20 Times, Wednesday, June 8, 2016 CAN-E01-S2 canterburytimes.co.uk

LOCAL HISTORY: King’s 1162 plan to install friend as new How Thomas Beckett and Henry II fell out Way We Were Richard West Founder of the Chaucer Education Project vle.tcep.org.uk

IN 1161, when Theobald of Bec died, King Henry II had a plan to obtain future supremacy over the defiant bishops: he would appoint his friend to be the next Archbishop of . However, Thomas Becket took his new role seriously, increasingly bring- ing him in to conflict with the King. On January 30 1164, just over nine years after Henry II succeeded to the t h ro n e, he enacted what would become Home cooked food at its finest! known as the Constitutions of Clar- endon, named after Clarendon Palace • Create your own Breakfast from where discussions were held between Becket and the King. only £1.99 • Lunches The Constitutions were a set of • Sunday Roast £7.49 legislative procedures which Arch- bishop Becket was asked to sign to • Childrens meals • Free parking establish the king’s rights; with reper- • Free WiFi • Ample seating cussions if he refused. The circumstances occurring after Homemade Pies Only £6.49 the ultimatum was made to the arch- NEW Healthy Breakfasts bishop and of his refusal to sign the Constitutions of Clarendon, began to Hot Porridge or Cereals £2.49 initiate the events which would even- tually lead to him being murdered in Cafe Solo 302 Wincheap on December 29, 1170 and which subsequently led to Road, Canterbury CT1 3TY. the penance by King Henry II at the cathedral to the bishops and monks of 01227 470178 Canterbury on July 12, 1174. ©LW Thomas Becket was born in NEVER FORGET: King Henry II and Archbishop Thomas Becket Photo: Peter of Langtoft, Chronicle of England. Cheapside, London, probably in1120, on December 21, the feast day of Saint life of abstinence and dedication to his Thomas the Apostle. Thomas was the role of leading the church. son of Gilbert and Matilda Becket. Thomas Becket was ordained a Gilbert was a wealthy Norman from priest on June 2 1162 in Canterbury. Rouen who dealt in city rents and On the following day, he was con- proper ties. secrated archbishop by , U l t i m at u m the and the other suffragan bishops of Canter- When he was ten years old, Thomas bu r y. was sent as a student to Merton Priory Rift in England and later attended a gram- Get a cash offer on mar school in London. Sometime after A rift grew between Henry II and he began his schooling, his father Becket, as the archbishop resigned his your house today! suffered financially, through it seems chancellorship soon after taking up the great fire of 1133 starting in his his new office. house and burning down so much of This led to a series of conflicts with If you need to sell your house fast, whatever the city that his properties were ser- D E TA I L E D : A stained glass the king, including about the juris- the reason, then Move Any House has genuine iously diminished and he was reduced window of Thomas Becket diction of secular courts over English cash funds to buy it quickly and to comparative poverty. in Canterbury Cathedral clergymen, which accelerated hostil- for a competitive price. About the year 1140, Gilbert Becket Photo: Wikipedia Commons ity between the pair. first secured a place for his son in the Attempts by the king to influence business of a relative, Osbert Huit- Bologna and Auxerre to study him to the king for the vacant post of the other bishops against Thomas Up to 90% of market value paid! deniers (whose surname in English is l aw. Lord Chancellor, to which he was Becket began in Westminster in Octo- Eightpence) as sheriff ’s clerk, giving In 1154, Archbishop Theobald appointed in January 1155. ber 1163, when Henry sought approval Call us for free on 0800 031 9095 him his first taste of royal admin- named Becket as of Can- B e cke t ’s election to the post of Arch- of the traditional rights of the royal for a same day cash offer istration. Later, he acquired a position terbury. Other ecclesiastical offices bishop of Canterbury was confirmed government with regard to the in the household of Theobald of Bec, held by him included a number of on May 23, 1162 by a royal council of ch u rch . who by then had been appointed Arch- benefices, prebends at Lincoln bishops and noblemen. In due course, this led to the Con- bishop of Canterbury. Cathedral and St. Paul’s Cathedral, The King might have hoped that stitutions of Clarendon, the set of MoveAnyHouse.com Archbishop Theobald entrusted and the office of Provost of Beverley. Becket would continue to put the royal legislative procedures, enacted by Becket with several important mis- His efficiency in those posts led to government first, rather than the King Henry II at Clarendon Palace, BUYING HOUSES FOR OVER 77 YEARS sions to Rome and also sent him to Archbishop Theobald recommending church, but instead he began leading a which Archbishop Thomas Becket Look out for our next supplement...

Appearing Education September 2016 canterburytimes.co.uk CAN-E01-S2 Times, Wednesday, June 8, 2016 21

Archbishop of Canterbury backfired

DAMAGE: Some of the destruction caused by the Baedeker Blitz Credit: British Pathe/Youtube It’s 74 years since Canterbury felt the full force of the Luftwaffe SEVENTY-FOUR years ago last target specific places of civilians were killed, and 1,760 week Canterbury suffered the historical and cultural were injured, and over 50,000 worst night in its long history, significance in the UK, and was houses were destroyed in the thanks to a massive air raid by named after a German tourist raids, which also struck Exeter, BEAUTIFUL: Canterbury Cathedral Photo: Richard West the Luftwaffe. handbook listing such sites. Bath, Norwich and York. While everywhere in the UK, Thanks to the tireless efforts particularly in the South East, of civilians and emergency EXTENT OF THE was targeted in a series of raids services, Canterbury Cathedral during the Second World War, was largely spared, but as this DA M AG E Canterbury was a specific target picture shows, the city did not ISee video of Canterbury on June 1, 1942. escape unharmed. just after the war ended at The so-called Baedeker Blitz Further raids took place on was an initiative designed to June 2 and June 6. In total, 1,637 canterbur ytimes.co.u k

LOOKING BACK: Great Seal of King Henry II Photo: Wikipedia Commons refused to sign. to other noble houses. The young- IPrevious Way We Were articles As Lord Chancellor, Becket er Henry was reported to have from The Chaucer Education enforced the king’s traditional said Thomas Becket showed him Project, including the first sources of revenue extracted from more fatherly love in a day than edition of this article, are all landowners, including his father did in his entire life. available to access online under churches and bishoprics. An emotional attachment to Latest Articles, in the right-hand The king even sent his son Becket as a foster father might column of The Chaucer Henry to live in Thomas’s house- have been one of the reasons the Education Project’s virtual hold, it being the custom then for younger Henry subsequently learning environment website: noble children to be fostered out turned against his father. ch a u c e r. u n ive r s i t y. OLD TIMES: Canterbury in the 1940s, after the Blitz Credit: Canterbury Remembering it as it was

Carpets Rugs Wooden Floors Amtico

CANTERBURY-HUDSON HOUSE, 12 ROPER ROAD, CANTERBURY, KENT,CT2 7EH Tel: 01227 788588, Email: [email protected] CLARKS WHITSTABLE -89HIGHT STREET,WHITSTABLE CT5 1AY Carpets &FINe FLOOr COVerINGs Tel: 01227 772774, Email: [email protected] view our website: www.clarkscanterbury.com ©LW