Today is Tuesday, December 29, 2020.

On this day in 1170, Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain in Canterbury Cathedral.

Beckett was killed by knights loyal to King Henry II of England after publicly

feuding with the monarchy for years.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parkast. Today we're covering the death of Archbishop Thomas

Beckett. Now let's go back to 1170 as the sun set on the gleaming Canterbury Cathedral

in southeast England. Archbishop Beckett was working at his residence on the precinct of the cathedral when someone burst through the door.

The regal, 52-year-old looked up to see four men in plain clothes approach him

gruffly. They were the loyal knights of King Henry II, Reginald Fitzers, Hugh de Morville,

William de Tracy, and Richard Le Breton. All four of them crowded around the archbishop and announced that he was

under arrest. They demanded that he followed them to the nearby city of Winchester to answer

for his crimes against the crown. Beckett could feel the anger and indignation rise within him.

He wasn't surprised that the king had ordered his arrest.

Tensions had been high for quite some time. He had only recently returned to England after being

forced into exile in France for six long years. But he was outraged that four knights would speak to him

so coarsely. He reminded them that he did

not live to serve Henry, he bowed to a greater authority. God.

The knights dismissed his piety as sanctimony and again tried to take Beckett into custody.

When he refused, they left the palace in a huff.

The Archbishop watched them leave,

then prepared himself for the evening prayer service.

As he descended the steps to the cathedral,

...