Peter of Canterbury

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Peter of Canterbury
Abbot of St Augustine's Abbey
Personal details
Died early 7th century
Sainthood
Feast day 6 January
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church , Eastern Orthodox Church

Peter of Canterbury [1] or Petrus [2] (died c.  607 or after 614) was the first abbot of the monastery of SS. Peter and Paul in Canterbury (later St Augustine's Abbey ) and a companion of Augustine in the Gregorian mission to Kent. Augustine sent Peter as an emissary to Rome around 600 to convey news of the mission to Pope Gregory I . Peter's death has traditionally been dated to around 607, but evidence suggests that he was present at a church council in Paris in 614, so he probably died after that date.

Life [ edit ]

Peter was presumed to be a native of Italy, like the other members of the Gregorian mission. [3] This mission was dispatched by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism . It landed in Kent in 597 and soon converted King Æthelberht of Kent , who gave Augustine the land on which he founded the abbey that later became St Augustine's, Canterbury. [4]

The medieval chronicler Bede records that sometime after the mission arrived in England, [5] probably in late 600, [2] Peter, along with fellow-missionary Laurence , was sent back to Gregory. This deputation was to relay the news of Augustine's successes in Kent and to request more missionaries. [5] They also conveyed to the pope several inquiries from Augustine about how to proceed with the mission, and when they returned in 601, they brought back Gregory's replies to Augustine. [2]

Peter became the abbot of the monastery that Æthelberht founded in Canterbury, originally dedicated to the saints Peter and Paul , but later rededicated as St Augustine's, after the leader of the mission. [2] Bede describes Peter as both abbot and presbyter , a word usually translated as priest. [6]

Death and veneration [ edit ]

Peter drowned while crossing the English Channel on the way to Gaul, [7] at a place called Ambleteuse, near Boulogne. [2] At first he was buried hastily nearby, but Bede reports that after a light illuminated the grave every night, the locals realised Peter was a saint and exhumed him and re-interred him in Boulogne. The actual date of death is unknown, and since his feast day was celebrated on two different days, 30 December or 6 January, that information does not clear up the mystery. Thomas of Elmham , a 15th-century chronicler, reported the date of his death as 1 year, 7 months, and 3 weeks after Augustine's. If this is true, this would give a year of death between 605 and 611. [2] This information, however, is contradicted by the fact that Peter was present at the Council of Paris in 614, convened by Chlothar II . [8] It is possible that he died during his return from the Council of Paris. [9]

Peter is considered a saint, with a feast day on 6 January. His cult was confirmed in 1915. [1] A Vita Petri , or Life of Peter , written by Eadmer in the 12th century, exists in manuscript form, but it is unreliable. [2] There is evidence that Peter was the object of veneration in Boulogne in the 15th century, and a church in that town was associated with Peter, although probably not from the start of his cult. [10]

See also [ edit ]

Citations [ edit ]

  1. ^ a b Walsh New Dictionary of Saints p. 482
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Hunt "Petrus (St Petrus)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  3. ^ Blair World of Bede p. 87
  4. ^ Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity pp. 61?63
  5. ^ a b Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury pp. 9?10
  6. ^ Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury p. 88
  7. ^ Blair World of Bede p. 74
  8. ^ Wood "Mission of Augustine" Speculum p. 7
  9. ^ Hayward "Absent Father" Journal of Medieval History p. 204
  10. ^ Hayward "Absent Father" Journal of Medieval History pp. 206?207

References [ edit ]

  • Blair, Peter Hunter (1990) [1970]. The World of Bede (Reprint ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-39819-3 .
  • Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066 . London: Leicester University Press. ISBN   0-7185-0041-5 .
  • Hayward, Paul Antony (2003). "An Absent Father: Eadmer, Goscelin and the Cult of St Peter, the First Abbot of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury". Journal of Medieval History . 29 (3): 201?218. doi : 10.1016/S0304-4181(03)00030-7 . S2CID   159827773 .
  • Hunt, William ; Costambeys, Marios (revised) (2004). "Petrus (St Petrus) (d. 605x11)" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (October 2005 Revised ed.). Oxford University Press. doi : 10.1093/ref:odnb/22056 . Retrieved 21 February 2009 . (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  • Mayr-Harting, Henry (1991). The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England . University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN   0-271-00769-9 .
  • Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West . London: Burns & Oats. ISBN   978-0-86012-438-2 .
  • Wood, Ian (January 1994). "The Mission of Augustine of Canterbury to the English". Speculum . 69 (1): 1?17. doi : 10.2307/2864782 . JSTOR   2864782 . S2CID   161652367 .

External links [ edit ]


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