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🗓️ 29 December 2023
⏱️ 19 minutes
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December 29th, 1170: Archbishop Thomas Becket becomes a martyr after he is brutally killed by four knights in Canterbury Cathedral.
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0:00.0 | There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. |
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0:06.0 | Or you can get all of History Daily, plus other fantastic history podcasts at |
0:10.5 | Into History. |
0:11.6 | com. It's spring 1153 at Mansbury Abbey in Wiltshire, England. |
0:26.0 | 20-year-old Henry Plantagenet bangs his fist against the Abbey entrance and demands entry. |
0:32.0 | A large wooden door opens a crack to reveal the pale face of a monk who |
0:36.3 | pleads with Henry to guarantee the safety of the people inside. Soldiers |
0:40.5 | Russell impatiently behind Henry stepping closer to the monk. |
0:44.0 | Twelve years ago England was plunged into a civil war which will come to be known as the anarchy. |
0:50.0 | Henry's mother Matilda claimed she was the rightful monarch and that the throne had been |
0:54.6 | usurped by Henry's uncle Stephen. Now Henry's here with an army to seize Momsbury, |
1:00.1 | but the town's men are loyal to King Stephen, and they've taken refuge in the Abbey. |
1:05.0 | Henry ignores the monks please and pushes the door open, |
1:09.0 | standing back as his soldiers charged into the Abbey with swords drawn. Henry draws his own sword and follows |
1:15.2 | them into the Abbey, but the men of Momsbury are unarmed and offer no threat. The two groups |
1:20.7 | eye each other warily until the tension is broken by one of Henry's soldiers |
1:24.8 | who stepped forward and plunges his sword into the chest of a nearby townsman. |
1:29.9 | The killing begins a mass slaughter as Henry's soldiers attacked the townsfolk. |
1:34.6 | Even the monks who enter the fray and beg for mercy are killed. |
1:38.3 | The last surviving men of Momsbury tried to make a desperate rush for the exit but it's of no use. |
1:43.5 | Every last one of them are cut down by Henry's soldiers and blood covers the Abbey floor. |
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