British Museum to show how Thomas Becket’s murder shook Europe

Rare exhibits on display for first time will reveal widespread impact of archbishop of Canterbury's death

The murder of Thomas Becket in 1170, cut down inside Canterbury Cathedral by knights of King Henry II's retinue, sent shock waves throughout England and beyond - an act as scandalous, according to one of his successors as archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as the assassination of JFK or Martin Luther King.

The extent to which those ripples reverberated across Europe will be illustrated by a number of rare exhibits on display for the first time at the British Museum, as part of its forthcoming exhibition later this month about Becket, his murder and its powerful aftershocks.