Augustine_of_Canterbury

{{otheruses4|St Augustine of Canterbury|other saints with the same name|St. Augustine}}
{{Distinguish2|[[Doctor of the Church]], [[Augustine of Hippo|St Augustine of Hippo]]}}

{{Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury|
| Full name = Saint Augustine of Canterbury|
| image = [[Image:Augustine detail.jpg|center|220px|]]
|caption=Augustine in ''Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints'', by Msgr. Paul Guérin in 1882.
| birth_name = Augustine
| began = 597
| term_end = [[26 May]], [[604]]
| predecessor = '''None'''
| successor = [[Laurence of Canterbury]]
| birth_date = unknown | birthplace =
| death_date = {{death date|604|5|26|df=y}} | deathplace =
| tomb =
|}}<noinclude>
{{Infobox Saint Archbishop of Canterbury
|feast_day= [[26 May]] (Anglican), [[27 May]],<ref name="EA">''Encyclopedia Americana'', v.2, p. 685. Danbury, CT: Grolier Incorporated, 1997. ISBN 0-7172-0129-5.</ref> [[28 May]] (Others)
|venerated_in= [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Anglican Communion]]
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'''Augustine of Canterbury''' (birth unknown, died [[May 26]], c. [[604]]) was a [[Benedictine]] [[monk]] and the first [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. He is considered the "Apostle to the English"<ref name=DictSaint>Delaney, John J. ''Dictionary of Saints'' Second Edition Doubleday: New York 2003 ISBN 0-385-13594-7 p. 67-68</ref> and a founder of the English Church.

==First efforts==
He was the prior of the abbey of St Anthony in Rome when he was sent by [[Pope Gregory I|Pope Gregory the Great]] to convert the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon tribes]] in [[596]].<ref name="EA" /><ref name=ASE104>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 104-105</ref> The [[Kingdom of Kent]] was targeted by the pope because its king, [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelbert]], before 588 had married a Christian Frankish princess named [[Bertha of Kent|Bertha]].<ref name="EA"/><ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02519a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Queen Bertha of Kent]</ref><ref name=ASE105>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 105-106</ref> Bertha was the daughter of [[Charibert]], one of the [[Merovingian]] kings of the [[Franks]]. As one of the conditions of her marriage she had brought a bishop named Liudhard with her to Kent.<ref name=DNBBertha>Nelson, Janet L. "Bertha (b. c.565, d. in or after 601)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2269 Online Edition revised May 2006] accessed November 17, 2007</ref> Together, in Canterbury, they restored a church that dated from Roman times<ref name=Hindley33>Hindley, Geoffrey ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation'' New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 33-36</ref> - dedicating it to [[Martin of Tours|St Martin of Tours]] (possibly [[Church of St. Martin, Canterbury|St Martin's]]). St Martin was a major patron saint for the Merovingian royal family. Æthelbert himself was a [[Paganism|pagan]] at this point, but allowed his wife freedom of worship.<ref name=DNBBertha/> Probably under influence of his wife, Æthelbert asked Pope Gregory to send missionaries.

[[Image:EthelbertofKent.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Saint Æthelbert of Kent pictured in a statue from [[Rochester Cathedral]].]]
Augustine was accompanied by [[Laurence of Canterbury]], who later became the second [[archbishop]], and a group of forty other monks. After the mission turned back to Rome before reaching its destination, Gregory insisted on its completion and Augustine landed in Kent in 597.<ref name=ASE105/> They achieved some initial success shortly after their arrival.<ref name=DictSaint/><ref name=DNB>Mayr-Harting, Henry "Augustine [St Augustine] (d. 604)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/899 Online Edition] accessed November 17, 2007</ref> Æthelbert 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 archbishop at [[Arles]].<ref name="EA"/><ref name=ASE105/> He returned to establish his [[episcopal see]] at Canterbury. At the same time, he founded the [[monastery]] of saints [[Saint Peter|Peter]] and [[Saint Paul|Paul]], which would later become [[St Augustine's Abbey]].<ref name=DNB/> That [[Christmas]], 10,000 of the king's subjects were baptised in what is now referred to as the 'Miracle at Canterbury' or the 'Baptismal miracle at Canterbury'.<ref name=ASE105/> After his death, the king would become known as St Æthelbert.<ref name=DictSaint205>Delaney, John J. ''Dictionary of Saints'' Second Edition Doubleday: New York 2003 ISBN 0-385-13594-7 p. 205</ref> However, there were probably some Christians already in Kent before Augustine arrived.<ref name=Collins182>Collins, Roger ''Early Medieval Europe 300-1000'' Second Edition New York: St. Martin's Press 1999 ISBN 0-312-21886-9 p. 182-183</ref> There is no evidence that they tried to convert the pagans who were descendants of the tribes that had invaded after the end of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref name=ASE102>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 102</ref>

Augustine sent a report of his success to Gregory with questions concerning his work along with Laurence.<ref name=ASE106>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 106</ref> In 601 [[Mellitus]], [[Justus]] and others brought the pope's replies, with a [[pallium]] for Augustine and a present of sacred vessels, [[vestment]]s, [[relic]]s, books, and the like. Gregory directed the new archbishop to ordain as soon as possible twelve [[suffragan]] [[bishop]]s and to send a bishop to [[York]], who should also have twelve suffragans — a plan which was not carried out, nor was the primatial [[episcopal see|see]] established at [[London]] as Gregory intended.<ref name=Collins182/> Probably the reason that the archbishopric was set up in Canterbury instead of London was that London was not part of Æthelbert's domains. Instead, London was part of the domain of [[Saebert of Essex]], who was Æthelbert's nephew and converted to Christianity in 604.<ref name=Hindley33/>

==Additional work==
[[Image:Britain settlement 600.jpg|right|thumb|200px|right|Map from the University of Texas at Austin Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection showing the kingdoms of the British Isles around 600.]]
Augustine continued to meet success in his efforts, and founded two other episcopal sees in England when he consecrated Mellitus as [[Bishop of London]] and Justus as [[Bishop of Rochester]].<ref name=Hindley33/> Augustine was however unsuccessful in extending his authority to the Christians in [[Wales]] and [[Dumnonia]]. The Britons in those areas were suspicious of the newly arrived Augustine, and he seems to have been insufficiently conciliatory for them to agree to recognize him as the local [[archbishop]].<ref name=DictSaint/> In 601, Augustine was formally given jurisdiction over Britain as its archbishop by Gregory.<ref name="EA"/> While working toward Christian unity, Augustine tried to reach an agreement with the Celtic bishops. These bishops did not cooperate with Augustine, and refused to give up their existiing traditions regarding [[tonsure]] and the dating of [[Easter]].<ref name="EA"/> Æthelbert summoned the British bishops to meet with Augustine in 603, and Augustine met with them twice, the first time the bishops asked to be allowed to return to their people and confer before returning. At the second meeting, Augustine was said to have not risen from his seat when the bishops arrived, and this, along with other issues, led the bishops to refuse to recognize Augustine as archbishop.<ref name=Hindley8> Hindley, Geoffrey ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation'' New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 8-9</ref> However, it was more probably the deep differences between the two churches that kept Augustine from reaching an agreement with the Celtic bishops. Besides the issues of Easter observance and the tonsure were more practical and deep rooted differences in approach to asceticism, missionary endeavours, and how the church itself was organized.<ref name=ASE110>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 110-111</ref>

==Further success==
More practicable than the other instructions from Rome were Rome's mandates concerning pagan temples and usages: the former were to be consecrated for Christian use<ref name=Thomson8>Thomson, John A. F. ''The Western Church in the Middle Ages'' London:Arnold 1998 ISBN 0-340-60118-3 p. 8</ref> 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.'<ref>letter of Gregory to Mellitus, in [[Bede]], i, 30)</ref> Gregory also legislated on the behavior of the laypeople and the clergy by setting out rules for marriage, what to do when church property was stolen, and how to consecrate bishops. Gregory also placed the new mission directly under papal authority, and that the English bishops would have no authority over the Gaulish bishops, nor would the Gaulish bishops have authority over the English. Other rules dealt with the training of a native clergy and how the mission was to live.<ref name=ASE107>[[Frank Stenton|Stenton, F. M.]] ''Anglo-Saxon England'' Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 107-108</ref>

Augustine reconsecrated and rebuilt the church at Canterbury as his cathedral and founded a monastery in connection with it. The [[chair of St. Augustine]] was established. He also restored a church and founded the monastery of St Peter and St Paul outside the walls, where the monks that had accompanied him resided.<ref name=Collins185>Collins, Roger ''Early Medieval Europe 300-1000'' Second Edition New York: St. Martin's Press 1999 ISBN 0-312-21886-9 p. 185</ref> He is claimed to have founded [[The King's School, Canterbury]], which would make it the world's oldest school; however there may be little more to this than the fact that some teaching took place at the monastery.

Before his death, Augustine consecrated his successor, [[Laurence of Canterbury]] as archbishop.<ref name=Hindley43>Hindley, Geoffrey ''A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation'' New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 43</ref> At the time of Augustine's death, on [[May 26]] [[604]],<ref name=DictSaint/> his mission barely extended beyond Kent. Augustine's mission introduced a more active missionary style into the British Isles. Before this, while there were Christians in Ireland and Wales, they had yet to try to convert the Saxon invaders. Augustine's mission was sent to convert the descendants of those invaders, and eventually became the decisive influence in Christianity in the British Isles.<ref name=Collins185/><ref name=ASE110/> 

Augustine's body was originally buried, but later exhumed and placed in a tomb within the abbey church where it became a place of pilgrimage and veneration. After the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] the cult of St Augustine was actively promoted.<ref name=DNB/> During the [[English Reformation|Reformation]], the shrine was destroyed and the relics were lost. Today a Celtic cross marks the area that Augustine first landed. It is situated near Pegwell village on the Isle of [[Thanet]] in [[East Kent]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
*{{Schaff-Herzog}}

==External links==
* [http://www2.meridiantv.com/itvlocal/index.htm?channel=Documentaries&void=31196 Documentary - The Making of England: St Augustine]
* [http://www.kansasmonks.org/ St. Benedict's Abbey] - Benedictine Brothers and Fathers in America's Heartland
* [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/benedict/rule2/files/rule2.html/ The Holy Rule of St. Benedict] - Online translation by Rev. Boniface Verheyen, OSB, of St Benedict's Abbey
* [http://www.benedictine.edu/ Benedictine College] - Dynamically Catholic, Benedictine, Liberal Arts, and Residential
* [http://www.pase.ac.uk/pase/apps/persons/CreatePersonFrames.jsp?personKey=13620 Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England Entry for St Augustine of Canterbury]

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{{s-bef | before=None }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=597–604}}
{{s-aft|| after=[[Laurence of Canterbury]]}}
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{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}

{{Persondata
|NAME=Augustine of Canterbury
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Saint Augustine of Canterbury
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Christian saint, first Archbishop of Canterbury
|DATE OF BIRTH=unknown
|PLACE OF BIRTH=
|DATE OF DEATH={{death date|604|5|26|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Augustine of Canterbury}}
[[Category:604 deaths]]
[[Category:Abbots of St Augustine's]]
[[Category:Anglican saints|Augustine of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon saints]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]
[[Category:Anglo-Italians]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Founders of English schools and colleges]]
[[Category:History of Kent]]

[[cs:Augustin z Canterbury]]
[[cy:Awstin, archesgob Caergaint]]
[[de:Augustinus von Canterbury]]
[[es:Agustín de Canterbury]]
[[fr:Augustin de Cantorbéry]]
[[gl:Agostiño de Canterbury]]
[[ko:캔터베리의 아우구스티누스]]
[[it:Sant'Agostino di Canterbury]]
[[la:Augustinus Cantuariensis]]
[[nl:Augustinus van Canterbury]]
[[ja:カンタベリーのアウグスティヌス]]
[[no:Augustin av Canterbury]]
[[pl:Augustyn z Canterbury]]
[[ro:Augustin de Canterbury]]
[[ru:Августин Кентерберийский]]
[[sk:Augustín z Canterbury]]
[[uk:Августин Кентерберійський]]