The Cathedral Church of Canterbury | Page 5

Hartley Withers
very plausible, connects this
mysterious crescent with the fact that Becket was closely related, as
patron, with the Hospital of St. John at Acre. It was believed that his
prayers had once repulsed the Saracens from the walls of the fortress,
and he received the title of St. Thomas Acrensis. Near this crescent a
number of iron staples were to be seen at one time, and it is likely that a
trophy of some sort depended from them. The Watching Tower was set
high upon the Tower of St. Anselm, on the south side of the shrine. It
contained a fireplace, so that the watchman might keep himself warm
during the winter nights, and from a gallery between the pillars he
commanded a view of the sacred spot and its treasures. A troop of
fierce ban-dogs shared the task of guarding the shrine from theft. How
necessary such precautions were is shown by the fact that such a spot
had to be guarded not only from common robbers in search of rich
booty, but also from holy men, who were quite unscrupulous in their
desire to possess themselves and their own churches of sacred relics.
Within the first six years after Becket's death we read of two striking
instances of the lengths to which distinguished churchmen were carried
by what Dean Stanley calls "the first frenzy of desire for the relics of St.
Thomas." Benedict, a monk of Christ Church, and "probably the most
distinguished of his body," was created Abbot of Peterburgh in A.D.
1176. Disappointed to find that his cathedral was very poor in the
matter of relics he returned to Canterbury, "took away with him the
flagstones immediately surrounding the sacred spot, with which he
formed two altars in the conventual church of his new appointment,
besides two vases of blood and parts of Becket's clothing." Still more
striking and characteristic of the prevalent passion for relics is the story
of Roger, who was keeper of the "Altars of the Martyrdom," or "Custos
Martyrii." The brothers of St. Augustine's Abbey were so eager to
obtain a share in the glory which their great rival, the neighbouring
cathedral, had won from the circumstances of Becket's martyrdom
within its walls, that they actually offered Roger no less a reward than
the position of abbot in their own institution, on condition that he
should purloin for them some part of the remains of the martyr's skull.
And not only did Roger, though he had been specially selected from

amongst the monks of Christ Church to watch over this very treasure,
agree to their conditions, and after duly carrying out this piece of
sacrilegious burglary become Abbot of St. Augustine's; but the
chroniclers of the abbey were not ashamed to boast of this transaction
as an instance of cleverness and well-applied zeal.
The translation of Becket's remains from the tomb to his shrine took
place A.D. 1220, fifty years after his martyrdom. The young Henry III.,
who had just laid the foundation of the new abbey at Westminster,
assisted at the ceremony. The primate then ruling at Canterbury was the
great Stephen Langton, who had won renown both as a scholar and a
statesman. He had carried out the division of the Bible into chapters, as
it is now arranged, and had won a decisive victory for English liberty
by forcing King John to sign the Great Charter. He was now advanced
in years, and had recently assisted at the coronation of King Henry at
Westminster.
The translation was carried out with imposing ceremony. The scene
must have been one of surpassing splendour; never had such an
assemblage been gathered together in England. Robert of Gloucester
relates that not only Canterbury but the surrounding countryside was
full to overflowing:
"Of bishops and abbots, priors and parsons, Of earls, and of barons, and
of many knights thereto; Of serjeants, and of squires, and of
husbandmen enow, And of simple men eke of the land--so thick thither
drew."
The archbishop had given notice two years before, proclaiming the day
of the solemnity throughout Europe as well as England: the episcopal
manors had been bidden to furnish provisions for the huge concourse,
not only in the cathedral city, but along all the roads by which it was
approached. Hay and provisions were given to all who asked it between
London and Canterbury; at the gates of the city and in the four licensed
cellars tuns of wine were set up, that all who thirsted might drink freely,
and wine ran in the street channels on the day of the festival. During the
night before the ceremony the primate, together with the Bishop of
Salisbury and all the members of the brotherhood, who were headed by

Walter the Prior, solemnly, with psalms and hymns, entered the crypt
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