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accompany, in the capacity of physician, a German noble- 

 iii.ni on a journey through Italy and France, and remained 

 nith him for nearly n year at "Paris. Towards the end of 



Berki-r returned to Genuany, and established hiui-i If 

 as phjkician nt Berlin, and in tin- following year as private 

 lecturer on racdirine, in tho university of that capital. His 

 lectures on various branches of practical medicine, especially 

 on general pathology, met with great approbation, and with 

 a success rarely experienced by public teachers in a (' 

 university, go soon after their first appearance. In 1833 

 the Prussian ministry for medical affairs intrusted him with 



iperintcndenoe of an extensive inquiry concerning the 

 efficacy of vaccination; and he was devoting himself with 

 the utmost real to this difficult and important duty, when 

 ho died, after a short illness, on the '22dof June, 183-1. His 

 early loss was deplored by all who knew him, and his suc- 

 cess in getting into extensive practice so early was the best 

 pioof of the estimation in which he was held. His only 

 works, published separately, arc his inaugural dissertation 

 De Glaiulalit Thoraris almit.de Thyma (Berlin, 1826. 4to.), 

 nml an essay DC Hitton'cit Metlicinte Bxplieatiatu (Berlin, 

 1 830, 8vo.), and also a very able pamphlet on Cholera, pub- 

 lished in London expressly for the purpose of making 

 knuwn his ideas on the nature and treatment of that for- 

 midable disease, derived from extensive observation during 

 the zealous discharge of his duty in attending a district of 

 Berlin confided to his care ; but his contributions to \arious 

 German, English, ami French periodical publications are 

 numerous and valuable, and the preface to his German 

 translation of Andral'g Pathology (Berlin, 1 832, 8vo.) may 

 be considered as an original essay of high interest to me- 

 dic;\l science. Shortly before his death. Dr. Becker had 

 undertaken to furnish gome medical biographies for this 

 work : all that he lived to execute are Archiater, Archigenes, 

 AretsBUs, Astruc, and Athenscus of Attalia. 



BECKET, THOMAS, was born of English parents, in 

 London, in 1117, where his father Gilbert was a merchant. 

 He was first educated at Merton Abbey in Surrey, and 

 afterwards in London, Oxford, and Paris. When employed 

 in the office of the sheriff of London, his manners and 

 talents recommended him to Theobald, archbishop of Can- 

 terbury, an acquaintance of his father, by whom he was 

 sent to study civil law, first under Gratian at Bologna, and 

 then at Auxerrc in Burgundy. On his return, his patron 

 gave him the livings of St' Mary-lc-Strand, and Otteford 

 in Kent ; and sent him to manage the business of the gee 

 of Canterbury at the court of Rome. His success in two 

 negociations, in restoring the legal ine power to the see of 

 Canterbury, and in obtaining from the pope the letters of 

 prohibition, by which the design of crowning Prince Eustace 

 the son of Stephen was defeated recommended him power- 

 fully both to the archbishop and to King Henry II. Theo- 

 bald made him archdeacon of Canterbury, provost of Be- 

 verly, and a prebendary of Lincoln and St. Paul's ; and 

 Henry made him chancellor in 1158, Becket being the first 

 Englishman after the conquest who was appointed to any 

 hiL r h office. At that time the chancellorship had no sepa- 

 rate court of judicature attached to it ; yet the place was 

 one of great trust and dignity : the chancellor sat in the 

 courts of the justiciary, to gcal royal grants, to take care of 

 the royal chapel, to hold the custody of vacant baronies and 

 bishoprirks, to look after the exchequer and revenue, and 

 to discharge the duties which now devolve upon the secre- 

 taries of state. While performing these duties satisfactorily, 

 Bcckct conformed himself in dress, manners, and splendour 

 to the habits of a courtier. His table was sumptuous; his 

 retinue splendid. To please the military taste of the king, he 

 accompanied him in a campaign into France ; headed his own 

 1200 horse and 700 knights; took the command of them at 

 several sieges, and with his lance unhorsed in single combat 

 a French knight of distinguished bravery and skill. About 

 this time the king made him the tutor of his son. In 1160 

 Becket negotiated at Paris, advantageously for his master, 

 a marriage between Prince Henry and Margaret, daughter 

 of the king of France. 



When he had been little more than four years chancellor, 

 the archbishop of Canterbury died, and the king, who was 

 then ir. Normandy, took measures which almost compelled 

 the monks and clergy to elect Becket to the vacant arch- 

 I>ric. Foliot, bishop of London, alone opposed him 

 openly : the rest were overawed by the throats of the king. 

 Being only in deacon's orders, he was ordained priest the 

 day before he was consecrated archbishop, in 1 102, in pre- 



sence of Prince Henry and many of the nobility. His : 

 step on receiving his pall from Pope Alexander III. wa 

 send his resignation as chancellor to the king ; a step nt 

 which Henry showed his displeasure, on his return to Eng- 

 land, by receiving him coldly, and compelling him to i . 

 his archdeaconry, which he wished tn i. 



Berket now changed his conduct. His biographers ascribe 

 his conversion to the Divine blessing on the ceremony of 

 consecration. The courtier changed into the monk ; his 

 manner of life became austere; In- submitted to mortifica- 

 tions; gave much away in charity, nml washed the feet 

 of the poor. In 1163 he was rc.-eived with <:re:;l dis- 

 tinction at the counr.l of Rhciras, and laid a complaint be- 

 fore the assembly, on the usurpation* by the laity of the 

 rights and property of the church of England. On his re- 

 turn he prosecuted the usurpers, demanded the custody of 

 Rochester eistle from the crown, claimed tie h. in 

 Earl Clare for the manor of Tunbridge, and even < 

 municated William, lord of the manor of Ay nsford in Kent, 

 for ejecting by force of arms a priest collated to the n 

 of that manor by the archbishop. 



He soon came to a rupture with the king. Henry, who 

 wished to subject the clergy to the authority of the civil 

 - for murder, feluny, and similar crimes, endeavoured, 

 in 1164, to get the consent of the archbishop to the cele- 

 brated Cnnstitutinnt of Clarend'/n. On Beckct's refusal 

 Henry took his son from under his care, and the archbishop 

 solemnly swore ho never would comply. When the com- 

 pliance of several bishops, the threats of the nobles, and the 

 interference of the pope, at last compelled him to violate 

 his oath and set his seal to these restrictions, he ex]); 

 his penitence by retiring from the court, and privately sus- 

 pending himself from officiating in the church, until lie ob- 

 tained the absolution of his holiness. [Sec CI.ARKNDON.] 



Finding himself the object of the king's displeasure, he 

 attempted to escape to France, upon which Henry sum 

 moned a parliament at Northampton, in 1 105, and charged 

 him with breaking his allegiance. He was senten-ed to 

 forfeit all his goods and chattels; a penalty which was im- 

 mediately commuted into a fine of 500/. Next morning 

 he was ordered to refund SOU/, of the rents which he had 

 received as warden of Eye and Berkhamstead, and 5<K)/. 

 which he had received from the king before the walls of 

 Toulouse. On the third day he was requested to give an 

 account of all his receipts from vacant abbeys and bishoprics 

 during his chancellorship ; the balance due to the crown 

 was said to be 44,000 marks. Becket appealed to the pope 

 in vain, and his episcopal brethren deserted, abused, and 

 opposed him. During the trial, when many of his retainers 

 left him, he invited all the beggars in the neighbourhood to 

 his table; and on another occasion ho entered the parlia- 

 ment carrying the cross, to signify that he had put himself 

 under its protection, and refused to listen to the sentence of 

 the parliament. When all went against him, he escaped 

 from Northampton by night, and after lurking some tirno 

 on the coast, embarked at Sandwich in Kent, on the UHli 

 of November, 1164, and reached Gravelines in Holland. 

 After several changes, he lived for nearly two years at Pon- 

 tigny in France. 



On his escape Henry confiscated his revenues, and used 

 all his influence to get him banished from Flanders and 

 France. The king of France and the pope, however, took 

 up the cause of Becket, though Henry sent a splendid em- 

 ba-.y of bishops and nobles to advocate his cause at the 

 court of Rome. In an interview with his holiness, Becket 

 resigned his see into his hands, which was immediately re- 

 stored to him. During his retirement he occupied himself 

 in religious exercises, but this was not sufficient to keep 

 him employed : he wrote to the king and the prelates of 

 England, telling them that the pope had annulled the 

 Constitutions of Clarendon, and he excommunicated several 

 violators of the rights of the church, not sparing some of 

 the principal officers of the crown. Exasperated at this, 

 Henry erased his name from the liturgy; banished alt 

 his relations to the number of 400, binding them by oath 

 to show themselves to their kinsman ; forced the Cistertian 

 monks to turn him out of the shelter they gave him, by 

 threatening to seize their property in England, and made it 

 a criminal offence to write or correspond with him in any 

 way. Bucket, on his part, wrote letters of severe recrimina- 

 tion to the prelates of England ; and about the beginning 

 of June, 1 166, prepared himself by religious rites for the ex- 

 communication of the English king, which he was only 



