenders were screened by the archbishop from the punishment of the civil law. He would suffer no interference with the privileges of the church ; and when commanded by Henry to re voke a bull of excommunication, he insolently re turned for answer, that it belonged not to the king to inform him whom he should absolve, and whom he should excommunicate. Henry, perceiving the error into which he had fallen, in preferring Becket to a situation which presented such a wide field for his ambition, was nevertheless resolved to persist in his purpose, and to counteract, by every means, the in creasing influence and power of the clergy. In the Constitutions of Clarendon, which were drawn up for this purpose, the powers of the church are clearly de fined, and by them ecclesiastics of every denomination are reduced to a due submission to the laws of their country. At a general council held at Clarendon, 25th January 116•, all the bishops, with Becket himself, set their seals to these constitutions, and promised with an oath, legally, with goodfaith, and without fraud or reserve, to observe them. But the refusal of Pope Alexander to ratify these laws, so hostile to ecclesiastical supremacy, furnished Becket with an excuse for withdrawing his assent ; and he obtained a bull from his Holiness to relieve him from the obli gation of his oath. An open rupture now ensued between Henry and the primate, which was prose cuted on both sides with equal rancour and obstina cy. But as this dispute, with its consequences, in volves in it a considerable portion of English history, we shall refer for a particular developement of it to that article, and confine ourselves at present to the more prominent incidents in the life and character of Becket. By a most violent and arbitrary prosecution on the part of Henry, Becket was compelled to leave the kingdom. He was received on the continent as a persecuted disciple of the cross, and was treated with great respect and kindness by Louis VII. of France, and Pope Alexander III., the latter of whom ap pointed him a residence in the abbey of Potigny in Burgundy. From thence he fulminated excommuni cations against the ministers and chief confidents of Henry, and all who should adhere to the constitutions of Clarendon. He even threatened to excommunicate the king himself, and was prevented only by the in terposition of Louis. After six years of irritation and animosity, an accommodation was brought about by means of Alexander and the king of France, when Becket was restored to his dignity and privileges. On his return to England, he was received with the highest veneration by the populace, who cele brated his entrance into Southwark with hymns of joy and acclamations. But this accommodation was immediately succeeded by fresh aggressions on the part of Becket. Scarcely was he reinstated in power, than he began to launch his spiritual thunders, and issued sentence of excommunication against all the prelates who had assisted in the coronation of the young king. When Henry was informed of this pro ceeding, he could not restrain his indignation ; and in an unguarded moment, lie was heard to express a wish that some one would deliver him from his troublesome adversary. Four barons, touched with the feelings of their master, departed with a determination either to compel the archbishop to submission, or to put him to death. They hastened to Canterbury, and found Becket at vespers in the church of St Benedict. They commanded him in the name of Henry, to absolve the excommunicated prelates, which they accompanied with reproaches and threats. But he courageously refusing to listen to their remonstrances, and haughtily defying their vengeance, they cleft his skull as he kneeled at the altar, and scooping out his brains with the points of their swords, they scattered them over the pavement of the church. Thus fell Thomas a Becket, the most undaunted champion of papal su premacy, on the 29th December 1170, in the 52d year of his age.