Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury (birth unknown, died May 26, 604 (traditional) or 605 (Thorn)) was the first Archbishop of Canterbury, sent to Ethelbert of Kent, Bretwalda of England by Pope Gregory the Great in 597. He was accompanied by Laurence of Canterbury, the second archbishop.
In 596, Augustine was praepositus (prior) of the monastery of Saint Andrew, founded by Pope Gregory I, and was sent by Gregory at the head of forty monks to preach to the Anglo-Saxons. They lost heart on the way and Augustine went back to Rome from Provence and asked that the mission be given up. The pope, however, commanded and encouraged them to proceed, and they landed on the Island of Thanet in the spring of 597.
Ethelbert's wife Bertha, daughter of Charibert, one of the Merovingian kings of the Franks, had brought a chaplain with her (Liudhard) and either built a church or restored a church in Canterbury from Roman times and dedicated it to St. Martin of Tours, a major patronal saint for the Merovingian royal family. Ethelbert himself was a pagan, but allowed his wife to worship God her own way.
Probably under influence of his wife, Ethelbert asked Pope Gregory I to send missionaries.
Ethelbert permitted the missionaries to settle and
preach in his town of Canterbury and before the
end of the year he was converted and Augustine
was consecrated bishop at Arles. At Christmas
10,000 of the king's subjects were baptized.
Augustine sent a report of his success to Gregory with
certain questions concerning his work. In 601
Mellitus, Justus and others brought the pope's replies,
with the pallium for Augustine and a present of
sacred vessels, vestments, relics, books, and the
like. Gregory directed the new archbishop to
ordain as soon as possible twelve suffragan bishops
and to send a bishop to York, who should also have
twelve suffragans,- a plan which was not carried
out, nor was the primatial see established at London as
Gregory intended. Augustine consecrated Mellitus Bishop of London
and Justus Bishop of Rochester.
More practicable were the pope's
mandates concerning heathen temples and usages:
the former were to be consecrated to Christian
service and the latter, so far as possible, to be
transformed into dedication ceremonies or feasts of
martyrs, since "he who would climb to a lofty height
must go up by steps, not leaps" (letter of Gregory
to Mellitus, in Bede, i, 30).
Augustine reconsecrated
and rebuilt an old church at Canterbury as
his cathedral and founded a monastery in connection
with it. He also restored a church and founded
the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul outside
the walls.
His attempts to effect a union with the
old British Church in Wales failed.
Part of the material on this page is adapted from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion
Referenced By
26 May | 26th May | 590s | 600 AD | Anglo-Saxons | Archbishop of Canterbury | Augustine | Ceawlin of Wessex | Celtic Christian | Celtic Christianity | Charibert | Charibert I | Christian saint | Church of England | Ethelbert of Kent | Gregory the Great | History of the Church of England | John Paul II | Justus | Karol Józef Wojty | Karol Wojtyla | Laurence of Canterbury | List of Saints | List of people by name: Au | May 26 | May 26th | Mellitus | Patron saint | Pope Gregory I | Pope John Paul II | Ramsgate | St. Augustine | St. Gregory the Great | Thanet | The Saxon Conquest
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