By Clayton Camblin
The church played a major role in medieval society, and it impacted the daily lives of everyone, from peasants and local religious leaders to powerful landowners and bishops, and ultimately all the way to the King. The church and religious life were completely intertwined throughout the daily life and the politics of the time, and one important aspect of that religious life was the cult of saints.
The cult of saints, a long-standing tradition carried over from Roman times, was a very important aspect of that religious life. One standard definition of it is:
The cult of saints in the early Christian church began with the commemoration and veneration of the victims of persecution. The earliest forms of this veneration were part of the traditional funerary memoria of the dead. The inclusion of the names of martyrs in the liturgies of early Christian communities and the earliest celebrations of the anniversaries of martyrs, often observed at their tombs, rapidly gave rise to specific cults that went far beyond mere commemoration of the dead. The practice of petitions addressed to martyrs on behalf of the living rose out of the belief in the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body, and the high status accorded those who had died for faith, and who, through their remains, remained physically present among the living.
Saints, Relics, and the Church
By medieval times, there were hundreds of recognized saints, who were thought to be “advocates in heaven for the faithful on earth.” They included local church leaders, early Christian figures, historical figures, and others, who were used as examples to teach and inspire people how they should lead their lives, how to resist temptation and evil, and how to be good and virtuous.
The remains of saints or their associated relics were viewed as the physical intercessors between God and mortal man who could assist their faithful believers in obtaining blessings and help from God. People could donate to the church for a priest to pray to a saint for their souls after death. Wealthy individuals could endow permanent chantry priests solely to pray to saints for their salvation and that of their families.
In early medieval times, shrines to saints were usually placed over their graves in the church graveyard. As time went on, it became accepted that the saints’ shrines should be elevated onto some type of altar, and shrines progressed from burials in the graveyards, to crypts, to elaborate shrines within the cathedral. The veneration of saints was an important part of medieval Christianity, and the evolution of shrines facilitated both visitation and security, which in turn helped the church control the access and benefit financially at the same time.
Visitations to saints’ shrines became very popular during medieval times. These visitations, called pilgrimages, honored the saints and their traditions and took place where the saints’ remains or associated relics were interred. Possession of remains and relics by a church or cathedral reflected honor, power, and prestige upon the possessor, and were very sought-after.
Additionally, rather than having visitors come to the church or cathedral, the church or cathedral could also take the remains or relics “on tour” to allow those unable to travel a chance to see and to pray over the relics. As such, the remains and relics of a popular saint became a very important source of funds to the individual church or cathedral who possessed them.
The visiting faithful made donations and offerings to the saint in the hope that they might receive blessings, healing, or other benefits from the presence of the physical remains or relics associated with the saint. Many examples of shrines associated with the cult of saints can be found, including the cult of St. Swithun in the Old Minster/Winchester Cathedral, the cult of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral, and the cult of St. Osmund in Salisbury Cathedral.
However, the shrine in Canterbury Cathedral associated with St. Thomas Becket became one of the most, if not the most important and famous, cult shrines in all of medieval England.
Thomas Becket and Canterbury’s Golden Shrine
Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury and was murdered on 29 December 1170 within the cathedral by knights of King Henry II. Following his murder, miracles were immediately attributed to Archbishop Becket’s blood that was gathered at the scene by townspeople who visited after hearing of the murder.
As more and more people came to visit Becket’s shrine in the crypt, they donated more and more money and other valuable objects. The church, recognizing that the shrine was a valuable source of visitation and its associated revenue, built a new shrine specifically to further that purpose.
On 7 July 1220, fifty years after his murder, the remains of St. Thomas were translated into the new golden and jeweled shrine at the east end of Canterbury Cathedral, above the high altar. The shrine continued to be an important generator of significant wealth for the church for over 300 years.
In 1538 Henry VIII ordered that the shrine be destroyed, and all references to St. Thomas be removed from church documents. At Henry VIII’s Reformation, the shrine was dismantled and its gold and other treasures worth over £1 million were confiscated by the Crown.
Pilgrimage and the Legacy of the Saints
Throughout the Middle Ages, physical travel to shrines became known as pilgrimages and were important to Christians who were seeking a spiritual goal and desiring to be closer to God. There were several important pilgrimages, including St. Cuthbert’s Way and The Old Way, but arguably the most important pilgrimage was known as The Pilgrims’ Way, which ran from Winchester Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales can be used to illustrate how important religion, saints, and pilgrimage were to medieval society. Written about religious pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral, Chaucer’s work gave insight into 14th-century social change, including discussing religious controversies such as the church’s hypocrisy and that piousness and virtuosity were not found in all people of faith as might be expected. Even if small, his public questioning of religious topics was probably unheard of at its time.
The cult of saints and its importance diminished greatly after the Reformation, when the belief that the true intercessor between God and mortal man was Christ became accepted. However, prior to that time it is clear that saints played very important roles in medieval society.
In personal terms, saints were important in the daily lives of most citizens. They were examples to teach and inspire people how they should lead their lives, how to resist temptation and evil, and how to be good and virtuous. Saints were viewed as the physical intercessors between God and man who could assist in obtaining blessings and help from God.
People donated to the church for a priest to pray to a saint for their souls and those of their family after death. Wealthy individuals could endow permanent chantry priests solely to pray to saints for their salvation and that of their families.
Looked at from the “business” of religion, saints were important to churches and cathedrals due to the visitation or “foot traffic” they created. This visitation in turn generated tremendous wealth for the church and religious leaders. Then, as now, wealth and power go hand in hand, which greatly assisted the church in establishing and maintaining power and importance.
Saints were integral to religious pilgrimages, including that to Canterbury. As the most important pilgrimage of its time, there is no denying the important role saints played in Canterbury Cathedral.
Clayton Camblin is returning to academic life, working towards a Masters of Art History and Visual Culture from Lindenwood University over 35 years after he received his Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University.
Further Readings:
Blick, Sarah and Tekippe, Rita (2004) Art and Architecture of Late Medieval Pilgrimage in Northern Europe and the British Isles. Brill Academic Publishers.
Jenkins, Simon (2016) England’s Cathedrals. Little, Brown Book Group Limited.
Top Image: Stained Glass image of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Photo by John K Thorne / Flickr
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