Thomas Becket, Clairvaux, and Ringsted: Saintly Diversity and European Influences in a Twelfth-Century Fragmentary Legendary from Denmark

This article examines a collection of saints’ lives from c. 1200, preserved asfragments in the Danish National Archives and the Royal Library.1 Half of the fragmentstransmit material related to Thomas Becket: Benedict of Peterborough’s miracles, Johnof Salisbury’s vita, and an anonymous account of King Henry II’s penance in Canterbury.The presence of the two latter works in Denmark, as well as that of some of the otherlegends represented amongst the fragments, are identified and discussed here for thefirst time. Based on the contents and provenance of the fragments, a link to Ringstedabbey is suggested.