Breakspear & Becket

The 4th of December 1154 AD

The only English Pope, Nicholas Breakspear, was pontiff between 1154 and  1159.

Nicholas was born in 1100 at Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire .  Breakspear's father Robert was a clerk who later became a monk at St  Albans Abbey in the same county, but the son was refused a place there  when he applied, supposedly being told to continue his studies and  become a more worthy candidate.

After studies at Merton Priory Nicholas went to France, spending some  time in St Denis and other foundations before joining the Augustinian  Abbey of St Rufus in Avignon in 1130. Here he was elected abbot in 1137.  As abbot his strictness eventually led to complaints directly to Pope  Eugenius III, but this only helped his continued rise, the Pope seeing  his capabilities and making him Cardinal Bishop of Albano in 1146.

Between 1152 and 1154 Cardinal Breakspear was in Scandinavia as papal  legate, reorganizing the church, facilitating the collection of "Peter's  Pence", and earning more fame as "Apostle of the North." By the time he  returned to Rome in 1154 Eugenius had died and been replaced by  Anastasius IV, who at ninety was bound to have a short tenure.

When Anastasius died on December 2nd that same year, Breakspear was  hastily and unanimously elected Pope, on December 4th, taking the name  Adrian IV.

His papacy was less successful than his career before it. Adrian  squandered the chance to unite the Catholic and Orthodox churches. He  backed the Byzantines in a war they lost with the Normans in Sicily. His  Papal Bull granting Henry II of England dominion over Ireland has had  repercussions since it was granted. And he was in conflict with Holy  Roman Emperor Frederick I almost from the day in 1155 when Adrian  crowned him to 1st September 1159, when the only English Pope died.

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The 29th of December 1170 AD

Historians are divided on the nature of Thomas à Becket , or more  properly it seems Thomas Becket, the 'à' being a later addition to his  name. The church and some others argue he was the great martyr standing  up for the clergy against a king seeking to reduce its power and empty  its coffers. Another viewpoint has him as making a play for personal  power, a self-centred man unable to deal diplomatically with the  political pressures his office inevitably encountered. There are even  concerns about his handling of the riches that went through his hands as  Chancellor, his ostentation while travelling on his duties reflecting  huge personal wealth.

Thomas was born in 1118 to a family of merchants of French origin.  Though not aristocratic he was well connected, and it is likely his  father was Sheriff of London at one time. Educated first at Merton  Priory, then in Paris, Bologna and Auxerre, Thomas rose inexorably,  first in the household of Richer de l'Aigle, then as the employee of  Theobald the Archbishop of Canterbury for whom he undertook various  sensitive commissions overseas. Thomas was made Archdeacon of Canterbury  and Provost of Beverley by Theobald, though he was not ordained for  several more years.

When the post of Lord Chancellor became open the young Henry II  appointed the capable Becket, and his choice was well rewarded as the  new appointee supervised tax collection from laity and clergy with great  zeal. Thomas was highly thought of by Henry, who entrusted him with the  care and upbringing of the heir to the throne.

Legend has it that when Theobald died in 1161 Thomas warned Henry not to  appoint him in his stead, as the church rather than crown would be his  new master. Henry ignored this, and lived to regret it. Thomas was  hastily ordained and then made a bishop the following morning, and  archbishop later the same day. Thomas resisted the crown's attempts in  1163 to impose greater authority on the clergy by removing the right for  clerics to be tried for their crimes before a church court.

Relations between King and Archbishop deteriorated to such an extent  that Thomas fled into exile in France for six years, pressuring the Pope  to excommunicate Henry and even the entirety of England. Several key  church supporters of the king were indeed excommunicated.

With Pope Alexander about to expel Henry from the church a compromise  was supposedly reached, and Thomas in November 1170 returned to  Canterbury. But Becket's refusal to remove the taint of excommunication  from the Bishops of London and Salisbury led the King to anger against  him once more.

There are a myriad variations on the words said to have been uttered to  his courtiers by an exasperated Henry, but the best known version is:  "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" Whether this was a  deliberate demand for action or merely a cry of frustration was debated  afterwards, but four knights took it at face value and travelled from  Henry's base in France to Kent.

On the evening of 29th December 1170 the four assassins – Richard le  Breton, Reginald Fitznurse, William de Tracey and Hugh de Moreville –  cornered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral . There were several witnesses  to the attack who related how Thomas faced his attackers with dignity,  commending his soul to god. The knights hacked at the prelate until one  sliced the top of his head open. They fled the bloody scene with their  job done.

Henry lost prestige throughout Europe because of the attack, and faced a  rebellion three years later with some of his people having lost faith  in him. Thomas was made a saint in 1173, and Henry was forced by  circumstances to do penance at his tomb in the summer of 1174, a tomb  that became a shrine and place of pilgrimage for the English and even  for those from other kingdoms.