num_pages: 181
description: This title is a college thesis written by Rosanne E. Lortz to fulfill her graduation requirements at New St. Andrews College. It tells the life story of Thomas Becket using typology (a device employed by medieval chroniclers, where a person is used as a metaphor for another person, usually a Biblical character).Archbishop Thomas Becket was a central figure in the church-state conflicts of the twelfth century. Beginning his career as royal chancellor to King Henry II, Becket helped Henry persecute the Church’s liberty, just as the Apostle Paul had done. When Henry selected Becket to be the next archbishop of Canterbury, this promotion became his Road to Damascus conversion. Becket championed the cause of the Church he had formerly persecuted, declaring that kings had no power to meddle with ecclesiastical affairs. Although he faltered once at the Council of Clarendon, Becket later repented of this failure. Exiled from England, he spent the next seven years in France. Finally, in 1170, Henry agreed to rescind his unlawful demands and to receive Becket back into England. Upon his return, a group of four barons murdered Becket in his church at Canterbury. Like our Lord Christ, however, Becket accomplished his work in his death, and Henry was forced to grant many of the freedoms that Becket had demanded for the Church. Included with this thesis is a three-chapter preview of Rosanne E. Lortz's historical fiction title I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Hundred Years' War, I Serve chronicles the story of Sir John Potenhale. A young Englishman of lowly birth, Potenhale wins his way to knighthood on the fields of France. He enters the service of Edward, the Black Prince of Wales, and immerses himself in a stormy world of war, politics, and romantic intrigue.
language: English
title: The Life and Death of Saint Thomas Becket: Type of Paul, Type of Peter, Type of Christ