Thomas Becket is murdered

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Resources

Thomas Becket, who had been born in Cheapside, in London, sometime between 1118 and 1120, was not educated to a very high level, and worked as a clerk for a time. His father managed, however, to secure him a place in the household of Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury. Through this connection, Becket was sent to the continent to study canon law, and was appointed Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1154. The following year he became Lord Chancellor, and through this position came to know the new Henry II very well, in some accounts filling a fatherly role to the young king.

After he was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, however, the relationship became more difficult, as Becket embraced an ascetic lifestyle and defended ecclesiastical independence against the power of the monarch. This

289 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Thomas Becket is murdered". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 July 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1963, accessed 28 March 2024.]

1963 Thomas Becket is murdered 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.