Murder in the Cathedral, 29 December 1170: marking the 850th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of St Thomas of Canterbury
The murder, exactly 850 years ago, on 29 December 1170, of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in his own cathedral, sent shockwaves across the Christian world.
The combination of his martyrdom, his canonization in 1173, and the creation of a shrine to him at Canterbury in 1220, increased the importance of the Via Francigena – the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome: indeed the English Hospice, founded in Rome in 1362 for pilgrims from England and Wales, was dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity and St Thomas of Canterbury.
The transformation in 1579 of the English Hospice into a new English College in Rome, preparing future priests to serve on the dangerous post-Reformation mission to England and Wales, engendered further martyrdoms: between 1581 and 1679, forty-four members of the Venerable English College, Rome, were executed for serving as priests on the mission to England and Wales.
Prefiguring the first of these martyrdoms of former students — that of St Ralph Sherwin (1550–1581) in London on 1 December 1581 — the Venerable English College commissioned, during the summer of 1581, a great altarpiece for the College church depicting the martyr, St Thomas of Canterbury, kneeling before the Most Holy Trinity. This masterpiece by the Roman artist, Durante Alberti (1538–1613), has happily survived the many vicissitudes that the College has undergone over the past four-and-a-half centuries.
Detail showing St Thomas of Canterbury from the Martyrs’ Picture of 1581, by Durante Alberti, in the Church of the Venerable English College, Rome
From the foundation of the English Hospice in 1362 until recent times, the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury was celebrated as a major feast day within the Hospice and, later, the College: down to the French Revolution, annually on 29 December, all English and Welsh people either resident in Rome or visiting the Eternal City, regardless of their religious beliefs, were invited, together with cardinals and other dignitaries, to dine at the Hospice and College. On 29 December 1644, for example, the great English writer, gardener, and diarist, John Evelyn (1620–1706), was able to record:
We were invited by the English Jesuits to dinner, being their great feast of Thomas of Canterbury. We dined in their common refectory, and afterward saw an Italian comedy acted by their alumni before the Cardinals. [1]
In recent decades, the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury has not been celebrated in the College owing to the fact that students and staff are normally away from Rome for the Christmas period. This year, however, owing to limitations on travel as a result of the pandemic, many students and staff have remained in Rome. To mark the 850th anniversary of the saint’s martyrdom, they duly celebrated the feast day with a special Mass on 29 December 2020, followed by a lunch prepared by staff and students, thus reviving an ancient tradition. The celebrations concluded with solemn vespers.
The Rector of the Venerable English College reading the Gospel for the Feast of St Thomas of Canterbury in the College Church, 29 December 2020
The feast day and the 850th anniversary have also been marked by the publication of a book exploring three major themes – Memory, Martyrs, and Mission.
A volume of essays bearing this title analyses the enduring legacy of St Thomas of Canterbury, expressed in English seminaries in continental Europe through their distinctive spiritual, artistic and literary activities; the resilience of those institutions to radical change over the centuries, in the face of revolution, war and social upheaval; and the challenges and opportunities for the effective formation of priests ready to meet the changing demands of mission in the twenty-first century. The volume concludes by demonstrating how music associated with St Thomas of Canterbury has resonated across the centuries, from soon after his martyrdom down to the present day.
For a limited period, the volume is available as a downloadable e-book — and readers of this blog are cordially invited to avail themselves of this opportunity.
——————————-
[1] Extracts from John Evelyn’s diary relating to his visit to Rome in 1644.