The New Murrey and Blue blog

HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS-THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ST THOMAS BECKET

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Well, folks, even in 1170 it seems they were hell-bent on  giving out improbable excuses!

(This amusing cartoon parodying the recent events in Salisbury made me smile.)

 

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  1. Dyer or Dire? | murreyandblue

    […] I and Dover Castle for Henry II, discussing his rebellious sons and his mixed relationship with Becket. At every stage, riding a horse, jousting or dyeing (Dyeing?), he was accompanied by a professional […]

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  2. NEW EXCAVATIONS AT CLARENDON PALACE | murreyandblue

    […] eventually ascending a rise where you join a wooded track following the line of an old Roman road. Salisbury Cathedral spire is behind you, a needle in the haze; before you lie the woods, hiding all for a brief time. Then […]

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  3. RETURN OF THE TURBULENT PRIEST’S TUNIC | murreyandblue

    […] 2020 there are planned commemorations of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. King Henry II blew his top, shouted words to the effects of ‘Who will rid me of this […]

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  4. THE HOLY HAND OF ST JAMES FROM READING ABBEY | murreyandblue

    […] relic hidden during the  reformation; the Haunch had belonged  to the nearby  church of Thomas a Becket, and was used to lodge craftsmen who were building the spire of Salisbury Cathedral. Unfortunately, […]

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  5. Climbing up on Solsbury….sorry, Salisbury (Cathedral)…. | murreyandblue

    […] those you who are made of sterner stuff, this BBC South video of the nooks, crannies and heights of Salisbury Cathedral is well worth […]

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  6. What do we know about St Mary in Gysma and her connection with London….? | murreyandblue

    […] Lane is a block of building and the abbreviation “Cha” for Chapel – this is the area where Thomas a Becket was born and also the site of the Hospital of St Thomas of […]

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  7. OLD LONDON BRIDGE – A MEDIEVAL WONDER! | murreyandblue

    […] was commissioned by Henry II who was suffering pangs of guilt since the murder of his old friend Thomas Becket. To this end one of the first buildings on the bridge was a chapel dedicated to Thomas  – The […]

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  8. The Evidence in the Ice | murreyandblue

    […] glaciers. According to an article in ANTIQUITY,  a glacier has revealed the time of Thomas Becket‘s martyrdom, when, in penance, Henry II founded many religious houses as a penance.  There […]

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  9. The mystery of William of Norwich…. | murreyandblue

    […] of Rome. British saints rarely seem to reach the hallowed list, unless they were of the calibre of Becket. But in their local area these saints were much revered and of considerable […]

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  10. The “awkward mediaeval cities” (2) – murreyandblue

    […] is an interesting paradox as the station was built over the remains of the Castle (above), where Becket was tried in […]

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  11. More technology reveals … – murreyandblue

    […] windows in situ, has placed some of the  “Canterbury Ancestors” some years before both Becket‘s matyrdom and the fire, four years later, that destroyed the building around them, showing […]

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  12. Who chose King Arthur’s final resting place? The monks of Glastonbury or Henry II….? – murreyandblue

    […] only the monks, maybe Henry II had something to do with it as well, to draw attention away from the “turbulent priest” buried at […]

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  13. The Augustinian Priory of St Mary Merton and its Destruction. – murreyandblue

    […] Thomas a Becket (1119-1170) Educated at Merton from 1128 aged 10.    Thomas would later employ Robert, one of the priory’s canons as his chaplain and confessor. […]

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  14. The stained-glass windows at Canterbury Cathedral are among Europe’s oldest…. – murreyandblue

    […] team examining the windows, said: “[The stained glass] would have witnessed the murder of Thomas Becket, they would have witnessed Henry II come on his knees begging for forgiveness, they would have […]

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  15. Laser scans of the Alps and Becket’s murder…. – murreyandblue

    […] you might ask, do laser scans of part of the Alps have to do with the murder of Thomas Becket? Well, if you read this article you’ll find out. Lead-smelting and royal conscience-grovelling […]

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  16. Brawling Bishop Boniface beats ‘em up at St Bartholomew’s…. – murreyandblue

    […] Becket wasn’t the only troublesome priest in medieval England, because in 1244 came another, Boniface of Savoy (see here and here) who became Archbishop of Canterbury. Boniface was the younger brother of Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy, and one of their nieces was Henry III’s queen, while another was married to King Louis IX of France, so I suppose we can guess how Boniface got the job. The medieval chronicler Matthew Paris said that Boniface was “noted more for his birth than for his brains”. And given the story I am about to relate, I think he was probably right. […]

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  17. Roger Bacon, a turbulent scholar…. – murreyandblue

    […] Becket was a turbulent priest, Roger Bacon was a turbulent scholar, philosopher, scientist and theologian. […]

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  18. The adventures of the coronation chrism oil…. – murreyandblue

    […] vessel, which in turn was based on a 14th-century legend in which the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Thomas Becket and presented him with a golden eagle and a vial of oil for anointing future kings of England. The […]

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  19. HENRY VI’S STATUE IN COVENTRY – murreyandblue

    […] his predecessor was a saint and at one point the old king was even thought to be more popular than Thomas Becket. Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou moved to Coventry during the early part of the Wars of the Roses […]

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  20. Did Edward IV violate sanctuary after the Battle of Tewkesbury….? – murreyandblue

    […] from the murder of Becket in Canterbury, I know of at least one other precedent in the sanctuary of an abbey, this time in […]

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