The Pink Flamingo :: Be Careful What You Ask For

This is one of those rare cases where the Saint we venerate was very much in the wrong and the person who stands accused of causing his death did far more for modern society than does the one celebrated.

In 1170 or so, King Henry II (usually played by Peter O’Toole) was feuding with the Archbishop of Canterbury, once his best friend. Henry II even sent his name-sake and son, Henry, to be ‘fostered’ by Becket. The two men were very close friends, and agreed on almost everything political to the point that Henry decided to appoint Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury. And then the feud began. To make a long, involves story short (and leaving out Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine) the feud reached the point where Henry, drunk, mumbled, “Who will rid me of this trouble some priest.” Four of his knights took him up on the offer and basically butchered Becket.

“…...The wicked knight leapt suddenly upon him, cutting off the top of the crown which the unction of sacred chrism had dedicated to God. Next he received a second blow on the head, but still he stood firm and immovable. At the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living sacrifice, and saying in a low voice, 'For the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.' But the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay prostrate. By this stroke, the crown of his head was separated from the head in such a way that the blood white with the brain, and the brain no less red from the blood, dyed the floor of the cathedral. The same clerk who had entered with the knights placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to relate, scattered the brains and blood about the pavements, crying to the others, 'Let us away, knights; this fellow will arise no more.'…” Edward Grim

Henry had to wear a hair-shirt and do a serious penance for his ‘crime’ of promoting the murder of Becket. His son Henry turned against him. Eleanor turned against him, but that was probably more due to the death of Henry’s mistress the Fair Rosamound. Henry accused Eleanor of having his shack up honey murdered. She also encourages her favorite child, Richard Coeur de Lion to rebel against his father. Richard is temporarily banished and Henry locks Eleanor up in house arrest for 16 years. (The Lion in Winter). Eleanor was one of those great women of history and one of my favorite ancestors.

“…The archbishop's body lay in the middle of the transept, and for a time no one dared approach it. A deed of such sacrilege was bound to be regarded with horror and indignation. When the news was brought to the King, he shut himself up and fasted for forty days, for he knew that his chance remark had sped the courtiers to England bent on vengeance. He later performed public penance in Canterbury Cathedral and in 1172 received absolution from the papal delegates.

Within three years of his death the archbishop had been canonized as a martyr. Though far from a faultless character, Thomas Becket, when his time of testing came, had the courage to lay down his life to defend the ancient rights of the Church against an aggressive state. The discovery of his hairshirt and other evidences of austerity, and the many miracles which were reported at his tomb, increased the veneration in which he was held. The shrine of the "holy blessed martyr," as Chaucer called him, soon became famous, and the old Roman road running from London to Canterbury known as "Pilgrim's Way." His tomb was magnificently adorned with gold, silver, and jewels, only to be despoiled by Henry VIII; the fate of his relics is uncertain. They may have been destroyed as a part of Henry's policy to subordinate the English Church to the civil authority. Mementoes of this saint are preserved at the cathedral of Sens. The feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury is now kept …”

Today on his blog, Simon Kershaw wrote of the feud between Becket and Henry II:

“…The murder, or assassination, of Thomas Becket within his cathedral church shocked the whole of western Christendom. Within three years he had been canonized, his name added to the roll of saints of the Church, and King Henry II forced to do penance for his role in Becket’s death. From Iceland to Italy there are churches dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, and relics, statues and images from just a few years after 1170.

The cause for which Becket died, however, is not one that today we necessarily regard as unambiguously right. As Eliot has the assassins remind his audience, the rule of law that we treasure as a great protection was begun by the reforms of Henry II that Becket stood against. ‘Remember,’ says the Second Knight in his speech to the audience, ‘remember that it is we who took the first step. We have been instrumental in bringing about the state of affairs that you approve.’ On the other hand, the rule of law that Henry II was introducing was harsh, whereas the rule of the Church, which Becket wanted to encompass as many people as possible, was more lenient.

And yet we cannot easily regard the murder of Becket as justified, even if we can agree with some of the sentiments Eliot has the knights express. The end does not justify the means. The powerful cannot go around murdering those they disagree with, whether they be political rivals …

The very rule of law that Henry II wanted to introduce requires that arbitrary exercise of power is not allowed. The murder of Thomas Becket reminds us still that the rule of law (tempered by equity and charity) is fundamental to the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and that it applies as much if not more to the rich and powerful and to the rulers as it does to the dispossessed, the powerless and the ruled. Those in power must always be held to account for their treatment of those who are in their power...”

THE BIRTH OF THE CONSTITUTION
I’ve never had much sympathy for Becket. The soap opera lives of Henry II and his beautiful, glamorous, ultra-wealthy and powerful wife Eleanor and their children have been one of my favorite periods of history. This is the time frame where I did all my studies and research (until I was seduced by Wyatt Earp). Much of who we are today as the United States of America, was conceived during those remarkable years in the latter years of the 12th Century in England. Henry II had a remarkable gift for the law, and basically created the Constitution of England (the UK). He created Royal Magistrate Courts. He tried to make the legal system fair to all, no matter what a person’s station life. He did away with trial by ordeal and trial by combat and crated Trial by Jury. He created the beginnings the civil petit jury and common law. He worked on criminal justice, creating what we would now call circuit judges and the concept of the grand jury.

The Assize of Northampton
The Assize of Clarendon

Henry II was the grand-grandson of William the Conqueror. Even though he was in line to inherit the throne of that back-water, annoying little island kingdom of England, he was dirt poor. He needed a rich wife, quick. He was young, dashingly handsome, gallant, and supposedly had very good looking legs. Eleanor of Aquitaine was literally the richest woman in the world. She was young, beautiful, titled, and very much married to the very pious (self-righteous) King of France who went on to be known as St. Louis. She wanted a divorce. She also insisted on accompanying her husband on his crusade to the Holy Lands. And so, when he rode into Jerusalem as the conquering hero, Eleanor decided that she and her women would follow the men, dressed (or rather undressed) as the legendary Amazons of old. Therefore they rode into the Holy City of Jerusalem bare breasted – topless. Her sainted husband (literally) immediately agreed to the divorce. The moment Eleanor arrived back in her beloved Aquitaine she married the dirt poor, but hunky Henry.

The France of that time frame was not the France of today. It was broken into a number of principalities and duchies. Louis, as King of France, ruled a small amount of territory around Paris. As the Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor ruled about a third of today’s France (all the good parts along the Atlantic, including the wine producing lands of Boudreaux. Henry, as the Duke of Normandy, controlled the lands of his great-grandfather – Normandy and Brittany – all the territory along the English Channel. The marriage of the two most powerful land-owners in France created a massive problem for the King of France. Together they were unbeatable – until their annoyingly large family, known as The Devil’s Brood, grew up and started making demands for their inheritance – early.

Henry died in 1189. His greatest contribution was the fact that he believed that everyone (read every man) should be created equally under the law, no matter what his station in life. Under Henry II, our American concept of the equality of the individual was born. It was a remarkable concept, that was not readily accepted, not by Thomas a Becket, nor by his successors.

Henry was succeeded by my personal favorite of all the Kings and Queens of England – Richard, Coeur de Lion! Richard was more interested in the Crusades and spent less time in his kingdom than any other monarch in history before or since. His mis-management and lack of interest led directly to the second step in the birth of the United States of America.

Richard’s remaining male sibling was his brutal, cruel, and lawless brother, John.

“…in reality, it was John who had led the rebellion against his own brother. When John became king, he unleashed his evil ways upon the kingdom. Contrary to the morals by which Richard followed, John chose the exact opposite path. "Evil people love to harm others; their neighbours get no mercy from them." ... John had such a bad reputation that "after his reign, Englishmen swore they would never again have a king by that name". In fact, this is the same John that is mentioned in Robin Hood, which told the story of an outlaw who "robbed from the rich and gave to the poor." Indeed, John taxed his subjects heavily to fund his own interests and goals. John became ensnared in his own sins and was plagued by failure after failure. Furthermore, he considered himself above the common law, ignoring the justice system set up by his grandfather years prior. As the people became disgruntled and upset with their king, a group of English noblemen devised a declaration that would place John under the common law of England. On June 15, 1215, the nobles met John at Runnymede, near London, and forced him to sign their document containing sixty-three articles, which became recognized as the Magna Carta. It became an important component to developing the English constitution. For the first time in English history, the king was bound to the law. In its importance, "the Magna Carta established several precedents of freedom." It prevented the king from increasing taxes without consent of a council of nobles and gave back the common serf the right to "trial by jury". From then on, everyone lived under the same laws. The Magna Carta's primary purpose was "to force King John to recognize the supremacy of ancient liberties, to limit his ability to raise funds, and to reassert the principle of 'due process'"...."

One hundred or so years later, the third step in the making of the United States occurred in Scotland with the creation of The Declaration of Arborath, in 1320. It basically states the following:

“…Secondly, the manifesto affirmed the nation's independence in a way no battle could, and justified it with a truth that is beyond nation and race. Man has a right to freedom and a duty to defend it with his life. …The truth once spoken cannot be checked, the seed once planted controls its own growth, and the liberty which men secure for themselves must be given by them to others, or it will be taken as they took it. Freedom is a hardy plant and must flower in equality and brotherhood….”

"For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

This was a completely alien concept, never fully realized until the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 and never truly implemented until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 completely ending slavery in the US and the 14th Amendment in 1868 which “Defines United States citizenship; prohibits states from abridging citizens' privileges or immunities and rights to due process and the equal protection of the law; repeals the Three-fifths compromise; prohibits repudiation of the federal debt caused by the Civil War.”

Our anti-immigration zealots in Arizona have introduced a Constitutional Amendment to the Arizona ballot to repeal the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. These same force also want to repeal the 17th Amendment which permits the direct election of US Senators by the voters of each state and return it back to legislative appointment. One of the reason they are interested in this change is to rid themselves of such meddlesome anti-immigration Senators as John McCain and Lindsey Graham, and so we come full circle.

HENRY II v THOMAS a’ BECKET
Becket, as a high-ranking official within the Church determined that clergy within the church did not need to follow the laws of the land. Henry II said they did. This was the genesis of their feud, which eventually lead to Becket’s death. History shows us that Henry II was right and Thomas a’ Becket was wrong. Perhaps as Americans, we should be celebrating the judicial system that Henry II created instead of the life of Becket. Because of Henry II, we now live his theory that no one person, no matter their station in life, is above the law. It is the basis of everything we hold near and dear.

The great irony is that we celebrate the life of Thomas a’ Becket on December 29th, the 5th Day of Christmas. It is the day of the Five Golden Rings – symbolic for the first five books of the Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They are also considered the Books of Law. Becket gave his life for a cause that flaunted the law of the land. The man accused of facilitating his death was the one who codified the law of the land.

Through Becket we see the arrogance of the ministry and the 'church' that says clergy are above the law. Through Henry II we see the determination that all men and women are equal in the eyes of the law, no matter what their station or position in life.

We need to be celebrating the life of my ancestor, Henry II, King of England, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, and Lord of Ireland.

Trackposted to The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary's Thoughts, Adam's Blog, Right Truth, Big Dog's Weblog, Phastidio.net, Cao's Blog, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, Nuke's, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate's Cove, Celebrity Smack, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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