The Ancient City of Canterbury

Description: This talk deals with the history of the city from Roman times up to the end of the Middle Ages. It particularly concentrates on Canterbury's role as a centre of pilgrimage given the murder there of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170 before the High Altar. The talk deals with the nature of pilgrimage to the city as immortalised in Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales', where the pilgrims stayed and how they marked their visit to Becket's shrine in the cathedral.