Becket Film question paper

Becket Questions

In 1066 England was taken by William the Conquerer, making the Normans the ruling power. The Saxons were turned into peasants in their own homeland while the foreign Normans were the aristocratic power in England, creating a tension between the two peoples. During Henry II reign, this was not the only tension in England. Henry II sought to expand his political power but unfortunately, this expansion was at the expense of the church. While the power of the state increased, the church’s power decreased and thus the church and the state’s tension was created. Thomas Becket, in the movie Becket, was the best friend of Henry II and essentially one of his advisors. Not only was he in politics, but he was also a Saxon, which was unusual because after the Norman invasion in 1066 the people in power were primarily Normans. Also Thomas Becket was made Archbishop of Canterbury, making him part of the church and the state, by Henry II. Eventually, Becket started becoming more loyal to his job and the church and Henry II became jealous and laid charges against him. This is where the root of the tension between the church and the state laid. This was not only the beginning of the tension of the church and state but also between Thomas Becket and Henry II. Thomas Becket refused to even hear the charges that Henry laid against him. Thomas Becket said that only the church could press charges against the church and that the state could not charge the church. Thomas becket was ultimately saying that the state did not hold any power over the church. Henry II then condemned him to death and ran him out of the country, even though he obsessively loved Thomas Becket. He also appeared hypocritical because he was angry with Thomas Becket when he was simply doing his job as the Archbishop of Canterbury, which Henry II himself appointed to Becket.