ARCHBISHOPS. 93 On the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity, Gre- gory the Great appointed London and York to be the two metropoHtical sees of England, each to have twelve bishops under it, and to be equal in dignity ; but Augustine having settled his seat at Canterbury, the metropolitical dignity was established there, and nothing was done at York until about the year 627, when 627 Paulinus was consecrated bishop by Justus, archbishop of Canterbury, 21st July 625; and at the baptism of Eadwine, king of Northumbria, at Easter (27th April) 627, the king erected a bishop's see at York, and conferred it on Paulinus, who received a pall from Rome in 634^ ; but the province over which he pre- sided becoming in a very disturbed state, he fled with Ead wine's queen and sons to Eadbald of Kent, and became bishop of Rochester at the persuasion of Ho- norius, archbishop of Canterbury. He left the see to the care of James his deacon, who never assumed the title of bishop, though he continued there till he died at a very advanced age^. On the departure of Paulinus, the Northumbrians re- lapsed into idolatry ; and although Oswald, the suc- cessor of Eadwine, invited Aidan from Scotland to reconvert them, Aidan established himself at Lindis- farne, and York remained without a bishop for above thirty years : at length, in 664, 664 Wtlfred, ahhot of Biporiy formerly a monk of Lindis- farne, was appointed to York by Ecgfrid, king of Northumbria ; but disliking to be consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury, whose communion with the Scottish teachers he looked on as schismatical, he passed over to Gaul to seek it at the hands of Aegil- bcrht, formerly bishop of Dorchester, but then hold- ing the sec of Paris. During his absence, however, 664 Ceadda had been consecrated by Wine, the successor " Beda, Hi«t. F>cl. lib. ii. c. 17. " Ibid. lib. ii. c. 20.
