Augustine, Saint

Augustine, Saint of Canterbury (?-6o4 AD), first Archbishop of Canterbury.

Augustine was a Benedictine monk, the abbot of the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome. He was sent by Pope Gregory I to convert the people of England to the Christian religion.

With forty companions, he landed on the Isle of Thanet, near Ramsgate in Kent, at Easter in 597.

Ethelbert, King of Kent, had a Christian wife born in Gaul (France). He was soon converted and so were the people of his kingdom.

The Pope made Augustine Archbishop of Canterbury and he sent out priests to begin converting the rest of England. Augustine is said to have founded King's School, Canterbury. This is the oldest school in Britain.