History records that Henry II and Thomas Becket, his Chancellor, were firm friends. Although the Plantagenet king was only twenty-one when he ascended the throne in 1154, and Becket was in his mid thirties, the age differences did not seem to matter. Both were energetic workers, and whereas the king sought to manage and rule his diverse kingdom in England and France, Becket took control of the writing office, preparing official royal documents. It is recorded that before taking dictation from Becket a clerk would sharpen at least 60 if not 100 quills pens.
However no matter how excellent the rule of law under Henry became, the church had its own laws and the clerics were exempt common law and justice, so when the Archbishop of Canterbury died in 1161, Henry appointed Becket to replace him. His idea was that Thomas would put the church in order and remain Chancellor thus combining the two jobs and curing a festering sore.
Astonishment arose when both the King and the populace noticed a dramatic change in Becket. He resigned as Chancellor and almost at once started defending and supporting the rights of the church. He resisted Henry’s attempts at taxing priests, and ruled that none were subject to the death penalty.
Becket had moved from his vainglorious, extravagant chancellorship, and become a pious man, far removed from the king’s man. There was talk that he had been ‘born again’ and was now God’s man. But, “Becket could never resist catching the public eye: he loved being a celebrity. Gilded companion of the king or sackcloth servant of the church, he never failed to act his part.”[1]
In October 1164 he arrived at Northampton Castle with a retinue of clerks and monks to withstand the king on various matters. The meeting resulted in him slipping away and sailing to France where he was in exile for six years. On his return to England, with Henry still in France, he railed and stormed at happenings in his absence, so much so that Henry was heard to complain bitterly about the ‘low born cleric.’ Four of his knights, hearing that lament, took it upon themselves to deal with the matter. They came back to England, to Saltwood castle, to collect an arrest party and proceeded to Canterbury.
The facts of his death are well known and on that late December afternoon, the four knights having arrived, took off their armour, interviewed him, and then because of his obstinacy, stormed out of his private chambers, put on their swords entered the cathedral and a fight broke out and Thomas was slain with a blow to the head that cut it wide open.
On December 29th when the monks stripped him for burial they found next to his skin a rough goat-hair vest from his neck to his knees, crawling with maggots and lice, not silk underpants. It was a symbol of humility that pious monks wore to punish themselves, and it changed their opinion of him, thus making him a martyr not an arrogant self- glorious, self-opinionated, ex Chancellor. Thomas’s private chaplain, Robert Merton, revealed that he would lift Becket’s shirt to the shoulders three times a day to whip him until the blood flowed. It confirmed to his followers his saintliness.
I am of the opinion the New Year’s vows or resolutions are a bit like Becket’s goat-hair shirt. Many flagellate themselves in an attempt to make themselves worthy. There is this urge in mankind to live right, in the belief that they are not meeting some forced criteria for lifestyle. If only they could slim, stop smoking, stop drinking (too much) stop going to bed late, get out of debt, study more, take an interest in the arts, and generally behave differently, life would take on a dramatic change.
I wonder what hair shirt we are wearing. The Christian objective is to live right each day with God, so that we don’t have to make New Year’s keynote speeches. God does not make demands of us, but gently leads us onward, changing us from glory to glory. We do not have to prove ourselves to God for we always fall far short. We live under his love and forgiveness, and common sense tells us of any change that needs to be taken. The book of Proverbs will teach us how to live. Pray through that, and make no day a high day, but do today what needs to be done, and if you fail, and you probably will, start again the same day.
[1] Robert Lacey, English History, pub by Little, Brown, 2004.page 129
