The Gregorian Mission
Paulinus belonged to the mission dispatched by Pope Gregory I (the Dialogist) to convert the Anglo-Saxons. Sent from Rome as a monk, he arrived in Kent by 604 with a later company of missionaries who brought sacred vessels, vestments, and relics for the churches. Little is recorded of his activities during the following two decades in Kent.
Pope Gregory had planned York as England's second metropolitan see, and Paulinus's northern mission carried forward that design. He was consecrated bishop on 21 July 625 (possibly 626) by Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury, specifically so that he could accompany Æthelburh of Kent to Northumbria for her marriage to the pagan King Edwin.
The Conversion of Northumbria
After months of preaching, Edwin's advisors—including the pagan high priest Coifi—recommended adopting Christianity. Edwin and his son were baptized at York, and, by tradition, the baptism took place on Easter Sunday 627. Owing to the overwhelming crowds seeking baptism, Paulinus is recorded as baptizing in the river Swale near Catterick, and he is said to have spent thirty-six days baptizing converts at Yeavering.
Among those he baptized was Hilda, later abbess of Whitby, together with Eanflæd, Edwin's daughter. He built a stone church at York, of which no trace remains, and other churches on royal estates, including one at Lincoln identified with St Paul in the Bail. He served as Bishop of York from 627 to 633.
The Venerable Bede described him as a man tall of stature, a little stooping, with black hair and a thin face, a hooked and thin nose, his aspect both venerable and awe-inspiring.
Rochester and Later Years
Following King Edwin's death at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, traditionally dated 12 October 633, Paulinus fled Northumbria with Queen Æthelburh, leaving James the Deacon behind to continue the mission there. On returning to Kent he became Bishop of Rochester, which he held from 633 until his death.
In June 634 he received a pallium from Pope Honorius I, symbolizing his appointment as Archbishop of York, but it arrived too late to be effective. Counting roughly eight years at York and eleven at Rochester, his episcopate spanned some nineteen years. He died on 10 October 644.
Relics & Shrines
Paulinus was buried in the sacristy of the church at Rochester. When a new Rochester church was constructed in the 1080s, his relics were translated to a new shrine. He is venerated as a saint with a feast day of 10 October in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches, and at least five churches were dedicated to him.
