And this is really all we can say about the Church in London during the Roman occupation.  The story of King Lucius and that of the church of St. Peter in Cornhill are pure myths, without any sort of historical foundation, and so may be dismissed without more words.

The Romans went away in the beginning of the fifth century, and by the end of the same century the English conquest had been almost entirely accomplished.  For awhile the new comers remained heathens; then came Augustine and his brother monks, and began the conversion of the English people to Christ.  The king of Kent was baptized in 596, and Canterbury became the mother church.  Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine a reinforcement of monks in 601.  Two of these, Laurentius and Mellitus, were consecrated by Augustine as missionary bishops to convert West Kent and the East Saxon Kingdom to the faith.  The chief town of the former district was Rochester, and of the latter London.  This city had much grown in importance, having established a busy trade with the neighbouring states both by land and sea.  The king of the East Saxons was Sebert, nephew of Ethelbert of Kent, and subject to him.  He, therefore, received Mellitus with cordiality, and as soon as he established his work in the city, King Ethelbert built him a church wherein to hold his episcopal see, and, so it is said, endowed it with the manor of Tillingham, which is still the property of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s.  There is no portion of that old church remaining.  It was in all probability built mostly of wood, and it perished by fire, as so many Anglo-Saxon churches did, on July 7th, 1087.  Some historical incidents connected with that early building will be found on a subsequent page.

In the year before this calamity (April 5th, 1086), Maurice, chaplain and chancellor to William the Conqueror, had been consecrated Bishop of London by Lanfranc.  Unlike most of William’s nominees to bishoprics, Maurice’s moral character was disreputable; but he was a man of energy, and he set to work at once to rebuild his cathedral, and succeeded in getting from the king abundance of stone for the purpose, some of it from the remains of the Palatine tower by the side of the Fleet River, which was just being pulled down, having been hopelessly damaged by the fire[1], and some direct from Caen.  William also at the same time gave him the manor and castle of Bishop Stortford, thus making him a baronial noble.  There was need for haste, for the Conqueror died at Rouen on the 9th of September that same year.

So began the great Cathedral of St. Paul, the finest in England in its time, which, witnessing heavy calamities, brilliant successes, scenes both glorious and sad, changes—­some improvements and others debasements—­lasted on for nearly six centuries, and then was destroyed in the Great Fire.  We have first to note the main features of the architectural history.