Germanus of Auxerre - Visit To Britain

Visit To Britain

Around 429, shortly after the Romans had withdrawn from Britain, a Gaulish assembly of bishops chose Germanus and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, to visit the island. It was alleged that Pelagianism was rife among the British clergy, with a British bishop's son named Agricola leading. Germanus went to combat the threat and satisfy the Pope that the British church would not break away from the Augustinian teachings of divine grace.

Germanus and Lupus confronted the British clergy at a public meeting before a huge crowd in Britain. The Pelagians were described as being 'conspicuous for riches, brilliant in dress and surrounded by a fawning multitude'. The bishops debated and, despite having no popular support, Germanus was able to defeat the Pelagians using his superior rhetoric.

Germanus and Lupus then visited the shrine of Saint Alban, promoting his cult. Constantius also recounts the miraculous healing of the son of 'a man with tribunician power'. This use of the word tribune may imply the existence of some form of post-Roman government system. However, in Constantius' lifetime tribune had acquired a looser definition, and often was used to indicate any military officer, whether part of the Imperial army or part of a town militia.

Germanus led the native Britons to a victory against a Pictish and Saxon army, at a mountainous site near a river, of which Mold in North Wales is the traditional location. After baptising his troops he ordered them all to cry 'Alleluia!' The sound apparently so terrified the invaders that they fled before battle could be brought. That Germanus took command may mean that British military leaders had been discredited as Pelagians or that these had themselves enlisted the Saxons and Picts.

The possibly contemporary British ruler described as a "proud tyrant" by Gildas, and identified with the 'Vortigern' of Welsh tradition, is said to have made use of Saxon mercenaries. The political aspects of Germanus' battle against Pelagianism have been much discussed. It has been suggested by Peter Salway that the battle was fought to ensure that Britain remained sympathetic to Aëtius and support his bid for control of the Western Roman Empire. However many scholars would see this as highly speculative to say the least and the 'battle' may have been no more than a skirmish inflated by tradition and / or the saint's hagiographer. It is not possible to know what impact Germanus's visit really had on Pelagianism in Britain. The link with Saint Patrick, traditionally portrayed as his pupil, is also contested in recent scholarship.