Ethelbert I - The Christian King
Ethelbert I of Kent was the first king in England to convert to Christianity. He was no easy catch for Augustine, the monk sent to England by Pope Gregory I to woo the English away from their native pagan faith. Ethelbert was the most powerful monarch south of the River Humber and a huge swathe of England came under his rule. Ethelbert's queen, Bertha, was already a Christian but persuading the King was not straightforward.
Ethelbert, who became King of Kent in AD 560, was a very superstitious man. When Augustine and his missionaries landed within his territory at Thanet in AD 597 the King feared witchcraft. To protect himself he refused to let the monks enter his residence. Instead he agreed to meet them in the open air where, presumably, their sorcery would be less potent. The missionaries obeyed and appeared before Ethelbert carrying a silver cross and a board painted with an icon of Jesus Christ. They received a polite reception and both the King and his court listened to them attentively.
Co-operation Not Conversion
Ethelbert was not immediately convinced that either he or his people should give up their pagan ways just yet. Nevertheless he was impressed by the newcomers' sincerity and goodwill. Therefore he gave Augustine permission to preach his Christian message and helped them with practicalities. He put a house in Canterbury at their disposal, gave them food and allowed them into the church where his wife, Bertha, prayed. The church, St Martin's, had been Ethelbert's gift to her on their marriage in about AD 580. The marriage had taken place only on condition that she could retain her Christian faith.
Ethelbert is Baptised
Despite these displays of co-operation, three years passed before King Ethelbert finally agreed to convert to the new religion and was baptised in AD 600. Although strongly urged by the pope to do so, Ethelbert still baulked at the idea of banning pagan worship in his kingdom. His people, he believed, were still not ready for it. The pope responded by telling Augustine to purify the pagan temples in Kent, destroy the idols they contained and turn them into churches. It was hoped that this more subtle approach would persuade Ethelbert's subjects to emulate their king. The popular response was still slow and the people clung to their old gods. The prospects for Christianity were not improved when Ethelbert's son, Eadbald, reneged and returned to the ancient religion.
Ethelbert's Religious Rules
However, the pope could have had no complaints about Ethelbert as a zealous and devout Christian king. In AD 602 Ethelbert issued the first of 90 special laws providing penalties against those who offended God and the Church. Presumably to make them more easily understood by his people, Ethelbert had the laws written in English rather than the usual Latin. Theft of church property attracted a very heavy punishment: the value of the stolen goods had to be repaid 12 times over. Theft of the king's property, by contrast, needed to be repaid only nine times over. Interestingly, in other laws, the class distinctions of the time were reflected. For instance, seducing a woman whose overlord was the king attracted a fine of 50 shillings. If she were servant to a nobleman the penalty was only 20 shillings.
Church Buildings
Meanwhile Canterbury had become the first diocese in Kent and Augustine was its first archbishop. King Ethelbert built a church at Rochester. He also constructed St Paul's Cathedral, London. This was specially for Mellitus, a member of Augustine's mission, who became its first bishop. When a second mission arrived in England from Rome in AD 604 another diocese in Kent was established in the Rochester church. A further construction was the monastery of St Peter and St Paul, Canterbury, where Augustine was buried after he died in about AD 604. Ethelbert died 12 years later.