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Relics which escaped Reformation and became a symbol of resistance to Communism return to site of murder after 800 years in gesture of unity between Anglicans and CatholicsA fragment of bone believed to come from the body of Thomas Becket is to return to England from Hungary for the first time in more than 800 years in a vivid symbol of reconciliation between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. The relic, held in the Basilica of Esztergom, the country's most important Catholic church, is to form the centrepiece of an elaborate week-long "pilgrimage" to London and Canterbury involving the Hungarian President Janos...

The White House on Tuesday issued a proclamation praising St. Thomas Becket, an English archbishop who was martyred 850 years ago after conflict with King Henry II over the rights of the Church. “Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to free exercise of religion was enshrined as America’s first freedom in our glorious Constitution, Thomas gave his life so that, as he said, ‘the Church will attain liberty and peace,’” President Donald Trump wrote in a Dec. 29 proclamation. “To honor Thomas Becket’s memory, the crimes against people of faith must stop, prisoners of conscience must be...

"Unfortunately," Dr John Jenkins, historical researcher on the reconstruction team, says, "there are no contemporary comparators for it; the closest are the shrine bases of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster and St Etheldreda at Ely, both of mid- to late-13th-century date. "So, therefore, our CGI reconstruction uses all currently available evidence including eye-witness accounts; theories from past historians for potential usage of the shrine; date of construction; materials used; specific features; accessibility and location with the church; similar examples elsewhere; as well as those who created it; to reconstruct how the shrine could have looked." Crucially, the team's design...

Lead and silver are often mined together and in this period, mines in the Peak District and in Cumbria were among the most productive in Europe. The researchers were able to match the physical records from the ice with the written tax records of lead and silver production in England. Lead had many uses in this time, from water pipes to church roofs to stained glass windows. But production of the metal was clearly linked to political events according to the authors of this latest research. "In the 1169-70 period, there was a major disagreement between Henry II and Thomas...

The loan from the Vatican comes to honor the 850th anniversary of his martyrdom.Canterbury Cathedral is preparing to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, one of England’s most revered medieval saints. To honor the occasion, the Vatican has agreed to loan Canterbury a holy relic of the patron saint of the city of London: the bloodied garment he was believed to have worn at the time of his murder. The Guardian reports that the garment is a religious vestment known as a tunicle, an article of clothing similar in style to a dalmatic, which was...

Vatican to send back historic relic worn by archbishop as he was brutally murderedA bloodstained tunic belonging to Thomas Becket is to be returned to Britain from the Vatican to help mark the 850th anniversary of the murder of the former archbishop of Canterbury and the 800th anniversary of the creation of his shrine. Canterbury Cathedral, where Becket was killed in December 1170 following a bitter dispute with King Henry II, became a shrine after Pope Alexander III made Becket a saint following the murder. It drew thousands of pilgrims from England and across Europe until the shrine was destroyed...

<p>A Cambridge academic believes he has discovered Thomas Becket’s personal book of psalms, an ancient manuscript the martyred saint and so-called “turbulent priest” may have been holding when he was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.</p> <p>Dr Christopher de Hamel, a historian at Cambridge University, stumbled across the book during a conversation with a colleague. De Hamel, author of the just-released Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, had said that books belonging to saints were generally not used as relics, and his fellow historian replied that he knew of an exception.</p>

Just an excerpt: “A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith cannot endure — because justice, goodness, and peace cannot prevail without the grace of God. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 29, 2020, as the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. I invite the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches and customary places of meeting with appropriate ceremonies...

...NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 29, 2020, as the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. I invite the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches and customary places of meeting with appropriate ceremonies in commemoration of the life and legacy of Thomas Becket. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of...