Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the 12th century. His murder by followers of King Henry II saw him venerated as a martyr, and then a saint. Medieval Londoners revered him as the patron saint of the city (along with St. Paul) and his cult became one of the most important in England until it was suppressed in 1538, at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Thomas was the son of Gilbert and Matilda Becket, Normans who had settled in London. He was born in the family’s house in Cheapside in about 1118. He became clerk to a London banker, before rising through a series of official posts to be Henry II’s chancellor.
In 1162 Henry secured his appointment as archbishop of Canterbury. From being great friends with the king, Thomas quarrelled with Henry over relations between Church and Crown. Thomas went into exile in France in 1164, after being convicted of corruption during his time as Chancellor, and showing contempt for the king.
In 1170 he returned from exile, after mediation between King Henry and Becket by Pope Alexander III. However, they soon resumed quarelling, and in November Becket began to excommunicate his political opponents from the church. Four knights, acting on what they thought were the wishes of the king, murdered Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral.
Henry's words, as reported by contemporary chronicler Edward Grim, were "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" Oral tradition has transformed this into "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Whatever he said, the knights Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy and Richard le Breton interpreted this as an order to kill Thomas Becket. They hacked him to death on 29 December 1170.
Miracles were reported, and in 1173 Thomas was made a saint by Pope Alexander. His martyrdom and subsequent popular veneration forced King Henry to do penance at the saint's tomb. Celebrated as an English saint, a worker of miracles, and a symbol of god's authority over man, Thomas Becket's cult swelled through the Middle Ages. In 1220, the 50th anniversary of Becket's murder, his remains were moved to a specially built shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.
As a saint he was favoured by his fellow Londoners, who prayed for his protection. Many Londoners travelled to Canterbury to pray at the shrine there, and bought badges and ampullae (small bottles for holy water) as souvenirs of their pilgrimage. The Museum of London collection has an especially rich collection of pilgrim badges depicting Becket, some in life, others based on the mitred head-shaped reliquary bust that held the remains of his skull.