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Item Condition: Used; Very Good
THOMAS
ON a dark December afternoon,
four knights of the court of
Henry II rode into Canterbury in
search of the Archbishop, Thomas
Becket. They left him dead in the
blacknes of his own cathedral, and
the common people came to dip their
hands in his blood. Within hour,
miracles were performed in his name,
and soon he was proclaimed a saint
and martyr of the Church.
Yet this was a worldly man, son of
a prosperous London merchant,
educated in the Church but trained
also as a knight and courtier. As
Chancellor to the young King Henry
II, he was the second most powerful
man in England, a wily diplomat and
ruthless soldier. He was a man of
God by vocation, but by profession
he was the King's man, and when he
was forced to choose between the
spiritual glory ofGod's priesthood
and the temporal power of being
Chancellor, between the Christian
religion in which he believed and the
slow-dying Old Religion which still
infuenced his king, his choice led
him into bitter quarrels with Henry,
into exile, return, and the murder
which he foresaw.
From the conflict between these
two dominant personalities Shelley
Mydans has drawn inspiration and
created that great rarity among
historical novels: a dramatic story,
illed with fine scenes and natural
dialogue, and written with power and
grace.