The Cross and The Sceptre (Medieval TL).

THE CROSS AND THE SCEPTRE
Chapter I: Beginnings

Early in 597, a ship dropped anchor off the Isle of Thanet in north-east Kent. From there it launched a band of 40 men. These men were Christian Monks and they had been led on their long journey to Britain by the Bishop of Bourges in the Southern Frankish Kingdom. His name was Heorgios, and his mission was to convert the heathen peoples of Britain to Christianity. Heorgios' mission had been long in preparation. About 20 years before he and his companions set out, Gregory, who was then the Pope's representative at the Imperial Byzantine Court in Constantinople, had noticed some beautiful fair-haired young boys up for sale in the slave market. Intrigued, he asked the merchant the name of their race.
"They are called Angles," replied the slave-dealer "And they inhabit the Isles of Britannia."
"That is appropriate," Gregory said, "For they have angelic faces, and so it is right that they should become fellow heirs with the angels in Heaven!"

From that time onwards, Gregory was determined, some might say with a slightly strange obsession, to bring Christianity to the Angles. In 590 he was elected Pope, and at last he had the power to authorise such an adventure as which he had been desiring for so long. And to lead this hazardous venture, he chose Heorgios. In many ways this choice was surprising, for Heorgios' was born a slaveboy himself, of Anglo-Celtic descent, but raised in the clergy by the former Archbishop of Ravenna, Giovanni the Roman. He had become Bishop of Bourges after fifteen years of being an abbot in Pomposa, near Ravenna. He was known for his calm, diplomatic temper and zeal in spreading the Word of the Lord, and was also immensely clever talking Greek, Latin and Vulgar Celtic fluently, and being an able writer, cartographer and artist. He wouldn't have been a strange choice if it weren't for his unusually young age of 40 and the fact that many other candidates for the mission were very influential in the Court of Rome.

In any way, the party of twenty Roman and twenty Frankish Monks left Bourges in early March of 597, tracing the Loire River and stopping in Orléans a fortnight later to discuss with Saint Arthemius, Bishop of Sens about the Anglo-Saxon Pagans. He provided two wise monks, Clement and Amatus of Sens to assist with the conversion. From there, they travelled north through Neustria to the small fishing village of Cales, where Britannia could be seen from. And so it was that, in early April of that year, the Gregorian Mission to re-convert the Pagans of Britannia had begun.

One of the first to hear about their landing was Ethelbert, King of Kent. Heorgios (Whom we shall call in this account by his later, Anglicised name, George [Although the proper substitute would be Yorrick or Yorke] ) and his companions were quickly summoned to his presence. This was the crucial moment; if George, Clement and Amatus could persuade the King to listen, his mission stood a fair chance of success. They did have one minor advantage on their side, aside from George's gift as a preacher. Bertha, the Queen of Kent and beloved wife of Ethelbert, was originally a Christian Princess from Austrasia. She had brought with her a recently deceased Bishop named Liudhard who had consecrated the marriage but made no efforts of conversion.

The following is an account of the King's meeting with George, Clement and Amatus, as documented in the Venerable Bede's An Account of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

"Hiorgios marched boldly up to the King, carrying a silver cross and chanting prayers, whilst Clement held out an illuminated bible from Sens and Amatus held a scroll and a pen. Ethelbert greeted them politely, but he had took care to meet them out in the open, lest these mysterious strangers cast a spell on him, and he was very wary and sceptical. George then explained the purpose of their mission and preached to the assembled court of the Good News of Christ. The King then rose, and replied, 'Your words and promises are fair indeed. But they are new and strange to us and I cannot accept them and abandon the age-old beliefs of the entire English peoples. But since you have travelled far through many labours, we will not harm you. We will recieve you hospitably and nor do we forbid you to preach and to convert.'"

The Christians were given a hall in the ancient Roman town of Canterbury and there they used the Church of Saint Martin, a Church built by the Christians of the area 200 years earlier. They preached around the kingdom fervently, establishing three more churches in Kent; of St Peter and Saint Paul, of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Andrew. Finally, in the early August of that year, the King supposedly had a dream in which Christ came to him and told him to convert, which he did. This was a turning point in the mission and, following their leige's example, more than 10 000 people were converted by the Christians from that day until the August of that year. From Canterbury, George sent out men to create new bishoprics - a man named Bartholomaeus became the First Bishop of Dover, a monk named Mellitus established the see of London, and a Florencian monk known as Justus became the Bishop of Medway. George himself became Archbishop of Canterbury, but Clement and Amatus decided that they would venture further into England before becoming bishops or abbots.

Ethelbert's decision also influenced many other kingdoms surrounding Kent. The Kingdom of Essex, ruled over by Ethelbert's nephew Saebert, became a predominantly Christian realm, and the local Lords converted aswell. The Kingdom of Sussex was converted by Amatus and Clement, and they instituted two bishoprics there, of Selsey and Chichester.

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George, Apostle to the English, meeting with Æthelberht, King of Kent.

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If you think you may have seen something like this before, then you're probably right. I posted something extremely similar to this quite a long time ago on this forum, but it never came to fruition, and some personal events meant I couldn't update it as much as I wanted. Criticism and Comments are greatly appreciated.
 
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It doesn't appear different from OTL other than "George" leading the delegation instead of Augustine. Is that correct? I'm a bit foggy on these events myself.
 
It doesn't appear different from OTL other than "George" leading the delegation instead of Augustine. Is that correct? I'm a bit foggy on these events myself.

That's correct. Nothing in that post was changed, aside from that, but there will be tiny POD's, mostly concentrating in Wales and in Northern England. There will also be repercussions in the Frankish Kingdoms. These will be tiny, but shall have butterflies.
 
It is not clear to modern historians whether King Æthelbert of Kent was afforded the title Bretwalda, or Britain-ruler, by his contemporary peers or by later Christian Scholars and Chroniclers, but what is certain is that he exerted the same amount of influence as one would expect a Britain-ruler to exert.
All the great and many lands of Anglia were under his control; Kent, Essex, East Anglia, Middle Anglia and Sussex, and through his marriage to Bertha, the daughter of Charibert, King of the Franks and Lord of Paris, he had strengthened ties with Europe, and more so than any other leader. Even outside of these boundaries, his network of individual contacts was impressive for an Anglo-Saxon King. For example, Edwin of Northumbria, of whose capital was York, the most successful city north of London, held Æthelbert in good favour, and he was in regular contact with Pybba of Mercia and Ceol of Wessex, although his relationships with both of these were not always favourable, and border skirmishes were common.

George, Archbishop of Canterbury and his two companions, the Monks Clement and Amatus of Sens had recently converted many of the inhabitants of the assortment of nations Æthelberht controlled, but he did not control all of the land of Britannia and their mission had been to Christianise all. So it was that, in the February of 599, the triad left Kent with twenty of the monks that had originally accompanied them, and twenty more of Jutish and Saxon blood.
Æthelberht had warned them about Wessex, and about their King's deceitful ways, but the Monks dismissed this as just a political rivalry between the two. Upon reaching the borders, which were loosely defined but rigidly controlled, they were marched straight to the Royal Court at Winchester. There, in a large hall of wood and stone, they met with Ceol.
They proceeded in the same way as in Kent, and preached about Christianity and the Way of The Lord, as is documented in this second excerpt from The Venerable Bede's An Ecclesiastical Guide to the English People

It was Mid-morning when the Blessed Group arrived at Winchester, escorted there from the borders by Guards of the King. Saint George was met by the King at a Great Hall in the town, and the Wessex Lords were present. As the Saint blessed the building, and began his sermon, the King stopped him and luncheoned with The Lords of his Realm. He discussed with the Men about the Monks and the Archbishop, and many of them disagreed with what little they had heard of Christianity. The King agreed, and summoned the Christians back into the Hall, and told them;
"Your God has no power here. Go back to the Evil Lands from whence you came, you foul preachers of lies and deceit."
And to this the Saint replied;
"My Good King, Do you not see that to deny the Good Lord is to deny your place at his table in Heaven? Do you not see that to accept heathen Gods is an insult to the Trinity. do you not see that what your Lords have convinced you of is lies? Repent now, in the watch of God, or suffer evermore in regret of not doing so."
The King was troubled and disquieted by the Saints words, but he said still that they should never return to the lands of Wessex again, whilst any of his line may rule. And God was so enraged by these acts of insolence that a curse was set upon Ceol the Unfaithful's sons, and their sons, and their sons, forever and ever, lest they repent.


Whilst it is generally agreed by modern historians and specialists that this is an exaggerated account, what is true is that Hiorgios, Clement and Amatus visited the Court of Winchester, in the Spring of 599, and that the King and his Men were skeptical of the monks, and that they were told to preach elsewhere. Misfortune did follow the Ceolic Dynasty, however, and they were ousted from their power, and by a holy army, and no less.
 
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