An Infamous Assassination

The Cathedral has since been the base of 105 subsequent Archbishops, the most famous of whom was Thomas Becket. Becket was murdered in the building in 1170 at the order of King Henry II, following a long-running dispute. After several miracles were reported to have taken place at his tomb in the crypt -including cures to blindness and leprosy - Canterbury Cathedral became one of the most popular destinations of pilgrimage in Europe. It is indeed this which influenced Geoffrey Chaucer's ‘Canterbury Tales’, a written masterpiece from 1392 which is often regarded as one of the greatest contributions to English literature of all time.