"canterbury" a Canterbury Travel Page by doug48

canterbury is a beautiful medieval town located in kent. this historic town is home to canterbury cathedral. canterbury cathedral was built by king ethelbert. it was the first cathedral in england. the first archbishop of canterbury was st. augustine in 597AD. during the middles ages the archbishop of canterbury was a very powerful position in english society. england's state religion was roman catholic and the head of the church was the pope. this often caused problems with the kings of england who were the secular rulers of the country. one of the most famous church and state conflicts was the story of thomas a' becket.

thomas a' becket was a member of the court of king henry II. becket was an intelligent and ambitious man and he worked his way up in the court hierarchy to king henry's chancellor. king henry depended on the articulate and politically savy becket to keep him informed on the goings on in the relm. becket was more than henry's chancellor, over time they became close friends. it was said at the time that "never in christian times were two men more of a mind". in 1162 the archbishop of canterbury, theobald died. king henry saw this as an opportunity to take away some of the power of the church. he appointed becket as archbishop since his views were so close to his own. however becket had other ideas, he told henry that if he became archbishop of canterbury, "it would be god i serve before you". as soon as he became archbishop he started wearing a hair shirt under his vestments which swarmed with vermin. this was so he would always suffer as christ had done. henry's friendship with becket ended with the constitutions of clarendon. this document was to give more power to the king at the expense of the church. in order it to become law the archbishop had to sign it. becket refused which infuriated the king. henry's justiciar pronounced becket a traitor and wisely he left the country. becket stayed on the continent for six years under the protection of pope alexander II. in 1170 becket returned to england and continued to be a thorn in king henry's side. one night over dinner with a number of his knights henry made the comment, "can none of the cowards eating my bread free me of this turbulent priest". four of the assembled, hugh de morville, reginald fitz urse, richard le breton, and william de tracy took the king's comment literally and journeyed to canterbury to kill becket. the murder of becket in canterbury cathedral made him a christian martyr and thousands pilgrimaged to this holy site. these pilgimages were described in geoffrey chaucer's "canterbury tales". this account is considered one of the most important literary works of medieval times.

only an hour and a half train ride from london, canterbury is very nice side trip when visiting the city. there are trains leaving victoria station every 30 minutes. central canterbury and the cathedral is a short walk from the train station. a very interesting place to visit in south east england.

an excellent book about the history of great britain is rebecca fraser's "the story of britain:from the romans to the present". pub: w.w. norton.