John Guy
Mystery of the Manuscript
The Book in the Cathedral: The Last Relic of Thomas Becket
By Christopher de Hamel
Allen Lane 128pp £9.99 order from our bookshop
Christopher de Hamel is arguably the greatest living authority on medieval manuscripts. When he writes a book – even one this short – we should pay attention. He believes he’s solved the mystery of an early portable psalter sometimes said to have belonged to Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170. His discoveries, which resemble the pieces of a jigsaw, could hardly be better timed: 2020 is the 850th anniversary of Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry II’s knights and the 800th of the removal of his bones from their first resting place in the cathedral crypt to an opulent new shrine behind the high altar.
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