Thomas Becket. Father John S. Hogan

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СКАЧАТЬ mother seriously, and her efforts in this regard would prove fruitful, instilling in her son a simple but authentic piety that would remain even in his most extravagant years. In this, Matilda almost certainly set her son on the road to holiness and prepared him for the conversion that lay ahead. Whatever doctrines he learned as student, deacon, priest, and bishop, it was Matilda’s own living of her faith and her deep devotion to the Mother of God that most profoundly affected Thomas. Many years later, he would speak most fondly of her, once saying to his friend John of Salisbury that it was from her lips that his first lessons in godliness came. He also mentioned her love of Our Lady, a love that had instilled itself in his heart through her example.¹⁷ Some of Thomas’s biographers have speculated that though he was surrounded by women, in his life, he had a close relationship with only two: his mother and the Mother of God.¹⁸ The nature of those relationships may well have preserved him in the years to come.

      Matilda was Thomas’s first teacher. Being of noble stock and a draper’s wife, she would have had a rudimentary education to assist her husband in the day-to-day running of their business. If she came from a family socially superior to her husband’s, she may have been better educated than he was. She passed these skills on to Thomas, who proved to be an amenable and able student. While reading and arithmetic formed part of her curriculum, Matilda’s primary focus was the fundamentals of the Christian faith and teaching her son how to pray. Thomas and his sisters were brought to Mass each Sunday, and the family prayed every day. A love for the poor and the practice of charity were urged on the children. When he was three, his mother weighed Thomas and from then on would give the value of his weight in alms, often urging him to go out to visit the poor and give the alms himself.¹⁹ He was taught that the measure of who he was as a person and a Christian depended on the measure of his charity. For the rest of his life, Thomas would hold to his mother’s example; even when immersed in the ways of the world, he remained true to prayer and charity, regularly seeking out those in need and giving alms, often lavishly.

      Though there were tensions between the native Londoners and the Normans, Thomas and his generation seemed to marry the two traditions quite successfully. The family home was notably Norman and comfortable by contemporary standards. The family members spoke French among themselves at home but used English when speaking to the servants and for relationships and business outside the house.²⁰ As a property owner and landlord, Gilbert had some standing within the community, and he was so well respected that he was elected to serve as a sheriff in the city. Thomas would have grown up with a sense of privilege thanks to his father’s success, and as he grew older, he would have expected to become important and influential himself.

      By the time he was seven, Matilda had exhausted all she could teach him, and the decision was made to send him to the local parish elementary school, called a “song school.”²¹ There, under the master, Thomas improved his literacy and arithmetic and learned Latin, which was the language of learning and the language of the Church; almost all documents at that time were written in Latin. The curriculum for such schools also included basic logic and rhetoric, and perhaps other subjects such as geometry and music. Given Thomas’s position in society, his teachers would have tried to equip him for a career in business or law, so rhetoric, grammar, and logic were indispensable.

      When Thomas was ten, Gilbert enrolled him in the newly founded school at the Augustinian Merton Priory in Surrey, fifteen miles southwest of London.²² He was most likely a boarder, since the journey to the priory would have been too long to accomplish twice a day.²³ While the Augustinians were still engaged in constructing their buildings at the time he was there, the school had already earned a considerable reputation. The priory was founded in 1114 by a sheriff of Surrey, Gilbert Norman, with the permission and assistance of King Henry I. In 1117, the Augustinian Canons Regular of Huntington took possession of the priory and founded the school.²⁴ Among its early students was Nicholas Breakspear, who entered the school five years before Thomas in 1125; he would be more famously known as Pope Adrian IV (reigned 1154–1159), the only Englishman to be elected to the papacy.²⁵

      If Gilbert wanted his son to excel, then his attending one of the new, prestigious, and fashionable schools was a necessity. Matilda was also anxious to ensure that Thomas had the best education they could provide, so perhaps a school renowned for its rigor and away from London seemed ideal. At Merton, the young student received a classical education, and it seems he thrived; his singular talents were uncovered. He had a retentive memory and a brilliant mind. His biographer “Roger of Pontigny”²⁶ relates that Thomas at this time had a singular grace and a powerful intellect. As he grew strong in body, his mind advanced even further. He developed an ability to work out difficult problems and understand complex ideas, surpassing his fellow students with a particular sharpness of mind. Though he suffered from a stammer, which he would have all his life, for Thomas it was not an impediment at all, but an aid to his growing charm. Gifted with subtlety and keen perception, he was admired by many.²⁷ That said, for all his ability, he was, like many students before and after him, inclined to laziness, depending on his natural giftedness to get him through, which it did a little too often, much to the chagrin of his teachers.

      After two years at Merton, Thomas returned to London to attend grammar school.²⁸ There were three of these in the city: Saint Paul’s, Saint Mary-le-Grand, and Saint Mary-le-Bow. It is mostly likely that he attended Saint Mary-le-Bow, which was not far from his home, though Saint Paul’s, attached to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, was not too far away either. These schools were highly respected and known for their professionalism regarding study; they also promoted a certain freedom, even headiness, in the lives of their students, who were encouraged to engage in friendly rivalry as a means of preparing them for the world. Disputations and competitions were the order of the day as students were urged to work hard in order to excel and triumph over their rivals. Humor, wit, and play were nurtured, and though certain extremes usually went unchecked in the spirit of freedom, each young man was expected to be able to respond to jests poked against him and give as good as he got. It was an atmosphere Thomas would have reveled in. Rather than earning a reputation of unleashing young, wild men about town, these schools were admired by the officials and citizens of London and their students often envied for the fun and opportunities they had.

      Growing up in the city, Thomas would have had a hectic social life. The eternal bustle of the medieval capital of England held many curiosities and pleasures for young men.²⁹ As the son of a well-to-do businessman, Thomas had every opportunity to engage in these diversions. Through his father, he was acquainted with a number of notable and wealthy figures, and these formed his social circle. Londoners engaged in various sports and games in their free time. Sundays were days of particular amusement, and the city dwellers often went out to the fields outside the city walls to engage in sports not permitted by the city authorities. Thomas was part of that migratory crowd and would have enjoyed the various sports. The young men were particularly fond of military-style games, mock tournaments, wrestling, and fencing. Horseracing was another obsession, and it was at Smithfield, then outside the city, that Thomas was introduced to riding.

      One curious incident, noted by his secretary and biographer Herbert of Bosham,³⁰ occurred at this time in Thomas’s life: a vision of the Blessed Virgin. This story may well serve the same purpose as Grim’s accounts of Matilda’s prophetic visions or dreams, but it is worth noting. According to Herbert, Thomas was laid low in bed with a fever when he perceived a woman standing at the side of his bed. Holding two keys in her hand, the woman offered them to him, saying, “These are the keys of paradise of which you shall have charge hereafter.” Herbert maintains that he heard this from Thomas himself, and he may have.³¹ Whatever the veracity of the story, the vision certainly reflects his destiny, and as he grew to maturity, Thomas developed a deep faith in that destiny, though it would differ greatly from that destiny revealed in Herbert’s story of the vision. But for now, life was good for Thomas of London. Everything was going according to plan — be it Thomas’s plan or Gilbert’s. A good life of success, influence, and wealth lay ahead of him.

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