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 ngland's new
class of people, which included artisans, guildsmen, landowners, lesser
nobility, merchants, and freemen, was a force that had been growing in
power ever since the Black Death had killed off most of the working
population
earlier in the century. Serfs and feudal-bound workers abandoned their
old lives for paying jobs in the cities and freetowns, and for the
first
time in the history of England a man not born into power or money could
live as fine as royalty - better, in some cases.One of the favorite pastimes
for this new group of people was to
take a pilgrimage, which served the same function for Medieval man as
does
a vacation to the beach or Disneyland serves modern man. Although there
were many popular spots - the pilgrimage center of Glastonbury being
one
example - the favorite of all was the cathedral in Canterbury that
housed
the remains of the beloved St. Thomas á Becket. The second
centenary
of the death of St. Thomas occurred in Chaucer's lifetime, and for the
jubilee thousands of people took to the road, and there was even free
food
and drink for the traveler all the way from London along the south road
to Canterbury.
Beside the body of St.
Thomas, Canterbury had a lot to offer, enough
to satisfy any pilgrim: the whole arms of eleven saints, the bed of the
Blessed Virgin, some wool of Her own weaving, a fragment of the rock at
Calvary, a piece of rock from the Holy Sepulchre, Aaron's Rod, a piece
of the clay from which Adam was made, and other incredible exhibits.
It is ironic to note that a
Bishop Simon Sudbury of London once overtook
a band of merry-makers on their way to Canterbury and berated them by
saying:
"Plenary indulgences for your sins by repairing to Canterbury? Better hope might ye have of Salvation had ye stayed at home and brought forth fruits meet for repentance!" A young Squire from Kent,
Thomas of Aldon, angrily spoke back:
"My Lord Bishop, for that you have thus spoken evil of St. Thomas and are minded to stir up the minds of the people against him, I will give up mine own salvation if you do not die a most shameful death!" Eleven years later, Bishop
Sudbury, then archbishop of Canterbury,
was slain by the rebellious peasants led under Wat Tyler, for his
involvement
in an unpopular poll tax.
The murder of Thomas á Becket INTRO | PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | BIBLIOGRAPHY |
Pilgrims Passing To and Fro © James L. Matterer
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