Saints for our Times: St. Ethelbert extended Christianity by example, not by compulsion

By Mary Lou Gibson | Columnist

In about 560, Ethelbert became the earliest recorded king of Kent in what is now South East England. As king, he had the title of “Bretwalda,” meaning overlord of England. Under his rule, Kent was the most cultural of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
Sometime before 588 Ethelbert married a Christian princess named Bertha, the daughter of the Frankish king Charibert. Paul Burns writes in “Butler’s Lives of the Saints” that one of the stipulations of the marriage was that she should be free to practice her Christian religion. She brought her chaplain with her to Kent.
In about 597 Ethelbert received Augustine and his monks who had been sent by Pope Gregory I to bring Christianity to the region. David Farmer writes in the “Oxford Dictionary of Saints” that Ethelbert received Augustine in a friendly way but insisted on a conference in the open air through fear of magic. This description of their meeting was written by Bede, an 8th century monk in the “Ecclesiastical History of the English People.”
After giving Augustine a fair hearing, Ethelbert declared himself unable to accept Christian teaching and unable to abandon the age-old beliefs of his nation. But he gave Augustine and his group a house in Canterbury and allowed them to preach. Thus large numbers of Ethelbert’s subjects became Christian before he did.
Ethelbert himself was eventually baptized in 601 and received a congratulatory letter and gifts from the pope. He was the first English king to convert to Christianity. His approach to Christianity was in marked contrast to that of Pope Gregory. Burns writes that the pope wrote to Ethelbert urging him to press on with the work of extending the Christian faith among the people committed to his charge. But Ethelbert would not allow any sort of compulsion to be brought to bear on his subjects, saying he had been taught that Christ must be accepted freely. He believed conversion by conviction was the only true conversion, according to John Delaney writing in the “Dictionary of Saints.”
Dom Basil Watkins writes in “The Book of Saints” that Ethelbert was notable in not forcing conversion on his subjects, but his personal example bore fruit. Although Christianity had been present in the British Isles for some time, it was Ethelbert’s conversion that played a part in helping to convert King Sabert of the East Saxons and King Redwald of the East Angles.
After Ethelbert’s conversion, the monks had greater freedom to build and restore churches everywhere. He built a monastery for the monks dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul (later St. Augustine’s) outside the walls of the city. Augustine established sees at Rochester and London with Ethelbert’s support. Ethelbert himself founded the church of St. Paul in London, which later became St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Ethelbert was the first Anglo-Saxon king to leave a code of laws, which included one provision that protected the clergy and churches from damage or harm. He died on Feb. 24, 616, and is buried beside his wife, Bertha, in the side chapel of St. Martin in the church of the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul.
His name is spelled “Aedilberct” in Bede’s “History of the English church.” His feast day is Feb. 25 in England. Sadly, Ethelbert’s son, Eadbald, failed to carry on his work in support of the church.

Mary Lou Gibson is a freelance writer and a member of St. Austin Parish in Austin.