Sunday, October 13, 2024

The Marvelous Tale of Thomas Becket's Birth.

“The following beautiful legend has come down to us, of the loves of Gilbert and Matilda,” says J. A. Giles, in his The Life and Letters of Thomas à Becket, of the saint's parents, “and there seems no reason to doubt the facts which it relates...”. Giles having done largely yeoman's work in his two volume work, one might be tempted to take his word on the matter and his brief source citation: “The first quadrilogus.”

But the tale seems so incredible that one goes to the purported source, in volume 4 of Robertson's Materials for the History of Thomas Becket (1879), where one finds “Machildis” as the name of Thomas's mother, a copyist's error for Matilda. This would seem to be the only place in which his mother's name is said to be Matilda.

But nothing else of our tale, beside the name, is found in the Quadrilogus I. Nothing even remotely related to the tale can be found there. Giles has taken nothing from it but the alternative name of Thomas à Becket's mother. Neither is the least hint found in the biography contained in the Lambeth Manuscript, which informs us that Gilbert was not a native Englishman but rather born in Rouen and his wife "a lady of Caen".

When Gilbert was a young man, he took upon him our Lord's cross by way of penance, and set out for the Holy Land, accompanied by a single serving man, whose name was Richard. As these two were on their way with others to offer up their prayers at the holy places, they were surprised by an ambuscade, made prisoners, and given in chains to be the slaves of a certain Amurath, and chief of the Pagans. Here they remained some time, earning a scanty subsistence by the daily labour of their hands. A year and half passed away in this Sclavonian bondage, and Gilbert began to attract more notice and respect than the others, particularly in the eyes of Amurath, with whom he got into such favour, that he often, though still in chains, waited on him at table, and conversed with him and his guests on the customs and manners of different countries. For his sake, also, much favour was extended to his fellow captives, principally by the mediation of Amurath's only daughter, a beautiful and courtly damsel, who, as will be shown presently, was smitten with love for the captive Gilbert.1


This, of course, is so much in the style of a medieval prose romance that it is clear in a moment that it is not legitimate biography. Nothing more is known of the actual Gilbert Becket except for his name. Thomas did say that he was “not among the lowest”.2

Farther along we will learn that Gilbert escapes and returns to England. Matilda undertakes the dangerous journey to join him there.


Night and day were given up to deliberation, until at length, one night, when all were buried in sleep, she arose by herself, and concealing her design from every one, she took a small quantity of provisions with her, that she might not be encumbered, and committed herself to all the dangers of such a stealthy flight, forgetful in the excitement of her anticipated escape, of all the wealth of her father, which would, after his death, have come to her. Wonderful indeed was the courage of this woman, and the depth of her love which emboldened her to execute so difficult and dangerous a deed! Noble as she was, and the heiress to a rich estate, she cast aside the parental tie, and though frail and delicate, she braved all the terrors of poverty, all the dangers of a long extent of country and of a stormy sea, alone and unaided, for the love of one man so far away from her, so utterly a stranger to her; though it was uncertain whether she ever should find him, or even if he was yet alive, still less certain whether he would marry her, even when he should be found!

Of course, Matilda finds her way to London and Gilbert. There she is baptized by six bishops at St. Paul's.


A day was then fixed, namely the morrow, on which she was conducted into the presence of the afore said bishops in the Church of St. Paul, where was a baptistery prepared in which she should be baptized.


She and Gilbert are married, immediately thereafter, and little Thomas conceived in short order.

But whence came this tale? It is nowhere in the standard materials relating to the life of the saint. Thanks to the Internet it only took a couple of hours to find a discussion of the matter on a site called the Literature Stack Exchange.3

With that for a start, I would soon find that numerous versions of the tale began to appear c. 1300, with and without Gilbert Becket for protagonist, and would continue until at least the 19th century.

One such tale, entitled “Ici poez oyer coment seint Thomas de Kaunterbures nasqui” ["Here you can hear how Saint Thomas of Canterbury was Born"] is available via Early English Books Online.4


Gilbert Becket was his name: the book tells me

Also his Mother was of heatheness


[Gilbert Bekat was is name : þe bok tellez me.

Ake is Moder was of heþenesse]


All of a number of versions published in manuscript form around the 14th century seem to have been in Middle English. At least one, which will have to await a better time, is written in Middle English salted with Latin and Old French.

What in the world possessed Giles to declare the tale genuine biography and to point to the Quadrilogus I, I can only guess. These things happen to prolific writers such as himself. Anyway, I link to the full tale in Giles's modern English translation here [link].


1Giles, John Allen The Life and Letters of Thomas à Becket (1846). 14ff.

2Froude, James Anthony. Life and Times of Thomas Becket (1885). 16n2. “Nec omnino infimi”. It was reported in a contemporary biography of Thomas that Gilbert had served as sheriff of London but no confirming evidence would seem to be available.

4“Ici poez oyer coment seint Thomas de Kaunterbures nasqui.” https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/AHA2708.0001.001/1:3.18?rgn=div2;view=fulltext




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