In 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in an act that sent shockwaves through English society. The main sketch for this episode focuses on the investigation and subsequent trial of the ones alleged to have done the deed.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I think God and Moses both just have enormous respect for each other.
00:09One gladiator has a safe right bear.
00:15Look, the judges are not harmed.
00:16Even the Egyptian judges are arrested.
00:18Until recently, you claim that the Earth revolves around the sun.
00:30Welcome to History Bites. I'm Rick Green.
00:34Whenever someone famous or rich gets off scot-free for a crime,
00:38it seems as if there's one set of laws for a select few and another for the rest of us.
00:43In fact, in medieval England, that's exactly how it was, officially.
00:47There was one set of laws for most folks that the king enforced,
00:51and another set implemented in a separate court which applied to the clergy.
00:55This was good for priests who could speak their conscience
00:59without worrying too much about what the king thought.
01:01It wasn't so good for the king who had to listen to it all.
01:05King Henry wanted the church firmly under his control.
01:08So, he had his right-hand man and chancellor, Thomas Beckett,
01:12ordained as Archbishop of Canterbury, the top cleric in the land.
01:17Now, the two of them could harmonize the legal systems in Henry's own special way
01:22and put an end to the church courts.
01:24That was Henry's plan, but it went awry,
01:27leading to murder, betrayal, and courtroom drama.
01:31All the ingredients for primetime television.
01:35In the Anglo-Saxon criminal justice system,
01:38there are two distinct but equally important bodies.
01:40The king, who controls the lay courts,
01:42and the church, which oversees the ecclesiastic courts.
01:45These are their stories.
01:50Ellen, you're back in Canterbury.
01:52Why'd the Baron need you in Northumbria?
01:54He just needed some extra help cleaning up the castle after the siege.
01:58I see.
01:58Huh.
02:00The whole nine yards.
02:02Corpses of diseased animals fired over the walls to spread the plague.
02:05And I'd be surprised if that moat has ever had a brush to it.
02:08You should see the ring around that thing.
02:10And don't even get me started on the portcullis.
02:12Don't worry, I won't.
02:13By the way...
02:13They had one of those new ones with the metal spikes on it.
02:15I mean, it's not enough that they have to crush anyone who tries to get in.
02:18They have to shish kebab them as well.
02:20Do you know how hot it is to try and get a man's body off one of those spikes?
02:23Especially when it's been dried on.
02:25Oh, my God, I'm gonna be sick.
02:27You are.
02:27Imagine being there.
02:28It's not like they supplied me with a pair of gloves or anything.
02:30Stop spinning that, would you?
02:38Well, it looks like somebody should have a number on that guy.
02:41I, uh, found this on the floor.
02:44Baggy.
02:45Oh, and, uh, I, uh, got this too.
02:49I don't know.
02:50It looks like the top of his head.
02:52And I thought he just had the world's worst haircut.
02:56Anybody know who this guy is?
02:58Yeah.
02:58There's his mitre and his crozier.
03:00It's the Archbishop of Canterbury, the closest person to God in all of England.
03:04Yeah.
03:05Well, it looks like he just got a whole lot closer.
03:18Who was accused of murder underwent a traditional trial by ordeal,
03:22sticking his hand into a pot of boiling water and removing stones.
03:26Three days later, no blisters.
03:28In a normal trial by ordeal, the lack of blistering would be clear proof of innocence.
03:32But, like more and more people who face trial by ordeal, this blacksmith had prepared himself by reciting magic spells
03:40and then coating his arm with an enchanted mixture of egg white and radishes.
03:43Tonight's flashpoint, with the new merchant class buying expensive charms and chemical mixtures to ward off burns and boils,
03:52is this a case of justice for sale?
03:54Well, witnesses say there were four of them along with a contingent of soldiers,
04:05but they weren't from around here, so nobody recognized them.
04:08I found a few monks who might have seen something, but I couldn't get anything out of them.
04:11I beat them, I threatened them, but they refused to talk.
04:13Were they Carthusians, Ray?
04:15I think so, yeah.
04:15You knew they'd taken a vow of silence, right?
04:17Oh, excuse me, gentlemen.
04:19Hey, hey, hey, what do you think you're doing?
04:23We're taking over this case.
04:25That's what.
04:26Hey, that man was the highest official of the king's court,
04:29and we're of officers of the king's court.
04:31Sorry to disappoint you, lieutenant.
04:35Canonic internal affairs.
04:37That's right.
04:38This matter took place inside a church.
04:41That means it falls under canon law,
04:43and will be tried in the ecclesiastic court.
04:46You're out of your jurisdiction.
04:48Clear out.
04:50They will call you if we need you for anything.
04:54Juris-jousting diction.
04:55My hindquarters.
04:57We're not giving up that easily, all right?
04:59What do you got?
05:00Well, from what I gather,
05:02the killers must have been upset
05:03that the Archbishop Beckett had suspended
05:06and excommunicated the king's bishops.
05:08And plus, get this,
05:10he threatened to invalidate the coronation of King Henry's son.
05:13Talk about making powerful enemies.
05:14The king.
05:15Doesn't get much bigger.
05:16Was the Archbishop involved in anything else?
05:18Any other beefs or arrests?
05:20Hey, what about that Shoemaker case?
05:23Yeah.
05:24Andrew of Greenwood was the arresting bailiff.
05:26Yeah.
05:30Yeah, yeah.
05:36Yeah, he was a shoemaker, all right.
05:38He killed a guy in cold blood right on the grounds of an abbey.
05:42That doesn't say anything here about a punishment.
05:44Oh, yeah, there was a punishment, all right.
05:46A public whipping.
05:47Well, at least those monks made him pay his debt to society.
05:49What? You kidding me?
05:52Yeah, they released him.
05:53Then they said I never should have made an arrest
05:55for a crime that was committed on church grounds.
05:58Yeah.
05:59Then they whipped me.
06:01Punk monks.
06:02You know how much ribbon I took for that down at the station?
06:05I can imagine.
06:06Yeah.
06:07And then they asked me if I'd make the arrest
06:09in the Philip of Broglie case, too.
06:11And I said, yeah, right,
06:13like I'm going to get my ass flogged?
06:15I don't think so.
06:16I've always loved mathematics.
06:21I can go all the way up to 20
06:23without using my fingers or toes.
06:2521 at the public baths.
06:28I often use these numbers to tell people
06:30how many things I have,
06:32or in the market to say how many of something I want.
06:35I can ask the pie man for the largest possible number of pies,
06:39which in my case is 20,
06:41or the smallest possible number, which is 1.
06:44It's a great system.
06:45But now the Arabs are saying
06:46our way of counting doesn't add up.
06:49We need a new smallest number,
06:51a number they call a zero,
06:53a number that means nothing.
06:56In math terms, we've hit a new low.
06:58Why should I memorize this new number?
07:00What can you possibly count with it?
07:02Nothing.
07:03How many things can you count?
07:05None at all.
07:07If I go up to the pie man and say,
07:08I want a number of pies,
07:10he asks me, how many?
07:11How is he going to react if I say zero?
07:15Does he ask me for zero pennies in exchange?
07:19Because of the wild boars.
07:20Is that why you're worrying, George?
07:22No, Gracie, I'm not worried.
07:23I was just wool gathering.
07:25Oh, my Uncle Stumps used to do that.
07:27Oh, yeah?
07:28He was lazy?
07:29Oh, no.
07:29He was a sheep rustler.
07:31He'd pull the wool right out from under your eyes.
07:34Your Uncle Stumps stole sheep?
07:35Oh, why, sure.
07:37Sheep, deer, anything he could catch.
07:39Until he was caught.
07:41He used to wear these tight hats.
07:43Then one day, he lost all his hair.
07:46Because of the hats?
07:47Oh, no.
07:48Because they cut off his head.
07:49The sheep rustling?
07:51Why didn't they just cut off one hand?
07:52Well, it wasn't his first offense.
07:54That's why we called him Uncle Stumps.
07:56His real name was Uncle Bartholomew.
07:58But we called him Stumps.
08:00To tease him.
08:01Well, Stumps was shorter.
08:03Mm, after they cut off his head.
08:05In this day and age, a number like zero could be very useful.
08:09After all, it's a number most of us can relate to.
08:13How much food have you got?
08:14Zero.
08:15How much land do you own?
08:17Zero.
08:18How many of your kids lived through the winter?
08:21Zero.
08:22For six minutes, I'm Andrew Bruni.
08:26My Aunt Flory used to have to feed him through the neck.
08:29From the handle of a wooden spoon.
08:31Drip, drip, drip.
08:32Just like that.
08:33Well, that's low.
08:34In sickness and in health, George.
08:36They were closer than they'd ever been.
08:38And then one day, she was feeding him as usual, and her bracelet slid off her wrist and down into the hole.
08:44Then she noticed he was dead.
08:46Imagine dying from a bracelet.
08:49Yeah, she must have been sad.
08:50Oh, sure.
08:51It was a favorite bracelet.
08:52It doesn't take a wizard or an alchemist to see that the blow was strong.
09:00So strong, in fact, that it severed the top of the archbishop's head and broke off when the sword struck the ground.
09:05Looks like we're looking for someone who knew how to handle a sword.
09:09You got that right.
09:10A two-hander, too.
09:12I ran it through the system and came up with the match.
09:15A sword with this balance and strength could only come from one place.
09:19Toledo, Spain.
09:20Sorry?
09:21Toledo where?
09:23Toledo, Spain.
09:24Where they make the finest swords in the world.
09:26Not many nobles would have the expertise to use a sword like this, let alone the resources to buy it.
09:32Your sealants were pros, gentlemen.
09:34Knights.
09:35Vicious ones, too.
09:36I examined the body and found out that after they cut off the top of Mr. Beckett's head, they stuck another sword in and scrambled his brains around a little.
09:46Guess they didn't want Beckett remembering who killed him when he showed up in heaven, huh?
09:52When we come back, how business problems can kill a friendship.
09:57And a friend.
10:06When British church leader Thomas Beckett was ordained Archbishop of Canterbury by King Henry, well, Henry expected something in return.
10:18You anoint my back, I'll anoint yours.
10:21He figured Beckett would ensure that his reforms of the ecclesiastic courts were pushed through.
10:26Finally, there would be one justice system for both clergy and ordinary folk.
10:31A system run by King Henry.
10:33But Beckett wouldn't play ball.
10:34He defied the king and upheld many ecclesiastical privileges.
10:39Why?
10:40Well, some say he wanted to show the world he wasn't just Henry's yes man.
10:44Others say that once he'd been ordained, he suddenly got all religious.
10:48Maybe he just liked the power.
10:50Whatever it was, from King Henry's perspective, Thomas had gone from archbishop to arch enemy.
10:56Philip O'Brien?
11:08Philip O'Brien?
11:08Philip O'Brien?
11:13Go ahead.
11:14Make a move.
11:15I ought to gut you right here like you did to that knight.
11:17Hey, hey, that was three years ago and I was acquitted for that.
11:20How do you murder a knight and then get acquitted?
11:22Okay, okay, okay.
11:22Take it easy, guys, okay?
11:23I was never tried in the lay courts, okay?
11:25It's the system.
11:26See?
11:27Oh, come on. As a member of the clergy, I could be tried in the Ecclesiastic Court instead.
11:31All you have to do is swear an oath in front of the archbishop, and that's off the hook.
11:34Nice. Yeah, that's pretty sweet.
11:36Does this little legal loophole have anything to do with Thomas Beckett's death?
11:40Okay, okay. Look, I don't know much, but I knew to owe the two-court system, okay?
11:45I know the whole thing. It's the law. It's how the whole thing started.
11:48King Henry wanted more power over his court and his itinerant justice courts.
11:52So, the king didn't like seeing the clergy beat the rats.
11:54No, no, no, that's right. He was tired of the clerics walking on crimes that they would have got the rock shower for had they been in the lay courts.
12:01So, Henry wanted jurisdiction, but his old buddy Beckett wouldn't play ball, huh?
12:05And that's why Henry summoned the council at Clarendon to establish the king's customary rights over the church.
12:11Hey, man, that's all I know, I swear!
12:20The new fall fashions for noblewomen.
12:22And with men going on crusades, there's more and more interest in chastity belts.
12:27So much for clothes make the man.
12:29With the men gone for months, or God forbid, years, you want a chastity belt that's comfy.
12:35Look for the label. Make sure it's forged by a designer blacksmith.
12:39You want a good forger, not a forger.
12:42Well, that was just fine there. That was fine.
12:45That was the comedy stylings of Dribbly the Buffoon and his talking stump.
12:50And now, coming up later in the show, Reginald of Exeter singing his courtly love song,
12:55My lady is not of this earth, and my desires are so base in common they sully her very being.
13:00Okay, okay, now settle down.
13:01In a document called The Constitutions of Clarendon, King Henry set out to increase the power of his lay courts.
13:09The document said essentially,
13:10Okay, if a member of the clergy is charged with a crime, then the church or ecclesiastic courts could determine the verdict.
13:18But the state's court would determine the punishment.
13:22When Beckett refused to approve the document, Henry became incensed.
13:26So Beckett did what most of us would do when faced with a king throwing a temper tantrum.
13:31He fled to France for six years.
13:35Beckett told the king he'd sign the Clarendon documents.
13:38Then he backed out and wouldn't sign.
13:40The king was mad at Beckett.
13:41Mad enough to kill?
13:42Mad enough to bring him up on perjury charges.
13:45That's what forced Beckett into exile for six years.
13:47Yeah, similar thing happened to me and my first wife.
13:50She found out I was a liar.
13:52I got out of town.
13:53So this exile of Beckett created more bad blood between them.
13:56Then he came back from exile, and Beckett excommunicated all the king's bishops.
14:01Sounds like motive to me.
14:03Let's bring in some of the king's knights for questioning.
14:06Wait a minute, just the two of us?
14:07You saw what they did to the archbishop.
14:10Gentlemen, I suggest you wear very hard hats.
14:13Yeah.
14:15Come on, Ray.
14:15They were fed to wild dogs.
14:25And finally, from a story about crime and punishment to a story about crime prevention.
14:30Our roads and highways could become safer for commercial travelers and pilgrims on pilgrimages.
14:36Authorities are planning to cut down underbrush and trees up to 100 yards on either side of major roads.
14:43This will increase cart driver visibility and make it easier to see highway robbers.
14:48As well, ditches will be filled in, denying bandits a hiding place.
14:52In places where these measures have been tried, the number of highway robberies has declined dramatically.
14:59The goal is to reduce the crime rate in rural areas until the dangerous rural areas are as safe as big cities.
15:05Any chance we can try this in the late courts instead of the ecclesiastic courts?
15:13I don't know, Adam.
15:14The four knights say they were acting on orders from the king.
15:17Now, the king isn't a member of the clergy and he wasn't on church grounds when the murder took place.
15:22But he says he never told him to do anything.
15:24Who do we believe?
15:24I don't care who you believe.
15:26You get somebody.
15:28They're calling our departed archbishop a martyr and the pope's office wants a conviction.
15:32Maybe if we offer one of the knights a deal.
15:34Absolution if he rolls on the others.
15:36We don't have the authority to be...
15:39What is it?
15:43More good news.
15:44Apparently they've already discovered three miracles by Mr. Beckett's grave.
15:49Is that a bad thing?
15:50Having your victim pronounce the saint before we get a conviction?
15:53That's a bad thing.
15:55That people be calling for our heads.
15:58Or maybe just the top piece of our heads.
16:01In a related story, criminals denied their traditional cover for highway robberies
16:06are now staging mass raids into towns and markets.
16:11So, your majesty, these four knights were in your service?
16:14So what?
16:15Everyone's in my service.
16:17I'm the king.
16:17And as the king, King Henry, you get to order the executions of people all the time.
16:22Isn't that right?
16:23Sure.
16:24If they commit a capital crime, it's one of the perks of the job.
16:27It's perfectly legal.
16:28When the clergy break the law, they're tried in ecclesiastical court.
16:33What do you think of that court?
16:34Not much.
16:35Because they're not allowed to pass sentences of execution or mutilations?
16:41That's right.
16:41And you resent the fact that your judicial system can't punish the clergy?
16:45You're damn right I do.
16:46I'm the king.
16:47It's my God-given right to be able to mutilate whoever I see fit.
16:51But you took it one step further this time.
16:54The execution was an archbishop.
16:56It wasn't an execution.
16:58It was an accident.
16:59So you admit you had him killed?
17:01No!
17:02I didn't tell them to kill him.
17:04Sure, I was upset with Thomas, but all I said was,
17:08who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
17:10I never thought they'd cut his head off.
17:15If I'd wanted that, I would have said,
17:19can one of you knights please go slice the archbishop's head open?
17:24Something like that.
17:26No further questions.
17:27In medieval times, Europe was run by the church and the nobility.
17:43The church gave the nobility God's stamp of approval.
17:47The nobility gave the church protection.
17:49But where there's power, there's conflict.
17:51For the average serf back in 1170,
17:54it wasn't easy to decide which side was right.
17:57The state or the church.
17:58I mean, the king was the sovereign ruler of the land,
18:01but the church had another king on their side, Jesus Christ.
18:05So people were confused about who to believe.
18:08Of course, back then, they were confused about a lot of things.
18:10And I believe we have Roger on the line.
18:13What can we do for you, Roger?
18:15Well, I've been married for 10 years,
18:17and I thought my wife and I had a loving relationship,
18:20and then two weeks ago, she gave birth to twins.
18:27Twins!
18:28I feel so betrayed.
18:31Boy, you know, the twins are always tough to take
18:33because, as you know,
18:35it means that your wife has to be impregnated by two different men.
18:38I know.
18:39What do I do now?
18:41Well, clearly, to satisfy your honor,
18:43you need to kill the man who did this.
18:45Right.
18:45But the question is, how do you find that man?
18:49So let me ask you, who do the babies look like?
18:52Really, the truth is,
18:53the only person they look like is each other.
18:57What?
18:58What is it?
19:00Well, two babies who look identical,
19:04family resemblance.
19:06Yeah.
19:06Your wife obviously had relations with your brother
19:09on the same night she did with you.
19:11Well, it was kind of like King Henry said.
19:17Me and Sir Richard and Sir William and Sir Hugh
19:20were hanging around at the palace
19:22when King Henry got word that Thomas Beckett
19:26had suspended all of his bishops
19:28who had helped in his son's coronation.
19:31So King Henry got kind of mad,
19:34and he started shouting,
19:36who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
19:39Like he said.
19:41And so me and Hughie and Richie and Willie,
19:45we're all like,
19:46ooh, me, me, me, I'll do it, I'll do it.
19:48And you thought the king was serious?
19:50Well, yeah, I mean,
19:53if you don't want someone to rid you of someone,
19:56why ask?
19:59Sir William, can you describe what happened
20:01when the four of you arrived at Canterbury Cathedral?
20:04Well, we went inside,
20:07crossed ourselves,
20:10lit some votive candles,
20:13put some coins in the poor box,
20:16and then we killed the archbishop.
20:19Did the archbishop have a weapon, Sir Hugh?
20:22Did he strike at any of you?
20:24No.
20:25He didn't want to fight.
20:27We had to really push him.
20:29Then he kind of sort of figured out this was it,
20:33and he knelt in trade,
20:34which made it easier to get him.
20:38King Henry II,
20:40for your part of this brutal slaying,
20:42there will be an interdict on your lands in Normandy,
20:46in addition to a personal interdict upon you.
20:49You shall not be allowed to enter a church
20:52for a period of not less than three years.
20:56And your men,
20:58Reginald Fitz Urse,
21:00William of Tracy,
21:01Hugh Morville,
21:03and Richard de Breton,
21:04I find you all guilty
21:06in the murder of Archbishop Thomas Beckett.
21:10Your penance shall be a crusade in the Holy Land
21:13for a period of not less than 14 years.
21:17I feel bad for King Henry.
21:25They say he fasted for days
21:26when he heard the news of Beckett's death.
21:29I don't think he meant for this to happen.
21:31Well, he didn't try to stop them.
21:33Don't forget who the real victim here is,
21:36the man who had his skull sliced open.
21:38Don't feel too sorry for the late Archbishop.
21:41Thomas Beckett devoted his entire life
21:43to strengthening the powers of the church
21:45and reforming the archaic customs of England.
21:49Do you think those things would be happening
21:50as quickly as they are now
21:52if he were still alive?
21:56That's the problem with being a martyr.
21:59You never get to see your best work.
22:03Thomas Beckett was canonized
22:05only three years after his death.
22:07In today's terms, that's like
22:09waiving the mandatory five-year waiting period
22:12to get Gretzky into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
22:14He was that popular.
22:16From Beckett's example,
22:17people learned the virtue
22:18of standing up for one's principles.
22:20They also learned that
22:21no matter how important you are,
22:23oppose the king in your history.
22:25And history bites.
22:26So my question to you, Jake,
22:29would be,
22:30why do so many women
22:31partake in this lurid behavior
22:33when they have to know
22:34they're going to get caught?
22:35Well, you know,
22:37unfortunately, women are so insatiable
22:39that they feed their ravenous desires
22:42without even thinking about the consequences.
22:44And what's even worse,
22:46these women more often than not
22:47deny their obvious unfaithfulness.
22:49But as they say,
22:51the proof is in the pudding.
22:53Or whatever other nickname she has for her.