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The Quest for Becket's Bones by John R. Butler Pdf
In January 1888, workmen excavating in the eastern crypt of Canterbury Cathedral discovered the bones of a skeleton many believed to be that of the martyred archbishop, Thomas Beckett. This book traces the full history of `Beckett's bones', from their alleged destruction by Henry VIII's commissioners during the Reformation to the present day. Includes fascinating observations, such as the unexpected discovery by workmen in 1865 of Dante's bones concealed in a wooden box a short distance from his empty tomb.
In a ceremony of great solemnity in July 1220, almost fifty years after his murder in December 1170, the relics of Saint Thomas Becket, Canterbury’s most famous archbishop, were taken from the tomb in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral where they had lain for fifty years and placed in a magnificent bejewelled shrine in the cathedral’s Trinity Chapel. The shrine, which became the focus of pilgrimage and veneration for generations of travellers to Canterbury, remained in the Trinity Chapel for more than 300 years until its destruction in September 1538 by commissioners acting on the orders of King Henry VIII. The fabulous jewels and precious metals were carted off to the king’s treasury in London, but no authentic record has come to light of the fate of the mortal remains – the holy relics – of Saint Thomas. There are many stories but few hard facts. This book marks the 800th anniversary of the translation of Thomas Becket’s relics in 1220 from the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral to the shrine in the Trinity Chapel. In it, John Butler carefully sifts the evidence about the fate of Becket’s bones when the shrine was destroyed in 1538, and he explores a series of probing questions. Did the monks of the cathedral attempt to hide the relics before King Henry’s commissioners arrived in Canterbury? Were the bones burnt on the orders of Pope Paul III, as many believe, or did they somehow survive? What is the significance of the grave discovered in the crypt of the cathedral in 1888? Against a background of church politics and carefully referencing all his sources, John Butler pieces together an intriguing story of faith, science and romanticism that will appeal to all who relish a true-life mystery.
The Cult of Thomas Becket by Kay Brainerd Slocum Pdf
On 29 December, 1170, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was brutally murdered in his own cathedral. News of the event was rapidly disseminated throughout Europe, generating a widespread cult which endured until the reign of Henry VIII in the sixteenth century, and engendering a fascination which has lasted until the present day. The Cult of Thomas Becket: History and Historiography through Eight Centuries contributes to the lengthy debate surrounding the saint by providing a historiographical analysis of the major themes in Becket scholarship, tracing the development of Becket studies from the writings of the twelfth-century biographers to those of scholars of the twenty-first century. The book offers a thorough commentary and analysis which demonstrates how the Canterbury martyr was viewed by writers of previous generations as well as our own, showing how they were influenced by the intellectual trends and political concerns of their eras, and indicating how perceptions of Thomas Becket have changed over time. In addition, several chapters are devoted a discussion of artworks in various media devoted to the saint, as well as liturgies and sermons composed in his honor. Combining a wide historical scope with detailed textual analysis, this book will be of great interest to scholars of medieval religious history, art history, liturgy, sanctity and hagiography.
Between 1700 and 1900, the subject of disinterment (exhumation) attracted the attention of antiquaries, who constructed a comprehensive memory of the past by 'reading' corpses as documents describing an idealised past.
In Jennifer Summit’s account, libraries are more than inert storehouses of written tradition; they are volatile spaces that actively shape the meanings and uses of books, reading, and the past. Considering the two-hundred-year period between 1431, which saw the foundation of Duke Humfrey’s famous library, and 1631, when the great antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton died, Memory’s Library revises the history of the modern library by focusing on its origins in medieval and early modern England. Summit argues that the medieval sources that survive in English collections are the product of a Reformation and post-Reformation struggle to redefine the past by redefining the cultural place, function, and identity of libraries. By establishing the intellectual dynamism of English libraries during this crucial period of their development, Memory’s Library demonstrates how much current discussions about the future of libraries can gain by reexamining their past.
Did They Rest in Peace? by Joseph William Lewis Jr. M.D. Pdf
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. By what miracle can an assortment of seemingly unrelated particles come together and correctly assemble to form a human being? Amazingly, once aggregated, these atoms, molecules, and compounds manage to interact reasonably coherently during our lives but seek to return to their dusty state when death occurs. Of the billions of our species who have existed on earth over the millennia, most have quietly and inexorably returned to ashes and dust when their term of life expired. This book tracks some of the misadventures of selected corpses, including burials that went awry to body snatching, exhumations, human-relic collection, and assorted desecrations. Over the years, it seems that a remarkable number of bodies have failed to enjoy the admonition to “Rest in Peace.” Whether these aberrations in the burial process have disturbed the afterlife of the departed, everyone is dying to discover the answer.
The Lives of Thomas Becket by Michael Staunton Pdf
Through the eye-witness and contemporary biographical accounts, this book provides valuable insight into the late-12th century world. The extracts, many previously untranslated, expose one of the most controversial figures of the Middle Ages. Written as the shock of Becket's murder in 1170 reverberated around Europe, the accounts provide vivid testimony to the most dramatic events of his life. They show how he became champion of the church and enemy of the king, fled into exile to lead a life of asceticism and political agitation, and returned to face martyrdom before the altar of his own cathedral.
The Rise of the Medieval World 500-1300 by Jana K. Schulman Pdf
Beginning in 500 with the fusion of classical, Christian, and Germanic cultures and ending in 1300 with a Europe united by a desire for growth, knowledge, and change, this volume provides basic information on the significant cultural figures of the Middle Ages. It includes over 400 people whose contributions in literature, religion, philosophy, education, or politics influenced the development and culture of the Medieval world. While focusing on Western European figures, the book does not neglect those from Byzantium, Baghdad, and the Arab world who also contributed to the politics, religion, and culture of Western Europe. Europe underwent fundamental changes during the Middle Ages. It changed from a preliterate to a literate society. Cities became a vital part of the economy, culture, and social structure. The poor and serfs went to the cities. The devout joined monastic orders. Christianity spread throughout Europe, while a man was born in Mecca who would change the shape of the religious map. Islam spread throughout the Holy Land. Christian piety led to the Crusades. This book provides a convenient guide to those who helped shape these movements and counter-movements during this era that would pave the way for the Renaissance.
The History and Politics of Exhumation by Michael L. Nash Pdf
This book argues that a serious, scholarly study on exhumation is long overdue. Examining more well-known cases, such as that of Richard III, the Romanovs, and Tutankhamen, alongside the more obscure, Michael Nash explores the motivations beyond exhumation, from retribution to repatriation. Along the way, he explores the influence of Gothic fiction in the eighteenth century, the notoriety of the Ressurection Men in the nineteenth century, and the archeological heyday of the twentieth century.
Icons of the Middle Ages [2 volumes] by Lister M. Matheson Pdf
From Thomas Becket to Charlemagne, from Leif Erickson to Count Dracula, this series of biographical essays separates truth from legend as it explores the lives of some of the most accomplished and influential figures of medieval history. Drawing on the latest research, Icons of the Middle Ages: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints examines the lives of some of the most remarkable personalities of the Medieval Era—powerful, ruthless, compassionate, brilliant people who remain widely influential today. Each portrait in this extraordinary gallery sets its subject in the context of their world, revealing what we really know about their lives, their iconic status in their own times, and their lasting legacies in our time. Readers will encounter fascinating individuals devoted to the pursuit of power (Richard III), to freedom (Robert the Bruce), to philosophy and religion (Maimonides; Thomas More), and to the arts (Dante; Hildegard of Bingen). Additional chapters explore life in the medieval castle and the advent of siege warfare—two defining developments in the Middle Ages.
A revisionist new biography reintroducing readers to one of the most subversive figures in English history—the man who sought to reform a nation, dared to defy his king, and laid down his life to defend his sacred honor NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KANSAS CITY STAR AND BLOOMBERG Becket’s life story has been often told but never so incisively reexamined and vividly rendered as it is in John Guy’s hands. The son of middle-class Norman parents, Becket rose against all odds to become the second most powerful man in England. As King Henry II’s chancellor, Becket charmed potentates and popes, tamed overmighty barons, and even personally led knights into battle. After his royal patron elevated him to archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, however, Becket clashed with the King. Forced to choose between fealty to the crown and the values of his faith, he repeatedly challenged Henry’s authority to bring the church to heel. Drawing on the full panoply of medieval sources, Guy sheds new light on the relationship between the two men, separates truth from centuries of mythmaking, and casts doubt on the long-held assumption that the headstrong rivals were once close friends. He also provides the fullest accounting yet for Becket’s seemingly radical transformation from worldly bureaucrat to devout man of God. Here is a Becket seldom glimpsed in any previous biography, a man of many facets and faces: the skilled warrior as comfortable unhorsing an opponent in single combat as he was negotiating terms of surrender; the canny diplomat “with the appetite of a wolf” who unexpectedly became the spiritual paragon of the English church; and the ascetic rebel who waged a high-stakes contest of wills with one of the most volcanic monarchs of the Middle Ages. Driven into exile, derided by his enemies as an ungrateful upstart, Becket returned to Canterbury in the unlikeliest guise of all: as an avenging angel of God, wielding his power of excommunication like a sword. It is this last apparition, the one for which history remembers him best, that will lead to his martyrdom at the hands of the king’s minions—a grisly episode that Guy recounts in chilling and dramatic detail. An uncommonly intimate portrait of one of the medieval world’s most magnetic figures, Thomas Becket breathes new life into its subject—cementing for all time his place as an enduring icon of resistance to the abuse of power.
Chaucer's writings (the 'Canterbury Tales', lyrics and dream poems and Troilus) are here freshly examined in relation to the religions, the religious traditions and the religious controversies of his era.
Henry VIII and the English Reformation by Richard Rex Pdf
Abandoning the traditional narrative approach to the subject, Richard Rex presents an analytical account which sets out the logic of Henry VIII's shortlived Reformation. Starting with the fundamental matter of the royal supremacy, Rex goes on to investigate the application of this principle to the English ecclesiastical establishment and to the traditional religion of the people. He then examines the extra impetus and the new direction which Henry's regime gave to the development of a vernacular and literate devotional culture, and shows how, despite Henry's best intentions, serious religious divisions had emerged in England by the end of his reign. The study emphasises the personal role of Henry VIII in driving the Reformation process and how this process, in turn, considerably reinforced the monarch's power. This updated edition of a powerful interpretation of Henry VIII's Reformation retains the analytical edge and stylish lucidity of the original text while taking full account of the latest research. An important new chapter elucidates the way in which 'politics' and 'religion' interacted in early Tudor England.