King’s Bishop

Judith Koll Healey writes and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has published well-received novels set in medieval French history and a biography of a notable founder of Minnesota's lumber industry, as well as a collection of poems. Healey is also an occasional contributor to the Op Ed pages of the Minneapolis StarTribune, where she writes on politics and culture.

The king and the chancellor were the best of friends, almost inseparable, until an irrevocable rift evolved between them. What caused their deadly quarrel? Was it politics? Was it position? Was it pride? The dramatic story of the 12th century quarrel between Henry, King of England, and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, has echoed down through the ages. It is sometimes told as a close friendship gone bad, sometimes as a morality tale of pride, and sometimes as one of jealousy. History supports many versions of the story. But two things are clear: The king forced his chancellor and favorite, Thomas Becket, to also become Archbishop of Canterbury. And at that point, Thomas switched his allegiance from the king to the church. In a fresh new recounting of this well-known story, Judith Koll Healey breaks into a new stylistic frame of historical fiction as she explores the conflict between king and bishop as humans, not simply as giants in history.