Theodore of Tarsus [SEP] position held
Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore of Tarsus (602 – 19 September 690) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690, best known for his reform of the English Church and establishment of a school in Canterbury.
Theodore's life can be divided into the time before his arrival in Britain as Archbishop of Canterbury, and his archiepiscopate. Until recently, scholarship on Theodore had focused on only the latter period since it is attested in Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English", and also in Stephen of Ripon's
island off the Mediterranean coast of Provence. During his two-year stay there, from 665 to 667, he underwent a course of instruction, taking monastic vows and the name of "Benedict".
Following the two years in Lérins Benedict made his third trip to Rome. At this time Pope Vitalian commissioned him to accompany Archbishop Theodore of Tarsus back to Canterbury in 669. On their return Archbishop Theodore appointed Benedict as abbot of SS. Peter and Paul's, Canterbury, a role he held for two years.