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Description: | Medieval cast lead ampulla, bent and badly damaged. However, the design on both sides is still visible: on the obverse is a Lombardic 'T' (for Thomas Becket) and on the reverse a fleur-de-lis design.
Thomas Becket had been Chancellor of England and adviser to Henry II. This friendship enabled Becket to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. Shortly after this, in 1164, a dispute with the king forced Becket to flee to France. He returned triumphantly to Canterbury on 1 December 1170 but was murdered on 29 December of the same year. This was apparently at the order of Henry II. Four knights - Hugh de Moreville, William de Tracy, Richard le Breton and Reginald Fitzurse - were responsible for the deed. After striking Becket down, Fitzurse delivered a sword cut to Becket's head: then a retainer of Ranulf de Broc, using the point of his sword, scattered the Primate's brains on the ground. (Nigel Mills 2003: Medieval Artefacts, p. 36)
B. Spencer (1980, p. 19) writes: "Until Walsingham overtook it in the late 15th century, Canterbury, the scene of Thomas Becket's martyrdom in 1170, was by far the most important centre of pilgrimage in England. Evidence of its mas appeal is afforded by the extraordinary number and variety of leaden souvenirs that have survived, espeically at the London but as far afield as Scandinavia." | Subjects: | Pilgrim's | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Boughton, Dot - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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