History Book Talk: Kay Slocum, Images of Thomas Becket in the Middle Ages and Beyond: The Uses and Receptions of a Celebrity Saint
By College of Liberal Arts, Core Humanities, Department of History, University Libraries
About this event
This talk will focus on the images of Thomas Becket, who served first as the Lord Chancellor in England and second as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his assassination in 1170. He was in both life and death nothing short of a medieval celebrity. Visual depictions of his life, high-profile careers, spectacular demise, and posthumous legacies, are numerous from the high Middle Ages into the 16th century and the present. These images document his invocation across religious, political and civic agendas. Images of Thomas Becket in the Middle Ages and Beyond explores Becket imagery both in such traditional media like stained glass and illuminated manuscripts, and less common objects: toys, baptismal fonts, and vernacular almanacs and provides new interpretations of Beckett imagery.
Additional information
- Attendance type: In person
- Cost: Free
- Event type: Lectures & Seminars