ST. THOMAS BECKET (c. 1118- 1170)
Also known as St. Thomas
of Canterbury, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162.
Once a great friend of Henry II of England, the friendship was
forever ruptured when St. Thomas adamantly defended the rights and
privileges of the Church and refused to allow the king extend royal
authority over the courts of the Church. The King then accused St.
Thomas and trumped up charges, and, the conflict grew to such an
extent at one point St. Thomas was forced to flee the country.
Eventually he was allowed to return, but the tension remained as St.
Thomas did not relent when it came to defending the Church's rights
and authority.
It is said Henry II, who
had a notoriously short temper, eventually burst out in frustration:
“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
This sentence sealed St.
Thomas' fate as four knights who believed they were doing the wishes
of the king took it upon themselves to do just that – rid him of
this priest. When they couldn't drag him outside, they brutally
murdered him in his own cathedral, which occurred in 1170.
His gruesome death and his
cult as a martyr grew rapidly in the public imagination. Soon after,
he was canonised by Pope Alexander III, his tomb becoming one of the
most popular pilgrimage sites during the medieval period until it was
desecrated during the reign of Henry VIII, the votive gifts
disappearing into the royal coffers. It is said the tomb was opened
and the bones and ashes of St. Thomas were scattered by the
iconoclasts.
Of interest, there have
been several prophecies attributed to St. Thomas, and, there is a
Great Monarch prophecy among them.
::::::::::::::::::
About the prophecy:
the prophecy attributed to St. Thomas Beckett is very short. The one
detail I personally find 'odd' is that the foretold leader to come is
simply described as a 'knight', when creditable prophecies already
foretell he is a prince / king of a royal house, not just a simple
knight, and therefore one wonders if the text is real or has been
manipulated.
Was it a made up prophecy
to spur a knight into action to free the Holy Land, or was it a real
prophecy of the Great Monarch to come made by St. Thomas?
Medieval
writers could be notoriously unscrupulous and cavalier with their
texts. Often they manipulated Great Monarch prophecies in order to
either flatter their royal patrons or spur them into action if they
idea was put forward that perhaps 'they' might be the chosen king of
God. Sometimes they also made up a prophecy and attributed it to a
saint!
Of interest is the
emphasis given to Famagusta and Jaffa, and also the phrase 'Christ's
grave' – Famagusta was the gateway to the Holy Land (the Levant)
during the Medieval period, and Jaffa was a city in the Crusader
State / Kingdom of Israel. The fact it concentrates on the Holy
Sepulchre and not just mention 'Jerusalem' also points to the
Crusader period, particularly the Knights Templar whose order was
founded in 1119, around the time of the birth of St. Thomas, so this
could be evidence someone wrote this prophecy to encourage knights to
liberate the Holy Land, or this prophecy was indeed written around
the time of St. Thomas, perhaps a short time after his death.
Strange this
prophecy might point to the Templars, as they were loyal to Henry II
who was at loggerheads with St. Thomas. There is documentary
evidence of people warning St. Thomas not to trust the Templars
because of their loyalty to Henry II although Sir Hastings, the
Master of the Templar order in England, acted as mediator in an
attempt to bring reconciliation between the two, (source,
click here). Still, as I cannot find any proof St. Thomas didn't
write the prophecy either, it has been included in the Timeline.
The list of events in the
short prophecy show the three crowns in the region of Milan, Lombardy
and elsewhere in Italy is what this great hero-knight will capture.
Considering knights were the warrior class in the Crusader times,
this is in keeping with the Great Catholic Monarch prophecies that
say he will be a warrior king who will join his soldiers in battle
like the kings of old did, and, as this is a Crusader-themed
prophecy, this is also in keeping with the prophecies that state he
will be like another St. Louis IX. St. Louis went to the Holy Land
on a crusade, and, it is said in other prophecies the Great Monarch
will capture the Holy Land.
However, this prophecy
concentrates on the crowns of Italy. The famous Iron Crown of
Lombardy is obviously one of them, the crown that the Holy Roman
Emperors are crowned with when they are made Kings of Italy, which
therefore implies that he will be Holy Roman Emperor. While
attempting to guess what could be the next major crowns of Italy he
will capture, it must be those of Naples and the Two Sicilies.
Of interest is that this
knight will 'come from the west'. As the major Great Monarch
prophecies say he will liberate France first, then Italy, this is
correct. So, according to this prophecy attributed to St. Thomas,
the Great Monarch will next concentrate on the Holy Land after he has
reclaimed Europe for his kingdom. The prophecy is also correct in
that this will take place near the end of the world as saints, and
the fathers and doctors of the Church agree that these events and the
Great Peace established by the Monarch comes just before the arrival
of the Antichrist.
:::::::::::::::::::
Prophecy attributed to
St. Thomas Becket:
“A knight shall come
from the west. He shall capture Milan, Lombardy, and the three
crowns. He shall then sail to Cyprus and Famagoste and land at Joffa,
and reach Christ's grave where he will fight. Wars and wonders shall
befall till the people believe Christ toward the end of the world.”
:::::::::::::
:::::::::::::
(May 23, 2020)
