The 12th-century martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket is one of those grisly chapters of history seemingly plucked from the script of a gore-laden HBO show. Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was cut ...

Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?' asked a riled up Henry II to a roomful of knights as he raged at the latest news of his one time bosom friend, Thomas Becket the Archbishop of ...

December 29 is the feast day of St. Thomas Becket. The martyred 12 th century bishop is known for his opposition to the then overreach of state power in the person of England’s King Henry II. Across ...

On Dec. 29, 1170, the archbishop of Canterbury was cut down in his own cathedral. “Every attempt to tell the story of Thomas Becket,” writes Michael Staunton in his biography of the martyred ...

In December 1170, Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered on the orders of King Henry II of England, his former friend. The killing was supposed to put an end to disputes over the ...

IT COULD HAVE been a scene from “The Sopranos”, only the irascible capo was King Henry II of England. The irksome upstart who had to be neutralised was Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. “Will ...

“If you thought medieval religious art was all clasped hands and uplifted eyes”, this gory, “brilliant” show will put you right, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. On 29 December 1170, four knights ...

A man examines the St. Thomas Becket exhibit at The British Museum in London, which is marking the 850th anniversary of the death of the 12th-century saint. (Credit: CNS photo/courtesy The British ...