Today in the Orthodox Church we commemorate Saint Jænberht [or Jambert], the immediate predecessor of Saint Æþelheard as Archbishop of Canterbury.
We know little of the early life of Jænberht, other than that he was the son of a prominent Kentish family before he became a monk, and subsequently the abbot of Saint Augustine’s monastery at Canterbury. He had a kinsman, Éadhun, who was the reeve of Ecgberht II King of Kent – with whom Jænberht was also on good terms. On the repose of Saint Bregowine, Jænberht was chosen to succeed to the office. But Jænberht had the ill-fortune to be elected Archbishop of Canterbury at a time when Kent’s political power was at a low ebb. Offa King of Mercia had long dabbled in Kentish politics by supporting kings in West Kent who served his interests; this brought him up hard against Ecgberht II, who waged a war for Kentish independence from Mercia in 776 and fought Offa at Otford – probably with the blessing of Archbishop Jænberht, because Canterbury received a number of lands from Ecgberht in the following years.
Even though Jænberht had received the omophor in the presence of Offa King – showing that at least at the beginning he had Offa’s approval in his appointment – Jænberht’s political sympathies toward the Kentish king were well-known to Offa by 784. After Ecgberht died, Offa sought to limit the Archbishop’s political power by stripping him of the lands that had been given to him by that king. Also, Offa had deposed the entire Kentish royal line and administered Kent as his own province.
This touched off a decade-long power struggle between Canterbury and Mercia, between Jænberht and Offa. Offa attempted to circumvent and limit Jænberht’s influence by appealing to Rome first for the relocation of the archbishopric from Canterbury to London under his direct control; and when that didn’t work, he successfully lobbied Pope Hadrian for a new archbishopric to be created in Lichfield in 787. Jænberht fought back in several indirect ways. He began minting his own coins in Canterbury (as shown above), in defiance of Offa’s reign. He also refused to consecrate Offa’s son Ecgfrið in Mercia, and refused to countenance the elevation of the bishop of Lichfield as legitimate.
Jænberht reposed in the Lord on the twelfth of August, 792, and was buried in the abbey church of Saint Augustine’s – like Saint Bregowine before him, instructing that his death not be made known publicly until he had already been buried. It was not until Offa’s own death – and that of his son some months later – that the Mercian kings humbly owned their faults against the Church and restored to Canterbury the full recognition it was due. Jænberht has since been regarded as a saint in Kent, and subsequently in the entire English Church. Holy Hierarch Jænberht, pray to God for us!
Saint Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury
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