Augustine of Canterbury

Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born c. 550
Died c. 604
Activity 580-c. 604

Places

Born in Italy
Active in England; Italy

Activities

Primary

Archbishop
Monk

Resources

Augustine's Works

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Augustine was the first archbishop of Canterbury, having been sent to Anglo-Saxon England as the leader of a group of missionaries by Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great). His life and career while in England are known in considerable detail from Bede's account in his

Ecclesiastical History

, but we have only the sketchiest of information about his earlier life.

Augustine, presumably an Italian, is known to have studied under Felix, bishop of Messana, and to have been a monk at the monastery of St Andrew on the Caelian Hill at Rome, where he became prior. In 596 he was selected by Gregory to lead a mission to convert the English. Bede relates the famous story, “handed down by tradition”, as he puts it non-commitally, that Gregory’s desire to convert the English was inspired by his

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475 words

Citation: Magennis, Hugh. "Augustine of Canterbury". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5189, accessed 25 November 2024.]