Saint Thomas Becket

1118 - 1170

Feast day: December 29

Patronage: secular clergy; Portsmouth, England; Exeter College, Oxford, England

Thomas Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, was Archbishop of Canterbury, from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king who split his skull with their swords as he knelt before the altar at Canterbury Cathedral.