Page "Archbishop of Canterbury" Paragraph 14

The first Archbishop of Canterbury was St Augustine ( not to be confused with St 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 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.

In the event, Canterbury was chosen instead of London, owing to political circumstances.

Since then the Archbishops of Canterbury have been referred to as occupying the Chair of St. Augustine.