Medieval History
Few figures in medieval history are as famous as Thomas Becket, and fewer have been subject to such utterly differing interpretations. To pious Englishmen up to the Reformation, he was a miracle-working saint, whose blood (widely available in diluted form) could heal lepers, make the blind see, and raise babies from the dead. To Henry VIII, who closed down the shrine at Canterbury and had his bones burned, he was ?a rebel and traitor to his prince?.
To TS Eliot, he was a strangely modern Catholic intellectual, fortified by moral and theological principles but ravaged by self-doubt. To Lewis Warren, author of the classic modern biography of Henry II (Becket?s great adversary), he was a ?theological dinosaur? whose resistance to his sovereign was based on little more than ?narrow clericalism?.
While the interpretations are many and conflicting, the basic facts about Becket?s life are not in doubt. Born in London in 1120, he was the son of a Norman immigrant who had become a well-to-do merchant; there was money in Becket?s background but not high social status, and his aristocratic enemies would always enjoy reminding him of his humble origins. But with education and talent he was able to rise quite rapidly, working in the household of the then Archbishop of Canterbury. This brought him to the attention of the young King Henry II, who made him his Chancellor; by the age of 34, Becket was helping to run the country.
Click here to read this article from The Telegraph
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- Call For Papers: St. Thomas Becket And The Vernacular Medieval Literature
Monte Verità in Switzerland will host the International Medieval Conference next year. The conference is taking place from October 17-22 on the theme 'St. Thomas Becket and the Vernacular Medieval Literature'. In their call for papers, the programme...
- Medieval News Of The Week
Lampeter archaeologists have discovered a ?lost? Thomas Becket paintings unveiled in Spain Ancient Artifacts Found In Western Kansas...
- Henry Ii, Ivory Liturgical Comb
A liturgical comb, c. 1200, English perhaps Canterbury. Ivory, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Carving shows Henry II giving Thomas Becket the archbishopric of Canterbury. The event occurred in Falaise, Normandy, May 1162. On the right it shows the boat ready...
- Death Of St Thomas Of Canterbury - Another Wallpainting
We are back again in the north aisle at South Newington in Oxfordshire, a bit further west of the glorious image of the Virgin and Child we saw in an earlier post. This time we have a panel depicting the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket, who was...
Medieval History
Thomas Becket by John Guy: review
To TS Eliot, he was a strangely modern Catholic intellectual, fortified by moral and theological principles but ravaged by self-doubt. To Lewis Warren, author of the classic modern biography of Henry II (Becket?s great adversary), he was a ?theological dinosaur? whose resistance to his sovereign was based on little more than ?narrow clericalism?.
While the interpretations are many and conflicting, the basic facts about Becket?s life are not in doubt. Born in London in 1120, he was the son of a Norman immigrant who had become a well-to-do merchant; there was money in Becket?s background but not high social status, and his aristocratic enemies would always enjoy reminding him of his humble origins. But with education and talent he was able to rise quite rapidly, working in the household of the then Archbishop of Canterbury. This brought him to the attention of the young King Henry II, who made him his Chancellor; by the age of 34, Becket was helping to run the country.
Click here to read this article from The Telegraph
- How Blood And Bones Brought Comfort, Power And Wealth ? A New Book From Yale University Press
Religious relics: a potential ticket to Heaven, a big boom for medieval tourism, and much more besides. ?Steven Russell meets a man who has studied this fascinating phenomenon... Imagine (perish the thought) the Archbishop of Canterbury coming to a violent...
- Call For Papers: St. Thomas Becket And The Vernacular Medieval Literature
Monte Verità in Switzerland will host the International Medieval Conference next year. The conference is taking place from October 17-22 on the theme 'St. Thomas Becket and the Vernacular Medieval Literature'. In their call for papers, the programme...
- Medieval News Of The Week
Lampeter archaeologists have discovered a ?lost? Thomas Becket paintings unveiled in Spain Ancient Artifacts Found In Western Kansas...
- Henry Ii, Ivory Liturgical Comb
A liturgical comb, c. 1200, English perhaps Canterbury. Ivory, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Carving shows Henry II giving Thomas Becket the archbishopric of Canterbury. The event occurred in Falaise, Normandy, May 1162. On the right it shows the boat ready...
- Death Of St Thomas Of Canterbury - Another Wallpainting
We are back again in the north aisle at South Newington in Oxfordshire, a bit further west of the glorious image of the Virgin and Child we saw in an earlier post. This time we have a panel depicting the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket, who was...