An Analysis Of Thomas Becket's Death

Thomas Becket was a famous British saint in the middle ages. He was killed as the Archbishop of Canterbury by four knights on 29th November,1170. These assailants were allegiant to King Henryâ…¡, the first king of the House of Anjou. Since then, it had been a controversial incident. There were three main explanations about Thomas Becket's death. First, it was told that he died from the contention of the judicial power with the King; second, his death was described as martyrdom; finally, based on the root paradigms. This thesis attempts to probe into the causes of Thomas Becket's death from the view of British legal environment, church-state relations and his personal factor.As an important tool of social control, law constituted Thomas Becket's political sphere. Before Norman Conquest, British people began to be inclined to the rule of law under the influences of the remains of Roman law, Christian factor and Germanic tradition during the Anglo-Saxon period. The king and the church had no special interest in the legal field during that time. The Norman Conquest accelerated the building of the legal system, the separation of religion from politics, the independence of the ecclesiastical court and the competition in the judicial realm between the king and the church. As the byproducts of the centralization of the British government, the crown court and circuit court started to fight for the local judicial capacity, during which the writ system and jury system became the king's efficient weapons. On account of the fuzzy jurisdiction and the differences of punishment, religious circles opposed strongly to the secular jurisdiction. After Stephen's anarchy in the middle of the 12th century, King Henryâ…¡started to trespass against the judicial power of the church in the name of rejuvenating the old laws. However, Thomas Becket insisted on the legal sovereignty of the church, which conflicted with Henry's intention to build an integrated legal system. And this is the fundamental cause of Thomas Becket's death.In the social context of the identification of the rule of law, the British church-state relations took effects on Thomas Becket's. The constitutive relation between the state and church was the separation of powers. Since Augustine helped Britain integrate into Christendom, religion had been an indispensible part of the society and assisted the government to administer the country. During the Anglo-Saxon period, the church-state relations were comparatively harmonious. On one hand, the church strengthened the validity of the king's power; on the other hand, the church amplified its own interest. During the times of Norman kings, the kings pursued the policy that kingship was higher than magisterium. They trespass against the right to grant priesthood, the right to appoint and remove bishops and ultimate jurisdiction of justice. Consequently, some bishops fought against the king for their legal sovereignty, such as Anthem and Theobald. During Stephen's anarchy, the church declared that they at least had the right to vote freely within the church and they were free from the secular jurisdiction, which amplified the church's power. Accordingly, Thomas Becket misjudged the church-state relations in the reign of King Henryâ…¡and he confronted with the king's intention to adjust British legal system, which directly led to his death.Thomas Becket's personal quality played an active role in this incident. During his early years, he followed Theobald, which trained his administrative ability. From 1154 to 1162, he had a cordial working relationship with King Henryâ…¡, though they both had strong personality. Thomas Becket was appointed as the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the outset, he displayed great religious fervor and energetically defended the church's right. He imprudently rejected Henry's three requests at the Woodstock Conference in 1163, which caused a new round of political and religious conflict. Henry promulgated Clarendon Charter in Jan.1164, which restricted the church's right. At the Northampton meeting held in Oct.1164, the church broke up and Thomas Becket was censured by the king. In regard to this situation, Becket chose to go into exile. Under the mediation of various parties from 1165 to 1170, their relations tended to be normalized. Unfortunately, Thomas Becket again objected to the practice that the king wanted to coronate his youngest son, which brought the rupture of their relations. Becket anathematized all the king's intimate ministers on the Christmas Eve in 1170. On hearing this, Henry blustered himself into anger. The four knights surmised the king's intention arbitrarily and killed Thomas Becket. In addition, Becket's overconfidence, impertinence and impulse also led to his death.After Thomas Becket's death, the church conferred divine name on him in the sake of the amplification of their power. The king was at a disadvantage in the political and religious conflict temporarily during that period. In the long term, the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henryâ…¡facilitated the sound development of the royal justice and led to the establishment of the legal borderline of the royal justice. Henceforth, the royal justice was free from the political and religious conflict and turn to the expansion in the secular world.