Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a major English church. It became a leading pilgrimage destination after Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered there in 1170.

Augustine of Canterbury: A monk sent by Pope Gregory I who led the Gregorian mission to Kent and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. His mission established the cathedral’s Christian community in the late sixth century.
Thomas Becket: Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170 after a conflict with King Henry II. His murder inside the cathedral made it a destination for pilgrims.
Choir (architecture): The part of a church near the high altar traditionally occupied by clergy and singers. The cathedral’s choir was rebuilt after the fire of 1174.
Henry II of England: King of England from 1154 to 1189, whose conflict with Thomas Becket preceded the archbishop’s murder. His penance at Canterbury in 1174 followed the murder and strengthened the shrine’s standing.
Gregorian mission: The late-sixth-century mission sent by Pope Gregory I to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. It brought Augustine to Canterbury and began the cathedral’s institutional history.
Becket's shrine: The medieval shrine in Canterbury Cathedral that held the relics of Thomas Becket from 1220 until 1538. Pilgrims travelled to the shrine, the cathedral’s principal devotional focus.
Trinity Chapel: A chapel at the eastern end of Canterbury Cathedral, built to accommodate Becket’s shrine. Its elevated position housed the shrine and structured the pilgrimage route.
Canonization: The formal recognition by the Catholic Church that a deceased person is a saint. Becket’s canonization in 1173 helped establish Canterbury as a major pilgrimage center.
Lanfranc: An Italian-born Norman monk who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089. After the Norman Conquest, he rebuilt the cathedral and reorganized its community.
Canterbury Tales: Geoffrey Chaucer’s late-fourteenth-century collection of stories framed as a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Its pilgrims reflect the cathedral’s fame as a destination across medieval society.

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