Editing 597 (section)

=== By topic ===

==== Religion ====
* [[Gregorian Mission]]: [[Augustine of Canterbury]] lands with a group of [[Missionary|missionaries]] on the [[Isle of Thanet]] ([[South East England]]). He is welcomed by King [[Æthelberht of Kent]], who accepts [[baptism]] (along with the rest of his court) at the behest of his Christian Frankish wife, [[Bertha of Kent|Bertha]]. Æthelbert assigns Augustine and his 40 [[monk]]s a residence at [[Canterbury]], where they found a [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] monastery that will make the town a centre of [[Christianity]] (or [[596]]).
* [[June 9]] &ndash; [[Columba]], Irish [[missionary]], dies in [[Iona]] ([[Inner Hebrides]]) and is buried by his [[monk]]s in the [[abbey]] he has created. He works successfully towards the [[Religious conversion|conversion]] of northern [[Great Britain|Britain]].
* [[December 25]] &ndash; At [[Christmas]], Christianity spreads rapidly in [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]]; Augustine and his fellow-labourers baptise more than 10,000 [[Anglo-Saxons]].<ref>A Chronicle of England (1864), James Edmund Doyle, p. 26</ref>

==== Law ====
* [[England]] gets her first written [[Law of Æthelberht|code of laws]] from Æthelbert. The code is concerned with preserving [[social order]], through [[Damages|compensation]] and punishment for personal injury (approximate date).

==== Education ====
* [[The King's School, Canterbury|The King's School]] is founded by Augustine in Canterbury. He builds an [[St Augustine's Abbey|abbey]] where the Benedictine teaching takes place.
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