Laurence of Canterbury - Archbishop

Archbishop

Laurence succeeded Augustine to the see of Canterbury in about 604, and ruled until his death on 2 February 619. To secure the succession, Augustine had consecrated Laurence before he died, even though that was prohibited by canon law. Augustine was afraid though that if someone did not step into the office immediately, it would damage the missionary efforts in Britain. However, Laurence never received a pallium from Rome, so he may have been considered uncanonical by the papacy. Bede makes a point of comparing Augustine's action in consecrating Laurence to Saint Peter's action of consecrating Clement as Bishop of Rome during Peter's lifetime, which the theologian J. Robert Wright believes may be Bede's way of criticising the practices of the church in his day.

In 610 Laurence received letters from Pope Boniface IV, addressed to him as archbishop and Augustine's successor. The correspondence was in response to Laurence having sent Mellitus to Rome earlier in 610, to solicit advice from the papacy on matters concerning the English Church. While in Rome Mellitus attended a synod, and brought the synodical decrees back with him to Laurence.

In 613 Laurence consecrated the monastery church built by Augustine in Canterbury, and dedicated it to saints Peter and Paul; it was later re-consecrated as St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. Laurence also wrote to the bishops in the lands held by the Scots and by the Britons, urging them to hold Easter on the day that the Roman church celebrated it, instead of their traditional date, part of the Easter controversy. The letter is also preserved in Bede's history. Laurence in 609 stated that Dagan, a native bishop, would not eat with Laurence or share a roof with the archbishop, due to the differences between the two Churches.