authority and vigilance had maintained public tranquillity
after the death of Stephen, and by his counsels of
conciliation and peace and other services had earned the
gratitude of the Monarch.

When age compelled Theobald to retire from the councils of
his sovereign, he recommended Henry to accept as minister
his archdeacon, Thomas Becket.

Becket was the son of Gilbert Becket, a prominent citizen of
London. The boy's mother, according to an interesting
tradition, had been the daughter of a Saracen emir who had
made Gilbert a captive, in Jerusalem, after the First
Crusade. The daughter helped Gilbert to escape, and later,
for love of him, followed on an eastern ship bound for the
English metropolis, although she knew no other words of the
English language than "London" and "Gilbert." Wandering
desolately through the streets and markets, with these words
on her lips, she was recognized by a servant who had shared
his master's captivity. He hastened to tell Gilbert, who at
once sought for, sheltered her, and, shortly afterward, made
her his wife.

Their son Thomas was educated at the Abbey of Merton and in
the schools of London, Oxford, and Paris. When his father
died, Archbishop Theobald took the youth into his family. He
studied civil and canon law on the Continent, attending,
among others, the lectures of Gratian at Bologna.

His accomplishments and talents were fully recognized on his