St. Thomas Becket’s Martyrdom (M 031) Button

At his 1170 Christmas court in Bures, Normandy, in a fit of rage, Henry II, King of England, had railed against Thomas Becket, his former friend, one-time Chancellor, and the current Archbishop of Canterbury recently returned from exile. It is said, he ended his rant: “Will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?” And, four of his knights had taken his words as a not-so-subtle call to action against the prelate. Just days later, on December 29th, Becket lay dead—his brains spattered across the floor of his Cathedral. It was a murder that shook Medieval Christendom. + There are several contemporary written versions of the brutal assassination--most notably the eyewitness account of Edward Grim, Becket’s substitute cross-bearer on that fateful day. This visual representation from c. 1471, painted during the reign of Henry V, is a more colorful, graphic, and detailed one than our first (Compare M 030). This small, Tudor oak panel painting--now much deteriorated--once hung over the tomb of Henry IV in Canterbury, where it is still preserved. It was paired with another painting of the same period representing the Penance of Henry II (See M 033). + It should be noted that is not always possible to reconcile the textual with the artistic. Details vary—not surprising given the circumstances, the time elapsed, and artistic license. + Here, Sir William Tracey with the red and yellow banded shield and bloodied sword is depicted as already having taken the first swipe at Becket, knocking his hat from his head and wounding the monk Edward Grim in the forearm. Now standing behind the altar, Grim had attempted to ward off the onrushing blow with Becket’s own crosier to no avail. Grim, who makes eye contact with Tracey, reacts with pain at his wound and horror at the attack. The second knight, Sir Reginald FitzUrse, who was probably the ringleader of the conspirators, is identifiable by the bears on his surcoat, that is, the tunic worn by a knight over his armor. FitzUrse strikes the top of Becket’s head bringing the Archbishop to his knees. Bleeding from the scalp, Becket kneels upright in an attitude of prayer and resignation. Sir Richard Brito (or de Breton) in the plumed helmet and surcoat with a design of muzzled boars’ or bears’ heads lands the final blow, a lateral cut. Yet, it is not depicted here with the viciousness of the actual stroke: Brito actually struck off Becket’s cranium breaking his sword on the stone pavement in the process! Standing aside in the blue surcoat fretty with a fleur-de-lys in each fret is Sir Hugh de Morville just beginning to unsheathe his sword from a red scabbard. Of the four knights, only de Morville did not strike at the Archbishop but kept back the crowd from coming to his aid. A fifth person not usually shown and not shown here, a cleric named Hugh of Horsea, placed his foot on Becket’s neck and scattered his brains and blood with the tip of his sword across the floor exclaiming: “Let us away, knights; he will rise no more.” + The text behind the figures remains indecipherable. + St. Thomas Becket is patron of secular clergy. + Feast: December 29 + Image Credit (M 031): Detail of The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, color engraving by J. Carter, 1786, from the Wellcome Collection (Wellcome Library no. 7281i). Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The loose print would have originated from John Carter’s book Specimens of Ancient Painting and Sculpture (Vol.1; London, 1780, 1787), f. p. 60. Our description varies somewhat from the account by the Rev. Mr. Milner, of St. Peter’s House, Winchester, in the book on pp. 57-58. Ours is based on Grim’s eyewitness account and a study of the heraldry.