Illustration: Thomas Becket's embroidered apparel of the amice (detail), 1165.
The ecclesiastical robes of the twelfth century Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket are kept within the precincts of Sens Cathedral in Eastern France. Although the cathedral has long verified that all the vestments attributed to Thomas Becket did indeed belong to him, as with many Saints, there were a number of items that were said to be part of the life and death of Becket, not all could be verified.
As the nineteenth century architectural draughtsman, illuminator, engraver, antiquarian and all-round medievalist Henry Shaw stated in his 1843 book 'Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages' from which all four of the illustrations to this article are drawn:
'Long after the death of Becket, he continued to be commemorated in a particular manner in all the places where he was believed to have resided, or which he was known to have visited, and every article which had belonged to him was preserved with extreme veneration. The error, or the zeal, of his admirers, no doubt led them frequently to add to the number of these relics many things which had no claim to the honour, and such may be the case with some of the vestments which are shown at Sens as the robes of St. Thomas of Canterbury.'
Illustration: Thomas Becket's embroidered apparel of the amice, 1165.
It has to be understood that relics were a large part of the medieval world and could therefore easily be both used legitimately as well as being spontaneously manufactured for the commercial benefit of either Church or individual. However, Shaw was also aware that a number of the items belonging to Beckets ecclesiastical vestments held at Sens Cathedral might well be genuine and therefore took the stand that with at least some of the items:
'...it is probable that the tradition is correct.'
The four illustrations shown in this article come from a section of the Apparel of the Amice said to have belonmged to Thomas Becket. At this point it is probably just as well to state what both an 'Apparel' and 'Amice' are and who better to explain than Shaw himself:
'The Amice was a piece of fine linen, in form of an oblong square, suspended over the shoulders. It was introduced in the eighth century, to cover the neck, which was previously bare. The Apparel is the embroidered part of the amice, which is usually fastened to it in such a manner as to serve as a kind of collar. By the strings attached to the Apparel of Thomas Becket, it would appear that it was tied round the neck after all the other vestments had been put on; though it is supposed by a person deeply acquainted with the subject that the strings are comparatively modern.'
The embroidery decorative work, although relatively simple, is both effective and a perfect example of early medieval decoration. That perhaps was the point, considering the early Victorian penchant for anything medieval. Shaw produced a number of books over a fairly extensive career, many of which were firmly part of the genre that helped to both explain and illustrate various aspects of medieval decoration and ornament.
Illustration: Thomas Becket's embroidered apparel of the amice (detail), 1165.
The medieval world was approached in a number of different ways by those living in the mid-nineteenth century. Some saw it as little more than a fashionable revival style, others as an academic exploration, others still as a crusade against the hegemony of the classical world, as well as a number of other viewpoints in-between. Whichever way the individual considered the correct one, it can be said that the average reader was not short of journals, pamphlets, guides and lengthy tomes dedicated to all aspects of the medieval world.
Information, as today with the internet, was considered above all to be the greatest guide. While approaches to the subject were sometimes of a deeply personal and individual nature, others were more generally informative and widely distributed. The amount of effort put into the expansion of knowledge concerned with the medieval world was phenomenal. It did not take long for those involved in the contemporary decorative arts to start using wide sections of this information to make both informed decisions as to the Victorian reinvention of the medieval world as well as some wilder reimagining that although not strictly following closely to the medieval ideals concerning decoration and ornament, nevertheless did help produce a truly individual Victorian decorative style era.
Illuatration: Thomas Becket's embroidered apparel of the amice, 1165.
Without books such as those produced by Henry Shaw and many others, as well as the various historical collections and indeed Church and Cathedral remains, the Victorian medieval revival that we know today as the Gothic Revival, would surely have been the poorer, at least as far as decoration and ornament are concerned. Whether, as Shaw stated, all of the vestments of Thomas Becket were genuine or not, most would still have been produced in the medieval period and therefore were still valid as far as many were concerned as important living specimens of medieval decoration and as such were vital tools in which to promote a genuine interest in this early European decorative style era of which the Victorians were so enamoured.
Further reading links:
