Canterbury

Who holds it

Name

King John, by his reeves

Title

Lord of the city

Since

Royal city since before the Conquest

Confidence

medium

The city is the king's, run by royal reeves with the burghmote of the citizens; the citizens get the city at fee farm only in 1234. Most of the land within and around it belongs to the archbishop, to the monks of Christ Church and to St Augustine's abbey.

Lord in 1200

The king (royal reeves); the archbishop, Christ Church priory and St Augustine's abbey hold much of the ground and have their own courts over their tenants.

Overlord

King John

Allies and rivals

The monks of Christ Church against Hubert Walter (Lambeth); the city against the monks over jurisdiction; St Augustine's against Christ Church.

How things stand that morning

At peace; the Lambeth quarrel runs on in Rome.

Wealth

Pilgrims, the mint, the Church's estates. No figures.

Military

The royal castle; the walls.

Threats

• The Lambeth quarrel

Charter

Customs confirmed by Henry II (about 1155); fee farm to the citizens only in 1234 (later). No charter of John to the city is known to me by 31 December 1199.

Council

The king's reeves and the burghmote of the citizens; the aldermen of the city's wards.

Communities

The Jewry, with its synagogue and chest of chirographs, one of the largest outside London. The monks of Christ Church and of St Augustine's; the hospitals of St John and of St Nicholas at Harbledown.

Fairs and markets

Pilgrim feasts: the martyrdom of St Thomas (29 December) and, from 1220, the translation (7 July). Markets daily. Fairs of the period not pinned.

Militia

Not recorded as a separate force.

Walls and castle

Roman walls with medieval gates (Westgate, Northgate, Burgate, Ridingate, Worthgate); the royal castle and keep in the south-west corner, the sheriff of Kent's seat.

Trade and crafts

Pilgrims, inns and the sale of ampullae and badges; the mint and exchange (with London the main mints of the short-cross coinage); cloth and leather; Fordwich on the Stour is the city's port.

Places of note

• Christ Church cathedral and Becket's tomb: Pilgrim shrine
• St Augustine's abbey: Abbey outside the walls

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Church side is thick; the city's own government in 1200 is described in outline.

On the map: The city and its immediate suburbs.

Primary sources for England

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, Jocelin of Brakelond (about 1198 to 1203). An inside account of Bury St Edmunds under Abbot Samson, written while the events were fresh. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
• English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online
• Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online
• Images of History, Ralph de Diceto (about 1188 to 1202). A London view of the year from the dean of St Paul's, who knew the justiciar and the bishops personally. Read online

22 more in the sources library for The British Isles.