Laurence of Canterbury

Last updated

Saint

Laurence
Archbishop of Canterbury
Staugustinescanterburygravelaurence.jpg
Gravestone marking the site of Laurence's burial in St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury
Appointed c.  604
Term ended2 February 619
Predecessor Augustine of Canterbury
Successor Mellitus
Orders
Consecrationc. 604
Personal details
Died2 February 619
BuriedSt Augustine's Abbey
Sainthood
Feast day3 February
Venerated in
Canonized Pre-Congregation
ShrinesSt Augustine's Abbey

Laurence [lower-alpha 1] (died 2 February 619) was the second Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from about 604 to 619. He was a member of the Gregorian mission sent from Italy to England to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, although the date of his arrival is disputed. He was consecrated archbishop by his predecessor, Augustine of Canterbury, during Augustine's lifetime, to ensure continuity in the office. While archbishop, he attempted unsuccessfully to resolve differences with the native British bishops by corresponding with them about points of dispute. Laurence faced a crisis following the death of King Æthelberht of Kent, when the king's successor abandoned Christianity; he eventually reconverted. Laurence was revered as a saint after his death in 619.

Contents

Early life

Laurence was part of the Gregorian mission originally dispatched from Rome in 595 to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity; he landed at Thanet, Kent, with Augustine in 597, [4] [5] or, as some sources state, first arrived in 601 and was not a part of the first group of missionaries. [6] [7] He had been a monk in Rome before his travels to England, [4] but nothing else is known of his history or background. [8] The medieval chronicler Bede says that Augustine sent Laurence back to Pope Gregory I to report on the success of converting King Æthelberht of Kent and to carry a letter with questions for the pope. Accompanied by Peter of Canterbury, another missionary, he set off sometime after July 598, and returned by June 601. [9] He brought back with him Gregory's replies to Augustine's questions, a document commonly known as the Libellus responsionum , that Bede incorporated in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum . [3] Laurence is probably the Laurence referred to in the letter from Gregory to Bertha, queen of Kent. In that letter, Gregory praises Bertha for her part in the conversion of her husband, details of which Gregory says he received from Laurence the priest. [10] It is known that Laurence returned to England with Mellitus and others of the second group of missionaries in the summer of 601, but there is no record of Peter being with them. [11]

Archbishop

Map of some of the English kingdoms as of about AD 600 Kingdoms in England and Wales about 600 AD.svg
Map of some of the English kingdoms as of about AD 600

Laurence succeeded Augustine to the see of Canterbury in about 604, and ruled until his death on 2 February 619. [4] [12] To secure the succession, Augustine had consecrated Laurence before he died, even though that was prohibited by canon law. [3] Augustine was afraid though that if someone did not step into the office immediately, it would damage the missionary efforts in Britain. [7] [13] However, Laurence never received a pallium from Rome, so he may have been considered uncanonical by the papacy. [14] Bede makes a point of comparing Augustine's action in consecrating Laurence to Saint Peter's action of consecrating Clement as Bishop of Rome during Peter's lifetime, which the theologian J. Robert Wright believes may be Bede's way of criticising the practices of the church in his day. [15]

In 610 Laurence received letters from Pope Boniface IV, addressed to him as archbishop and Augustine's successor. [16] The correspondence was in response to Laurence having sent Mellitus to Rome earlier in 610, to solicit advice from the papacy on matters concerning the English Church. While in Rome Mellitus attended a synod and brought the synodical decrees back with him to Laurence. [17]

In 613 Laurence consecrated the monastery church built by Augustine in Canterbury, and dedicated it to saints Peter and Paul; it was later re-consecrated as St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. [4] Laurence also wrote to the bishops in the lands held by the Scots and by the Britons, urging them to hold Easter on the day that the Roman church celebrated it, instead of their traditional date, as part of the Easter controversy. [4] The letter is also preserved in Bede's history. [18] Laurence in 609 stated that Dagan, a native bishop, would not eat with Laurence or share a roof with the archbishop, due to the differences between the two Churches. [19]

Pagan reaction

The evangelist portrait of Luke, from the St. Augustine Gospels (c. 6th century), which were probably used by Laurence. AugsutineGospelsFolio129vStLuke.jpg
The evangelist portrait of Luke, from the St. Augustine Gospels (c. 6th century), which were probably used by Laurence.

Æthelberht died in 616, during Laurence's tenure; his son Eadbald abandoned Christianity in favour of Anglo-Saxon paganism, forcing many of the Gregorian missionaries to flee the pagan backlash that followed Æthelberht's death. [13] Among them in Gaul were Mellitus, who was Bishop of London, and Justus, who was Bishop of Rochester. [20] Remaining in Britain, Laurence succeeded in reconverting Eadbald to Christianity. [13] Bede relates the story that Laurence had been prepared to give up when he was visited by St Peter in a dream or vision. St Peter chastised Laurence and whipped him, and the marks of the whipping remained after the vision or dream ended. Laurence then displayed them to Eadbald, and the king was converted on the spot. [21] Bede, however, hints that it was the death of some of the leaders of the pagan party in battle that really persuaded Laurence to stay. [17] According to Benedicta Ward, a historian of Christianity, Bede uses the story of the whipping as an example of how suffering was a reminder of Christ's suffering for humans, and how that example could lead to conversion. [22] Wright argues that another point Bede is making is that it is because of the intercession of St Peter himself that the mission continued. [23] David Farmer, in the Oxford Dictionary of Saints , suggests that the whipping story may have been a blending of the Quo vadis story with some information given by Jerome in a letter. [24]

Modern historians have seen political overtones in the pagan reaction. The historian D. P. Kirby sees Eadbald's actions as a repudiation of his father's pro-Frankish policies. [20] Alcuin, a later medieval writer, wrote that Laurence was "censured by apostolic authority". [25] This may have been a letter from Pope Adeodatus I, commanding Laurence to stay in Kent. Kirby goes on to argue that it was Justus, not Laurence, who converted Eadbald, and this while Justus was archbishop, sometime around 624. [20] Not all historians agree with this argument, however. Nicholas Brooks states that the king was converted during Laurence's archiepiscopate, within a year of him succeeding his father. [4] The historian Barbara Yorke argues that there were two co-rulers of Kent after Æthelberht's death, Eadbald and a Æthelwald, and that Eadbald was converted by Laurence while Æthelwald was converted by Justus after his return to Rochester. [26] Another factor in the pagan reaction was Laurence's objection to Eadbald's marriage to his father's widow, something that Christians considered to be unlawful. [27]

All efforts to extend the church beyond Kent encountered difficulties due to the attitude of King Rædwald of East Anglia, who had become the leading king in the south after Æthelberht's death. [28] Rædwald was converted before the death of Æthelberht, perhaps at the urging of Æthelberht, but his kingdom was not, and Rædwald seems to have converted only to the extent of placing a Christian altar in his pagan temple. [29] It proved impossible for Mellitus to return to London as bishop, although Justus did resume his duties at Rochester. [20]

Death and legacy

Laurence died on 2 February 619, and was buried in the abbey of St Peter and Paul in Canterbury, later renamed St Augustine's; his relics, or remains, were moved, or translated, to the new church of St Augustine's in 1091. [4] His shrine was in the axial chapel of the abbey church, flanking the shrine of Augustine, his predecessor. [30] Laurence came to be regarded as a saint, and was given the feast day of 3 February. [31] The ninth century Stowe Missal commemorates his feast day, along with Mellitus and Justus. [32] A Vita (or Life) was written about the time of his translation, by Goscelin, but it is mainly based on information in Bede. [4] His tomb was opened in 1915. Besides his feast day, the date of his translation, 13 September, was also celebrated after his death. [24] Laurence's tenure as archbishop is mainly remembered for his failure to secure a settlement with the Celtic church and for his reconversion of Eadbald following Æthelbert's death. [14] He was succeeded as archbishop by Mellitus, the Bishop of London. [12]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sometimes Lawrence [2] or Laurentius [3]

Citations

  1. ↑ Hutchinson-Hall Orthodox Saints p. 95
  2. ↑ Blair World of Bede p. 85
  3. 1 2 3 Lapidge "Laurentius" Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Brooks "Laurence" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  5. ↑ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 106
  6. ↑ Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 36
  7. 1 2 Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury pp. 9–13
  8. ↑ Blair World of Bede p. 59
  9. ↑ Blair World of Bede p. 63
  10. ↑ Blair World of Bede p. 60
  11. ↑ Blair World of Bede p. 66
  12. 1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 213
  13. 1 2 3 Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 43
  14. 1 2 Stenton Anglo-Saxon England pp. 112–113
  15. ↑ Wright Companion to Bede p. 47
  16. ↑ Blair World of Bede p. 80
  17. 1 2 Blair World of Bede pp. 86–87
  18. ↑ Bede History of the English Church and People pp. 105–107
  19. ↑ Décarreaux Monks and Civilization p. 261
  20. 1 2 3 4 Kirby Earliest English Kings pp. 30–33
  21. ↑ Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury pp. 64–66
  22. ↑ Ward Venerable Bede pp. 120–121
  23. ↑ Wright Companion to Bede pp. 48–50
  24. 1 2 Farmer Oxford Dictionary of Saints pp. 313–314
  25. ↑ Quoted in Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 31
  26. ↑ Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 32
  27. ↑ Yorke Conversion p. 123
  28. ↑ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 127
  29. ↑ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 112
  30. ↑ Nilson Cathedral Shrines p. 67
  31. ↑ Walsh A New Dictionary of Saints p. 357
  32. ↑ Farmer Oxford Dictionary of Saints p. 366

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustine of Canterbury</span> 6th-century missionary, archbishop, and saint

Augustine of Canterbury was a Christian monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founding figure of the Church of England.

Æthelberht was King of Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, lists him as the third king to hold imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. In the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he is referred to as a bretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". He was the first English king to convert to Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justus</span> 7th-century missionary, Archbishop of Canterbury, and saint

Justus was the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Gregory the Great, sent Justus from Italy to England on a mission to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism, probably arriving with the second group of missionaries despatched in 601. Justus became the first Bishop of Rochester in 604 and attended a church council in Paris in 614.

Mellitus was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergy sent to augment the mission, and was consecrated as Bishop of London in 604. Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs. In 610, Mellitus returned to Italy to attend a council of bishops, and returned to England bearing papal letters to some of the missionaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rædwald of East Anglia</span> Bretwalda

Rædwald, also written as Raedwald or Redwald, was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty, who were the first kings of the East Angles. Details about Rædwald's reign are scarce, primarily because the Viking invasions of the 9th century destroyed the monasteries in East Anglia where many documents would have been kept. Rædwald reigned from about 599 until his death around 624, initially under the overlordship of Æthelberht of Kent. In 616, as a result of fighting the Battle of the River Idle and defeating Æthelfrith of Northumbria, he was able to install Edwin, who was acquiescent to his authority, as the new king of Northumbria. During the battle, both Æthelfrith and Rædwald's son, Rægenhere, were killed.

Paulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group. Little is known of Paulinus's activities in the following two decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eadbald of Kent</span> King of Kent (616–640)

Eadbald was King of Kent from 616 until his death in 640. He was the son of King Æthelberht and his wife Bertha, a daughter of the Merovingian king Charibert. Æthelberht made Kent the dominant force in England during his reign and became the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Eadbald's accession was a significant setback for the growth of the church, since he retained his people's paganism and did not convert to Christianity for at least a year, and perhaps for as much as eight years. He was ultimately converted by either Laurentius or Justus, and separated from his first wife, who had been his stepmother, at the insistence of the church. Eadbald's second wife was Emma, who may have been a Frankish princess. They had two sons, Eormenred and Eorcenberht, and a daughter, Eanswith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sæberht of Essex</span> 7th century king of the East Saxons

Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert was an Anglo-Saxon King of Essex, in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity.

Honorius was a member of the Gregorian mission to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism in 597 AD who later became Archbishop of Canterbury. During his archiepiscopate, he consecrated the first native English bishop of Rochester as well as helping the missionary efforts of Felix among the East Anglians. Honorius was the last to die among the Gregorian missionaries.

Wihtred was king of Kent from about 690 or 691 until his death. He was a son of Ecgberht I and a brother of Eadric. Wihtred ascended to the throne after a confused period in the 680s, which included a brief conquest of Kent by Cædwalla of Wessex, and subsequent dynastic conflicts. His immediate predecessor was Oswine, who was probably descended from Eadbald, though not through the same line as Wihtred. Shortly after the start of his reign, Wihtred issued a code of laws—the Law of Wihtred—that has been preserved in a manuscript known as the Textus Roffensis. The laws pay a great deal of attention to the rights of the Church, including punishment for irregular marriages and for pagan worship. Wihtred's long reign had few incidents recorded in the annals of the day. He was succeeded in 725 by his sons, Æthelberht II, Eadberht I, and Alric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deusdedit of Canterbury</span> 7th century Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury

Deusdedit was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, the first native-born holder of the see of Canterbury. By birth an Anglo-Saxon, he became archbishop in 655 and held the office for more than nine years until his death, probably from plague. Deusdedit's successor as archbishop was one of his priests at Canterbury. There is some controversy over the exact date of Deusdedit's death, owing to discrepancies in the medieval written work that records his life. Little is known about his episcopate, but he was considered to be a saint after his demise. A saint's life was written after his relics were moved from their original burial place in 1091.

Nothhelm was a medieval Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. A correspondent of both Bede and Boniface, it was Nothhelm who gathered materials from Canterbury for Bede's historical works. After his appointment to the archbishopric in 735, he attended to ecclesiastical matters, including holding church councils. Although later antiquaries felt that Nothhelm was the author of a number of works, later research has shown them to be authored by others. After his death he was considered a saint.

Berhtwald was the ninth Archbishop of Canterbury in England. Documentary evidence names Berhtwald as abbot at Reculver before his election as archbishop. Berhtwald begins the first continuous series of native-born Archbishops of Canterbury, although there had been previous Anglo-Saxon archbishops, they had not succeeded each other until Berhtwald's reign.

Cuthbert was a medieval Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury in England. Prior to his elevation to Canterbury, he was abbot of a monastic house, and perhaps may have been Bishop of Hereford also, but evidence for his holding Hereford mainly dates from after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. While Archbishop, he held church councils and built a new church in Canterbury. It was during Cuthbert's archbishopric that the Diocese of York was raised to an archbishopric. Cuthbert died in 760 and was later regarded as a saint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England</span>

In the seventh century the pagan Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity mainly by missionaries sent from Rome. Irish missionaries from Iona, who were proponents of Celtic Christianity, were influential in the conversion of Northumbria, but after the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Anglo-Saxon church gave its allegiance to the Pope.

Peter of Canterbury or Petrus was the first abbot of the monastery of SS. Peter and Paul in Canterbury and a companion of Augustine in the Gregorian mission to Kent. Augustine sent Peter as an emissary to Rome around 600 to convey news of the mission to Pope Gregory I. Peter's death has traditionally been dated to around 607, but evidence suggests that he was present at a church council in Paris in 614, so he probably died after that date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th century in England</span>

Events from the 7th century in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregorian mission</span> 6th century Christian mission to Britain

The Gregorian mission or Augustinian mission was a Christian mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to convert Britain's Anglo-Saxons. The mission was headed by Augustine of Canterbury. By the time of the death of the last missionary in 653, the mission had established Christianity among the southern Anglo-Saxons. Along with the Irish and Frankish missions it converted Anglo-Saxons in other parts of Britain as well and influenced the Hiberno-Scottish missions to continental Europe.

The Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England was a process spanning the 7th century. It was essentially the result of the Gregorian mission of 597, which was joined by the efforts of the Hiberno-Scottish mission from the 630s. From the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxon mission was, in turn, instrumental in the conversion of the population of the Frankish Empire.

References

Further reading

Christian titles
Preceded by Archbishop of Canterbury
604–619		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.