All the characters in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" are headed to Canterbury for a pilgrimage. They are all going to visit the tomb of Saint Thomas a Becket.
Becket was killed in 1170 and was revered because he had been killed because of his devotion to the Church. He had made the king angry by not agreeing with him and taking the side of the Church instead and so the king (more or less) had him killed.
People in these times went on pilgrimages because they believed it would make them look better in God's eyes and improve their chances for a good afterlife.
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