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The Canterbury Cathedral Essay

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The Canterbury Cathedral

For at least fourteen hundred years the worship of God has been offered on the site of this Cathedral, and through the prayers of the Church his power and grace have shaped human lives. Ever since the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in the Cathedral in 1170, Canterbury has attracted thousands of pilgrims. This tradition continues to this day, and a large team of Welcomers, Guides, Cathedral Assistants and Chaplains are there to give all visitors a warm welcome.
The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ Canterbury is a holy place of pilgrimage, founded by St Augustine for the worship of Almighty God and the honour of Christ our Saviour.
It is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate …show more content…

Benedict as a formal monastic community. The Benedictine community of monks continued until the monastery was dissolved in 1540.
The next year a new Foundation, called the Dean and Chapter, was constituted by Royal Charter. Today there is a Dean and four Residentiary Canons in the Chapter, who, with the Precentor, make up the establishment of full-time clergy.
Canterbury Cathedral is linked to the lives of many great ecclesiastical and national figures. Among the former are the Saints of Canterbury -- Augustine, Theodore, Odo, Dunstan, Alphege, Anselm, Thomas and Edmund - all of whom were Archbishops of Canterbury and held in universal respect.
The one who became most famous of all was Thomas Becket, who was murdered in his cathedral on 29 December 1170. Appointed by his King and friend, Henry II, to bring the Church to the heel of the monarchy, he did the reverse. He espoused its rights in the face of the King's desire to control them.
Four knights, with their own agendas of complaint, thinking to ingratiate themselves with the King, came to Canterbury and killed the Archbishop in his own Cathedral.
In the Reformation period Canterbury had a series of distinguished Archbishops, among them Thomas Cranmer, who compiled the first two Prayer Books and established what was to become the liturgical tradition of the Church of England and Anglican Churches the world over.
Cardinal Pole was Archbishop during the reign of

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