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Secondary sourceArtifactc. 1180-1190

Becket Casket

c. 1180-1190

A Limoges enamel reliquary made around 1180 to hold relics of Becket, decorated with scenes of his murder and burial.

A reliquary made to hold Becket's relics, its enamel scenes depicting his murder and the spread of his cult across Europe.

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A rectangular gilt copper reliquary casket with blue champlevé enamel, set with oval glass gems along its lid and four feet. Front panels show gilded figures in scenes, including a bishop-like figure at an altar with a chalice, and an upper scene of a tomb or bier with mourners.
Becket Casket, about 1180-1190, Limoges, France. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

About this source

What it is

The Becket Casket is a gilt-copper reliquary decorated with champlevé enamel, made around 1180–1190 in Limoges, France. It is believed to have held relics of Thomas Becket taken to Peterborough Abbey by Abbot Benedict, who had witnessed the murder as a prior at Canterbury. It is now held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Why it matters

After Becket's assassination in 1170 on the orders of King Henry II's knights, his relics were spread across Europe in caskets like this one, showing how fast his cult grew. The casket's panels depict the murder itself, with knights attacking Becket at the altar, and his burial and ascension to heaven. Over forty-five similar Limoges chasses survive, showing how widely his story was told and retold in craft and art.

Look closer

  • What details in the scenes tell the story of the murder and its aftermath?
  • Why might craftsmen in France have made so many objects telling an English archbishop's story?
  • What does the spread of these relics suggest about Becket's fame after death?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Becket on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Document

Primary source

Constitutions of Clarendon

Henry II of England · 1164

Exterior view of Canterbury Cathedral under a clear blue sky. A tall Gothic central tower with pinnacles rises above the stone nave and side chapels, with large pointed windows and a sloping roof visible. Grass lies in the foreground.Artifact

Primary source

Canterbury Cathedral

founded 597

A large semicircular textile, likely a chasuble, displayed flat in a curved glass case mounted on a white wall. Its faded beige fabric has repeating circular medallions containing small figures and patterns, with a vertical band down the center. Lights run along the top of the case.Artifact

Secondary source

Fermo Chasuble of St. Thomas Becket

12th century

Display case in a museum showing a pale cream silk liturgical robe with gold-embroidered borders on a mannequin, a pair of cream shoes, two long red-edged gold-patterned embroidered bands (stoles or orphreys), and a dark purple garment with gold trim at right.Artifact

Secondary source

Becket Liturgical Garments, Sens Cathedral

12th century

Title page of a 1969 Slatkine Reprints edition of La Vie de Saint Thomas le Martyr, Archevêque de Canterbury, by Garnier de Pont Sainte Maxence, edited by C. Hippeau, part of the Collection des Poètes Français du Moyen Âge. Includes a small book-and-torch vignette and the publisher Genève 1969.Book

Secondary source

Vie de saint Thomas

Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence · c. 1174

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