Augustine and the Roman Mission to the English

Britain – The Early Anglo-Saxon Church, 597-754

In this course, Professor Sarah Foot (University of Oxford) explores the early Anglo-Saxon church, from Augustine's mission to England in the late sixth century to the death of Boniface in 754. We begin in the first module with Augustine's mission to the English, focusing in particular on the conversions of Æthelberht of Kent and Edwin of Northumbria. In the second module, we think about the longer-term success of Augustine's mission, exploring the importance of Frankish, Irish and English missionaries in the conversion of pagan England, including figures such as Felix of Burgundy, Aidan, Cuthbert and the controversial figure of Wilfrid. In the third module, we think about the Synod of Whitby (664), drawing on new research that suggesting that Bede's account may be completely accurate, before turning in the fourth module to the organisation of the English church in the sixth and seventh centuries, and the sweeping reforms of Theodore of Tarsus in the late seventh century. In the fifth module we think about the growth of monasticism in England in this period, before moving on in the sixth module to consider the Anglo-Saxon missions to the Continent from the mid-seventh century onwards, focusing in particular on the work on Boniface.

Augustine and the Roman Mission to the English

In this module, we think about Augustine's mission to the English at the end of the 6th century AD, focusing in particular on the usefulness of the historian Bede as a source, the reasons behind the decision of Pope Gregory I to send a mission to England, the 'top-down' method of converting a population to Christianity, and the conversions of Æthelberht of Kent and Edwin of Northumbria.