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Christianity reached England by the middle of the second century. As St. [[Bede]] relates in his ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', in 156 a British King by the name of Lucius wrote to Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, asking to be made a Christian. (Bk 1, Chap 4) With the work of missionaries throughout the first few centuries AD, Christianity spread and took root.
In 596 Pope [[Gregory the Great]] decided to send a mission to the Anglo-Saxons in the British Isles. He chose a to send a group of [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine ]] monks, under the leadership of St. [[Augustine of Canterbury]] (not to be confused with [[Augustine of Hippo]]). Augustine and his fellow monks arrived in Kent in 597 and eventually a see city was set up in Canterbury, Augustine being the first Archbishop. It is said that that when they arrived they were "carrying a silver cross and an image of Jesus Christ painted on a board, which thus became, so far as we know, 'Canterbury's first [[icon]].'" (''Lesser Feasts and Fasts'', p. 252)
With Augustine and those who came after him, the British Isles were slowly put under the authority of the Church of Rome. As with the rest of the Western Church, this authority increased over the next 500 years.
==Archbishops of Canterbury throughout history==
===Orthodox Archbishops of Canterbury===
*597 St. [[Augustine of Canterbury|Augustine]]
*604 St. [[Laurence of Canterbury]] (aka Laurentius)
*619 St. [[Mellitus|Mellitus]]*624 St. [[Justus|Justus]]*627 St. [[Honoriusof Canterbury]]*655 St. [[Deusdeditof Canterbury]]*664 ''Vacant''*c.666 [[Wighard]], died of plague before consecration
*668 St. [[Theodore of Tarsus]]
*693 St. [[Berhtwald]]*731 St. [[Tatwine]]*735 St. [[Nothelm]]*740 St. [[Cuthbertof Canterbury]]*761 St. [[Bregowine]]*765 [[Jaenbert]]*793 [[Ethelhard]]*805 [[Wulfred]]*832 [[Feologeld]]*833 [[Ceolnoth]]*870 [[Ethelredof Canterbury]]
*890 Plegmund
*914 Athelm
*923 Wulfhelm
*942 [[Odo of Canterbury (10th century)|Oda]]*959 Aelfsige
*959 Brithelm
*960 St. [[Dunstan of Canterbury|Dunstan]]
*c.988 Ethelgar
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Canterbury|*]]
[[Category:Church History]]
[[Category:Non-Orthodox]]
