Laurence of Canterbury

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{{Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury| | Full name = Saint Laurence of Canterbury| | image = | birth_name = Laurentius | began = 604 | term_end = 3 February, 619 | predecessor = Augustine of Canterbury | successor =Mellitus | birth_date = unknown | birthplace = | death_date = 3 February 619 | deathplace = | tomb = Saint Augustine Abbey church |}}

Sainthood

Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion
Commemorated	3 February
Saints Portal

Saint Laurence of Canterbury (or Laurentius) (died February 3, 619) was the second Archbishop of Canterbury.

1 Life
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

Life

He arrived at Thanet with St. Augustine in 597 as part of the missionary effort dispatched from Rome to Kent in 595,^[1]^[2]^[3] although other sources state that he first came in 601, not in 597.^[4] In either case, he was a monk of St. Andrew's Monastery in Rome.^[5] Bede says he was sent back to Pope Gregory I to report on the successes in Kent in converting King Ethelbert.^[6] He succeeded Augustine in the see of Canterbury around 604 and ruled until Laurence's death on February 3 619^[7] or on February 2.^[2] Augustine had consecrated Laurence before Augustine died in order to secure the succession, fearing that if there was not someone to step into the office immediately, it would hurt the progress of Christianity in Britain.^[8]^[9] However, Laurence never received a pallium from Rome, so he may have been considered as uncanonical at Rome.^[10] It was Laurence in 613 who consecrated the church that Augustine had build in Canterbury that was dedicated to saints Peter and Paul,^[2] but later was re-consecrated to St. Augustine of Canterbury.^[11] Laurence also wrote to the Christians in the lands held by the Scots and by the Britons, in order to urge them to hold Easter on the day that the Roman church celebrated it, instead of their traditional date, part of the Easter controversy. Bede has preserved the letter in his history.^[8] Laurence in 609 stated that Bishop Dagan, a Celtic bishop, would not eat with Laurence or share a roof with the archbishop, due to the differences between the two Churches. Another time, Laurence wrote that the "small number of Celts, living at the world's ends, cannot claim to know better than all the Churches of Christendom."^[12] During Laurence's time in office, Ethelbert died in 616 and his son Eadbald returned to the old faiths and many prominent missionaries fled to Gaul. But Laurence managed to reconvert him.^[9] The tale is that Laurence had been prepared to give up when he was visited by St. Peter in a vision, who chastised him and whipped him. The marks of the whipping remained and the display of them to Eadbald effected his conversion.^[1] Any efforts to extend the church beyond Kent encountered difficulties due to the attitude of King Rædwald of East Anglia, who had become the leading king in the south after the death of Ethelbert.^[13] Rædwald was converted before the death of Ethelbert, perhaps at the urging of Ethelbert, but his kingdom did not convert and he himself seems to have been converted only enough to allow a Christian altar in his pagan temple.^[10] On his death he was buried in St. Peter's Abbey church, later renamed Saint Augustine's. In 1091 his remains were moved to the new church of St. Augustine's.^[2] He was succeeded as Archbishop by Mellitus, the Bishop of London. Laurence was later considered a saint, and his festival is on February 3.^[1] Laurence's time as archbishop is mainly remembered for his failure to secure a settlement with the Celtic church and in his reconversion of Eadbald after Ethelbert's death.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oates 2007 ISBN 0-8601-2438-X p. 357
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Brooks, N. P. "Laurence (d. 619)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 online edn, Oct 2005 accessed November 7, 2007
^ Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 106
^ Hindley, Geoffrey A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 36
^ Delaney, John J. Dictionary of Saints Second Edition Doubleday: New York 2003 ISBN 0-385-13594-7 p. 369
^ Bede A History of the English Church and People translated by Leo Sherley-Price London:Penguin Books 1988 ISBN 0-14-044042-9 p. 71
^ Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961 p. 209
^ ^a ^b Bede A History of the English Church and People translated by Leo Sherley-Price London:Penguin Books 1988 ISBN 0-14-044042-9 p. 105-107
^ ^a ^b Hindley, Geoffrey A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 43
^ ^a ^b ^c Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 112-113
^ Bede A History of the English Church and People translated by Leo Sherley-Price London:Penguin Books 1988 ISBN 0-14-044042-9 p. 91-92
^ Décarreaux, Jean Monks and Civilization: From the Barbarian Invasions to the Reign of Charlemagne translated by Charlotte Haldane London: George Allen 1964 p. 261
^ Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 127

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Augustine of Canterbury	Archbishop of Canterbury 604–619	Succeeded by Mellitus

Persondata
NAME	Laurence of Canterbury
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lawrence; Laurentius
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Archbishop of Canterbury, Saint
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	February 3, 619
PLACE OF DEATH