WHAT IS A CATHEDRAL?
The Latin word cathedra comes straight from the Greek kathedra which means simply 'a
seat', and in the Church the word came to be used for the bishop*'s seat or throne. So a
cathedral is the church in a diocese containing the bishop's throne, whatever the size of the
building.
CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL
Built:
1175 - 1493
Location: Canterbury, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Structural Type: Gothic vault*
The foundation of this splendid Cathedral dates back to the coming of the first archbishop*,
Augustine, from Rome in A.D. 597. Canterbury Cathedral has been rebuilt many times. There
was an Anglo-Saxon church from the VII century. But the part of the present building is the
great Romanesque crypt built in 1100. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1067
and rebuilt in Romanesque style .
HISTORY OF THE CANTERBURY
SEE*
The Ancient Diocese of Canterbury was the chief Catholic see of All England, from 597 till
the death of the last Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Pole, in 1558.
Before England had acquired national unity, the foundation of the see had given it
ecclesiastical unity.
FOUNDATION OF THE SEE
St. Augustine was sent to evangelize England by St. Gregory the Great. Bertha, Queen of
Æthelberht, King of Kent, was a Christian and a disciple of St. Gregory of Tours. This led
him to Canterbury, where he converted the king and many thousands of Saxons in 597, the
very year of his landing.
THE ARCHBISHOPS
There were in all sixty-eight archbishops during the ten-century-long period in which
Canterbury was the chief Catholic see in England.
The archbishop's palace was at Canterbury on the west side of the cathedral.
THE CATHEDRAL
The Roman basilica consecrated by St. Augustine was destroyed by fire in 1067.
In 1070 Lanfranc began to rebuild it, but no trace of his work remains* visible.
A new choir was begun in 1096, finished in 1130, and burnt in 1174, though two chapels and
part of the crypt survive.
The present choir was finished in 1184, and is the longest choir in England (180 feet).
In 1378 Lanfranc's nave was pulled down, and the present nave was begun. At the same date
the chapter house and the cloisters were finished.
Finally the cathedral was completed, about 1495, by the erection of the great central tower
235 feet high. The total length of the cathedral is 522 feet, the breadth* of the nave and aisles
71 feet. The building illustrates in itself almost all the varieties of Gothic.
Vocabulary : bishop = évêque ; vault= voute ; archbishop = archevêque ; see=archevêché ;
remain =demeurer ; breadth = largeur.
What’s a « cathedra » ?
Definition of a cathedral
Location of Canterbury Cathedral
Name :
Date of arrival in Britain :
The first archbishop :
Where he came from :
What he was sent for :
What he did in Canterbury :
Name a famous historian from the Middle
Ages
1067
Lanfranc’s job
Dates :
The Catholic period :
Function of Canterbury :
Number of bishops :
1174
Date of completion :
The present choir
Architecture :
Length :
1495
Hight :
The present building
Historical importance of Canterbury in
England
Length :
Breadth :
Architectural style :