Henry
II vs. Thomas
Becket
Note:
for this first debate, Dr. Deliyannis will provide the
historical context, and you may choose your own side.
Come prepared to make arguments AND counterarguments for the
other side.
Medieval Worlds pp. 329-334 presents the basic historical
background for
this debate.
Proposition: Henry
II was right to attempt to discipline ecclesiastical criminals.
Read the following
primary source
excerpts about the issue.
First, read the Constitutions
of Clarendon, which lay out the king's position.
Then read the
following contemporary
accounts of the controversy:
Construct an argument
with
individual points for support, either in favor of, or opposed to, the
proposition. Draw your information
from the primary sources as much as you can, remembering that Gervase
and
William of Newburgh were historians with their own agendas.
To do this, you should
understand why
Henry and Becket were taking the positions that they did, what their
aims were,
and what justification each gave for his position.
NOTE: try to be
careful not to interject your own interpretation of the proper
relationship
between church and state (difficult to do!), but stay within the
parameters
being argued in the twelfth century.
Click here
for a good summary of the controversy and the murder of Becket.