Profile: The Life of Thomas Becket

 Martyrdom Chapel at Canterbury Cathedral, c.1408

On the south wall, close to the Altar of the Sword Point is a wall tablet commemorating the visit of Pope John Paul II in May 1982. The Pope, attended by five Cardinals, was received by the Archbishop Dr. Robert Runcie (1980-91) and Charles, Prince of Wales at the West Door of the Cathedral.  This was an historic and remarkable visit – the Pope not only arrived by helicopter but he was the first ever reigning pontiff to visit the UK.

At the time of the Pope’s visit, 444 years after the removal of the Altar of the Sword’s Point at the behest of Henry VIII, there was nothing here to mark the place of the Martyrdom of Thomas Becket. The Pope and Archbishop Runcie knelt together in silent prayer facing the bare wall. The striking modern altar which stands here now was installed in 1986, four years after the Pope’s visit.

The Deans’ Chapel (or Chapel of Our Lady), constructed in 1445 and with an early example of a fan-vaulted roof, is so-named because it contains the tombs of several notable post-Restoration Deans of the Cathedral. The wrought iron gates at the entrance to the chapel date from the 17^th century.

Among the tombs on the South wall of the chapel is that of Dean Dr. John Boys (1619 to 1625) is the grandest monument in the chapel. Robed in a red cassock, gown and ruff, he sits in his library in the Deanery, with a book in front of him. One of his last acts was to bless the marriage of Charles I to Queen Henrietta Maria, when they visited the Cathedral in June 1625.

 More

The tomb of Archbishop John Peckham (1279-1294) to the left on the north wall of The Martyrdom is the only surviving monument in the Cathedral  in the Decorated Gothic style. His effigy is carved in oak, though his silver mitre has long since disappeared. Peckham was archbishop to Edward I (1272-1307) and was the only Franciscan archbishop of Canterbury (the monks of the cathedral priory were Benedictines). Peckham was a notable scholar and authority on optics, astronomy and theology. His body is interred here – though his heart was buried under the high altar of the Franciscan monastery church at Greyfriars, in London (dissolved 1538).
Wikipedia

Alongside Peckham is the tomb of Archbishop William Warham (1503-1532) friend of Erasmus and Holbein, and the last pre-Reformation archbishop. He supervised the coronation of Henry VIII and conducted the service for his marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon. One of Warham’s last acts was to preside over the Convocation of 1532 that gave approval to Henry VIII’s Act of the Submission of the Clergy, finally conceding that the Crown was the ultimate authority in all matters ecclesiastical. It seems apt, or ironic perhaps, that Warham should be buried in the place where Becket’s murder took place. It was Becket who, with his death and martyrdom, had defeated Henry II’s attempt 360 years earlier, to achieve the same ends. In the event, Warham probably had the good fortune to die before he was able to incur the king’s wrath for the lack of progress in the matter of the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This task fell to Warham’s successor Thomas Cranmer, architect of the English Reformation.
Wikipedia

The fifteenth century York Royal Window (c.1480) on the north side of the Transept is best viewed from the vantage point of the X Pulpitum steps.

The modern Coronation Window (1954) on the west side of the transept was presented by the freemasons of Kent to mark the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.

The two central panels (lights) in the middle row (register) depict the Queen and Prince Philip with their two children Prince Charles and Princess Anne at the time of the coronation. They are flanked on either side by the “Lords Spiritual” and “Lords Temporal” of the time – including on the left, Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher (1945-1961) who presided over the coronation ceremony.

The lower register depicts George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), flanked by their daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret as they were in 1937, at the time of the previous coronation.

The upper lights in the tracery, depicting the Annunciation, are 19^th century.  The armorials on either side, which date from 1446, are those of the Barnewell family and the Saltfishmongers Company of London.  Thomas Barnewell supplied fish and wine to the Priory and he may have paid for the original window – a very early example of commercial sponsorship!

There is a Latin inscription, in red, over the door leading outside to the Cloister that reads:

Est sacer intra locus venerabilis atqui beatus praesul ubi sanctus Thomas est martyrizatus.

The holy place within is where the blessed Saint Thomas was martyred.

This may seem a little odd – the inscription should surely be on the other side of the doorway?  In fact, the inscription was originally over a different door entirely – “The Red Door”. This door was set into an internal wall (built c.1200) in the Northwest Transept that separated the throng of pilgrims visiting the Martyrdom from the monks going about their daily devotions. The partition created an unimpeded corridor between the monks’ entrance from the cloister and the stairs leading to the Choir. The inscription over the monks’ side of the doorway, served to remind them of what lay within.

 More