Canterbury Cathedral - Canterbury, Kent, England, UK
Posted by: 
cldisme
N 51° 16.771 E 001° 04.890
31U E 366195 N 5682657
The current Canterbury Cathedral began construction in 1070, but the site can be traced back to 597.
Waymark Code: WM6X3X
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/31/2009
Views: 36
The history of
Canterbury Cathedral is long and deep. Construction of the current building began in 1070 and has suffered damage from decay and wars, but also has been rebuilt and add upon over the centuries to the beautiful piece of architure you see today.
It was added as a
World Heritage Site in 1988 as a Christian Monument because "the beauty of its architecture is enhanced by a set of exceptional stained glass windows which constitute the richest collection in the United Kingdom."
The
window of Adam dates to 1176, and the others are 19th Century duplicates of the originals. In 1819, Canterbury Cathedral took on the task to restore all the stained glass. One by one, all of the glass pieces, except the ones for the window depicting Adam, were either cleaned or replaced with near-identical pieces. For the West Window, the end result is astounding. To complete this monumental task for the entire church took 133 years.
Canterbury Cathedral is also the site of the murder of
Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
As Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket took some positions against King Henry II and his campaign to acquire power in church business.
Unable to get his way yet again, King Henry II was so exasperated with Thomas Becket he reportedly exclaimed "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?"
Four knights in the court at the time took that as an order and set out to remove the Archbishop from distrupting the king's plans.
On December 29, 1170, the four knights found the Archbishop at the alter during services and killed him with their swords.
Shortly after the murder, miracles attributed to Thomas Becket were recorded and within three years he was canonized as a saint.
Thomas Becket, although now dead, continued to be a thorn in English King's side. King Henry VIII - as part of his attempt to remove the Roman Catholic Church from England - tried Thomas Becket for treason, despite the fact it had been a few centuries after his murder.
Since Thomas Becket was unable to muster a competent defense for himself - being dead hurts your chances at that, he was found guilty and his sacred grave, since he was a saint, was removed from the church never to be seen again.
Please forgive this brief, paraphrased version. Please use the link below ("The Murder of Thomas Becket, 1170" EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com - 1997) to read a fuller account of this history.