December 29th is the Feast Day of St Thomas Becket. On this day in 1170, Thomas Becket, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed in his own cathedral. His assassins were followers of King Henry II with whom Becket was in conflict over the rights and privileges of the Church.
Little over two years later, on February 21st 1173, Becket was canonised by Pope Alexander III (r. 1159-81). There are several churches in Rome dedicated to St Thomas, including San Tommaso di Canterbury in the centro storico. It is home to a fine funerary monument (1739) to Sir Thomas Dereham, a close friend of James Frances Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender). Comments are closed.
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My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private walking tours of Rome.
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