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| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Thomas Becket |
 | | He took "Thomas of London", as Becket was then most commonly called, for his chancellor, and in that office Thomas at the age of thirty-six became, with the possible exception of the justiciar, the most powerful subject in Henry's wide dominions. |
 | | Thomas seems all along to have suspected Henry of a design to strike at the independence of what the king regarded as a too powerful Church. |
 | | To their angry question, "Where is the traitor?" the saint boldly replied, "Here I am, no traitor, but archbishop and priest of God." They tried to drag him from the church, but were unable, and in the end they slew him where he stood, scattering his brains on the pavement. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/14676a.htm (2173 words) |
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