St Thomas of Canterbury exhibition

 

Anne and I visited the Becket exhibition in the British Museum which brought memories of martyrdom in more sense than one - Anne fell on the slippery marble floor last year! The exhibition was billed: ‘On 29 December 1170, Becket was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights with close ties to King Henry II, an act that left Medieval Europe reeling. Becket was one of the most powerful figures of his time, serving as royal chancellor and later as Archbishop of Canterbury. Initially a close friend of Henry, the two men became engaged in a bitter dispute that culminated in his violent and public death – an event that sent shockwaves across Europe and caused an immense political fallout. Marking the 850th anniversary of his brutal murder, this special exhibition presents Becket's tumultuous journey from a merchant's son to an archbishop, and from a revered saint in death to a 'traitor' in the eyes of Henry VIII more than 350 years later.

Anne and I toured the Becket exhibition at the British Museum open 20 May - 22 August with this invitation we saw fulfilled: ‘Get up close to the man, the murder and the legend through an incredible array of objects associated with Becket; from illuminated manuscripts, some of which include eyewitness accounts of the murder, to jewellery and sacred reliquaries. The exhibition features objects from the British Museum collection as well as important loans from major collections across the UK and Europe, including an entire medieval stained glass window on loan for the first time from Canterbury Cathedral’. Born 1118 Thomas Becket studied in Paris, became a deacon in the Church at Canterbury, where he was to die later, and Chancellor of England under King Henry II. In 1162 he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. From then he lived with austerity and defended the rights of the Church against the King who consequently in 1170 ordered his murder: ‘who will rid me of this turbulent priest?’

The assassination of an Archbishop of Canterbury at the altar during evening prayer in Christmas Octave 1170 captures the imagination. It came about at the orders of King Henry II out of impatience at his former friend Thomas Becket’s defence of the rights of the Church. The British Museum Becket exhibition has an awesome exhibit of an alleged piece of the bishop’s skull. Among contemporary accounts of what happened is this passage from Grim, who was wounded in the attack: ‘The impious knight... suddenly set upon him and [shaved] off the summit of his crown which the sacred chrism consecrated to God... Then, with another blow received on the head, he remained firm. But with the third the stricken martyr bent his knees and elbows, offering himself as a living sacrifice, saying in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church I am ready to embrace death." But the third knight inflicted a grave wound on the fallen one; with this blow... 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... The fifth – not a knight but a cleric who had entered with the knights... placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr and (it is horrible to say) scattered the brains with the blood across the floor, exclaiming to the rest, "We can leave this place, knights, he will not get up again’”. 

At the centre of the British Museum Becket Exhibition (20 May - 22 August 2021) is an audio reconstruction of the last conversation of St Thomas Becket with the knights sent to kill him on the altar of Canterbury Cathedral during Christmas Octave vespers. After his canonisation in 1173 thousands of pilgrims flocked to Canterbury up to the shrine’s destruction in 1538, led by King Henry II who was responsible for Becket’s martyrdom and did public penance for his action. Over the centuries St Thomas's popularity grew with the story of his murder capturing the imagination as in T.S.Eliot’s verse drama ‘Murder in the Cathedral’ and the film based upon it. Alongside Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela, Canterbury was one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations in Europe and the Holy Land. The journey to Canterbury from London was made famous by poet Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales, written in the late 1300s. Chaucer tells of a bawdy group of pilgrims 'from every shire's end' who seek the 'holy blissful martyr'.

A major feature of the British Museum Becket exhibition are stained glass windows on loan from Canterbury Cathedral’s Trinity Chapel which bring the St Thomas’s miracles to life. ‘Most of the glass was made in the early 1200s, but there has been loss, repair and reordering over time… Six panels tell the sensational story of Eilward of Westoning, a peasant accused of stealing in a drunken quarrel. In one panel he stands with the stolen items tied behind his back. A judge in a cap sentences him to trial by ordeal. Eilward fails and is condemned to blinding and castration. Another panel shows him reclining in bed, his head bandaged from a blow. Becket appears to him in a vision, emerging from a shrine to bless him. In [the bottom left panel] Eilward lies bound under a plank and receives his grisly punishment. A man holds him by the neck and stabs his eyes. Another, wielding a blade, kneels on his legs and reaches for his testicles. Another panel shows Becket appearing in a vision to Eilward, who lies in bed. The saint makes the sign of the cross in front of his face. On waking, Eilward's eyes and testicles grow back. To show his gratitude he makes a journey to Canterbury Cathedral, sharing the story of miraculous healing along the way. In another panel crowds gather round Eilward. He points to his eyes while another man points at his groin. The green tree symbolises his restored fertility. A final panel shows Eilward giving thanks at Becket's tomb’ (Exhibition commentary).

Although King Henry VIII ordered the despoiling of his shrine in 1538 devotion to St Thomas of Canterbury continued as the current British Museum exhibition witnesses. Bottom left is Durante Alberti’s The Martyrs' Picture (1581) with St Thomas kneeling on the left from the Venerable English College, Rome. The silver statue (1666) from Stonyhurst College (bottom right) shows St Thomas standing with a sword wedged deeply in his head and one arm raised defiantly in blessing. This statue was made to hold a key relic of the Saint and is still used in devotions at Stonyhurst. ‘With his shrine in ruins and his cult outlawed, Becket's future looked bleak. But Catholics continued to worship him secretly at home and openly on the Continent. People fleeing religious persecution under the Tudors smuggled relics abroad to protect them, including several believed to be of St Thomas. To this day Becket divides opinion. For some he remains a martyr and a saint, for others a traitor and a villain. Either way his is a remarkable life, the story of Thomas of London born in Cheapside, who defied a king and paid the ultimate price’ (Exhibition commentary) The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church both keep the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury on 29 December. In 1982 Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie knelt together at the site of Becket’s martyrdom.