Comprehensive study on Becket and Henry considers Faith vs Public Affairs

By Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese

28 May 2004

Becket & Henry, the Becket Lectures has been written by Chief Justice James Spigelman AC and will be launched in Sydney by Cardinal Pell next Monday, 31 May 2004.

Becket & Henry has been produced in hardback exceeding 300 pages and including maps, notes, bibliography and index.  These lectures are more than an examination of the life and career of Thomas Becket, Archbishop and martyr. They chart Becket’s relationship with King Henry II and the ongoing tensions between Church and state that preoccupied both men, culminating in Becket’s martyrdom in his own cathedral at Canterbury on 29 December 1170.

In addition to offering a thoughtful personal interpretation of historical events, the author brings to life institutional and personal crises that bear remarkable similarities to issues of public policy that are still being debated today, especially the proper relationship between faith and public affairs.

Reviewer Fr Paul Chandler, O.Carm., says “In an age which saw the emergence of the church as a multinational institution and the beginnings of the centrally organised state, and in England the foundations of common law, Spigelman presents the conflict between archbishop and king as one with long-term consequences for Western constitutionalism.”

Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney and Patron of the St Thomas More Society, will launch the book in the Crpyt of St Mary’s Cathedral. Many in the judiciary, legal profession and public life in Sydney will be present at the launch of Becket & Henry.

DATE:             Monday, 31 May 2004

TIME:              6.00 pm

VENUE:          The Crypt

                      St Mary’s Cathedral, St Mary’s Road, Sydney

A short review of Becket & Henry follows. A review copy is available from François Kunc, Secretary of the St Thomas More Society, on stmsociety@ozemail.com.au

About the Author:
The Hon James J Spigelman AC was born in 1946 in Poland, migrating to Australia with his family three years later. He was educated at Sydney Boys’ High School and the University of Sydney, graduating LLB with Honours as University Medallist in 1970. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1972.  Between 1972 and 1975 he served as Senior Adviser and Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon E G Whitlam QC and Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of the Media (1975).  His Honour was admitted to the Bar in 1976 and took silk ten years later.  His practice included constitutional, administrative and commercial law. He was sworn in as Chief Justice of New South Wales on 25 May 1998.  In additional to numerous articles, he has published two books: Secrecy: Political Censorship in Australia (1972) and, as co-author, The Nuclear Barons (1981).  His Honour has a distinguished record of community service as a director of several public cultural and educational institutions.  He is married with a son and two daughters.

Review:
This well-researched, handsomely presented and most readable book captures the almost mythic quality of the conflict between Henry II and Thomas Becket, which culminated in a “crime of the century”, Becket’s assassination at Canterbury in 1170.

Each of these two exceedingly stubborn men took his stand on personal honour and the dignity of his office, making their drawn-out struggle both a personal drama and a constitutional one. Chief Justice Spigelman guides us deftly through a complex but enthralling tale which includes arrogance and idealism, rage and humiliation, abuse of power, indecision and betrayal, nobility, brinkmanship, plausible denial, and spin-doctoring. A large and potentially confusing cast of characters is very well-delineated. The leading concerns and interwoven motivations of Becket and Henry, and of the twelfth-century aristocracy, both secular and ecclesiastical, are treated with insight and empathy.

The human drama is set against historical developments which continue to resonate today. In an age which saw the emergence of the church as a multinational institution and the beginnings of the centrally organised state, and in England the foundations of common law, Spigelman presents the conflict between archbishop and king as one with long-term consequences for Western constitutionalism.

This absorbing book invites reflection not only on the sources of a fateful personal conflict, but also on contemporary tensions created by the narrow self-interest of competing institutions.

Fr Paul Chandler, O.Carm., has a doctorate in medieval studies from the University of Toronto. He lectures in church history at Yarra Theological Union, is a fellow of the Institutum Carmelitanum, and director of the Carmelite Library at Middle Park in Melbourne.