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Britain’s Most Historic Towns – Plantagenet Canterbury

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By Alison Graham

December 5, 2020
8:22 pm
Los Angeles, CA

"If you’ve been waiting for an invitation, this calligraphy is it. Commissioned by Facebook, this is a hand-lettered design for a poster. Quote is Facebook mine "

- Massimo Vignelli

The small city of Canterbury hosts roughly seven million tourists a year, and that figure is boosted by one as Professor Alice Roberts arrives to look at its Plantagenet links. She presents another absorbing, potted history of a moment in time spanning 245 years and starting with Henry II and his friend, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket was installed by the king as a yes man, only he unexpectedly found god, and was murdered, with dreadful ferocity, by Henry’s thugs within the cathedral. Becket was beatified as Henry folded in horror and guilt. And of course it wouldn’t be a proper trip to Canterbury without touching on the Canterbury Tales and the development of the English language. Professor Alice Roberts will take you through Canterbury to explore the

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rJrNCLXjHI

Becket was installed by the king as a yes man, only he unexpectedly found god, and was murdered, with dreadful ferocity, by Henry’s thugs within the cathedral. Becket was beatified as Henry folded in horror and guilt. And of course it wouldn’t be a proper trip to Canterbury without touching on the Canterbury Tales and the development of the English language.

Professor Alice Roberts will take you through Canterbury to explore the Plantagenet era, when the powerful house held the throne between 1154 and 1485. She discovers the secrets of the city’s cathedral, a centre of ecclesiastical power and also the site of the shocking murder of Thomas Becket. She also discovers the lasting impact of the Black Death and joins a modern-day pilgrimage in medieval garb. Aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson provides a bird’s-eye view of how the religious institutions of the era still dominate the city’s topography.