Henry II appointed Becket to his post as Archbishop of Canterbury, believing his old friend would give way to the demands of his king. However, Becket took his job seriously and would not put the monarchy before the Church. After Henry's outburst along the lines of "will no one rid me of one turbulent priest?", four knights took it upon themselves to do just that. They murdered the archbishop while he was at his prayers in Canterbury Cathedral.

Henry later did penance for this crime, illustrating how powerful the ecclesiastics could be in the long-standing struggle between Church and State.

On to Question 8

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