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The History of Maidstone and its environs goes as far back as Mesolithic times. It has seen settlement by the Romans and the Normans and played its role in pivotal moments of English history such as the Peasants' Revolt and the English Civil War. It has also hosted a large Army barracks since Napoleonic times and was an important centre for Kent's brewing and papermaking industries. ==Early history== Maidstone Museum has evidence of many prehistoric peoples inhabiting the area. Artefacts dating as far back as Mesolithic times have been unearthed in area〔(Here's History Kent - Maidstone )〕 along with many Neolithic finds have been made locally, notably at Kit's Coty and the Countless Stones. The Romans brought Maidstone greater importance; their road from Watling Street at Rochester to Hastings passed through the site, connecting with the iron industry of the Weald: two villas and a number of other sites, have been discovered nearby. They were also among the first to extract stone (the sandstone known as Kentish ragstone) from the area. A great many other finds relate to this period. Before the arrival of the Normans, Maidstone had been the meeting place of the hundred of Maidstone in the Lathe of Aylesford.The Normans, in their turn recognised the worth of the area. By the time of Domesday Book. Heathland to the north of the town (today the suburb of Penenden Heath) was the site of shire moots or regional assemblies and the location of a key trial in the years immediately following the Norman Conquest. In 1146 the Cistercians from Clairvaux built an abbey at Boxley, to the northeast of the town; it was destroyed in 1538.〔(The Cistercians in Yorkshire )〕 In the same period there were two hospitals here built for the care of wayfarers, especially those on pilgrimage; and a “college” of secular priests. In the early Middle Ages the town was the home of the ''Guild of Corpus Christi''. Members of the guild employed a chaplain who said prayers for their souls when they died and looked after its members in old age and in times of sickness. The Archbishop's Palace, situated on the banks of the River Medway was gifted to the Archbishops of Canterbury in the 13th century. It was here in 1381 that Chancellor Sudbury, the incumbent Archbishop at the time, imprisoned the radical preacher John Ball. Ball was subsequently freed on June 11 that year by the peasant army led by Wat Tyler, on its way from Canterbury to London to protest about the new poll tax.〔(tyler Wat Tyler at Here's History Kent )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Maidstone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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