IMC 2020: Sessions
Session 1707: The Many Beckets, III: Venerating St Thomas in the Medieval and Modern Worlds
Thursday 9 July 2020, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Exploring the Past Pathway, Cardiff University |
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| Organiser: | Paul Webster, School of History, Archaeology & Religion, Cardiff University |
| Moderator/Chair: | Elma Brenner, Wellcome Library, London |
| Paper 1707-a | Protecting Becket: Antiquarianism, English Catholics, and the Presentation of Medieval Material Culture (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Ecclesiastical History, Medievalism and Antiquarianism |
| Paper 1707-b | The Many Beckets of Medieval and Modern France (Language: English) Index terms: Art History - Sculpture, Ecclesiastical History, Medievalism and Antiquarianism, Religious Life |
| Paper 1707-c | Replacing Becket: Building a 12th-Century Shrine in 1930s Canterbury (Language: English) Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Ecclesiastical History, Medievalism and Antiquarianism |
| Abstract | Our final session commemorating the 2020 Thomas Becket anniversaries focuses on different contexts for veneration of Becket. The first paper considers preservation of material culture relating to St Thomas between the 17th and 19th centuries and approaches to collecting adopted by English Catholics and the scholarly antiquarian network. Focus turns to France, to examine medieval and modern motivations for creating devotional sites associated with St Thomas, and what they reveal about the saint's import across nine centuries of French history. Finally, we return to Canterbury, to consider a proposal of 1930 to construct an 'altar shrine' in the cathedral 'in keeping with the style of the 12th century', and the power of Becket's cult and reputation to enthral and repulse audiences in the 20th century. |