St Augustine of Canterbury (d. 604/5) first archbishop
"Your
words are fair, but of doubtful meaning; I cannot forsake what I have
so long believed. But as you have come from far we will not molest you;
you may preach, and gain as many as you can to your religion."
These
were the words of greeting in the summer of 597 of King Ethelbert, Isle
of Thanet, to the Italian monk Augustine sent there by Pope Gregory the
Great to evangelise the English.
An Italian monk sent by Pope Gregory the Great
Augustine
was believed to have been a pupil of Felix, bishop of Messana, Sicily.
He became a monk and later prior of St Andrew's monastery on the Coelian
Hill in Rome. Pope Gregory chose him to lead a party of around 30 monks
to evangelise England.
They sailed first to Provence, but warned of the
dangers of England, soon returned to Rome.
Gregory encouraged Augustine
with letters of recommendation, so he set out a second time.
Cautiously received by King Ethelbert 597
Arriving
at the island of Thanet in Kent on the south-east coast, Augustine was
cautiously received by Ethelbert, the king of Kent, whose wife Bertha, a
sister of the Frankish king, was already a Christian.
Ethelbert gave
him a place to live in Canterbury and permission to preach; after some
time he accepted baptism himself.
Bishop of the English
In the following year
Augustine went to Arles where he was consecrated bishop of the English
by St Virgilius of Arles. Augustine sent two of his monks to Rome to
report on the success of his mission so far to Pope Gregory.
They
returned in 601 with more missionaries and the pallium (symbolising his
metropolitan jurisdiction) for Augustine from Gregory. Pope Gregory also
instructed him to consecrate twelve suffragan bishops for his own
metropolitan area and to set up one in the north with twelve more
bishops.
He gave further instructions to set up a second metropolitan
centre at York with its own twelve suffragan bishops and though this did
not take place in Augustine's own lifetime, it was how the organisation
of the Church in England turned out.
Canterbury as the primatial see
Augustine founded
Christ Church, Canterbury, as his cathedral and it became the primatial
see of England. He also set up the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul
(known after his death as St Augustine’s and where the early archbishops
were buried).
In 604 he established the episcopal sees of London and
Rochester, with Roman monks Mellitus and Justus as bishops.
Correspondence between Pope Gregory and Bishop Augustine
The
surviving letters between Pope Gregory and Bishop Augustine show the
former as the wise instigator of the project of evangelising the
English.
Augustine comes across as inexperienced but diligent
disciple carrying out in Britain the directions of his superior in Rome.