Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In the introduction to his acclaimed play Becket , Jean Anouilh describes how he became inspired to write about his most famous protagonist, Saint Thomas Becket. Rather, he discovered Becket by happenstanceβin the pages of a winsome old history book about the Norman Conquest.
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. For several things you do in prejudice of the rights of the Church make me fear you would require of me what I could not agree to. Though the exact number of works is unknown, the volume of biographical accounts produced was unusually high. The sword fell upon the left shoulder-blade, and cut all his clothes to nakedness.
The same William struck another powerful blow and at this the holy man fell prone on the pavement. In art, Saint Thomas Becket is sometimes portrayed with a bleeding head, signifying the first blow of his attackers. Each could take from his memory and his image what they sought, whether it was the miracle-worker, the martyr, the champion of the Church, or a combination of these. On the opposite side, the pendant used to contain a crystal under which a number of relics were kept.
Pilgrimages, though certainly not unique to Christianity, were a common form of religious expression in Medieval Europe. When the sweet showers of April fall and shoot Down through the drought of March to pierce the root, Bathing every vein in liquid power From which there springs the engendering of the flower, When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath. Then people long to go on pilgrimages. The text further hints that at least some of the pilgrims on the road to Canterbury are veterans of previous pilgrimages.
Once at Canterbury itself, a number of sites would have formed part of the pilgrimage experience. Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art. Following his elevation to Canterbury, Thomas Becket underwent a religious conversion, the sincerity of which has remained a subject of much speculation ever since. The play, which is told in flashback, begins as it will conclude. What an end to our story! Understanding Saint Thomas Becket may, perhaps, have been too much to expect.
