Thomas Becket: Playing a role
Find out more
St Thomas Becket
www.cin.org/saints/becket.html
Good (if biased) biography of Becket on the Catholic Information Network website.
The Murder of Thomas Becket 1170
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/becket.htm
Following a brief biography, this web page has an account of the murder by
the monk Edward Grim, who was injured in the attack.
Becket, the Church and Henry II
www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/church_reformation/
becket_01.shtml
In this article on BBC Online, Dr Mike Ibeji asks: '"Troublesome priest" or
tormented soul – was Becket Henry's nemesis?'
Constitutions of Clarendon
www.constitution.org/eng/consclar.htm
Gives the text of all 16 clauses of Henry II's bid for the supremacy of secular
law.
Thomas Becket: Selected texts concerning Becket and his murder
www.loyno.edu/~letchie/becket/texts.htm
Includes some very early sources, including accounts of a couple of monks who
were at Canterbury Cathedral on the night of the murder in 1170.
And to get a real taste of the times and the relationship between king and commoner, make sure you see the 1964 British film Becket, starring Richard Burton in the title role and Peter O'Toole as Henry II. According to the Virgin Film Guide, there is an 'undercurrent of homoerotic tension between the men, although this is so subtle that it is lost on many viewers'.
