Cyrus the Great (Wikipedia)
Cyrus II of Persia (Old Persian: 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 Kūruš; c. 600–530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Median Empire and embracing all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanding vastly and eventually conquering most of West Asia and much of Central Asia to create what would soon become the largest polity in human history at the time. Widely considered the world’s first superpower, the Achaemenid Empire’s largest territorial extent was achieved under Darius the Great, whose rule stretched from the Balkans (Eastern Bulgaria–Paeonia and Thrace–Macedonia) and the rest of Southeast Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east.- 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.
O wretched Man that I am, who shall deliver me from this turbulent Priest?
Henry II of EnglandWho shall deliver me from this turbulent priest?
Henry II of EnglandWill no one rid me of him? A priest! A priest who jeers at me and does me injury.
Henry II in Becket (1959)Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?
Henry II of EnglandWill no one rid me of this troublesome priest?
Henry II of EnglandWill none of these lazy insignificant persons, whom I maintain, deliver me from this turbulent priest?
Henry II of England
- Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? (Wikipedia)
“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” (also expressed as “troublesome priest” or “meddlesome priest”) is a quote attributed to Henry II of England preceding the death of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. While the quote was not expressed as an order, it prompted four knights to travel from Normandy to Canterbury, where they killed Becket. The phrase is commonly used in modern-day contexts to express that a ruler’s wish may be interpreted as a command by his or her subordinates. It is also commonly understood as shorthand for any rhetorical device allowing leaders to covertly order or exhort violence among their followers, while still being able to claim plausible deniability for political, legal, or other reasons.