Cuthbert of Canterbury

Holy Hierarch Cuthbert of Canterbury was the twelfth archbishop of Canterbury in England from 740 until his repose on 26 October 760 (or 761). He is a saint of the undivided Church.

Of noble family, he first appears as abbot of Lyminge Abbey in Kent and was, it seems, bishop of Hereford from 736; the identification of the two Cuthberts comes from sources after the Norman Conquest and cannot be regarded as proven. He probably owed his appointment as archbishop to the influence of King Æthelbald of Mercia. Saint Boniface wrote him a long letter lamenting the laxity of the clergy in the British Isles and too much drinking among the bishops; Cuthbert also corresponded with Saint Lullus, archbishop of Mainz. In his time the see of York was raised to an archbishopric, so Cuthbert consecrated bishops only south of the Humber.

In 747, with King Æthelbald, he presided over the council of Clovesho, which decreed, among other things, that all clergy must explain the basics of the faith to the laity, and legislated on clerical dress, the control of monasteries and the conduct of the clergy. He held another synod in 758. He built the church of Saint John the Baptist in Canterbury, used as a baptistery, where he was buried; the church burned in 1067.

He is commemorated on 26 October, the liturgical date in the Orthodox calendar (the same day number on the old and new calendars).