Canterbury
Canterbury was the destination of the most famous pilgrimage in English literature, and Chaucer's pilgrims never arrive. The cathedral that drew them was rebuilt after the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170, and by the late fourteenth century it was one of the richest religious houses in Europe.
The cathedral library holds manuscripts and early printed books, including material that documents the shrine and its visitors. Read the General Prologue before you go, and notice how Chaucer uses the road itself as a device for getting people to talk: the journey matters more than the arrival.
A library to check
- Canterbury Cathedral Library — catalogues and digital collections, open to readers online
Books connected to Canterbury
- The Canterbury Tales — Geoffrey Chaucer, 1400. The foundation of English comic narrative, and still one of the rudest things in the canon.
- Troilus and Criseyde — Geoffrey Chaucer, 1385. The finest long poem in Middle English, and a serious study of betrayal without a villain.
A note on accuracy
We describe literary connections and public collections, not street addresses, opening hours or ticket prices. Those change and we cannot verify them for every reader. Follow the institution's own site for current visiting information.