Augustine of Canterbury

(mind. 604)

Augustine was prior of the monastery of St.. Andrew in Rome, and in 595 he was appointed to lead a group of about 40 missionaries, whom Pope Gregory the Great sent to England. King Ethelbert allowed them to settle in Canterbury, and later he was baptized. At Christmas, 597 'the first archbishop of England "was christened about 10 000 people. At the end of his life, Augustine was engaged in the creation of the church hierarchy in the Saxons and unsuccessfully tried to keep unity with the Catholic bishops of the Celtic. Augustine died 26 May 604, and in this day his memory is revered in England and Wales.