Laurence of Canterbury
Laurence was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from about 604 to 619. He was a member of the Gregorian mission sent from Italy to England to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism. He faced a crisis following the death of King Æthelberht of Kent, when the king’s successor abandoned Christianity; he eventually reconverted.
About Laurence of Canterbury in brief
Laurence was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from about 604 to 619. He was a member of the Gregorian mission sent from Italy to England to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism. He faced a crisis following the death of King Æthelberht of Kent, when the king’s successor abandoned Christianity; he eventually reconverted. Laurence was consecrated archbishop by his predecessor, Augustine of Canterbury, during Augustine’s lifetime, to ensure continuity in the office. While archbishop, he attempted unsuccessfully to resolve differences with the native British bishops by corresponding with them about points of dispute. In 613 Laurence consecrated the monastery church built by Augustine in Canterbury, and dedicated it to saints Peter and Paul; it was later re-consecrated as St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. He died in 619, and was revered as a saint after his death in 616, during Laurence’s tenure; his son, Eadbaldbht, abandoned Christianity in favour of paganism, forcing missionaries to flee.
Among them were Bishop Mellitus of London, who was Bishop of Rochester, and Justus of Rochester. Bede relates the story that Laurence had been prepared to give up Christianity when he was visited by St Peter in a dream and whipped him, and that St Peter chastised Laurence and displayed the marks of the whipping to Eadaldbaldt in the church. He also wrote to the bishops in the lands held by the Scots and by the Britons, urging them to hold Easter on the day that the Roman church celebrated it, instead of their traditional date, as part of the Easter controversy. He never received a pallium from Rome, so he may have been considered uncanonical by the papacy.
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