So, those of you who actually read Pillars of the Earth and didn't just watch the TV show, know all about St. Thomas. And, essentially, what happened in the book happened in real life. But, for those of you who haven't read one of the best books ever, get to it. Oprah got this one right.
So Thomas was a very religious fellow who eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He did some nice plus things there for a while, and then eventually, stirred up a ruckus about Henry II who tried to limit the power of the church, like all rulers who want the power do. Then, Henry, was really pissed at him, so he refused to have his coronation ceremony in Canterbury, where it is supposed to take place.
Then, Thomas started excommunicating people left and right who pissed him off. And we know how that goes, everyone gets angry.
So, Henry, whether he meant to or not, sent some knights to Canterbury to deal with Thomas.
They came unarmed, leaving their arms outside the church, and told Thomas he had to go with them to Henry to answer for what he did. But, Thomas didn’t want to do that, obviously, and said no. The knights got angry, as large brutes do, and ran out for their arms.
About this time, Thomas and the rest of his churchmen were heading out to start Vespers, their nightly prayers. By the time the Knights got back, they were on the steps leading to the church.
And now the fun part begins, the knights start hacking at Thomas left and right, injuring other clergymen in the process, and all the while, they keep walking into the church, so by the time they hack at Thomas’s head and his brains spill all over the floor they are in the cathedral. And that’s a BIG No No! The knights ran away, and the monks preyed and prepared the Archbishop’s body for burial.
Everyone who heard about this was upset, one just doesn’t kill an archbishop in a church. It isn’t done. I mean, you watched Hunchback of Notre Dame right??? Well, do it!!!!
Anyways, he was seen as a martyr straight away and canonized shortly afterward. He didn’t really do any cool things in his life, and wasn’t too miraculous in his death, but a HUGE cult of St. Thomas developed, which probably escalated him to martyrdom.
This reliquary casket shows three knights stabbing Thomas above an altar while two monks watch on. On the top half of the casket they show his burial preparations.
This one shows about the same image, except Thomas is turned to the viewer and the monks aren’t there. And, well he is being stabbed in the neck too. Which is great.
And there is this one, which is similar to the last except there are four knights and they seem to be dancing a jig while trying to kill him.
These things were VERY popular. And there are many more.
This one has lost some of the coloring in the figures, but again we’ve got Thomas being slashed at the head by the knights.
Whats even more interesting is these are all Limoges Enamel pieces, produced in southern France. They were the primer casket creators of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Thomas didn’t die until 1170. So, these things were being made within 100 years of his death, when the memory of his martyrdom was still fresh! Which is kinda strange for medieval saints, it usually takes about 500 years to gain any glory.
There is also this pleasant manuscript
Thomas is the one behind the altar, but it looks like the friendly monk is going to get some sword action too.
It is also amusing to note that in Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, the pilgrims were in fact traveling to Canterbury to visit Thomas’ shrine. Everyone wanted to see this guy, and I suppose he did do some miracles there every once in a while.
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