... died in AD 604, and should not be confused with Augustine of Hippo – who was of Berber origin, and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa, some 200 years earlier (13 November 354 to 28 August 430).
Augustine of Canterbury was the prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory the Great chose him in 595 to lead a mission to Christianise King Æthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent from Anglo–Saxon paganism. Æthelberht was probably chosen because he'd married a Christian princess, Bertha (daughter of Charibert I, King of Paris), who was expected to exert some influence over her husband. Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet in AD 597, and proceeded to Æthelberht's main town of Canterbury.
King Æthelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated as a bishop and converted many of the king's subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597. Pope Gregory sent more missionaries in 601, along with encouraging letters and gifts for the churches, although attempts to persuade the native British bishops to submit to Augustine's authority were unsuccessful. Roman bishops were established at London, and Rochester in 604, and a school was founded to train Anglo–Saxon priests and missionaries. Augustine also arranged the consecration of his successor, Laurence of Canterbury.
Augustine was revered as a saint soon after his death in 604. He is known as the 'Apostle to the English' and considered a founder of the English Church.
© Haydn Thompson 2022