Page "Justus" Paragraph 11

A pagan backlash against Christianity followed Æthelberht's death in 616, forcing Justus and Mellitus to flee to Gaul.

The pair probably took refuge with Chlothar, hoping that the Frankish king would intervene and restore them to their sees, and by 617 Justus had been reinstalled in his bishopric by the new king.

Mellitus also returned to England, but the prevailing pagan mood did not allow him to return to London ; after Laurence's death, Mellitus became Archbishop of Canterbury.

According to Bede, Justus received letters of encouragement from Pope Boniface V ( 619 – 625 ), as did Mellitus, although Bede does not record the actual letters.

The historian J. M. Wallace-Hadrill assumes that both letters were general statements of encouragement to the missionaries.