St Martin's Church, Canterbury. The Oldest Church in Britain

In this episode, we are visiting St Martin's Church in Canterbury, which is the oldest church in the English-speaking world that is still in continuous use. This church literally identifies itself with the history of Christianity in Britain. After their invasion, somewhere in the 1st century, the Romans established a military base or a settlement in Canterbury. Then somewhere in the 6th century the Anglo-Saxons took over. And from 589 to 616, it was the time of Aethelbert of Kent to rule the Kingdom of Kent However, prior to that, it is said that the relationships between Kent from Britain and the Franks from nowadays France, were close. So in conclusion it is believed that the people of Kent and the Franks were trading loads of goods and there were good relationships there. In this context, Aethelbert of Kent marries Queen Bertha in 580. Queen Bertha arrived in England as a purely dedicated Christian. She even brought her chaplain, Bishop Liudhard, to help her in her mission of becoming a Christian ambassador. The legend says that Queen Bertha renovated a very old Roman-British building, around the year 580, or it was given to her as a wedding present. That's how she made St Martin’s Church her private chapel. Together with Saint Augustine, who arrived a couple years later, they transformed and extended the initial Roman-British building into the church called St Martin’s Church, in 597. From here they started to share the Christian word and plenty of people followed them and converted to Christianity. This is how St Martin’s Church became the central point of Christianity in Britain for so many years. Thank you so much for joining me in this exploration. Your support means everything to me! #stmartinschurch #church #canterbury