Preview

How Far Was Henry Ii to Blame for Becket's Death?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
550 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Far Was Henry Ii to Blame for Becket's Death?
How far was Henry II to blame for Thomas Becket’s death?

On the 29th of December 1170, Thomas Becket died, due to a murder, by the knights in the church. But about 8-9 years before he was murdered he was announced the Archbishop Canterbury by Henry II and loved his part of being top class. He was chosen the archbishop as the king didn't feel the punishments were not harsh enough and wanted someone to reform the church courts, so the king announced Thomas Becket to be the archbishop of Canterbury. I reckon there were three people to blame; the knights, the king and himself, Thomas Becket, because in a way, they all did something to cause the death of Thomas.

The first suspect I think was guilty was himself, Thomas Becket. This is because the king ordered this archbishop (Becket) to reform the church courts, but Becket had his other plans and disagreed, by saying, “ the one who stands before you only serves God” and as Thomas Becket refused to do so, the king ended up getting angry.

The second suspect I think was guilty was Henry II. In a way, everyone is involved as Becket did make the king angry. When Henry got tipped over the edge, he said "who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" and while this was being said , the knights were outside the door, listening to his ideas and decided to do exactly what the king had said. I don't think Henry meant it that way as the knights who killed Becket did. Once Thomas was killed, the king said he didn't mean that he should actually be killed and then the day after his death, apparently he walked around the Cathedral whipping his back to say sorry to Thomas.

I also believe that it was the knight’s fault because they did actually kill him. Another point is that they weren't actually ordered to kill Becket, as the king was just murmuring under his breath, and then the knights decided to prove to the king how good they were and went to look for Becket to kill him. The first place they looked was the Canterbury

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Henry II Is best known for murdering Thomas Becket, who was a close friend of him. He was the king of England from 1154–1189 and was a ruthless ruler. In 1152 Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine and together they have eight children. Their marriage was not perfect, Eleanor had rumors that she had feelings for Prince Raymond of Antioch and even Henry’s own father, Geoffrey of Anjou. At the end the marriage worked out. Henry did not have a good relationship with the rest of his family, neither with other powerful people.…

    • 231 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry VIII was also very annoyed at Wolsey his adviser at the time for not being able to get him a divorce so he fired him and had him beheaded but he died on the way to execution.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On March 5, 1770, British soldiers were badgered to the point of outrage by a small group of boys (Wheeler and Becker, 75). The soldiers eventually retaliated at the group and the church bells started ringing alarming the town that a fire had broken out only leading the numbers in the crowd to increase (Wheeler and Becker, 75). Captain Thomas Preston and his sentry were called to the scene to assist. However, their attempts to redirect the crowd were unsuccessful. It is at this point that a musket was fired and the situation continued to escalate leaving some dead and others wounded (Wheeler and Becker, 75). Was Captain Thomas Preston guilty of murder by ordering his soldiers to fire? Or was he innocent and the soldiers fired out of provocation and their own volition?…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sources 3 blames Nolan more than the other two as it says ‘he was ill suited to deliver Raglans orders for the charge’. This shows us that despite critising the cavalry, he was still intent on delivering the order. On the other hand source 2 seems to focus more on Lucan, saying that he should not have been so easily influenced by Nolan, we can infer that this could mean Nolan was a distraction on the battle field, thereby being partially to blame.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Papal Intervention

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Made few direct interventions in henry ii vs. becket, becket defended church rights but Pope Alex iii didn’t support either of them and saw becket as a liability…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    yo check it

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Do you agree with the view expressed in source e that the fall of Thomas Cromwell in 1540 was primarily the work of his enemies at court?…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Friar Lawrence is guilty because he does multiple mistakes that proves him guilty , and here are his three strikes. Friar Lawrence is guilty, but in another article I read, I do hear a lot of other opinions, but this is what I think about the book.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Source N Peter Ackroyd tells about J. Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs”. According to this book, “he tied heretics to a tree in his Chelsea garden and whipped them”. This, if it’s true, undoubtedly demonstrates More’s cruelty and shows him as a sadist. The quote from the book also says: “he watched as newe men were put upon the rack in the Tower and tortured until they confessed” and “he was personally responsible for the burning of several of the brethren in Smithfield”. If we agree to his words that he never tortured people, but only imprisoned heretics in his house, we still can say that he was not a cruel man himself. Even if we accept that he was guilty in burning heretics, it was not an uncommon thing those times. Heretics were being burnt all the time obeying to the word of the Church. Moreover, by burning heretics More was still carrying King’s and again Churche’s tasks. Therefore we can say that Thomas More stood up as a cruel man, but served his King loyally. When Henry couldn't get the divorce he wanted, he simply created his own church with himself as the supreme religious figure, but one which an entire country chose to…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Becket, the Movie

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many times throughout his life, Becket acted without honor, especially with the king. After the king appoints Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, he tries to control and influence Becket’s decisions. In an argument with Becket the king says “You’re chancellor of England; You’re mine!” and Becket responds by saying, “I am also the Archbishop, and you have introduced me to deeper obligations.” Becket basically says that he is now the archbishop, and it is his job to serve God and the people of His Church. This response angers the king and creates more turmoil for the relationship between Becket and King Henry II.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1653, Oliver Cromwell decided to close parliament. Although this does not prove that Cromwell was a villain, it does prove he was a hypocrite as closing parliament was one of the main reasons that Charles 1st was executed.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The corrupt church was failing more and more and the leaders in the church didn’t do much good to help it, and in fact they were the ones bringing the church to its knees. Four of the popes within the church became perpetrators, Pope Boniface VII, Pope Alexander VI, Pope Gregory XI, and Pope John XXIII. Pope Boniface VIII started his decline when he had a firm policy when dealing with someone, and therefore he refused compromising, and because of this it ended up being harmful towards him. More so this matter took down the catholic church and the political power that came with it. In 1305, certain french archbishop became a subject to the king of england. Soon after the king chose him to be pope to settle a political dispute. Becoming pope…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Burton's testimony basically tells the prosecutors exactly what they want to hear. She pins the bulk of the conspiring on her masters, the Hughsons, and two slaves, Prince and Caesar. The Hughsons were suspected of fencing stolen goods for slaves and for selling them alcohol and Prince and Caesar were suspected of stealing from a store.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Richard III has usually been considered the most likely culprit. By declaring the princes illegitimate, he cleared his way to the throne. He would secure his position by having them murdered.…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On the morning of October 25, the battle commenced. The English stood their ground and the French Knights who were gradually slowed down by their heavy armour, began a slow advance across the battlefield. The French faced a fierce attack of wooden arrows from the English archers, who had advanced longbows. The Frenchman tried and failed to take over the English positions. As more and more French knights made their way onto the bloody battlefield, their fatigue overwhelmed them and could not fight back at their enemy. At this point, Henry could see a great opportunity and ordered his lightly equipped archers to leave their positions and rush forward into the battlefield with swords and axes to massacre the Frenchman…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In 1678, a rumor spread through England that Roman Catholics were plotting to kill King Charles II and give the throne to Charles' brother, James, Duke of York (who was a Roman Catholic). There was no real Popish plot, but an alarmed Parliament barred all Roman Catholics from public office and tried to take away the Duke of York's right to inherit the throne. But to King Charles II, Parliament seemed to be challenging royal authority, and he struck back by dissolving Parliament.…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics