The Murder of Thomas Becket

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today on Gone Medieval we arrive at one of the most consequential events in English history; the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. A moment in time that is famed for its horrendous brutality, but from which it is impossible to look away.

Across four special episodes, Gone Medieval is charting Becket's meteoric rise, his disastrous fall leading to his murder and the spectacular consequences which spawned a world famous legacy.

Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega relive the events of the 29th of December, 1170, in forensic detail to unwrap the enigma and get to the heart of what really happened to Thomas Beckett. Was his murder an unfortunate accident, an unauthorised execution, or a dance intentionally choreographed to give birth to a saintly legend?

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega and Matt Lewis. It was edited by Joseph Knight, the producers are Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Sign up HERE for 50% off your first 3 months using code ‘MEDIEVAL’ https://historyhit.com/subscription

You can take part in our listener survey here:

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Penguin Audio. In his fabulous book, Unruly, David Mitchell
0:07.2	takes a hilarious look at the history of England's monarchy from the Kingdom's foundation after Rome went home to the end of
0:16.0	Gloriaa with Elizabeth the first's passing in 1603.
0:21.4	You might have heard David joined Dan Snow on his podcast to talk about the book.
0:26.4	If you haven't, it's worth looking the episode out, not least as a taster of what you can
0:31.1	expect from the audiobook, which is available right now.
0:35.2	David is a passionate historian, an expert who firmly lashes the humour to the history
0:41.5	and he brings his signature dry wit to the audiobook which he
0:45.5	narrates himself. Who was King Arthur or rather just was King Arthur? Would David be in the home or away stands at the Battle of Hastings?
0:58.0	Did Richard III, really? Mm, never mind. The audiobook of Unruly by David Mitchell is available now from
1:06.2	Audible or with Spotify premium. Now, about that Richard the third chapter. This is gone medieval from history head. I'm Dr. Eleanor Yanega.
1:29.0	And I'm Matt Lewis. You have joined us at a time of great foreboding. This is the third episode in our special series investigating the murder of the Archbishop Thomas Beckett in 1170, and tragedy is almost upon us. Our previous two
1:46.6	episodes traced the Archbishop's rise to power and witnessed the destruction of
1:50.9	his relationship with King Henry II. Do go back and listen to those if you haven't already.
1:57.3	But now we arrive at the pinnacle. One of the most consequential events in English medieval history, a moment in time that is
2:06.8	famed for its horrendous brutality, but from which it is impossible to look away.
2:14.0	All events up to now head in one direction, Beckett's inescapable fate.
2:21.0	We will be reliving the events of the 29th of December 1170 as they happen,
2:26.0	going over it all in forensic detail.
2:29.0	Our aim is to unwrap the enigma and get to the heart of what really happened to Thomas Beckett.
2:36.4	Was his murder in unfortunate accident, an unauthorized execution, or a dance intentionally choreographed to give birth to a saintly legend.
2:46.5	Our experts today are contemporary eyewitness accounts, most notably Edward Grimm,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.