24 Febuary 616 A.D. Ethelbert Dies—1st Christian King of Kent
24
Febuary 616 A.D. Ethelbert
Dies—1st Christian King of Kent
Graves,
Dan. “Ethelbert, 1st Christian King of Kent.” Christianity.com. Jul 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/ethelbert-1st-christian-king-of-kent-11629721.html?utm_source=nextArticleBox&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=next-article-box. Accessed
24 May 2014.
The fortunes of Christianity have
waxed and waned in Britain. Early in church history, so many Celts converted to
Christ that the island could be called a Christian country. One of its sons,
Patrick, carried the gospel to Ireland where Christianity also triumphed.
However, the Celts fell to an invasion by Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the fifth
century. The Anglo-Saxons were pagans, worshipping the Norse gods, whose
pantheon was headed by Odin.
Celtic Christians, hating the invaders
who had robbed them of their land, made little or no effort to convert them to
Christ. In the sixth century, Irish monks crossing from Ireland, began the
conversion of pagan England from the north. In the seventh century Augustine of
Canterbury brought the gospel to Kent, in the south.
Ethelbert ruled Kent then. He
worshipped Odin, the god of his fathers, but allowed his wife, Bertha, to
practice Christianity. She was the daughter of a Christianized French king.
Perhaps her influence explains why Ethelbert was gracious to Augustine when he
came, declaring that he brought news of an eternal kingdom.
According to the eighth-century
Anglo-Saxon historian Bede, Ethelbert agreed to meet Augustine and hear what he
had to say. The meeting had to be in the open, however. The king believed that
Augustine's "magic" could only work on him inside a building.
In spite of his precautions,
Ethelbert was eventually converted with thousands of his followers, although he
did not compel any of them to become Christians. The king built several church
buildings and gave Augustine the ground at Canterbury where the cathedral now
stands. It has always been the primary see of England.
Although Ethelbert's most
important act was to accept the Christian faith, he is notable for promulgating
the first English code of law and for bringing most of Anglo-Saxon England
under his rather loose authority.
On February 24, 616 the king died. Because that is the feast of St.
Matthias, Ethelbert is commemorated not on his death day, but on the following day, February 25.
Bibliography:
1. "Augustine,
St., of Canterbury," and "Ethelbert, St." The Oxford
Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Bede.
A
History of the English Church and People [Ecclesiastical History of England].
Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1968.
3. Hook,
Walter Farquhar, 1798-1875. Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury.
London, R. Bentley, 1865 - 1884.
4. Howorth,
Henry Hoyle. Saint Augustine of Canterbury. London : J. Murrary, 1913.
5. McKilliam,
A. E. Chronicle
of the Archbishops of Canterbury. London: James Clarke, 1913.
6. "St.
Augustine of Canterbury," and "St. Ethelbert." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
Last updated May,
2007.
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