Talk:Canterbury

I have a problem with the line:

"It was made famous by a story by Geoffrey Chaucer called The Canterbury Tales. It is also famous for its own Canterbury Cathedral."

Surely The Canterbury Tales was only written because Canterbury Cathedral became a place of pilgrimage, therefore it was the actual assassination of Thomas Beckett, mentioned lower down the piece, which made the city famous? Although it was probably "famous" to an extent before that, as it was the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I'm not too sure how to word it, has anybody any thoughts? Soup Dish (talk) 12:37, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Canterbury

I agree with the previous commenter. Canterbury was important before Thomas Becket went there . . . indeed, he went there because it was important. Perhaps whoever wrote your article has some blind spot about Christianity: after all, Canterbury is the Home of Christianity in England. It is the place to which Pope Gregory sent St. Augustine, who was the first Archbishop of Canterbury (AD 604-5); thereafter Pope Vatalian sent Theodore of Tarsus 668-90, and the African Abbot Hadrian - along with Benedict Biscop (AD 689-90). These people were responsible for the schools and scriptoria that developed in Canterbury and also in the north (York, Lindisfarne, etc) and thence, throughout England. Indeed, they were responsible for the continuity and growth of Western Civilization - were it not for them, you probably wouldn't have Wikipedia.