Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-10-27
OLD CANTERBURY TODAY
Editorial Correspondence.
Hutchinson News
Canterbury. England. Aug. 2!

land and has been for over a thousand
years. Some time before the year
600 Queen Bertha, wife of the Saxon
king, became a Christian and built a
small church in Canterbury. Then
when St. Augustine came in 597 and
took the king and all his army into
the church at one big baptizing, the
king gave him the palace and the
heather church and they were con-
verified into a cathedral and monas-
terry. St. Augustine and succeeding
archbishops were the heads of the
church in England and when the Nor
mans came in 1860 they continued the
rule. The first Norman archbishop
began the construction of the present
cathedral and as money was plenty
and labor cheap, it was built magnift
Gently. The archbishop of Canter-
bury received the title of Primate of
AN England and he wears 1t to this
day. The English church is a govern
ment institution, the archbishop is a
member of the House of Lords, and
the position is easily the greatest in
the Protestant world.
The murder of Archbishop Thomas
Beckett in ITO was the greatest thing
that ever happened for Canterbury.
He was in a controversy with King
Henry and made life so uncomfortable
for the king that Henry remarked to
some of his followers that if he had
few real friends there would be no
Thomas Beckett TO worry him. Henry
vas probably drunk when he made
this talk, although it was doubtless
an expression of his real feelings.
Four of his knights took him at his
word, hiked to Canterbury, and killed
the archbishop right in the cathedral.
The murder was a shock to Chris,en-
dom. The dead archbishop was cam
on;zed as a saint and the people gen.
elally refused to believe but that
Henry meant what he had said. Ev-
erything went wrong with Henry and
the sacreligious act was held respon-
sible. Two years later the king went
TO Canterbury and took whipping
on his bare back as a penance for
his remarks, and for years pilgrims
came to Canterbury, miracles were
reported wrought by the relics and
this cathedral and Canterbury got
rich from the pilgrim business and
the valuable gifts showered upon the
shrine of st. Thomas.
It is customary to consider Thomas
Beckett martyr to the cause of lib
erty and to- indulge in great eulogy
of him as a saint. But he was really
a plain man like the rest of us. His
trouble with the king came because
Henry wanted to recognize some othe
bishops, and Thomas, who was proud
and stubborn, claimed that he alone
had the power. 1t was really a con-
flict of authority between the church
and the state and a good deal TO be
said on both sides. Thomas abused
the king viciously and had several
bishops accommodated because they
agreed with Henry. He also threat
ened the king, and the disagreement
was all over jobs and money. Those
we're tough times and the usual way
to get lid of an enemy was to Kill
him if YOU could. Unfortunately for
Henry his self-appointed friends did
a bungling job, Thomas became a
saint, and the king had to concede 10
the church all the privileges that
had been claimed. Three hundred
years later King Henry the eighth,
in order to secure a divorce and a
new queen, overthrow the authority
of the church, made himself the head
of it, and incidentally sent TO Carter
bury, took all the valuables that had
been placed on the shrine OF 81.
Thomas and put them in the national
treasury, that is, his own pocket. y
But during that 300 years the SUI
premacy Of Canterbury as the rellg-
lous head of the nation became 1lAeo'
Inc archbishops generally had TO go
into politics, many of them achieved
greatness and some were executed
publicly. The cathedral was added to
restored improved and is now one
of the very finest cathedrals in
Europe. To an Englishman or an
American 1t is more interesting than
any other church in England except
perhaps, Westminster Abbey. It has
specimens of all kinds Of architec'
ture in its different parts but
they have been 50 harmou1opsly put
together that the edifice Is imposing
on the outside and most impressine
on the inside.