A vestment believed to be worn by England’s famous “turbulent priest”, Thomas Becket, when four knights hacked him to death in Canterbury Cathedral is to return to the UK this summer.
The garment, known as a tunicle, contained within a 17th-century glass reliquary, is likely to become a focal point for thousands of pilgrims who are expected to visit Canterbury for the 850th anniversary of Becket’s murder.
The Vatican has given permission for the tunicle to be loaned from its home, the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Four years ago, a fragment of Becket’s elbow made a fleeting appearance at Canterbury Cathedral, on loan from Hungary as part of a tour of Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Rochester Cathedral and other churches.
Becket was appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 1162 by his friend King Henry II, who wanted an ally in the crown’s tussles with the church. Almost overnight, however, Becket turned extremely pious, donning a sackcloth shirt, consuming only bread and water, spurning riches and staunchly defending the faith.
He and the king clashed over the supremacy of church and state, and Becket was forced into exile after being accused of treachery. A few years later, in 1170, he returned but angered Henry by excommunicating the archbishop of York who had sided with the king against Rome. Henry allegedly exclaimed: “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
On 29 December, four knights entered the cathedral and hacked Becket to death in front of the high altar, creating an instant martyr. He was canonised two years later and his shrine became a magnet for pilgrims across Europe, inspiring Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
When Becket was reburied in 1220, relics from his body – fragments of bone, scraps of cloth – were taken and dispersed across Europe.
Three centuries later, during the Reformation, Henry VIII – determined to kill off the cult of St Thomas – ordered his shrine to be destroyed and his remains obliterated. The veneration of saints’ relics was condemned by the Protestant king as an idolatrous Catholic practice.
Max Kramer, the precentor of Canterbury Cathedral, said the tunicle was a reminder of “the cost of bearing faithful witness to Christ” and of Becket’s “extraordinary legacy”.
The tunicle will be on display at Canterbury Cathedral from 4 July to 3 August 2020 as part of a programme of services, events and exhibitions in the UK to commemorate Becket’s life and death.
