Henry II was the eldest son of Matilda, who was the Daughter of Henry I. When Henry I was king of England, he had two legitimate children -William and Matilda. Unfortunately, William drowned in the Whit Ship Disaster in 1120, and Henry I sought permission for his Daughter, Matilda, to take the throne instead of the next male heir. When Henry died in 1135, Matilda was married to Geoffrey of Anjou. According to the law at the time, as the male, Geoffrey would become the king above Matilda, however the Normans saw the people of Anjou as barbarians. To avoid naming a ‘barbarian as King, Steven, the son of one of William the Conquerors Daughters was crowned King instead. Matilda was not happy, and protested this. Eventually she gave up her claim to the throne on the condition that when Steven died, her son Henry would be the next King.
Henry was very well prepared for the throne from an early age, thanks to the education that Matilda made sure he had. Thanks to the battles that he helped his parents fight, and his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, when Henry was crowned Henry II, he lead an empire that included territories greater than those ruled by the King of France.
Henry II had a good relationship with Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and it was upon advice from the latter that Henry II appointed Thomas Beckett as Chancellor. This was a very important role that included the responsibility of distributing royal charters, writs and letters. Henry and Beckett became very close friends, with Beckett being assigned very important tasks for the King, such as leading armies in to battle.
When Theobald dies in 1162, Henry then appointed Beckett as the Archbishop of Canterbury. This decision angered the church, who claimed that having never been a priest, owning a reputation as a violent and cruel military leader and being a materialistic lover of food, wine and clothes Beckett was most ill-suited to the role. In addition, the church claimed that as Beckett was a close personal friend of the King, he could not be an impartial and independent leader of the church.
As soon as Beckett took up the position of Archbishop of Canterbury, he showed a great concern for the poor. Every day, 13 poor people were invited to Beckett’s home, washed, fed a meal, and given 4 silver coins. Beckett gave up his lavish clothes in favour of a simplistic monk’s habit, slept on a cold stone floor and was whipped every day by monks.
In 1162, Henry II came back from France, he heard that the number of people convicted of serious crimes had risen, but the number suitable punished had fallen. This was due to the fact that any both with an association to the church could ask for a church trial. The church could not give out violent punishments, and so those convicted were banished from the church and stripped of their positions. Henry wanted to change this, and said that those clergy men accused of serious crimes should be handed over to the Kings court. Beckett, despite originally supporting this change, told the king that the Church should be responsible for their own men, and opposed the Kings reform.
The King was not happy and sought revenge. He thought that Beckett had betrayed him, and so in1164, when Beckett was involved in a dispute over land, the King summoned him to court. When Beckett refused to attend, the King took all of Beckett’s land from him, and accused him of stealing £300 during his time as chancellor. This was not true, but Beckett offered to pay the £300 back to resolve the situation. The king refused this offer, and so Beckett fled England for France to save himself from the wrath of the King, who was now accusing Beckett of treason.
Under the protection of Henry II’s enemy, King Louis VII of France, Beckett organised a propaganda campaign against Henry with the support of the pope. Under fear of excommunication, Henry tried to resolve the issue a better way, and asked Beckett to come back to England. As soon as Beckett arrived back, he excommunicated the Archbishop of York, and other Church leaders who had supported Henry II while Beckett was away. This greatly angered the King. In an attempt to avenge the plight of their King, four knights - Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, Reginald Fitz Urse, and Richard Ie Bret – set off for England to confront Beckett.
When they arrived at Canterbury Cathedral, Beckett refused to pardon the excommunicated leaders of the church. The four knights hacked Beckett to death with their swords. The pope canonised Beckett, and revered him as a symbol of resistance to the monarchy. His shrine in Canterbury Cathedral has long since been a draw for pilgrims.
Henry II admitted that it was his anger that motivated the knights to kill Beckett, be Henry refused to be held accountable for the murder. The pope accepted this, and acquitted Henry of any guilt. Henry dropped his attempts to transfer clergy men accused of serious crimes to the Royal Court.
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