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XXV. How Augustine, coming into Britain, first preached in the Isle of Thanet to the King of Kent, and having obtained licence from him, went into Kent, in order to preach therein. [597 A. D.]
CHAP. XXIV. How he wrote to the bishop of Arles to entertain them. [596 A.D.]
THE same venerable pope also sent at the same time a letter to Aetherius,
archbishop of Arles,’ exhorting him to give favourable entertainment to
Augustine on his way to Britain; which letter was in these words:
‘To his most reverend and holy brother and fellow bishop Aetherius, Gregory, the
servant of the servants of God. Although religious men stand in need of no
recommendation with priests who have the charity which is pleasing to God; yet
because an opportunity of writing has occurred, we have thought fit to send this
letter to you, Brother, to inform you, that with the help of God we have
directed thither, for the good of souls, the bearer of these presents,
Augustine, the servant of God, of whose zeal we are assured, with other servants
of God, whom it is requisite that your Holiness readily assist with priestly
zeal, affording him all the comfort in your power. And to the end that you may
be the more ready in your help, we have enjoined him to inform you particularly
of the occasion of his coming; knowing, that when you are acquainted with it,
you will, as the matter requires, for the sake of God, dutifully dispose
yourself to give him comfort. We also in all things recommend to your charity,
Candidus, the priest, our common son, whom we have transferred to the
administration of a small patrimony in our Church. God keep you in safety, most
reverend brother. Given the 23rd day of July, in the fourteenth year of the
reign of our most religious lord, Mauritius Tiberius Augustus, the thirteenth
year after the consulship of our lord aforesaid, and the fourteenth indiction."
CHAP. XXV. How Augustine, coming into Britain, first preached in the Isle of
Thanet to the King of Kent, and having obtained licence from him, went into
Kent, in order to preach therein. [597 A. D.]
Augustine, thus strengthened by the encouragement of the blessed Father Gregory,
returned to the work of the Word of God, with the servants of Christ who were
with him, and arrived in Britain. The powerful Ethelbert was at that time king
of Kent; he had extended his dominions as far as the boundary formed by the
great river Humber, by which the Southern Saxons are divided from the Northern.
On the east of Kent is the large Isle of Thanet, containing, according to the
English way of reckoning, 600 families, divided from the mainland by the river
Wantsum, which is about three furlongs in breadth, and which can be crossed only
in two places; for at both ends it runs into the sea. On this island landed the
servant of the Lord, Augustine, and his companions, being, as is reported,
nearly forty men. They had obtained, by order of the blessed Pope Gregory,
interpreters of the nation of the Franks, and sending to Ethelbert, signified
that they were come from Rome, and brought a joyful message, which most
undoubtedly assured to those that hearkened to it everlasting joys in heaven,
and a kingdom that would never end, with the living and true God. The king
hearing this, gave orders that they, should stay in the island where they had
landed, and be furnished with necessaries, till he should consider what to do
with them. For he had before heard of the Christian religion, having a Christian
wife of the royal family of the Franks, called Bertha; whom he had received from
her parents, upon condition that she should be permitted to preserve inviolate
the rites of her religion with the Bishop Liudhard, who was sent with her to
support her in the faith. Some days after, the king came into the island, and
sitting in the open air, ordered Augustine and his companions to come and hold a
conference with him. For he had taken precaution that they should not come to
him in any house, lest, by so coming, according to an ancient superstition, if
they practised any magical arts, they might impose upon him, and so get the
better of him. But they came endued with Divine, not with magic power, bearing a
silver cross for their banner, and the image of our Lord and Saviour painted on
a board; and chanting litanies, they offered up their prayers to the Lord for
the eternal salvation both of themselves and of those to whom and for whom they
had come. When they had sat down, in obedience to the king’s commands, and
preached to him and his attendants there present the Word of life, the king
answered thus: "Your words and promises are fair, but because they are new to
us, and of uncertain import, I cannot consent to them so far as to forsake that
which I have so long observed with the whole English nation. But because you are
come from far as strangers into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to
impart to us those things which you believe to be true, and most beneficial, we
desire not to harm you, but will give you favourable entertainment, and take
care to supply you with all things necessary to your sustenance; nor do we
forbid you to preach and gain as many as you can to your religion." Accordingly
he gave them an abode in the city of Canterbury, which was the metropolis of all
his dominions, and, as he had promised, besides supplying them with sustenance,
did not refuse them liberty to preach. It is told that, as they drew near to the
city, after their manner, with the holy cross, and the image of our sovereign
Lord and King, Jesus Christ, they sang in concert this litany: "We beseech thee,
0 Lord, for Thy great mercy, that Thy wrath and anger be turned away from this
city, and from Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Hallelujah."
