St Thomas Becket

Pilgrim souvenir from the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. This souvenir is in the form of a bell with a quatrefoil loop at the top. It was designed to be worn around a pilgrim’s neck. Miniature bells like this were popular with Canterbury pilgrims, particularly in the 14th century. Bells are known from other pilgrimage sites but bells were especially relevant to the Canterbury pilgrimage due to the belief that when Thomas Becket was murdered all the bells of Canterbury rang without being touched. This bell still has its clapper inside which is attached with a split pin threaded through a hole in the top of the bell and then splayed. This bell is twice the size of a normal Canterbury bell and would have had a deeper tone.

Thomas Becket was born in London in 1118. He became a royal official and a great friend of King Henry II. He was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. He argued with King Henry II, and fled to France in 1164. Thomas Becket returned to Canterbury in 1170 and was killed in the cathedral by four knights who thought this would please the king. People were outraged at the murder of an archbishop on holy ground and Becket was made a saint. He became one of the patron saints of London. Many Londoners travelled to Canterbury to pray at the shrine there and bought badges and ampullae (small bottles for holy water) as souvenirs of their pilgrimage.