Canterbury Tales: the Friar

December 29, 1170 marked the tragic day Archbishop Thomas a` Becket was brutally murdered by four of King Henry II’s assassins in Canterbury Cathedral. The two high-powered men had fueled a feuding relationship throughout their lifetimes, which finally ended in death. A circumstance that led to the murder included the fact that Henry had his own heir-apparent crowned by archbishop of York, which was unheard of in that day. Becket therefore suspended bishops involved in the coronation because he was offended. At the very spot in Canterbury Cathedral where Becket was murdered a phenomenon occurred. After only ten years, over seven hundred miracles came to pass at Thomas a` Becket’s gravesite. That is the background against which Geoffery Chaucer wrote his novel The Canterbury Tales.
Many inventive writers throughout history have written entertaining stories, and The Canterbury Tales surely proves to be one of them. The Canterbury Tales is a work of fiction that describ...