Thomas Becket had a premonition that he might lose his life in his defence of the English Church’s independence from the Crown. And after King Henry II had publicly voiced his frustration with the Archbishop, four knights thought he would be pleased if Becket were gone. However, making a martyr of Becket only made Henry’s position worse.

The four knights who assassinated Thomas Becket fled to Rome and asked pardon of the Pope; as penance, they were ordered to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but within a short time all were dead. King Henry did public penance in Canterbury, and abandoned his ambitions for control over the Church, so Becket’s sacrifice had not been made in vain.

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