'm going to take you to Canterbury by the very road which Chaucer's
pilgrims in all probability traveled, and I thought that to make the
illusion as perfect as possible, we really should halt here in
Southwark. This is where the pilgrims met, you know, and from here
they set out in the lovely month of April: the 'verray perfight,
gentil knight,' his son, the gay young squire, the stout Wife of Bath,
the dainty prioress, the pale clerk (or scholar), the merchant with
his fine beaver hat, the parson, the plowman, the pardonner, the
summoner, the cook, and all the rest! They traveled on horseback, you
remember, and to beguile the tedious hours when they advanced slowly
along the dusty road, they took turns in telling the stories which
Chaucer gives us in the wonderful 'Canterbury Tales.'"

"I never did know just why they went," Betty ventured, in some
confusion lest they should laugh at her.

"Neither did I!" John promptly seconded. "Please tell us, Mrs. Pitt."

"Dear me, yes! I certainly will, for you must surely understand that!"
After pausing a moment in order to think how best to make her meaning
clear, Mrs. Pitt went on in her pleasant voice. "You see, pilgrimages
were always made to some especial shrine! We'll take Becket's for an
example. After his terrible murder, Becket was immediately canonized
(that is, made a saint), and for many years a very celebrated shrine
to him existed at Canterbury Cathedral. In those days, sumptuous
velvets and abundant jewels adorned the shrines, and if a person
journeyed to one, it meant that his sins were all atoned for. It was a
very easy thing, you see. If a man had committed a wrong, all he had
to do was to go to some shrine, say certain prayers there, and he
thought himself forgiven. Such trips cost men practically nothing, for
pilgrims might usually be freely cared for at the monasteries along
the route; a man was quite sure of good company; and altogether, it
was very pleasant to see the world in this way. The numerous terrible
dangers to be met with only added the spice of excitement to many. In
short, such numbers of poor men started off on these religious
pilgrimages, leaving their families uncared for, that the clergy
finally were forced to interfere. Laws were then made which compelled
a man to procure a license for the privilege of going to a shrine, and
these permits were not granted to all. You understand then, that
toward noted shrines such as St. Thomas a Becket's,