St Thomas Becket

Pilgrim badge from the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. This badge depicts part of the scene of Thomas Becket returning from exile in France and refers to his journey from Sandwich to Canterbury on horseback. All that remains of this badge is the figure of Becket’s groom, who would have been standing at the front of the horse. The groom wears a tight fitting cote-hardie with a line of buttons at the front, which is covered at the shoulders by the hood of his cape. In his right hand he holds the shaft of a torch.

Thomas Becket was born in London in 1118. He became a royal official and a great friend of King Henry II. He was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. He argued with King Henry II, and fled to France in 1164. Thomas Becket returned to Canterbury in 1170 and was killed in the cathedral by four knights who thought this would please the king. People were outraged at the murder of an archbishop on holy ground and Becket was made a saint. He became one of the patron saints of London. Many Londoners travelled to Canterbury to pray at the shrine there and bought badges and ampullae (small bottles for holy water) as souvenirs of their pilgrimage.