Canterbury/thomas becket/anglicansime/Via Francigena/Reforme au 16ieme

                                                         Introduction

                         The Town Of Canterbury

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Canterbury is a city of  England located in the shire of Kent. It is in the south east of  England. The population of the city is 55240 habitant for 2347 habitant per square kilometers and an area of 23,54 square kilometers.

The name came from the old English: “ Cantwarebyrig” that means the forteress of the men from the Kent.
It is one of the oldest town of the country and had early of religious function.

During the 16th century , the town became the seat of the Anglica church. It is the equivalent of Rome for the

Anglican. Retraced the story of Canterbury is equivalent of speaking about all of the Christian in England, so I will just  replace a small and consistent timeline.

Canterbury:from the Roman to nowadays

Canterbury was first an Iron Age settlement. The Cantiaci, a Celtic tribe, established there in the first century AD. But in 43 AD the Romans invaded Britain by the sea. At the end of the 1st century the Romans took the Celtic settlement and rebuild it. They called the new town Durovernum Cantiacorum. They also built new streets in a grid pattern and public buildings in stone.

The Forum, an open space with shops; is in the center of the town like in a classic roman town. We can also find the basilica. It's a kind of town hall. Soon, the city was printed with the roman lifestyle, the Forum was used as the market place, there were temples and also public baths. If there is already public baths in the young Roman city, It is because the baths was not just a way to keep clean it was also a way to socialize, like going to the pub for an Englishman.

Rich people built houses of stone with mosaic floors. For the poor people it was wood and plaster huts.  The town flourished for 300 years and a wall around the town was even built in the 3rd century. In 407,the Romans left Britain and afterwards Canterbury was probably abandoned.

When the Romans left, a few farmers were still living inside the walls but Canterbury was not really a town anymore.

Then in 597 AD, the Pope sent Augustine with  some monks to convert the Saxons who had taken the region. The king of Kent, Ethelbert, was married to a Christian woman which made the task easier.

In 598, Augustine and his monks built an abbey outside the walls of the old Roman town. In 602 he rededicated a deserted Roman church in Canterbury. In 603, Canterbury was chosen to be the seat of the first Archbishop.

Once it was chosen to be his seat the town began to revive. It now had a new importance. Craftsmen, leather workers came to live in Canterbury. Wool was woven in Canterbury and gave the town a new commercial breath.

By 630 AD, Silver coins were made there. Goods were brought to Canterbury from the town of Ipswich and from northern France.

By the 9th century, Canterbury had grown into a busy little town. It would seem very small to us but back in those days Canterbury  was a large town.

Canterbury suffered severely when the Danes began raiding England. Because it was closed to the eastern shore of England Canterbury was a natural target. It was raided twice, in 842 and 851. Both times many people were killed.

In 1011 the Danes returned and laid siege to Canterbury. They captured it after 20 days. They burned the cathedral and most of the houses in Canterbury. They also killed the Archbishop.

When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, Canterbury surrendered without a fight. Canterbury Cathedral burned in 1067. After 1070, Normans built a new one to replace it. This new cathedral burned in 1174. The cathedral was rebuilt again after 1175.

Eastbridge Hospital was built in 1190 as a shelter for poor pilgrims. In the early 14th century the Hospital of Saints Nicholas and Saint Katherine was built for poor people. There was also a leper hostel in Canterbury dedicated to St Nicholas.

In Medieval Canterbury, the main industries were wool and leather. Wool was England's main export and leather was used to make shoes, gloves, saddles and bottles. Another important industry in Canterbury was providing for the needs of pilgrims.

Canterbury was a large and important town with a population of perhaps 5000 thousand people in 1600.

In the late 16th, century weavers from what is now Belgium came to Canterbury fleeing from religious persecution. They first arrived in 1567. Many more followed and they increased the population of Canterbury.

At the end of the 17th century the travel writer of Celia Fiennes said that Canterbury was a flourishing town. She described it as a noble city with handsome and neat buildings. Most of them were made of brick.

In the 18th century Canterbury became a quiet market town although it did have a leather industry and a paper making industry.

In 1787 an act of parliament formed a body of men with powers to pave, clean and light the streets of Canterbury.In the 1780s the gates of Canterbury (except Westgate) were demolished because they impeded the flow of traffic. Dane John Gardens were laid out in 1790. Also in 1790 a hospital opened in Canterbury.

The railway reached Canterbury in 1830 and an art school opened in 1867.

However during the 19th century Canterbury remained a quiet market town. Its old importance was completely gone as the new industrial towns of the north and midlands mushroomed.

During the 20th Century Canterbury continued to grow slowly. Westgate museum opened in 1906. Then during the Second World War 115 people were killed in Canterbury by German bombs. The worst raid was in 1942, 48 people were killed and a part of the town center was destroyed.

Canterbury University was built in 1962 and a by-pass was built in 1982. Marlowe Arcade opened in 1985 and the Roman Museum opened in 1994. A museum opened in St Augustine's Abbey in 1997. Also in 1997 Canterbury Castle opened to the public.

Whitefriars Shopping Centre in Canterbury was completed in 2005. Today Canterbury is a flourishing and tourisitc town known for his precious heritage. Today the population of Canterbury is 43,000.

                    1534:The act of supremacy and

                         the English Reformation

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