PAULINUS OF YORK, ST.

Benedictine (?) monk, missionary to Northumbria, first bishop of York; d. Rochester, England, Oct. 10, 644. Probably while a monk of St. Andrew's monastery,

Rome, he and others were sent by Pope gregory i the great in 601 to assist augustine of canterbury in England. Nothing certain is known of his activities before his Northumbrian mission but possibly he worked among the East Angles. Consecrated bishop by Abp. justus of canterbury on July 21, 625, he went north as chaplain to ethelburga, the Christian bride of King edwin of northumbria. Once Edwin was converted two years later, Paulinus established his seat at york and then traveled extensively throughout the north, preaching and baptizing. This work was cut short by the death of his patron Edwin in the battle of Hatfield (632), and Paulinus, who withdrew to Kent, was given the vacant See of rochester. In 634 he received the pallium from Pope honorius i, but since he had already deserted York, a see for which the pope had intended metropolitan rank, it remains disputed whether Paulinus should be counted its first archbishop. He was buried at Rochester.

Feast: Oct. 10.

Bibliography: bede, Ecclesiastical History 2.9–20; 3.14. a. w. haddan and w. stubbs, eds., Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, 3 v. in 4 (Oxford 1869–78) 3:75–88. w. bright, Chapters of Early English Church History (3d ed. Oxford 1897). f. m. stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (2d ed. Oxford 1947) 113–116.

[r. d. ware]