St Thomas Becket

Part of a chasse-shaped ampulla (small bottle for holy water) from the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. A chasse is a type of reliquary box used to hold the relics of a saint. They were shaped like a church or house with a sloping roof. This ampulla is decorated with three figures on the side: two archbishops wearing mitres and holding cross staffs are flanking the central figure of the Virgin Mary who is crowned and holds a staff with a fleur-de-lys on the end. This may refer to Our Lady Undercroft, who was also worshiped at Canterbury Cathedral. On the roof are two mitred heads inside quatrefoils. Only one side and part of the ends of this ampulla survive.

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. Ampullae of this chasse-like form made their appearance at Canterbury in the later 13th century, perhaps around the time of the centenary of 1270.