Why would pilgrims have gone to visit Thomas Becket's shrine at Canterbury?

Answer 1

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was seen as being a large, extended "family", existing not only on earth (church militant) but in heaven as well (church triumphant). The saints in Heaven cared about those on earth, and those on earth addressed prayers to them in Heaven. Saints were not prayed to as "gods" or in place of God, but as men and women, who, by the example of their lives, were especially close to God. They were called upon that God might work miracles through them. Relics of saints were venerated, for they were tangible links to them, and as it was believed that holiness could dwell in all aspects of God's creation. Catholics, some Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians still venerate relics.

Thomas Becket was martyred because he defended Church rights against the wishes of King Henry II of England and died for his beliefs in that regard. People flocked to his shrine in order to obtain special graces and good spiritual merit which such visits or pilgrimages were believed to impart. For the same reasons, Christians made pilgrimages to places in the Holy Land as well. Pilgrimages connected people to their religious and spiritual history, and gave them a sense of "family" and belonging. Even today, people visit the graves of politicians, social reformers, and movie stars, out of that same human desire to "connect" to something larger than themselves.

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Answer 2

Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury and personal friend of King Henry II who was murdered for refusing to follow the king's orders. He was canonized as a saint and the cathedral where he died became a place of pilgrimage for Christians to leave valuables and pray for illness to leave them.

Answer 3

Even before the shrine was opened on 7 July 1220, miraculous cures had been associated with St Thomas (one of the requirements for sainthood), so many sick people came looking for a cure or in hope of assistance from the Saint.

The shrine itself was stunning and news of it must have spread very quickly, encouraging many people to travel simply to see it. We have contemporary descriptions, an image in a 13th century stained glass window and a single drawing made shortly before it was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII:

The shrine was huge and raised up on steps, fronted by an altar. The shrine was in three parts - a stone plinth with an open arcaded base, the richly gilded and decorated casket containing the relics of St Thomas and a painted wooden canopy suspended from the roof above by a series of pulleys that enabled it to be raised or lowered, concealing or revealing the casket itself. The casket was covered in gold plate and fine gold trellis-work, encrusted with pearls, sapphires, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, rings and cameos of agate, cornelian and onyx. Some of the jewels were larger than a goose egg.

There was nothing like this anywhere in England, possibly not anywhere in Western Europe and it was an awe-inspiring spectacle for many hundreds of thousands of pilgrims during the 318-year life of the shrine.

Why would pilgrims not have gone to Canterbury to visit such a treasure?

It is a tragedy that nothing remains of this masterpiece today, save for a small candle kept burning to mark its place within the cathedral.

See link below for an artist's reconstruction of the shrine:

Answer 4

After he was made a Saint in 1173, a huge and spectacular shrine was built to house his remains at Canterbury cathedral in 1220. The design of the shrine allowed pilgrims to venerate and pray to the Saint and they could reach their arms through apertures to touch the stone coffin within.

People came to the shrine simply because it was the most spectacular one in England, because they believed that the Saint would be able to cure them of disease or disfigurement by a healing miracle, because they believed the Saint would bless their future lives, because they were in awe of a real, contemporary Christian martyr who died for his faith and beliefs, because they believed that pilgrimage would give them a guaranteed start on the journey towards Heaven when they died and because they knew it was the right, decent and Christian thing to do.

Answer 5

Thomas A. Becket was made a saint and a martyr by the Catholic Church. Catholics believe that saints will ask God to help them.

https://www.catholic.com/tract/praying-to-the-saints