Truth is invincible because its strength comes from God Himself. However many apparent defeats it may suffer, it always triumphs in the end.

Newsroom (30/12/2020 08:30, Gaudium Press) “It is not lawful for you” (Mk 6:18). These grave words of St. John the Baptist resounded in the ears of Herod Antipas, reminding him how much it displeased Heaven that he was in an incestuous union with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

Here in this Gospel passage is a paradigmatic example of the struggle between good and evil on Earth.

On one side there is the adulterous king, proud, sensual, and selfish, fighting to satisfy his vices and interests; on the other, a soul of unbreakable righteousness, ready to defend the Law of the Most High, with the price of his blood if necessary.

In appearance, the victory belonged to the former; but in reality, neither the prison nor the gallows could silence the force of the truth proclaimed with fearlessness by the just one.

More than a millennium after this episode – after the Church had civilized the nations and established Her spiritual influence over them – a serene and firm voice like that of the Precursor (St. John the Baptist) made itself heard in England, reminding a tyrant king of the limits of royal power. It was the voice of St. Thomas Becket.

The beginning of a dispute

It was the first of October, 1163. The Synod convened by King Henry II to discuss questions concerning the government of the Church in England had begun at Westminster Abbey.

The Monarch did not agree with the ‘privilegium fori’ of the clergy and, moreover, did not allow his subjects to be excommunicated without royal consent. He also desired the restoration of other prerogatives enjoyed by his Norman predecessors.

The bishops unanimously agreed that it was impossible to give in to the King’s pretensions. But who would stand up to him? The difficult task fell to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of England.

Thomas Becket, who had only recently become Royal Chancellor and a great friend of Henry II, took on the grave task. At the opportune moment, he stood up and explained to the King the independence of the spiritual power in relation to the temporal; he discoursed on the sacred character of the priesthood and, finally, he claimed the ancient rights possessed by the bishops to judge and punish members of the clergy.

The Monarch became angry, and interrupting the prelate, he demanded that all accept without conditions the proposals made by him. St. Thomas Becket replied that they would obey ‘salvo ordine suo’, that is, in so far as the rules he dictated were lawful for a cleric. On hearing this, the King withdrew in anger, without so much as a word of farewell.

Harmony between the two powers

Since the Church is a visible society constituted by men, many sovereigns of the time arrogated to themselves the right to appoint bishops, to legislate on the internal organization of the Bride of Christ, to dispose of her revenues, or to rule freely over the members of the clergy, obviating the circumstance that they were sacred persons.

It is precisely the independence of the civil power that enables the Church to do her work for society, to create the conditions which make the earth pleasant and habitable, and to illumine the temporal power – strictly sovereign in its own sphere – with a celestial light which elevates, consolidates and ennobles it.

The Church needs the action of the State on society, but the State can never fully achieve its objective if it is not in perfect harmony with the Church.

This was the great truth that supported the attitude of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that the proud King Henry did not want to admit.

Nine unacceptable clauses

Learning of what had happened at Westminster, Pope Alexander III sent messengers to St. Thomas Becket, recommending that, for the peace of the Church, he should seek to come to an understanding with the King. But the Monarch, wounded in his self-respect, demanded a public retraction before all the bishops and barons of the realm.

Clarendon Palace, near present-day Salisbury, was the place chosen for the meeting, which took place on 13 January 1164, amid the King’s demonstrations of fury coupled with threats from the barons.

Desiring to lay the foundations of his dominion over the Church, King Henry had a complete list of the norms he planned to impose. They were the sadly famous Constitutions of Clarendon, consisting of sixteen clauses.

The Archbishop was greatly shocked upon reading the text. Some of these clauses attributed to the royal power decisions which had hitherto been the province of ecclesiastical authority, and others impinged upon the freedom of the Church.

For example, the bishops would be dependent on the Sovereign’s approval in order to leave the kingdom. They also needed authorization from Henry II to excommunicate any high official or officer of the King. In ecclesiastical cases, they could not appeal to the Pope as a last resort.

When an episcopal see or abbey became vacant, it would now fall under the power of the Sovereign; the election was to be held in the Royal Chapel and with the consent of the King, to whom the new bishop or abbot would now have to swear allegiance as a vassal.

The Northampton Trial

The King was determined to subject the Church to his demands. St. Thomas was summoned to appear before the court assembled in Northampton in October 1164.

In view of the unusual accusations, the Archbishop asked King Henry for some time to confer with his brothers in the episcopate and to prepare his defense.

Meanwhile, most of the bishops, fearing that they would lose the good graces of the King, urged the Primate to yield to the King and to resign his office.

The Archbishop of Canterbury then went to the royal castle of Northampton, where, after presenting his defense, the King assembled the Council to decide his fate. Sitting in another room, Thomas Becket calmly awaited his sentence.

According to a respected biographer, the Archbishop was probably sentenced to life imprisonment. “However, the sentence was never declared, because when a commission came forward to give notice of it, each member of the Council passed the charge on to another, no one accepted it.”

Six years of exile and negotiations

Seeing that his ruin had been decreed, St. Thomas Becket decided to flee the country. One rainy night, after various adventures, he crossed the English Channel and took refuge in France, where King Louis VII gave him a warm welcome.

He then made his way to Sens, where Pope Alexander III was temporarily staying. The latter received him with total benevolence, approved his conduct, and reaffirmed the condemnation of the Constitutions of Clarendon. He also granted him the habit of the Cistercian Order, for which he had longed, and the holy Archbishop took up residence in the abbey of Pontigny, where he shared the frugal life of the Cistercian monks and resumed the study of theology, especially Sacred Scripture.

In the meantime, almost six years of intricate diplomatic activities and attempts at reconciliation had passed, sometimes promoted by the Pontiff and sometimes by the King of France.

Henry II, for his part, recognized that if he continued his policy of opposition to the Church he would be forced to suffer canonical penalties.

The fear of God was not yet completely extinguished in Henry’s soul, and finally, after numerous threats from the Supreme Pontiff, he decided to make a deal with the Archbishop. He allowed him to return to his diocese, though refusing to kiss him in peace.

Back to the Fatherland

On December 2, 1170, the people of Canterbury gave a triumphant welcome to their beloved pastor. He was, however, convinced that the peace would not last.

The next day, three messengers arrived in Canterbury from Archbishops Roger of York, Gilbert of London, and Jocelin of Salisbury. The messengers were sent to ask that the excommunication laid upon them for having performed the coronation ceremony of the King’s son, contrary to the express prohibition of the Archbishop Primate and the Vicar of Christ himself, be revoked.

Thomas sent a reply that a penalty imposed could only be lifted by the Pope. The answer rekindled the anger of Henry II, who was already annoyed by the people’s warm reception of their legitimate Prelate.

The climate of enmity towards the Archbishop grew stronger every day at court. A biographer of Thomas Becket tells us that the King, seized with rage, was wont to excite his courtiers with phrases like: “What a collection of idle cowards I have in my kingdom, who allow a cleric of low extraction to make a disgraceful mockery of me!” Some of them took his words to heart.

On the afternoon of 29 December, four knights presented themselves at Canterbury as coming “from the King” and were received by the Archbishop in a hall adjoining the cathedral. One of them heckled the Archbishop aggressively for his refusal to absolve the excommunicated clergymen and monks.

“The sentence was not mine, but the Pope’s. Let those concerned turn to him for pardon,” replied Thomas.

“I tell you what the King said: you were mad enough to excommunicate his officials,” was the reply.

At these words, concerning the anathemas cast by St. Thomas against the barons who had appropriated the lands of the diocese, the Archbishop rose, replying:

“I will punish anyone who violates the rights of the Roman See or the Church of Christ.“

The victory of the truth

The knights, furious, retreated to take up arms, while some monks and servants of the fearless Prelate, seeing the great danger he was in, managed at great cost to take him to the Cathedral.

It was the hour of the singing of Vespers, and the church was full. After the procession of the monks and the holy Archbishop, the armed knights came in furiously and, with drawn swords, rushed upon St. Thomas.

“Absolve the bishops!”, shouted one of them.

They then charged, swords in hand, against the defenseless minister of God. The first blow struck Thomas in the shoulders, and the following ones wounded his head. His assistant, in an effort to deflect with his arm one of the blows, received a heavy injury which cut through to his bones.

“I am willing to die for my Lord. May my blood save the freedom of the Church and the peace,” exclaimed the martyr, on his knees. A new blow prostrated him dead on the ground, his arms outstretched, as if he were praying.

Was it all over?

On the contrary! The power of truth, which had led John the Baptist to triumph over Herod Antipas, would once again be victorious. The tomb of Thomas Becket became a centre of pilgrimage, and among the countless devotees who came to his grave was Henry II himself, who, after having asked pardon from the Pope and renounced the Clarendon Constitutions, came to Canterbury to ask clemency of the holy martyr.

Invincible is the power of truth. So, however many apparent defeats it may suffer, in the end it is always victorious, because its source is the Eternal and Immortal God.

Text extracted, with adaptations, from the magazine Heralds of the Gospel n. 108, December 2010. Maria Teresa Ribeiro Matos, EP.

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm