AUGUSTINE'S MISSION TO THE ENGLISH

St. Augustine of Canterbury was prior of the Abbey of St. Andrew in Rome when the Pope chose him for the mission to Kent. Known as “The Apostle of the English,” he was Archbishop of Canterbury from 597 until his death in 604. Augustine was sent from Rome in 595, and two years later arrived in Kent, which at the time was ruled by Æthelbehrt (reigned ca. 585–616). Æthelbehrt was married to Bertha, the daughter of the Christian Merovingian king Charibert I.

To see the beginning of this chapter in one of the oldest manuscripts of Bede (Cotton Tiberius A XIV), copied at Bede's own monastery of Jarrow in about 750, go to the British Library Online Gallery.

(1) Gregōriī: Pope Gregory the Great. See PASE Gregory 1.

cōnfirmātiōne: “by the support” (ablative of means).

Augustīnus: Not to be confused with the earlier St. Augustine of Hippo. See PASE Augustine 1.

opus verbī: the work of spreading the Gospel.

Britanniam: accusative of motion toward without preposition (see Reading Bede §A.2.1)

(2) rex Aedilberct: Æthelbehrt of Kent, the first Christian king of Kent (ca. 585–616). See HE 2.5 and PASE Æthelbehrt 3.

Cantia: Kent.

ad cōnfīnium usque: the more common word order would be usque ad cōnfīnium.

Humbrae flūminis: the River Humber

merīdiānī et septentriōnālēs Anglōrum: “the southern and northern Angles.” Anglōrum is a partitive genitive.

(3) ad orientālem Cantiae plagam: plaga (“region, area”) here could be translated “the coast,” and ad as “off.”

Tanatos: the island of Thanet (see map). Before Kent’s conversion to Christianity, Thanet was a center of the worship of Thunor (Thor). Thanet is no longer an island (see note below on fluvius Vantsumu).

insūla nōn modica: take in apposition to Tanatos (“Thanet, an island…”). An example of litotes.

magnitūdinis: genitive of measure (AG 345.b).

iuxtā: “according to” (+ accusative)

familiārum sexcentārum: genitive of measure, like magnitūdinis, which it limits: “of a size…of 600 hides.” familia = “the amount of land regarded as (capable of) supporting one household,” “a hide” (DMLBS, familia 8).

ā continentī terrā: “from the mainland”

fluvius Vantsumu: the River Wantsum, or the Wantsum Channel, which by the 16th century had entirely silted up.

latitūdinis circiter trium stadiōrum: genitives of measure. A stadium (“stade”) equals about 607 feet (or 185 meters); 3 stades would have been about half a kilometer, or a third of a mile.

tantum: “only”

utrumque … caput: “both ends” (i.e, the channel empties into the sea at both ends). Caput can be translated as the “mouth” of the river.

(4) in hāc: in hāc insulā

applicuit: applicō, here, means “put in at,” “land at” (LS, applico II).

(5) dē gente Francōrum interpretēs: Frankish interpreters. Augustine and his companions, coming from Rome, would have spoken Latin, and would have needed those who could translate from Latin to Frankish, which would have been spoken, or at least understood, at the Kentish court.

mittēns … mandāvit: Bede shifts from the plural subject of accēperunt (i.e., all the missionaries) to the singular subject of mandāvit (i.e., Augustine).

sē vēnisse … ferre: the accusative-infinitive of indirect discourse introduced by mandāvit, “he sent word that” (DMLBS, mandare 4).

dē Romā: not the simple ablative of place from which with the names of cities and towns (for the general rule, see AG 427.1)

nuntium: “news, message,” evidently masculine (> nuntius -ī, m.) instead of the more regular neuter noun, to judge by the following relative clause quī … promitteret which defines it (see LS, nuntius II.B.2). Nuntium optimum calls to mind the Greek εὐαγγέλιον, the “good news” of the Gospel.

quī … promitteret: the structure is: (nuntius) quī gaudia et regnum prōmitteret sibi obtemperantibus: “which promised joys and a kingdom to those who obey it.” The subjunctive is normal in a subordinate clause in indirect discourse (AG 592). It is also possible to take the antecedent of quī as Augustine himself, in which case the relative clause expresses the purpose of his coming from Rome (AG 531.2). In this reading, sibi refers to Augustine: “he sent word that he had come to promise eternal joy ... to those obeying him.” There is perhaps an echo here of Hebrews 5:9 (Vulgate), speaking of Christ’s role as a chief priest (pontifex): factus est omnibus optemperantibus sibi causa salūtis aeternae (“he was made a cause of eternal salvation for all those obeying him”).

aeterna … gaudia et rēgnum … futūrum: the objects of prōmitteret.

(6) Quī: Æthelberht

manēre illōs … iussit: accusative-infinitive construction after iūbeō (AG 563.a)

eīs necessāria ministrārī: also the accusative-infinitive construction after iūbeō. Necessāria is the neuter plural subject accusative: “essentials.” Eīs is the indirect object of ministrārī.

quid eīs faceret: indirect question after vidēret. Faciō with the ablative or dative is used in questions expressing difficulty or perplexity (“what would he do with them?”). (LS, facio I.B.11).

(7) Æthelberht’s wife Bertha was already a Christian. After an introductory clause, the structure of this long sentence is as follows: uxōrem habēbat Chrīstiānam … quam eā condiciōne accēperat, ut … licentiam habēret.

Nam et: = nam (or namque), “for.”

utpote qui: “as one might expect from someone who…”

Bercta: Bertha, the daughter of the Frankish King Charibert I. See PASE Bertha 1.

eā condicione … ut: “on the condition that…” introducing a clause of proviso (AG 528).

accēperat: the subject is Æthelberht.

ut … licentiam habēret: “that she might have the freedom”

quem eī adiūtōrem fideī dederant: the antecedent of quem is episcopō, eī refers to Bertha, and the subject of dederant is her parents (“they”). Adiūtōrem is in apposition to quem: “whom they had given as a guide….”

inviolātum servāre: “to keep inviolate.”

Liudhardo: see PASE, Liudhard. He is “also known from a small gold medallion bearing his name, part of the St. Martin’s treasure, preserved in Liverpool City Museum. That he was a bishop must indicate the previous existence of a Christian community to whom he would minister. The implication of Bede’s account is that he was dead by 597” (McClure and Collins, p. 371).

KING ÆTHELBERHT GRANTS AUGUSTINE PERMISSION TO ESTABLISH A MISSION IN KENT

Æthelbehrt provided Augustine with a dwelling (mānsiō, 13) in Canterbury, where Augustine established his episcopal see. Augustine was the first Archbishop of Canterbury, from 597 until his death in ca. 604.

(8) sub divō: literally, “under god,” this means “in the open air,” “outside” (LS, divum).

ad suum … colloquium: ad expresses purpose, “to talk with him.”

(9) Cāverat enim nē…: clause of fearing (AG 564)

auguriō: “superstition”

superventū suō: refers to the missionaries: “at their arrival on the scene.” Ablative of time when (AG 423).

malificae artis: Partitive genitive after the neuter indefinite pronoun (AG 346.a.3). In English, the “of” can be omitted (“if they had any…”). Æthelberht is afraid the missionaries will practice witchcraft upon him, and evidently the superstition is that witchcraft is more effective if practiced indoors.

superāndō dēciperent: Bede reverses causality here: he writes “they would deceive him by overcoming him” when we might expect “they would overcome him by deceiving him.”

(10) illī: the missionaries

imāginem … depictam: i.e., an icon

prō suā: with salūte aeternā (“for their eternal salvation, and at the same time that of those…”), in hyperbaton.

laetaniās: > laetania = lītania, litany, a form of supplicatory public prayer with fixed responses (DMLBS, litania).

(11) Cumque ... praedicārent: Rearrange the word order of the cum-clause as: cumque, residentēs ad iussiōnem rēgis, praedicṝent verbum vītae eī, ūnā cum omnibus comitibus eius, quī aderant. Ūnā cum = “along with.”

ad iūssiōnem rēgis: “at the king’s bidding.”

verbum eī vitae: eī is the indirect object of praedicārent; the phrase verbum vitae (“the word of life”) is found at Philippians 2:16 in St. Jerome’s Vulgate version of the New Testament.

comitibus: comes, in this context, refers to a gesith, a companion of an Anglo-Saxon king (the more familiar term is thegn, or thane).

praedicārent: praedicāre, in Christian Latin, means “to preach.”

adsēnsum tribuere: “to assent to,” “to give credence to” (+ dative)

relictīs eīs: ablative absolute

(12) peregrīnī: in apposition, “as pilgrims”

quia: goes with both vēnistis and desiderā(vi)stis: “because you have come….and because you have desired…”

ut … perspexisse: parenthetical (“as I seem to have discerned”)

ea: direct object of commūnicāre

nōbīs: indirect object of commūnicāre

commūnicāre: “to share”

quīn potius: “Yes, and furthermore…”

nec prōhibēmus quīn: “we will not keep you from…” (see AG 558 for quīn with verbs of prohibition).

sociētis: sociāre means to attach or “win over” something (in the accusative, omnēs) to something (in the dative, fideī).

praedicāndō: ablative of means (“by preaching”)

(13) in cīvitāte Doruvernēnsī: Doruvernum (Doruvernēnsis cīvitās) was the Roman name for Canterbury.

mētropolis: “chief city”

cum administrātiōne victūs temporālis: “with the provision of earthly sustenance” (i.e., he kept his promise to feed the missionaries).

licentiam … praedicāndī: “the freedom to preach”

(14) Fertur … quia: “it is said that.” Indirect discourse introduced with quia (see Reading Bede §A.6.3)

cōnsonā vōce modulārentur: “they sang in unison” (Garforth)

Dēprecāmur tē: the hymn was traditionally sung during Rogation Day processions. You can listen to the hymn being performed here.

istā: iste can express “dislike or contempt,” but can also simply refer to the “place, country, etc., where [the] writer is, or the nation to which he belongs” (DMLBS, iste 2a).