Birinus

Birinus († 3 December 650) was the first bishop in Wessex. There is no certain information about his origin. He was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Asterius in Genoa. Pope Honorius I sent him to the kingdom of Mercia for missionary work.

In 634 he entered English soil at Portchester. On his way into the interior of the country he met the West Saxons, who also still adhered to their old religion. So he went to the court of the King of Wessex and asked for support for his mission. Cynegils allowed Birinus to preach everywhere in his kingdom, but he himself still hesitated to convert.

Cynegils was at this time attempting to form an alliance with the influential Northumbrian king Oswald against Mercia. The two rulers met at the royal court in Wessex. In the negotiations, the only hurdle was that King Oswald, as a Christian, would not enter into an alliance with a pagan. So Cynegils decided to accept the new faith. To affirm the alliance, Oswald's marriage to Cynegils' daughter was decided. Cynegils was baptized in 635 along with much of his family and retinue.

The bishop received as a gift the ancient Roman settlement of Dorcic, where he built a cathedral. King Cynegils died in 643, and five years later the new king Cenwalh commissioned Birinus to build a monastic church in Winchester. Other churches in Wessex also date back to foundations by Birinus: St Mary's, in Reading; St Helen's in Abingdon (Berkshire) and the parish church of Taplow (Buckinghamshire).

This was the birth of the diocese of Wessex. Birinus became its first bishop and served here until his death on December 3, 650. His tomb at Dorchester became a famous place of pilgrimage. In 680 his remains were transferred by Bishop Hedda of Wessex to the church at Winchester, where they were finally laid to rest in a richly decorated shrine on 4 September 972.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle on Birinus:

A.D. 634

... This year also Bishop Birinus first preached baptism to the West-Saxons, under King Cynegils. The said Birinus went thither by the command of Pope Honorius; and he was bishop there to the end of his life

A.D. 635

This year King Cynegils was baptized by Bishop Birinus at Dorchester; and Oswald, king of the Northumbrians, was his sponsor.

A.D. 639

This year Birinus baptized King Cuthred at Dorchester, and received him as his son.

A.D. 650

This year Egelbert, from Gaul, after Birinus the Romish bishop, obtained the bishopric of the West-Saxons.

((This year Birinus the bishop died, and Agilbert the Frenchman was ordained.))

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