"Becket:" Richard Burton & Peter O'Toole Star

This 1964 movie has two major stars: Richard Burton as Thomas Becket and Peter O'Toole as King Henry II.* While John Gielgud plays King Louis VII of France, Burton and Becket dominate the picture. Understand, the film has some historical flaws, as it correctly portrays the strains between the Norman nobility and their Saxon subjects, and it has Becket as a Saxon, but he was a Norman. There are other historical errors,** but the movie was based on a play written by Frenchman Jean Anouilh, which contained the errors, and the film did not correct them, which would have required a major rewrite. Make note of the historical flaws, but enjoy the performances.

The movie centers around the longtime friendship between Becket and King Henry II, the great grandson of William the Conqueror. The king admires Becket's keen intelligence. Henry is in a battle with the Church, since he needs money to fund a war in France, and he wants to tax the Church to raise that money, something adamantly opposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, a man well along in years. While in France, the king receives word the archbishop has died and he decides to appoint Becket as his successor, figuring he will have a faithful supporter in the position. That's not what happens. Becket takes his position very seriously and when one of Henry's nobles has a priest tried before the civil courts for a crime, then kills the priest when he tries to escape, Becket excommunicates the noble for not having brought the priest in for trial before a church court. Henry is furious! The king presses one of Becket's enemies in the Church, the Bishop of London, played by Donald Wolfit, to support a charge of embezzlement against the archbishop, dating to the time he was Lord Chancellor of England, a position to which he had been appointed by Henry, prior to naming him to the archbishop's position. When some nobles try to read the charges against Becket, he scares the hell out of them by declaring their "immortal souls" to be in danger by judging him with made up charges. He appeals for protection and for a judgment by the pope. Henry, who has secretly been observing the confrontation, and still torn between his friendship and enmity with Becket, laughs, saying, "He's made mincemeat of them. I'm surrounded by fools. Becket is the only intelligent man in my kingdom, and he's against me."

Becket flees to France and is granted protection by King Louis VII, played by John Gielgud. Louis likes to tweak the King of England's nose. The French king also provides Becket with escort to Rome, where Becket tells his case to the pope (Alexander III). The pope retains Becket in his position as head of the English Church, but places him in a monastery in France. Becket eventually asks King Louis to get Henry to meet him in France, which he does, on the beach there. After some wrangling, Henry agrees to allow Becket to return to England.

Henry engages in a bout of drinking with some of his nobles, who tell the king how Becket has returned to England and been cheered by the Saxon populace. Henry asks, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" This prompts some of his nobles to go to Canterbury and to kill Becket. To atone for the murder, Henry is whipped by Saxon monks. Henry tells his nobles that the murderers will also pay, as all must do penance. Henry goes before the assembled crowd and tells them he has received a positive answer from the pope to his request to name Becket a saint. The crowd cheers. 

Just a little note: if you're like me, you'll get a few laughs the way Henry acts toward his children, especially his then successor, also named Henry. In one scene, the boys are playing sword fighting and Henry comes out, but so little does he know about his sons that he lifts the helmet of one of the boys and asks him, "Which one are you?" When the boy answers, "Henry III," the king shouts, "Not yet, you aren't!" Only a reigning king could have a numeral after his name. In another scene, the king chases the younger Henry from the dining hall with the exclamation, "Here's my royal foot up you're royal buttocks!"  

* Peter O'Toole later played King Henry II again in, "The Lion in Winter," which also starred Katharine Hepburn as his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. 

** For instance, the film has Henry's mother present in a scene after Becket's return to Canterbury from France, but in reality, his mother had died a couple of years prior to that. 
 
Photo is from the 2007 MPI Home Video DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Priest -It may sound strange, but this word is distantly related to "cow." The core of the word goes back to Indo European "guos," which meant, "cattle, cows," with a form of the prefix "per" (meaning, "before, ahead, in front of") added, which gave Indo European "pruos," with the meaning, "leader of cattle/cows." This gave Ancient Greek the transliterated form, "présbus," which meant, "older/elder." This then produced Greek "presbýteros," which meant, "(an) elder." Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "presbyter," with the same meaning. The Germanic languages "seem" to have borrowed the word from Gallo-Romance "prestre," by which time the word had taken on the "elder religious leader," with Old English having "preost," Old High German having "prestar/priester" (modern German "Priester"), Old Saxon having "prestar" (modern Low German "Preester"). The English form then became "preest," before the modern form.