The Corona, Canterbury Cathedral is the east end of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

, named after the severed

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

(St. Thomas the Martyr), whose

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

it was built to contain. Tomb of Reginald Pole

Becket was murdered in the north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

of the cathedral on 29 December 1170. Four years later a disastrous fire destroyed the eastern end of the church. After

William of Sens William of Sens or Guillaume de Sens (died August 11, 1180) was a 12th-century French master mason and architect, believed to have been born at Sens, France. He is known for rebuilding the choir of Canterbury Cathedral between 1174 and 1177, cou ...

had rebuilt the Choir, William the Englishman added the immense Corona as a

for the crown of St. Thomas (with a new shrine for the main

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s in the form of the Trinity Chapel between the Corona and the Choir). The shrine was not installed in the Corona until 1220, in a ceremony at which the king, Henry III, assisted. The anniversary of the occasion was celebrated each year as the Feast of the Translation of the Blessed St Thomas, until suppressed by royal injunction in 1536. The income from

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

s who visited Becket's shrine, which was regarded as a place of healing, largely paid for the subsequent rebuilding of the Cathedral and its associated buildings. In 1538

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

allegedly summoned the dead saint to court to face charges of treason. Having failed to appear within thirty days, he was tried in his absence, and found guilty. Becket's remains were buried, and the treasures of his shrine confiscated, carried away in two coffers and twenty-six carts. Archbishop Cardinal

Reginald Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

was also buried in the Corona.

References

Canterbury Cathedral {{Anglicanism-stub