title: The lives of Thomas Becket (Manchester Medieval Sources MUP)
author: Michael Staunton
description: <br />Michael Staunton is Lecturer in Medieval History at University College Dublin<br />
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A Gentleman by Any Other Name
  
  By Kasey Michaels
  
  Dear Reader,
  
  In the twelfth century Thomas a Becket was assassinated at Canterbury on the
  alleged
  
  orders of his friend King Henry II. Legend has it that Henry ordered Thomas's
  body burned
  
  and the bones scattered. It is possible the remains, buried in the cathedral
  at Canterbury,
  
  were found and destroyed during the Reformation. Then again, the monks may
  have hidden
  
  the body, even interred the bones in another man's grave.
  
  Perhaps this is why Ainsley Becket, a student of history, among his other,
  varied and not
  
  always laudable pursuits, found a small, secret satisfaction in coming to Kent
  in 1798,
  
  bearing the name A. Becket. For he, too, had been "murdered" by his best
  friend, and he had
  
  relocated himself to a place where he would not easily be found.
  
  With him, Ainsley had brought his children, those of his heart, and Cassandra,
  the infant his
  
  beloved Isabella had borne him. His children. His redemption, his p