Why are the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales traveling to Canterbury?

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Geoffrey Chaucer English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, author of *The Canterbury Tales*.

In The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims are traveling to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket.12

Following the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, his tomb quickly became a major site for pilgrimage. For nearly four centuries, this shrine was one of the most famous in Europe, attracting travelers seeking spiritual merit.34

While the journey served a fundamentally religious purpose, it also functioned as a social event, combining spiritual aspirations with the secular experience of a spring vacation. This framing device allowed Geoffrey Chaucer to assemble a diverse group of characters from various walks of life to engage in a storytelling contest as they traveled from Southwark to the cathedral.25