Gregorian mission

Gregorian mission
source
Name	Gregorian mission
Caption	Augustine of Canterbury, leader of the mission, from the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold.
Date	c. 595–c. 640 AD
Location	Kingdom of Kent
Type	Papal mission
Motive	Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity
Organisers	Pope Gregory I
Participants	Augustine of Canterbury, Laurence of Canterbury, Mellitus, Justus
Outcome	Foundation of the Diocese of Canterbury and establishment of Roman Christianity in England

Gregorian mission. The Gregorian mission was a pivotal papal initiative dispatched by Pope Gregory I in the late 6th century to convert the Anglo-Saxons of Britain to Christianity. Led by Augustine of Canterbury, the group of Benedictine monks landed in the Kingdom of Kent in 597, establishing a permanent ecclesiastical foothold. This mission directly led to the foundation of the Diocese of Canterbury and initiated the widespread reintroduction of Roman Christianity to England, profoundly shaping its religious and political landscape for centuries.

Background and context

Following the collapse of Roman Britain, much of the island had reverted to Anglo-Saxon paganism, though Christian communities persisted in western areas like the Kingdom of Strathclyde and among the Britons (historical). Pope Gregory I, motivated by theological conviction and strategic vision for the Latin Church, sought to bring the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into the Roman Catholic fold. His decision was likely influenced by encounters with Anglian slaves in the Roman Forum and a desire to expand the church's influence following the challenges of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire. The political context was favorable, as Æthelberht of Kent, married to the Christian Frankish princess Bertha of Kent, exercised significant hegemony over southern Britain.

Arrival and initial efforts

The mission, comprising around forty monks from the Monastery of Saint Andrew in Rome, departed in 595 but initially hesitated in Gaul before being urged onward by Gregory. They finally landed on the Isle of Thanet in 597 and were granted permission by Æthelberht of Kent to preach in his capital, Canterbury. According to Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the king received them in the open air, fearing their magic, but was soon converted, with a mass baptism occurring on Christmas Day 597. The missionaries were allowed to reuse a former Roman church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours for worship, establishing their initial base.

Establishment of the Church

Following the initial conversions, Augustine traveled to Arles to be consecrated as a bishop in 601, returning with more missionaries and explicit instructions from Pope Gregory I known as the Libellus responsionum. He established his episcopal see at Canterbury, founding Christ Church, Canterbury, and began organizing the church hierarchy. Key assistants like Mellitus, Justus, and Paulinus of York were consecrated as bishops for new sees in London and Rochester, while efforts were made to integrate with existing pagan practices, as advised in Gregory's famous letter to Mellitus. The mission also founded the Abbey of St Peter and St Paul outside the city walls.

Relations with existing Christian communities

A significant challenge was the relationship with the native Britons (historical) and the Irish monastic communities, who followed distinct Celtic Christian traditions, particularly regarding the calculation of Easter and certain liturgical rites. Augustine held unsuccessful conferences with British bishops, such as at Augustine's Oak, but failed to secure their submission to Roman authority, partly due to his own perceived haughtiness. This schism persisted until the Synod of Whitby in 664. The mission's success remained largely confined to the southeast, with later expansion northward undertaken by other figures like Paulinus of York during the reign of Edwin of Northumbria.

Legacy and historical assessment

The Gregorian mission's primary legacy was the permanent establishment of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the primatial see of England, a status enduring to the present day within the Church of England. It initiated the process that led to the unification of English Christianity under the Roman Rite, decisively aligning the country with the cultural and religious sphere of Continental Europe. Historians like Bede celebrated it as a divinely ordained event, though modern assessments also recognize its role in the political consolidation of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the complex displacement of Celtic Christianity. Its direct impact paved the way for later missionary work by figures such as Theodore of Tarsus and the flourishing of Anglo-Saxon art and learning.

Category:6th-century Christianity Category:History of Christianity in England Category:Medieval English history