The Murder of Thomas Becket (Based on Miniatures in Manuscripts of the Period)

Authors:

Pages: 131-146
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/PVRJ3320

Abstract:

In this paper the author analyses the murder of Thomas Becket as depicted in five images between the 12th and 14th centuries. Beckett’s representation in the miniatures is analogous despite the centuries of difference between the images. The aim of the report is to identify the reasons for the different representation of the murder in the miniatures compared to other sources from the period, which primarily come from John of Salisbury, William of Fitzhugh, William of Canterbury, Edward Grimm and Herbert Bosham. In their accounts of the murder, Thomas resists his killers fiercely, which is in stark contrast to the representation in the miniatures. The author reaches the conclusion that the difference in depiction of the murder in the miniatures compared to that from the chroniclers is due to the concept of martyrdom in medieval times. Thus, the actual events surrounding the murder of the man Thomas Becket are supplanted and replaced by the notion of the martyrdom of the saint Thomas Becket.

Keywords:

Thomas Becket, murder, martyrdom, Henry II, John of Salisbury, William FitzSteven, William of Canterbury, Edward Grimm, Herbert Bosham.

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