Canterbury Cathedral [antikvár]

On 29th December 1170, four knights rode into Canterbury. Richard Brito, Hugh de Moreville, Reginald FitzUrse and William de Tracy had come to confront Thomas Becket - Archbishop, sometime Chancellor of England, former friend of King Henry II and now his bitterest foe. The longstanding quarrel between Becket and the King had already resulted in six years of exile from which the Archbishop had only just returned, and when fresh evidence of his intransigence reached the King in Normandy, Henry gave way to a characteristic outburst of rage, crying in an unguarded moment 'Who will rid me of this low-born priest?'. In all too eager response, the knights set sail for Kent, determined to deal once and for all with Becket's stubborn opposition to royal interference in church affairs. An interview with Thomas followed the usual pattern of accusation and angry rebuttal from either side, and as the four men rallied their supporters outside the palace, the Archbishop was persuaded b\' the monks to enter the cathedral. It was late afternoon and the service of vespers was being sung. The knights burst into the church and called for Becket through the darkness: scornful and insulting. Left The first view that greets the visitor entering from the south-west porch today dates from some 230 years after Becket's death: the magnificent Perpendicular nave, probably designed by Henry Yevele, took twenty-eight years to build and was completed under Prior Chillenden in 1405. Ril^ht This series of 13th-centurv stained glass panels powerfully evokes scenes and episodes from the life of St Thomas Becket, From the top (kit panel), la\-men worship at the altar and monks chant the offices as King Henry and Becket (centre) are momentarily reconciled. Below, a pilgrim makes an offering at the tomb; on the bottom level three mailed knights beat on the cathedral door while St Thomas prays before an altar, wilh do Ihe riy/i/) a monk and an armed knight apparently inside the cathcdral. (Trinity Chapel north