Gregorian Mission - Spread of Christianity To Northumbria

Spread of Christianity To Northumbria

The spread of Christianity in the north of Britain gained ground when Edwin of Northumbria married Æthelburg, a daughter of Æthelbert, and agreed to allow her to continue to worship as a Christian. He also agreed to allow Paulinus of York to accompany her as a bishop, and for Paulinus to preach to the court. By 627, Paulinus had converted Edwin, and on Easter, 627, Edwin was baptised. Many others were baptised after the king's conversion. The exact date when Paulinus went north is unclear; some historians argue for 625, the traditional date, whereas others believe that it was closer to 619. Higham argues that the marriage alliance was part of an attempt by Eadbald, brother of the bride, to capitalise on the death of Rædwald in about 624, in an attempt to regain the overkingship his father had once enjoyed. According to Higham, Rædwald's death also removed one of the political factors keeping Eadbald from converting, and Higham dates Eadbald's baptism to the time that his sister was sent to Northumbria. Although Bede's account gives all the initiative to Edwin, it is likely that Eadbald also was active in seeking such an alliance. Edwin's position in the north also was helped by Rædwald's death, and Edwin seems to have held some authority over other kingdoms until his death.

Paulinus was active not only in Deira, which was Edwin's powerbase, but also in Bernicia and Lindsey. Edwin planned to set up a northern archbishopric at York, following Gregory the Great's plan for two archdioceses in Britain. Both Edwin and Eadbald sent to Rome to request a pallium for Paulinus, which was sent in July 634. Many of the East Angles, whose king, Eorpwald appears to have converted to Christianity, were also converted by the missionaries. Following Edwin's death in battle, in either 633 or 634, Paulinus returned to Kent with Edwin's widow and daughter. Only one member of Paulinus' group stayed behind, James the Deacon. After Justus' departure from Northumbria, a new king, Oswald, invited missionaries from the Irish monastery of Iona, who worked to convert the kingdom.

About the time that Edwin died in 633, a member of the East Anglian royal family, Sigeberht, returned to Britain after his conversion while in exile in Francia. He asked Honorius, one of the Gregorian missionaries who was then Archbishop of Canterbury, to send him a bishop, and Honorius sent Felix of Burgundy, who was already a consecrated bishop; Felix succeeded in converting the East Angles.