Sir Richard le Breton or Richard de Brito (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1170) was one of the four

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

s who in 1170 murdered

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and the ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

Origins

Roger Brito is listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as holding land under the

overlord An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or ser ...

ship of the Church of Long Sutton in Somerset, in which county the family was later seated at

Sampford Brett Sampford Brett is a village and civil parish situated at the south-western edge of the Quantock Hills, Somerset, England, less than south of Williton, just off the A358 road to Taunton. Geography It lies in a shallow valley cut by the Sampford ...

(''alias'' Sandford-Bret). During the reign of King

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...

(1100–1135) Sampford Brett was held by Simon le Bret, from the

feudal barony of Dunster The feudal barony of Dunster was an English feudal barony with its ''caput'' at Dunster Castle in Somerset. During the reign of King Henry I (1100–1135) the barony (or "honour") comprised forty knight's fees and was later enlarged. In about 115 ...

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

of half a

knight's fee In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. Of necessity, it would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, and servants, but also the means to furnish h ...

. He served in the household of Henry II's brother William, Count of Poitou and was a near neighbour of the FitzUrse family of Williton in Somerset, a member of which family was another of the assassins of

. Simon le Bret had two sons: Richard Brito, one of the assassins of

and Edmund le Bret, who adopted the surname ''de Sandford'' from his seat.

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

granted a manor in the eastern part of the parish of Great Stambridge in Essex and another in Sanford in Somerset to a Norman named Auvrai Le Breton following the Norman conquest of England. A later relative, Simon Le Breton, had two sons, Richard and Edmund, who inherited their share of Sanford and Great Master Bridge. Both were part of the royal court of King Henry II; in particular Richard Le Breton was a close friend of the king's brother, Prince William.

Becket assassination

During the attack on Becket in 1170 by the four knights, Sir

Reginald Fitzurse Sir Reginald FitzUrse (1145–1173) was one of the four knights who murdered Thomas Becket in 1170. His name is derived from ''Fitz'', the Anglo-Norman French term meaning "son of" and ''urse'' meaning a bear, probable the ''nom de guerre'' of his ...

, Sir Hugh de Morville, Brito and Sir

William de Tracy Sir William de Tracy (died ) was a knight and the feudal baron of Bradninch, Devon, with ''caput'' at the manor of Bradninch near Exeter, and was lord of the manors (amongst very many others) of Toddington, Gloucestershire and of Moretonhampstead ...

, Brito is said to have broken his sword when striking at Becket's head. According to

Edward Grim Edward Grim (died 1189) was a monk from Cambridge who visited Canterbury Cathedral on Tuesday 29 December 1170 when Thomas Becket was murdered. He researched and published a book, ''Vita S. Thomae'' (Life of St. Thomas) in about 1180, which is to ...

: He shouted "Take that, for the love of my lord William, the king's brother!" when he delivered the fatal blow. It was believed by William's friends that the count had died of a broken heart after Thomas Becket refused to allow his marriage.

Aftermath

After the assassination the four knights fled to Scotland and from there to Knaresborough Castle in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. All four were excommunicated by the

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

at Easter in 1171 and ordered to undertake penitentiary pilgrimages to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

for 14 years. Brito eventually retired to the island of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

. A ledger stone for one of the le Bretons of Jersey survives in St. Thomas's Church in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. The Brett family of

Whitestaunton Whitestaunton is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Northay. It was known simply as Staunton until the 14th century. History The univallate Iron Age hill fort at Hor ...

in Somerset, are said by the Duchess of Cleveland to be descended from the Brettes of Sampford Brett, and are the ancestors of the present Brett family, Viscounts Esher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breton, Richard Le 12th-century English nobility 12th-century murderers Anglo-Normans English assassins Norman warriors English people of Breton descent Medieval assassins Medieval English knights People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church Thomas Becket