Title:
Murder of Thomas Becket, Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, 1170 (1864). Artist: James William Edmund Doyle
Caption:
Murder of Thomas Becket, Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, 1170 (1864). Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162, Becket (1120-1170) clashed almost incessantly with King Henry II over the question of the independence of the Church from the authority of the state. He was murdered by four knights in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170.