Romanus (bishop of Rochester)
Template:Infobox bishopbiog Romanus (died before AD 627) was the second bishop of Rochester and presumably was a member of the Gregorian mission sent to Kent to convert the Anglo-Saxons. He was consecrated bishop around 624 and died before 627 by drowning. Little is known of his life beyond these facts.
Career
Presumably Romanus came to England with Augustine of Canterbury's mission to Kent,[1] He would have arrived either in 597 with the first group of missionaries, or in 601 with the second group.[2] He was consecrated as bishop by his predecessor Justus in 624,[1] after Justus became Archbishop of Canterbury.[3] He was the second bishop at Rochester.[4]
Romanus died before 627,[3] probably about 625.[4] He drowned in the Mediterranean Sea off Italy while on a mission to Rome for Justus.[3] Presumably this happened before Justus' death in 627.[1] He was certainly dead by 633, when Paulinus of York became bishop at Rochester after fleeing Northumbria.[3]
Nothing else is known of Romanus' life beyond these facts.[3] The medieval writer Bede is the main source for information, as Romanus is mentioned twice in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; the first time in connection with his consecration, where Bede says that Justus "consecrated Romanus as Bishop of Rochester in his place".[5] The second mention concerns Romanus' death after Paulinus had left Northumbria. Bede says that "[a]t this time, the church of Rochester was in great need of a pastor, since Romanus its bishop who had been sent by Archbishop Justus to Pope Honorius as his representative, had been drowned at sea off Italy."[6] Romanus is further mentioned in both the Winchester Manuscript (Version A) and the Peterborough Manuscript (Version E) of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,[7] but the reference is not likely to be contemporary and probably draws on Bede for its information.[8]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Beazley "Romanus (d. in or before 627)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Mayr-Harting Coming of Christianity pp. 61–62
- ^ a b c d e Blair World of Bede pp. 96–97
- ^ a b Fryde, et. al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 221
- ^ Bede, History of the English Church and People p. 112
- ^ Bede History of the English Church and People p. 139
- ^ Swanton (trans. and ed.) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle p. 24
- ^ Swanton "Introducton" Anglo-Saxon Chronicle pp. xviii, xxi, and xxvi
References
- Beazley, C. R. (2004). "Romanus (d. in or before 627)" (fee required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. revised by Marios Costambeys (October 2005 Revised ed.). Oxford University Press. Accessed 12 March 2009
- 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.
{{cite book}}: External link in|title= - Fryde, E. B. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
{{cite book}}: External link in|title=|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Mayr-Harting, Henry (1991). The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-00769-9.
- Swanton, Michael James (trans. and ed.) (1998). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92129-5.
- Swanton, Michael James (1998). "Introduction". In Swanton, Michael James (trans. and ed.) (ed.). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. New York: Routledge. pp. i–xxxv. ISBN 0-415-92129-5.
External links
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