The Fermo chasuble of St. Thomas Becket is a garment belonging to Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170.
On display at the Museo Diocesano in Fermo, the chasuble is among the possessions of the treasury of the Fermo Cathedral (Duomo di Fermo). It was donated by Presbitero, bishop of Fermo (1184-1201), who, scholar David Storm Rice suggests, had received it from Thomas Becket himself, when they were both students at the Studium of Bologna. Other sources dispute this claim, and instead suggest that the chasuble was donated by the Cult of Saint Thomas as they passed through Fermo. The textile is one few surviving from the medieval period, and is believed to one of the oldest examples of Islamic embroidery used for a Christian purpose. This textile also serves as evidence to corroborate a coexistence between the Middle East and Europe during the medieval period. Most modern knowledge of the chasuble is credited to the efforts of Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of London, David Storm Rice and textile conservator, Sigrid Müller Christensen, through their collaborative research efforts in the 1950s.
History
St. Thomas Becket was born in December 1118 to devout Catholic merchant parents in Cheapside, London. As an adult he began his work as an accountant for three years. He was then introduced to Archbishop Theobald and joined his household. During his time there, he and the Archbishop became close and he was sent to study civil and canon law in Italy and France. In 1154, he was appointed the Archdeacon of Canterbury and, three months later, King Henry II appointed him chancellor. As chancellor he grew very close with the king and was known for living a lavish, expensive lifestyle. However, after being elected Archbishop of Canterbury a year after Theobald’s death in 1161, he became very pious and began disagreeing with the king on many issues. Their relationship became quarrelsome to the point that King Henry II exiled him between November 1164 and December 1170. At the end of his exile, four knights, inspired by the words of King Henry, killed him on December 29, 1170. Three years later, he was canonized by Pope Alexander III.
It is said that after his burial at the Canterbury Cathedral, miracles began taking place at the site. According to John of Salisbury, a friend of St. Thomas and one of his biographers, paralytics, blind, deaf, and mute people, and lepers were cured and the dead were resurrected at St. Thomas’ burial sites. These accounts inspired the Knights of St. Thomas, whose followers would later become the Knights Hospitaller, to found a church and hospital dedicated to Thomas Becket. Large numbers of pilgrims began traveling to Canterbury to pray or be healed.
The chasuble is said to have been a relic as it was the garment Becket was buried in 1170, however other sources dispute if the textile was even fashioned into the chasuble during Becket's life. Simon-Cahn provides evidence that perhaps the chasuble was created after Becket’s death to emulate the chasuble he was buried in, and this garment gained notoriety from the Cult of Saint Thomas Becket, which was increasing in size at that time. The exact provenance of the object is not known, but it appeared in Fermo, Italy as a reliquary under the rebuilding of the cathedral in Fermo under Bishop Presbitero.
Description
Originally preserved inside a wooden box decorated in gold with gemstones, the semi-circular chasuble is 1.6 m high and has a circumference of 5.41 m. It is made of light-blue and white silk and decorated in gold and red thread embroidery. The embroidery consists of 34 large roundels interlinked with smaller roundels and eight-pointed stars. The large roundels on the outside of the garment show representations of peacocks, two winged lion griffins, four eagle griffins, frontal eagles with spread wings, confronted birds, confronted winged lions, some rapacious birds atop gazelles, a winged sphinx, and fragments of other animals. There are also representations of elephants with howdahs, one with women inside; four groups of turbaned hunters holding falcons seated on horses with rabbits below, and two enthroned men flanked by musicians and other attendants, all of which portray scenes of the Princely Cycle, a common theme in Islamic art. An oblong panel with a lavish scroll contains this Kufic inscription: "In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate, the kingdom is Allah's...greatest blessing, perfect health and happiness to its owner...in the year 510 in Mariyya".