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Justus

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Justus
Archbishop of Canterbury
An illuminated manuscript illustration of a central seated figure holding an open book. He is flanked by two colonnades, which are filled with small scenes. Over the central figure is an arch with surmounts a winged bull.
The evangelist portrait of Luke, from the St. Augustine Gospels (c. 6th century), which may have accompanied Justus to Britain.
Installedunknown
Term endedon 10 November between 627 and 631
PredecessorMellitus
SuccessorHonorius
Orders
Consecration624
Personal details
Diedon 10 November between 627 to 631
BuriedSt Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury[1]
Sainthood
Feast day10 November
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
Roman Catholic Church[2]
Anglican Communion
Attributesarchbishop carrying a Primatial cross[3]
PatronageVolterra, Italy
ShrinesSt Augustine's, Canterbury
For other uses, see Justus (disambiguation).

Justus (occasionally Iustus[4]) (d. 10 November, between 627 and 631), was the fourth Archbishop of Canterbury, in England. A missionary sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons, he became the first Bishop of Rochester in 604. He was forced to flee to Gaul in 616 after the death of King Æthelberht of Kent, but was reinstated in his diocese the next year. In 624 he became Archbishop of Canterbury, and during his term of office oversaw the despatch of missionaries to Northumbria.

Arrival in Britain

Justus was a native Italian and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England by Pope Gregory I. Justus probably arrived in England with the second group of missionaries, sent at the request of Augustine of Canterbury in 601,[5][6] although some sources describe him as one of the original missionaries who arrived with Augustine in 597.[7] The medieval chronicler Bede believed that Justus came in the second group, but Justus is not mentioned in any of the surviving Roman sources, such as the papal letter registers, so a definitive answer on when Justus arrived in England is unlikely.[8][9]

If Justus arrived with the second group of missionaries, he traveled with a present of books and "all things which were needed for worship and the ministry of the Church."[10][11] A 15th-century Canterbury chronicler, Thomas of Elmham, claimed that there were a number of books brought to England by Mellitus still at Canterbury in his day, but examination of the remaining manuscripts has determined that one possible survivor of Mellitus' books is the St. Augustine Gospels, now in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, Manuscript (MS) 286.[5][notes 1] Along with the letter to Augustine, the returning missionaries brought a letter to Æthelberht, urging the King to act like the Roman Emperor Constantine I and force the conversion of his followers to Christianity. The King was also urged to destroy all pagan shrines.[14]

Rochester

Augustine consecrated Justus as a bishop in 604, over a province including the Kentish town of Rochester.[15] The choice of Rochester was probably not because it had been a Roman-era bishopric, but rather because of its importance in the politics of the time. Although the town was small, with just one street, it was at the junction of Watling Street and the estuary of the Medway, and was thus a fortified town.[16] Because he was probably not a monk, unlike most of his fellow missionaries,[17] Justus' cathedral clergy was likely to have been composed of secular clergy rather than monks.[18] A charter purporting to be from King Æthelberht, granting Justus land in Rochester, is of dubious authenticity.[5] Æthelberht built Justus a cathedral church in Rochester, and archaeological remains of the foundations of a nave and chancel that are partly underneath the present-day Rochester Cathedral may date from Justus' time.[8] The remains of the foundations of a further early building, of rectangular shape, near the southern part of the current cathedral might also be dated to Justus' time, or may possibly be a Roman building.[16]

While bishop, he and Mellitus, another of the missionaries who was Bishop of London, co-signed a letter written by Archbishop Laurence of Canterbury to the Irish bishops, urging the Celtic Church to adopt the Roman method of calculating the date of Easter.[19] We know of this letter from Bede, who quoted parts of it.[20]

In 614 Justus attended the Council of Paris held by the Frankish king, Chlothar II.[21] It is unclear why Justus, along with Peter, the abbot of St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, attended this council. It may have been just chance, but the historian James Campbell suggests that one possibility was that Chlothar summoned clergy from Britain to attend as part of an attempt to assert overlordship over Kent.[22] The historian N. J. Higham offers another explanation for their attendance, arguing that the Æthelberht sent the two to the council because of shifts in Frankish policy towards the Kentish kingdom, which threatened Kentish independence, and that the two clergymen were sent in order to reach some compromise with Chlothar.[23]

A pagan backlash against Christianity took root following the death of Æthelberht in 616, forcing Justus to flee to Gaul, along with Mellitus.[24] Likely, the two took refuge with Chlothar, hoping that the Frankish king would intervene and restore them to their sees.[20] By 617 though, Justus had been reinstalled to his bishopric.[5] Mellitus also returned to England, but the prevailing pagan mood did not allow him to return to London; after Laurence's death, Mellitus became Archbishop of Canterbury.[24] According to Bede, Justus received letters of encouragement from Pope Boniface V (619–625), along with Mellitus, although Bede does not record the actual letters. The historian J. M. Wallace-Hadrill assumes that both letters were general statements of encouragement to the missionaries.[25]

Archbishop

Justus became Archbishop of Canterbury in 624,[26] and received his pallium, the symbol of the jurisdiction entrusted to archbishops, from Pope Boniface V. He then consecrated Romanus as his successor at Rochester.[5] Boniface also gave Justus a letter congratulating him on King "Aduluald"'s conversion (probably King Eadbald of Kent). The letter is included in Bede's Ecclesiastical History.[27] The historian D. P. Kirby argues that the reference to Eadbald makes it likely that it was Justus who converted the king, not Justus' predecessor at Canterbury, Laurence.[28] Other historians, including Barbara Yorke and Henry Mayr-Harting, conclude that Bede's account is correct, and Eadbald was converted by Laurence.[29] Yorke argues that there were two kings of Kent during Eadbald's reign, Eadbald and an Æthelwald, with Æthelwald being the "Aduluald" referred to by Boniface. Yorke argues that it was Justus who converted Æthelwald back to Christianity after Æthelberht's death.[30]

Justus consecrated Paulinus as the first Bishop of York before Paulinus accompanied Æthelburg of Kent to Northumbria for her marriage to King Edwin of Northumbria.[5] Justus died on 10 November, between 627 and 631,[26] the day and month are recorded by Bede, but not the year.[31] Justus came to be regarded as a saint; he was given a feast day of 10 November.[32] In the 1090s his remains were translated, or ritually moved, to a shrine beside the high altar of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. At about the same time a Life was written about him by Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, as well as a poem by Reginald of Canterbury.[1] Other material from Thomas of Elmham, Gervase of Canterbury, and William of Malmesbury, later medieval chroniclers, adds little to Bede's account of Justus' life.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Another possible survivor is a copy of the Rule of St Benedict, now MS Oxford Bodleian Hatton 48.[12] Another Gospel, in an Italian hand, and closely related to the Augustine Gospels, is MS Oxford Bodelian Auctarium D.2.14, which shows evidence of being held in Anglo-Saxon hands during the right time frame. Lastly, a fragment of a work by Gregory the Great, now held by the British Library as part of MS Cotton Titus C may have arrived with the missionaries.[13]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Hayward "Justus" Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England
  2. ^ Walsh New Dictionary p. 349
  3. ^ St. Justus of Canterbury Patron Saints Index Accessed on 3 November 2007
  4. ^ Higham Convert Kings p. 94
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Hunt "Justus [St Justus] (d. 627x31)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  6. ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 109
  7. ^ Hindley A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 65
  8. ^ a b Blair World of Bede pp. 84–87
  9. ^ Wallace-Hadrill Bede's Ecclesiastical History p. 43
  10. ^ Bede A History of the English Church and People p. 85–86
  11. ^ Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity p. 62
  12. ^ Colgrave "Introduction" Earliest Life of Gregory the Great pp. 27–28
  13. ^ Lapidge Anglo-Saxon Library pp. 24–25
  14. ^ Markus "Gregory the Great and a Papal Missionary Strategy" Studies in Church History 6 pp. 34–37
  15. ^ Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury p. 221
  16. ^ a b Brooks "From British to English Christianity" Conversion and Colonization pp. 24–27
  17. ^ Smith "Early Community of St. Andrew at Rochester" English Historical Review p. 291
  18. ^ Smith "Early Community of St. Andrew at Rochester" English Historical Review p. 292
  19. ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 112
  20. ^ a b Higham Convert Kings pp. 138–139
  21. ^ Wood "Mission of Augustine of Canterbury" Speculum
  22. ^ Campbell "First Century of Christianity" Essays in Anglo-Saxon History p. 56
  23. ^ Higham Convert Kings p. 116
  24. ^ a b Lapidge "Mellitus" Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England
  25. ^ Wallace-Hadrill Bede's Ecclesiastical History pp. 64–65
  26. ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 213
  27. ^ Kirby Earliest English Kings pp. 31–32
  28. ^ Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 33
  29. ^ Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity pp. 75–76
  30. ^ Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 32
  31. ^ Wallace-Hadrill Bede's Ecclesiastical History p. 82
  32. ^ Delaney Dictionary of Saints p. 354–355

References

  • Bede (1988). A History of the English Church and People. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044042-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Blair, Peter Hunter (1990). The World of Bede (Reprint of 1970 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.
  • Brooks, Nicholas (2006). "From British to English Christianity: Deconstructing Bede's Interpretation of the Conversion". In Howe, Nicholas; Karkov, Catherine (ed.). Conversion and Colonization in Anglo-Saxon England. Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. pp. 1–30. ISBN 0-86698-363-5.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  • Campbell, James. "The First Century of Christianity in England". Essays in Anglo-Saxon History. London: Hambledon Press. pp. 49–68. ISBN 0-907628-32-X.
  • Colgrave, Bertram (2007). "Introduction". The Earliest Life of Gregory the Great (Paperback reissue of 1968 ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-31384-1.
  • Delaney, John P. (1980). Dictionary of Saints (Second ed.). Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13594-7.
  • Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Hayward, Paul Anthony (2001). "Justus". The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 267–268. ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  • Higham, N. J. (1997). The Convert Kings: Power and Religious Affiliation in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-4827-3.
  • Hindley, Geoffrey (2006). A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons: The Beginnings of the English Nation. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-78671-738-5.
  • Hunt, William (2004). "Justus (St Justus) (d. 627x31)" (fee required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. revised by N. P. Brooks (October 2005 revised ed.). Oxford University Press. accessed 7 November 2007
  • Kirby, D. P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24211-8.
  • Lapidge, Michael (2006). The Anglo-Saxon Library. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926722-7.
  • Lapidge, Michael (2001). "Mellitus". The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 305–306. ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  • Markus, R. A. (1970). "Gregory the Great and a Papal Missionary Strategy". Studies in Church History 6: The Mission of the Church and the Propagation of the Faith. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 29–38.
  • Mayr-Harting, Henry (1991). The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-00769-9.
  • Smith, R. A. L. (1945). "The Early Community of St. Andrew at Rochester, 604-c. 1080". The English Historical Review. 60 (238): 289–299. doi:10.1093/ehr/LX.CCXXXVIII.289.
  • Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
  • Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. (1988). Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People: A Historical Commentary. Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822269-6.
  • Walsh, Michael J. (2007). A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West. London: Burns & Oats. ISBN 0-8601-2438-X.
  • Wood, Ian (1994). "The Mission of Augustine of Canterbury to the English". Speculum. 69 (1): 1–17. doi:10.2307/2864782. {{cite journal}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Yorke, Barbara (1997). Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-16639-X.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
(diocese created)
 Bishop of Rochester
604–624 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Archbishop of Canterbury
624–c.627 		Succeeded by

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