Editing Paulinus of York (section)

==Early life==
Paulinus was a monk from Rome sent to the [[Kingdom of Kent]] by Pope Gregory I in 601, along with [[Mellitus]] and others, as part of the second group of missionaries sent to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. He was probably an Italian by birth.<ref name=DNB>Costambeys "Paulinus (St Paulinus)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> The second group of missionaries arrived in Kent by 604, but little is known of Paulinus's further activities until he went to Northumbria.<ref name=DNB/>

Paulinus remained in Kent until 625, when he was consecrated as bishop by [[Justus]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], on 21 July.<ref name=Handbook224>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 224</ref> He then accompanied Æthelburg, the sister of King Eadbald of Kent, to Northumbria where she was to marry King Edwin of Northumbria. A condition of the marriage was that Edwin had promised that he would allow Æthelburg to remain a Christian and worship as she chose. [[Bede]], writing in the early 8th century, reports that Paulinus wished to convert the Northumbrians, as well as provide religious services to the new queen.<ref name=DNB/>

There is some difficulty with Bede's chronology on the date of Æthelburh's marriage, as surviving papal letters to Edwin urging him to convert imply that Eadbald only recently had become a Christian, which conflicts with Bede's chronology. The historian [[David Peter Kirby|D. P. Kirby]] argues that Paulinus and Æthelburh must therefore have gone to Northumbria earlier than 624, and that Paulinus went north, not as a bishop, but as a priest, returning later to be consecrated.<ref name=Earliest33/> The historian [[Henry Mayr-Harting]] agrees with Kirby's reasoning.<ref name=Coming66>Mayr-Harting ''Coming of Christianity'' p. 66</ref> Another historian, [[Peter Hunter Blair]], argues that Æthelburh and Edwin were married before 625, but that she did not go to Northumbria until 625.<ref name=Earliest33>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' pp. 33–34</ref> If Kirby's arguments are accepted, then the date of Paulinus's consecration needs to be changed by a year, to 21 July 626.<ref name=Earliest206>Kirby ''Earliest English Kings'' p. 206 footnote 2</ref>

Bede describes Paulinus as "a man tall of stature, a little stooping, with black hair and a thin face, a hooked and thin nose, his aspect both venerable and awe-inspiring".<ref name=Blair95>Quoted in Blair ''World of Bede'' p. 95</ref>