Augustine and his Conversion of the Anglo Saxons

 

 In the year 596, Pope Gregory The Great was, in the words of the Venerable Bede, "inspired by God" to send a group of monks to convert the island of Britain to Christianity. Britain had been taken over in the 5th century by pagan tribes of Germanic origin. Efforts had been made to convert the different groups, including Angles, Saxons and Jutes but more thorough work was needed. However, Augustine and his fellow monks had their doubts over their holy mission. After all, they were entering an island now home to dangerous "Barbarian" tribes. Aware of their doubts, Gregory wrote to them to try and reassure them. 

However, Augustine's reluctance to come to Britain was entirely understandable. Throughout the 5th and oth centuries, the Britons had to withstand numerous foreign invasions but by the 590s, they were now fighting amongst themselves as well. Augustine was coming to an Island in the grip of civil war. Despite this, the calming words of Gregory had the desired effect and Augustine finally came to Britain in 597 where the first audience to receive his message was King Aethelbert II of Kent which Augustine delivered at the Isle of Thanet,

Aethelbert received Augustine and his band of followers in a friendly way and listened to what the monks had to say. However, the king was unsure. He believed Augustine to be earnest in his message but all the same, Aethelbert was reluctant to give up his old pagan traditions. He allowed Augustine to stay in Canterbury and provided generously for his visitors. Aethelbert also allowed Augustine to continue to preach his message freely. But the monks still had some work to do if they were going to be successful in converting the Kentish king to convert to Christianity.

Augustine and his men were given a house to stay in and they set to work immediately. They preached their message to anyone who'd listen  They urged their listeners to reject luxury, When they weren't preaching, they were either fasting or at prayer and it wasn't too long before their message began to be heard. The simplicity and seeming honesty of the lives of Augustine and his followers left an impression on Aethelbert and he too converted to Christianity. This gave Augustine greater freedoms. He was now able to preach further afield and to build and restore churches. Following their king's example, more and more of the people of Kent began to convert.

With the blessing of Pope Gregory, Augustine was consecrated the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine then wrote to the Pope asking for clarifications on a number of matters including what was the purpose of a bishop, why customs varied in different churches in different kingdoms and what should be the punishment for those who robbed churches among a number of other questions. The first two questions in particular are a reminder of how young the Christian church still was.

Realising that Augustine's mission was proving successful, Pope Gregory sent him a number of clergymen to assist in the full establishment of the Church in England. But the Pope also had a word of warning for Augustine. Rumours of miracles being performed by Augustine in England had reached the ears of Gregory and he wrote to him, warning against the danger of becoming too proud.

In 604, Augustine consecrated two bishops by the names of Mellitus and Justus with Mellitus sent to preach to the East Saxons and Justus remaining in Kent. Shortly after this, Augustine died, having named a man called Laurence as his successor. He is buried at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. Although Christianity had touched these shores a century before Augustine's arrival, he can essentially be credited, if you want to call it that, with the establishment of a church in England.