CANTACUZE`NUS, JOHN, emperor of the East; an able statesman, who acting as regent for the heir, had himself crowned king, but was driven to resign at length; retired to a monastery on Mount Athos, where he wrote a history of his time; died in 1411, 100 years old.

CANTARINI, SIMONE, an Italian painter, born at Pesaro; a pupil of Guido and a rival, but only an imitator from afar (1612-1648).

CANTERBURY (23), in E. Kent, on the Stour, by rail 62 m.  SE. of London; is the ecclesiastical capital of England; the cathedral was founded A.D. 597 by St. Augustin; the present building belongs to various epochs, dating as far back as the 11th century; it contains many interesting monuments, statues, and tombs, among the latter that of Thomas a Becket, murdered in the north transept, 1170; the cloisters, chapter-house, and other buildings occupy the site of the old monastic houses; the city is rich in old churches and ecclesiastical monuments; there is an art gallery; trade is chiefly in hops and grain.  Kit Marlowe was a native.

CANTERBURY (128), a district in New Zealand, in the centre of the South Island, on the east side of which are the Canterbury Plains or Downs, a great pasture-land for sheep of over three million acres.

CANTERBURY TALES, a body of tales by Chaucer, conceived of as related by a small company of pilgrims from London to the shrine of Thomas a Becket at Canterbury.  They started from the Tabard Inn at Southwark, and agreed to tell each a tale going and each another coming back, the author of the best tale to be treated with a supper.  None of the tales on the homeward journey are given.

CANTICLES, a book in the Bible erroneously ascribed to Solomon, and called in Hebrew the Song of Songs, about the canonicity and interpretation of which there has been much debate, though, as regards the latter, recent criticism inclines, if there is any unity in it at all, to the conclusion that it represents a young maiden seduced into the harem of Solomon, who cannot be persuaded to transfer to the king the affection she has for a shepherd in the northern hills of Galilee, her sole beloved; the aim of the author presumed by some to present a contrast between the morals of the south and those of the north, in justification possibly of the secession.  It was for long, and is by some still, believed to be an allegory in which the Bridegroom represents Christ and the Bride His Church.

CANTON (1,800), chief commercial city and port of Southern China; stands on a river almost on the seaboard, 90 m.  NW. of Hong-Kong, and is a healthy town, but with a heavy rainfall; it is surrounded by walls, has narrow crooked streets, 125 temples, mostly Buddhist, and two pagodas, 10 and 13 centuries old respectively; great part of the population live in boats on the river; the fancy goods, silk, porcelain, ivory, and metal work are famous; its river communication with the interior has fostered an extensive commerce; exports, tea, silk, sugar, cassia, &c.