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Canterbury

Canterbury is a relatively small city (approximately 44,000 inhabitants) in the southeast of England. Canterbury Cathedral—officially the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury—is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. This entry addresses each of these topics in turn: the city, the cathedral, and the role of the archbishop.

The City

The geographic area of Canterbury has been inhabited since prehistoric times. In the first century CE, the Romans captured the existing settlement and named it Durovernum Cantiacorum; they rebuilt the city on Roman lines. The Romans left Britain in 410, after which the city languished for nearly two centuries. In 597 CE, however, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine—a Benedictine monk—to convert King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. This mission was successful, and Canterbury became the center for an episcopal see in Kent with Augustine as the first archbishop. The town flourished once again. In 673, the Synod of Hertford gave to the See of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church, at which point the city gained national as well as regional significance.

Events of huge significance have occurred in Canterbury, including in 1170 the murder in the cathedral of Archbishop Thomas à Becket by knights of King Henry II. It is clear that the king had had frequent conflicts with the strong-minded archbishop and is said to have exclaimed, “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four knights enacted this wish literally. Some 3 years later, Becket was canonized by Pope Alexander III. As a result, Canterbury became one of the most visited towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all parts of Christendom came to visit Becket's shrine. The pilgrimage was immortalized in The Canterbury Tales—a 14th-century collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer and a Middle English text of literary as well as historical significance. The shrine as such was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII (see below), bringing an end to the pilgrimage. In 1982, however, Pope John Paul II—the first pope to visit the United Kingdom—knelt alongside the then Archbishop of Canterbury at the site of the martyrdom of Thomas à Becket. This deeply symbolic gesture signified the growing friendship between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

The Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest and most well-known Christian buildings in England and has been designated a world heritage site. A worshipping community has existed in this place since the time of Augustine. Traces of the original structure lie beneath the floor of the present nave. The building was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons before being completely reconstructed by the Normans in 1070 following a fire. In 1077, the Norman church, the work of Archbishop Lanfranc, was described as “nearly perfect.” There have been many additions to the building over the past 900 years, but significant elements of the present structure and some of the windows (including the stained glass) date from the 12th century.

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