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 TJie Monks a7id their Missionary Work 357 established a monastery, and from this center the conversion, first of Kent and then of the whole island, was gradually accom- plished. Canterbury has always maintained its early preeminence and may still be considered the religious capital of England.^ England thus became a part of the ever-growing territory em- England and braced in the Roman Catholic Church and remained for nearly church"^^" a thousand years as faithful to the Pope as any other Catholic country. The conversion of England by the missionaries from Rome was Early culture followed by a period of general enthusiasm for Rome and its ^" "^^" literature and culture. The English monasteries became centers of learning unrivaled perhaps in the rest of Europe. A constant intercourse was maintained with Rome. Masons and glass- makers were brought across the Channel to replace the wooden churches of Britain by stone edifices in the style of the Romans. The young English clergy were taught Latin and sometimes Greek. Copies of the ancient classics were brought from the Continent and copied. The most distinguished writer of the seventh and early eighth centuries in Europe was' the English monk Baeda (often called "The Venerable Bede," 673-735), "TheVener- from whose admirable history of the Church in England most of our information about the period is derived.^ In 718 St. Boniface, an English monk, was sent by the Pope St. Boniface, as a missionary to the Germans. After four years spent in re- J^^ ciermans connoitering the field of his future labors, he visited Rome and was made a missionary bishop, taking the same oath of obedi- ence to the Pope that the bishops in the immediate vicinity of Rome were accustomed to take. Indeed, absolute subordination to the Pope was a part of his religion, and he became a powerful agent in extending the papal power. Boniface succeeded in converting many of the more remote Conversi German tribes who still clung to their old pagan beliefs. His energetic methods are illustrated by the story of how he cut 1 See Readings^ chap, v, for Gregory's instructions to his missionaries. 2 See Readings^ chap. v. 3ion of Germany