Today is the Feast of the Translation of St Thomas Becket, commemorating the removal of his relics into the new shrine in the cathedral at Canterbury in 1220.
There is a useful account by J.C.Wall from his
Shrines of British Saints, published in 1905, of the shrine and its decoration, with contemporary illustrations and descriptions as well as an account of the Translation of 1220 at
http://www.historyfish.net/shrines/cw_shrines_four4.html#thomas
The Shrine of St. Thomas
of Canterbury.
Cottonian MS., Tib. E. viii. f. 269.
The Translation of 1220 was commemorated later on by the Jubilee of St Thomas, a pilgrimage year every fifty years thereafter - most notably in 1420 when Archbishop Chichele secured it against Papal doubts as to the right of an Archbishop to proclaim a Jubilee year.
The Rev Gordon Plumb posted the following list of images of the saint on the Medieval Religion discussion group last December to mark the feast of St Thomas' martyrdom
York Minster and St Michael-le-Belfrey, York: a series of early 16th century panels, now divided between the Minster and the adjacent church of St Michael, telling the apocryphal life of Thomas Becket, the story doubtless taken from Caxton's translation of the Golden Legend:
York, All Saints' North Street, nV, 1c-2c, sainted Archbishop, probably Becket, 1430-40:
Oxford, Christ Church Cathedral, sVII, B2, Martyrdom of Becket, early 14th century
Yarnton, St Bartholomew, Oxfordshire, nIV, A4, 1400-1420:
Salle, St Peter and St Paul,, Norfolk, sVI, A1 (missing head) 1440--50:
Long Melford, Holy Trinity, Suffolk, nXVII, A3-A4, Becket (with St Edward the Confessor:
Credenhill, St Mary, Herefordshire , sIV alongside St Thomas of Hereford, c.1300:
detail:
Warwick, St Mary, Beauchamp Chantry, East window, 2a, 1447-64 b y John Prudde:
detail of head and mitre:
Canterbury Cathedral, Trinity Chapel Ambulatory, nII, image of St Thomas hovering vengefully over the house of Jordan Fitz-Eisulf, post 1213 return from exile of the Canterbury community:
Shot of all the Fitz-Eisulf panels:
These come from the great series of miracle windows depicring the saint's interventions in human affairs, which have survicved in his shrine church despite the odds.
Harpley, St Lawrence, Norfolk, E2, (alongtside St Martin in D3), 15th century.:
And also some in wall paintings:
St Albans, Cathedral and Abbey Church, north nave arcade pier, 3rd quarter of the 14th century
Pickering, St Peter and St Paul, North Yorkshire, nave north arcade, wall paintings, c.1475 (repainted in 19thC.).:
detail:
North Stoke, Oxfordshire, north wall, three knights from martyrdom scene
Given the determined attempt in the 1530s to eradicate the cult of St Thomas it is surprising how many images survived that and later onslaughts and neglect - unless it also shows the ineffectivemess of sixteenth century government at local level. That said the examples which do survive or have been uncovered are moreover an indication of how many more iomage sthere must once have been visible to the eye.
