Saxon & Medieval — Early Medieval; 13th century
St Thomas Becket
Ampulla from the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. This ampulla is in the shape of a scallop shell. The scallop shell was originally the emblem of St James the Greater who had a very popular shrine at Compostela in Spain. From the 11th century, as pilgrims to Compostela brought back scallop-shaped souvenirs to their home countries, the scallop soon became a generic symbol for pilgrimage itself and for pilgrims. When the Canterbury shrine of St Thomas Becket first started to produce souvenirs, a scallop shell design was naturally chosen. The small handles on ampullae like this one meant they could be worn round the neck or hung up at home to be used when needed.
Canterbury ampullae contained holy water tinged with St Thomas Becket’s blood. The blood had been collected from his wounds by the monks of the cathedral after Becket had been murdered there by four knights of King Henry II on 29 December 1170. Holy water mixed with this blood became a miraculous cure for all kinds of diseases and was said to bring the dead back to life. Ampullae containing ‘Canterbury water’ were popular pilgrim souvenirs.
- Category:
- Saxon & Medieval
- Object ID:
- 83.441/1
- Object name:
- St Thomas Becket
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- —
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- Early Medieval; 13th century
- Material:
tin alloy
- Measurements/duration:
- H 18 mm, W 28 mm (overall)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Owner Status & Credit:
Permanent collection
- Copyright holder:
digital image © London Museum
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.