Mellitus

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St Mellitus
Archbishop of Canterbury
Enthroned {{{began}}}
Ended 24 April 624
Predecessor Laurence of Canterbury
Successor Justus
Consecration 619
Died 24 April 624
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Sainthood
Bishop of London
Archbishop of Canterbury
Venerated in Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion
Commemorated April 24
Saints Portal

Saint Mellitus (died April 24, 624) was the first Bishop of London and the third Archbishop of Canterbury.

[edit] Life

Bede describes Mellitus as being of noble birth[1] and Pope Gregory I describes him as an abbot. [2] He may have been abbot of the monastery of St. Andrew on the Celian Hill,[3] founded by Gregory, to which both Gregory belonged before he became pope and St. Augustine belonged before he was sent to Kent.

Mellitus was sent to England in 601 AD by Gregory in response to an appeal from Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, for a fresh band of missionaries.[3][4] He was commissioned by Gregory to convey the pallium to Augustine, together with a present of books and "all things which were needed for worship and the ministry of the Church."[5]

Mellitus was consecrated in 604 by Augustine as bishop[6] in the province of the East Saxons, which had a capital at London, making him the first Bishop of London.[7][8] Mellitus founded St. Paul's Cathedral in London and made it his episcopal see.[7] Mellitus attended a council of bishops in Italy in February of 610, held by Pope Boniface IV.[7][2] Boniface had him bring back two papal letters to England, one to King Æthelbert and the people, and another to Lawrence, the archbishop of Canterbury.[9]

He baptised King Saebert of Essex, King Æthelberht of Kent's nephew, but was driven from London by Sebert's heathen sons in 616,[10][11] after he refused the brothers request for a taste of the sacramental bread.[1] He fled to Gaul but was recalled to Britain by St. Laurence of Canterbury, the second Archbishop of Canterbury. However, he did not return to London, as Essex remained pagan until Sigeberht II of Essex was converted to Christianity in about 650.[12] While he was bishop, Mellitus and Justus subscribed a letter that Laurence wrote to the Celtic bishops urging the Celtic Church to adopt the Roman method of calculating the date of Easter.[13]

Upon Laurence's death in 619, Mellitus succeeded him as the third Archbishop of Canterbury.[14] Gregory I addressed a letter to Melitus that dealt with the issue of pagan festivals, with the pope urging Melitus to associate pagan holy days with a Christian saint.[15] It was while he was archbishop that he supposedly performed a miracle in 623 by diverting a fire that had started in Canterbury and was threatening the church. Mellitus was carried into the flames, which caused the winds to change direction, saving the church.[16][17] Other than the miracle, little happened during his time as archbishop, with Bede praising his sane mind.[18]

He died on April 24, 624[14] and was buried at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.[1] After his death, he was revered as a saint, with a feast day of April 24.[3][19]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Bede A History of the English Church and People translated by Leo Sherley-Price London:Penguin Books 1988 ISBN 0-14-044042-9 p. 109-112
  2. ^ a b Brooks, N. P. "Mellitus (d. 624)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press Sept 2004 online edn, Oct 2005 accessed 7 Nov 2007
  3. ^ a b c Walsh, Michael A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West London: Burns & Oates 2007 ISBN 0-8601-2438-X p. 420
  4. ^ Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press, p. 9. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5. 
  5. ^ Bede A History of the English Church and People translated by Leo Sherley-Price London:Penguin Books 1988 ISBN 0-14-044042-9 p. 85-86
  6. ^ Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 219. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
  7. ^ a b c Bede A History of the English Church and People translated by Leo Sherley-Price London:Penguin Books 1988 ISBN 0-14-044042-9' p. 104-107
  8. ^ Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press, p. 11-13a. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5. 
  9. ^ Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press, p. 13. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5. 
  10. ^ Delaney, John J. Dictionary of Saints Second Edition Doubleday: New York 2003 ISBN 0-385-13594-7 p. 431
  11. ^ Hindley, Geoffrey A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 36
  12. ^ Ashely, Mike The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens New York: Carroll & Graff 1998 ISBN 0-7967-0692-9 p. 233-234
  13. ^ Stenton, F. M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition Oxford:Oxford University Press 1971 ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 p. 112
  14. ^ a b Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 213. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
  15. ^ Eckenstein, Lina Woman under monasticism: chapters on saint-lore and convent life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500 Cambridge: University Press, 1896 "Introductory" accessed on September 6, 2007
  16. ^ Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066. London: Leicester University Press, p. 30. ISBN 0-7185-0041-5. 
  17. ^ Ashely, Mike The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens New York: Carroll & Graff 1998 ISBN 0-7967-0692-9 p. 218
  18. ^ Hindley, Geoffrey A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The beginnings of the English nation New York: Carrol & Graf Publishers 2006 ISBN 978-0-78671738-5 p. 43
  19. ^ Catholic Online Saints and Angels: St. Melitus of Canterbury accessed on September 3, 2007

[edit] External links

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Theonus		 Bishop of London
604–619		 Succeeded by
Cedd
Preceded by
Laurence of Canterbury		 Archbishop of Canterbury
619–624		 Succeeded by
Justus
Persondata
NAME Mellitus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Melitus
SHORT DESCRIPTION Archbishop of Canterbury; Bishop of London
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 624
PLACE OF DEATH
v • d • e
List of Archbishops of Canterbury
Catholic

Augustine · Laurentius · Mellitus · Justus · Honorius · Deusdedit · Wighard · Theodore · Bertwald · Tatwin · Nothelm · Cuthbert · Bregwin · Jaenbert · Æthelhard · Wulfred · Feologild · Ceolnoth · Ethelred · Plegmund · Athelm · Wulfhelm · Oda · Aelfsige · Birthelm · Dunstan · Æthelgar · Sigeric · Ælfric · Alphege · Lyfing · Aethelnoth · Edsige · Robert of Jumièges · Stigand · Lanfranc · Anselm · Ralph d'Escures · William de Corbeil · Theobald · Thomas Becket · Richard · Baldwin · Reginald fitz Jocelin · Hubert Walter · John de Gray · Stephen Langton · Walter d'Eynsham · Richard le Grant · Ralph Neville · John of Sittingbourne · John Blund · Edmund Rich · Boniface · William Chillenden · Robert Kilwardby · Robert Burnell · John Peckham · Robert Winchelsey · Thomas Cobham · Walter Reynolds · Simon Mepeham · John de Stratford · John de Ufford · Thomas Bradwardine · Simon Islip · William Edington · Simon Langham · William Whittlesey · Simon Sudbury · William Courtenay · Thomas Arundel · Roger Walden · Thomas Arundel · Henry Chichele · John Stafford · John Kemp · Thomas Bourchier · John Morton · Thomas Langton · Henry Deane · William Warham · Thomas Cranmer · Reginald Pole
Anglican