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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (29. Deccember) is the feast of: Thomas Becket (Thomas of Canterbury; d. 1170). A Londoner, T. was successively archdeacon of Canterbury, chancellor of England under Henry II, and (from 1162) archbishop of Canterbury. In the latter post, his defence of ecclesiastical rights soon led to a falling out with Henry and to T.'s withdrawal to France, where he remained until 1170. His return to Canterbury in that year had papal backing but only grudging acceptance from the king. The two were still quite unreconciled when T. was assassinated in his cathedral on this day in 1170 by knights who thought that they were doing Henry a favor. T.'s life of penitence and self-mortification while archbishop contributed to his image as a saintly martyr. He was canonized in 1173 and Lives (wth miracle accounts) soon followed. T.'s ornate tomb in Christ Church cathedral, Canterbury was despoiled during the Dissolution. The laying to rest depicted here (in the Queen Mary Psalter) shows only a simple sarcophagus: http://tinyurl.com/yauyxq Herewith some other visuals, starting in England but moving quickly to the Continent. 1) Christ Church cathedral, Canterbury, Kent: Martyrdom site: http://tinyurl.com/ycpdmr Trinity Chapel, north aisle, Becket portrait window and other Beckett windows: http://www2.art.utah.edu/cathedral/can_trin.html Trinity Chapel, St. Thomas Becket Miracle Windows http://www2.art.utah.edu/cathedral/can_trin_miracle.html 2) The originally late twelfth-century Eglise Saint-Thomas de Cantorbéry at Mont-Saint-Aignan (Seine-Maritime) in Normandy, commissioned by Henry II in 1173. English-language and French-language accounts are here: http://tinyurl.com/ycw8c3 http://tinyurl.com/ydsevd and some expandable views are here: http://tinyurl.com/ylcfe5 3) Some of the numerous Becket reliquary chests made at Limoges in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries: Ornamental reliquary (1180), with scenes of the martyrdom, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum: http://www.timetravel-britain.com/06/July/1pics/becket2.jpg Another (ca. 1200), now at Limoges, musée municipal de l'Evêché: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/emolimo/thomas1.htm Another (ca. 1200-1210), now in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: http://search2.famsf.org:8080/mygallery/view.shtml?record=152504 Another (ca. 1205-1215), now at Guéret, musée des Beaux-Arts: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/emolimo/thomas2.htm 4) T.'s late twelfth-/early thirteenth-century church (an Augustinian foundation; portal dated 1202) at Caramanico Terme (PE) in Abruzzo: Italian-language accounts with multiple views: http://www.abruzzovacanze.net/vr.php/it/24 http://www.abruzzoverdeblu.it/?id=36 Single views: http://tecweb.unich.it/prog2004-11/particolare_san_tommaso.jpg http://www.flickr.com/images/spaceball.gif 5) T.'s originally late twelfth-/thirteenth-century church at Cabriolo di Fidenza (PR) in Emilia, once a Templar chapel and now in private ownership: http://www.templarioggi.it/Templari_oggi_le_commanderie_21.htm http://tinyurl.com/yd3j9n 6) The Becket Leaves (a thirteenth-century illustrated rhymed Passio of T. in French): http://www.angelfire.com/pa4/becketleaves/ 7) Two scenes from Meister Francke's Altarpiece of St. Thomas Becket (mid-1430s; Hamburg, Kunsthalle): T.'s entry into Canterbury: http://tinyurl.com/yb3q3o The assassination: http://tinyurl.com/yarm7y 8) Only tangentially medieval: the parish church of Avrieux (Savoie) in the Maurienne dedicated to T. This dedication is somewhat dubiously reported to have occurred in 1214 at the behest of a lord of Avrieux named Anthelme and of his sons who were said to be "of England". The present church took shape in the seventeenth century. According to this website from the local commune, it is an expansion of its medieval predecessor, not a completely new building: http://www.avrieux.com/patrimoine/eglise01.htm (Perhaps more obviously medieval: Avrieux is one of two places -- the other being Brides-les-Bains -- where Charles the Bald is said to have died on his way back from Italy in 877.) Some views of the church: http://www.avrieux.com/phototheque/eglise3.jpg http://www.avrieux.com/phototheque/eglise2.jpg And views of a piece of its seventeenth-century decor, a retable with scenes from T.'s Life (details linked to below are of the assassination and of the flight of the assassins): http://www.avrieux.com/images/dyptique.jpg http://tinyurl.com/y3th7b http://tinyurl.com/y9a7sd Today is also the feast day of the king and prophet David and of St. Trophimus of Arles, among others. Best, John Dillon ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html