Peter Laurentius Larsen

Peter Laurentius Larsen , 1833-1915, American educator, b. Norway. He emigrated to the United States in 1857 as a Lutheran missionary. From 1859 to 1861 he was professor of theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, but left that institution to become president of the new Luther College, established by the Norwegian Synod. Although he resigned from the presidency in 1902, he continued to teach there until 1913. Larsen was also a prominent theological leader and was for many years editor of the weekly Evangelisk luthersk kirketidende [Evangelical Lutheran Church times].

Bibliography: See biography by his daughter, Karen Larsen (1936).

Laurentius ( Lawrence) (d. 619). Second archbishop of Canterbury. Named Lawrence ‘the priest’, he landed in Kent with Augustine in 597. At Augustine's request he returned to Rome (601) with ‘Peter the monk’ to fetch a new body of missionaries and the pallium, the archiepiscopal insignia, for Augustine. Before his death Augustine consecrated him as his successor (c.604). Presumably he was not recognized at Rome, for he never received the pallium, but he worked closely with his fellow-bishops Mellitus and Justus. Little is known of his episcopate, but he tried unsuccessfully to bring the Celtic church into conformity, the Irish bishop, Dagan, being especially hostile. Lawrence completed and consecrated the monastery of SS Peter and Paul (613), founded by Augustine. When Æthelbert of Kent died (616), there was likelihood of reversion to paganism under Eadbald, but, unlike Mellitus and Justus, Laurentius stayed and converted him.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall

Augustine, St (d. c.604). Augustine was chosen by Gregory the Great to lead an evangelistic mission to the Anglo‐Saxons. In 597 they landed on Thanet in Kent, where Æthelbert was the most powerful king south of the Humber, and his Frankish wife Bertha was a Christian. Impressed by their sincerity, he supplied them with food, a house in Canterbury, use of an old Roman church, and permission to preach. Bede records that Æthelbert himself was ultimately baptized. Augustine returned to Arles, in Gaul, for episcopal consecration, after which he is said to have converted thousands. He established his see in Canterbury, where he built his church, and outside the walls founded the monastery of SS Peter and Paul ( St Augustine's).

Augustine is perhaps overshadowed by Gregory, who conceived and directed the mission. Yet Gregory's letters reveal a diligent servant who faced enormous difficulties in securing a new church based on orthodox Roman lines. Augustine established Christianity, and introduced to an illiterate Germanic society the influence of Mediterranean civilization, through Latin learning and classical architecture. With Æthelbert's support, he consecrated two bishops, establishing sees at Rochester in Kent and in East Saxon London. To secure continuity, he consecrated his successor, Laurentius, before he died.