Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #becket2020
Most recents (7)
OTD 850 years ago (Weds 30 Dec 1170) Thomas Becket's funeral is held in Canterbury Cathedral #Beecket850 #Becket2020. (Image from BL MS Harley 5102 fo. 17r, c. 1200) 
Robert de Broc had returned to the cathedral at dawn the morning after the murder, telling the monks that the land was rid of a traitor, and that if they did not bury the body quickly he would have it dragged around the city then thrown into a cesspit.
The monks remove Becket's clothes, finding his lice-ridden hair shirt underneath, and dress him in vestments. Some of his garments are given away to monks and clerics as keepsakes. The monks are in such a hurry that they do not wash or embalm the body, as they normally would.
1/ Here is the DVD of Pizzetti's ASSASSINIO NELLA CATTEDRALE, filmed at a church in Spain that's said to bear a close resemblance to how Canterbury Cathedral looked in 12thc.
The star is Ruggiero Raimondi, somewhat lacking is bass sonority, but a decent
The star is Ruggiero Raimondi, somewhat lacking is bass sonority, but a decent
2/ voice and a good actor (traits said to be not unknown to the saint he's portraying!). Here
is the audio of the world premiere. Opera's first #Becket was Nicola Rossi-Lemeni: a more bass-y bass than Raimondi; not a gorgeous sound like Siepi or Tozzi, but
is the audio of the world premiere. Opera's first #Becket was Nicola Rossi-Lemeni: a more bass-y bass than Raimondi; not a gorgeous sound like Siepi or Tozzi, but
3/ somehow he always inhabited his roles well and put them across vividly.
Karajan attended one of these performances and vowed to conduct ASSASSINIO at Salzburg. And so he did, 2-3 years later, in German, with the great Hans Hotter as his #Becket.
Karajan attended one of these performances and vowed to conduct ASSASSINIO at Salzburg. And so he did, 2-3 years later, in German, with the great Hans Hotter as his #Becket.
1/ This⬇️ is awesome! 15thc text (Chaucerian English, basically), composed 2029 by a guy who can really do medieval.
2/ All honor to Stephen Barker for getting his #Becket Carol performed, and so well too! I have my own Becket Carol - that is, I did the lyrics, and used “Good King Wenceslas” as my tune. See next tweet.... #Becket850 #Becket2020
3/
Good King Henry 2 got whipt
On the Feast of #Becket.
Grete his heart and eke his tongue,
Whan that he could check it.
But one day, “This priest” sed he,
“Who shall rid me of him?”
Now he’s got five Saxon monks
Swinging whips abo-O-ve him.
#Becket850 #Becket2020
Good King Henry 2 got whipt
On the Feast of #Becket.
Grete his heart and eke his tongue,
Whan that he could check it.
But one day, “This priest” sed he,
“Who shall rid me of him?”
Now he’s got five Saxon monks
Swinging whips abo-O-ve him.
#Becket850 #Becket2020
OTD, and at this hour, 850 years ago (Tues 29 Dec 1170) Thomas Becket dresses for the cold wintry day, his hair shirt covered by white underclothes, a black tunic, two lambskin mantles with a longer one on top, a fine white tunic, and a long black cloak #Becket850 #Becket2020
He attends the morning Morrow Mass in the cathedral, celebrated by the monks, and confesses to his personal confessor. Afterwards the monks claimed that he was scourged three times for his sins by his confessor this morning, in a none-too-subtle echo of Christ's passion.
Meanwhile, at Saltwood Castle, the four knights (FitzUrse, Morville, Bret, and Tracy) ride out, accompanied by their numerous followers and attendants, together with Ranulph de Broc, the castle garrison, and other local knights summoned 'to come and avenge the shame of the King!'
OTD 850 years ago (Mon 28 Dec 1170) The four knights arrive in England after an untroubled sea crossing, two of them landing at Winchelsea and two at Dover. They make their way to Ranulph de Broc at Saltwood Castle to hatch their plan for tomorrow #Becket850 #Becket2020
The knights and de Broc decide to surround Canterbury with garrison troops, and thus force Becket to yield to the king's demands. One of de Broc's servants slips away to tell Becket of the plot, to which the archbishop, shaken, replies 'these are dreadful threats'.
Another citizen of Canterbury, having heard of the arrival of the knights, also comes to warn Becket of the danger. Becket replied: 'They shall find us ready to suffer pain and death for God's name. Let them do what they want.'
OTD 850 years ago (Sun 27 Dec 1170) Becket's envoys to the pope and King of France leave Canterbury, and there are many tearful farewells. One of King Henry's servants, sympathetic to Becket, arrives and gives him a note warning him of the danger he is in #Becket850 #Becket2020
(It's worth pointing out that Becket's hagiographers make the ending seem far more inevitable than it was by scattering doom-laden warnings and premonitions through the final month. It's not really possible to tell which are real and how much they were believed at the time)
(Even at this point, the knights on their way to Canterbury are planning to arrest Becket, not kill him. Being at loggerheads with the King was pretty normal for an archbishop at this point all over Europe. There's no reason to think that Becket's in immediate mortal danger)
OTD 850 years ago (Tuesday 1 December 1170) Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, lands at Sandwich on his return from exile in France, the first time he had set foot in England in over 6 years. He was three weeks short of his 50th birthday, and four weeks away from his death
The Return of St Thomas was an important feast in the monastic calendar of (as far as we know) two places - Canterbury Cathedral and Arbroath Abbey, although at Canterbury it was celebrated on the 2nd Dec when he arrived at the Cathedral rather than when he landed.
Tuesdays were very important in the cult of St Thomas Becket, and in late medieval England they were decreed as sacred to him, so it's great that #Becket2020 maps on to the weekdays in 1170! His return from exile was the fifth wonderful thing that happened to him on a Tuesday.
