Canterbury

The Black Death reached Canterbury in 1348, and the city, then about 10,000 strong and the tenth largest in England, had shrunk to some 3,000 by the early 16th century. Its standing held up better than its numbers. During the Hundred Years' War the neglected Roman wall was virtually rebuilt with new towers, and in 1413 Henry IV became the only king to be buried in the cathedral. The pilgrim trade ended in 1538, when Henry VIII had Becket's shrine destroyed and its treasure carried off in 26 carts. Newcomers filled the gap. French-speaking Protestant refugees from the Low Countries settled in the city and from 1576 worshipped in the cathedral crypt; by the 17th century they made up two-fifths of its people, and the silk weaving they brought had outstripped the old wool trade.