Editing Richard le Breton

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{short description|12th-century Anglo-Norman nobleman}}
[[Image:Thomas Becket Murder.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Contemporary illustration portraying the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170]]

'''Sir Richard le Breton''' or '''Richard de Brito'''<ref>Sudeley, Lord, "Becket's Murderer William de Tracy", in ''The Sudeleys – Lords of Toddington'', London, 1987, {{oclc|82268496}}</ref> ([[floruit|fl.]] 1170) was one of the four [[knight]]s who in 1170 murdered [[Thomas Becket]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].

==Origins==
Roger Brito is listed in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as [[feudal land tenure in England|holding]] land under the [[overlord]]ship of the Church of [[Long Sutton, Somerset|Long Sutton]] in Somerset, in which county the family was later seated at [[Sampford Brett]] (''alias'' Sandford-Bret). During the reign of King [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] (1100–1135) Sampford Brett was held by Simon le Bret, from the [[feudal barony of Dunster]] by [[feudal land tenure in England|military service]] of half a [[knight's fee]].<ref>Duchess of Cleveland{{Incomplete short citation|date=June 2023}}</ref> He served in the household of Henry II's brother [[William FitzEmpress|William, Count of Poitou]]{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} and was a near neighbour of the FitzUrse family of [[Williton]] in Somerset,{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} a member of which family was another of the assassins of [[Thomas Becket]]. Simon le Bret had two sons: Richard Brito, one of the assassins of [[Thomas Becket]] and Edmund le Bret, who adopted the surname ''de Sandford'' from his seat.<ref>Duchess of Cleveland,{{Incomplete short citation|date=June 2023}} quoting [[John Collinson (died 1793)|Collinson, Rev. John]], History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset, Vol. 3, Bath, 1791</ref> [[William the Conqueror]] granted a [[Manorialism|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 [[Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland|Hugh de Morville]], Brito and Sir [[William de Tracy]], Brito is said to have broken his sword when striking at Becket's head.

According to [[Edward Grim]]:
{{quote|... But the third knight inflicted a grave wound on the fallen one; with this blow he shattered the sword on the stone and his crown, which was large, separated from his head so that the blood turned white from the brain yet no less did the brain turn red from the blood; it purpled the appearance of the church with the colours of the lily and the rose, the colours of the Virgin and Mother and the life and death of the confessor and martyr...}}

He shouted "Take that, for the love of my lord William, the king's brother!" when he delivered the fatal blow.<ref>Amt, Emile, "William FitzEmpress (1136–1164)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/46709]</ref> 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]]. All four were excommunicated by the [[Pope Alexander III]] at Easter in 1171 and ordered to undertake penitentiary pilgrimages to the [[Holy Land]] for 14 years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.barhamhistory.com/history/chapter4.html |title=The Name and Family of Barham by Nobby Clark. Chapter 4 - Reginald fitzUrse |access-date=22 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707212449/http://www.barhamhistory.com/history/chapter4.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Brito eventually retired to the island of [[Jersey]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} A [[ledger stone]] for one of the le Bretons of Jersey survives in [[St Thomas's Church, Salisbury|St Thomas's Church]] in [[Salisbury]]. The Brett family of [[Whitestaunton]] 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, [[Viscount Esher|Viscounts Esher]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==References==
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[[Category:12th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:12th-century murderers]]
[[Category:English assassins]]
[[Category:English people of Breton descent]]
[[Category:Medieval assassins]]
[[Category:Medieval English knights]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Thomas Becket]]