A Night on the Old Road to Canterbury | History for Sleep

Fall asleep tonight on the old road to Canterbury, six hundred years ago, at a wayside inn where a company of pilgrims has stopped for the night. The great shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, murdered in his own cathedral in 1170, still lies some 60 miles down the road. Here a single penny buys 2 or 3 gallons of ale, a laborer earns about 2 pence for a hard day's work, and King Edward the First once gave £347 in gold just to decorate the shrine they are walking toward. By law the highways are cleared 200 feet back on either side, the town gates are shut from sunset to sunrise, and every fire is banked at the sound of the curfew bell. Come in out of the dark, and let the fire, the company, and the long slow evening carry you gently down toward morning. Subscribe to the channel: @oldenglandnights In this video, we settle into one April night on the medieval pilgrim road to Canterbury, including the arrival off the muddy road at dusk, the steaming horses and the ostler who keeps them through the dark, the great fire and the shared supper of bread and pottage and ale, the mixed company of strangers gathered at one board, the stories told by firelight, the pilgrim badges and the little flasks of the Water of Saint Thomas, the old law that kept the road safe, the curfew bell and the banking of the fire, the shared beds and the rushlight carried up the dark stair, and the two sleeps of the medieval night. 🔔 Subscribe so the next long night on the old roads finds you without any searching. 💬 Comment where you are listening from tonight, and which moment of the Canterbury road stayed with you. 📢 Share this with someone who loves history, or with a friend who cannot sleep, on Facebook, Reddit, or a late-night group chat. You are the reason these quiet nights get made. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 21:06 The fire built high in the hall 41:38 The mixed company at one table 1:02:04 The badges and the reason they go 1:22:58 The curfew bell and the banked fire 1:41:55 The doors barred and the gate shut 2:02:06 The stable warm with breath Sources: The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue (Harvard Geoffrey Chaucer Website) https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages... Roger Ekirch on segmented sleep, first and second sleep https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/roger... Thomas Becket, his murder and his shrine (British Museum) https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/wh... Medieval pilgrim badges and the Water of St Thomas (London Museum) https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/blog/... The Statute of Winchester, 1285 (The History of England) https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/res... The Assize of Bread and Ale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assize_... The rushlight, and Gilbert White's measurement of one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rushlight DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #OldEnglandNights #HistoryForSleep #Canterbury #CanterburyTales #Chaucer #MedievalEngland #MedievalHistory #Pilgrimage #ThomasBecket #MiddleAges #History #SleepStory #Bedtime #EnglishHistory #MedievalInn #PilgrimsWay #WatlingStreet #14thCentury #CalmHistory #FallAsleep