Canterbury; we came to it on foot; this is the seat of the
Archbishop, Primate of all England, a very ancient town, and,
without doubt, of note in the time of the Romans.
Here are two monasteries almost contiguous, namely of Christ and St.
Augustine, both of them once filled with Benedictine Monks: the
former was afterwards dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, the name of
Christ being obliterated; it stands almost in the middle of the
town, and with so much majesty lifts itself, and its two towers, to
a stupendous height, that, as Erasmus says, it strikes even those
who only see it at a distance with awe.
In the choir, which is shut up with iron rails, are the following
monuments:-
King Henry IV., with his wife Joan of Navarre, of white marble.
Nicholas Wootton, Privy Counsellor to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary,
and Elizabeth, Kings and Queens of England.
Of Prince Edward, Duke of Aquitaine and Cornwall, and Earl of
Chester.
Reginald Pole, with this inscription:
"The remains of Reginald Pole, Cardinal and Archbishop of
Canterbury."
Cardinal Chatillon.
We were then shown the chair in which the bishops are placed when
they are installed. In the vestibule of the church, on the south
side, stand the statues of three men armed, cut in stone, who slew
Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, made a saint for this
martyrdom; their names are adjoined -
Tusci, Fusci, Berri.
