An African by birth and abbot of the Canterbury monastery of St Peter and St Paul (later St Augustine’s) at the end of the 7th century, Hadrian epitomises the international, even multicultural, character of the Anglo-Saxon Church. His multiple talents were instrumental in turning his abbey – and the wider Anglo-Saxon Church - into an intellectual and cultural powerhouse of the medieval world. It’s worth pausing to say something about Theodore, whose own background also says much about the international richness of the Anglo-Saxon Church. The school also pioneered the teaching of Greek in Anglo-Saxon England, opening up its nascent Church to a rich seem of hitherto inaccessible historical, mathematical, philosophical and theological writings. Monks from the three known continents of the medieval world – Africa, Asia and Europe – all contributed to the shaping of Anglo-Saxon England and its Church.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 20, 2020 10:07 UTC