Editing Archbishop of Canterbury (section)

== Origins ==

[[File:Angl-Canterbury-Arms.svg|thumb|right|upright|Arms of the [[episcopal see|see]] of Canterbury. Nearly 500 years after the [[English Reformation|Reformation]], the arms still depict the [[pallium]], a symbol of the authority of the Pope and metropolitan archbishops.]]

It has been suggested that the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Roman Britain|Britannia]] had four archbishops, seated at [[Londinium]] (London), [[Eboracum]] ([[York]]), [[Lindum Colonia]] ([[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]]) and [[Corinium Dobunnorum]] ([[Cirencester]]).<ref>Wacher, J., ''The Towns of Roman Britain'', Batsford, 1974, especially pp. 84–86.</ref> However, in the 5th and 6th centuries Britannia began to be overrun by [[pagan]], [[Germanic peoples]] who came to be known collectively as the [[Anglo-Saxons]]. Of the kingdoms they created, [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] arguably had the closest links with European politics, trade and culture, because it was conveniently situated for communication with [[continental Europe]]. In the late 6th century, King [[Æthelberht of Kent]] married a Christian [[Franks|Frankish]] princess named [[Bertha of Kent|Bertha]], possibly before becoming king, and certainly a number of years before the arrival of the first Christian mission to England.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02519a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Bertha<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> He permitted the preaching of Christianity.<ref>[[Bede]], ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum|Ecclesiastical History]]'', i, 25.</ref>

The first archbishop of Canterbury was Saint [[Augustine of Canterbury]] (not to be confused with Saint [[Augustine of Hippo]]), who arrived in Kent in 597 AD, having been sent by [[Pope Gregory I]] on a mission to the English. He was accepted by [[Æthelberht of Kent|King Æthelbert]], on his conversion to Christianity, about the year 598. It seems that Pope Gregory, ignorant of recent developments in the former Roman province, including the spread of the [[Pelagian heresy]], had intended the new archiepiscopal sees for England to be established in London and York.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', i, 29.</ref> In the event, Canterbury was chosen instead of London, owing to political circumstances.<ref>Brooks, N., ''The Early History of the Church of Canterbury'', Leicester University Press, 1984, pp. 3–14.</ref> Since then the archbishops of Canterbury have been referred to as occupying the [[Chair of St. Augustine]].

A gospel book believed to be directly associated with St Augustine's mission survives in the [[Parker Library, Corpus Christi College]], University of Cambridge<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->, England. Catalogued as Cambridge ''Manuscript 286'', it has been positively dated to 6th-century Italy and this bound book, the [[St Augustine Gospels]], is still used during the swearing-in ceremony of new archbishops of Canterbury.

Before the break with papal authority in the 16th century, the Church of England was an integral part of the [[Western Christianity|Western European church]]. Since the break the Church of England, an [[Christian state|established national church]], still considers itself part of the broader Western Catholic tradition (although this is not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church which regards Anglicanism as schismatic<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5JBSw4m9azYC&q=+Roman+Catholic+Church++Anglicanism++schismatic&pg=PP1|title=Anglicans and the Roman Catholic Church: Reflections on Recent Developments|last=Cavanaugh|first=Stephen E.|date= 2011|publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=978-1-58617-499-6|language=en}}</ref> and does not accept Anglican holy orders as valid) as well as being the "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales'' (1835) noted the net annual revenue for the Canterbury see was £19,182.<ref>''The National Enclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'', Vol.III, Charles Knight, London, 1847, p. 362</ref>