Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine’s mission to Roman Britain in 597 at the behest of Pope Gregory the Great was one of the pivotal events in the history of English Christianity and crucial to its subsequent survival and expansion. Yet little is known about Augustine himself and even less about the leadership he exercised in mounting a mission to the Anglo-Saxon people, or the monastic spirituality that energised the enterprise. This book sifts and evaluates recent and varied sources to produce a more coherent narrative of the events that led to Augustine’s mission, his complex political and geographical journey through Merovingian France, and the outcomes in Kent and ultimately for British Christianity. Critical leadership issues are considered as they arose on the journey to Kent, together with the spiritual resources available for this bold and unprecedented venture, and Augustine’s legacy as the first Archbishop of Canterbury is reassessed.