Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury, the most important bishop in England. In 1170, he was brutally murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. Historians have long debated whether his murder, Thomas Becket was an English archbishop and martyr, famously murdered by knights of Henry II at Canterbury Cathedral. After his death, his tomb and relics became a focus for pilgrimage and he was made a saint., Murder in the Cathedral. Thomas Becket, a London merchant’s son, was a complex person – in his youth he was a normal ebullient young man, stormy and proud, selfish and arrogant, vain, and anxious to please, but in later life, became one of the most pious and devout Archbishops of the 12th century., Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered on December 29, 1170, in Canterbury Cathedral. His assassination was a shocking and brutal event, driven by a protracted conflict between him and King Henry II over the rights and authority of the Church versus that of the Crown., Four knights took him at his word and on 29 December, murdered Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral. The death of Thomas Becket sent shockwaves through England and beyond. Three years later the Pope made Becket a saint, following reports of miracles at his tomb., A sword's crushing blow extinguished the life of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, on a cold December evening as he struggled on the steps of his altar. The brutal event sent a tremor through Medieval Europe..