On 29 December 1170, my 24th great grandfather, Sir William de Traci, performed a service for King Henry II which would lead to the canonization of Thomas a Becket by Pope Alexander III on 21 February 1173. Later in his life, Grandpa William would endow a chapel to St. Thomas at the Conventual Church at Tewkesbury.

Although Grandpa Williams’ service to the King is beyond question, it was not universally acclaimed. For example, in addition to canonizing Thomas a Beckett, Pope Alexander III excommunicated grandpa along with Reginald Fitzurse, Hugh de Morville, and Richard le Breton. For some reason, his Holiness was not amused when these four knights answered King Henry’s question, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” by assassinating the Archbishop of Canterbury.

When I teach students about Sir William de Traci, I puff up like a peacock when I tell them all of grandpa’s accomplishments. However, I neglect to mention that little fact about the assassination. Then, for a homework assignment, I ask students to do a bit of research about grandpa in order to determine whether or not I am being truthful.

The last time I gave this assignment, one student requested clarification. He wanted to know if I was asking them to check the “facts” I had given to see if they were all true. I assured him and his colleagues that everything I told them about Grandpa William was true. The issue I wanted them to consider was whether or not I was being truthful.

As they conduct their research, my students come to appreciate that Grandpa William was a complex man who who did charitable works and who did assassinate the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was both loyal to his King and an opportunist. In other words, like all of his, he was a flawed individual whose life cannot be evaluated in a simplistic fashion.

Because it seems to go against common sense, students struggle with the concept that what is true is not necessarily truthful. But simply stating facts does not make for truthfulness. The lesson is an important one; not just for history students.

Were he an American born citizen and alive today, Grandpa William could be a candidate for President. As a political candidate, his supporters would create commercials about his patriotism and charity. His opponents’ advertisements would focus on the assassination and excommunication. Neither set of commercials would be truthful. But for too many individuals, truthfulness is not the goal of political discourse. Winning is all that counts.

Where winning is everything, assassinations—of characters or humans—become easily justifiable.

Because of the lessons they learned while studying about Grandpa William, I hope that my students will pause before forwarding an e-mail or posting a simplistic slogan on Facebook that supports their candidate or goes against a position they oppose. I hope they have come to appreciate that the important question is not “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” Instead, in a civil society, we need to ask, “Is it truthful?”

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

While preparing today’s blog entry, I came across Stuart Leeming’s “When Friendship Turns Sour: The Murder of Thomas Becket” which he published in The History Onyx: A Present Look at the Past on 22 January 2011.

Mr. Leeming provides a nice summary of the relationship between Thomas Becket and King Henry II. It is worth taking the time to read.