Editing Thomas Becket (section)

==Cult in the Middle Ages==
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[[File:158 Santa Maria de Terrassa, cicle de Tomàs Becket.jpg|thumb|200px|right|St Thomas Becket's consecration, death and burial, at wall paintings in Santa Maria de Terrassa ([[Terrassa]], Catalonia, Spain), romanesque frescoes, c. 1180<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sánchez |first=Carles |title=A painted tragedy The martyrdom of Thomas Becket in Santa Maria de Terrassa and the diffusion of its cult in the Iberian Peninsula. |publisher=Anem Editors |year=2021 |isbn=978-84-122385-7-0}}</ref>]]
[[File:Former site of Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.jpg|thumb|Former site of Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury Cathedral]]

In Scotland, King [[William the Lion]] ordered the building of [[Arbroath Abbey]] in 1178. On completion in 1197 the new foundation was dedicated to Becket, whom the king had known personally while at the English court as a young man.

On 7 July 1220, the 50th [[Golden jubilee|jubilee]] year of his death, Becket's remains were moved from his first tomb to a [[shrine]] in the recently built Trinity Chapel.<ref name=ODNB/> This [[Translation (relic)|translation]] was "one of the great symbolic events in the life of the medieval English Church", attended by King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], the papal legate, the Archbishop of Canterbury [[Stephen Langton]] and many dignitaries and magnates secular and ecclesiastical.
[[File:Martirio di Thomas Becket - chiesa di San Lanfranco.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Fresco depicting the murder of Thomas Becket; on the left is the figure of Saint Lanfranco in act of blessing. [[San Lanfranco, Pavia|Church of San Lanfranco, Pavia]].]]
So a "major new feast day was instituted, commemorating the translation... celebrated each July almost everywhere in England and in many French churches."<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Sherry L. |last=Reames |title=Reconstructing and Interpreting a Thirteenth-Century Office for the Translation of Thomas Becket |journal=Speculum |volume=80 |number=1 |date=January 2005 |pages=118–170 |doi=10.1017/S0038713400006679 |jstor=20463165 |s2cid=162716876}} Quoting pp. 118–119.</ref> It was suppressed in 1536 with the Reformation.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Robert E. |last=Scully |title=The Unmaking of a Saint: Thomas Becket and the English Reformation |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=86 |number=4 |date=October 2000 |pages=579–602 |doi=10.1353/cat.2000.0094 |jstor=25025818 |s2cid=201743927}} Especially p. 592.</ref>

The shrine was destroyed in 1538 during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] on orders from King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]].<ref name=ODNB/><ref name=cch>{{Cite web |url=http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/conservation/history/ |title=The Origins of Canterbury Cathedral |publisher=Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral |access-date=10 November 2011}}</ref> He also destroyed Becket's bones and ordered all mention of his name obliterated.<ref name=cch/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=3927 |title=The Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket (Getty Museum) |publisher=The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709071459/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=3927 |archive-date=9 July 2007}}</ref>

As the scion of a mercantile dynasty of later centuries, [[Mercers]], Becket was much regarded as a Londoner by citizens and adopted as London's co-patron saint with [[St Paul]]: both appear on the seals of the city and of the Lord Mayor. The [[Bridge House Estates]] seal has only a Becket image, while his martyrdom is shown on the reverse.

The cult included the [[blood as food|drinking of "water of Saint Thomas"]], a mix of water and the remains of the martyr's blood miraculously multiplied. The procedure was frowned upon by the more orthodox, due to the similarities with the [[eucharist]] of the [[blood of Jesus]].<ref name="Harvey">{{Cite journal |last1=Harvey |first1=Katherine |title=The Cult of Thomas Becket: History and Historiography through Eight Centuries {{!}} Reviews in History |journal=Reviews in History |date=January 2019 |doi=10.14296/RiH/2014/2303 |s2cid=193137069 |url=https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/2303 |access-date=13 January 2022 |language=en|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Local legends regarding Becket arose after his canonisation. Though they tend towards typical [[hagiography]], they also display Becket's well-known gruffness. "Becket's Well", in [[Otford]], Kent, is said to have been created after Becket had been displeased by the taste of the local water. Two springs of clear water are said to have bubbled up after he struck the ground with his [[crozier]]. The absence of nightingales in Otford is also ascribed to Becket, who is said to have been so disturbed in his devotions by the song of a nightingale that he commanded that none sing in the town ever again. In the town of [[Strood]], Kent, Becket is said to have caused the inhabitants and their descendants to be born with tails. The men of Strood had sided with the king in his struggles against the archbishop, and to demonstrate their support had cut off the tail of Becket's horse as he passed through the town.

The saint's fame quickly spread through the [[Normans|Norman]] world. The first holy image of Becket is thought to be a mosaic icon still visible in [[Monreale Cathedral]] in [[Sicily]], created shortly after his death. Becket's cousins obtained refuge at the Sicilian court during their exile, and King [[William II of Sicily]] wed a daughter of Henry II. [[Marsala Cathedral]] in western Sicily is dedicated to Becket. Over 45 medieval [[chasse (casket)|chasse]] [[reliquaries]] decorated in [[champlevé enamel]] showing similar scenes from Becket's life survive, including the [[Becket Casket]], constructed to hold relics of him at [[Peterborough Cathedral|Peterborough Abbey]] and now housed in London's [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].