Theodore of Tarsus

(602-690) Archbishop of Canterbury 668-690. Credited with unifying the English Church and establishing the authority of Canterbury. Born in Tarsus, Cicilia, he studied in Athens before going to Rome. He…

(602-690) ArchbishopArchbishop Bishop who also presides over a group of dioceses or provinces. of CanterburyCanterbury City in the south east of England; the seat of England's senior archbishop, who is also bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. It was here that St Augustine of Canterbury (d.609), who had been sent by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the English in 597, established his ecclesiastical headquarters. In the Anglo-Saxon period Canterbury's monasteries were places of learning and artistry. After the Norman Conquest the cathedral was magnificently rebuilt by Archbishop Lanfranc and embellished by Archbishop Anselm. The martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170 added to the cathedral's prominence as a place of pilgrimage and the east end of the church was dramatically remodelled in the Gothic style. 668-690. Credited with unifying the English Church and establishing the authority of Canterbury. Born in Tarsus, Cicilia, he studied in Athens before going to RomeRome This Italian city was the capital of the Roman Empire and, with the primacy accorded to the bishops of Rome (the popes), the centre of the Western Church from the late-Antique period onwards. Rome was not only the administrative centre, but an important source of innovation, relics and liturgy. Missionaries from Rome played an important role in the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England from late 6th century onward.. He was consecrated by PopePope Head of the medieval church in the West. Used as a title preceding the name of the Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church Vitalian in 668 to the see of Canterbury, where he arrived in 669. He promoted learning and good governance in the Church, subdividing large sees which caused a series of clashes with St Wilfrid.