Modelling the Cult of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral

Abstract

As part of an AHRC project, a team at the University of York created digital models of the major spaces of St Thomas Becket’s cult in Canterbury Cathedral in the early 15th century. This article explains the reasoning behind the choices made in planning and constructing the models, and details much of the underpinning research. The models offer as much, if not more, an argument about the use and experience of space within the cathedral, as they do ‘accurate’ depictions of architecture and furnishings. Focusing particularly on the shrine in the Trinity Chapel, but also explicating the scenes in the Corona, Martyrdom and tomb chapels, the article explores the ways in which access and exclusion, in both physical and sensory terms, shaped the nature of the cult and pilgrimage experience in medieval Canterbury.