Letter from Pope Gregory to his missionaries on their way to Britain 596 C.E
Background Information: Athelberht of Kent's wife Bertha, daughter of Charibert, one of the Merovingian kings of the
Franks, had brought a chaplain with her when she married and moved to England. Athelberht allowed his wife to
worship her God and under influence of her, Athelberht asked Pope Gregory i to send missionaries, and in 596 the Pope
dispatched Augustine, together with a party of monks.
"Gregory, the servant of the servants of God, to the servants of our Lord. Forasmuch as it had been better not to
begin a good work, than to think of desisting from that which has been begun, it behooves you, my beloved sons,
to fulfil the good work, which, by the help of our Lord, you have undertaken. Let not, therefore, the toil of the
journey, nor the tongues of evil speaking men, after you; but with all possible earnestness and zeal perform that
which, by God's direction, you have undertaken; being assured, that much labor is followed by an eternal reward.
When Augustine, your chief, returns, whom we also constitute your abbot, humbly obey him in all things;
knowing, that whatsoever you shall do by his direction, will, in all respects, be available to your souls. Almighty
God protect you with his grace, and grant that I may, in the heavenly country, see the fruits of your labor. In
Inasmuch as, though I cannot labor with you, I shall partake in the joy of the reward, because I am willing to labor.
God keep you in safety, my most beloved sons.
Dated the 23rd of July, in the fourteenth year of the reign of our pious and most august lord, Mauritius Tiberius,
the thirteenth year after the consulship of our said lord. The fourteenth indiction."
1. What is being said in the passage above? What is Pope Gregory telling his servants?
2. What circumstances influenced the creation of this text?
3. How valuable is this text as a source of information? Is this text bias, why or why not?