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A fact from Becket controversy appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 20 May 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
Did you know... that due to the Becket controversy, from 1163 to 1173 no new bishops were appointed in England?
Ealdgyth, sorry for that last edit - I was moving some material across different tabs, and hit delete on the wrong one! My mistake, thanks for catching it, Hchc2009 (talk) 17:36, 28 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I kinda figured that it was a boo-boo, no worries at all! The sandbox is looking great ... let me know when you want me to start disecting... Ealdgyth - Talk17:43, 28 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I do not think it proper to refer to a political murder—or any death, really—as a martyrdom in an objective historic account. The word concedes too much to the belief system whose adherents quickly proclaimed Thomas Becket a martyr and have maintained such to this day. Even if one allows that someone who is killed for their religious beliefs, whatever those beliefs are, is a martyr, it seems a pretty egregious mischaracterization to apply that formula to the Becket-Henry II dispute or the actions and intentions of of knights who murdered him. I'm changing the word. Sebum-n-soda (talk) 08:19, 2 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It was not considered a "political murder" in the time period, however. That is reading back modern attitudes into medieval mindsets. Modern historians do use the word "martyr" to refer to Becket - Barlow does frequently in his biography, and Barlow's not exactly a great friend of religion. I removed the "claims of martyrdom" from the lead - it's not really necessary. The change of martyrdom to murder is indifferent to me. The lead is sparse because the article isn't finished yet - I have a very low tolerance for dealing with Becket and thus can only work on the article intermittantly before i want to strangle the guy. Ealdgyth - Talk12:13, 2 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
