Reflection of the island across the channel- The popular version of the phrase was first used in 1740 by the author and bookseller Robert Dodsley, in his Chronicle of the Kings of England, where he described Henry II’s words as follows: “O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this turbulent Priest?”
- In The Chronicle of the Kings of England (1821), it becomes “Will none of these lazy insignificant persons, whom I maintain, deliver me from this turbulent priest?”, which is then shortened to “who shall deliver me from this turbulent priest?”
- In Jean Anouilh’s 1959 play Becket, Henry says, “Will no one rid me of him? A priest! A priest who jeers at me and does me injury.”
- In the 1964 film Becket, which was based on the Anouilh play, Henry says, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?”
- There are likely several English iterations of Henry II’s original quote because it had to be translated; Henry, though he understood many languages, spoke only Latin and French.