590 | Gregory I ("the Great"), a Benedictine monk, elected bishop of Rome. |
596 | Gregory decides to send a mission to Britain, after punning on "Angles" and "angels", "Deira" (York) and "de ira" (God's wrath), and so forth. |
597 | Augustine, first archbishop of Canterbury, another Benedictine, arrives in Kent. He baptizes King Æthelbert (who already has a Christian wife). Gregory authorizes Augustine to develop liturgy and other practices especially for the English-speaking people, thus beginning the Anglican church tradition. |
616 | Irate pagans pursue Mellitus, bishop of London, and Justus, bishop of Rochester, to Canterbury. King Æadbald is so impressed by the courage of Lawrence, archbishop of Canterbury, that he becomes a Christian. |
627 | Paulinus, first bishop of York, converts King Edwin of Northumbria. |
632 | Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne ("the holy island"), begins missionary work in Northumbria, battling pagan sorcery. |
651 | Cuthbert, shepherd-monk, becomes prior of Melrose Abbey (later bishop of Lindisfarne, still later hermit and preacher to seals and gulls.) |
663 | Synod of Whitby, at Hilda's mixed-sexes monastery. The English church will conform to Roman rather than Celtic practices. (This begins the period of Roman authority.) |
668 | Theodore of Tarsus, an elderly Syrian, ordained archbishop of Canterbury, establishes boundaries of dioceses. England is now a Christian nation, and paganism has been driven underground (as witchcraft). |
670 | Wilfrid of Ripon, a high-churchman famous for his brilliant oratory at Whitby, goes to Rome to be ordained bishop of York. |
672 | Wilfrid assumes office with much pomp. (Humble Chad, who had been bishop of York, is moved to Lichfield; Theodore forces him to ride a horse rather than walking about his new diocese.) |
678 | Wilfrid has alienated everyone and loses control of York. He spends the rest of his life travelling as an outstanding missionary and church-builder. |
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