Beck´et, Thomas (the form À Becket is also common), Archbishop of Canterbury, born in London 1117 or 1119, assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral, 29th Dec., 1170. He was educated at Oxford and Paris, and was sent, by the favour of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, to study civil law at Bologna in Italy, and on his return made Archdeacon of Canterbury and Provost of Beverley. In 1158 Henry II appointed him High Chancellor and preceptor to his son, Prince Henry—the first instance after the Conquest of a high office being filled by a native Englishman. At this period he was a complete courtier, conforming in every respect to the humour of the king. He was, in fact, the king's prime companion, held splendid levees, and courted popular applause. On the death of Theobald, 1162, he was consecrated archbishop, when he affected an extraordinary austerity of character, and appeared as a zealous champion of the Church against the aggressions of the king, whose policy was to have the clergy in subordination to the civil power. Becket was forced to assent to the Constitutions of Clarendon, but a series of bitter conflicts with the king followed, ending in Becket's flight to France, when he appealed to the Pope, by whom he was supported. After much negotiation a sort of reconciliation took place in 1170, and Becket returned to England, resumed his office, and renewed his defiance of the royal authority. A rash hint from the king induced four barons, Reginald Fitz-Urse, William de Tracy, Hugh de Morville, and Richard Breto, to go to Canterbury and murder the archbishop while at vespers in the cathedral. He was canonized in 1172 by Pope Alexander III, and the splendid shrine erected at Canterbury for his remains was, for three centuries, a favourite place of pilgrimage.—Bibliography: J. C. Robertson and J. B. Sheppard, Materials for the History of Archbishop Becket (Rolls Series); Canon Morris, Life and Martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket; Lhuillier, Saint Thomas de Cantorbéry; Abbott, St. Thomas of Canterbury, His Death and His Miracles.
Beckett, Gilbert Abbot À. See À Beckett.
Beck´ford, William, an English writer famous in his time for his immense wealth and his eccentricities. He was born at Fonthill, his father's estate in Wiltshire, in 1759. In 1770 the death of his father left him in the possession of £1,000,000 of money, and an income of £100,000 a year. He travelled much, and for some time lived in Portugal. He expended an enormous sum in building and rebuilding Fonthill Abbey, near Salisbury, which he filled with rare and expensive works of art. Here he lived in seclusion for twenty years. In 1822 the abbey and greater part of its contents were sold, and he retired to Bath, where, with a much-diminished fortune, but one amply sufficient, he
lived till 1844. His literary fame rests upon his Eastern tale The History of the Caliph Vathek, which he wrote in French, and a translation of which by the Rev. Samuel Henley appeared at London in 1786. The tale is still much read, and was highly commended by Lord Byron. He had two daughters, one of whom became Duchess of Hamilton, and brought his valuable library to this family.—William Beckford, his father, a London merchant and West Indian proprietor, was famous for a spirited speech made to George III when Lord Mayor of London.—Bibliography: Cyrus Redding, Memoir; R. Garnett, Vathek (with a critical essay); Melville, The Life and Letters of William Beckford of Fonthill.
Beckmann, Johann, German writer on the industrial arts and agriculture, born 1739, died 1811. He was for a short time professor of physics and natural history at Petrograd, and afterwards for almost forty-five years professor of philosophy and economy in Göttingen. His History of Inventions is well known in the English translation of it. This work entitled the author to be regarded as the founder of scientific technology.
Beckx (beks), Pierre Jean, general of the order of Jesuits, born near Louvain, Belgium, 1795, died 1887. The success of the Jesuits, especially in non-Catholic countries, was greatly due to his tact and energy.
Becquerel (bek-rel), Antoine César, French physicist, born 1788, died 1878. He served as an officer of engineers, and retired in 1815, after which he devoted himself to the study of electricity, especially electro-chemistry. In 1837 he was awarded the Copley medal of the Royal Society of London. He refuted the 'theory of contact' by which Volta explained the action of his pile or battery. Becquerel may be considered one of the creators of electro-chemistry.—His son, Alexandre Edmond (1820-91), was associated with him in much of his work. He was the author of a work La Lumière, ses causes et ses effets (1867-8).
Becquerel Rays (bek-rel), the rays given out by radium and other 'radioactive' substances, so named from their discoverer, the French physicist, Henri Becquerel (born 1852, died 1908), son of Alexandre Edmond Becquerel. They were first detected in 1896, as proceeding from uranium salts; and it is only by uranium, thorium, radium, and one or two other elements that they are emitted, these bodies giving them out spontaneously and without any apparent loss of radioactive power or change of any kind. The Becquerel rays are invisible, and only known by their effects, which are of various kinds: thus, like the Röntgen rays, they blacken a photographic plate, even after passing through glass or other intervening substances; they cause a number of different substances to give out a fluorescent light, and they render air a conductor of electricity. Like the Röntgen rays, they act strongly on the human skin. They consist of a mixture of α-, β-, and γ-rays. See Radio-activity; Radium.
Becse (bech´e), Old, a town of Hungary, 48 miles S. of Szegedin, on the right bank of the Theiss. Pop. 19,000.—New Becse, a market-town on the left bank of the Theiss, 5 miles E. of Old Becse. Pop. 7725, or, with the immediately adjoining village of Franyova, about 15,000. Both towns carry on an extensive trade in grain.
Becskerek (bech´ke-rek), two towns of South Hungary.—Great Becskerek, now in Yugo-Slavia, is on the Bega, 45 miles N. of Belgrade, with which it communicates by the Bega Canal. Trade in cattle and agricultural produce. Pop. 26,407.—Little Becskerek, now belonging to Roumania, is 11 miles by railway from Temesvar. Pop. 3660.