Pope Gregory's (the Great) scheme in sending Augustine was to divide
England into two Provinces, with Metropolitans of equal dignity at
London and York, and twelve Suffragans to each. But all that his
emissary could effect was to consecrate two bishops, one at Rochester
(Kent) and one at Essex. As Christianity took a firmer hold in England,
it was generally to Canterbury that the different portions of England
applied for missionaries. In this foundation Augustine has been followed
by a succession of prelates, who distinguished themselves equally in
spiritual and temporal affairs of the State--men, each of whom made a
great stir during his life, and whose names even now are enshrined, as
it were, in a halo of romance. They represent the intellect of their
times; their lives show us the difficulties they encountered in
overcoming the crass ignorance of the people on whose behalf they
worked, and the risks and dangers and petty tyranny they suffered at the
hands of kings, whose chief amusements were disturbing the peace and
licentious living. Those who have played the most prominent part in
ecclesiastical as well as in lay history are:
Dunstan, who governed with a tight hand the kingdom during the reigns of
Edred and Edwy; Stigand, who, for his opposition to William the
Conqueror, was deposed from the See to make room for Lanfranc; Lanfranc,
whose memory is perpetuated not only through his abilities as scholar,
statesman and administrator, but more especially as one who rebuilt the
Cathedral and as founder of several religious establishments; the
celebrated Thomas a Becket, who, until he became Archbishop, was the
great friend of Henry II., and was Chancellor of England. On the
acceptance of the Archbishopric, Becket constituted himself as a
champion of the rights and claims of the Church, and would brook no
interference from Henry in ecclesiastical matters. This naturally
created a coolness between the two, which ended in Becket's retiring to
France for six years. On Henry's promise to annul the Constitution of
Clarendon, in 1170, Becket returned, only a few days after to be
murdered in the Cathedral.
Stephen Langton, who was raised to the See by Pope Innocent III., in
defiance of King John, during a quarrel he had with the Church; Cranmer,
who, for promoting the Reformation, was burnt at the stake in Mary's
reign; and Laud, who was beheaded during the Commonwealth of Cromwell
for supporting the measures of his sovereign, Charles I.
Augustine did not live to see the completion of his Cathedral. It was
dedicated to Our Saviour, and it is even now usually called Christ
Church.
During the ravages of the Danes the city suffered greatly, and the
Archbishopric became vacant in 1011, through the violent death dealt out
to Archbishop Alphage by the Danes.
[Illustration: CANTERBURY