Various stories have been told about Bregowine's origins, including that he was a nobleman and a continental Saxon who converted to Christianity and came to
Whatever his upbringing, Bregowine was consecrated as archbishop on 27 September 761.
Mercian dominance between 756 and 764, so the story that he owed his election to Æthelbert does fit with the time frame.[4] He wrote letters to Archbishop Lul of Mainz which still exist, and which discuss an earlier meeting between the two men. Other activities as archbishop are recorded in surviving charters. One records that he protested at the loss of a church at Cookham that was confiscated by King Cynewulf of Wessex sometime after 760. Another surviving charter from Dunwald, a thegn of King Æthelbert, concerning land in Canterbury, records that Bregowine consented to the gift of land. Unfortunately, many of the early charters of the diocese of Canterbury are lost, which restricts knowledge of Bregowine's activities as archbishop.[1]
Bregowine died in 764
considered a saint, with a feast day of 26 August, although Florence of Worcester, a 12th-century writer, recorded his death date as 24 August.[2] Other sources record the death date as 25 August. His life was later written by Eadmer in the 12th century.[1]
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
