The “crispy vs. wormy” thread got me to thinking: I heard somewhere that the bones of Thomas a Becket were found in the late 1800’s. Supposedly Henry VIII had Cromwell desecrate the shrine to Becket and destroy the bones, but somehow the real bones had been hidden, only to be rediscovered three hundred years and some change later. Is this a true story? Whatever happened to the bones (found in the 1800’s) believed to be Becket’s?
The whole question is discussed in detail in John R. Butler, * The Quest for Becket’s Bones: the mystery of the relics of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury * (Yale University Press, 1995). The bones discovered in the nineteenth century and which were thought to have been Becket’s have been discredited. They were reburied in the cathedral crypt shortly after their discovery. Butler discusses a number of rumours about other tombs within the cathedral which might contain Becket’s body but he has no firm evidence. It is all just speculation. My own view is that the bones probably didn’t survive the desecrations by the Henrician commissioners.