Why Is Becket Be Considered A Martyr

Throughout history, Thomas Becket has been regarded as Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, and Saint. He was a friend of Henry II, and when Henry II became King, he appointed Thomas Becket as his chancellor in 1154. Eight years later, as Becket and Henry II’s relationship grew stronger, Henry II wanted to gain greater control over the English Church so he appointed his chancellor Becket to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury as well. Although Becket was reluctant at first, he accepted the position. However, soon after things started to turn sour. Becket firmly believed that church and state should be kept separate. Henry II and Becket soon clashed, and Becket was exiled for six years. Once he was finally allowed to return,
The townspeople came to get as much of his blood as they could, for they believed his blood worked miracles. According to an article by Robert Scully, “The first recorded miracle associated with Thomas Becket occurred on the very night of his murder when a man from Canterbury restored his paralyzed wife with the martyr’s blood.” The so-called miracles became more frequent, and a writer of the time wrote, “the miracles occurred at first about his tomb, then through the whole crypt, then the whole church, then all of Canterbury, then England, then France, Normandy, Germany, [and the] whole world” (Scully, 582). Due to the amount of popularity his increasing miracles were getting, Pope Alexander III declared Thomas Becket a Saint on February 21,
By this time, Henry VIII was king and William Warham was the Archbishop of Canterbury. Warham disagreed with Henry VIII on a number of issues, and would use Becket’s life and beliefs to back himself up. Henry VIII did not like this, however, he put up with it until Warham died in 1532. Upon Warham’s death, Thomas Cranmer was selected by Henry VIII as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry VIII did not get along well with many people, and by 1533 Henry VIII and Pope Clement VII had already had a falling out. Then in 1536 Henry VIII began to eliminate monasteries, which caused an uproar from the pilgrims. When that finally came to a stop in 1537, Henry VIII then pushed for English reformation, which included the abolishment of certain holidays and the destruction of images and shrines (Scully,