Anna Sayburn Lane

Thriller author

Canterbury Tales

Thomas Becket: Canterbury’s martyr saint still making headlines

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English Psalter, Anonymous, Walters Art Museum, Public Domain.

For an event that took place almost 850 years ago, Thomas Becket’s death is surprisingly well documented.

Four knights rode to Canterbury Cathedral, shortly after Archbishop Becket returned from a lengthy exile in France. They demanded to speak to him; they claimed to be acting for the King, Henry II. They drew their swords and cut Becket down, leaving him dead on the stone floor.

The murder shocked Europe and outraged the church. Henry II is alleged to have signed Becket’s death warrant with the hasty words: “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” He swiftly declared his repentance, walked barefoot into Canterbury and prayed for forgiveness. Pope Alexander III declared Becket a saint. Saint Thomas Becket was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, in an ornate golden shrine studded with precious stones. Rumours quickly began that the saint worked healing miracles, and the pilgrims started to come. Thousands of them, down the ages, remembered best now in Geoffrey Chaucer’s epic poem The Canterbury Tales.

What happened next is less well-documented. We know that Henry VIII, in his own bitter battle with the Catholic Church, declared Becket a traitor, and had the shrine destroyed. What happened to Becket’s remains? Nobody really knows, and that mystery is a key part of the plot of Unlawful Things.

So I was excited to see that Saint Thomas Becket’s remains are back in the news – or at least, his blood-stained tunic is. The tunic was given to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, some 50 years before the shrine at Canterbury was destroyed. The basilica will loan the relic to Canterbury for an exhibition to mark 850 years since the saint’s death, in 2020.

Two years ago, a sliver of his elbow joint toured Britain, attracting crowds. When I started to write Unlawful Things, I wondered if modern Britain would be in the slightest bit interested in what had happened to the saint’s remains. Happily, it looks as if Becket can still pull a crowd, eight centuries after his death.

But what does Thomas Becket have to do with Christopher Marlowe, modern day London and Unlawful Things? Sorry, you’ll have to read the book to find out!

Eastbridge Hospital – an inspiration for Unlawful Things

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Eastbridge Hospital in Canterbury

I get a lot of inspiration from visiting real places and learning about their history. One of the most enigmatic places I visited while researching Unlawful Things, which eventually played quite a big part in the novel, was Eastbridge Hospital in Canterbury.

Eastbridge is not a medical hospital, but an ancient place of hospitality, or hostel as we would call it today. It has been welcoming pilgrims and visitors to Canterbury for an astonishing 828 years, ever since Saint Thomas Becket was murdered in his own cathedral. It was set up to cater for the thousands of pilgrims who walked to Canterbury to visit the saint’s shrine in the cathedral, until its destruction during the Reformation. You can easily imagine Chaucer’s less wealthy pilgrims finding shelter here.

I first visited after walking the 60 miles from London to Canterbury, a walk that partly prompted the story that became Unlawful Things. Footsore and weary, I could well imagine stretching out on the tiled floor of the undercroft, chatting to my fellow pilgrims, eating in the dining hall and falling asleep to the sound of the river which runs under the bridge.

The undercroft of Eastbridge Hospital

I’ve been back since to learn more about its fascinating history. I learned about some of the figures who became Masters of the Hospital, about their links to Canterbury Cathedral, and about the hospital’s time as a school. I can’t tell you much more, because lots of this wound up in the book. Of course, I designed my own version of historical events to fit my story. I was a little nervous about how modern-day Eastbridge might react to this version of history, but happily the present-day clerk to the hospital is a crime fiction fan and has been very understanding!

Eastbridge today remains an almshouse, continuing its tradition of hospitality. It has two chapels, and also welcomes visitors to events and exhibitions. It’s well worth a visit next time you are in Canterbury.

Welcome to Anna Sayburn Lane’s website

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Welcome to my new author site. I’ll be using it to share news about my upcoming novel, Unlawful Things, a thriller set in contemporary London that uncovers secrets from the city’s history.
This is my first novel and I’m enjoying learning about the publication process. Right now, I’m working with a cover designer to come up with an exciting, intriguing cover for the book. I’ll share it with you as soon as it’s ready.
I’ll also share news about the launch for the book and (of course) how you can get hold of a copy. It’s on track to be published in Autumn 2018.
Over the next few weeks I’ll share some more information about the path to publication. The original idea for Unlawful Things came to me while walking the pilgrim’s route from London to Canterbury. London, its history and literature, are always a source of inspiration.
If you too are interested in the way the past and the present interweave in London, you might want to sign up for my newsletter. As well as news about books and events, every subscriber will get a hand-drawn map of Southwark in south London, with information about some of the historical sites – from Chaucer’s pilgrim inn to Shakespeare and Marlowe’s theatres – you can still visit today. The photos below give you a flavour of some of the places included.

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