“For the Name of Jesus, and the defense of the Church, I am ready to die.”—St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
“St. Thomas therefore will always stand as a symbol of the unceasing conflict between the world and the Church; and the fact that some of the principles for which he contended do appear even to some Catholics to be on the very borderline between ‘dogma’ and ‘opinion,’ makes him all the more significant.”—Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson
Robert Hugh Benson’s retelling of St. Thomas Becket’s martyrdom offers a compelling portrait of an archbishop who died defending the Church’s independence from political control. This gripping narrative chronicles the tragic transformation of King Henry II and his former chancellor from intimate friends to mortal enemies, as their conflict over ecclesiastical authority escalates toward its bloody end. Benson masterfully illustrates how this twelfth-century struggle between throne and altar contained the philosophical seeds of a rupture that would reshape the Western world—prefiguring the Protestant Revolt and the conflicts between the Church and the world today. This struggle is summed up in St. Thomas’ own transformation as his allegiance shifts from an earthly king to the King of Kings.
“Catholics believe that Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world, and therefore cannot possibly, in the matter of her own constitution, be subject to secular control.”—Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson
167pp, 5.75 x 8.75 in
