Saint Thomas Becket, Sin and Contrition
His story tells us how foreign to our time the Middle Ages are.
Becket was a worldly cleric who had risen to be chancellor of England
for Henry II. Henry seized the opportunity to place his man, Becket, on
the throne of Canterbury as Primate of England. Becket had a sudden
and complete religious conversion and fought Henry for the liberty of
the Church for which Becket suffered exile and, ultimately, murder. In
penance for Becket’s murder Henry had himself beaten by the monks at
Canterbury before the tomb of his former friend who, two years after his
death, was canonized by the Pope. For over three centuries his tomb
became one of the major pilgrimage sites in Europe and inspired the
immortal
Canterbury Tales.
