Paulinus of York
Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York
575 CE to 644 CE
Paulinus (died 10 October 644) is a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York.
A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group.
Little is known of Paulinus' activities in the following two decades.
After some years spent in Kent, perhaps in 625, Paulinus is consecrated a bishop.
He accompanied Æthelburg of Kent, sister of King Eadbald of Kent, on her journey to Northumbria to marry King Edwin of Northumbria, and eventually succeeds in converting Edwin to Christianity.
Paulinus also convertd many of Edwin's subjects and builds some churches.
One of the women Paulinus baptizes is a future saint, Hilda of Whitby.
Following Edwin's death in 633, Paulinus and Æthelburg flee Northumbria, leaving behind a member of Paulinus' clergy, James the Deacon.
Paulinus returns to Kent, where he becomes Bishop of Rochester.
After his death in 644, Paulinus is venerated as a saint.
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James, the deacon of Bishop Paulinus of York, remains in the north following Edwin’s death; he will struggle to rebuild the Roman mission.
Paulinus himself has fled with queen Æthelburga and her young daughter Eanflæd south to Kent, where he is made bishop of Rochester.
Eanflæd will grow up under the protection of her uncle, king Eadbald of Kent.