St Theodore of Canterbury (602-690) monk, missionary and archbishop
A
Greek monk living in Rome sent to be the archbishop of Canterbury.
Through making visitations, holding synods and prudent administration,
he brought order and peace to the Church in England.
A Greek monk
Theodore was a 66 year-old monk of
proven integrity, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, who had been educated
at Antioch and Constantinople. He was staying in Rome when Pope
Vitalian, on the advice of the abbot Adrian, ordained him and appointed
him to be archbishop of Canterbury.
Accompanied by the abbot Adrian, who had made the journey before, he
set out in May 668 and after passing to Marseilles travelled overland
through France, arrived in Canterbury a year later.
An able administrator
Theodore made a visitation
of the English Churches to see the situation for himself and appointed
bishops to the various sees that had been vacant for some time.
He had to mediate in a dispute between the hot-tempered Wilfrid, whom
he appointed archbishop Of York and the rather milder and meek Chad,
whom he had previously appointed to York and now persuaded instead to
become bishop Lichfield.
Organising synods
In 672 Theodore held the first synod of the Anglo-Saxon Church at Hertford and again at Hatfield in 675.
He also founded an important school at Canterbury, where not only
Latin and Greek were taught, but also Roman Law and biblical exegesis.
He encouraged the use of plainchant and the Roman way of calculating
the date for Easter.
Death and influence
When he died, he was buried beside St Augustine, the first archbishop of Canterbury (597-604).
Bede said of him: "The Churches of England made greater progress during his pontificate than they had ever done before."