Canterbury: A Quick History

Canterbury has been a community for a very long time. I can’t give you an exact date but it is written that the Romans took over the town in the first century AD when they made themselves at home here on this very big island [note: the British believe they live on a very large island indeed, and, as a guest in this country I think it would be rude for me to tell them otherwise]. Anyway, here are the high points of Canterbury history:

597 the Kingdom of Kent [note: Kent is the region or county] converts to Christianity. Boring.

1170 Thomas Becket, then Archbishop of Canterbury is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, beheaded by followers of Henry II. Uh, apparently Mr. Becket angered His Majesty. The Cathedral becomes a place of pilgrimage for many Christians soon after. Boring.

1300s Chaucer writes the Canterbury Tales and high school students the world over have since been made to memorize this: Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote /The droghte of March hath perced to the roote. Ah, Middle English. Fabulous. Nay, boring.

1564 Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe, contemporary of that other famous playwright, is born in Canterbury. Boring.

1977 Orlando Bloom is born in Canterbury. And yes, for those who are curious, he is occasionally seen here. Yum. Definitely not boring. Um. Where were we? Oh, yeah. Here are some more images of Canterbury and surrounds.

This is a typical street scene in Canterbury. The Cathedral is huge and yet within the town proper it's actually hard to see:



This is what Canterbury looks like from the campus of the University of Kent. The Cathedral would be the predominant feature, were it not for your inept photographer and the hazy day:

And this is what it looks like when you try to take a picture of yourself and your girlfriend with Canterbury as a backdrop:

And here is what a mailbox looks like in Canterbury [and all of the UK, I think]:


And here is what you might find in one local pub near Canterbury:
Yes. Goats. I can't think of any American pubs I've been in which featured goats. As a Capricorn, I have a deep appreciation for how much goats like pubs and should be allowed in. They don't really have any money, though, and concentrate mostly on eating any and all foliage. They probably don't tip their bartenders very well either.