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The Book in the Cathedral
The Last Relic of Thomas Becket
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Brief Description
The best-selling historian of medieval manuscripts discovers the most intimate surviving relic of Thomas Becket. The assassination of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 is one of the most famous events in European history. It inspired the largest pilgrim site in medieval Europe...
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The Book in the Cathedral
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Description
The best-selling historian of medieval manuscripts discovers the most intimate surviving relic of Thomas Becket.
The assassination of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 is one of the most famous events in European history. It inspired the largest pilgrim site in medieval Europe and many works of literature from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral and Anouilh's Becket.
In a brilliant piece of historical detective work, Christopher de Hamel here identifies the only surviving relic from Becket's shrine- the Anglo-Saxon Psalter which he cherished throughout his time as Archbishop of Canterbury, and which he may even have been holding when he was murdered.
This is an exciting rediscovery of one of the most evocative artefacts of medieval England.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780141994246
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 09 April 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 200g
Pages: 64
About the Author
In the course of a long career at Sotheby's and at Cambridge University, Christopher de Hamel has probably handled more medieval manuscripts than anyone alive and his delight and enthusiasm in them run through all he writes. His many books, translated into numerous languages, include A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts (winner of the Duff Cooper Prize and the Wolfson History Prize), The Book in the Cathedral- The Last Relic of Thomas Becket and The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club. He is a Life Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He lives in London.
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