Theodore of Tarsus
Archbishop of Canterbury
Feast: 19 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Theodore of Tarsus was a monk living in Rome when Pope Vitalian chose him for Canterbury and consecrated him in 668. He reached Canterbury in 669.
He visited the whole of England, filled the vacant sees, set the Church in order, and founded schools of music and sacred and secular learning. Bede calls him the first archbishop whom the whole English Church obeyed. He died at Canterbury on 19 September 690.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
The archbishop who organised the Church in England.
Connected on this site
- Aldhelm Saint Pupil
- John of Beverley Saint Pupil
- Agilbert Saint“Agilbert became bishop of Paris between 666 and 668, and hosted Theodore of Tarsus.” — Wikipedia
- Berhtwald Saint“His predecessor had been Theodore of Tarsus.” — Wikipedia
- Wilfrid Saint“After becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 668, Theodore of Tarsus resolved the situation by deposing Ceadda and restoring Wilfrid as the Bishop of Northumbria.” — Wikipedia
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Theodore of Tarsus
- Wikidata Q504529 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Theodore of Tarsus (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.