On 29 December 1170, Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury was brutally murdered in his cathedral by four knights from the household of his former friend and patron, King Henry II. The horror that the killing inspired and the miraculous cures performed at Thomas's tomb transfigured him into one of the most popular saints in Western Christendom, and Canterbury became one of the greatest pilgrim shrines in the West.
Yet these were unexpected results. Thomas's extraordinary career had been, and remains, controversial. The transformation of a handsome, attractive and worldly courtier into a zealous prelate, a bitter exile and finally a martyr was for many hard to understand.
In this biography, which is based on the original sources and informed by the most recent scholarship, Professor Barlow follows the London merchant's son through his schooling and successive clerkships - to a London banker, to Archbishop Theobald and, as Chancellor, to Henry II - to his election to the see of Canterbury, his behaviour as Archbishop and his quarrel with the King, his exile at Pontigny and Sens, and unravels the complicated diplomacy that led to the `reconciliation' between Thomas and Henry and the Archbishop's return to England at the end of November 1170.
Contains 24 pages of b/w photographs.& 4 diagrams in text.
