![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Jindrich2_Beckett.jpg/640px-Jindrich2_Beckett.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Becket controversy
12th-century dispute between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Becket controversy or Becket dispute was the quarrel between Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England from 1163 to 1170.[1] The controversy culminated with Becket's murder in 1170,[2] and was followed by Becket's canonization in 1173 and Henry's public penance at Canterbury in July 1174.[3]
![Manuscript illustration. The central man is wearing robes of blood and a mitre and is facing the seated figure on the left. The seated man is wearing a crown and robes and is gesturing at the mitred man. Behind the mitred figure are a number of standing men wearing armor and carrying weapons.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Jindrich2_Beckett.jpg/320px-Jindrich2_Beckett.jpg)
The dispute concerned the respective rights of crown and church. The king attempted to reassert royal prerogatives and the archbishop resisted. A significant point of contention was jurisdiction over criminal cases regarding clerics, even if only in minor orders. The matter dragged on for a number of years as both sides appealed to the pope, who attempted to bring the parties to a negotiated settlement, but to no avail. Both sides resorted to actions that escalated the dispute with the king confiscating property and the archbishop issuing excommunications.