About this object
-
ID:
79.135/1
Production date:
Late Medieval; 15th century
-
Location:
In Store
Ampulla from the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. It is decorated with a Lombardic letter ‘T’ on one side and a cross on the other. Canterbury ampullae contained holy water tinged with St Thomas Becket’s blood. The blood had been collected from his wounds by the monks of the cathedral after Becket had been murdered there by four knights of King Henry II on 29 December 1170. Holy water mixed with this blood became a miraculous cure for all kinds of diseases and was said to bring the dead back to life. Ampullae containing ‘Canterbury water’ were popular pilgrim souvenirs.
-
Measurements
H 56 mm; W 44 mm; D 7 mm (overall)
-
Materials
lead alloy
-
Last Updated
2024-03-14
?
Record quality:
What is this?
Not every record in Collections Online is complete. Some have low quality images designed purely for recognition, while some have been catalogued only to a basic standard. This graphic is designed to give you an impression of the quality of data you can see. 100% meets all our current data standards and has a high quality image, 20% is a basic record with no image. Individual record quality can change over time as new photography is carried out and records are worked on.
X