In the year of our Lord 604, Augustine, Archbishop of Britain, ordained two bishops, to wit, Mellitus and Justus;1 Mellitus to preach to the province of the East-Saxons, who are divided from Kent by the river Thames, and border on the Eastern sea. Their metropolis is the city of London, which is situated on the bank of the aforesaid river, and is the mart of many nations resorting to it by sea and land. At that time, Sabert, nephew to Ethelbert through his sister Ricula, reigned over the nation, though he was under subjection to Ethelbert, who, as has been said above, had command over all the nations of the English as far as the river Humber. But when this province also received the word of truth, by the preaching of Mellitus, King Ethelbert built the church of St. Paul the Apostle,2 in the city of London, where he and his successors should have their episcopal see. As for Justus, Augustine ordained him bishop in Kent, at the city of Dorubrevis, which the English call Hrofaescaestrae,3 from one that was formerly the chief man of it, called Hrof. It is about twenty-four miles distant from the city of Canterbury to the westward, and in it King Ethelbert dedicated a church to the blessed Apostle Andrew,4 and bestowed many gifts on the bishops of both those churches, as well as on the Bishop of Canterbury, adding lands and possessions for the use of those who were associated with the bishops.
After this, the beloved of God, our father Augustine, died,5 and his body was laid outside, close by the church of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, above spoken of, because it was not yet finished, nor consecrated, but as soon as it was consecrated,6 the body was brought in, and fittingly buried in the north chapel7 thereof; wherein also were interred the bodies of all the succeeding archbishops, except two only, Theodore and Bertwald, whose bodies are in the church itself, because the aforesaid chapel could contain no more.8 Almost in the midst of this chapel is an altar dedicated in honour of the blessed Pope Gregory, at which every Saturday memorial Masses are celebrated for the archbishops by a priest of that place. On the tomb of Augustine is inscribed this epitaph:
“Here rests the Lord Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, who, being of old sent hither by the blessed Gregory, Bishop of the city of Rome, and supported by God in the working of miracles, led King Ethelbert and his nation from the worship of idols to the faith of Christ, and having ended the days of his office in peace, died the 26th day of May, in the reign of the same king.”
← II.2 How Augustine admonished the bishops of the Britons on behalf of Catholic peace, and to that end wrought a heavenly miracle in their presence; and of the vengeance that pursued them for their contempt. [Circ. 603 a.d.] · Contents · II.4 How Laurentius and his bishops admonished the Scots to observe the unity of the Holy Church, particularly in keeping of Easter; and how Mellitus went to Rome. →
Footnotes
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I, 29, and note. ↩
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The site is covered by the present cathedral. ↩
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Rochester. The new see was closely dependent on Canterbury, and till 1148 the archbishop had the appointment to this bishopric. ↩
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Probably in memory of his monastery on the Coelian (cf. I, 23). According to Rochester tradition, Ethelbert gave to the church some land called Priestfield to the south of the city, and other lands to the north. There exists a charter of Ethelbert to the city of Rochester, believed to be genuine. ↩
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The year is not given, and is not certainly known. It is generally assumed to have been 604 or 605. ↩
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This was in 613, by Laurentius. St. Augustine’s body was translated on September 13th. It was moved again in the twelfth century and placed under the high altar. ↩
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“Porticus”; variously translated: “porch,” “aisle,” “transept,” and “chapel.” Ducange explains it as “aedis sacrae propylaeum in porticus formam exstructum,” and says it was also used improperly for the sanctuary. Plummer (ad loc.) says it means side chapel, as often. The mention of the altar just below seems to support this meaning (if, indeed, haec refers to the “porticus,” and not to the church itself, as is assumed in the A.S. version). ↩
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For Theodore v. Preface, p. 2, note 2; IV, 1; V, 8, et saep.; and for Bertwald, V, 8. Cuthbert (740-758) was the first archbishop buried in Christ Church, Canterbury, instead of at St. Augustine’s. ↩