Biography
Birinus
About Birinus
Birinus is known chiefly through Bede's account, written in the early eighth century, generations after the events it describes. Bede calls him a bishop and says that he came to Britain at Pope Honorius's counsel, intending to preach in regions beyond the established English missions. The chapter does not describe his birth, family, education, or earlier life. It also supplies no precise year for his arrival or death.Bede places Birinus's work among the West Saxons during Cynegils's reign and reports the king's baptism with Oswald of Northumbria as sponsor. The passage preserves no transcript of Birinus's preaching or the baptismal rite.After the baptism, Bede says Cynegils and Oswald gave Birinus Dorchester for his episcopal seat. Birinus built and consecrated churches there and, through his work, many people joined the Christian community. This supports his importance in the organization of the West Saxon church, while leaving the details and pace of that institutional development unstated. The early cathedral's later history should not be inferred from this brief passage alone.Bede records Birinus's death and burial at Dorchester, followed many years later by the translation of his body to Winchester under Bishop Hedda. He gives no death year or exact day.The Church of England calendar commemorates Birinus on September 4, using the titles Bishop of Dorchester and Apostle of Wessex. This is an observance in a present Anglican calendar, not evidence for his historical death day. A December 3 Roman Catholic date appears in an unofficial online transcription of the Roman Martyrology; without checking an authorized edition, no Roman Catholic scalar date is asserted here.
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