Lecture 2 - Thomas Becket: Cult & Legacy
Within weeks of his death, miracles occurred thick and fast at Becket’s tomb in Canterbury Cathedral’s crypt, providing evidence to support his swift canonisation. The east end of the cathedral was rebuilt to accommodate a ravishing shrine for the precious saint and thousands of pilgrims flocked to Canterbury each year. Becket’s cult spread beyond England’s shores; France, Spain, Sicily, Saxony, and Scandinavia, celebrated the archbishop who had stood up to royal authority. No wonder Henry VIII, seeking to control the English Church, in the 1530s, regarded Becket as a persona non grata. The BM’s exhibition would antagonise Henry VIII, but it pays fitting homage, eight centuries after his death, to Becket’s legacy as Chancellor, Archbishop, and Martyr Saint.
