The Cathedral

Main Gate to the Cathedral

Grim and towering, do you think? Unlike the York Minster, the cathedral seems to dwarf humans and intimidate. It lacks the welcome I saw at York, even the brooding weather was apropos. Makes you wonder that a building, just a pile of rocks, that could be diminished to rubble at any time, could be the vessel of such human worship and reverence.

St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived in Kent as a missionary to England in 597 AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. Augustine was dispatched to convert the pagan Saxons to Christianity. What meddlers these people are! Augustine was given a church at Canterbury (St Martin’s, which we'll see later)  by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, a French Princess, was already a Christian. St Martins had been a place of worship during the Roman occupation of Britain and is the oldest church in England still in use. 

Augustine established his seat within the Roman city walls (the word cathedral is derived from the the Latin word for a chair ‘cathedra’, which is itself taken from the Greek ‘kathedra’ meaning seat.) and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury. 

Augustine’s original building lies beneath the floor of the nave – it was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons, and the cathedral was rebuilt completely by the Normans in 1070 following a major fire. There have been many additions to the building over the last nine hundred years.

With all the additions, the cathedral is 1400 years old and in an odd turn of events, is Church of England, the religion started by H8. What goes around comes around. 

A Plaque for the Via Francigena

Linda's Photo

The "New" Shrine to St Thomas

The Martyr Chapel is a solemn place reflecting the events that happened here in 1170. It's hard not to sense the spirit here, as it is in the entire cathedral. It exudes energy and awe.

I am standing where St Thomas Becket was slain as he was praying ,29 December 1170, murdered by four of Henry II's knights, his former friend.

Story of St Thomas Becket

This wall painting, dating from around 1480, was uncovered in 1830 when lime wash was removed from the wall. It shows the story of St Eustace, a legendary Christian martyr who lived in the second century AD.  The setting is a series of wooded landscapes with details of ships, hamlets, churches, castles, monkeys, and a river meandering to the sea.  The story starts at the bottom, with Eustace on his knees before his quarry, a white stag, between whose horns can be seen an image of Christ.  It ends with Eustace and his family roasted to death in a large bull placed over a fire. 
It was a beautiful image despite the saintly BBQ. 

Edward
the Black Prince
(1330-1376)
Not named that because he's evil or misbehaved, but because he had great fashion sense, he always wore black to battle. Back then what you wore to kill people was important. 

King Henry IV (1399-1413) and his wife Queen Joan
She needs a better name.

The "Pilgrims' Steps"--showing the wear of innumerable pilgrim knees (and later, feet)--led to the shrine of St. Thomas.

Canterbury was already an established place of pilgrimage but Becket's murder raised the ante. The deed lead to a surge of devout pilgrims. Beckets shrine, and possibly his body,  were destroyed in 1538 by H8 though some believe a skeleton found in the crypt in 1888 to be Becket. How would they know that - the place is a wealth of such corpses. 

Site of the Original Shrine

I could hear choir practice echoing from a hidden area, Gregorian chants were playing quietly in the gift shop. It was quieter than a library. Visitors were silent, walking softly, no comping shoes, mellowly absorbing the hugeness of where we were. This was not a sight to miss especially since it was a motivating  goal of the walk.