Conflict & Penance: the remarkable history of Henry II & Thomas Becket - three online talks by Dr Hugh Doherty

On Friday, 12th July 1174 King Henry II dismounted outside Canterbury, walked barefoot through the city and into the crypt of the Romanesque cathedral, where he was whipped with rods by five bishops and by all 80 monks of Christ Church priory. He performed the penance for his part – his unintentional part, according to the king – in the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the very same cathedral on 29th December 1170. The following day, Saturday, 13th July, witnessed a still more dramatic event: the capture of William, King of Scots, outside Alnwick castle by forces loyal to King Henry. William’s capture – at the very hour, Henry himself told one contemporary, that he was hearing Mass in Canterbury – marked the turning point in the great war of 1173–74. St Thomas had rescued his friend. The blessed, penitential king had triumphed.

This series of three talks, convened in the 850th year of King Henry’s penance and King William’s capture, will explore the extraordinary friendship and the equally astonishing rupture between Henry and Thomas Becket that shocked and appalled mid-12th-century Europe. Over the course of three lectures we will explore the making of their alliance, the genesis and growth of their enmity, and the transformation of their relationship in the wake of Becket’s brutal murder. We will do so with the help of a combination of manuscripts, luxury items and buildings.

They take place every Wednesday from 9th–23rd October at 4.30pm (London) and, including Q&A, will probably last just under an hour. They are available for viewing for eight weeks after the last episode is streamed (18th December 2024).