Page:The Saxon Cathedral at Canterbury and The Saxon Saints Buried Therein.djvu/70

 CHAPTER V

A.D. 759-765

HERE are early lives of St. Breogwine in Anglia Sacra by Edmer, the Precentor and Historian of Christ Church; and by Osborn, also Precentor and afterwards Sub-Prior of Christ Church. There is a life also in the Acta Sanctorum (Bollandists) under date August 25.

Breogwine was by birth a Saxon of Old Saxony in Germany, and born of noble parents. As a youth he had travelled much, and came to England for the purpose of study. His country had been christianized by Willibrord of Ripon, and Winfrid, or Boniface as he was called, of Crediton. These early missionaries had been joined by others of their own country, and great success attended their efforts. So much so that persons occupying high positions in Germany were accustomed to send their sons to England for the purpose of attending the schools established by Archbishop Theodore and Abbot Adrian, which at this time had a reputation for learning, recognized throughout the west.

Amongst lads attending these schools was Breogwine, who was already noted for the piety of his life, his readiness to learn and his aptness to teach, in which he had great success. The writer in the Flores Historiarum describes him as "a prudent man and of great acquaintance with literature." On the death of Archbishop Cuthbert in 758, the king, Ethelbert II (748–760), made choice of Breogwine as the one most fitted to succeed to the Archbishopric, on account of his modesty, 40